Pure Mchigan Joy!

I know I've been doing a semi-cathartic look back on each year of my teaching career, but it is time to put a halt on that for the time being. One reason is, I've come to the point where I am at my current work location and I am more or less content there. Second, I have better things to discuss for the summer!

It has been a long time coming, but I finally got to go home after 26 years! No, not the psychiatric hospital, that may happen next year. I got to take my family back to the state where I was born...good old Michigan! However, this being a Moore vacay, it wasn't a simple point A to point B thing, we always have a few surprises coming our way.

Our new buddy Vanessa took us early to McCarran, we got checked in at Spirit and deposited our 1 bag. Simple, right? We waited until it was time to board, we boarded, and we took off for a 4 hour flight. How easy is that, right?

We land, get to the gate, wait an undue amount of time to get out, then head to the baggage claim...only to learn that our bag DIDN'T MAKE IT!! Not that this hasn't happened before, but this time ALL of our clothes were in it! After making the proper complaints, we headed to the rental car agency we'd procured.

Now, for all of you fellow space travelers who want to save money on car rentals, avoid companies that have words like DOLLAR or LESS in their titles, there ARE hitches! In this case, we'd arranged for a $343 fare and had saved for it. When we got to the desk, they wanted double that for a deposit! The luggage thing already had us stressed, now it seemed like we'd be carless. Luckily, the agent was quite sympathetic and helped us get a rental with a company with a Federation ship name. The key here was having a return ticket home, apparently that's a problem in Detroit rental-wise! What was even better was that we got the car for a flat $314, $30 less than at the "economical" company!

We got into our SUV and headed north. It was already 7p.m. and we were starved, so we got off I 275 and had a much needed quick bite at Arby's. What makes this one so neat is that the Arby's was a brick structure, a rarity in the desert. We then proceeded north until 275 ended, then took a series of local roads via Aunt Bonnie's directions and got to their house in Davisburg  a little after 9:30pm. An interesting thing about Michigan summers: it stays light until after 9! We finally got a bigger meal at Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Chris's home, chatted a bit, then headed to bed.

The next morning, we got up and had a pancake breakfast, followed by a trip to the Detroit Zoo. During this day, we finally got to meet little Riley, my cousin Chris's 3 year old jewel. At the zoo, we saw penguins and all sorts of animal fare. Happily, the zoo was better protected than Cincinnati! Afterward, Bonnie took us into Royal Oak so I could take pics of both my grandparent-sets' homes, a mere 5 minute walk from each other. It had been 26 years since I'd seen either house, so it felt a bit strange.

As we drove back to Davisburg, we also passed my hospital of birth, William Beaumont. That place also holds a sad memory, as my mom's dad had spent a lot of time there for cancer treatments 28 years ago. We came home to pork roast and mashed potatoes!

The next day, we headed to Marquette to visit with my cousin Craig and his family. Marquette is in the U.P., which means Upper Peninsula, which means a LONG-ASS DRIVE FOR ANYONE IN THE GREATER DETROIT AREA! However, I was excited for this adventure. I had only been up I 75 as far as just north of Bay City, so I was about to see unexplored territory! It was quite a day. 75 heads NNW to Flint, Saginaw (with a nice high bridge over the not-so-nice Saginaw River), and Bay City. It then gets pretty rural for 170 miles, although services were pretty common and the freeway went through some beautiful country that I could only imagine gets more gorgeous in September! The rest stops were also quite nice, the desert rest stop builders could use an architecture lesson!

Our favorite town/county name: Cheboygan! Sounds like something Curly Howard would love to say.

We finally hit a major jewel: the Mackinac (pronounced MA-ki-naw) Bridge. For $4, you get to cross right between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, 2 VERY blue bodies of water. There was construction, but that was ok, it just extended our wonderful time above the water!

Right after the toll booth, we departed 75 and got on to U.S. 2, which followed the Lake Michigan shore for 40 miles. There were quite a few great views!

The great lake views gave way to a tree-lined straight stretch. We got onto M77, then M 28 for another long straightaway before we finally got views of Lake Superior! This was the bluest lake I'd ever seen!

