End of the school year

Ding, dong, the beast is almost dead.

I have lots I could complain about. Lots. I actually started to complain, but I just deleted it all. Suffice to say, this has been more of a year about surviving and damage control than it has of feeling fulfilled and like I'm making a great difference in the lives of my students.

I was angry and thinking about the unfairness of it all earlier today when I happened to talk to someone I normally don't. He's an older gentleman and a computer tech. The conversation started with him making a joke about how a school year is like a pregnancy: after 9 months you're ready to kill something if you're not delivered from it! Whatever he said, it was damn funny. I told my sprinting analogy of how I view teaching and somehow we managed to start talking about a man at the tech's church. The man's wife died and he'd been laid off from Verizon where he'd worked for many many years. He ended up becoming a substitute teacher and then an instructional assistant in the county, because he couldn't find any other work. The sad thing: Instructional Assistants aren't paid jack. I was one of them. I know (it was $18k a year when I did it). The man was thrilled about it though! The IA job provided benefits for the man AND his daughter.  Benefits which had been costing him $1200 a month while working part-time.

At that point, I figured my problems (while stressful and annoying to me) really could be a lot worse and I should be thankful for what I do have. A loving wife, a healthy child, food in the pantry, a good place to live, and no insurmountable debt. There are still some lingering, self-centered 'woe is me' thoughts rattling around my head, but the whole encounter planted a different perspective I'm praying is nurtured. I'm not going to get all preachy, but we're given choices in life and choosing to be positive is almost universally better than choosing than to be negative.

On an entirely different note: my first official father's day was yesterday. I'm looking forward to many more.

Bullets:
-Shane loves blankets. He twists and tangles and eats them.
-I go on a walk with Shane every night. We try to stay out for at least 20-30 minutes.
-One of these nights I'll actually remember to bring a trash bag to pick up some of the bits I see.
-Carrie and I just finished the second disc of Star Trek Voyager: Season 1 today. I told her we'd start after school got out, but she's not always the best about waiting when she's excited.
-I think I'm basically done with Starcraft 2. I re-installed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in my quest to find things to mess around with and not spend any capital.
-I may have several tutoring jobs lined up for the summer. Depending on how things go, I may start to really pursue this as a second type of income and a way to feel like I'm making a positive impact on individuals.
-This post started for two reasons: 1) I was annoyed I hadn't posted the picture I took of Shane's first tooth. 2) I wanted to bitch and moan. I think I killed most of the griping, and I hope that a future me doesn't look back and say "what a wuss."       <--- EDIT: What a wuss.  Sincerely, Future you.