It's getting hot in here

I am really into the fire this week, but I have had two staffings cancelled, which probably is a GOOD thing. One little girl needs glasses so badly, and has needed them for months, but mom doesn't want to take care of this need, thus, her evaluation is delayed. I can't test a kid when she can't see. I asked to postpone the other one because for the first time since I've been working with kids, I could not connect with this kid and establish rapport-he refused to be tested. Since that first session, I've worked with him two more times and things have gone a little better, but oh my, he's an angry little boy- and here's me, another adult trying to get information from him. He has a right to be upset with all the stuff going on in his young 8 year old life.

Wednesday and Thursday are gonna be tough days. I am really struggling with an eligibility decision regarding a student we are considering for the mental retardation exceptionality. There are quite a few things to think about with this particular student, so the child study team has spent literally hours talking, analyzing, thinking - this situation has consumed me the past couple of weeks. The staffing is Thursday. We still don't know what we're going to recommend. Wednesday we're meeting with a district specialist, and Thursday we're meeting with parents. I hope we figure something out.

Speaking of kids with problems, in the paper last week there was an article about the dad who dropped his 10 year old and 3 year old children off at their mom's place because he didn't want them anymore, and surprise, the mom didn't want them either, so they ended up calling the police and taking them to the children's home. How nice. To be 10, and to come to the jolting reality that your parents don't want you. Talk about your kid that's left behind. How is this 10 year old gonna go to school, sit in class, and learn about the Magna Carta? But the school she/he attends will be accountable for this child's learning-and will be held responsible if this kid doesn't make the grade on those high-stakes tests.

I just heard that one of the suburban districts surrounding us is discussing having school year-round. Hmmm. Advantages, yes. Disadvantages...?

Into the Fire

Yesterday was my first day back to work! Yea! In an inservice yesterday, we discussed a new method our school district will be using to evaluate preschoolers. Today the kids are back, and it's a full schedule. I have, count them, 4 meetings today. I'm also in the middle of evaluating a 2nd grader for learning disabilities, so hopefully I can finish that today and tomorrow. Poor little guy, he's pretty good in math, but is so disfluent in reading. He's so extremely frustrated that now he has become a behavior problem. Mom is living many, many states away and is battling her own demons, trying to get her life together so that she can once again take care of her kids. That's gotta be tough for this young man.

I've completed my first evaluation of a student who I will recommend placement in special education under the "Mental Retardation" category. These are the tough ones. It's hard to tell parents this news, and in this case, English is not these parents' first language, so it will be more difficult. We have hired a translator for the meeting, just to make sure there is no misunderstanding. Their kid is a cutie, repeating kindergarten for the 2nd time, and still not understanding a lot of things those kindergarteners need to know. He's behind, very behind, in all academic areas, and socially and emotionally. But he liked coming with me for testing!

It's going to be a nice day here, in the 50's and sunny. Would be a good day to walk outside-maybe around the playground. Yeah, around the playground. Maybe I'll try that.

2007

2007-here we come. Whether we're ready or not. Everything's over, said and done, 2006 is a wrap. 5 more months until school's out!

I'm sorta looking forward to going back to work, in a way. Tomorrow I'm gonna practice giving a Stanford-Binet V, an IQ test that's been out awhile, but I'm not proficient at giving it. There's lots of manipulatives and other stuff to use, plus I think it's a little confusing. Takes practice to learn a new test, you know.

(I'm sort of watching David Letterman out of the corner of one eye-he's going to have a 10 year old kid on his show tonight who is a "lizard whisperer". Great. )

Well kids, thanks to those of you are who are checking the blog once in awhile. I don't have a very exciting life, but my friend Barbara does right now. Congratulations on your recent marriage to the man of your dreams-best wishes for a long and happy life with Lyle!

A Challenge

Is this the time of year that I write about all the resolutions people make and break? Yes, yes, I believe it is. You people and your resolutions. Has anyone reading this blog ever made a New Year's resolution and kept it? Let me know by commenting below. More later.