After about 40 miles of this wonder, we finally arrived in Marquette. In this town it stayed light even later than in Davisburg, almost 10! Cousin Craig is a big happy guy with Maggie, a sweet professor wife and 3 quite active boys....and they had plans for us! The next day, after a hearty breakfast, we headed to Sugarloaf Mountain (actually a tall hill) and hiked to the top. My knee was slightly gouty due to 3 sodas the previous day, so Craig led Vickie and I up the easy trail with stairs while Maggie led Natalie and the boys up the harder trail. We were afforded a terrific view of Lake Superior from there.

From there we had lunch at a little Mexican place, then headed to Presque Isle where both Natalie and I got our feet wet in the 50 degree lake waters! The kids then played on some evil METAL playground equipment (in other words, a real playground). Craig then took me to his golf course and I helped him remove a large branch from the golf cart path. I was quite impressed and decided that golf course landscaping in Marquette is a great summer job for a teacher! It had started to storm with a slight tornado possibility, so we hightailed it home for dinner.

The next day, we said goodbye to the Marquette clan, raced across the U.P., had another great drive across the Mackinac Bridge, and headed to Grand Blanc where the rest of the family were gathered for cousin Lacey's birthday party for 2 of her girls. I also got to see cousin Michael there with his wife Carrie and  kids, as well as Lacey's husband Eddie. We had BBQ pork, slaw, and beans for food, and played yard yahtzee with large wooden dice! Quite an experience!

On Sunday we went with cousin Chris and Riley on a boat across Lake Fenton to their little island cottage. We also saw their house in Fenton afterward. For dinner, it was ribs, slaw, and mashed potatoes, my kind of dinner! It was a pretty fun day, mostly relaxing. After all the driving we'd done, this day was needed.

Monday was our last full day. Uncle Chris had to drive to Indianapolis, so we said goodbye to him that morning. Since Bonnie had to work, we took a little excursion through Pontiac (not the prettiest place), and into Royal Oak so I could drive the old streets myself. We raced back to Davisburg and took Bonnie out to lunch at good old Big Boy.

There's just something comforting about that restaurant. I miss the old comics they used to give to kids, and the menu's been streamlined a lot, but comfort food is comfort food. We came back home and I took a little nap while Bonnie and Natalie played a killer game of Monopoly. Shortly after, we had leftover BBQ and then went to Fenton for frozen custard with cousin Mike and his kids.

Tuesday was departure day, sadly. Bonnie hung with us as long as she could, then headed to work. We finished packing, then headed out, taking a detailed roundabout route to the airport to avoid construction. On the way we filled up in Ypsilanti (pretty easy to say!), where the cash price is also good for debit (hear that Nevada?), and then turned the car in. We grabbed lunch at a Coney Island eatery once checked in and anal-probed at security, then flew out on time.

As trips go, this is one of our best, ranking up there with Tennessee last year. It is making me realize there are better places to live and work than Las Vegas. Lots of people warn me about winters, and they know because they came from wintry homes. What they don't get is that SO DID I!! What they also don't get is that my move out west 24 years ago was involuntary as I was just 19, and I've been missing snowy cold Christmases for a very long time. So I will be looking out for opportunities quite doggedly from here on in....one thing is for sure: I can and will go home again more frequently!

14 Years of Good Morning and Class Dismissed, part 9

Well, I've finally arrived at what could be the most painful time in life I can remember. I think I've been avoiding this one deliberately, as I still have nightmares about it.

My time at Tom Williams had ended, and my time at Gilbert was beginning. Originally, Gilbert was a mere 3 miles from our apartment. That is, it was close until our apartment had a foreclosure notice stamped on the door on my checkout day at TW! In the 2-3 week August break, we had to pack and find a new place. At $100 less a month, we found a place 6 miles from Gilbert! That meant my commute had gone down by 1 mile total. It also meant I had NO time to go in and prep my new room.

Come back to school week for teachers,  I tried to focus on all the opening crap while trying to figure out how to organize my room, especially since the previous teacher had left so much crap in there! With little to go on, I started my year.

It went pretty well at first. I was now doing 4th grade and the class was pretty nice. I met some nice staff members as well. There was a period a few times a week called explorations where students went to another room and learned a craft or skill. I teamed with the resource teacher on a few of them, it was pretty fun. The fun lasted about 2 months.

