More like gold

So, I did it. I completed my first year of teaching, teaching 7th grade life science at Kellogg Middle School. I don't know whether to feel proud of myself for not losing it in the middle of class (almost happened 8th period a few times), not hitting a child (although there were a few sweatshirts grabbed), and being fairly prepared every day even with a plan B and C (which often were movies or reading aloud)! It was a great year I have to say and I will never forget the kids or the wonderful people I had the opportunity to work with. It was truly a miracle year.

I really gained a testminoy of how important it is to raise your children with good values like working hard, being responsible, being polite and respectful and more. It is also important for parents to raise their children. How sad I was when I found out the stories behind some of my students. No wonder they act the way they do. Don't get me wrong, I had a number of sweet, funny, eager-to-learn students who made my day exciting. But even the kids who gave me the most grief kept me going too. Kurtis said often how he should have been a teacher because it's definatly not a boring job!

I guess you could say I did a good job this year because some of my students "hate me." "You do too many projects! You pick on me too much [for talking/behavior]. Your class is hard!" I often heard. I also heard "I love your class Mrs. Tucker! You always have a way of making things fun and pushing us to be better! I love science! WOW! That's so cool!" So no matter how much work this year was, I'm not deterred from doing what I love.

One of the reasons I had a great year is because I was a member of the Silver team. Each grade is divided into 2 'teams' each with their own color. There are 4 core teachers who all have that half of the grade. Our team works together to plan events, discuss student concerns, etc. My team was full of energy, is driven and cares about the kids. They were great examples to me of what master teachers do and were supportive when I needed advice. They were more like gold to me then silver. :) There were so many other people in the school who were supportive and gave me great friendships. All I can say is thanks and maybe I'll get the chance to work with you again.

Minnesota nice?

The people in Minnesota are, for the most part, very nice, considerate and helpful. There's always someone to help you at the grocery store, willing to work with you when you're frazzled and give your kids stickers (so I've heard). However, when it comes to driving it seems like they can't help tailgate each other. Now, usually when someone tailgates they want to pass you because you're driving too slow. About half the time that's the case here. You'll be going maybe 10 over the speed limit and even then someone races up behind you and sits in your tail (seriously, with inches to spare) until you move or they get around you. However, the other half of the time they'll just sit on your tail and when you move over they pass you going maybe 2 mph faster then you are. So I'm not sure why "Minnesota nice" doesn't apply to driving and why people insist on following so closely. One of these day's I'm not going to feel so "nice" and slam on my breaks and show them "insurance nice." :) Ironically, this picture is from a Florida agency and Florida drivers are known to be a bit crazy but at least they admit their mistakes here! Now I'm probably the pot calling the kettle black because I've tailgated myself, but this is just getting out of hand here!

I should have been a nurse

I'm a bad patient. I should mention that first before I explain myself. I self-diagnosed myself with strep over a week ago. I've been sick all year with colds off and on as I've been surrounded with germs at school. Ironic that we just studied germs...anyway...So I went to the doc and he agreed and gave me some antibiotics. I took them faithfully until a week later all my symptoms came back with a vengence. I went to the quickcare Friday and got a stronger dose of antibiotics. Well, we also realized that I was only taking half my dose before because I didn't pay close attention to the perscription. Anyway, doc thought it was best to just nip my now diagnosed tonsilitis in the bud. So, I took the new antibiotic faithfully until I noticed red spots on my arms in church. These spots spread all over my body and now my face is swollen with them. Apparently they are called hives. Never had hives before and wouldn't reccomend it! So I figured that looking like I have the plague wasn't good for work so I took the day off and went back to the original doc. He took me off antiobiotics (I guess I'm allergic now) and am taking antihistimines. I'm wondering if I was a nurse or something if I would know better or be more careful about taking my medicine..or recognizing hives. Whatever, I get a day off. With 3 weeks left I might as well use up my sick leave. :)

Triops, Tri-tablefauna and cults

These aren't really exciting things to note but this is our humble life. Whoo-hoo!!

1. When we were in Victoria we went to this bug museum and found these weird little shrimp/crab-like creatures called triops. Well, Kurtis hasn't been able to get over the novelty of these things and so he bought a triops kit online. $5.99 for eggs, food and water conditioner. He took them to work and tried to get them to hatch. On the 5th egg, Tito hatched and is now .4 mm long but a very active little guy. Kurtis is very proud of him. So Tito sits on his desk and distracts Kurtis and his colleagues all day from their highly exciting and motivating desk jobs.

