Gross things

I recently went camping at a camp near Ark City Kansas. This particular camp is located next to the river, surrounded by trees and on a hill. There are some amazing bike rides and hikes and camping to be had. There are also a lot of bugs and poison ivy. I am usually pretty careful but I seemed to have dropped the ball with this trip. I wore bug spray, I had socks and shoes on but I still got poison ivy and some nasty bug bites. I am talking rashes and bug bites that prevent me from putting shoes on. Lucky for me, it is summer and I did not have to go to school. I have spent a few days in the house with the AC on and a fan pointed directly at my feet. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and my fridge is now housing some great things. I cleaned out the fridge and did some much needed dishes. These past few weeks have been so crazy that I am sad to say that I neglected the house for a bit. Well no more!!

We got some great knives for our wedding a while back and today I was cleaning one of those knives (since I have been told that the washing machine will make your knives dull in a hurry.) I managed to run the blade of the knife next to my finger and it left its mark. Now before you freak out and think that I sliced off my finger, I didn't. It is really a small cut, and a really great knife. The point of all this is the top of the band aid box that I used to bandage my poor, poor finger. The top of this box said, "You are going to be just fine!" Now I know that the box is not a doctor and they really don't know if you are going to be fine but I still felt pretty good reading that.

Since I have had all these rashes I have been on the internet a lot trying to figure out the best way to tackle it. Many medical websites will make you feel that you are on death's door because of a bug bite. Not the band-aid box, it was re-assuring! It said, "You cut your finger, you be smart and take care of it, you will be fine."

P.S. My finger is doing a lot better, as are all of my assorted rashes and bites. I am on steroids now!

The Lord of the Rings!!

     

 Truth is that this year at school, this semester has sort of sucked. When you become a teacher they give you this little schematic that shows how you should feel as a first year teacher. First, in the fall, you are excited and idealistic then as the year progresses, you become a little disillusioned and wonder if you made the right choice in careers. Then you begin to learn and to climb out of the negativity. By the end of your first year, you are a happy camper and a more experienced teacher. Let me just tell you that no one ever tells you about your second year of teaching. As a first year teacher you are simply trying to keep your head above water and keep your kids learning. Now, in your second year, you realize the mistakes that you made your first year and want to fix them. Let me tell you, that is a lot more work. I spent a lot of time being very,very angry at the world. I really struggled. I had some challenging behaviors this year that I didn't have last year. My I-Pod was stolen and I had my first student arrested on drug charges. But now I am three days away from a summer break that I really need, and I am a stronger teacher for it.


Correction, I am now officially on Summer break and looking forward to reading some amazing books and just being me. Not the teacher me, not Mrs. P, just me. The husband and I have camping trips, regular trips planned and in a few short weeks we will be riding across Kansas (blogs on that are promised, that is something I don't ever want to forget). So now I am back and reading to post on what little reading I was able to do this crazy, crazy year! 



I started The Lord of the Rings trilogy a while ago, after I had finished The Hobbit and now I am almost 100 pages from the end of The Return of the King. The truth is that I have started tons of different blog posts on this topic but there are just no words for it. I love these books. I am so tired when I get home and finally get to go to bed that it is wonderful to fall asleep reading this book. 


So in conclusion, I am not going to say much about this book at all. In truth I don't want to. I am worried that whatever I have to say, will not do this book justice. So I am just going to read and enjoy. This is a book about a time and a place with men and elves and hobbits and wizards strive to destroy the most pure form of evil. These men are gallant, swearing their lives to good and to a good cause. People are not like that anymore. There are no Aragorns, no Frodos and certainly no Sams. We can all be like these characters and we can all be like Sauron. It is up to your attitude. it is all up to you. 



I don't know what book will be next. It will be a surprise!!