But I'm supposed to have more time!

A few years ago, pre-Andrew (p.A.), my husband and I were walking through the neighborhood. At the time, we were renting the bottom half of a duplex, one block from our current house. We were pointing out features that we liked on houses. As were were chatting and walking, a guy doing some work in his garage overheard us and shouted, "Don't do it! Once you own a house, the work never stops." We thanked him for his sincere (not to mention unsolicited)advice and carried on our merry way. Within the year, we had purchased our home.

As I have stated before, we have really let the upkeep of our house get away from us. Hurricane Andrew is one reason. A never-ending pile of papers to grade has been another. Finally, with my year off, we are addressing some of the house issues that we have been avoiding.

We have finally agreed to paint for the living room and dining room. That sounds lame even as I write it! Anyway, this venture, thus far, has taken up more of my time than I would have like, and we haven't even started to paint. It will be nice when it's done, but that guy was right, the work never ends.

One goal accomplished!

I told myself that when I spent this school year on leave, that I would achieve certain goals. One of those goals is done. I actually wrote a children's book! It needs some tweaking; I need to revisit and revise some word choices and I need illustrations. Next week I will start researching publishers and researching how to get this thing published.

I also have one chapter roughly written for my novel!

To celebrate, I toast myself with a small glass of Bailey's!

Do you know anyone’s name?

Today was Andrew’s second day of Junior Kindergarten. He attends school everyday for a half-day. So far, so good. He has looked pretty dazed both days as I pick him up.

That dazed look, while normal I am sure, always worries me. Since we have brought him home from China, his only playmates have been us. We have no family with small cousins. We have a number of still single and childless friends, and our street has been devoid of little guys his age. The children we do know live an hour or two away.

We have put him in classes and sent him to Montessori to interact with other children. Yet, he still makes us as his first choice playmates. I teach teenagers, so I know that I should relish this as long as I can. I still wish that he could tell me the name of at least one classmate.

I guess that I have first week jitters that I am sure will pass.

Getting serious about writing

I am a slacker! Maybe not world class (ahem…FM), but I am one, none the less! I started this blog three months ago and then I basically abandoned it.

Oh sure, I could make excuses. For example, I could plead that I spent the whole summer having fun with my hubby and son. We went to free events in town and took a short road trip. Or,I could explain that I spent a large portion of my summer trying (with mixed results) to get the house in order. Not Pottery Barn order, mind you. I just didn’t want my house to have that special homeless look.

But, what’s the point of excuses. I don’t feel any better after making them. All I can say is that I, henceforth, will put energy into writing now that everyone (husband and son) is in school.

Gossipy books

The great thing about a teacher’s summer vacation is the fact that, if we plan our time wisely, we have time to read as much as we like. That’s what I am doing with part of my time anyway.

In the month since school has ended, I’ve gotten through two books and I’ve started a third. The first was a goofy book titled The Secret Lives of Great Authors by Robert Schnakenberg. The second was a far more serious piece of non fiction by Ishmael Beah called A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. The third book is a small book that might be familiar to you, Anna Karenina by some guy named Leo Tolstoy. For fun, I will occasionally review the books I’ve read.

I’ll start with The Secret Lives of Great Authors by Robert Schnakenberg. A co-worker loaned it to me for the summer and swore that I would love it. I’m not sure love is a good description. This book is kind of like People for literature geeks. It’s not particularly well-written (not unlike this blog) but it has a handful of juicy little tidbits about many of the authors whom I admire. Some of the “revelations” were not really that shocking. For example, the anecdote revealing that Walt Whitman kissed Oscar Wilde squarely on the lips is not very surprising. Actually, I had quite a chuckle when I read it. Walt was 63 at the time while Oscar was a mere 28! I say bully for Walt! On the other hand, I found it all together disturbing that Gertrude Stein was friends with a Nazi collaborator in the Vichy government.

All of this brings me to a larger question – why do so many people read or watch celebrity “news”? I know that some of it can’t be avoided, especially when some of it (the Pitt-Jolie birthing event) shows up in serious news outlets. I’m thinking more about those shows or magazines dedicated wholly to lives of the rich and famous. What do people get out of reading those? Fess up, which one of the grocery store line magazines do you pick up and thumb through while waiting?

Boy, this is a lot of work

I did not realize that toilet training would be so tiring. We started with my son last week and it is all we have been doing. At first, he would scream and cry and whine that he did not want to sit on the toilet. Luckily for us, we had the right combination of bribes for the boy - small trucks and cars!

I am ashamed to admit that we bribed our son, but we did it. To be honest, it has worked out quite nicely for us. Within a seven day period, he has gone from screams to now telling us when he has to go to the bathroom. So far, he is making to the toilet on time - we haven't had an accident since Saturday.

What is a little vexing for me is that we could have gone with a much cheaper bribe. We have run out of dinky cars and have purchased all that are available at our local toy store. We are now using stickers and I'll be damned if he isn't just as happy with stickers. Oh well, as my husband has been saying, if someone had told him that for $35 (the amount we have spent on cars), our son would be toilet trained in a week, we would have thought it was a bargain.

Finally - a contract!

I am a member of my local's negotiating team. We started negotiating last spring and did not wrap up until two weeks ago. It has been a long haul. The teacher's union and the district argued over small things like the number of staff meetings allowed and big items like how many sick days can be banked for purposes of payout at the time of retirement. The time spent at the bargaining table and at planning sessions was more than I had anticipated. I ended up being very far behind on grading papers and helping out on housework. My husband has a tremendous amount of patience and I truly appreciate it.

In the end, we got a small pay increase, a big increase in the amount of bankable days for retirement severance (at the expense of new hirees) , and most importantly, no concessions on health care co-pays.

I am thrilled that I will not be negotiating during my leave. I can focus on my goals, my family, and myself. I am glad, however, that I was a part of the bargaining team. I learned a lot and the opportunity gave me concrete issues to think about as I contemplate my future in teaching and in the union. You see, when this contract expires we will elect new officers. I am already the secretary, a job that I have enjoyed. But, our president has more than suggested that this was the last contract that he will negotiate. Many people are looking to me to step into that position. It is my own fault. I have never been shy about expressing my interest in the president's spot. I believe that I can do a good job. I cannot logically tell you why I believe so. The district is not healthy and it doesn't look like administration has any clue on how to cure the many problems. The economy in the state of Michigan is awful and I don't expect it to get better anytime soon. NCLB is a terrible law that is driving education into privatize hands. Yet, I am delusional enough to believe that I can ride in on a white horse and help the union and the district.

Hopefully, the next year allows to examine this issue a little more in depth and a little more dispassionately than I normally do.