Day 10 and 11/11/11

Last night I was so tired that I started posting day 10 of my thankfulness series and ended up pushing the save button instead of "publish"....so today is two for one day on my blog! :D

November 10th.  Today I am thankful for working with several amazing women.  Granted, everywhere you go in life there is going to be some "drama" where you work, especially when you work with a lot of women, or in my case, only women.  There have been some very tough times at my school involving "dramatic" or at a minimum, drama loving women.  But these days the mix is getting better.  Less drama, more camaraderie......more dancing and less standoffishness.  I have always gone through life trying to help anyone when they needed a hand, offering a smile and hello when people pass me by...but the older I get the more I learn that apparently I am one of those rare people.  For a while it felt like I was outnumbered by more negative attitudes than positive attitudes where I work and honestly, that's not healthy for anyone, especially where I work, around children!  No one picks up on feelings more than children.  You could be smiling and THINK you are acting normal and then one of your students comes up to you and says, "Mrs. Jessica, what's wrong?" Somehow they know....children ALWAYS know.  If you think your child can't sense when you are stressed out, or if something is going wrong with you, your family or household, you are very wrong.  That's another post though....

At any rate, what I am getting at here is, there's more sunshine than rain lately around our school and it truly makes my life and my job a whole lot easier.  To Thuy, Aleta and Melissa....I'm so thankful that I work with such wonderful women as you.  Now if ONLY one of my dearest friends Caitlin could be working with me again, that would make my life complete.  But she and I have future plans as far as THAT is concerned. ;)
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November 11th.  On this magical day 11/11/11, I am thankful for the wonderful, life changing music of Death Cab for Cutie (DCFC.)  Tonight I partook in one of my favorite pastimes.  I drove around in my car, playing my favorite tunes and singing along, loud and long.  This is my therapy.  This is how I unwind.  This is how I get pumped up for something.  This is my me time.  This is how I re-center myself after long weeks, like this one.  I discovered DCFC when I was 23 and to this day I am thankful to the person who introduced me to them.  Even though I no longer am in touch with that person for many reasons, I still think of them and that part of my life where I really began to find myself.  DCFC is sort of the soundtrack to myself since those days, and continues to be today as I approach my 27th birthday, in about one month.  This may sound far fetched to some people who read this, but I have a connection, story or vivid memory associated with each of DCFC's songs and I go to each song in turn at a moment, day or period of my life when I need to reconnect with that version of myself from back then in order to be....here.....now.  Thank you Death Cab.

Day 9....Thankful I'm a teacher

November 9th.  Today I am thankful for people who recognize the hard work I do with my students and the difference I try to make each day.  Being a teacher (and especially one who works in child care) you usually catch a lot more flack for what you didn't do or what you didn't do "right" (in the opinion of the parent) than you do thanks or appreciation, let alone compliments.  I'm not saying I need praise every time I turn around.  I mean after all, I TEACH three year olds....I'm not the three year old. :)

But nonetheless, it's still nice to be validated every once in a while, especially when you think the day is going particularly poorly.

Well today I had an observer in my classroom who saw the good I try to do each day and with just a few sentences, gave my spirits a lift they greatly needed.

Right now I have a class of 15 children.  11 boys and 4 girls.  Needless to say it gets a little crazy! On top of that I have one child with autism and 2 children whose native languages are not English.  They are a great group of kids but they can be more than a handful at times to say the least.  So often I feel like all I do for 8 hours a day is "put out fires" and that I never actually teach them anything.  I know that's not true but it can still get disheartening and frustrating at times.  Especially with Vinnie being gone, it's hard to have a tough day at school and come home to only my husbands face on the webcam instead of having his loving arms to hold me like I'm used to.  But I digress.....