When one is used to having a break in November for seven years straight, NOT having one suddenly creates an exhaustion. On top of that, my grandmother's health was getting worse, so we spent our anniversary weekend in San Diego to spend some time with her. Coming back, school was getting ready for a December showcase event so the focus was on that as well as academics. In December, our master bathroom was leaking water from above, so the plaster and plumbing had to be redone.

After Christmas, the principal was coming down on me for lack of proper classroom decoration as well as my teaching style and classroom management. I was already exhausted so why not extend that via stress? I moved desks around and made a bonehead move in terms of student placement...and classroom management went right out the window. It got so bad that the principal had me watch the literacy specialist teach for a while. If this didn't de-spirit any teacher, I don't know what would.

In February, Vickie finally found her father after years of searching. In April, we got a chance to go up and see him during spring break while my mom watched Natalie. That was the highlight of my school year, and that's saying a lot. In class, the kids knew quite well that I was no longer in charge. The principal and I agreed that I'd put in for voluntary transfer in May. However, the school's numbers were just right, so there were no eligible transfers for our school...I was stuck. The principal was on my back, the vice principal was joining in, and the literacy specialist was doing a good job giving me a guilt complex over her added duty of helping me. My therapist was earning her money for sure!

With all of the stress building on me, I had enough. The year wasn't ending well, so in early-mid May, thanks to a suggestion from the school counselor, I put in for family medical leave.  I was actually thinking of starting a new career as a cubicle-imprisoned accountant where all i had to do was work with numbers. However, after a couple of months, I was calming down. I was also under the effect of a powerful antidepressant that scrambled my brains a bit.

Fair to say, I can't end it there. In August, I was informed by the boss that I would be coming back as the literacy specialist and not a teacher. Interesting development. On return, we had a meeting over my actions in the previous year and I immediately detected her displeasure at me being there again. Easy to tell she didn't like me much.  I was the chink in her otherwise perfect school.

So, I was testing students to see their reading levels, doing morning bus duty, and lunch recess duty. Once I'd tested the students, I had to create a schedule to meet with small groups. After a few stumbles, I was finally coming up with a smooth groove that lasted about 2 weeks. Then count day came, the day when student populations are measured to determine teacher need. As it turned out, there was an extra teacher: me! As agreed from the previous spring, I was to be the volunteer. We parted somewhat amicably. The other cool thing was that we were moving again, this time to a more desirable place. We were there for the last 4 days of my time at Gilbert, making it a longer commute but that was ok, the end was near. I was to begin at Darnell Elementary on October 10, with an intro to my new 4th grade class on the 7th. Indeed, my 10th year of teaching was getting interesting.

Overall, I have to say that Gilbert is a good school and they do good things there. It was just a matter of external factors along with a personality clash with my boss that made the actual teaching part hell. Great school, great kids, under different circumstances, I think I would have had a greater time of it there.

14 Years of Good Morning and Class Dismissed, parts 7 and 8

 2008-09
    
   The first real year at the new building was filled with joy and stress...as always. The joy came in the form of new technology and natural sunlight getting into my room. The stress came in the form of usual Tom Williams bullshit. New building, same shit, just with 2 floors now. The new computer lab was awesome, as was the new speaker/microphone system. The electronic whiteboard was neat for math, and the ELMO was pretty cool.

   As the year began, actually even before the first day with kids, we got treated to a view of the old building being razed. I almost expected to see dead bodies being unearthed, for some reason. Also in the year's beginning, our friend Richard had a major heart attack and passed. The year was a bit marred by his loss.

   Come day one, it was a full house in all 5th grade rooms. Come middle of September, a new teacher was added to alleviate the crowds. Overall I had a pretty good class, the usual set of personalities were in place. This was the first year I could remember that I had an attitude-filled female group.

   Vickie and I were in the process of trying to see if she could get pregnant via in vitro. All that was missing was funding. Things looked bleak until we got a nice surprise from my dad: he and his wife would fund our effort. It was a success, and on my 36th birthday Vickie told me, "Happy birthday, daddy!" Talk about your proud moments in life!

