The changing of the seasons

Happy fall, y'all!

Hope you're enjoying the beautiful colors of the changing of the leaves, the fields that have turned a gentle shade of brown, and the cooler temperatures that cause you to turn the heat on in the morning and the AC on in the afternoon.  I really miss Minnesota in the fall, especially after seeing Cassie's photos of the beautiful colors of Duluth!  Don't get me wrong, I actually hate most other things about fall, like being cold, not dressing appropriately because it warms up so much during the day and I'm dressed for winter, etc. But, I guess I'll take it because it means that Christmas music is right around the corner!

In working with my teachers, each Friday I send out an e-mail blast with information that is relevant to them and important announcements, etc.  I think the opening of my blast summarizes my thoughts from a couple of weeks ago and I'm going to recycle them here...

I have a confession, I REALLY want to be a blog reader.  I know that sounds so silly and strange, but it’s true.  I want to be in the habit of reading awesome blogs from people throughout the country or world, people that I might not even know, but am so captivated by their words that it doesn’t even matter. I’m obsessed with reading other people’s stories and learning about their lives and experiences.  I read 2 or 3 blogs on a semi-frequent basis, all people that I know.  In one of these, the message has had a resounding impact on me lately.  Her blog’s theme: love where you live.  This totally rings true.  For me, every place or situation I’ve been in thus far in my life, I’ve loved it. I loved high school and didn’t want to leave.  I felt the same about college.  I felt the same post-college.  And now I feel the same about the Delta.  However, there are days that I find myself racing home following afternoon meetings, only thinking about the e-mails that have accumulated in my inbox.  I sometimes regularly forget to slow down and enjoy the sights, sounds, and experiences around me.  

    Yesterday I took a vacation day and played in a fundraiser golf tournament.  Yes, it was 100 degrees outside and miserably hot.  However, even though I had a ton of e-mails and phone calls to respond to, and I didn’t work for a day and felt even more behind, I was suddenly overtaken by this beautiful, nostalgic feeling that I should spend more time looking at the world around me rather than only looking straight forward.  I decided to do just that and ended up taking a MUCH more round-about drive home stopping every so often to capture sights that I only glance at as I drive past.  I’m including one of the pictures here that I captured yesterday—use this as a reminder.  Slow down.  Enjoy your surroundings.  Explore. Sleep because you know you need it.   Laugh with your students.  Love what you’re doing.  You might not be perfect at this, no one is, but you’re making a difference and you need to tell yourself that.  And of course, love where you live.

While I recognize this blog is short and I do have a ton of e-mails and whatnot to be responding to.  I want to leave you with a few of my favorite shots from the last couple of weeks after I took the time to slow down and enjoy my surroundings.  I hope that you'll do the same.

 A perfect cloudy morning with the sun trying to shine through...

It's totally by chance that I entered Sunflower County at the same time as this crop duster.

One of my favorites and probably the last of the cotton season.  The same field that Ingrid, Sara, and I came upon while driving--so beautiful that you HAVE to stop and take pictures.

Sweet Summertime

What an absolutely exciting time of year it is--yes, I realize it is far from Christmas and that is clearly my favorite holiday, but June also provides much awesomeness of its own!  For starters, all of our new teachers came last week.  More than 300 folks are joining us in classrooms throughout the region for the next two years.  While I generally love induction (the 4 day span of introductory sessions), this year was especially exciting.  Everyone has their placement already, much sooner than normal.  This is both a good thing and a bad thing.  It's awesome that our teachers can spend all summer learning how to be a great teacher, without stressing about where/what they'll actually be teaching.  It's bad because not all schools have figured out the openings that they'll have, if all of their current teachers are coming back, etc.  Although my former school hired 2 new teachers, it looks like they still have 2 openings--hopefully NOT resulting in students having long-term subs for the school year again.  What's so inspiring about this group is how optimistic and enthusiastic they are.  When someone would get called to go sign their contract because a principal or superintendent showed up, everyone would burst into applause and cheers.  This was not a one-time coincidence, this happened repeatedly.  This crew is so supportive of each other and it gives me extremely high hopes for what they'll do for students here.

June is also exciting because HELLO, it's summer!  While this big-kid job doesn't exactly give me the summer off, it's still a change of pace from the school year.  I spend more time planning/revising sessions that we'll be using in July and wrapping up all of my data from last year.  And, tonight when I looked out the back window I saw a lightning bug in the yard!  I don't think I've really noticed them in Mississippi before!  It definitely takes me back to days Cassie and I would chase them throughout the yard, either capturing them in a glass jar or smearing the glowing guts on our arms.  Gross, I know.

Also, June means my return to Minnesota for a little over one glorious week!  Cannot wait to spend some time with my Winona friends, to see Cassie & Joe, and to hang out on a lake while celebrating America, in my american flag swimsuit of course.

Life in the Delta is changing dramatically.  My roommate left for a three week adventure home and elsewhere throughout the US.  She'll return before I am back.  By the time I get back from my conference and vacation, she'll be entirely moved out.  The same person I've lived with for the last 4 years, the one who also agrees that our landlord should let us have a cat, the one who doesn't laugh when I eat a bowl of strawberries for supper or that I refuse to go in the attic terrified of what might be up there.  While there are two others who are planning on moving in and I like them just fine, it isn't going to be the same.  I hate change.  I hate saying goodbye to people and I've done that far too many times these last two weeks.  Why am I constantly putting myself in a place in which there is high turnover, it doesn't make anything easy.  However, I know that people can't stay forever, I feel the same.  I guess I just want them to stay as long as I do so I don't have to adjust to this location without some of my close friends!  Here is a photo that Lois and I took this morning before she headed out to Florida.  We took a very similar picture 4 years ago in July when we first got to the Delta.  It was only fitting we did it again.

