Can I pick 'em, or can I pick 'em???

I have been working for two different school districts for over three years now. I have made mistakes, like showing up at the wrong school (teachers had the same last name!), thinking I was booked one day, instead of two.  However,  I avoided what had never happened to me before, UNTIL this week.

I ended up DOUBLE booked.  I don't know why.  I became aware of my mistake the night before, when I saw I was replacing a principal in an English school and a Grade One teacher in a French school, both the NEXT day. Well, I can wear a LOT of hats, but I can't wear them in TWO different places at the s-a-m-e time. 

I had to cancel one, so I cancelled the principal assignment. My reasoning was that with the current supply teacher shortage, far better to be filling in for a teacher, who has his/her students all day, than a principal who has mostly administrative work, and little teaching.  I would have filled in here and there in many classrooms.

It TURNED out to be a V-E-R-Y long day indeed.   As I said, I can really pick 'em.   I ended up with two, thirty minute yard duties, which is a lot in one day.  I not only replaced a teacher and her morning duty but I also replaced the lunch room supervisor, who was absent that day.  She isn't a teacher.  I replaced her, but I didn't get paid for replacing her.  Remember what I said about wearing many hats?  There is a prime example right there.  Not only that, the principal doubled my lunchtime duty, from the fifteen minutes I would have had as a teacher, to the thirty minutes the supervisor had. Remember, I can really pick "em"!  It gets better!!

At 1:50 my sweet little six and seven year olds were ready to board the buses to go home.  Well, a delay is announced.  Then another delay, so the children are told to take off their tuques, mitts and put down their school bags.  Another delay announces they should remove their snowsuits, as their departure time is NOW unknown.  What was going on?  WE were in major LOCKDOWN, albeit a soft lockdown.  A man had barracaded himself in his home a few houses away from the school, with weapons, and the "SITUATION" outside the school had become very grave.  

To the kids, it was a bit of a lark. They didn't understand why they couldn't go home, but made the most of it, playing games, visiting each other in their classrooms, reading, writing, colouring, and  dancing to music on YouTube.   One said, "Are we sleeping here?  That would be cool!"  WHAT? I don't think so! Another little one declared, "My Dad is picking me up at 5:00,"  I didn't tell her, "No, sweetie, your Dad is NOT picking you up." 

From the lobby, we teachers could see flashing police car lights, and all the school buses lined up to pick up the kids, with the only occupants the bus drivers inside.  We also saw parents waiting in their cars.  The police (along with the SWAT team) had warned the former and the latter, that they MUST REMAIN in their vehicles. 

 "I am hungry!"was the complaint that began to be heard. The children were hussled into the gym for a snack, then back to the classroom, or allowed to remain in the gym. I took my little ones back to class. 

It is now 4:30.  My Vimy has been alone for nine hours, but thankfully friends put him out for fresh air, in mid-afternoon and Handy Bro went to pick him up, bringing him back to "mon oncle and ma tante's place", since I didn't know WHEN or IF I was getting home.  :) 

It is now 5:00 pm and we have been told there is no change in the "SITUATION".  The cafeteria staff will serve the children spaghetti, with or without sauce, for supper, soon. By now I am really tired, but the children have oodles of energy and are just so sweet.  One IS tired, and crawls into my lap. :) 

Suddenly, the principal makes the announcement that the children will be allowed to board the buses and go home in twenty minutes. ALLELUIA! What might have sounded like mass pandemonium at this point, was just really a HUGE, collective sigh of relief that pulsed through the entire building, upon hearing this announcement.  

Kudos to staff, students, parents, support staff, police officers, all of whom numbered in the hundreds, who were calm, cooperative, helpful and did their JOB! In retrospect, it was truly wonderful to see.

I got home at 6:15, dead on my feet. I still don't have all the details on the "SITUATION" that caused the "LOCKDOWN",  but hey... I  don't need to know.  Everyone is safe, and that is what matters.  I have learned that whenever I think, as a teacher, that I have HEARD it all, SEEN it all, and DONE it all, something happens to remind that I HAVE NOT! I am forever learning.  

WHAT on earth...

would I blog about these days, if I couldn't blog about the weather?   We are entering our sixth month.   It is enough to drive anyone around the bend.