I love my vacation

The days are flying by, and soon, I will be heading back to work. I have really really enjoyed this vacation, and am convinced now, more than ever, that a job in the school system if you can live on the pay, is the way to go. Today I'm being Miss Susie Homemaker, and just rattling around by myself trying to get some mundane things done. The job is never far from my thoughts, however. I have an intense week scheduled after coming back to work and had to bring stuff home to work on so I could be ready. Now WHEN exactly I'm gonna feel like working on these reports is the big question.

If you're in western Kansas, you're coping in blizzard like conditions right now. Unfortunately, it's not coming this way-I'd really like to see some snow. However, my middle son, (you remember him, the one who slid down the big pile of sand in my dream on his knees, taking the hard way) is moving out today and tomorrow. I'd hate for a few little snowflakes to stop his progress.

Christmas Musings

It's Christmas morning. I'm up, sitting here with my coffee. The radio is tuned to KLOVE, 99.99 FM. What great Christmas music they are playing this morning! The poinsettia is soaking up the sunlight which is streaming in the east window and it promises to be a great day weather-wise.

Our kids are grown up and we have no grandchildren. This means several things where Christmas is concerned-I slept in until 8:00 today! There's no wrapping paper strewn about, no excited yelps, no bodies sitting on the floor of our small living room. We did not even, gasp, have a Christmas tree this year. No outside lights. I didn't get out any decorations-but to quote a green fellow we all know, Christmas came - it came just the same.

In our family of "adult" children, we drew names and shared simple gifts on Christmas Eve. We had soup and chili, and cheese and crackers, and pie for dessert. Today we will go to my brother's place and enjoy Christmas dinner, and yakking, and more dinner, and more yakking, and play cards, and, well, just be together.

I enjoy decorations, lights, and trees just as much as the next person (unless that person happens to be my husband.) But keeping it simple this year, and noticing everyone else's lights and decorations was just fine for me. While I'm napping, you guys will be taking all that stuff down.

Keeping it simple. In this world of $800.00 PlayStations, and Wii's, and new IPODs, and big screen TVs, that's a concept that intrigues me. Maybe that's why I am striving to get my financial business in shape so that in 2 or 3 years, we can move out of the city and enjoy a simplier lifestyle. We've already started to do that in several ways.

Prosperity preachers and their concepts of "blessings" grate on my soul. There's nothing wrong if God chooses to bless you materially. But my oh my, our purpose on this earth is not to acquire things and more things. And forgive me if I sound a little scroogy, I don't mean for it to, but more than once when our kids were growing up, Christmas didn't happen very substantially. We were blessed at times by those who knew we were struggling, but we didn't ask for help. I didn't apply to charities for assistance or stand in line for a free turkey. Nothing wrong with that. But I wonder, I just wonder, if the meaning of Christmas is lost when a kid opens his 20th present and plays with the boxes. I realize when I have my own cute grandkids, I'll be one of those doting grandma types, no doubt about it - that's a perspective I haven't experienced yet.

I think Christmas gifts mean more when there is more of yourself IN the gift. For example, before my mother went to be with Jesus, she knitted several small Christmas bell ornaments for her grandchildren. Those simple red knitted bells mean the world to me-in fact, my daughter asked for hers to hang on her tree, but I couldn't quite give it to her just yet! (Sorry Rebekah.) I had a fleeting thought to pick up this tradition as we've had several additions to our family who don't have a knitted red Christmas bell ornament. I think mom would be pleased.

Whatever you do today, celebrate the things in your life that mean the most. For me, that's saying, Happy Birthday Jesus. In answer to my question of what Jesus would want us to give him on His birthday, my friend Candice commented - "I think Jesus would be delighted if we'd all just spend a little time with him. At least 1/2 as much as we spend waiting in line to check out at the mall or Wal-Mart. Merry Christmas!"
Well said Candice. Merry Christmas to you too.

