My Cup Overflows...

Back to school... When I last posted, I was in the middle of mandatory inservice & meetings for the upcoming school year. Often times these are terribly dull and impertinent to my teaching of chemistry & anatomy. But Monday, one of our speakers spoke about how when "Your Cup is Full", you can better do your job which translates into better educational experiences for students. You betcha! So - I thought that might be a good subject for my next post - "What fills my Cup?"

1) My husband - we've been married for 11 years & together for 16. He makes me laugh, makes me think, and grounds me when I launch into the stratosphere. He helps me find perspective.

2) My kids - Wow! This morning I dropped Orion off at school & he was excited to show me a writing sample he did the day before. This was such a big deal - in kindergarten, getting words (or anything resembling a word) on paper to accompany his drawings was a challenge. His writing sample was all about our 'rode trip' (his spelling) this summer. He was so proud as he had so much to write that he had to continue on the back side of the paper. He even had to scrunch many words in to make it all fit on one sheet. He was so proud & excited - it was so cool!

And - can't forget Iain - he truly adds balance. He's so excited to start kindergarten. He's such a neat and different, kid. Today he was riding his two wheeler up & down the street humming Christmas carols. Then - he came in, found a pillow case, climbed in, and wiggled around on the floor. He just cracks me up. If you've ever seen the Steve Martin movie, Parenthood - Iain is the kid who runs around with the bucket on his head. Gotta love him. I'm almost tempted to send the video of him in the pillowcase to his kindergarten teacher, just to prepare her. Oh - she's going to have a fun year.

3) My Job - When I tell people I'm a high school science teacher, they give me a look as if to say "Oh, I'm so sorry..." Don't be. I truly love what I do. My students crack me up. No 2 days are ever the same, and no matter how well you plan lessons, something always crops up to throw you for a loop. We call those the teachable moments. I'm always entertained by what my students come up with. True - there are some days when I wonder why I chose this profession, but more days than not remind me why I do what I do.

4) The unexpected things. Like, oh , say - the live bird you have waiting for you inside your house. Yeah - a bird. A Live one - with feathers and everything. Take a look:He's sort of cute. (Well, until I found some evidence he had been near the windowsill..) Here he is sitting on top of a 'wall' that separates our kitchen from the living room. I have a hunch how he made it inside. Shall we examine the suspects?

Suspect #1: Raja, our cat. Hmmm - She does have a few 'priors' - a couple of other birds found inside, and several witnesses will attest to the fact she has caught other critters & just plays with them.

Suspect #2: Joulee, our 11 year old black lab. Blogger won't cooperate with the photo. Argh. She has no criminal history, as long as you don't count the time when she pulled a post off of the fence & took some of the neighbors grilling gear. Oh yeah... I forgot about the incident with the ground squirrel.

Hmm - maybe solving this case won't be as easy as I originally thought. My bet is on the cat...

5) Knitting - Goes without saying. It keeps me sane.

Anyhow - my cup overflows. Life is grand.

What fills your cup?