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Saturday, January 18, 2020

Currently


- Orlando squirrels are the most cunning and dexterous critters ever. They have mastered my squirrel baffle on the bird feeder (which the Lakeland ones never did) and one managed to chew a hole through our pool screen then sniff out the bird seed in the pool chest, then proceeded to chew a hole through the chest in order to get to the seeds. Now the bird seed lives inside the house.

- Savanna found a four leaf clover in our yard.

- The flu has really been awful this year. At one point we had 15 kids absent from my classroom of 49. It hit Scarlette and Adam too.

- I finally cleaned out the sunroom and it is ready for a chair, perhaps a chaise lounge, and a rug. 

- Plant lady realization: I have a hard time keeping ferns alive unless I plant them outside.

- Planners and journals I am heart eyed over: One List A Day, Many Moons Lunar Planner and the Tudor Planner. Now I am juggling four planners and throwing caution to the wind. Only time will tell if I give up on any of them.

- I placed a fat order from Shannon at The Bathing Garden for some minty wax (which in my defense I have run out of) and scrubs. Ok, NOW I am on my wax low-buy/no-buy.

- When did plane tickets get so expensive? What do you use to get your tickets? I am currently using Sky Scanner but it isn't really gifting up much in the way of savings. We are flying out to Vegas as a family of four for my sister's wedding in April. Please spill your flight saving secrets. I am considering becoming a flight attendant at this point in my life.

- Speaking of career decisions, I am taking the grade 5-9 Science subject area exam in a couple weekends. If you have an good juju you want to blow my way I am receptive. I think the only thing that will hinder me is all the computer programming language and information standards for 9th grade. I don't know the difference between java and java script. I only know I love java. In a cup. Yeah. Teacher jokes. 

What's currently going on in your life?

10 comments:

  1. Ugh those squirrels!! I used to hate them digging up all my potted plants. Im a peaceful
    vegetarian, but I got so mad I fantasized about my Grandma's old depression-era cookbook with the recipe for fried squirrel...

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    1. Yes! LOL!!! We would never hurt (or eat!) them either but boy howdy are they frustrating!!! Now if I could find a way to trap and relocate them to a park that would be nice....

      However I think I must reconcile myself to a squirrel world. But our pool screen bills are gonna be high.

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  2. Tell me about it! We are in Apopka, and since we moved here 6 months ago the squirrels have eaten part of the fuel systems of two of out CARS! The Honda needed the entire gas tank replaced because of it. Who knew?

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    1. How funny! We are basically on the outskirts of Apopka. We do most of our grocery shopping and errands in Apopka. Plus my favorite plant nursery is there too. Crazy about the car!!!! Thankfully we keep ours in the garage and the squirrels haven't managed to find a way in there.... yet.

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  3. I'm sorry, there was one huge standout from this post - you have 49 kids in your classroom? That is...actually insane. The teachers in my province have been carrying out rotating strikes for the past month or so as they try to re-negotiate their contracts, and one of the big sticking points is class sizes, which to this point are in the high 20s and low 30s. 49 kids is just incomprehensible. I more than understand the job dissatisfaction now - like, to the power of 1,000,000.

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    1. Yeah... there are two of us teachers in the classroom so that is SUPPOSED to help with the law of class size, however, cramming 50 kids in our small one room is tantamount to chaos on the best of days. It is just too hard to get the time to spend one-on-one with them plus they lack room to work comfortably. The noise level is harder to control too. But we are doing our best and overall it has been nice getting to know the kiddos. But yes. I hope your teachers get the demands they desire. It is SO HARD teaching. Florida is trying to get some momentum built to give our teachers better pay and better classroom conditions. It is a constant battle. (I am sad to say that I am getting paid a little LESS today than I did back in 2008 when I first resigned from teaching to be a stay-at-home mom). That is how broken our system is. Sigh.

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    2. Jeez, Julie, that sounds like barely controlled anarchy. Will's been working in a "collaborative work environment" for the past few months. Translation: 60 tech dudes in one room together with no dividers or privacy or the ability to even think straight. How have we come to a point where we think this kind of setup, whether it's at work or at school, produces positive results? I believe your pay has taken a hit, too - if you don't have a ball-busting union behind you like the teachers' unions here in Canada (the union actually OWNS Bell Canada, one of our two major telecom providers) you're at a loss. ARE you unionized, if I may ask? Anyhow, if you ever want to talk more privately about any of these things, just hit me up on FB or wherever. I get the need to vent, but also to keep things discreet. I've got a lot of friends in teaching, and no matter where you are, your issues are all the same.

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    3. Doesn't Google work that way too? Just wide open spaces with people thrown in? I am so sorry for your husband. I cannot imagine it is conducive to thinking and working. Our pay is always taking a hit. I don't mind talking publicly about it. We have unions in Florida for teachers but they are a joke. They don't do anything for us but offer a scant amount of liability and representation if we are in trouble. I am not a member. The cost does not offset the benefits.

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  4. Sorry that you have been facing such work struggles. Shel has been dealing with a lot of teacher frustration and is ready to throw in the towel often (which honestly puts me into a panic about our future).
    I know that this was posted a month ago and hope you are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel at least. Less than one month till Spring, yay!

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    1. Teaching is so fraught with emotion as it is, getting to know the kids, trying to reach them where they are in learning and needs but then to add all the rest on top is draining at times. I can understand how Shel feels. I am seeing the light though. I have decided to try teaching in a different subject. I think that may help. I am going to focus on middle school science whereas I have been teaching all subjects to 4th, 5th and 6th graders and that is a lot of ground to cover. Hope you are doing well too. <3

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