Birthday Gifts

Today is the FIRST day of my new life...at least my temporary new life. I'm off for the holidays, and don't have to think about things until January 3, although, I probably will end up thinking about things...I know how this works. Anyhow, since I don't have to go to work today, what am I doing up so early? My youngest son's birthday was yesterday. We have a tradition that on his birthday, he gets to go to his favorite breakfast place in the world, "The Good Egg". We couldn't go yesterday, so I get to take him today. And so early because he goes to work at 8:30. The things I do...

After breakfast with Daniel, I get to stop by the grocery store and buy some things for dinner tonight, then come home and try to be domestic. Oh my goodness, the things I have to do to clean this house up. It's amazing. I was telling my sister last night that we couldn't eat Dan's birthday dinner on the table because it's so full of stuff. Help is around the corner however-starting the second week of January, I get to hire my daughter to come in and do some light cleaning once a week. She needs the money, I need the cleaning, it's a good deal for everybody.

I'm really sorta dragging my feet about Christmas this year. We do not (gasp) have a tree, and we drew names in our immediate family, so I'm not buying for everybody. I refuse to join the frantic mobs at the malls and stores-you couldn't pay me to go into a WalMart. I really try to not get sucked into to all the materialistic aspects of Christmas, but unless you live in a cave for two or three months, it touches you somehow anyway. But, it's all in your persepctive. A couple of lines from the little musical our choir did at church last Sunday go like this: "A gift for a King should be a simple thing...I will give to this King...my heart."

What does Jesus want us to give Him for His birthday?

Sunday PM Musings

The wonders of chocolate milk apparently didn't aid my youngest son enough. He still is not feeling very well from his minor surgery a week ago, but at least the swelling is going down some. He doesn't look as much like a chipmunk as he once did.

It's a 3 and 1/2 day work week coming up. I have a staffing first thing tomorrow, where I will explain to some parents that although their kid is wonderful, bright, funny, and a marvelous human being with lots of talents, there's nothing wrong with being average in intelligence. What is intelligence anyway? There's all kinds of theories and all kinds of ways of measuring it, but all in all, you have what you have, and it's up to you to do something with what you have no matter what number on an IQ scale you happen to achieve. Let's hear it for the average kids of the world-of which I am one of. I was never a scholar in elementary school, in fact, I was told that I was "slower" and certainly not in the same realm as my older siblings. And my older siblings ARE smart people, as are my younger siblings-I think any and all of them would achieve pretty high on a Wechsler scale-higher than me. And, I actually married a pretty smart person as well, so it's all around me. But into college, I sorta came into my own and found myself no longer living in the shadows of all those smart siblings who had gone before me and after me. That was probably the best thing about my college years-they were uniquely my own. Here's the moral of the story: An average kid with motivation can accomplish much in life. Moral # 2: You learn more from failures than successes.

Congratulations to my friends Candice, Kris, and Alisyn, recent graduates of the School Psychologist program at WSU. Way to go guys! I wish the best for all three of you-it has been my privilege to know you. You'll all make great school psychs.

The wonders of chocolate milk

My youngest son's surgery went okay yesterday. I got to stop off at the grocery store on my way home from WSU and get him some jello (which was all he asked for.) But while I was there, I saw other things he might like, and first thing I knew, I had accumulated several things in my cart for him, including chocolate milk, which I rarely buy. I got home and unloaded the 5 or 6 bags. He came downstairs and started rummaging for the jello, but appeared pleasantly surprised at the other things I got for him, mumbling something about, "I oughta get sick more often..." It was nice that this little carton of chocolate milk was helping him be thankful. This procedure was not a pleasant one for him but the drugs he's taking is making it more pleasant. Here's a good thought for a quick healing, Dan.

I'm desperately needing a caffeine fix to help me get going, and I didn't make any coffee at home, so it's off to QT I go. THEN I can think about school psych stuff. Have a good Tuesday.

