R is for Rainbows....

I absolutely love a rainbow and my love for them goes deep into the memories of my childhood. As a child (and truth be told as an adult) one of my favorite movies is "The Wizard of Oz". sidebar: which is ironic because my sister still hasn't seen it in it's entirety due to a fear of flying monkeys. My favorite part of the movie has always been when Dorothy sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". A fond memory to compliment that is my mom singing this song to and with me before going to bed on many nights.

No matter how many years have come and gone in my life and no matter how old I am, I still get excited each time I see a rainbow. Last summer when my MaMaw passed away, my dear old friend Jennifer, told me how when ever her mom and aunt see a rainbow that they say it's their own mother and Jen's Granny sending a little hello. Her telling me this was ironic on a few levels. The first being that I don't really go around telling people how excited I get when I see rainbows. Another being that on Jennifer's wedding day when the bridal party got to the church, her aunt told us that Granny was there because she had spotted a rainbow. The last bit of irony is that in the year since my MaMaw has left this world when my life seems to be spinning in and out of control, I have looked up into the skies to see a rainbow. I just smile and think to myself "I miss you too MaMaw".

                           
Not long ago when I was trying to make the decision to change jobs and take a step in a new direction in my career, I walked out the door to find the best rainbow of all....a double rainbow. I just smiled and thought to myself "Thanks for the good advice".

Q is for Quotes.....

I love quotes. What I think is so interesting and remarkable about them, is that they stem from something people just said on a whim...without thinking. But to at least one person at that moment in time, their words became unforgettable. Words that were inspiring and meaningful. 

Often when I am up late trolling on the web and come across a quote I like, I will save it into my phone so that I can look back on it...sometimes just for fun...sometimes when I need reassurance. So here is my gift to you. Some of my favorite quotes. Hope the they inspire  you as much as they have me. 

                                                     
                                         


                                                     

                                                                   

P is for Patience....

Patience is sort of an oxymoron in my life. My cup overflows with it for some things....and for others the amount I have could fill a thimble.

Not to pat myself on the back...but as a teacher for children with special needs....I have the patience of a saint. I adore my job and the lives of others that I get the privilege to intertwine with. When it comes to teaching, my personal philosophy is that everyone has to be the best person that they are capable of being. I will teach, reteach, teach again, and do back flips to make sure that a child learns something. And no matter the teaching challenge, I never loose my cool....I keep my eye on the prize.

Now there's the flip side of my patience. When it comes to some things...I'm worse than a kid at Christmas. If I know I am going to get something....I want it and I want it now. I usually wait until the gas light comes on because I just don't like having to stop at a gas station. And don't even ask me to wait in a line somewhere...it won't be pretty.

But I guess that's what life is all about....a little bit of patience and a little excitement. I wouldn't have it any other way than to embrace my career and take the time and do it well...and not be able to sleep the night before Santa comes.

O is for Orleans.....

.....as in New. The City of New Orleans has sort of a circular meaning for me. The very first time I went to the Big Easy....I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Although it seems like only yesterday, but when in reality it was some 17 or so years ago when I found out that my life as I knew it was over. That my family would be leaving the State of Kentucky.....the only place I had ever called home and what I always envisioned calling home forever.

I can still remember the thickness of the humidity when I got off that plane the first time we went to NOLA to scope out a new place to live. My photographic memory helps me to remember that it was President's Day weekend and the Big Easy was in full swig with Mardi Gras.

A few short months later, we move there and made a new home. It took a lot of getting used to for me. New culture, new people with new belief systems, a different and unknown way of life. Even though I was only 14....my life as I knew it was over.

Now years and even decades have come and gone and I am still living in South Louisiana only a short drive from all the thrills, bells, and whistles that NOLA has to offer. Although there are some days that I wonder what might have been....what would have been different. But I have made peace with the issue and I know that it's my own personal belief system that things happen for a reason. I may not have known the reason back in 1995....but now I see it.

Had fate never led me to make the move, I would have missed out on memories with friends that will transcend my life time. The lives that I have touched as a teacher may never have been touched (and my life not touched in return). I may not have ever kicked watching my Cats cut down the nets off the bucket list. 

Life is what we make out of it....the good...the bad...and the ugly. Questioning life and why things happen is a lot like rocking in a chair in a wind storm.....wears you out but gets you no where.

N is for New Beginnings!

No...I have not left my trip down the alphabet behind. It's been a crazy 2 weeks for me and my life and career took an unexpected turn for the better.

For the past 9 years, I have been a special education preschool teacher. The past 4 of those years I have taught a reverse mainstream preschool class which has both children with and without special needs. It was the best of both worlds for me and I loved every minute of it. However, it was always in the back burner of my mind to try something different. So at the beginning of the summer I decided to put it in the hands of faith and drop off a few resumes.

A few weeks ago, I woke up to a voice mail in regards to a teaching position. A teaching position that was not in preschool, but would still be working with children with special needs. I went in for an interview that afternoon and had to wait an agonizing 5 days to hear back and receive an offer for the position.

The decision for me to change schools, change teaching settings, leave the world of preschool behind, was not an easy one for me. I knew preschool forwards and backwards and it had become my craft. But after much thinking and pondering, I decided to be a risk taker and take on this new journey. I am no longer a special education preschool teacher, I am now a 1st and 2nd grade special education resource teacher.

As nervous as I am, I am hopeful and confident that I will be successful is this new track in my life. I'm ready to take on this new beginning! I just hope some of my teacher tricks work just as well for bigger people!

Life is full of beginnings and endings. But for every door that closes behind us...there is a new adventure to find behind the next door.