as I sit here this morning

From the other side of the big hill, the western side of the Continental Divide, "good morning" everyone out there.  It's Thursday in the early hours of the day.  The clock on my cell phone says that it's not quite 5 in the a.m. here in Montrose County.  Most folks around these parts are still fast asleep.  I usually am not one of them and try as I might, staying in bed past about 4:15 is usually a "Mission Impossible".  I get sleep at night, maybe not a lot, but obviously I guess enough :)  Seems like in my mind as I climb into bed and begin to drift off, a thousand things are always floating around in there just waiting to stir me up and awaken my slumber at precisely the "wrong" moment in the over night hours.  Ever have it happen to you?

The month of January is now half over and I am sitting here this morning thinking once again, "Where in the heck did all of the time go?"  Every school day passes by at rapid speed and when the day is done I wonder what all I have accomplished, what difference have I made in the lives of the "18"?  Did I do what I set out to?  Sometimes I don't have all the answers.  No wait, I gotta rephrase that.  MANY times I don't have all the answers but that does not dissuade me because every morning I get up and head out the door to start the day once again. 

We are down to precious few weeks of school before the state testing of students in Colorado begins.  All of us are feeling the crunch, students and teachers alike.  Every day the time must be spent wisely, as if we were not already doing that.  Trying hard as we might, there most days is just simply not enough time to accomplish the "to do" list set before us.  Yet, we keep plugging away, refusing to surrender to the fact that some days you just can't do it all. 

One of the things that we are working diligently on is our writing ability. I have used this blog many times to show my students that the process of putting out your thoughts, feelings and big ideas on paper can actually be pretty fun, if you let it.  I read my stories to them and I talk to them about how many times I have to go back and edit what I have written.  I explain to them that sometimes I miss finding a mistake and as I reread a blog post online, I cringe when I see my errors.  I also tell them how important it is for me to be sure that what I publish is not something I would be embarrassed for anyone to read, especially my students.  I have a student who is now a faithful reader of this blog and thus I want to be sure that she and any other young person would only see things that would be uplifting in nature.  That is a most important part of writing to me.  Having said that though I would add here that I generally don't try to hide my feelings as I write, because that is a healing part of the whole writing process for me.  My "18" know that life, mine included, can sometimes be very sad, lonely and discouraging.  Yet that same life can also be very happy, fulfilling and blessed.  They read my words in print and they hear me speak them each day as I stand before them as the person they call "teacher". 

The time has come to get ready to head out the door for the day.  We've got a lot to take care of in our classroom at Olathe Elementary this morning and writing is just a small part of it.  I'm grateful for those students, each and everyone of them.  They saved me from myself, now nearly 6 months ago.  Single handedly and as one big group of kids, they gave this lonely and homesick school teacher from Kansas 18 reasons to get up and get out of bed each morning.  I love those kids and they all have a special place within my heart.  

Have a great day out there everyone and for crying out loud, don't forget to take some time for yourself today.  You are most certainly worth that :)

One of my favorite quotes from Edward Everett Hale~
"I am only one but I am one.  I cannot do everything but I can do something; and what I can do and should do, by the grace of God I will do."

It was a long journey from this~

 
To this~
But I made it!