Pole Dancing

I was looking at MySpace tonight and found the sites of some of Rodney's students. Here's a picture they took of him while he was teaching them how to climb. I'm so proud of him for stepping out and trying something he's never done before. I think the students learned a lot from him and I think he enjoyed the experience. He told me today several of them started calling him Pops. He just smiled when he told me that and I know it's because his dad was always called Pops. The whole circle of life thing is pretty cool.

A Touch of Class

Last weekend was my 20 year class reunion. This event brought out a wide range of emotions in me. I went back and forth from dreading it, to looking forward to it, to dreading it and then looking forward to it.

The fun started on Friday night with a downtown wine tasting event with live music. I ran into lots of old friends - Shawn Phillips, Kathy Thompson, Jon Hesser, Toyia Fonville, Angie VanDyke, Shana Woods, Lisa Harber..just to name a few. My husband was with me and was tired so we didn't stay long.

Saturday, we had a family picnic at the City Park with barbque and the fixin's. The only family member I had available was Victoria so I drug her along. Everyone oo'd and ah'd over how beautiful she is. The next event was at the Michelson-Reeves art museum where we had wine and cheese. I got to catch up with some really dear friends like Claire Spangler, Jane Ellen Sanders, Amy Key...and the list goes on. It was so surreal looking into the faces of people that I started kindergarten with and hadn't seen in 20 years. Now we're having a glass of wine together and looking very grown up.

For the big finale, we met at the Visual Arts Center for dinner, dancing and prizes. Let me tell you, this was a BLAST! Del Fugler, a friend from choir, flew in from Florida. We laughed about the theme being A Touch of Class (same as our prom) and yet we were eating off of styrofoam plates with plastic cutlery. I saw so many friends there's no way to list them all. I finally remembered to bring a camera to the last event so here are the pictures I got:

Del Fugler (in black) & his partner, Christopher
Tessa Lefler & Shana Woods
Chad Simms, David Harber & Wife
Michelle Shankle, Carin McCrary and Bonnie Havron, who decided to wear prom attire
Susan Stokes & Marni Williams
Heidy McWhorter & Joseph Whelan
Christi Page (former Ms. Louisiana) & Husband
Thanavat Bhucharoen & Girlfriend
The Trinity Bunch
Jane Ellen Sanders, Jamie Bates (don't think she went to Trinity though), Me, Susan Stokes, Thanavat Bhucharoen, Amy Key, Scott Yappen, Claire Spangler, Shannon Sharpe...Denver Langley & Stephen Duck were at the reunion too
Straight goofin'

Seeing the Trinity people was extra special because I went Kindergarten-Sixth Grade with this small group of about 14 friends. We laughed this weekend about how traumatic it was for us to transfer to Marshall Junior High where there were hundreds of kids. But it looks like we've survived and came out pretty good! Jane Ellen & Amy live in Boerne, Than is in San Francisco, Scott is in New Jersey, Susan & Claire are near Dallas and Shannon in Longview. I missed Hildi, Kelly, Shawn, Carol, all my girlies!

My husband is a teacher

Life is certainly never boring around our house. A little over a week ago, my husband quit his job. Even though we were scared about our financial future, we both felt it was a good decision for him and for us. Well God didn't wait very long to bless us. This past Monday, Rodney began work at TSTC Marshall as an adjunct instructor for our new Lineman degree. He has 8 students in his class. It was perfect timing for us and the school. The class he is teaching now (climbing skills) is only two weeks but there is the chance for him to go full-time in the Spring as long as he signs a contract that stipulates he has 3 years to get his Associate degree. So you just never know!

In the meantime, I'm sure getting a kick out of hearing his stories about his teaching techniques. If you know my husband, you can imagine, I'm sure.

Hurricane Delois

I just happened to be home today because TSTC is still closed due to Hurricane Ike. To my surprise, I had a surprise visit from my Aunt Delois Baker who lives down in Lumberton. She was forced to evacuate due to the hurricane and was up driving around the Baker Farm with her brother, Jim Ramsey. I'm so glad she stopped in. I hadn't seen her in years. Her son, Bubba, stayed behind because he raises German Shepherds and he reports that her trailer is still standing.

Aunt Delois has always been fiesty, and nothing has changed about that. Although she has had a stroke and admits that her brain and her tongue have trouble working together, she had no trouble fussing at her brother, fussing at Rodney when they first drove up ("No you can't help me. I own that land right there. Do you know who I am?"), insisting to go up and down my steps by herself, and fussing about all the Baker relatives who failed to send her a Christmas card last year (myself included!). She asked about everybody. I told her she needed to come stay with me for awhile and her brother said she won't even travel to visit him in Nacogdoches unless a hurricane forces her too. Yep, same 'ol Aunt Delois.


I told her to smile and say, "Hurricane". She said, "I'll make you think hurricane!" Somehow, I know she could!

Keep On Keepin' On

Many times, those of us in education get discouraged and wonder if what we're doing is having any impact. After all, not all our students are successful, at least not according to our definition of success. But we need to realize that we ARE making a difference in students' lives, whether we see it in our lifetimes or not. And even though "you can't win 'em all", you can win a good amount! We must continue to inspire, to mentor, to coach, to teach, to lead and to challenge our students. They need us to and believe it or not, they want us to.

Need a little inspiration yourself right now? Watch this video that was shared on my campus today: http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm

My "Baby"

Ok, all you moms with little ones...you think they're going to be under your feet forever? Guess again! My "baby" turned 13 yesterday. So incredibly hard to believe!

New Haircut & Color!

Well, in anticipation of my 20 year class reunion this month, here's my new do!