Talking with Parents

Of course I have to call parents all of the time. Some phone calls are hard, some are easy. Parents know their children better than I do. They have been with them for years so today I spoke to two parents who were very cooperative and easy to talk with and one that wasn’t so easy to speak with.  Who benefits? The children of the parents who are easy to talk to because the parents and I can work with them.

The parent who was hard to talk with said, “my child only has difficulty in your class.”  I tried to bring the parent around so we could get the child help, but the parent was just looking to blame me. After getting off the phone, I spoke to three other teachers who had the child. They all said they had contacted the parent within the last two weeks and got the same response.

So that’s the hard part of my job. Not the students, but the uncooperative parents.

 * One of my eighth grade girls was moving her mouth at me in the hall. When I asked her what she said, she replied, “I was just streching my jaw.” It was very funny for all who saw it.

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$50 Paypal Giveaway

The Rookie Blogger has a $50.00 giveaway, but you will need to give him a special message. See his site here.

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Keratosis Pilaris

I’ve had KP (Keratosis Pilaris) since I was 12 years old. KP is an inherited dry bumpy skin condition on the backs of the arms and thighs of the legs.  It was estimated that one in three people have it. I have very light, Irish skin and I am sure that has something to do with it. My Mother didn’t have this problem and she didn’t really know how to deal with it. When I got older, I got different creams from dermatologists offices, but either I was allergic to the creams or they had a terrible smell. Anyway, KP is  a harmless condition,except I rarely wear strapless or sleeveless shirts (or dresses) because I don’t want to look at the bumps on my arms.

 When I was a kid, I always thought I had it because I didn’t scrub enough. Then I would really scrub the area and it would be even worse.

 Today I tried DERMAdoctor KP duty. So far so good. I’ll write more when I know more.

update: I’ve used the KP duty for three days and my skin looks almost 100 percent clear. I asked my friend, Karen about it and she laughed because she said she never noticed. I asked her to inspect the area and she said someone would need to be close up to see the bumps. Well, I am close up and I don’t like them. And if it bothers me, then I need to take care of it :)

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Beautiful Day

It’s a brisk and beautiful day out.

 Many people see the changing weather as a time to show out in NYC. A man on my block pulled his car so close to my car as he pulled into a driveway that wasn’t his. I wrote down his plate because my car has been hit before and the driver who hit it left without saying a word. Most people in NYC aren’t like this of course, but the reality is that some people are.

Anyway, I stayed calm and I spoke to the driver. He was real rude to me and said if I had anything to say him then my husband should speak to him. Oooooooooooo he shouldn’t have said that.

 Granted he was a Hasidic Jew, but he must realize that non-Jewish women are not going to bend to his religion. I told him he was rude and I didn’t want my car hit again. When I showed him that there wasn’t even a foot between the front of my car and his, he didn’t say anything.

I came inside and used the web to look up Judism and Christianity. I thought there was a part in the Bible where Jews were suppose to like or be kind to Christians. I am always kind to people, regardless of their faith. So to be spoken to in such a rude, disrespectful way shocked me. I couldn’t find the quote about it, but I found so many sites which spoke of the Talmud and the awful things about non-Jews in the book. What’s up with that? Why would any religion preach against another religion? Uuugggghhhhh! 

Is this site true?  

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Fall Y’all Giveaway

I found so many new and interesting blogs in the last bloggy giveaway!

So this giveaway is for a $20.00 Amazon certificate.

Just enter your info below. A winner will be randomly choosen on Saturday, November 3rd.

Please make sure to leave me an e-mail address or link to your blog

Good Luck Y’all!

EDIT: ANOTHER CONTEST FOR $50 TO PAYPAL – INFO HERE!

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Thoughts about abortion

I was raised to believe that abortion was wrong. For many years, I believed that way. Scientifically, I know that a fetus is not a full grown baby, but I can’t deny that it is not a human life either.

I went to a Catholic college and met an interesting college student. Her name was Sister Mary. She was only a few years older than I (which isn’t typical for nuns in NYC).  Three years after graduating, I took a job as an 8th grade teacher at a Catholic school in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Sister Mary was there teaching 5th grade there.

Sister Mary and I got into a discussion about abortion. Surely, I thought she was pro-life. It surprised me to find out she wasn’t. Sister Mary worked in a food pantry and she saw many young woman come into the pantry to get baby food for their children and the food pantry didn’t have any. She thought it was wrong that many women who weren’t able to support children were being told that they must give birth  to babies which they really didn’t want. Sister Mary asked me if I was willing to restock the food pantries with baby food. Up until that point, I was always pro life.

That weekend, I went to the store and bought a lot of baby food. I brought it to the food pantry and while I was leaving, I thought to myself Sister Mary is right. God must have sent her to me so that I understand that each situation is different. So now I am pro-choice.

So I throw my hands up in the air on this topic. It’s not my place to judge anyone else’s situation and only God can judge.  When students ask me how I feel on this topic, I never tell them my beliefs. I ask them about theirs and just hear out their thoughts on it. Everyone needs to figure this one out for themselves.