So this very nice observer, who was here to do some evaluations on "Johnny," whom I've previously mentioned in my posts, spoke to me when she was done observing and told me what a wonderful classroom I have and what excellent listeners the children are and that the environment both physical and climate wise has an excellent feeling in it and she wishes she saw more rooms like mine and teachers like me.    She also praised me for what an excellent job I had done in helping create and foster such a positive and supportive environment for Johnny, and the other students, to learn and grow in.  She had no prior information about Johnny and said that as far as she could see as an unbiased observer, he fit in perfectly with his peers and seemed to listen well and be very happy in his surroundings.

As she was telling me this I had several children putting books on their heads and yelling at each other and doing all sorts of things that were not something I wanted anyone to walk in my room and observe.  I thanked her for her compliments and I apologized for their rowdiness to which she replied, "I taught Sunday school for over 15 years and I could never manage to do as well as you do with them.  I can tell they are all happy, well cared for and well taught children who love their teacher very much.  Thank you for allowing me to come into your room today....it's been such a pleasure."  I have never been so touched by a stranger in all my life and her words were truly humbling.  This was God's way of reminding me that what I am doing is making a difference....no matter how hard the days may get, or no matter how many times I have to stop my kids for hitting each other, throwing sand or crying because the coveted "red bike" is being used currently.  For all of the above, I am so thankful.

Day 8 of giving thanks

To continue on with yesterday's post, I am now on track to do my daily "thankful" post for the rest of this wonderful month!  These posts will be short, but sweet......which will be a nice break for those of you who do read my blog.....since my posts are usually juuuuust a tad on the longish side....hehehe  :)

November 8th.  Today I am thankful for the wonderful parents of my students.  I teach a little boy who has a mild form of autism and he is such a joy! We'll call him "Johnny."  I tell Johnny's mom all the time that I wish I had a class of full of kids just like him.  He is one of the kindest, most loving and genuine children I have ever had the pleasure to teach and care for.  He is one of those kids that 20 years from now, I will remember clear as a bell.  The fact that he is such a wonderful human being is because he has amazing parents....and I do mean AMAZING! They are the sincerest of people and they take care of everyone whose path they cross.  They want to do right by their children as well as the people who care for and love their children.  I am lucky enough to be one of those people. 

They just found out about Vinnie moving to Idaho for work and are now making it their mission to find him a GOOD job back here in SC.  They have connections with SCANA, SCDOT and one of the chemical engineering plants in Blythewood!  Working at any one of these companies would be a dream come true for me and Vinnie.  In life (and especially in the south, it seems) everything is about connections and this totally applies when looking for work.  Johnny's parent's help could be the answer to our prayers and even if nothing comes of their job hunting and connections for Vinnie, at least I am being reminded of just how kind and wonderful people can be, especially when you need it the most and when you least expect it.  :) 

A month of Thanks-giving

I saw that a Facebook friend of mine has been posting something she is thankful for as her status each day this month.  I really thought the idea was excellent but decided to steal it instead for use on my blog.....

Obviously I am several days behind in starting this new mini project so I am simply going to think back and list the things I was thankful for these past 7 days.  A lot has changed in my life in this first week of November, but I can think back to each of these days and tell you quiet easily what I was most thankful for each day.  If you read my previous post, they should be very easy for you to understand.

November 1st. I am thankful for webcams and Skype so I can see my husband who is now in Idaho for work :(

November 2nd. I am thankful for unlimited mobile to mobile cell phone minutes so that I can keep my husband on the phone all night long and be comforted by the fact that I can hear him snoring, and therefore I know he is sleeping soundly <3

November 3rd. I am thankful for websites like Hulu that allow me and my husband to watch our favorite tv shows together online, which brings smiles and laughter to both of us....which we especially need during this time.

November 4th. I am thankful for the love and support of my mother and my dear friends who got me through my first week of Vinnie's absence.  I am so blessed to have such an amazing mother who always knows the right things to say, and friends who can give me a hug over the phone, just as well as if they were standing right next to me.

November 5th. I am thankful for hot chocolate and whipped cream and how it always comforts me on cold mornings when I am alone or sad or both.

November 6th. I am thankful impromptu coffee dates with longtime friends. (Hugs to my girl Ashley!)

