Tag Archives: my dearest teaching widower

* TToT- bloggers plus

I am thrilled to join the Ten Things of Thankful folks once again. I really need to be grateful for all that I have in this life and the one to come. Here we go!

My dearest teaching widower (DTW) has been so incredibly patient as I’ve gone through one-handed weeks after my shoulder surgery. I could not have survived this without his love, wisdom, and encouragement to take pain pills!

I am grateful for our pastor at Grace Church, Kendrick Vinar, who shares his journey and inspirations on his Enjoy More blog. Not only is he an amazing leader, he lives what he teaches. Kendrick was recently diagnosed with cancer and is celebrating the victory before the victory!

Last night in our movie group, we showed a powerful documentary (“Last Train Home”) on migrant workers in China. It was filmed across 3 years, with a focus on a couple who left their kids with grandparents and migrated to a city for factory work. Let’s just say that all of us were deeply moved to be grateful for the abundance of our lives.

I appreciate so many bloggers, including Barbara at Teleporting Weena, where you will find all kinds of lovely and mysterious writing plus photos. Her post on Fibbing Fridays is absolutely hilarious!

We’re having a cold spell, which makes me grateful for Shari’s post on the Weekend Coffee Share. She writes about all things Christmas: hot chocolate, snow, sledding, Christmas cards, and the old Sears Christmas Wish Book. Jingle, jingle!

My dearest teaching widower and I went on a short train ride with some friends! It was my DTW’s idea that we take up train riding as a retirement hobby. So neither of us has actually retired but we’ve made our first trip! Yay!

I’m grateful that it’s pomegranate season! Stained teeth and fingernails don’t bother me at all.

I’m grateful for the ‘purple pill,’ as my DTW calls it. Yes, Cadbury milk chocolate comes in a sparkling purple wrapper. And it makes my brain so happy.

What wonderful kiddos I serve! How they light up my life!

Finally, I am grateful to Clark (well, perhaps Roger or Scott) for the rule that allows me to stop at #9! Hope you feel encouraged to be grateful today!

* Bureaucracy “at work”

Question:  What would happen if schools were run this way?  Are they run this way?

After years of putting it off, my dearest teaching widower (DTW) and I decided to refloor the upstairs.  That was over 2 months ago.  We got 2 estimates from Big Box home improvement stores.  We went with the $500 cheaper quote, but it turned out their offer was cheaper because they didn’t order enough laminate.  For over a month, people at various levels in the Box world assured us that the delivery would be made “on Monday.”  My DTW called and emailed and went in person to sort this out.  The laminate finally arrived, but we were still short those 11 boxes.  After another month of reassurances and many more “Mondays,” we were told by a multitude of folks that indeed our order was there, waiting for us to pick it up.  Seriously?  We had paid for them to deliver it.  My endlessly patient DTW told the last person who called, “I don’t believe you, but I’ll wait.”  As a rule, DTW’s become quite patient waiting for their wives to return home.

hallway

There are even more boxes in our kitchen- but still missing 11!

This experience is not unlike having a leak fixed in my classroom.  No one was ever responsible, the only person who knew how to fix it had retired, and there were multiple “fixes” that never worked.  It became just about as difficult to identify and serve a student with special needs once the Box Response to Intervention model was instituted.  I am 100% in support of providing modifications and accommodations to ensure that kiddos don’t get placed unnecessarily.  But when you have a kid who can’t read 3 letter words in second grade, you don’t need months of new strategies.  You need your 11 boxes of laminate OR specialized instruction, whichever comes first.

 

* Finally!

Finally!  I am well again!  After months of the flu and battling secondary infections, I am healthy and invigorated.  Plus I just slept for almost 12 hours!  A recent article on sleep habits suggests that younger and middle-aged folks can make up for lost sleep during the week by snoring away on the weekend.  Too little and too much sleep are both associated with increased “mortality risk.”  But my age group?  The ancient ones?  The researchers said I am likely to get what I need.  They don’t know how hard it is to close a thriller in the middle of the night!

I do feel older today.  My dearest teaching widower and I attended a special dinner at church last night for the ancient, 60+ age group.  I secretly thought that most of the folks cheated to get a delicious meal.  Now that I am officially REALLY old, I’m thinking of some one-liners: Old teachers don’t die, they just lose their class.  Or this one: Old teachers don’t die, they just wipe the slate clean.  What about this?  Old math teachers never die, they just reduce to lowest terms.

wonder woman.jpg

Whatever our age, we are thrilled to be alive and well!  And looking mighty strong!