Did I mention that it was 7:45 in the morning and the sun was in our eyes?

The only other exciting thing that has been happening lately is of course the weather...what else do we talk about?  We had crazy storms come through on Monday evening.  I was driving back from Greenville and saw huge storm clouds, while I thought it was going to start downpouring as soon as I got closer, I realized that it was insane wind.  The weather reports said up to 70 mph wind.  There were black clouds being created from the wind blowing dirt up from open fields.  During one brief moment, I was worried that there was a tornado near me because the wind was blowing up so much dirt and dust that I couldn't see beyond it--no tornado though.  However, these cray storms lasted throughout the night, blowing the tin off of the factory roof next door to me, blowing down limbs, branches and in some cases entire trees.  Our yard was pretty much a mess with several large limbs down.  I spent a good hour picking up the front yard (all of that practice I had from picking up willow tree branches as a kid--still not my favorite task) and left the back yard for the yard man (there could be snakes back there).

Anyway, I'll be spending the next week involved in the chaos of writing final orientation sessions, doing a ton of prework for the conference I am going to, and getting packed both for the conference and for a week in Minnesota...it's going to be difficult to be productive with all of those exciting things on the mind!

GOOD LUCK this weekend to Jeannie who is running a 5K and Cassie who is running Grandma's Marathon in Duluth!  Run like the wind!

The show goes on alright...

Well, it's true.  The show goes on.  This song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmp6zIr5y4U&ob=av2n) really isn't relevant other than the fact that the show does go on.  For me, the show continues here in the Delta. I'm honestly surprised that I am writing those words, but after 4 LONG months of applications, talking to other regions, interviewing, and LOTS of phone calls--I've decided to stay.  Not stay because I'm tired of looking, but stay because I applied for and was given an opportunity to really focus on things that I love--elementary education, quality professional development, empowering leaders within this movement to stop being complacent and start fighting for the education that their kiddos deserve.  So with that, starting June 1st I will be the Director of Teaching and Learning.  It is a position that will let me work with and train our course leaders and learning team leaders who facilitate Professional Development once a month.  I'll also get to focus on region-wide professional development that our corps members will take part in.  And lastly, I'll still have some corps members that I manage--probably less than 10, all elementary teachers.  I'm secretly thrilled about this last part.  If I support corps members at my former school again, it means I'll have teachers who teach 3rd and 4th grade--they'll have all of my former students.  In many ways, it's a second chance to make sure I do things right for my kids.  And lord knows I love them.

A few updates on the last 5 months, as it really has been 5 months since my last blog, whoops.  I don't feel like much happened this spring.  Two friends/coworkers and I went to the Dominican Republic for spring break.  One of my friends was gifted a spot at a timeshare resort, so the three of us jetted out of the country for a bit.  We were welcomed to the DR with some random country tax--literally, you pay $10 to get into the country and a very confusing taxi ride from the airport--however, we were greeted with a two story hotel room, the upstairs bedroom had a gorgeous ocean view, and a week of all-inclusive, beach laying, pina coloada drinking vacation.  It was glorious.  We literally layed on the beach all week, venturing out of the resort once to go horseback riding on the beach.

For Easter weekend, Cassie came to the Delta!  She came down with Jeannie and Trevor when they moved all of my belongings, but I was still lost and homeless so it wasn't nearly as exciting!  I picked her up on Friday with my three favs and we headed for the Memphis Zoo!  From what I've heard, the Memphis Zoo is much better than Jackson, so we decided to spend the afternoon there.  People were right, the zoo was HUGE and had a ton of animals---and is pretty much smack in the middle of the city.  The kiddos loved it, although the long day with lots of walking and warm weather definitely took a toll on all of us!

You can't really see it, but there is a massive gorilla sitting right behind my right shoulder!  We literally saw everything from giraffes, to elephants, to farm animals.  However, we skipped the aquarium (it was SO hot in there) and the reptiles--for obvious reasons. And good news, we only lost one kid for 10 seconds in the ENTIRE day!  Success all around!

Cassie and I spent the weekend touring the Delta, shopping, eating catfish and crawfish, playing tennis, walks through Ruleville, getting tan, etc.  We even cooked a massive Easter Brunch for several of my corps members that were in town!  Together we learned that a spiral cut ham is the best thing since sliced bread.  We then ate ham and egg bake for the rest of her trip!  Here's a picture of us before our brunch...the background looks like my house is still stuck in the 70's.  Sweet birds.

Well, that pretty much sums up my excitement from the spring.  State tests are now over, teachers are giving final exams and I've started my End of Year Conversations with each person.  School is done next Wednesday, just in time for people to take off for Memorial Day.  Kids are anxious and teachers are ready. It's hard to believe the year is over already--as a student it NEVER went by this fast!

Before I finish, I'll leave you with a few things I'm looking forward to in/around the Delta next year!...

Mardi Gras---seriously SO much fun! And way more family friendly than I anticipated (as long as you stay out of the French Quarter)

Every small down Delta fall/spring festival!  This is a picture of our roommate reunion at Juke Joint in Clarksdale, MS several weeks ago!

 Of course I'm excited about another year in Ruleville!