Thunder Road

There was no extra money.
My car was not running.
Friends that I bought tickets for baled on me at the last minute.
But none of that matters.
Eileen and I went to Atlanta to see Bruce Springsteen,
Fueled by Granny's credit card
and Cadillac (God love her)
lots of coffee
and Born To Run up real loud on the stereo
"we rolled down the window and let the wind blow back our hair"
drove 5 hours there and back
missed an unpaid day of work
ate beans for a week
and it was worth every bit of it!
As long as there's rock
I'll keep rollin!
and it was worth every bit of it

The Best Part

: the best part of my day was a visit from Mariah
she brought the sun in with her.
I don't want to be one of those creepy empty nest whiney mothers,
but I miss her terribly.
We have these moments around the coffee pot that started when she was just past toddling.
I worked as a waitress at night,
She would get up before me,
sneak into my jeans to count my tips
then start the coffee.
She woke me up every day with a cup by my bed from the time she was tall enough to reach the pot till the day she moved out.
We would sit in our tshirts and frilly jammies , have a cup and plan our day. (hers was mostly milk and sugar the way she
drinks it till this day)
She has never been like a child to me
She is a best friend I made myself

Wishing you all someone you love to drink coffee with,

Marti

My Final Rant on This Subject

I am a teacher to my morrow.
I can teach a rock to read.
I have taught and loved special needs children for 25 years.
I was told recently that I didn't do my job by a resource teacher that I had met twice.
She's right.
I was teaching a group of Mild Learning Disabled children while holding a wheel chair bound non-verbal child in my arms who was having a seizure. My team leader burst in and was appalled that I could not immediately file a paper. I'm not flinging the seizing child to the floor to search the holy file cabinet.
I am not going to stay up till 2 AM doing paperwork. (although I recently filled out 5 pages explaining why I had not taught a blind child to distinguish a figure from the background of a picture)
When I started teaching, I had the children in my room all day long. I had them from first grade until they left elementary school. I went to their birthday parties. I was friends with their moms. My room felt like church. I couldn't wait to get to school each day.
Then somebody decided it made sense to take the children out of the special education room and "include" them. Kids who had never had behavior problems stated acting out because they were placed in regular classes with over burdened teachers who had no training in special education. Special education teachers became overpaid aides and paper pushers.
I did a good job.
I loved it.
I'm done.
I retire in December.
I'm counting the days.