Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year

Nothing else to call the year that was 2009. It was only a few days in that I found out that the job that I loved and had worked so hard to prepare for in DeSoto was to be no more because of budget cutbacks. It was not a happy day but there was much more to come in the next few days and weeks. I turned 46 on the 12th of January and found out that my dad had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and would be having surgery at the end of the month. Praise God that he came through the surgery well despite the fact that we had an ice storm the day of the surgery. Here it is almost a year later and at 82 he is still with us. He is still going through treatments to stay the disease, but it is a struggle now to keep up his morale. It doesn't help that mom is also showing signs of memory loss. It is so hard to see your parents age. I am thankful for the years that I have had with them.
It was only a few days after dad's surgery that we lost Lindsay, my stepdaughter, David's 26 year old daughter to pneumonia,which developed from complications from the flu. This was before all of the H1n1 scare so we were shocked that something like this could actually happen. We had just had a wonderful time with her the week before celebrating a late Christmas. Neither of us understand why God took her at this time. I can't imagine the pain her mother and sister feel, but I do know the hurt that David went through at this time. A lot of painful memories were brought back in all of this from times past and it has been a struggle to get him through those emotional times. Remember to tell your children you love them every chance you get, you never know when you may not have them again.
God's mercies are new every morning and His grace truly is sufficient.
I have to say that I have been blessed with a job in a new place and although it has been difficult to adjust to a new place, new people and new curriculum. I am thankful for being there. I do believe God opened the door for me to be there. It has been a struggle to work in the classroom again. I seem to struggle everyday with what I am doing and at times I simply want to give up.
I really miss the fellowship of the really great friends I had in DeSoto- I have made new friends at the new place, but it is really not the same. I know in time it will be better.
Through all of this I have always had the support of my church friends and family, well recently I lost some of those folks as well. Right now we are like sheep without a shepherd. We are trying to be positive of course, but it is really hard when it has been such a painful loss.
Well , there are other bad things that have happened during this year, but I am not going to write about them all. I just am really ready for 2009 to go. It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad ,year. There are no guarantees for 2010 -I know, but at least the prospect of starting anew sounds hopeful in itself. So good riddance to 09 and welcome 10.

Well, it has been since the end of school in May since I have posted anything. I guess all the free time in the summer did not lend itself to blogging, just a lot of wasted time on Facebook. Well I am back at work now, first time in two years back in the classroom. I have started working for Life Charter Schools in Oak Cliff. It has been quite the challenge as I acclimate myself to a new job in a new place teaching new subjects. There is a reason I left the classroom in the first place and I don't think starting over in a new place changes that. I have school teacher burnout. I no longer want to write lesson plans, grade papers etc... I mean not just dislike, I HATE it. So, I am hoping and praying that God opens a door for me to once again move from the classroom to training teachers to use technology which is my first love.
Well enough of that, I know that God has a purpose for opening the door here at Life and I just must rest and trust that this is what He wants for me now. And....just keep on going.

The end of another school year is at hand.  Wow, they seem to go by faster now.  This is my 24th year of doing it on the teacher side of things.  This end of the year brings changes and new challenges. After 16 years I am leaving the DeSoto ISD to embark on a new adventure with Life Schools of Dallas.  They are a charter school.  I will be teaching Technology Applications, webmastering and graphic design at the Oak Cliff campus.

I leave DeSoto with very mixed emotions.  I have some really awesome friends there and will miss them dearly-but on the other hand it is time for me to go.  I need a change.

So right now I am excited and sad at the same time....and a little nervous too, who wouldn't be starting in a new place.  But I feel that God has opened doors for me and I am going to step through and trust that everything is gonna be all right....

Springtime

There is just something I love about the spring in Texas. I have enjoyed the bluebonnets along the side of the road. David has been working hard in the yard and the garden and we should have our usual bumper crop of tomatoes, squash, onions and peppers along with a few others that he planted this year. People have been asking about our tomatoes-though not quite as good as East Texas tomatoes, they will give them a run for their money. Last year we planted late because of moving and didn't get the good Champion tomatoes like we had in the past, but this year we are growing them again and should have plenty to share! They even survived 2 freezes to make it this year.

We have tons of birdfeeders out in our big back yard and have been enjoying the various ones who have made visits this season. David decided to try his hand at building a birdhouse. It was his first attempt and to go with our farm theme he painted in John Deere green and yellow. You can't miss it when you see it! Not wanting to discourage him in his new woodworking endeavors I praised his efforts, made some suggestions on how he might could make it better the next time (only because he asked...) and then watched as he proudly mounted it at the end of the driveway on the big light pole. I was skeptical that any bird would want to live in that structure, but hoped that something might choose the house as its new home.

