I spent 7 hours at outdoor education training. That means 7 hours of walking outdoor trails, doing science experiments, and visiting a wastewater facility. The facilitator was ENTHUSIASTIC about science. Politically correct way of saying she was over enthusiastic about every single science experiment we experienced today. This was followed by margaritas at our house. The district director of science came and joined me and my classmates at our house. He seemed like that was a good idea. We'll see when he comes to visit our campus on Monday!
Overall, it was a great experience. The outdoor education facility is comprised of 5 trails where students do experiments and stations designed to stimulate their sense of inquiry. Our school will be visiting the Outdoor Site on October 5th and 6th so today's training was a great opportunity to preview what the students will experience at our field trip. I am so enjoying teaching this year and grateful for the chance to rekindle my love of being in the classroom. Our science director, Jonas, said that he could see me fulfilling a district level position and that was encouraging!
B
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Well, hell. Let's get it all done tonight.
Where do we start! Overall, we are doing okay. We are immensely busy and find it difficult to catch up via phone with many. But, we still think of everyone!
Troy continues to struggle with pain management. He has been referred to the neurosurgeon to schedule spinal fusion. We meet with him on 9/20 to get details. Troy would like to wait until December to have the procedure. Ideally, work would be slower during the holidays and I would be home to assist him in recovery. We aren't sure the doctor is going to go for that. And, I'm honestly not sure Troy can wait that long to get some relief.
The doctor recently made some changes to Troy's medication in hopes of better controlling his pain. The pain is more manageable but the side effect is increased drowsiness. It's a hard call either way because he is not well in either condition. It's been a long year and he is worn down emotionally and physically.
He continues to impress me with his love and support and worry about our family. Instead of worrying about himself, he worries about us. We assure him that all is well and we will be here for him through it all. I'm thinking we may need to develop some kind of mail brigade of funny cards etc while he is in the hospital to keep his spirits up. I'll keep you posted on that as we know more. Anyone who wants to start sending him funny cards now is welcome to! I think he would enjoy it.
I am teaching fifth grade science this year and loving it so far. The kids are sweet and no one has wiped their nose on me yet! I'm trying to stay one week ahead of the kids academically and I'm relearning alot! I don't think I could go on that show, "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" without some refreshers!
I walked in graduation in July and am finishing my thesis before the deadline of 10/24. I will be so glad to be done with courses! This last thesis course is very time consuming and I'm struggling to stay on top of things. It is what it is and it's almost done! I seriously cannot wait to be done.
Nothing too exciting happens in our world except visits to the ER or scheduled doctor appointments. We're okay with that level of excitement. Some days are harder than others, but we are lucky to have each other to love through it all.
Someone asked me today what we are doing for Thanksgiving and I laughed out loud! I said I didn't know what I was doing on Sunday so Thanksgiving sounds years away! We are learning to take things one day at a time and not plan so far in the future.
There. You are all caught up.:) I'm going to bed now! Good night!
Love,
Bets
Troy continues to struggle with pain management. He has been referred to the neurosurgeon to schedule spinal fusion. We meet with him on 9/20 to get details. Troy would like to wait until December to have the procedure. Ideally, work would be slower during the holidays and I would be home to assist him in recovery. We aren't sure the doctor is going to go for that. And, I'm honestly not sure Troy can wait that long to get some relief.
The doctor recently made some changes to Troy's medication in hopes of better controlling his pain. The pain is more manageable but the side effect is increased drowsiness. It's a hard call either way because he is not well in either condition. It's been a long year and he is worn down emotionally and physically.
He continues to impress me with his love and support and worry about our family. Instead of worrying about himself, he worries about us. We assure him that all is well and we will be here for him through it all. I'm thinking we may need to develop some kind of mail brigade of funny cards etc while he is in the hospital to keep his spirits up. I'll keep you posted on that as we know more. Anyone who wants to start sending him funny cards now is welcome to! I think he would enjoy it.
I am teaching fifth grade science this year and loving it so far. The kids are sweet and no one has wiped their nose on me yet! I'm trying to stay one week ahead of the kids academically and I'm relearning alot! I don't think I could go on that show, "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" without some refreshers!
I walked in graduation in July and am finishing my thesis before the deadline of 10/24. I will be so glad to be done with courses! This last thesis course is very time consuming and I'm struggling to stay on top of things. It is what it is and it's almost done! I seriously cannot wait to be done.
Nothing too exciting happens in our world except visits to the ER or scheduled doctor appointments. We're okay with that level of excitement. Some days are harder than others, but we are lucky to have each other to love through it all.
Someone asked me today what we are doing for Thanksgiving and I laughed out loud! I said I didn't know what I was doing on Sunday so Thanksgiving sounds years away! We are learning to take things one day at a time and not plan so far in the future.
There. You are all caught up.:) I'm going to bed now! Good night!
Love,
Bets
Wow! Two in one night....Steven's update
Steven continues to thrive at the dorm in Abilene. He continues to use his smile and sense of humor to wrap caregivers around his little finger.....which isn't little anymore! He has undergone the typical teenage boy growth spurt. He is now 6'2" and weighs in at a trim 210. Gone is that little boy from years ago! The kid has more leg hair every time we see him!
