Fort Lauderdale

Just me doing some digital scrapbooking....

We flew into Fort Lauderdale.  Maybe the tickets were cheaper, maybe the times worked better, maybe it was closest to the New Haven style pizza restaurant. 

Only Adam knows the answer to that question.

We went to a beach for our first turquoise ocean view:

We saw this enormous spider above our path for our first wildlife view:

It was hot.  And humid.  Mark said, "Now I know why the Spanish were in such a bad mood."  Also, Mark was so hot he wanted to buy some shorts for our first Mark's legs view (he hasn't worn shorts for probably a decade and I had to take a picture to send his siblings to mark the occasion):

I remembered Adam telling me about the winged Pegasus statue so I wanted to see it.  It didn't disappoint, especially since he has a front leg on a dragon's neck.  Why not?  I showed Emma the pictures and she laughed and said, "It's just so dramatic for no reason!"

We finished the day with New Haven style pizza.  I will always be here for it.  We were trying to decide how many pizzas to get.  Mark thought three or four.  We consulted the waiter and he looked at the four of us and said, "Two medium sized pizzas will be plenty."

Adam said, "Yeah, we'll get two large."

We weren't sorry.

Grateful Friday

 I’m grateful for this beautiful world!  We went to Dry Tortugas National Park yesterday.  It was a 2 hour boat ride off of Key West.  It knocked my socks off (I wasn’t actually wearing socks).  The water was a million shades of turquoise and the fort was beautiful and the sand was soft.  I saw a sea turtle and a hermit crab and lots of fish and pipers running around the beach like the Pixar short.  There were frigates soaring above and I was pretty much expecting Ariel to emerge from the water.  Just lovely.

This is inside the fort.

And outside the fort:

There was a rainbow over Key West as we got back to the island.

I got a bit of a sunburn because I put on sunscreen when my swim coverup was on and then I didn’t put more on my back and shoulders when I was wearing just my swimsuit.  Rookie.

I’m grateful for this time to spend with Adam and Mark.  I don’t see them enough in our normal lives.  We’re too busy with school and work for my taste.  It’s nice to be together 24/7 for awhile.

I’m grateful for this time to spend with Geri.  She’s gamely watched all the Netflix shows we want to introduce her to in the evenings.  She reads us things while we drive and she got them to turn the Seahawks game on in the pizza restaurant.  (I sat with my back to it. I’m a giver like that.  Plus I didn’t really care that much so don’t be too impressed.)

Today we’re heading back to Miami (and hopefully more Cuban food) and then we fly home tomorrow.  It will be good to get home, but it has been so good to be here too.

 

A little update

 I didn’t bring my computer but I have commandeered Adam’s iPad so here we are.

We are having a lovely time.

We spent several days in the Miami area, seeing sights and eating good food.  Adam took us to a New Haven style pizza place and we were rhapsodic in our enjoyment.  Maybe my favorite part of Miami was Little Havana.  I loved all the trees and pretty vibrant houses and the colorful chickens strutting around.  There was a pulsing of Latin music from passing cars and a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (recognized the font!).  We had Cuban food for dinner and it turns out I love Cuban food too.

We went to Everglades National Park which was pretty amazing.  It has none of the breathtaking vistas of National Parks in the West but it was fascinating and so different than anything else I’ve ever seen.  We saw one alligator, but from a distance so I wasn’t terrified.  (Those guys scare me.)

Yesterday we drove to Key West. We stopped in Key Largo for lunch and key lime pie (we ate it before our lunch).  The drive was beautiful and different than I expected.  The trees go all the way to the water and the water is turquoise.  We listened to Kokomo by The Beach Boys while we drove because it felt necessary.

The ocean is so warm I actually donned my swimsuit yesterday.  We went to a beach and they all snorkeled and I just floated in the warm salty water.  I don’t know how to add pictures here on the iPad, but if I figure it out, I’ll add some.

Grateful Friday

 I'm grateful conferences are over.  They are tiring and emotionally draining and a lot of work.  I usually cry on my way home because 1) I'm a weirdo and 2) I'm so overcome with gratitude for the tenacity of the mothers of my students.