   The rest of the year in many ways was a blur. Many doctor appointments occurred because it was a high-risk pregnancy. I had to give Vickie shots to make sure everything was good. As concentration on Vickie and the joy inside her grew, my focus on work faded a bit. I did my job and all, but my focus on making learning interesting and fun was getting blurry. The class could tell, too. It was getting rough, but not nearly as rough as 4 years ago.

   As Spring rolled into Summer, the doctor visits were getting more frequent to monitor the baby's progress and heartbeat. At home we had 3 cats, one of whom was a major safety risk for the baby. Sadly we had to give her to a new owner.

   I missed the entire final week of school because of a little thing called our daughter's birth. Her name was Natalie and our lives changed forever....and so did mine the next year.


2009-10

   If I could go back and change one thing about this year, it would be to take Family Medical Leave for the first few weeks. I was low on sleep and energy. New babies do that to parents.

   During the first staff development days, we were learning the Kagan class management system. It is easy to practice activities with adults, another thing with kids. I was barely awake for any of this.

   The year commenced with a good group of kids. Despite my lack of sleep, I really enjoyed this group. I also got to practice a lot of my graduate school activities and ideas with the group. The fall seemed to go pretty well.

   Come winter, I was called into the office and the boss laid into me for not doing my job well. In one way I could see her point. Natalie occupied many of my thoughts and I was always ready to race home to see her and Vickie. On the other hand, Kagan and a new reading time system called the Daily 5 had become mandatory in February and it was a lot to handle on top of all the programs the school had.

   The clincher came when the following year's assignments came down...I was going to be placed in Kindergarten. I knew it was designed to get me out and I took the hint. The next few months were fairly lame duck for me, although I still enjoyed teaching that group right to the end. The final 5th grade graduation was a sad one for me.

   I think what stands out for me is the last day when I was ready to check out.  Kristie checked me out on a clipboard and walked out, saying "Good luck at your new school." No handshake, no hug for 8 years of acquaintanceship....pretty cold. In fact, a lot of people had gotten cold in the final 4 months. Goes to show what the term "fair-weather" friends really means.

   That being said, my year at the new school was going to show exactly what hell could be like.

14 Years of Good Morning and Class Dismissed, parts 5 and 6

With the end of the 2005-06 school year, I emerged a much happier person than at the end of the previous year. I credit much of this to my love, roommate and fiancee Vickie. Her presence in my life had saved me finally from the cruel world of dating and utter loneliness.With that, I was ready to tackle the next year, not knowing what the end of it would bring.

2006-07

For the first time in 3 years, I had what could be considered a dream class. Most if not all were quite eager to begin the year, and they could tell that I was eager as well. Of course I was eager! I was a man about to get married and take a few days off over then next few weekends to attend 2 weddings: my mom's and my friend Scott's.

We got new science kits that fall, which made for better science lessons and activities. I also moved away from Judy Blume books and read some Roald Dahl books to them. The class was not perfect, I had those few characters that, well, balance a class. I liked that balance. I also had a repeat student form the first grade days. The feeling of full circle was pretty nice.

I also met 2 new coworkers who were pretty nice: Matt and Robyn, both coming from the same school. We did lunch together at several staff developments.

Before I knew it, the end of October had arrived. The staff threw some sort of half-hearted wedding shower after school. I don't know what it is that makes people feel they need to do something. However, I must also admit that events from 2 years previous still stung....and, sad to say, still do to this day. Luckily, track break was also starting and we could focus on the wedding. Apart from some interesting hitches, we were married on November 11. We couldn't afford a honeymoon, so we took a road trip for a couple of days. Right before track break ended, we joined my mom and her new husband in Big Bear for Thanksgiving.

For the first time in forever, I was not with my parents for Christmas. I had a new bride and it was time to spend the special day with her at home. We already had her cat Mitzy and we added a new one to our home during Christmas, an orange feisty number named Layla.

Back to school, things were going pretty well. Parent conferences were in January for a change. Soon into Spring (meaning late February) we got the news that the new school building was about to enter construction. What that meant for a lot of us was that we were moving into portables before year's end. The move occurred shortly before the final track break. It was actually not so bad this time as everything, particularly the AC, worked just fine. We glided through the rest of the year in slightly more cramped quarters, but our good relationship made it work well.