November 7th.  I am thankful for holiday scented potpourri tarts that make my room smell like Christmas and warm my heart while my love is away...

I know some of those things might be random, but the point of this whole exercise (in my opinion anyway) is to remind us all, that no matter what is happening in our lives right now, we all have things to be thankful for....and it's remembering to stop and be thankful that is most important of all, during this time of year, and the whole year through.

A hot cocoa kind of morning

Well, I'm finally back on my blog and thank goodness because a lot has been going on and I need to get it all out on "paper".....

 Friends, it's one of those mornings where hot chocolate is just the cure for what ails you.  In my case there are several things ailing me but I am doing my best to stay strong, and more importantly, stay thankful for the recent blessings we have been given.  Unfortunately, one of our big recent blessings involved my sweet husband moving clear across the country to, of all places.......Idaho. 

Yes, yes....it finally happened.  My husband got a job working for Motive Power, an electric train company. He is working on a 6 month contract for a client in AUSTRALIA who is buying a TON of trains from Motive for Sydney.  His hiring and moving all happened in the course of one week, and that's why I'm sitting here drinking hot cocoa and marshmallows from my "Tortugas' Lie" mug, missing my husband very badly on our first weekend apart since almost 2 years ago.  Quite frankly, it sucks.  But I learned a long time ago as a little girl that hot cocoa makes you body and soul feel better when you are down.  The mug I'm using? It's from one of me and Vinnie's favorite restaurants in the Outer Banks of NC.....which is where we went for our honeymoon and our first anniversary.  So each sip I take I can reflect on all those wonderful memories we have together from that special piece of the world.  

The great thing about this all is that, in the next few weeks, thanks entirely to Vinnie's new job, my family will be financially stable again.  This is huge as my mother and father are still looking for jobs and not having as much luck as I would have thought......but we all know how the economy and job market are these days, so I shouldn't be surprised.  The not so great thing about his new job is that first of all, it starts off as a 6 month contract with no guarantee that it will continue and be permanent after that, which quite frankly is FINE because there is NO WAY I want to move to Idaho- no offense to anyone who is from there.  Of course it only being temporary meant there was no logical way that I could quit my job and go with him.  I had to make sure I kept things financially stable at home so that when his job ends, we still have steady money coming in.  The other not so good thing about his new job?  They aren't keeping him busy. Now see me, I'm fine sitting behind a desk not doing anything all day long....I could be happy like that.....but not Vinnie.  He is an engineer and for those of you who have engineer friends or family you will know EXACTLY what I mean when I say "he's an engineer."  Engineers by nature must keep busy and keep their minds active to be truly happy and fulfilled.  The last 2 jobs Vinnie has had were contract jobs like this one and BOTH of them promised lots of work and good training for anything he didn't know how to do.  Guess what.....neither one delivered on either count, and it's turning out that this new job is the same song and dance.  So not only is he across the country and away from everyone he knows and loves, but his job isn't even turning out to be what was promised.  

It's so hard for me to be apart from him and I won't get to see him until a few days before Christmas, but I am trying to be strong for the both of us.  I know the last thing he needs is me being mopey and tearful when we talk.  I'm nothing if not a good wife.  In fact, I'm going to go ahead and brag on myself and say I'm a GREAT wife (Vinnie would back me up on this) and a great wife lets her husband knows how much he is loved and missed BUT still supports him in everything he does and does so happily.  So that's what I'm doing.  Supporting him, loving him, missing him and keeping my tears to myself.  He is continuing to look for something back here in SC or in the nearby vicinity.  Even if he could find something within say a 4 hour radius of Columbia, that would make it much more manageable.  So he will keep working and doing the best job he can in Idaho, and I will keep working and doing my best back here in Columbia, and we will get our life and our families life in financial order and be grateful for this recent blessing that God has given us.  

And of course.....I will keep drinking my hot cocoa and count down the days til I see my beautiful, sweet, loving husband again.