Getting a new wall

The high school is finally starting to work on the wall that my son damaged with his car.  They said they were going to tear out the whole wall and expand the building, but it looks like they are just going to replace this little section.  Work began today.  We had a teacher work day and it was about 104 degrees when I left.  I'm glad for having air conditioning and getting to work inside all day when these guys were working out in the heat, tearing things out.  I doubt they will finish patching things up tonight.  I don't know what they will do to secure the building and protect all the stuff inside, including the computers and teaching material.  I guess they will just hope nobody comes by and steals all of it.  Hope usually keeps things secure around a school.  Yep, that works for most things to keep them from getting stolen.

Do you think they would notice?

 I have three more days of teacher work days.  We are supposed to be working on curriculum and writing tests and finals.  The problem is, our department meets every week after school for about two hours on our own time and we have already completed all of the tasks we are supposed to have completed by Wednesday afternoon.  It is going to be a LONG three days.

 I LOVE being a teacher.  I know it doesn't sound like it sometimes when I come here and complain about all the things that go wrong.  But, seriously the kids make me laugh daily.  Watching their brains grow makes me happy.  Seeing them mature from a goofy freshman who can't sit still in a chair into a senior who has a vision for the rest of their life makes me proud and a little teary eyed as they walk across the stage at graduation.  I know I had a very small part in that process.

I'm just thinking the next three days could be better spent doing something productive rather than pretending we are doing things we've already done.  Yes, we are finally getting paid for those things.

I'm wondering if my co workers would notice if I brought a sewing machine and spent the next three days sewing during the meetings.  I have about 6 machines so maybe if I brought them all, we could all sit and sew and talk.  Then, people wouldn't feel left out, we would have beautiful quilts, the curriculum would be written and everyone would be happy.  As long as the principal didn't walk in on our meeting, nobody would be the wiser!

Maybe I had just better bring some crocheting along.  Or just tow the line and daydream during the meeting like I do during staff meetings.

Quilting is my sanity and sometimes that's not enough

Oh, the parent emails won't let up.  My husband has been sick for a few weeks, He's been having stomach pain for a few weeks.  The doctors have run every test there is and can't find anything but it still hurts him.  That's causing him a lot of anxiety, which is a cyclical issue.  Which came first?  The anxiety or the stomach pain?  How do you make it stop?  Mental health in this country sucks.  That's one reason I love Margaret's Hope Chest, which is where this quilt is headed.  They support A Mother's Hope.  It is a program for mothers experiencing Postpartum Depression.  There is a link on my right sidebar for more information about how you can help too.  I will quilt for you for free if you want to make a quilt top and send it to me.  That's where this quilt top came from.

 School has ended, but I still have three work days next week.  We have to do lesson planning and work on curriculum for the next year.  Trust me, working with the kids would be less stressful.

So, I have my quilting.

But of course, the machine decides it wants some attention.  About half way through the first row, the tension gets all screwy.  Where's Jack, the Ripper?  I guess he was getting lonely too.  We spent some quality time together last night and this morning ripping out the stitches in the first row.

Why?

Quilting is supposed to be stress relieving, not add to my stress level.  Maybe I will take a nap.  I haven't been sleeping well lately.  And then go out for ice cream.  It's over 100 here today.

Oh, the drama

As many of you know, I'm the National Honor Society Adviser for my school.  Up until this week, I loved the position.  The requirements of the club are that students maintain a 3.5 GPA and do 8 hours of community service each semester.  Back in December, we had kids 'forget' to turn their hours sheets in on time.  We extended the deadline and I had kids bringing their sheets to my house over the break.  I had kids who didn't even start their hours until the week before break and then getting mad at me because I couldn't schedule events to meet their schedule.  We had well over 500 hours of service opportunities for them during the first semester.  So, we let the kids turn in their hours sheets with a written note explaining why they were turning them in late.  We were going to have them come and explain to us at a meeting what happened, but they all said they were too busy to show up, so we excused them from that and 'forgave' their mistake.

The NHS bylaws says they must follow the rules of each group and can be dismissed for not meeting the requirements.  We were being nice and gave them a second chance.  But, we started out our meetings in January with a stern warning that it wasn't going to happen again.  There was a lot of stress on the executive board and on me and since it was an Honor Society which was supposed to be the top students at school we felt we should hold them to a higher standard.

We wrote the due date of the hours sheet on the top of the new sheet and made sure at every meeting to announce that no late sheets would be accepted.  No exceptions!  Well, June 5 comes around and of course, kids are kids and about a dozen don't turn their sheets in.  June 6 and they show up wanting to turn sheets in to me.  I told them to look on the sheet and tell me what the date says.  They ask me what they are supposed to do with the hours sheet and I tell them to be sure to write down on their college resume all of the community service they have completed because after all, that's the whole purpose of doing all of this, isn't it?  Writing NHS on their sheets, is nice, but getting out and helping other people and gaining experience and giving back to the community is important.  Plus, it shows colleges and scholarships that you care about more than just yourself.