This was short, I know. I guess it is easier to discuss the bad times than the good times in more detail. What it comes down to is, this particular year was one of my favorites, next to my recent 4 years of  teaching 2nd grade.  With that I will flow right into...

2007-08

This year started with a summer thunderstorm, which is actually a good way to start a year, particularly in Vegas. Of course, we were starting in the portables, as the new building was still heavily under construction.

What really comes to mind this year is a girl who was in the middle of a nasty custody suit. Eventually the dad came escorted by the assistant principal Kevin to get her. We never saw her again.

The class itself was good. This year I had 2 boys from 4 years ago. Another standout fact was that as the year progressed, my class dwindled in number.  By the end I had less than 20 kids.

On a personal note, Vickie and I were trying to see if we were healthy enough to have a baby via in vitro. On that journey, we discovered she had a benign brain tumor. It was zapped using a heavy yet concentrated gamma ray in January.

Of course, this was the final year for the old outdoor school. 51 years of service was about to come to an end.

Some other disturbing things were happening as well. Some of the old guard whom old principal Linda had been promoted to being Kristie's underlings. In other words, the old spy network was in place under a new boss. Well, Kristie was made principal 3 years previously, but no waves had been made yet. Now that she was comfy in her position, she was getting a power trip.

In the summer of 2008, the new building was opened and we had to get things packed in a hurry to transfer belongings to our new rooms. We got to spend the last few weeks in our new rooms and it was a good feel. Strange, though. Being in an entirely indoor environment was nice, but it felt very generic. I was about to find out just what hell could be like.

14 Years of Good Morning...Class Dismissed, part 4

 All I can say about the end of the previous year is WHEW!! I previously mentioned that I've gone through a few deaths and rebirths in my teaching career. 2005 was definitely one of those rebirths. I ran to San Diego for a much-needed battery recharge in August on the final day of school. I was relieved, broken, and afraid; relieved to be done with that horrible year, broken because so much had been lost in me, and afraid because the next year might bring more of the same.

   In San Diego, my mom got me a book called "The Reluctant Disciplinarian". It read it, nodding and understanding immediately what my problem had been. In first grade, I had never encountered a situation in which tough yet loving discipline had been necessary. In 5th grade it had been vital and I didn't have those skills.

   In the dating world, things had cooled...and I was not nearly as frustrated by that as I once had been. Thanks to a special lady friend in the spring, a lot of old stresses went away. Yes, I still had disastrous dates, but it didn't affect me psyche-wise. In fact, the disasters helped to make a big decision soon.

 2005-2006

   The year commenced with a brief revisit to the previous hellish year in terms of a meeting to discuss an incident. I just shrugged it off, knowing that was the past. I couldn't control it, but I sure as hell could learn from it!

   With that, I got my new room ready. Yes, I was back in a real building. What was even better was Dorothy the 4th grade teacher and I had a system for covering each other for bathroom breaks or emergency copying. Everything just felt new again, but in a more harmonious fashion.  Plans for discipline and reading groups got more solid, and I felt more prepared than before. I got my new group and was pleased with the turnout. There were still a few with rough edges, but I felt better prepared to take them as they were. With a new student recognition program, we were a pretty happy family for a long while. It was not by any means perfect, but my soul was more harmonious with real life.

   On the dating front, I had met a new person who, like others, had hangups. After a 2nd date, we parted ways and I made a decision to drop the dating for a while. Looking back at that decision today, I believe it set up a later marvelous event!

   Back to the year, I had the usual status of an occasional student coming and one leaving, it happens every year. Other than that, we had good harmony in pretty much all subject areas. Another boon to the year was 2 new specialists. Erica was our new art teacher and Christy S was the new music teacher. They both brought a positive new vibe.

   For Halloween I dressed as the Riddler with Erica's design help. On Nevada Day Eve I went out drinking with some friends. I have rarely gotten plastered, it is just not my thing. In this case, however, it was an opportunity to cleanse the remainder of the bad spirits from the previous year.

   Then came track break. I spent the first part of it spending a few nights at a friend's house so she'd feel safe while her sister was away. That was odd to say the least, sleeping on a couch while a cat occasionally kneaded me. Then I went to Arizona to see my grandma and then to San Diego for a short bit. I was still in such good spirits in December that I even bought a little artificial  tree for the classroom.

