Red Velvet

Well, In a few more days school will be starting again. This summer flew by but it went slow in terms of other stuff. Hubert taught a class at ACU. Those students are so lucky to have him as a teacher. He is so gifted. I count my lucky stars every day to be married to him. He does so many things for me and my girls. We love him so much. Leslie took her boards and finally go the results which were great by my standards. She is so gifted and talented too. I'm so fortunate to have such a good girl as her. Amber made a big decision to quit playing volleyball and concentrate on her studies. She broke up with her boyfriend of over 4 years in March and dated someone else for a couple of months. Then she broke up with that other guy 2 weeks ago. In all of this, she is looking to God for guidance. she's one of those girls that could be single.We'll see how this path leads her the next month or two. With me this summer I started off with a mammagram then sonagram and Leslie asked me not to do so much medical stuff until after her boards. So I put off my colonoscopy and that ended up being a nightmare. I passed out on the first round so he put me in the hospital for the second round. Everything was ok so I can breath with a sigh of relief now. I will teach 3 new subjects this year that I haven't taught before because...I can't write why because you never know who will read this. HAAHAHA Anyway...I'll do my best. After all life is doing your best, right?

Sock It To Me Cake

Well I've been at Jackson now for 14 years. I would write about the people there but I have to face them everyday so I won't. They might not understand my feelings nowadays. There have been some great teachers at Jackson. My daughters went there and I know them as a parent too. Leslie had a Mrs. Vines for K and she was wonderful whereas Amber had Mrs. Partin who was fantastic. Amber was always so full of energy and life whereas Leslie was always so serious. However Leslie had funny moments with funny stories. In first grade, Leslie was in Mrs. Foster's class and Amber had Mrs. Ladyman who is also wonderful.Leslie was put in the second group of readers. Every night when her daddy came home from being a Principal she would read to him while I cooked supper. By midterm she was in the top group. Leslie was in mrs. Polnick's class in 2nd while Amber had Mrs. Martin. They had great second grade years and they were always busy enjoying friends at birthday parties, soccer games T-ball, softball, gymnastics, acting classes, dance classes, art classes, and summer christian camps. The list is endless all the experiences Hubert and I gave them so they would feel comfortable in this crazy world. our church had Marti O'Rear work with our children and she was absolutely the best. They don't get any better than her. My daughters could not have gotten a better start than with Jackson primary teachers. The students at jackson also are some of the best. they don't get any better. School is almost upon us and I can't wait.

Donuts

I get sick and tired of people who complain about not getting hired as teachers in AISD. It took me 6 years. When I started, Nick hired me as a 5th/6th English teacher. Before the summer was out, I was in 3rd grade. I worked with Sue and Betty. It was the best year of my life. Sue and I had so much fun. We planned together and everything. She had to be one of the prettiest ladies I know. She had 3 lovely children and a husband who would later disappoint her and the entire community. I worked there for 12 years and they were great. Darrell lost his first wife to cancer and since then he has lost his second wife to cancer. There were a lot of teachers who came and went. I'll never forget Lavada who smoked like a freight train and would give assignments, leave the room and smoke, smoke, smoke...There was Sally(not her real name)who has to be the most prejudiced person on Earth who hasn't killed somebody yet. I taught with a lot of teachers and worked for 7 principals during those 12 years. I always had to prove myself so I never got complacent. Students came and went. So many funny things happened there. I want to remember them and I reach into the portals of my mind and search. There are students who look me up occasionally (girls mainly) and I'm always glad to be a part of their life. There were students in my class that were killed in accidents, who even killed others,who suffered deep pain in their homes. There were students who have since succeeded in jobs and been successfulin life. All of the principals were great to work for except one. That person is no longer in the county. He was such a namedropper. It was so hard to work for him and go to work everyday. He would say and do the most unprofessional things. He showed favortism and only a couple of teachers liked him or respected him as a campus leader. He just didn't have problems on our campus because he left and had other problems on other places. Probably my last year was the best and i enjoyed the teachers I worked with that year. We had so much fun together and just enjoyed the year so much. I hated to leave but knew I needed to so I could be closer to home. Hubert had been named Principal of Jefferson and I needed to be closer to home. Life has gone on and will continue to go on. Valley view closed several years ago but schools will come and go there until all our renovations are finished or money runs out.

