January 31, the Thirty-first Step

With January coming to a close, I reflect upon my journey thus far,and I think of how I have grown throughout the past month.  I've spent some quality time with Jessica, and while I will always be her mom, it's nice to be able to be her friend now as well.  She has certainly made us proud!

I think of perseverance when I reflect upon the stolen printer power cord fiasco (I now lock it up each and every evening when I leave school) and how the issue was finally resolved.  It was frustrating but it all worked out in the end.  It also makes me think of the daily grind of being a teacher, dealing with the same issues of students talking when I am, not turning in their assignments, and being less than respectful.  And then one day the bulb lights up and it's clear that I've hit a nerve and they comprehend the relevance of what I'm trying to teach them.  Yesterday I had a guest speaker come to my rowdiest class, and I was really concerned about how they would respond to his topic and presentation.  I had warned him that they could be less than stellar, and by golly, they surprised me and were extremely attentive and the speaker actually commented on that after the students left.  There was one exception, however; the young man who is extremely intelligent but not doing well grade-wise because he doesn't complete or turn in his assignments.  He put his head down and appeared to sleep during the presentation.  Afterward, the presenter mentioned him and summed it up quite well, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink".  Sometimes it seems like there's an entire herd of them hanging out by the water! Iif only I had a crystal ball for them to gaze into their futures!

I think of patience and how sometimes I have a minimal supply of it.  I hate myself for it after the fact, but some situations are just difficult to observe and cause me to lash out when I should practice what I preach and be respectful.

I think of how I'm still running behind with the "better late than never" frame of mind.  For example, the baby quilt project.  If only I can make it home early tomorrow and get the binding sewn around the outer edges, I can do my handstitiching while the Thunder plays tomorrow night.  If only.  We'll see what happens!

I think of something that has puzzled me for quite some time.  It's not a new observation, but just within the past few days I noticed a single shoe in the middle of the road.  How does someone lose one shoe in the middle of the road??!!

Until tomorrow, a new month, a new day and a new set of steps in my journey, Happy Trails!