Creative Folding

I'm not a craft person. I don't have a creative bone in my body when it comes to arranging things, painting, scrapbooking, or decorating. But yesterday, I learned about iris folding. Check out this website: http://www.irisfolding.circleofcrafters.com

Have you heard of this? At the "Annual Handmade Christmas Craft" session at our church, we made the bell (click on "free pattern of the month, then scroll down to the November pattern, the Christmas bell.) To get the instructions about how to do this, click the word "Heart" under "Free Pattern with Step by Step Instructions". I can't believe how simple it is, at least, the bell was simple. It looks like there are more complicated patterns available. Try it and let me know what you think. Jay, I was thinking your girls would enjoy this craft, and Rebekah and I will volunteer to have a session and teach it to them, maybe the end of January.

Tomorrow will be sort of a weird Monday. I'm taking my youngest son to the surgical center for a minor procedure first thing in the morning, I have a training session in the afternoon, a meeting with my mentor tomorrow after the training, then going to an internship meeting in the evening. I'll try to stay awake through everything. Nothing like getting up at 5:00am to get your day rolling.

Did ya catch that Shocker win yesterday? WSU is 7-0. Take THAT, Michael. KU STINKS!

Our Kids

The meeting I was dreading yesterday didn't go too badly. AND, I got to leave early, so that was a bonus. I toured a school here in our district which is, as the principal put it, the last bus stop. Kids who have been expelled from their schools for "zero tolerance" violations need to be going to school SOMEWHERE. Otherwise, these little darlin's would be out on the streets 24/7, going to the classes that criminals and gang members hold every day. There are about 100 middle and high school aged kids there now, and the system which is in place to correct behavior works pretty well. Every good choice is positively rewarded. Every bad choice has consequences. There are levels of behavior to earn. Security guards and cameras are a visible presence. The class sizes are small, about 10 students per class. No extra curricular activites. No sports. No leisure time. 15 minute lunch. 2 minute passing period. No exceptions. Most kids are there for a semester, but some could be there for the whole school year. However, there are limits to what will be tolerated, even in this place. The limit is 3 major infractions. Then there's a hearing. Then, you can be expelled from this school. And you serve your sentence on the streets. Or in jail. Almost every kid they have in that school has been arrested at least one time. The student body is disproportionately male and African American, although there are more girls there now than ever before.

Always, it seems after touring a place like this, everyone is thinking the same thing. Why? How do we have kids that are so messed up? The answer is complicated. A combination of factors. Because I'm working with a special population at school, I can see some things that might contribute. I know of a second grade student who already has violent tendencies. A cute little guy that could charm the socks off of anybody when things go well. But he's a pistol waiting to go off. Everybody that works with him sees it. We've taken some steps. Put some strategies in place-for example, he's not allowed recess, it's too unstructured and he's too volatile. Tried to get the parent more involved. Then, he revealed this last week his favorite thing to do---you read it here first---he plays "Mortal Kombat" with an adult uncle.

Potpourri (Is that how you spell that?)

Brrr! It's a little chilly out there today. At least we are not in a situation like some Missouri residents are dealing with today. From last week's snow/ice storm, many in the St Louis area still do not have electricity. I emailed my friend in St Louis who says she's doing ok, but they have much damage-this is the second time in two years this city has been hit with a storm severe enough to knock a million people flat on their behinds.

Closer to home, how 'bout them WSU Shockers! Ranked 10th in the polls last week, this little team with the odd looking mascot (truly, how many of you think a shock of wheat is an intimidating presence?) has soared to new heights. Mark Turgeon is a coach you can define pretty well by using words such as intense, driven, and focused, and, his team shows it. You probably won't find me at Koch arena cheering the guys on, but I'm an avid follower of their successes and failures. KU and K-STATE, your Jayhawkers and Wildcats don't hold a candle to our little wheat guy.

Time to get the car warmed up and get going. Big meeting today-let's hope we can put our personalities and past histories behind us and made a good decision about one of our students-she's counting on us.

Blah

I'm sorta feeling blah today. I don't know where the time has gone. I was at the church several hours working on a missions display for tomorrow and that was my day. Blech. It's cold and wet. The snow melted some yesterday and today so that was nice, but what's left is mud and dirty water. My house is just so...blech. Carpet is dirty. Everything is dusty. I need to really really clean. Rebekah, you wanna earn some money? I'll pay you to clean my house...

