Time surely does fly when you are finishing school, getting married and preparing to move away and yet a million other things :)

Good morning everyone on this the first Saturday of the month, the 4th day of May.  You know, I've spoken to more people this week than not who agree with me totally that time seems to be flying by us at a rapid pace these days.  The weird thing is, the older we all get, the faster it flies. You get up in the morning, go through the ritual of your day, and before you know it bedtime arrives and you say to yourself "Where the heck did THIS day go?"  With only 17 days remaining until school is out and Mike and I get married, I'm trading "daylight for dark" less and less every day.  Probably a good thing cause the list of things to do is not nearly complete, yet I keep trying :)

I've had some precious moments at school this past week, ones that will be stored as memories in my "teacher heart and mind" for years to come.  I've only told a few children about getting married at school on the last day this year, figuring that I'd tell them all when I mailed an invitation to each of them.  Since those "invites" went out yesterday, I thought it was safe to begin to say something to a few more.  Evidently the word may have leaked out earlier in the week because yesterday, I had a most interesting encounter with a 5th grade young man out on the playground.  It was my dear friend Cecil whom I have known now for 3 years.  A great kid that boy is and we have shared many a conversation together.  

On the playground yesterday he sidled up to me and asked me the question, point blank~
"Mrs. Miller are you married?"  I was a little shocked to say the least but had the presence of mind to answer back, "No, I'm not Cecil.  Are you looking for a wife?"  I'll never forget the priceless look on his face as he quickly responded back, "Oh, my goodness sake NO Mrs. Miller", and off he went.  Kids, you gotta love 'em.  By the way, I look for Cecil to do something really wonderful in this world.  There's a strong possibility that he may even change the world someday for the "good".  I love that guy!

Yesterday at day's end, one of my little third graders brought me her test score from the weekly selection test in reading.  She's been working hard, very hard to try and bring up her overall percentages.  Slowly but very surely, Brooke is doing just that!  That little girl is one determined student and I surely do love working with her.  When she showed me her test result, very much improved, I gave her a hug and told her how proud I was of her, that all of the work she had been doing for me in our small group time and for her teacher in class was paying off.  As she was leaving my room, she handed me the copy of the score.  I told her that she probably should give it back to her teacher. Brooke looked at me and said "No, this is really for YOU Mrs. Miller" and I noticed at the top of the page that she had printed in neat lettering....."To-Mrs. Miller  From-Brooke". 

Friends, it was one of those times when a teacher gets their "bonus check", a gift way more priceless than any other.  I thanked her for bringing it by and right before she left, I drew her close to me and told her that I had a "secret, a surprise" that I wanted to share with her.  For some reason, I decided to tell her about the plans I had to get married at school and to move away to Colorado.  Her eyes got big and she was actually speechless for a moment.  "Will I get to come to it?" she finally asked me in a whispering voice and I told her "yes" that all the kids would be invited to come to it.   And then for whatever reason, when I didn't plan on it to happen at all, I was just overcome with emotion and tears came to my eyes as I told her "You kids mean so much to me, I love you guys."  Before things got any worse (LOL), I said she'd better get back to class and after one more quick hug, out the door she went.  And then I cried.  That little 8-year old girl means that much to me and there are over 200 others that mean equally the same.  When I tell students that I love them, I mean that....I really do.  I am blessed to work with a staff of people at Lincoln Elementary who share the same sentiment-THEY love their students too.  It's a "winning combination" you know?

Well, my "to do" list is waiting for me and at the top of the list is to finish mailing out the last of the invitations to each of the students at school.  36 more and I am done.  When I was at Dillon's the other day picking up yet another book of stamps and a box of long envelopes, the "check out" person asked me why I'd been buying those in such large quantities lately.  I explained what I had been doing and she had a look of shock, almost surprise on her face. When she asked me why I didn't just send one invitation to the students at school, I replied to her..."Well you see they mean the world to me and I figure that at the VERY least that they each are worth the price of a stamp, an envelope, and a few minutes of my time." And that was that.  

I have loved being a teacher and believe me when I say that if I was going to give 35 years of my life to a profession, I could not have chosen anything that would have rewarded me more.  The last 12 school days are surely going to fly by and you can bet that I am going to store up as many memories as I can before it's all over.  I'll be teaching to the very end and when I walk out the door for the last time, I will know for a fact that I did my very best.

Have a great weekend friends!  Get out and enjoy the outdoors~barring any "freak" winter snows like the one two days ago, folks around these parts of the world should have a great day of much nicer temperatures.  This is the 4th day of May, 2013 and it most certainly is going to be the greatest day to have been alive in!  Tomorrow?  Even better.

From the "land of long ago, and far, far away"~The days of being of being a third grader-1963-1964.  The first half of my year was at Burrton Grade School.  Over Christmas vacation, we moved to Haven, Kansas and that's where I stayed until graduating from high school in 1973. Having seen so many students who have moved to various attendance centers throughout the course of just one school year,  I'm thankful to have only attended two schools in my growing up years.   Especially I am grateful that my parents chose the little Reno County town of Haven to finish raising their children in.  Many lifelong friendships were forged there for me and no matter where I am in this world, I will never forget those friends who have meant so much in my life.  

He's really a "little kid" still at heart.  Looking forward to the very near future with him and a wonderful new life in Montrose, Colorado.  17 more days Mike~we've almost made it 
there :)