This past Wednesday was a SNO-DAY, but only in the English District.  I guess there was a different forecast for the French District?  I lost my supply day that had been booked, but I really didn't mind.  The snow never started falling until 2:00, by which time all primary and elementary kids in French schools had had time to get home. The English kids had never LEFT home.  However, the snow came fast and furious, coupled with very high winds.  In less than two hours, everything was a mess.  High school students in the French District? They were dismissed at 4:00 pm but the buses weren't allowed to leave.  Road conditions had become extremely dangerous.  Some students never left school to return home until 7:00 that evening.  Such is winter in NB!

So why did I head out as soon as the snow started falling at 2:00 pm?  I was booked for a teeth cleaning in mid May, but that appointment fell during the same week that I wanted to accept a four day teaching assignment. So two days earlier I had called my dental office, wanting to be put on the cancellation list.  I was told there were over two hundred people on that list.  I nevertheless made the request, hoping that in those six weeks before my scheduled appointment, I would be lucky and get called.  WELL, someone was looking out for me, or the office secretary liked me, because I was called T=W=O days later, hence the reason I was heading out in a storm.   I jumped a HUGE queue here.  GOOD KARMA!!  When I got to the dental office, I asked who had called me in and promptly went over to give the lady a big hug!!

In spite of the storm's full fury, I was in a real cheerful mood, heading back into town. My dentist had said my teeth were great!   Even the sight of twenty or so cars trying to crawl up Tetagouche Hill, slipping and sliding backwards, didn't dampen my mood. I was just so happy I was going in the opposite direction.  I made a pit stop for a few groceries, although I couldn't see a thing, there being nothing but blinding whiteouts all over. I was still riding a wave of a gratitude over my GOOD KARMA day.

I was less than a kilometre from home, when I spotted a purple haired young woman, walking almost in the middle of the road.  NO hat, NO mitts, NO scarf - obviously not dressed to be walking out in such wicked weather.  I couldn't just leave her there.  THAT would have been BAD KARMA.  She happily hopped in when I stopped to offer her a lift.  She lived about a kilometre back.  I had to turn around, and since driving was becoming increasingly treacherous, I immediately thought, "OMG, what if I get stuck in some driveway? I don't have CAA. Hell, I don't even have a shovel in my trunk!"  Thankfully, I didn't get stuck.  

We had a very lively conversation on the way. She was from the Chi originally, and you know how salty their language can be.  You know the seven dirty words you can't say on television, (mostly four letter expletives) per George Carlin?  Or that you couldn't, back when?   I am sure my passenger hit a good six out of those seven forebidden words.  Her last words as she got out of the car? "I am sick of this "CO$%SU$%?*# weather!"

I smiled, and continued to smile, as I backed out of her driveway WITHOUT getting stuck.  She had only expressed what I was thinking in my head!

Keep your head up or your head down?

When you don't pay attention, you do stupid things.  I learned the HARD WAY, NOT to stumble around without the light on in my bathroom, in the early morning.  It is WAY too easy to mistake one product for another.  THAT is why I ended up brushing my teeth with my facial cleanser, instead of my toothpaste.

The same principle applies to the shower.  Wake up BEFORE you jump in the shower.   One morning recently, I washed my hair twice with "blue" shampoo, which is not my regular shampoo, but a product I use once a week because of my grey hair. I then grabbed what I thought was my conditioner.  Man, my head was so soapy.  I assumed I had forgotten to rinse my hair first, so I rinsed it all out, and reapplied a second application of conditioner.  WELL, my hair was STILL very soapy.  Upon closer inspection of the bottle, I realized I had just washed my hair TWICE again, for a total of FOUR times.  Come on Pantene, your shampoo and conditioner bottles are VERY, VERY, similar!  It is incredibly easy to get them mixed up. Furthermore, for those of us who wear glasses, we DON'T wear them in the shower, so THAT fine print is very hard to read.  

Any funny stories out there that you my readers would like to share? I can't be the ONLY one doing this silly stuff, surely!

WHY am I STILL doing this?

Teaching, that is.  I am supposedly retired, but if I am home, not that busy, and missing the little ones, I accept supply assignments.  MY day is really brightened by these encounters and exchanges.  I must warn you though, that this blog is written in both our official languages.   I am not translating, and you all know, because I have repeated it a zillion times, (hyberbole I know!) Google Translate S?&??%$$!  

