8:36 p.m. (Thursday)
I'm cheating a little with this entry. Normally I enter my thoughts early in the morning, but I'm taking Amber to the airport tomorrow morning, and she has to be there by 5:00 a.m. So even though this entry says Friday, it's really Thursday.
Today was a tough day in some ways; in other ways, it was the day I needed to kick my sorry ass in the head and get back to life. After feeling sorry for myself all day on Wednesday, I needed today. Mrs. Kline reminded me that I had it in my power to be happy, with the not so well-known to me song, "You Can't Roller Skate In a Herd of Buffalo Herd". Thank you Mrs. Kline. Then part of the lesson plan for the English III students was to watch the documentary, Unchained Memories, which is a documentary by HBO using slave narratives to share information about slavery in the United States. This one was a stark reminder that my "bad day" on Wednesday didn't really compare at all to some of the "bad lives" of folks in that documentary. Finally, we had some tragic news today that an eighth grader in our junior high passed away. Apparently he had been sick with flu like symptoms, and he took a nap in the afternoon and never woke up. Amber had the student in class, and I have an older brother of his in class. I can't imagine losing a child like that...it's unthinkable to me. As you can see...my bad day yesterday wasn't really all that bad after all.
Plus today, I received a letter in the mail from Chase - a letter from the Scott County Jail. It was such a relief to receive the letter and hear his voice in my head and be able to picture him in my mind speaking to me through the letter as I read the words on the page. He wrote about things I had mentioned in my letters and shared some thoughts of his reflections or thoughts that he thought of as a result of my letters I had been sending to him. Apparently another inmate gave him some paper and a self-addressed stamped envelop; that's a gesture from someone I don't know that gave me such joy. Even in a place like a jail, good deeds can take place.
After school, Amber and I went to Kenzie and Darrin's house - she had some laundry to drop off, so while she did that, I played with the dogs and the cats. My current situation with a bum foot sort of prohibits me from carrying much. Speaking of the foot...wearing a boot all day at school wasn't much fun. And my foot is swelling more and I'm starting to get some discoloration around my toes. I'm not sure what all that means, but I hope it means my body is reacting to whatever the injury was and has initiated recovery phase. Oh by the way, today I also heard from Carmen, and she is coming for a visit on Monday morning. She asked me if I was doing anything, and I told her I now wouldn't be running any marathons on Presidents' Day, so I would be home.
I mentioned Amber and the airport. She's headed to Florida for an extended weekend to be with her parents who are renting a condo for most of the month of February. I'm happy for her that she gets to go see her parents and get away for the weekend. Originally, I wasn't going because I would be officiating...something else that didn't quite work out as well as planned.
Tonight, I watched the game I was supposed to officiate on NFHS. I wanted to watch my friend Braeden in his first regional championship, but as I was watching I decided I might as well start Recovery 24-25 by watching the games I'll be missing to see if I can learn something from the crew and the games I had been assigned to watch. Plus, it's time to start setting some goals and generating some thoughts on how I can be healthier next season. I don't think a person can ever be 100% free from possible injuries, but I'm overweight, slow, and lacking in muscle strength, and those are things that I can improve upon. Plus, I need to get a change in direction for my health for the upcoming softball season anyway. If Amber is going to be gone all weekend, I can have four days of trying to start a course of improvement. Maybe that foot injury was God's way of giving me a year to get my shit together better, so I can actually look like a person who should be officiating high school sports.
Things for School
- Lesson plan for Feb. 20
- print off March menus
- Post Slave Spiritual Assignment in Google Classroom - Due Monday, March 4
- planning on discussing it Thursday, Feb. 22
- enter scores for Khan Advanced Part 1
- schedule Khan activities for next week - Advanced Part 2 - in Khan and Google Classroom
Things to do
- Feb. 19 - Carmen visiting in morning
- Carmen and Easter - visit on March 23.
- Feb. 29 & March 1 - Follow-up with ORA - 8 a.m. Dr. Collazo; dentist appointment -- need sub plans for these days. (Al Hyett is the sub.)
- request days off for March 1 - dentist & February 29 - foot follow-up
- complete Illinois softball rules meeting and exam
- complete Iowa softball rules meeting and exam
- pick up prescription at Walgreens
- write a letter to Chase and mail - 2/16
- for professional development principal academy training
- complete #3000 (June 17, 2024) register by 6/10
- complete #1865 (June 13, 2024) register by 6/6
- March 25 - Colonoscopy appointment at Digestive Disease Specialists - 309-601-2800 Stacey 309-601-2901
- For Summer Camping Adventure
- get camper wheels inspected at Mutual Wheel
- get truck inspected at Slayden's
- purchase national park pass
- purchase car pass for the days we are staying at Glacier (vehicle registration ticket)
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