Good morning fellow bloggers and Slice of Lifers and whoever else may stumble across this little gem today. I’ve been pretty well stuck writing for a while, both because I cannot shake this feeling of exhaustion (fell asleep last night sitting up) and that my writing just is not where I want it to be. “Where do you want it,” you might ask. That’s part of the problem, I’m not sure. This was never meant to become “a thing”, it was just meant for me to throw down some word, dump my mind and emotions, and move forward. Now, I don’t know, it’s not not feeling the same. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I just need to really look at writing MORE and working those feeling out. Or maybe I just need to “suck it up buttercup” and just deal with the fact that, like my last blog said, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

#thatsoundsaboutright

Anyway, the whole point was to finish this piece of writing up.

  1. My wife is an amazing woman. She’s strong, beautiful, with a sharp wit and eyes that glitter. I am lucky that she picked me as her man, many year ago.
  2. It’s fun seeing your children be successful. We stayed with our daughter and her boyfriend over the weekend, going to Ames for the Iowa/Iowa State football game. We didn’t have tickets, but just had a blast among all the people. As I watched my the two of them, I had to smile because they are both nerds and they love that fact. They love each other, which is obvious as well. Our other daughter called Sunday, saying “I’m not having fun because I’m working and studying too much.” Our response, “Welcome to adulting!” She’s figuring out that yes, much of her time is spent doing school. She’s just figuring this out a year INTO to college! She’ll get there. 🙂
  3. Iowa football, while dull and sometimes infuriating, makes few mistakes and always is in a place to win a game.
  4. With all the craziness that happened this summer, I don’t feel like I’ve got a good footing this year. My wife feels the same way, having gotten back from Italy right as in-service time was starting. We are all already looking at next summer and thinking about how to make this different, because it doesn’t feel good.
  5. A local road race, the Great River Road Road Race (or GRRRR) is coming back after a 17 year “hiatus”. Their big thing was the beauty of the area (Pike’s Peak in McGregor) and their chicken gravy over pancakes at the end. I’ve still got one of their shirts from way back in the day, and will start doing some running for this event! It makes me happy to see them coming back!
  6. Sixth graders are an odd group. One minute they are more mature than some of the teachers around here, the next, they should be back in preschool! 🙂
  7. I love my job teaching them. I cannot imagine doing something else, which is why the CBS Sunday Morning segment about teacher pay is a tough one to watch. It just highlights why there’s an exodus of teachers leaving the profession and why those of us staying are pretty pissed off with life right now.
  8. I love the people I work with as well. This is an amazing group of educators. I just wish we could get that feel back where we were more than just co-workers. I miss the “friends outside of work” vibe we used to have. Between that and the fact there are people at the high school I just don’t know, my connection has gone down considerably. Maybe that’s part of getting older, your friends start to retire and it’s hard to make those connections. I know for me, I am the odd man out in a group of 20 and 30 something women teachers. Then again, it is what it is! 🙂
  9. I’m 48 and there’s so much I want to do before that point where I’m “too old”. I want to go to an electronic dance music rave, to see sunrise over the Eiffel Tower, to visit my ancestral homeland of Ireland, drinking a pint of Guinness with the locals, helping my parents live the best life they can for the remainder for their lives. I don’t believe in “Bucket Lists” but reflecting, there’s much to do.
  10. To do this, to keep my mind clear, you’ll see more writing about general stuff and less about education. Much of education is lost to me. My voice, a small on in the screaming of the world, will simply need to focus on what I can change, my classroom and my building environment. I’ll leave it to the #eduexperts to “fix” the problems of the world. Me, I’ll keep listening to funky music in class (got a NPR program called “Tiny Desk Concerts” playing with Shaggy and Sting…OMG!♥️). I’ll keep building the relationships that my students need. And most of all, I’ll keep trying to make those connections with students, staff, friends, and my family count.

Because in the end, we can work ourselves to death, but why? Life is meant to be lived out loud.

To the Iowa State fans who may read this: BWHAHAHAHA!

To everyone else (and ISU fans): thank you for your continued support, comments, and just taking the time to read this blog. I do enjoy making people smile with my thoughts, so I hope I was successful with you! 🙂