Fall is on its way.....

I can't believe it has finally cooled off around the area. It was so hot for the first few weeks of school, we couldn't even take the kids outside. The last few days have been wonderful. I have to say, I'm ready for fall. I love the silly Halloween decorations that have already appeared in stores. I even saw some pumpkins in front of Kroger yesterday. I like "sweatshirt weather" much better than hot, hot, hot!

As usual, I am going to take the easy way out and just do "bits and pieces" of my life. I just don't think I have enough mental energy on the weekend to write a single, one topic post. Or maybe I'm just lazy. (smirk) Who knows?

School was truly terrible the first half of the week. I felt like I was professionally "ganged up on" in a meeting on Tuesday. Several people who could have supported me in my opinions took the easy way out and instead decided to say the politically correct things and left me out on a limb all by myself. But no matter. One of them is a woman who is at the district level, who only swoops in to be a professional prima donna, and then leaves everything in a mess, and I don't respect her anyway. I can't control what she does, so I chose to ignore her. She's a Barbie Doll anyway.

Anyway....... I may have mentioned a new student I have, who has been truly psychotic in the first couple of weeks with me. I'll call him A. The turning point finally came Wednesday. Wednesday was the first day I saw a glimmer of hope. He finally showed me that he can do what he needs to do to stay in my room. Up until that point, I really didn't think he could stay. I really didn't think it was possible for him to comply at any level.

But Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday he was able to do it for short periods. Honestly I feel like I'm training a blind person to walk on his own. A. and I spent 30 minutes on Friday just learning to raise his hand and ASK to go to the bathroom, then WALKING there. He cried, he screamed, he threw himself on the floor, we had to go back again and again (if he ran, we had to go back and try again), but he finally raised his hand, grunted out a request, and stomped his way to the bathroom, declaring all the way that I was mean and unfair and he "hated this stupid school and its stupid rules and all the stupid people in it." Luckily the rest of my class was being very good at that time, so they continued working with my assistant, while A. and I were struggling. We had another "lesson in compliance" on the way to the bus at the end of the day, but finally he did it my way. After Wednesday, I felt like a load was lifted off my shoulders. I didn't realize how stressed I was over this boy until then. Thursday and Friday I actually did not dread going to work, that's how volatile he had been. And believe me, he's still volatile, but at least I know he can do it.

Things at home are mostly good. Joseph is finally feeling a little less stressed over work and school, now that his boss has finally cut back his hours. We went to a college info night at the school that made me feel a little better about applications and financial aid. He's taking the ACT test this morning. Rachael is swimming right along. She is excited about her upcoming "Stage One" play, and both she and Joseph made "Providence Singers" again - the group that does singing shows around the area. They were both in it last year, so they're happy to be back with it. Daniel had an awesome football night Thursday. He played defense in both the 8th and 7th grade games, having outstanding plays in both. I could write a whole post about his football (and I have before) but I'm not good at describing what exactly happened. The best play of the game, in my opinion, was when they were in overtime "sudden death". Daniel hit the receiver, forced the fumble, and recovered the ball. As a defensive lineman, his hands hardly ever touch that ball, but when he got up from the pile, he lifted that ball high!!! His team then scored in the next play and they won the game. He was so happy! Finally, Aaron is back in action. He has been to the gym twice this week, been to soccer practice, and this morning he has his first game.


My love life is finally showing some improvements. I've met a very nice man online, named Gary, and we have our first date tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.

That's all for now.
J.