Sorry about that last off-the-wall post. I was updating another blog, and that's when I noticed the colored letter thing. It freaked me out a bit.

My word for the day should actually be Serendipitous, because that is how I feel today.

Serendipity means "good fortune or good luck." Serendipitous would then mean fortunate and lucky. And I think that's a good word for me right now.

Last night, Brent went hunting with his dad and brothers (Brent does not actually hunt, so he's just communing with nature, I guess), so it was just the kids and I. Then, my parents took all three kids home with them after we'd had supper out. So, I had the house to myself! I decided to go watch the high school boys/girls basketball teams play at home - having a nice chat in the stands with a teacher friend in the process. Then I came home, chatted with a friend online until about midnight.

The parents called a bit early this morning to go out for breakfast, but I got up and at 'em. The kids and I have just mostly hung about the house today; we did do our grocery shopping earlier this morning. Elliot is napping, Spencer is having a quick go on the video games, and Kirby is eating her late lunch (she fell asleep on the way home). Oh - and I did a substantial bit of grading/bookkeeping last night.

So...I am feeling a bit fortunate and lucky right now. I was able to have some time to myself last night. I have the money to be able to shop. The sun is shining. Some of my work is done. And I have the perspective to realize that I AM fortunate.

And...my husband will be coming home from his adventures this evening. I am looking forward to seeing him!

Goddess Bless You All This Weekend.

Is it me?? Or am I on drugs?

Does anyone else notice that the capital letters here are a different color? Like a dark green? Watch...

jfjfjjgjldfjljjgAGLJEPJLVJSLDJGL:JLJL:JSDRPGUPGKLJSEOPOPSEOPOSEJKVKNahfjfjfjfjfjfjfjkkgkel

Those big letters look different, don't they?

Edited to add: I'm an idiot. You won't be able to tell if they look different or not because my text's pink. Check out my comments - I'll try it there.

I'm dedicating tonight's entry to a friend of mine from Minnesota.

Ruth is a middle school English teacher in the small town where I began my first teaching job. My first year (ever) of teaching was spent trying to survive, so personal relationships took a backseat to that "trying to keep my head above water" syndrome of a newbie teacher.

However, at that time, Ruth was in her early forties, and was just discovering love and planning a wedding, so she really didn't take much notice of me, I'm sure. :)

But, as I settled in, she and I became friends...mainly because of our love of gabbing. We'd eat lunch together, talk, laugh...and pretty soon, we were doing things outside of school together, like going out for breakfast before an inservice morning. Or go Christmas shopping in the Cities. Or attend plays at the Civic Center.

She really became one of my true confidantes. We'd commiserate about our husbands, the "corporateness" of the company they worked for...but sometimes, these gripe sessions would get dead serious. She was in the throes of a first marriage (a second for her husband), and the ex-wife was being nasty, or the step-kids were being nasty. And Ruth, being of a gentle-hearted nature, would get very emotional during some of our talks. But yet, she always tried to put up a brave front and soldier on. She still could laugh...and it was a hearty laugh at that.

So...in my last full year of teaching in Minnesota (2004-2005), she was very down about her marriage. Things were not going well, there were divorce talks, but finally she was able to get her husband to some kind of counseling...and they seemed well on their way to recovery.

We moved back to Iowa in August 2005. At that point, I still emailed Ruth every now and then, but here I was in first-year teaching mode again, and time and correspondence simply got away from me. I visited her at Christmas and then I heard from her in May when she emailed to congratulate me on the sale of our Minnesota house.

Fast forward to earlier this week. With some extra time on my hands, I got the urge to reforge my personal networks and emailed Ruth again to catch up. I expected to hear from her, but I was shocked when she told me her husband had left her for another woman. That was this last June. He would not grant her a divorce, stating it was too expensive...and she had not heard from him since early September. Her words to me then were "I'm so frazzled and I'm hanging on by a very, very thin thread.

And so now, I cannot stop thinking about this woman, this friend of mine. She is one of the most generous, kind-hearted people I know. She's the one who remembered birthdays and house-warming presents. My heart feels so sad for her, because she simply doesn't deserve this anguish. I've been thinking about her all day, and I guess I just wanted to send some love and thoughts and prayers her way. I hope things get better soon.

High school kids who fail their classes.

Let me clarify - high school kids who fail their classes because they do not do the work.

It boggles the mind. One time in college, I had to retake a Literary Criticism and Analysis (gag) because I had a C-, and I was supposed to have a C or better in all my major classes. I cannot begin to even express to you, dear readers, how disgusted I was to be sitting in THAT same class again. Of course, I had the advantage of having a totally different professor teach the same course - and I did much better. Also, the fact that I WAS A REPEATER definitely motivated me the second time around.

DISCLAIMER: So that you don't think I'm a completely lazy nimrod, the first professor was teaching LC & A for the first time, and no idea what she was doing. And she was icky.

Now, apply my little episode of discomfort to high school kids. This trimester, I have about five repeaters, four sophomores and one junior. This is where you must imagine me with an expression of amazement. An 11th grader taking a freshman English course? Yes, it's true, because he hasn't passed it the first two times he took it. And then, I think, OMG. To sit for twelve weeks, in a class, listening to the same old-same old as last year. Reading the same short stories. Doing the same research paper assignment. Of course, it's mostly because they DIDN'T do these things that they're back in the class. I just cannot imagine sitting amongst students who KNOW I'm a repeater, wasting my time in a class I should have passed the first time! Let me reiterate here that these are students I had last year who failed only because they did not turn in their work. Honestly, I have not had a repeater yet who was back because they didn't understand the work of the class.

And when I talk to these students, they express indifference at their predicament, and tell me they really don't like school and don't care about it that much. So...if they don't like it that much, why are they taking the longest route of getting out of there?

I'm not trying to pass judgment...but I don't understand where the apathy comes from. Has it been fostered at home? Did they have a really bad school experience somewhere along the way? Are they bad at reading, and so they've just stopped trying?

All I know is, they're not ready for the real world. You can't do 32% of your job. You don't get "do-overs." You don't just decide you don't feel like doing certain parts of your job. If you do, you don't have a job.

I think I will close this rant with a question.

Who's got a solution??

At least, this was the message of a gentleman in my church Sunday School class today.

The topic of discussion today was the commercialism of Christmas, and how so many people forget 'the reason for the season.' This one gentleman in my group (who is very nice, but very conservative) goes on to say that if you switched the letters in SANTA around, you would have SATAN. And in fact, he says, Santa has stolen much of Jesus' thunder, and that is the working of Satan.

'Tweech his own. But I had to intervene.

I said that I was actually OK with the idea of Santa Claus. He represents the spirit of giving and children. The IDEA of SC is a good one...it's our society that has turned him and the holiday into something different. I left it at that.

I would have liked to include in my little spiel...

For me, personally...Jesus is NOT the reason for the season. We celebrate his birthday on December 25th...but as he wasn't even born in December. He was born in the spring. Early Christianity superimposed his birthday and subsequent celebrations onto the pagan holiday of Yule. There was no way the Church could eradicate all the pagan/rural celebrations in and around the 25th of December, so they decided 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' It's all very interesting how many of the Christmas/holiday traditions we do today have roots in Paganism. Evergreens, wreaths, red/green, Christmas trees, decorating our houses with lights - ALL pagan origins.

OK, I'm getting worked up. It's probably a good place to stop. Ultimately, I do not actively encourage Santa at our house (lists, letters to the North Pole, visits on his lap), however, I do not disdain the idea of Santa. I think he represents what is more needed in our society - Giving.