It was less than a week later that I noticed a bird that I had never seen before in the backyard. I only caught a quick glimpse, but mentioned to David that I had seen a new bird that appeared to have a rust colored breast, sitting in the pecan tree. Later that evening as we sat on the porch, low and behold the bird appeared again, this time sitting on the yellow perch of David's new birdhouse. We quickly grabbed the binoculars that we had handy and looked to see a female Eastern bluebird sitting there! It was only a few minutes later that the male, who is really bright blue soon joined his female companion as they crawled through the entrance of their new home! Not only had birds moved in, but it was birds that we had never seen before in our area. As you can imagine David was thrilled that birds had moved into the John Deere birdhouse. Now every evening that we can, we are outside waiting for our bluebirds to come home to roost. We imagine that soon little ones will be in there and so we are eagerly watching to see if there is any sign of baby birds.

David now is working on more birdhouses....

We laugh sometimes and say "When it rains, it pours..." Sometimes it seems that way doesn't it? David and I are emotionally, physically and mentally drained after these last few weeks and now we are physically sick with this upper respiratory stuff, I also have conjunctivitis to go along with it. All we can do now is rest.
When God tells us to come to Him and rest, how often do we do that, do we have to finally get to the point where we can go no more on our own before we finally give in and collapse? I think that is what we do most of the time instead of coming to Him and learning to rest in Him on a regular basis.
We need to learn to rest more, sometimes the pressures of the world don't allow us to rest like we should, there are always demands on our time and we feel we must press on. Sometimes we feel that we are too importand to the grand scheme, only to find that people managed to get by without us just fine.
Well today I am going to rest, not only physically, but spiritually as well, rest in the One who can give true rest.

A very rough week

Last week was one of the most difficult weeks we have ever had. I found out that my dad has bladder cancer and he had to undergo surgery to remove a tumor, all this took place on a day that we had an ice storm. So far the prognosis is good, but we will know more in six weeks or so. We had just made it through that time whem I got a call from David that Lindsay his 25 year old daughter (my step-daughter) had been found dead in her bed on Friday morning. It appears that she developed pneumonia after having the flu, we will know more after we get results back from an autopsy.
It is so hard when a parent loses a child. Her mother is also devastated. We had just had a great visit with Lindsay the week before. We will cherish that memory as our last one with her. She was an amazing young lady. She had a fantastic testimony and she loved God with all her heart.
We do not sorrow as others who have no hope, but Lindsay will be missed because her seat will be empty.

The week that wasn't

After looking forward to my birthday week, I'll go ahead and say I was sorely disappointed. Oh the birthday wasn't bad-I seemed to not flinch much at all at the prospect of being 46. I only noted that now I was closer to 50 than 40, a little scary but nothing to fret over. Then the bombshells began dropping and the week went downhill.
First I found out that my current position with the DeSoto ISD as a technology coach has been eliminated due to budget constraints next year. I am still employed this year and next year too, if I want to go back into the classroom in DeSoto, but the job that I absolutely loved, is now gone. I am not at all thrilled with the prospect of returning to the classroom in DeSoto, that is why I changed jobs in the first place, so now I am looking to see what doors may be open for next year somewhere else. In education it is always a waiting game to see what jobs will be available and where so I just need to have patience and wait and see what is available. Change is good, right?
Now for the other bad news, the doctor has discovered a growth in my dad's bladder and it does not look good, or at least that is what that doctor had to say to dad. He will be having it removed on the 28th and we will know more then.
After all of this, I know that all I have to do is trust that God has the best for me and that Dad will be all right no matter what the prognosis. I'm just going to put my faith where it needs to be in the One who can take care of it all.

New Year

2009 is here. This will be my 46th year on Earth, wow! Where did that time go? I always say even though I know I am older I don't feel any older in my mind. David would agree, his maturity level is about the same as it always was...about that of a 12 year old boy! We both laugh about this, but for him every new day is an adventure. Me, I am much more pessimisitic about the day than he is, that is why it is so good that God has brought us together because he has helped me to change my attitude. He keeps me smiling and laughing most of the time.
We are both back to work now and trying to get into a routine again. His run changed so it will be an adjustment for both of us, especially since on the days he works he is out the door at 1am.
Sleep is optional. Anyway, I am ready for the day and have a smile on my face...it is a great, great morning!