Sympathy Pains

When my children were (very) small I would find that I would have symptoms similar to their ailments. For example, I would experience a dull ache in my ear whenever they had ear infections. And, most certainly, my heart would ache when I saw them suffer emotionally.

These days I feel a variety of sympathy pains.

One boy was badly burned by the sun. The skin all over his back and shoulders is blistered and bubbled. It oozes and a layer or two comes off each time he removes his clothing. This same boy is "burning the candle at both ends," working full time while shearing sheep, giving lessons, and practicing for this weekend's performances. He is up before the crack of down, and home well after I go to bed at night. I'm exhausted to see him exhausted.

Another boy has had a very discouraging experience at his first job. His employer keeps him walking back and forth in the same position for hours on end. His feet are swollen and covered with blisters and open wounds.

My two Jamaican "daughters" sent money home with Western Union, only to be scammed by the store receiving the money on the Jamaican side. One sends money home to her father, who is caring for her child over the summer while she works at a minimum wage job selling french fries to Americans.

Last night I had a terrible migraine. The pain kept me from sleeping, and I tossed and turned for hours to the sound of the sheep dog barking at deer. The next morning I learned that my dear cousin had fallen into a coma, the result of an undetected brain tumor.

Phil 2:1-4 (Phi) Now if you have known anything of Christ's encouragement and of his reassuring love; if you have known something of the fellowship of his Spirit, and of compassion and deep sympathy, do make my joy complete--live together in harmony, live together in love, as though you had only one mind and spirit between you. Never act from motives of rivalry or personal vanity, but in humility think more of each other than you do of yourselves. None of you should think only of his own affairs, but consider other people's interests also.

On Procrastination - Making Memories NOW

We've made some great summer memories this year and we're only in the second week of July!

I treasure driving around with my 16-year-old son "looking for trouble." We found it in an Indian smoke shop that sells home-made cinnamon rolls the size of a pie plate.

Last weekend the oldest boy and I impulsively wrestled a ginormous blackberry patch behind our old house. We were determined to dig up and transplant some of the healthiest canes in order to get them growing at our new farm. We broke the spade as we dug. So we stopped and ate berries, and ate more berries. And took silly cell-phone pictures of berries.

One night after work I took the children to see a lamb we had donated to a petting zoo. Since we were already near the lake we decided to go to the shore and jump in. Clothes on. The cold lake water felt delicious.

This summer I'm making the most of the fact that I work at an amusement park. We're seeing the shows, splashing in the water park, and visiting the surrounding attractions.

We've made friends with some of the International Students. Even though life is already busy, "fitting in time" for these folks blesses us greatly. I've learned about "Akkee and Fish," the national dish of Jamaica. I also learned that one of the students has a one-year-old son at home. She had to leave him at home with her dad because this was the only work she could find. She works in Food Service at minimum wage.

I'm trying harder to lean in, instead of waiting for a better time to do "such and such." I'm sorting one box per day from our mountain of boxes from the move. And I'm not saving items "for a later date" as has been my custom.

I'm learning to organize and push myself as I've seen my best friend Y (from Japan) do.

She lives every day as if there could be an earthquake tomorrow. Now is the time to "get it done."

Picture Summer - July Photo A Day Challenge

“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Lessons Learned post-Graduation

Graduating High School Senior has accepted his diploma. He sang in the senior choir, made his speech, visited with well-wishers, and then crashed (slept) on the couch still in his dress clothes.

We hosted a party the next day for between 125 and 175 people. It was difficult to tell exactly how many guests had visited.

Through it all, I didn't know if I was coming or going. I didn't know exactly who was coming or going. Quite literally.

My grandmother, up there in years, drove herself the 6-hour distance from her home to our town. It was rumored that she was on her way.

During the days I thought she was driving I worried.

And I listened for the phone and I watched the driveway, hoping for a link to the coming and going.

Finally someone's Facebook post showed a picture of her in another town an hour away.