My youngest son is home from work, having a lively conversation on the phone. I can hear him laughing upstairs. What's so funny? I'll never know. Maybe I shouldn't know. The less you know about your adult kids, the better.

Unexpected surprise

Ok, see, THIS is why I work for the school district, however, I must say, that this large of one rarely closes. Hardly ever. Some winter days every district within 50 miles of here will be closed, but we'll still be open, sloshing through the ice and snow. But today, we are in the center of a bullseye of a storm that's heading up here through the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. POW! So, while my husband trudges off to his job at the state office building downtown, I'll be here at home, enjoying NOT getting out. The coffee is perked, and so am I. To top things off, it's PAYDAY. You get paid once a month, you get an unexpected day off-and they fall on the same day-life does not get better than this! (Unless it happens to be your birthday too.)

The staffing that was scheduled for today will be rescheduled. The testing that was scheduled for today will be rescheduled. And I'll be a day or more behind. My schedule, so carefully written in my calendar last Monday, is outta here, like a school psychologist at the end of a mandatory training session on a Friday afternoon.

Ok, I'm done. All the rest of you hard working people, who have to report rain, shine, snow or no snow, ice or no ice, get out there! {And have a GREAT day. (Ducks to avoid blows raining down on my head.)}

What to do with lemons

I just want to say that I LOVE hearing from all of you who are checking in to read this trivial blog, and to comment. Patzoo, it was nice to hear from you, and yes, you ARE a talented writer! I know you are a little skittish of publishing for everyone to view, but you are creative and have a lot to offer. And Fraser's Girl, well! Thanks for letting me know that things are just "heavenly" with you-especially since you're married to an angel...how was the Prime Rib for T Giving dinner? Jessica, good to hear from you as well, I hope to get to know you better. My friend Candice-are you feeling better? I have fond memories of classes with you-you made me laugh and not take myself too seriously. You are too cool. For those of you who read this blog and have invited me to read your myspace, I really like blogspot better because you don't have to sign in. If you'll send me a link where I could view your blog without having to sign in to myspace, that would be great.

I haven't said too much about my job, but hope to as time goes on. I can tell you that I really really like what I do. It's a challenge, it's rewarding, it's interesting, it's different every day. Although school psychologists are trained to do more than assess eligibility for students to be served in special education, that's really what I do most of. I also enjoy meeting with parents (for the most part) and visiting with them about their child's needs. I'd like to do more consulting work-that's where I feel school psychologists can be more useful than people give them credit for. This week I have 3 staffings scheduled-the one today was a "happy" staffing-the child was doing quite well so we dismissed him. Another staffing tomorrow may not be so happy-I tested a child for eligibility in the "gifted" program, and although the child is functioning well at a high average level, they just don't meet the qualifications for gifted. I think parents will be ok with it, but it's always tense to explain that "Although your child is WONDERFUL, and BRIGHT, and CREATIVE, blah blah blah..."

Thought for the day: When life hands you lemons, chunk 'em down your reeking garbage disposal and get a bowl of ice cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup.

A Dream

Because I'm sort of a practical person, (my siblings would disagree, but I really am), I don't place a lot of stock in dreams. We all have them, they can be kinda weird, but I don't look for hidden meanings. Mine are usually too entertaining to be deeply philosophical. However, last night, I vividly dreamed about my oldest son. I had taken him to a place I used to play as a child and we stood at the top of a high berm looking down a very steep side. It was made entirely of sand. My instructions to my oldest son were to "slide down". Then I turned and walked away. Keep in mind that he's an adult now, (albeit still living at home), but in this dream he was maybe 6 or 7. I went home, and forgot about him. Later, I realized he had not come home and and went looking for him. When I found him, he was several years older. I asked him if he made it down the hill ok. He said, "Yeah. I went down on my knees, and it HURT, but I made it." I stood there thinking, I would have gone on my rear end, but you, of course, chose the odd way to do this that no one else would have.

