Suck It Up, Buttercup

   What!  I am suppose to wipe off tables in the school cafeteria and sweep the floor?  Me, the Spanish substitute teacher?  You mean to tell me I went to college for four years and I am now half way through to a master's degree so I could clean up after a bunch of 1st graders who can't keep half their food on the plate?  Doesn't this school have cafeteria workers to do that? I admit these questions went through my head last Friday when I found out that cafeteria clean up was part of my duties. Also the regular teacher's duties, I might add. Can you imagine what would happen if purchasing agents, journalists, or engineers were told part of their jobs was to wipe tables and sweep the floor at their places of employment?

   And then I remembered Mike Seaton, an old boss of mine back in my IT (Information Technology) days. I don't remember the circumstances but I was asked to do something that was way out of the realm of my job description. I told him, "It's not my job."   He replied back to me, "It's not my job to sweep the floor, but if it's dirty I will grab a broom and clean it."

   Well said, Mike. 

What Happened To Me?

     Like a lot of bloggers, here I am apologizing for the long absence. Last spring, on a whim, I applied for graduate school at the University of Northern Iowa. Not that it is so difficult to be admitted as long as the money is there, but they let me in. Crap. Now I have to put out or shut up. I am about 1/4 of the way to obtaining the MA TESOL (pronounced tee-saul) which stands for Teaching English as a Second Language, something I have been doing for years now anyway. I guess the master's degree will just validate me. I am working full-time as a teacher and I also teach English to immigrants on Saturday mornings. I still have custody of my nephews, now ages 15 and 9. Andrew is a freshman with a 4.0 GPA. He's on the basketball team. He's also in band, archery club, and is vice-president of student council. Alex is in 3rd grade and just achieved his penmanship award. I've only gotten one phone call from the principal this year about his behavior (a major improvement). He plays baseball, basketball, football, and will definitely be in track because, as he says it himself, he's fast. Most of my needs to poke fun at them is taken care of on Facebook.
     My beloved Miss Daisy Dog died on January 13. She would have been 17 some time this year. We got her when she was about 5 years old from the Cedar Valley Humane Society. My son, 16 years old at the time, had been begging for a dog so I agreed we could go to just "look".  Yeah, right. As we walked down the aisle of pens with all the big dogs barking, there was Miss Daisy in the last one, paws up on the cage, telling us with her eyes that we were taking her home. And so we did.  We never had a squirrel in our yard again. Miss Daisy got around. She went to Mexico City once and she lived in Texas and Mexico before returning to Iowa. Gecko chasing replaced squirrel chasing in Texas. She didn't know what to do with the tarantulas so she left them alone. I still wake up thinking I need to let her out and I swear I can still hear her snoring in the middle of the night. I miss my little doggie.

     I still find time to occasionally do some stupid stuff like skiing although I no longer jump the moguls from fear of smashing my bones into a million pieces. I am proud to say I did not fall once all day even while taking this video, unlike my companion who did it over and over again like a champ. Since he may only be the second Mexican to ever ski, right behind Prince Hubertus, the 55-year-old Olympian from Mexico, he should get the consolation prize for trying.

     I have not given up on the blog. When I get time, or a wild hair up the wazoo, I will make an appearance here from time to time.  Don't give up on me yet. I still have lots to say.