3/4 année:  Madame, ICITTE!  Le cri d'un enfant dans la classe, me mandant à son pupitre.  Comment ça????  On ne dit plus "Madame, pourriez-vous venir ici une minute, s'il vous plaît?" (I smiled a teeny smile)

Grade 5 French Immersion: A student disappears from class without permission and is gone twenty minutes. It is time for gym class. Students tell me he is in the washroom. I send a male intervention worker into the washroom, and lead the rest of the class to the gym.  I meet aforesaid student on my way back to class. Out of concern, plus not knowing the why, I ask him if he is okay. OMG! A long story ensues about his diarrhea. Yes, you read it right.  OMG ... W-A-Y TOO much information.  After what seems an eternity of me listening and nodding, he wraps up his tale.   With a parting sweet smile, he informs me that it MUST have been all that “hot buttered popcorn" he ate late last night. (I smiled a little smile.)

3ième année:  Je parlais à un élève de son comportement, que l'avant-midi, n'avait pas été bon.  Quand je lui ai dit que son comportement semble s'avoir amélioré, il ne semblait pas comprendre, alors je lui ai posé la question, "Tu comprends ce que veut dire "améliorer"?  Tout indigne, il répond, "Oui! Ça veut dire PLUS BON!" (J'ai fait un grand sourire.)

Grade 1 - We were outside on a cold, and windy afternoon, on top of a big hill, going sliding. A student ran up and asked me to refasten her hood properly.  As I was fumbling with the snaps, she added, "Hurry up!" (I chuckled!)

Kindergarten:  I was reading an old book (circa 1980s) about a cat named Solomon. Solomon was perched on a big object. I asked the students if they knew what that object was.  "Sure, it's a washing machine!" replied one little fella. No, it wasn't.  It was a TV.  (I guffawed!) 

NEVER, NEVER underestimate the power of ...

social media.  You may post a picture and/or a comment on your FB page, without giving it much thought.  However, if you post so anyone can see it, as in "PUBLIC", then be prepared for possible consequences (good and bad), comments and feedback, FOREVER!

Three years ago, I posted a picture of my almost empty bottle of Heinz ketchp, beside a FULL bottle of FRENCH'S, because I had to decided to switch brands.  I explained in brief about Heinz closing their factory in Leamington, Ontario, putting hundreds of people out of work, moving production to the US, and no longer contracting Canadian tomato farmers to buy their tomatoes.  It was my choice and NOT even my idea originally. I had seen someone ELSE post a picture like that, and I thought, "What a great idea!"  Support Canadians.  FRENCH'S couldn't yet produce ketchup in Canada because Heinz had that stopped that possibility, legally, for a few years.  

W - E - L - L... flashforward THREE years.  To my amazement, and I must admit, a bit of  DISMAY, I was informed that MY post has been LIKED, almost 60,000 times, and MY post has been SHARED 120,000 times. The last time I had bothered to check, it had only been shared 80,000 times! :)  That is mind blowing to me.  I wasn't able to keep up with responses to comments, NOT all of which were positive.  Some said I had no idea what I was talking about, although I had researched the story before I posted my comments.  However, generally speaking Canadians were and/are supportive of keeping jobs for Canadians. 

THAT posting still generates comments, likes and shares. People don't notice it was first posted three years ago, in 2016.  WHO informed me of the latest statistics on my posting? A reporter for CBC National news online, when she contacted me for an interview.  Did I know that French's ketchup continues to increase its market share in Canada? Had I continued to use French's ketchup?  No, and yes were my responses.  We had a great conversation, as she interviewed me for her story, which seems to be an E=V=E=R=E=N=D=I=N=G one.

So IF you happen to see a picture online of a grey haired lady holding up a BIG bottle of FRENCH'S ketchup... c'est moi! 

PS:  In light of the continued bashing of Canada by that odious toad south of the border, I am even MORE determined to choose CANADIAN products first and foremost!

I feel like a broken record...

that keeps skipping and repeating the same words over and over again.  It seems that all I have blogged about lately, is WINTER or my DOG Vimy. Both have been the focus so many of my recent ramblings, but for different reasons.  One I LOVE, and one I am beginning to love to hate!

WINTER has become so long, and so harsh this year.  Too add insult to injury, Facebook keeps reminding me where I was in March ONE year ago, and in March, TWO years ago. Well, it wasn't here!! It was in Costa Rica.  So, I am missing the heat, the humidity, the Ticos, the jungle, and the beach. Seeing those pictures I posted, once again, is both sweet and BITTERSWEET. THANK YOU FACEBOOK! I know... I know... I am spoiled rotten.