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Up early to shop

I got up early and called Karen. We went to 86th Street to do some shopping. I got new pants, 4 shirts (3 for work), earrings and some cute bracelets. She bought her first pair of maternity pants. She and I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing in the store. We have talked about going to Motherhood Maternity for years and now one of us finally has the need to get something there. I can’t wait for her child to get here!

It was a wonderful day – Praise God. Amen!

:)

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Up Early

I got up early and I am so happy! I love getting everything done in the morning.  I’ve paid bills and cleaned up in the living room.

 Now I’m going to get my hair done and get some groceries.

It’s rainy out, but I don’t care because it’s a great day to get things done! 

Edit: Saturday was a wonderful day. Getting up early allowed me to get the first haircut and the stylist was amazing because she wasn’t tired. I got a great cut and all weekend I have been walking around enjoying it. It was raining when I left the salon, so I walked over to the grocery store and grabbed some items for breakfast and lunch. Then I went across the street to the coffee shop and got two coffees (one for my friend, Karen). As I walked back home, I dropped the bag with the coffee and my coffee started to come out of the cup and onto the street. The rain kept coming down as I leaned over and picked it up. I stopped in a doorway, put my bag down and had a drink of the coffee. It was the best coffee ever. I was wet, my cup had fallen, but I had the best coffee ever in my hand. So I thanked God! I walked home and called Karen. She was over in a few minutes and we ate breakfast.

The rain stopped in the afternoon and a beautiful sun appeared.

Many chores got done on Saturday……the stairway got a new paint job and it looks amazing! Lee and I went to see the movie,  Saw 4. It was pretty gorey.

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Busy Day

I got a lot of work done at school today. I love when the day is busy and goes very fast. Tomorrow is already Wednesday!

 Lee made and left me dinner. I wish I could say it was great, but it was just healthy. Chicken and vegetables. It was missing the pizazz. I will tell him nicely though because he went to the trouble of making the dish. It’s probably good that I ate that anyway.

 I cancelled my membership at NY Sports Club. I was undecided for awhile, but I felt I needed a change. I will miss playing raquetball there, I think.

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Movie – Evan Almighty

In the movie, Evan Almighty there was one part that really stuck with me.

God: Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

As much as they may suck at the time, I’m grateful for the rough patches. I am thankful to God for giving me opportunities to be strong, courageous, patient and kind. 

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Aunt Ele Died

I wish I could say that I was sad to hear from my mother (Eileen) that Aunt Ele passed.

 I’m not. I haven’t spoken to her or anyone in my family for almost 10 years.  

Ele died on October 9th. This news came in a letter to me from Eileen. The envelope had stickers on it. Does anyone send bad news in an envelope with stickers?  Eileen isn’t the most appropriate person. She wrote: ” Ele passed peacefully while her niece, sister-in-law and I were visiting. ” She sent a funeral card that said Ele died on October 9th. So even though I don’t speak to Eileen, she believes it is appropriate to send death notices through the mail.

Ele was 95 years old. She died from cancer in her lung, even though she never smoked in the last 30 years. She was my Mother’s aunt and didn’t care too much for me.  I can only recall a few conversations where she had anything nice to say to me. Generally, as a child growing into a teen, Ele reminded me how fat I was. So naturally, she wasn’t my favorite person.

Her husband, Joe loved me quite a bit and I him.  He died 11 years ago (February 19, 1996) and soon after my association with my family died as well. My Dad was a businessman and although he provided many nice things for me as a child, he wasn’t  the type of Dad you saw on television.  He wanted to be, but he didn’t have the experience and has never been comfortable being like that (which was okay because he was My Dad). So Uncle Joe filled in the gaps by filling my bike and teaching me to play checkers. Mostly, he taught me to love gardening and I think he would be amazed by all of the plants I have planted.  I can’t keep tears from falling from my face whenever I think of him because he taught me about love. By loving me, by loving his wife (even when she was mean) and by loving nature. He was kind and good hearted. Lee is very much like him and a bit like my father as well.

My Uncle and my Grandmother yards touched and my Uncle cared a lot for my grandmother. I’m not sure Ele was so crazy about my grandmother either.

 Years ago, when troubles brewed for my family, I turned to Ele and wrote a letter. She wrote that anything I told her, she will tell my mother and if I didn’t want my Mother to know, then I shouldn’t write it to her. Soooooooooo I didn’t write her again because rather than thinking she was an older and wiser woman to speak to, she was really just someone else who didn’t care about me.  Sad, right? At the time,  I was 28 and felt very misunderstood and unsupported. It was then I turned to God and closed the door behind on my past.

 I wish I had more Christian like things to write. I wish I could say that I had a great relationship with her, but I can’t. Yet, I did learn how to be a good aunt and over the years, I learned that family isn’t the people that you are joined to by blood, but those that wish to be in your presence, cheer on your success, support your dreams and want to be there when you are down. I’ve learned that relationships that aren’t reciprocal need to be put to the side. I was always taught honor your parents and family, so it was hard for me to realize that strangers on the street would treat me better than my family.   

Since I don’t want to think about it any longer, I hand it over to the Lord. He knows better what to do with this than I.

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cvs.com buy 60 photos get 40 free

I just got this email offering me to put 60 photos into my cart. Enter code GET20 and then get 20 of them FREE. Valid until Oct. 27.

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