Turning Fifty

Today I got a letter from AARP, congratulation me on turning fifty and telling me that am eligible to become a member and get to enjoy all of the benefits that life after fifty has to offer.
FIFTY!!! When did that happen? Wasn't it yesterday that I was still being carded?

Okay, so I have gained a few pounds, and my knees hurt, but fifty? Thinking back, each decade had something interesting to offer me.

My Teens offered a future and freedom, access to a car, my first plane ride, the right to vote and in my day turning 18 meant that it was legal to drink.

My Twenties gave me by first college degree: an associates, my first real job, my first apartment and my a cat named Snowball who was my first pet. And my first trip overseas (to Ireland).

My Thirties was a time of major changes. This time at work, I was the boss. It was in my thirties that I got married and had a baby, quite my job, had another baby, got a part-time brainless job (to get out of the house) and settled in to a life and a wife and mother

The the dreaded Forties came. I went back to college got a bachelor's degree. Then I lost my mother, had a health crises of my own,saw my oldest child become a teenager, then I lost my father. My Forties were tough.

So now I am Fifty, I look at this as a time of new beginnings. I am really not sad about turning Fifty, each decade has some wonder adventures and some sad events. I can't wait to see what happens next!

The Tourist Are Coming!!!

I live in a unique town. One one hand it is a typical working class neighborhood , a boy his dog and his truck. The majority of the High School students who graduate this year won't go to college, they will be going into trade or the military (three brancehes of the military have recruiting offices here). This is pick-up truck territory, you won't see a BMW in these parts...that is until Memorial Day.

You see I live 15 minutes for the Atlantic Ocean, and if you want to get from the New Jersey Parkway to the barrier Island where all the beach rentals and manisons are you have to drive thu my town. Come Memorial Day the population of the island increases 10 fold. The traffic lights go from blinking lights to normal green, yellow, red. Once the unoffical summer starts the traffic around here gets really bad, the tourist seem to spend as much time on the main land shopping as they do on the beach. Don't get me wrong the money that they bring in keeps the place going, we need the tourist for our ecconomical existence.

So, I have to learn to be more patient for the next few months everytime I leave my house.
Hey, the sun is shinning-see you at the beach.

A New Out Look

I was never a great student, but I was always a good one. I Have always liked school, so I thought that everyone did. I have been subbing for a little over a year and I found that I loved working with the AP kids. The come in and do their work with a minimum of fuss. But lately I seem to be getting the low level classes a lot. Here the kids act-up all of the time, trying to keep them focused is a lot of work. School for them is a waste of time, they don't want to be there and don't understand why they should. These kids annoyed me. Didn't they understand how important an education is? Why do they hate school so much?

I didn't understand until now. I just started graduate school an on-line course. I have never been so lost and confused. I feel that for every step I take forward I am pushed five steps back. I keep missing important information, assignments, so on. For the first time in my life I feel stupid, I don't think I can do this. I want out. But I paid for the semester already, I have put my family in dept. I feel trapped.

Now I think I understand how my non academic students feel, like they can't win, so why even try. I don't know what my future holds, but I do know that this experience will make me a better teacher.

Second Post

I finally figured how to register with Connotea. Yea!