2. My mom gave me these nesting tables which amazingly fit into my suitcase and survived the plane ride home. "Nesting tables?" Kurtis has asked, "what are they for?" Well, since we've had them (1 month or so) they've just been sitting safely nested by the fireplace. Then I uncovered this little starter plant kit someone had given me and decided to plant the seeds. The little kit fit perfectly on the smallest table. Yesterday, I asked Kurtis to by me a palm tree for a mother's day gift instead of flowers. For $12, who could pass up a tropical plant (in MN mind you) that will naturally clean the air and beautify a home? I couldn't. So the tree fit on the biggest table. Well, Kurtis then mentioned that I needed a medium plant for the medium table. Voila! Today at church all mothers and grown women received a cute little geranuim plant for mother's day. These fit on the middle table. This is my life. I have plants, I usually kill them but I'm hoping this time it's different. This is my garden.

3. Kurtis wanted to go to all the thrift stores in the area to get a lamp to keep Tito's (see #1) water warm. We were in Savers and split up to look around. I noticed that Kurtis was talking to an older man who I assumed worked at IBM also and was just chatting with Kurtis. Then as I neared them I thought, maybe he's a Jehovah's Witness and they're having a nice conversation. Well, the man did work for IBM many years ago and he was a sharing a religious message, but it wasn't quite so kind. He explained that he and his wife had been involved in a brainwashing cult and had their eyes opened last year. Now they have been born again and are concerned for the Salvation of others. Great message! However, when they found out we are LDS their eyes rolled and they became extremely concerned for us, saying that we too were brainwashed and were exactly like they were when they were younger. Needless to say, Kurtis did an excellent job of trying to bring the message back to asking the Lord to know of truth and trying to show these good people the similarities of our beliefs. Well, I was agitaged and didn't like to be told I was going to hell (is that prideful??) but they seemed to like Kurtis and were amazed by his sincerity. I think they gave up on me because they addressed everything to Kurtis.. they even prayed for him. I guess I wasn't worth saving. Oh well. They wanted to show us an anti-Mormon movie in exchange for coming to church with us. Maybe we can open their eyes again because they certainly won't open ours. I am grateful for my Savior and for the ability to turn to the Lord for answers. I know that if we seek we shall find, if we ask we shall receive, if we knock the door will be opened unto us to understand all things.

Springtime..almost

So it's really leaning toward being spring here in Minnesota. I use the word leaning carefully. There still are the occasional flurries (yesterday) but there have been a few days in the upper 70s. The lake by our house has completely melted so I think that's a good sign of spring. The trees are budding, the bulbs are coming up and the birds are busy chirping early in the morning. I think it's safe to say that spring has come!

Kurtis and I went to Washington for spring break for Steph and Kyle's wedding. Julie was the matron-of-honor in the wedding and apparently has captured the heart of her nephew Grant with her red vixen dress. I don't know what I did Jana! Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Steve surprised us with a fabulous trip to Victoria, BC on the Victoria Clipper for a night. THANKS AGAIN!! We had a great time and even with Julie's cold and Kurtis having to work a few hours, we got to see the gorgeous Butchart Gardens, the BC parliament building and pay extra in Canada with our pitiful American dollars. It was a great vacation from our vacation to embrace our Canadian heritage. :)

School ends the beginning of June for Julie. She has survived her first year of teaching. Her colleagues say that she's done a tremendous job with our group of lovelies this year. One teacher is actually threatening to take a "mental leave of absence" because he's never encountered so much disrespect and defiance or been so frustrated in his 14 years of teaching. She recently took 5 hours worth of tests to get an official MN teacher license. Hopefully she passed all her tests even though she messed up on the bubble sheets multiple times and even wrote an essay on the wrong page! Kurtis is liking IBM now that his contract load has gotten manageable. This summer Julie will teach a 2-week community class to incoming 6th graders on how to cook (yes!) and then she's heading back to LDS Girl's Camp as the camp director. Later this summer Kurtis' sister will get married in Utah so we get to see all his family!

We had such a great time seeing all the Gillman's (even Mark on the computer!) in Washington. We love and miss you all and can't wait to see you again.