   However, by Christmastime, I was feeling different. The school stuff was fine, but the loneliness and celibacy were getting stale and I decided to re-enter the dating world again. I hope it would be different. After New Year on 2006, I got into it again....only to discover that nothing had changed. I don't think I'd expected it to, just wishful thinking. One or 2 more 1-night stands and a short-term relationship in January brought nothing. However, one ad caught my eye, and after waiting out the end of the mentioned relationship, I decided I wanted meet this girl. Her name was Vickie.

   We had quite the long date (that's another story, though) and my heart was just pounding with joy at the end of it, anxious to see her again. Before I return to the classroom, I need to note that I've never professed love for anyone on a second date previously...and that was my final 2nd date in life!

   Back to the classroom, the year progressed well with the exception of one day when there was a  lockdown at our school from 12:30-5:30. We stayed as comfy as we could, but it was still stressful.

   As Spring rolled in and out, Vickie and I deepened our relationship, and I saw some old negative things happening in class. However, it was a minority, not majority, of the class population, just a couple of boys who thought they were the bomb. It also went to show that returning from summer track break for the last few weeks while older siblings were on summer vacation makes some fifth graders downright rebellious. Even at my best that was impossible to stop. However, by year's end, I felt pretty good.

   On the last day, Vickie and I had a nice dinner at the Top of the World at the Stratosphere and then went to Mesquite for the night. A year earlier, I was a defeated teacher, this year I'd overcome all of that and was at a good place. The next year would continue that good feeling, although at the end it was a bit different.

14 Years of Good Morning...Class Dismissed, part 3

 So far I've had 2 ok years. They weren't great by any means, as I was still learning to become, what I thought was, a good teacher. The year that was to follow made those first 2 years paradise. This is one of two years I have had hesitation in writing about, although this one was 11 years ago, I have have had time to put perspective on it.

2004-2005

This was my year to begin teaching 5th grade. I was moved from my broom closet in 1st grade row to a portable on the blacktop. I was excited at first, trying something new. We were adopting a new math program called Saxon, a hell lasting 4 years.

A few other issues emerged to cause problems before they began. First, it took a whole to get the AC installed on the portable, making it next to impossible to prep the room without sweating bullets. Also, I now felt distanced from the people I'd come to think of as friends. As I'd come to understand later, some friendships are built to last, many more are situational. On top of all that, my personal life was really sucking big time. Following my breakup with Gigi and a short-lived reunion with Treasa in the spring, I was having one disastrous date after another and getting quite discouraged...and this frustration was going to interfere big-time with my professional life.

A few teachers had left including Christy. It all blended into an entirely new feel, and it was disconcerting.

I had what many would consider a rough group. They were into gangsta rap and wrestling for the most part. I was also used to teaching younger kids, and the transition was a 12-month trial by fire, putting it mildly. Personality clashes and my own insecurities regarding these bigger, tougher kids led to many a day ending with my face red and body shaking after dismissal. 11 years later, I realize that if I'd had patience, flexibility, and a huge sense of humor, the year would have been a LOT smoother. However the dating hell had eroded much of that.

2 months of hell went by, although things eased a little bit by September's end, but just enough to keep me from having a nervous breakdown. I was also getting pressure form administration to get my act together, along with hearing some undertones of talking behind my back among teachers. My own fifth grade team wasn't the most sympathetic, either.

The first track break was most welcome, although that was also a big toll on my psyche in terms of relationships. In short, I had asked someone to come stay with me and maybe make it permanent. This was where my emotional state lay, a wreck waiting to happen...and it did. The situation unraveled within a week and I took her home to Texas. This boy needed some psychotherapy and fast!  After a couple of sessions and a little trip to San Diego, I was feeling better and trying some new things with my class. For the time being, things were more tranquil.

However, temporary solutions not well thought-out  and planned eventually crack, and by spring it was getting bad again. What did not help was the AC failing and us having a hot room for a while, like 2 months. The class was quite aware that my management sucked and took advantage at any given moment. My emotional state had evened out a bit. The dating still sucked, but with one person I had found a nice, if temporary source of sexual sustenance without the stress of first date bullshit.
That and therapy helped to create a wall between me and the class for the remainder of the year.