On to Vimy, again.  I must admit that I have NEVER been subject to physical violence in my life.  I am SO fortunate.  I have hardly even been YELLED at for heaven's sake!  However, that Husky's unprovoked and vicious attack on my Vimy has really affected me mentally and emotionally.  I have a better understanding of how victims of violence are so completely devastated by the violence that has touched their lives.  While I am in NO way saying that what happened to Vimy and me is in ANY way comparable to what happens to others, that attack has coloured my world differently.  It has changed me.  I DON'T feel as safe and secure in my beloved neighbourhood.

I am much more vigilant while walking out and about because I don't feel safe.  When I walk with Vimy, I feel dread every time I pass in front of the house where that dog lives, because it is just around the corner from me.  I have filed a complaint with Animal Control/SPCA, which is STILL being investigated. I provided pictures, filed a detailed report, obtained a witness statement, AND a vet's report. What is taking so long?  I have seen that woman walking her dog, while I was safely driving by in my own car, and I shuddered.  What happens if her dog attacks again... but maybe a child next time?  

Meanwhile, Vimy's deep puncture wounds have healed, but he has not forgotten.  We met a Husky on the trail last week, (not THE Husky) and Vimy just stared at him. He usually wags his tail, and strains on the leash to go say hello.  Not this time!  When we again met the same Husky as he doubled back with his owner less than twenty minutes later, Vimy STOPPED dead in his tracks, and refused to move.  He actually kind of tried to hide behind me, pauvre pitou!  When we met the same gentle Husky two days later, Vimy even growled at him.  He only does that when he feels threatened. 

Irresponsible people should be brought to account, in some way, for their actions.  To NOT have controlled her dog, and continued to talk on her cell phone the ENTIRE time, all the while HER dog basically tried to kill mine... still beggars belief in my books.  That there may be no consequences of any kind for her total disregard for another being's safety leaves me feeling frightened, worried, and angry. 😞😟😠😧 Ce ne sont pas des sentiments que j'éprouve souvent.

My latest purchase?  VOILÀ! On ne se fera pas surprendre une deuxième fois, moi et Vimy.

Thank you, my readers, for listening to my "cri de coeur", to my outpouring from the heart.

FIVE YEAR PLANS ARE "DE RIGUEUR" FOR THIS GIRL!

When my daughter told me a few years ago, that she and her husband had five year plans, which they revised on their wedding anniversary, I immediately thought, "What a wonderful idea!"

So, I decided to implement my OWN five year plan.  I think I kind of did it anyway, when I separated at the age of 59. Just because I am in the winter of my life, doesn't mean I should stop having hopes, plan and dreams.  Those things are not just the preserve of the young!

I knew I would probably be aging alone, so I resolved to do a-l-l of the following, and put them into my "unofficial five year plan."

1) move back home (...where my heart has always been!) 
2) get into shape (...yoga, jogging, walking, hiking, cycling,golf)
3) test my physical fitness with a big challenge (... hiking the 820 km Camino did it for me!)
4) teach as much as I could, to grow my pensions.(...ending up working for two school boards at the same time.) 
5) find a permanent home for me and Vimy.  (...I bought a house.)
6) travel a bit.

I DID all of those things, between the ages of 59 and 64.  I stuck to my plan!

Now MY NEW, OFFICIAL FIVE YEAR PLAN, from age 64 to 69 is to ...

1) Extend my deck to more fully enjoy the short seasons of spring, summer and fall.
2) Put up a fence so Vimy will have a completely fenced in yard in which to run around.
3) Spend as much time as possible with my sweet, little granddaughter.
4) Travel.
5) Gradually ease out of teaching completely, and be TOTALLY retired.
6) Travel more.
7) Did I say TRAVEL?

8) Make my volunteer work centred around seniors.

THIRD FIVE YEAR PLAN? From 69 to 74?

GET THE H?%! OUT OF DODGE DURING OUR LONG WINTERS!  Sacrer mon camp d'ici pendant l'hiver!!!  Find an inexpensive little trailer to rent somewhere in Florida, where Vimy and I can drive down after Christmas and park ourselves there until early April!  THAT'S IT FOLKS!  The sum and totality of my third, five year plan. Can you blame me?

My house, my car and my KING OF THE CASTLE hill where I did my duty Friday, keeping the little ones off this HUMONGOUS pile of snow... at least fifteen feet high, if not more.