Suicide of a Crawdad

Remember my fish tank in my classroom?

Remember how I can't seem to keep any fish alive?

It's currently empty, except for a big green fuzzy Japanese algae ball. 

It was completely full Tuesday evening. 

I had three new fish and a thriving crawdad who was appropriately named Captain Hook due to his one claw. 

Wednesday morning I checked on my tank and two of my fish had perished.  I didn't see my crawdad, but didn't think twice about it because he liked to hide under the plastic bonsai tree. 

School started and someone of course needed a bandaid for a microscopic cut.  As I wandered over to get a bandaid, I noticed something odd on the floor.  Is that a leaf?  A wood chip? What is that?

I leaned closer...

 ummm yeah, that would be my crawdad.

I have no idea how he crawled out of the tank, jumped off a table, and crawled 50 feet across the classroom.  I felt so sad for him.  He thought he was crossing over to greener pastures and instead ended up dying on ugly multi-colored carpet.  


Martin told me I should have brought him home so we could have eaten him.  I think I'll pass.  
"Hey kids! Sorry about the crawdad! But don't worry Mr. Wolfe and I enjoyed him for dinner last night."


Maybe the fish were teasing him because of his one arm and he wanted to get out of the tank. Who knows. 
I'm just sorry I didn't find him sooner...

Can I Be Honest?

(I honestly don't like the taste of chicken...even if my amazingly wonderful husband roasted it with love to a golden crispiness...I wish I could say that I did)

I started blogging as a way to document my life.

I've kept a journal since 4th grade and I love writing about 'me' and everything my life holds.  Sometimes though I don't write everything I want to say...I'm afraid my family will think I'm sharing too much with strangers.  But I think that that's almost the point of blogging.  To share our thoughts...no matter how personal they may be   

So here goes nothing...let the honesty begin. 

For the past 37 days I have thought that I could possibly be pregnant...or that I had some incurable disease.  I was sort of hoping it was the first. I have felt extreme fatigue, been really nauseous, dizzy. 

Just not myself.  

After a visit to my doctor, filling 4 tubes of blood, and all my test results coming back normal, I thought I would feel a sense of relief. I feel like I've told those I'm closest to what I thought were the right things to say, "Thank goodness everything worked out!" "It's probably a good thing that I'm not pregnant right now!"  

But if I can be truly honest, I was actually really disappointed that it didn't turn out to be a sweet baby.  I know I know, I can hear my family now telling me that it's not a good time.  And they're probably right...I hate that they're right. 

So I'll just pray that someday it will be the right time and when it is that we can welcome a sweet baby into the world. 

I like being honest.  

I feel so much better getting this all off my mind.

Now I'm ready to get back into blogging full swing...because life in kinderland has been super entertaining lately 

Thoughts

I'm pretty sure I spent almost 60 hours at school last week.

With conferences and meetings coming out the wazoo I haven't had a moment to catch my breath.  And I've been so inconstant about blogging. 

Plus life has thrown a few curve balls our way the past few weeks that we are trying to gracefully deal with. 

We had our first round of conferences last Wednesday and I have to say they were much better than last years...remember this?

I had a father tear up at the thought that his daughter would someday have the opportunity to graduate high school and then go onto college!  We definitely have our share of disgruntled parents...unappreciative and demanding. But we can't forget our families who value education and thank us for the things we do for their child.  

On a different note...what do you think about my new shoes? 

My mom splurged and got them for me last weekend and I have to say they are a HUGE hit in kindergarten :) Anything with sparkles or bows are a sure thing for five year olds. I think almost every student raised their hand to tell me that they liked my shoes...even the boys :) Little kids are funny.  One student will compliment me and then the ENTIRE class will begin their endless, sweet, and competitive compliments.

"YEAH? Well I like her shirt!"

"Mrs. Wolfe, I like your pants!"

"Mrs. Wolfe, I like your toes!"

"Mrs. Wolfe, I like your shoes, shirt, pants, toes, AND hair!"

haha

There's nothing like a dose of five year old to make you feel better.

Uncle Gary

Today we found out that my uncle-in-law, Gary, lost his battle with cancer.  He had made a decision last week that there would be no more hospitals, no more transfusions. 

I don't have anything profound to say or have the right words to make any of us feel better...but I wanted to share with you how much he meant to us. 

Gary was such an incredible mentor to Martin...sharing his passions with him, guiding him through life.  He meant the world to Martin. 

He had a contagious smile, gave great big hugs, and always showed you how much he cared for you.  He accepted me into the Wolfe family with all his heart, treating me like his niece even before Martin and I were married. 

 Out hearts are aching and it's so difficult to understand why he had to leave us now. The only comforting thought is that he truly is in a better place.

***
My uncle-in-law, Roger, made this beautiful video in honor of Gary.

Field Day

We played and ran ALL day!

We learned how to work as a team, use encouraging words, and be good sports.

And we had plenty of rest time.

I think the best part of the day for my students was having Mr. Wolfe join us. 

"Is Mr. Fox coming back this afternoon to play?"

"Mr. Fox??"

"Yeah! Your husband!"

"...you mean Mr. Wolfe?"

Oh and the popsicles were pretty delicious... 

Martin was exhausted by the end of the day and now he can officially understand how I feel every day after work :)