 

 

* Just sayin’

I have been working my patooties off, in case you’re wondering where Teachezwell has been.  What a great time, though!

valentine

My sweetest teaching widower gave me such a precious Valentine card today, despite being traditionally averse to a holiday created to sell cards!  And he was nearly showing off his patooties!  He had an x-ray of his knee and while talking to the radiologist in the hallway, realized his special x-ray pants had fallen to the floor!

I’m taking three online classes simultaneously and loving them, even as I lag two weeks behind the group.  I mostly only panic in the early hours of the morning.

Today was special because a certain kiddo I teach had a PLAYDATE!  His first ever! Eleven years old, confined to an ICU-type environment.  A dear friend introduced us to a dear family and he has friends!  He laughed and played for hours.

laughing

Do I care that I am also YEARS behind with Facebook?  Would this notification entice you or scare your patooties off?

FB

I am too happy to worry about FB.  They cannot scare me OR my patooties.

* The sweetest man

Color Your World: Indigo

My dearest teaching widower!  Wait.  No, he’s not indigo.  The wall was painted indigo, but color me in love.  After my widower had quintuple bypass surgery and 2 heart attacks, they said he’d be dead in 2 years.  That was 2011 and here we are.  Color us both delighted that the doctors were wrong, that God had other plans for us.  Sadly, this sweet man was sick during our entire trip to WIlliamsburg and is still coughing up a storm.  On the other hand, he missed my collision with a dumpster in our rental car.  But if he had been there, he definitely would have warned me.

MArk and me indigo.JPG

I think it might have gone like this:

Dearest Widower:  Be careful, Katharine.  You’re close to that dumpster.

Me:  What?

DW:  You’re getting too close to the dumpster.

Me:  Where is that guy we passed?  I don’t want to hit him.

DW:  You’re going to hit that dumpster!

Me:  What?

Bump.

 

* Sharing my world, 1 bug at a time

Cee has terrific blogging challenges and one of my faves is her Share Your World challenge.  If you don’t follow her site, you’re missing out on amazing photography and lots of connections with other bloggers.

Here are this week’s questions:

Do you ever sit on a park bench for more than ten minutes?  I don’t sit still outside at all.  My body is bug fodder.  Mosquitoes find me instantly.  I was bitten a few weeks ago while walking into the house with one hand exposed!  And you would not believe the number of mosquitoes that attacked me in southern Florida while I glistened with repellent.  I’ve had Lyme disease from two tick bites when I fell (only briefly) into the junipers next to our driveway; I was on crutches but got no sympathy from those critters.  I have never picked blackberries without a multitude of chigger bites, even with bug spray soaking my waist.

mosquitoe-

When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles, turn on the flashlight or use your cell phone for light?  We haven’t had a major power outage for a few years but I have stocked up on LED lanterns.  Candles are pretty but useless for finding matching clothes.  And our flashlights barely flicker, probably because the batteries and bulbs are 20 years old.  I would rather use my phone for games.

Would you rather be given $10,000 for your own use or $100,000 to give anonymously to strangers?  Hmm.  I’d like to get out of debt- and my dearest teaching widower and I do our best to be generous.  The question reminds me of past prayers to win the lottery, which wasn’t in God’s plans.  We have been blessed in MANY ways and I hope we would do His will in either scenario.  My widower says maybe I have too many toys.  Come on!!  Is that even possible?  In this era of digital goodies?

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.  My dearest teaching widower, who works day and night on his training and research, is my inspiration.  I may be in here reading or playing and he’s in the sunroom, pacing, writing, and leaving piles of eraser shavings on the floor.  He’s an amazing guy, funny and faithful.  Always there for me, with his wise and gentle ways.  I adore him!

* Blue bells, cockle shells….

Blue bell is the 12th color in Jennifer Nichole Wells’ Color Your World challenge.  Since today isn’t January 12, you can tell I’m a wee bit behind.  And that jump rope rhyme doesn’t do this color justice, either.   Blue bell is one of my favorite colors and happens to be a favorite with the Sun Precautions clothing company, apparently.  My dearest teaching widower and I went for a stroll last month and I’m a walking advertisement for their shirts and hats.  Trust me, I need several feet of space around me so that brim doesn’t whack my husband.  Now I know how dogs and cats feel when they wear those plastic cones.

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