A Gorgeous Day in Silverdale
6/9/2002
An odd thing happened today in the little town by the mall. Instead of rain falling from the sky, there was a large bright ball which made everything warm. Most peculiar…
I took advantage of this strange event by finishing the mowing started yesterday, going jogging, doing work (playing) on the computers and trying to watch all the rented movies and return them before 12:00. A full day!
The “work” was editing a PowerPoint presentation one of my fellow teachers put together. It’s of mostly photos of Clear Creek staff going about their business and George asked me to throw in some (hopefully amusing) commentary so that is what I attempted. I think it’ll go well with the exception of the picture of B the day custodian. Humor just doesn’t stick with that woman. Nice lady; we get along fine but her aura, her magnetic field or something, seems to deflect all forms of comedy. The word “shit” is almost always good for a chuckle but in this case it would probably just be viewed in poor taste.
The presentation is for our End of the Year seminar at the Island Lake Conference Center. The Center is just a large hall in Northern Silverdale (the swanky part of town) and Clear Creek has its year-end shindig there because it’s nice, close, and there’s NO DRINKING ON SCHOOL PROPERTY. The official business involved is deciding on some scheduling for next year, saying goodbye to the outgoing teachers, and hello to our new teachers (That is, new since the 00-01 school year.) After this point last year, the men folk all left and the women did who knows what. There seems to be an informal segregation between the sexes at Clear Creek which is odd as we have a much higher percentage of males (about 1/3 the staff) than other elementary schools. I seem to be the exception as I hang out more with women than men. (Wendi’s our social director and my closest coworkers are all ladies. Well, females.)
S and family stopped by last night. It was the first time they’d all been here since Halloween. I wish they’d come out here more. The girls certainly like coming out here and F always seems to enjoy chatting with Wendi. (This is true at any sort of Hardy/Berry gathering.) They certainly did yesterday, mostly about their moronic husbands. S works a lot and F’s not happy about it. He makes me look like a clacker. Then again, I have a lawn, molding, paved driveway, and other nice touches that the woman-folk seem to prefer.
(Wendi also talked pregnancy plans, so it seems the cat’s out of the bag.)
While the Sisters in Law were bemoaning their dopy men and talking house decorating tips, S, the giris and I were having a wonderful time playing Nintendo games on Wendi's GameCube. The adults had to drag us away after many hours to feed us at the local Chinese Restaurant. It was a nice time but I suspect on the trip back to Bainbridge, my older brother got an earful about all the things their home needs.
BTW (By the Way to the non-tech savvy), they are going to Disneyland next week with perhaps a quick drive to San Diego too.
Speaking of tech-savvy, I got my first post-graduation transcript from Lesley University yesterday. lt lists "Master of Education” being conferred on 5/20/02. Doesn't yet feel real. Should have a party or something. Might get a few presents out of it! The only problem is my insane Sister in law is getting married weekend after next and since we're not lifting a finger on her account, she1 s certainly not doing so on my account. Granted, I've been working on this degree longer than she has her relationship but that's neither here nor there.
Clear Creek sp/ed services end on Thursday of next week. This gives us special ed. teachers a chance to do all the end of year stuff before, well, the end of the year. It pisses off the regular teachers to no end but c'est la vie. We're actually ending later in the year than other schools. it Would be nice to get everything done: grades, testing, paperwork, storage, etc. done before the actual end of the year. Last year, it took me two half days to get everything squared away, Correction, two un-pald half days. THANKS, GOVERNOR! (This was only the fourth weekend of the year I didn't go into work but I couldn't leave without my grade book, plan book and math teacher’s manual.)
So anyway. I’ll really focus on getting everything ship-shape during the actual school year. It would be nice to spend time in a 5th grade classroom to get a feel for it. Granted, ANY class in mid-June is going to be off-kilter.
It’ll also be important to start hitting any/all book sales that come my way in the future. Probably my biggest expense next fall will be coming up with a new classroom library suitable for 5th graders. "Frog and Toad” and "Arthur” books just aren’t big with that set. S seemed very surprised that teachers had to pay their own money to set up their classrooms. (That is, to do their jobs.) Oh S, so innocent…
Hearing F speak about her frustration (via Wendi later that night) over S’s killer work schedule makes me feel a wee bit better about my crummy old job. The pay’s low and the hours are long but at least it means something. When I start to teach well, it will make quite a difference. That really isn’t something S, J, or H could say.
Unfortunately, the fact that I could be making an extra 4-5 hundred per paycheck for the same work were we to move 90 minutes south or, much more bothersome, an extra thousand per month were we to drive four hours south (granted, at 1:30 AM) kinda takes the warming glow off it all. But I’ve traveled down this well-worn road before.
I took a few pictures yesterday but nothing spectacular. We’re still in the novice stage of digital photography. I’ll send you one or two once they’re on the computer.
Just about dinner time. I’d best go check on things.
Adios,
Brian