Of course, they are upset.  I would be too if I missed a deadline.  Most went away and found the president of the organization and asked her if they could give her their sheet.  She told them to ask me and they said I had told them no.  She said that whatever I said was the answer.

So, yesterday in my classroom, I got ambushed by a parent who demanded I take her daughter's hours sheet.  I took it and then threw it in the trash.  :)  Then, last night got and email and again today got another email asking how their child was supposed to know about the deadline for the requirement?  I asked them to look on the sheet.  There should be no questions about the requirement when the information is there for parents to see as well as students.  We have been very open about the communication.  Parents feel their child has wasted his/her time doing community service if they missed the deadline for turning things in.  They feel like they should have endless opportunities to submit forms, have unlimited opportunities to get hours and that I should be doing all of the work.

I'm thinking I will not be the adviser next year.  I'm also thinking that the school will not be able to find another adviser after the experience I've had. I haven't exactly been quiet about the issues I've had and no other teacher seems interested in dealing with parents who would rather give their child the easy way rather than teaching them responsibility.

I totally get it.  I don't want my child to be in pain and to hurt.  I've been that parent who wants to run down to the school and yell at the teacher, but then found out it was my child's fault.

But, it's not fun being attacked by parents for a mistake a child has made.  Parents, let your child suffer a consequence.  I promise this will not keep your child from his/her favorite college.  They can still do community service.  They can still get good grades and have fun and participate in other clubs on campus.  They can still hang out with the cool kids.  I'm not doing anything to be mean to anyone.  We set a deadline and your child missed it.  Your child knew what the consequence for missing the deadline was and still chose to miss the deadline.

Give them a second chance?  They've had a second chance already?  Give them a third chance?  Would that be enough?  Would you be happy with 12 chances?  Is this what we get when we hand every child a trophy for signing up for the soccer team?  The child who never comes to practice but gets a guaranteed 30 minutes of play time because mom will sue if he/she doesn't?  What happened to earning your spot on the team?

I just had to get that out of my head.  One parent threatened he's coming to school Monday to look for me.  They know we have a teacher work day. What is this world coming to?

Dad, you were right, I should have become a Veterinarian.

a wedding quilt

I got to quilt this for a friend for a wedding tomorrow.  Finished at the last minute.

Today was the last day of school and tonight was graduation.  Three more days of work next week where we do some lesson planning, but it does feel good to be done with another year.  This year has been a stressful one and I'm glad to see it behind me.  Lots of things coming up over the next couple of weeks.  I pick up my daughter from college next Thursday and then off to my parent's in Colorado on June 16-23.  I'm looking forward to a week of just being a daughter without the responsibilities of taking care of kids and a house.  My mom is having hip replacement surgery and my dad needs some company.  He tells great stories and will need a walking partner.

I have a bit of grading to do this weekend.

a big one

here's a twin size quilt ready for binding.

starting the month right

 Let's see if I can keep this up for the month of June.  Just some simple quilting to get started, but at least I'm quilting again.  It's so nice to have all of the donated backing fabric at the ready.

May quilts

Only 14 quilts this month.  It has been a stressful month with school issues and health issues with my husband.  Looking forward to summer break and more quilting time.

the need to create

Things have been quite stressful around here the last couple of weeks and last night I just felt the need to sit and sew.  I find the hum of the machine relaxing.  The mindless few minutes to myself where the only worry is running out of bobbin thread or which block to pick up next is my biggest trouble is nice.  I've been working on this leftover binding quilt for a few days and it's a nice distraction.  All of these strips are leftover binding pieces from quilts of the past.  I think this is the 4th quilt made from leftover bindings and I think I've finally used up the last of it.

motivated to do more

 I got a message this morning from my friend who took quilts and dresses my friend made when she went to Rwanda last summer.

Recently Rwanda for justice had a restoration day. All of the girls who sought justice, compassion and healing were at the center for a ceremony. 
As part of the moving forward process they were each giving a new dress and a quilt . A new start. 
Each sewn lovingly by you and the binky group. You and your friends making a difference around the world. 

Sorry there are no pictures. They don't allow them near the victims .

 I rarely get pictures of the people who receive the quilts.  It's nice, but not necessary.  I can picture these girls who are rescued from slavery and prostitution and given a new life as they received their new dress and a quilt.  The dresses my friend made were for girls about age 10.  That makes me really sad, but really happy they have a new life now.

 Project Pearls is a group in the Philippines I found after the Typhoon last year.  I met the founder recently and was able to give her these quilts which she personally took and delivered to these mothers and babies.  You can see from the pictures the conditions these families live in.  Sometimes people ask me why I don't just donate locally.  I will always donate where there is a need.  I don't see how you could see these faces and say, 'sorry, you were born in the wrong country.'

 All of these mothers want what is best for their children, just like we do.

These pictures motivate me to work harder and get more done.  If you wonder sometimes if a little fabric and thread makes a difference, I can tell you that it does!