In class, it was just getting worse. The boys were turning out the lights to have a wrestling match in the dark, and kids were stealing my stuff. One or two of the boys were getting confrontational with me.  By the time the final 4 weeks in July and August came, I was in survival mode. Admin was pissed at me for letting the kids do whatever, and the rumor undertones that it was my last year were really hitting my ears. Teachers with rooms near my portable were mad at me for the things my kids were doing...and rightly so. I really had thrown in the towel on that year.

During the last week, the boss made sure I wasn't alone with the kids to prevent a lawsuit from parents. Now, a lot of teachers would resent that. Not me! I was glad to have the backup and relief. I was a man in heaven on the last day. Really. I went home, grabbed a bag of clothes and headed to San Diego. It was a cloudy, humid day and there was a sudden rainfall leaving town. It was like a pressure leaving my body atr last. I laughed and cried for miles.

I learned a lot about myself that year...and about others I worked with. For myself, I learned that I needed healthy outlets outside of dating so that I could work without the emotional overhead. As for the others, I learned who the true friends were (very few) and who the fair-weather twerps were. Such knowledge is useful in any workplace, I just wished it had not taken so long to discover. The next year had its rough edges, but was nowhere near this one.

14 Years of Good Morning and Class Dismissed, part 2

   With one year of teaching on my belt, I was ready to tackle a new year. Well, almost ready. The strange thing about a year-round school format is, we end one year in early August and start a new one a few weeks later. The body and spirit do not quite have a true chance to regroup. In my case, there were 2 things happening that set the 2003-04 year on a bad footing.

   The first was my apartment having a leaky water heater. It got my floor pretty wet, as well as attracting flies. I'd been there only a year and already there were problems.

   The second was a bit bigger. I'd had a sort-of regular thing going with a woman named Treasa for several months. Right before the new year began, she got engaged to another person. Not that I had expected the relationship to get to that point, but it was still a crusher. Timing can really suck!

   The result of both those events was my lack of psyched up first-day, actually first week, energy.  However, it came back, and I had a pretty good class. The standout student was an energetic little guy named Christian, who happened to be Treasa's nephew. He reminded me a lot of me at that age...therefore he drove me nuts at times.

   That year we were finally using a basal reading series and were quite excited over the implementation of it. The 1st grade team was also sent offsite to a literacy training once a week. That was fine, except that if a sub didn't take the class, we were called back to school. Former 3rd grade teacher Heidi  had joined our team and was a welcome cheery addition, while Christy  moved to Kindergarten. Jennifer P became Jennifer O in September. I attended the wedding with Treasa as my date, but just as friends. Apart from all that, the year went about as usual, which meant utter chaos at all times. I also tutored a couple days a week after school, which brought a little more money.

   I kept attending the Friday happy hours, although they came less frequently that year. On one of them I caught sight of 2 co-workers passionately kissing as I headed for my car. 12 years later, it's still an image hard to shake, but those were strange times.

   Also in this year, I switched to a new track, which meant different vacay sets. The best one was the first, which lasted pretty much all of November. After another dismal parent conference turnout and another whipped-cream intensive pie-throwing booth, I set out for California. First Santa Rosa, then down to San Diego. I was actually away for most of the break.

   It is tough to say what made this year so memorable...probably it was not so much the in-class business as my free time dating. I met several women that year...many of them were 1-time dates, others were a bit longer. One in particular was Gigi, whom I was "steady" with for the first few months of 2004, to use a 50s term. Another briefer one was named Indy in November of 2003. Both of them couldn't quite get why I couldn't get more into the relationships. I was just trying to enjoy life outside of work for a change.

   Another distraction was going to the gym a few times a week. Earlier in the year I saw the girth and needed to get it down. I had a trainer and that kept me in check. By Christmas, I was looking pretty good.

   However, the myriad of women that I met that year was taking its toll on my sense of self-worth. I was 31 and having much more experience with women than I ever did in Santa Rosa. The time between dates was filled with a lot of lonely evenings at home. A pressure was building by summertime.

   The year's end was more positive than the beginning. I was really sad to lose that group, but was even more troubled by another event. Our principal Teddy was making changes here and there and decided to move me from 1st to 5th grade. While I observed a few teachers in 5th, it still didn't prepare me for what was coming.