I'm grateful for mothers.  I'm grateful for my mother who has her own brand of tenacity (it's supersized) and who filled our home with books.  So many of my students don't have books at home.  We didn't have a lot of money when we were growing up, but we had books.

I'm grateful for the mothers of my students who ask what more they can be doing at home, who moved here from other countries to give their children opportunities, who sacrifice and work hard for their children.  Since I love their children too, I'm grateful for them.

I'm grateful for our children.  I'm grateful for the privilege I have had to raise them.  They daily make me happy.

I'm grateful for Adam who is always my soft safe place to fall.  He hugs me when I'm empty and listens to me when my brain is full.  

I'm SO grateful for an upcoming vacation.  This morning I clicked off my alarm on my phone that is set for every weekday morning.  It felt marvelous.  I will miss my little students but not as much as I'll relish the time with Adam and Mark.  I have catching up to do with those two.

Quaint

 Yesterday Mark texted me that he needed to go home and get more insulin.  I texted back to go check out at the office first.

My students were working on their computers and I was looking at mine or I wouldn't have seen his texts.

He texted that the office wouldn't let him go unless a parent called.

I texted, "I can't call.  I will call during recess. Show them this text."

A little while later he texted that he was OK to leave."

I called at recess and didn't get anyone but left a message.  I still wanted to talk to a person and explain that hopefully not often, but sometimes, Mark may need to leave school and I won't necessarily be able to call.

At lunchtime I tried to call back.  My phone struggles to work in my classroom.  I couldn't get it to place a call.  I went out onto the playground and my students were swirling around me, "Mrs. Davis is out here!"

I still couldn't place a call.

I felt frustrated.  What was I supposed to do?

Then I remembered the dusty relic on my desk.  A telephone!  The office has called me a few times but I have never used it otherwise.  

Guess what?  It works!  I laughed at myself that it took me that long to realize I had an actual landline telephone on my desk.  I even remember how they work.

Conferences

 Yesterday and tomorrow are parent teacher conferences.  I was at my school for over 12 hours yesterday.  I didn't die, but almost.  My principal stopped by my classroom while I was sending one more email.  "Go home." he said.

"I know."

There's just so much to do.  Conferences, which are a lot of work by themselves, coupled with sub plans.  Turns out there's a lot to sub plans in the time of COVID.  I have to spell out all the cleaning routines.  Also, I have to find activities for my students to do that are meaningful and not too hard and easy to explain all at the same time.

It's a lot.

While I don't love all the prep work that goes into conferences, I sort of like the actual conferences.  My favorite part is telling the parents how great their students are.  Their eyes smile (I'm sure their mouths are smiling too, but masks block it) and they invariably reach for their child.  My students smile too.  It makes it go down a little easier when I say something their student needs to work on.  I also love it when the students want to show their parents around the classroom.  "This is my desk!" they say proudly, like they're responsible for the creation of it.  When little siblings are along, they stare wide eyed around the room, taking it all in.  So this is the mysterious place their older brother or sister disappears to each day.

It's a nice time.

But I'm glad it's only twice a year because more might actually kill me.

I'm tired.

You can't make this up

The third grade teachers share students for reading.  By choice, I work with the students that are below level.  They are a good group, bright and charismatic.  Mostly they are below level because English is not their native language.  They'll get it soon enough.

In order to prepare for the hopefully unlikely possibility that we will go online, I have my little group get online on Monday and do Boom Cards, which are basically virtual flash cards.  They practice silent e words and sight words.

It's the hardest part of each week, getting those kids online.  I write out their usernames and passwords but they still can't type them in correctly.  It's a big undertaking.  I keep thinking it will get easier and it keeps not getting easier.

Yesterday, I was moving from desk to desk, pointing out where they had made a mistake and having them click here, no there, not there, there to log in.  One boy raised his hand and I walked over to his desk and wonder of wonders, he had managed to get into Boom Cards.  There was one problem.  It was all in German.  How he had managed that is beyond me.

I clicked him out of it, had him log back in and try again.

Mondays only come around once a week.  And we have pizza every Monday.  Mondays are survivable.