His classroom switched sites this school year and he has a new teacher. His old teacher is in the classroom next door and has an adjoining door. Steven isn't loving the change of venue and change of teacher, so he just walks over to his old teacher's room quite often and tells his current teacher "No." with a smile. It will be interesting to see how she overcomes this with his size being what it is!
Steven's health continues to be great and he is monitored closely. He has always taken a sedative to have dental work done and has now developed an immunity to the med. His nurse practitioner called this past week and we discussed alternative meds. I need to call tonight to see how his labs went today with the new meds! He also continues to have all night parties with his roommates. Steven and his roommate, Angel, are both known for their nighttime prowess. The nighttime staff said they used to get a lot of laundry etc done during the night until Steven showed up! Now, he's the life of the party!
Steven's 14th birthday is this weekend. We are celebrating next weekend with a party at Mr. Gatti's pizza parlor. It should be a fun day with all the boys from the dorm (and caregivers) to celebrate with us.
And that is Steven's life in a nutshell.
His classroom switched sites this school year and he has a new teacher. His old teacher is in the classroom next door and has an adjoining door. Steven isn't loving the change of venue and change of teacher, so he just walks over to his old teacher's room quite often and tells his current teacher "No." with a smile. It will be interesting to see how she overcomes this with his size being what it is!Steven's health continues to be great and he is monitored closely. He has always taken a sedative to have dental work done and has now developed an immunity to the med. His nurse practitioner called this past week and we discussed alternative meds. I need to call tonight to see how his labs went today with the new meds! He also continues to have all night parties with his roommates. Steven and his roommate, Angel, are both known for their nighttime prowess. The nighttime staff said they used to get a lot of laundry etc done during the night until Steven showed up! Now, he's the life of the party!
Steven's 14th birthday is this weekend. We are celebrating next weekend with a party at Mr. Gatti's pizza parlor. It should be a fun day with all the boys from the dorm (and caregivers) to celebrate with us.
And that is Steven's life in a nutshell.
Okay, so it wasn't yesterday.....but here's Megan's update
Megan is doing great. She is enjoying her sophomore year in high school so far. She is taking advanced placement courses and is enjoying the challenge. This semester she is taking AP Chemistry, Psychology, AP World History/Language Arts, and swim team. She constantly amazes us with her ability to learn and comes home with new bits of knowledge she shares with us each day. The other day she came home and told us about a psych case study about a guy named "Clive". This guy suffered a head injury and has only a 30 second memory span. She spouted off something about a particular part of his brain that was injured. Evidently, his injury provided tremendous research opportunities that allowed researchers to identify which part of the brain turns short term memories into long term memories. Since I can't remember what that is called, I believe I must be deficient in this particular brain section......
She had a rough start to the school year with an episode of her bleeding disorder flaring up. She ended up missing a week of school and spent some time in the hospital getting infusions and some new medications. While the entire event was difficult, some good did come out of it. She finally has a team of doctors established that are working together, communicating with each other, and devised an action plan that is proactive.
The new plan involves Megan learning to self-infuse the factor when she needs it. She has a new "practice" IV kit like the picture shown. I think I'm more chicken for her to use it. She's intrigued and can't wait to figure it out!
Swim team has returned with a vengeance. She has "dry land" strength training 4 mornings a week from 6:00am-7:30am. Then, they swim from 2:30-4:30 each day. She is starving when she gets home each evening. So, she eats, does homework, and goes to bed!
We just found out last night that her first meet is 9/24 in San Antonio. So, we will be checking to see if Fred and Leslie want to connect and see our little fish swim! Anyone else who wants to join us in San Antonio is also welcome!
And that is Megan's update.
She had a rough start to the school year with an episode of her bleeding disorder flaring up. She ended up missing a week of school and spent some time in the hospital getting infusions and some new medications. While the entire event was difficult, some good did come out of it. She finally has a team of doctors established that are working together, communicating with each other, and devised an action plan that is proactive.
The new plan involves Megan learning to self-infuse the factor when she needs it. She has a new "practice" IV kit like the picture shown. I think I'm more chicken for her to use it. She's intrigued and can't wait to figure it out!
Swim team has returned with a vengeance. She has "dry land" strength training 4 mornings a week from 6:00am-7:30am. Then, they swim from 2:30-4:30 each day. She is starving when she gets home each evening. So, she eats, does homework, and goes to bed!
We just found out last night that her first meet is 9/24 in San Antonio. So, we will be checking to see if Fred and Leslie want to connect and see our little fish swim! Anyone else who wants to join us in San Antonio is also welcome!
And that is Megan's update.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Time flies by
Been a while since I posted. Sorry. Time is fleeting and it's literally flying way by me! I'm going to provide updates throughout today on each member of our family. So much to tell and update. Too long to be just one post.
I'm sure you will be eagerly reading today! I'm heading off to take Megan to swim....5:36am. I'll write more later.
B
I'm sure you will be eagerly reading today! I'm heading off to take Megan to swim....5:36am. I'll write more later.
B
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