That's my oldest son. He chooses to learn life's lessons the hard way. He will be 25 in December and I'm ready for him to slide down the mountain once again in pursuit of a life that doesn't use my washer and dryer. His latest plans are to move in March. Looks like it may happen, and I couldn't be happier about it. Get going son!

Sunday PM

It's a nice Sunday afternoon. Dishwasher is running, my daughter is dinking around on my keyboard, I've had lunch, now I'm getting ready to take a little nap before choir practice. I'm thankful for a job with weekends off, for children who I have good relationships with, for a spouse who works many hours a week at 2 jobs, and for my old car, "Hoss", who starts for me every time (except for once when I ran out of gas).

Hope your Sunday afternoon is going well. I have a lot of work to do this week, but I'm not thinking about that just yet. Monday will be here soon enough.

Just Drivel

Happy day after Thanksgiving...for those of you going shopping today, well, good luck with THAT. I refuse to go shopping the day after T Giving, although, I confessed to someone a couple of days ago that back when my kids were kids, in the late 80's I once stood in line at a Target store at 5:00am in order to purchase Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys and figurines. It was crazy then, and it's crazy now. Here in Wichita, people were camping outside a Best Buy here last night in order to be the first in line when the store opened at 4:00am to nab the latest electronic whaddya call it. It's crazy, I tell ya.

So, a nice day here. Sunny, maybe 60 degrees. I'm finally working on my little piece of earth in the front of my house that last spring, I tried rather unsuccessfully to turn into a spot for "eye-catching beauty". The cannas I planted grew about 10 inches and quit, never blooming-it was too hot and dry for them. The petunias perished in the heat. But the ornamental sweet potato vines did fairly well. I was hoping they would choke out the weeds, but no such luck. After Round-Up, black plastic, digging, and more Round-Up, sticker plants STILL grow there. I can't let them win, but I don't know what else to do to kill them off. I may try a "pre-emergent" some sort of weed-i-cide early spring.

I'm thinking next summer, since it's in the sun, perhaps, just perhaps tomatoes would do ok there, but who grows tomatoes in the FRONT of your house, and not only in the front, but out by the curb? I guess I could. Somehow I have the false notion that veggie plants belong in the BACK of the house. The front is for, well, flowers, and bushes, and nice looking things.

"Count your blessings, name them one by one..." They are old words, but timely. What are you thankful for?

Relief

I cannot descibe how I felt after getting this blog up and running. I mean, I KNOW there's not many people who read it, but my goodness, I almost felt what could only be described as relief. I think I have just missed writing. My friend Julie tells me she's taking a creative writing class at the college she works at. I've never done that, but I've thought about it. I think I didn't take the class when I was going back to school because I was afraid I would fail it. Plus, there's a certain vulnerability when you let people read your stuff.

I looked back at this blog and read from the very beginning. There were one or two entries I thought maybe could possibly approach what a real writer might say. If I can pull you in and help you experience a little of my emotions when I write about Kansas sunsets and supper on the stove, then I've met my objective.

I'm here...

Well, I haven't post since June. That's right. Almost six months ago. I've updated my headings and all that stuff. Hey, I'm like a real psychologist now, and (do real psychologists say "like"? I'm sure we don't, but oh well) so I will begin posting once again for those who care to read.

We're almost ready for T Giving break-tomorrow's the last day of school this week. Most everyone on staff at both my schools is looking forward to this vacation-and I am too, sort of, but I know what waits for me when I get back. Yeah. What waits? Well, let's just say that the job will be there when I get back.

I am at two schools, as opposite as you can get-but that's a good thing. My days are always interesting, always varied, and, one of these days, when the pressure isn't quite so great, I'm hoping the job will be fun. It better be. My school loans are now in repayment status-I knew this day would come. You won't believe how old I'll be when they are all paid back. IF I take as long to pay them back as the Academic Loan Group wants me to. Let's just say that when I write the check for the last payment, there probably won't be paper checks anymore and I'll be fortunate if I'll even remember what I went to school for.