Strawberry Bread

As I said in my last post, Ann and I stopped off at Trent one afternoon when we decided we didn't want to drive another 55 miles one way days. It just so happened Trent needed a band director too so I told one of my friends (that was also married to a black man) about the job. Roy was our superintendent and he happened to be the youngest one in the state at that time. 15 or 20 years later my youngest daughter got jealous when he came up and hugged me at a reunion. He was not the hugging type and was probably one of the most professional people I know. He probably wanted to strangle me in my younger days. He was supportive of me when he found out about my marriage. The Board of Trent was supportive. I taught there five years. Several things happened there. I'll never forget when I drove my new car to school and a neighborhood kid preceeded to peel off the sticker of my firebird. Boy, Was I ticked? Then there was the time when Freddie bit his tongue pretty deep running around on the playground. We had several interesting characters work with us out there. One teacher went to Roy and told him the elementary teachers weren't making her feel welcome. Boy, was that a mistake. She is still a whiner. One night my family and I were eating out and she came over and spent the entire time talking to us while we were eating. Then there was Rose whose tongue wiggled like a snake while she talked. She was very weird and I think she is the strangest teacher I ever worked with. Bar none. My smallest class was 7 and largest was 18. That was when you could teach and enjoy it not worrying about a test. Boy has things changed. What life lessons I learned from that time and that community I can't begin to tell you, but I have great feelings when I think about those days and I never have a bad taste in my mouth. I am always so happy when I see children from there I taught and their families.

Cinnamon Rolls

During the year I was at Roscoe teaching 4 year old migrant children, two people visited the campus and saw me teaching there at the school. One of the people from ACU recognized me as being married to Hubert and preceded to tell the aid that worked for me. The other person with her that day was an ACU alumni who is very well known throughout the world. Anyway the school got in a uproar and told the Migrant coordinator that I had not attended any faculty meetings and therefore would not have my job the next year. Of course everyone knew that was a big fat lie and I had to find another job. H was still in ACU and I was supporting both of us at least during football season. One day Ann and I stopped in Trent for what will be another post. That year I had migrant children who were having an extra year before Kindergarten so they would have an easier time. Basically it was oral language. I'll never forget how that one person being whatever you want to call it affected my life and she was suppose to be a sister in Christ.As I said in a previous post there were those who were sent there by God to be my friend. That was also our first year of marriage,too. I was born and raised to be in a white world, but I'm black. Where my husband was born black and raised in a white world, he was more prepared for how this world is more than me. However there are so many wonderful people who entered and crossed our lives, I can't complain about one sister in Christ who caused a problem. Yes times have improved but when we were at the bottom of the world, you can go no where but up. Right???

Cranberry Bread

I have to say my favorite bread is cranberry. It was a fluke that I even ever came to ACC. I use to hang out at the Church of Christ Bible Chair at TJC and I really enjoyed the time I spent there with Bill Allen and staff. I took Bible classes and I made a trip out to Abilene for high school day. It was really weird that weekend but I just fell in love with the place and I went home talking about how I had to go here. My parents and grandparents made way even though my mom was worried about panty raids that she use to hear about in the olden days. I came out here and met Jenny Lewis and her family. Her roommate was Paula and my roommate named Janna was friends next door with Pam. They all lived in Nelson on the second floor. One of the first girls I met was Patti who lives in my neighborhood and attends my church.Our children even ended up in the same grade in school and I taught her daughter. I came out on a weekend when the roads were closed all over Texas because of snow. I drove very slow and was very careful . I made it in time to check in to the dorm by myself, Nobody was hardly around because of the storm. I found my way to a hamburger stand for food, etc. My neck was stiff and I was scared yet happy to be on my own for the first time in my life. The first 3 weeks of college I was sick and went to the Dr. each week and my mamie who married the Church of Christ man and disowned by her Methodist family died. I really struggled as a student at ACC because it seemed everybody had connections. Everyone seemed to be kin to each other and I was an outsider because my family wasn't big on Christian education.. The politics of the university was my first experience on my own not to be in a political situation in my favor. I transferred as a Jr. and started my education classes. My friends were really a lot of fun and we had a lot of fun together. During my senior year I met my future husband and we both started taking a lot of flack for dating each other. However there were those people who are examples of their Christian faith on earth who were there for us. There were peopole who were nice and people who were rude. Even one of the professors pulled me aside and encouraged me when I needed encouraging. Those people who were there for us during this time are on our hearts always. They really are examples of Christ's love for us.Roy and LuGene Lewis were one of those families. they have always opened their home to us on any holiday when we are not with my family. I guess these girls are the one I would go to in a crisis.Thankfully I haven't had many of those these 30 years but sometime I was there for them when they had something going. Why am I writing about relationships? Because that is what makes us. People who enter and exit our life make a difference every day in our thoughts and actions. For those people who are sincere in their relationships with others, I admire you.