"I guess she made it," I said to myself. I was very much guessing.

Out of the loop. Out of sorts.

We learned many lessons through this experience.

1. Do not throw a party the day after graduation. Give yourself some time to prepare, once the June concerts, senior dinners, and class nights have come to an end.

2. Use heave-duty mosquito control.

3. Put large fans in the barn if it's a hot day. Nobody wants to dance inside a red, metal oven.

4. Borrow coolers and refrigerators. Lots of them. Have enough cold, bottled water on hand to provide for a small village, let alone a group the size of a backyard get-together.

5. Start saving now for the next boy's grad party. T minus two years.

Lessons from High School

I taught a review class today. One student came (which is one more over the number I had predicted would attend).

I have only one more day's worth of responsibilities before me as a high school teacher. Next Monday I will arrive at 7 a.m., give the Regional exam for three hours, help grade it, and then turn in my grades and my classroom key.

Here is the beginning of a list I've been working on.

"The Top Ten Lessons I've Learned from my Year as a High School Spanish Teacher."

1. High School students don't care what you've published, where you've worked before, or where you went to college. They will still call you names, bite you, scratch you, and beg for no homework.

2. The end of the school year is more bitter than sweet. A senior at our school took his own life the night before the last day of school.

3. Students judge one another not just by appearances but by the quality of their vacations and summer job.

4. Most (not all of) today's students are so engrossed in social media and cell phones and each other that they barely look to adults for advice or instruction.

5. So much of the responsibility of learning has been shifted to the teacher that students and parents expect them to do the learning as well as provide instruction.

Disgruntled Employee

The slang term " going postal" was originally coined after a series of real life shootings in the postal service. It has come to be associated with becoming extremely and uncontrollably angry, often to the point of violence, and usually in a workplace.

This morning I became extremely angry over a filthy workplace.

I'm tired of being the only person in the office to shovel snow, move boxes, clean up when the shredder pukes, and wash windows.

Our office vacuum cleaner was thrown away months ago. The vacuum for the building I supervise has been broken for weeks. The cleaning staff has been directed not to work in support or administrative areas of the company but rather to focus on customer-facing areas.

After a day off I I came back to work and focused on the dirt. Poop and pee on the floor and walls of the bathroom. Black mold along the baseboards. Dried up (and fresh) food across the floor of the break room. Staples, wads of paper, and stones all over the floor of the common area.

I became determined to find a working vacuum.

I went to HR (the director there brought in her own personal vacuum).

The department that oversees house-keeping gave me a vacuum that didn't suck dirt. Instead, it spilled black clouds of dust into the air. I promptly returned it and widened my search to other buildings.

I was especially annoyed when, in the middle of my cleaning spree (using my own Clorox wipes on the walls and toilets), the Office Manager asked if I had ordered water.

I mumbled under my breath..."when I'm done washing your toilet and kitchen floors, I'll fetch your water."

I feel like Cinderella. My clothes are stained, my hands are filthy, and my contacts are full of dust.

I wish I could explain why I feel this situation is wrong, instead of turning into an emotional, angry employee.

It's not like me to say, "that's not my job." Perhaps, however, we could rotate the responsibility or post signs in the break room reminding people to empty the garbage before it rots and overflows.

Caught Off Guard

As a kid I was always caught off guard by the end of the school year. "How can that be?" you might ask. The weather warms up and we should know that summer vacation is nearing. The focus inside the classroom turns to testing and test preparation.

The kid "me" would still wake up one day, every June, completely surprised that, all of a sudden, there was no school bus to catch or lunch to pack. It might have been because I really,k really loved school.

It's amazing that this year I could be caught off guard. We watch the calendar closely so as not to miss J's senior events. We're preparing the house and grounds for a graduation ceremony.

The little ones are giddy.

Still, I just looked up at my teaching calendar and found, much to my surprise, that I only have two days of work left.

And I'm sad. Because I really, really love my students.