Parent-Teacher Conferences

    Well, this week we had parent-teacher conferences.  I have to admit that I have always thought they were a waste of time.  The parents that you really need to talk to don't show up.  If they cared enough to come, they would care enough to encourage their kids to behave and do their work in the first place.  The parents who care are the ones that come.  And what's the point, their kids are the ones with A's and B's who behave in class.  You tell them their kid is doing great in class, behaving well, and working hard.  

      Today in church I got to see another side of it.  A parent was talking about when you are raising your kid you never know until it's over if you have done a good job and taught them what they need to know.  She said she went to parent-teacher conferences and heard that her two girls were doing well and that they were wonder examples for the other students and staff that she felt like she had done something right as a parent.  She described it as her pay for being a parent.  So while parent-teacher conferences are still a waste for me, I guess they do serve a purpose for someone else.   

When

I'm always telling myself that I will do _________ when ________ (fill in the blanks).  It seems that I am always putting things on hold for one reason or another.  I'll make the brownies when I have some where to take them.  I'll put out the nice tablecloth when I have someone over for dinner.  I'll buy the cheap dishes/pans/bedding/etc. now and get some nice ones when I move back down south.  For me that's big one, I'll do ______ when I have a place of my own/move of the slope.  I put off what I want for no real reason.  It seems that this is some natural phenomenon that we all fall into for some reason or another.  Well, lately I've decided that when is never going to come.  When is some future date that is never now.  Why shouldn't I have brownies for dessert tonight?  Why shouldn't I were that new shirt today?  Why shouldn't I fix thing in my place the way I want them now?  Why should those nice dish towels just fill up room in a box for the next ten years?   What if when never comes?  What's the point of having things if I'm never going to use them?  Why is some future date going to be better than today?  I need to make when now.   So, I'm making brownies for dinner tonight even if I have to eat them all by myself.  (I won't complain about that.)  I put out the tablecloth because I feel like it.  Life can't be lived for some future date.  There is a difference between planning for the future and living for the future.  It's time to quit saying when and start saying why not today.

Dust Storm

I have to admit I've been in dust storms before.  You cover your face so you don't have to breath it in and shield your eyes so you can see where you're going.  However, I never expected to be caught in the middle of one in Barrow in the middle of winter.  On top of that, I never expected to be caught in one inside.   Thursday started out like any other day.   I got up early, went to school and spent the first part of the day working with students before classes started.  Homeroom class went fine.  First period started.  I finally had all the students working when we heard a loud bang.  That alone is not unusual as my classroom is right next to the boiler room.  I told them it was nothing and to keep working.  Less than a minute latter there was another bang followed by a short rattling sound.  I told my students I'd go see what was going on.  But before I could even get to the door, a think yellow smoke came pouring out of the ceiling.  Well, I figured that was a bad sign, told all my student to leave their stuff and get out.  About this time the fire alarm sounded.   We, along with some other classes, huddled in the kunichuk (arctic entryway) where there was not any gas coming, and waited to see what was going in.  Well, to make a long story short, pipes on the air filtration system next to my room had exploded.  the yellow gas that poured out was 25 years worth of dust and rust from the pipes.  Everyone was corralled in the gym for about an hour and a half while they decided what to do.  It was finally decided that it would take too long to fix all the mess and the students were sent home.  We teacher got to stay.  I took a few aftermath pictures of the incident.  I wish I had some of the gas coming down.  It looked cool.  If I hadn't been so worried about my students I would have taken some.  As one of my students commented, "I think this is what the gas chambers looked like." 

No, the pictures is not fuzzy.  It's just all the dust in the air.

I'm just glad I 

didn't have to clean it up.  Thank goodness for maintenance and janitors.

   Well, for about four months now, we have been looking forward to Sister Beck, the General Relief Society President, visiting us here in Barrow.    She was going to spend Friday and Saturday afternoon with the member in Fairbanks and then fly up Saturday night and spend Sunday with those of us up here.  I've had a lot of organizing to do.  I figured that we needed to make sure that things looked good for her.  That means I had to do more than put paper and crayons on the tables for the kids.  So the table cloths were pulled out of the closet, washed, and my counselors and I got together to iron them all.  We even put together center piece arrangements.  Anyone who knows me would know that this is much beyond my ordinary level of preparation for a potluck meal after church or for anything.  Well, it turns out it was all in vain.  No planes have been able to land here since Friday morning.  The original flight was canceled Saturday and rebooked for today, however, it too was canceled.  But, we went onward with the celebration anyway.  I'm sure the sisters were all disappointed they had to hear from me instead of Sister Beck, but  at least the tables looked pretty for the potluck.   One sister mentioned that we need to find out who was praying for Sister Beck to stay in Fairbanks and get lessons on prayer from her.