Just a Wee Bit of Stress, Nothing Major

For reals, these are just "par for the course." Other people have so much more on their plates. But my eyes do leak water at times.

Today is Day 12 without a refrigerator. The home warranty company called to let me know they are going to move forward with repairing the refrigerator. But first they have to order the parts. Nobody mentioned any estimate of how long this would take.

So I called the home warranty company and described to them what the appliance repair guy told me, "We'll move your fridge across the living room to the sliding glass door so that when we do the welding, most of the smoke will go outside." Did that grab your attention? It did mine. First of all, anytime the fridge gets moved, black stuff comes out of the bottom of it and I've already had to do a lot of sweeping and mopping of the kitchen tile. The guy mentioned bringing cardboard and draping material to protect our floors, but I would have to roll up the area rug and move and/or cover our furniture. He also stated, "We can do the welding right here in the kitchen, but it would be better for us and you to not fill your home with welding smoke."

Uh huh.

So the lady at the home warranty place said they could offer a "cash-out." I asked how much that would be and she said she doesn't know until she gets more information from the appliance repair guy. If we do choose that option, the check will arrive in FOURTEEN BUSINESS DAYS.

If we go with the repair, the soonest we can do it is Monday 5 October because that's the first business day K will be home from Wyoming to let them in. The repair guy said it would HAVE to be an 8:00 a.m. appointment because it's a two-man job and can take up to four hours! Well, I'm still paying Hell for taking four days off for Grandpa's funeral (haven't entered my DRA scores yet! haven't corrected my DRA yet! hope I don't get in an accident on the way to school! DRA scores need to be in by tomorrow! I have to do this project with my partner for this BYU class I'm taking!), so I refuse to take a half day (or whole day, because what if they don't finish the repair in time?) off from school and get my paycheck docked to watch my house fill with welding smoke or whatever. They keep mentioning we don't need to be present because "people leave their homes unlocked for us ALL the time," but I don't feel comfortable with that. Do you? And hey, we have no family members near (no visiting teachers, no home teachers...) so this is something we need to take care of ourselves. All you folks with families and flexible work hours and...options...be grateful!

So yesterday was Drama Day in my class. We were practicing throwing and catching skills in PE prior to going out to play kickball. As we were drilling in the gym I saw everything from two boys crying because they got hit in the face with a ball (I saw no broken glasses, no bloody noses, and no red smack marks on their faces, and yet, the crisis level of sobbing was epic!) to boys who were auditioning for the Harlem Globe Trotters by leaping off the steps of the stage, spinning in the air and catching balls behind their backs. The range of skill level was almost comical.

Then we went out to implement our refreshed skills and soon after the game started a couple of boys ran over to let me know that so-and-so said "a bad word" to so-and-so. They added that it was the "sh" word followed by the word "head."

I went to speak with the cussing boy who was choking back tears of very real anger. I asked him to tell me his story. He had called dibs on pitching and the current pitcher "just grabbed the ball away!" Oh, the testosterone! I asked, "So then what happened?" And this boy looked me in the eye and said, "I called him a shithead."

You know, I admire an honest person, especially when the news is bad. Owning up to one's deeds is almost a lost quality these days. In fact, this little statement pretty much melted my heart.

I told him he would be the next pitcher for the next inning. I also asked him if cussing was a regular part of his life. He said that words pop out once in awhile. I told him we just can't have cussing at school and that if he's planning to swear throughout fifth grade he would face the consequences. I don't know if it was best or not, but I said, "I'm gonna let this one go. However, if you swear like this again, I will NAIL you for it!" He nodded his head in agreement.

So then I got an email from a mom yesterday stating that a boy in my class has been talking about the Mormon Church to her son for a couple of weeks and her son has tried to handle it. However, yesterday, in class (I've had no idea about any of this), her son was given a copy of the Book of Mormon. Her son really tried to refuse it, but the other boy insisted. I emailed back and said I would follow up. I called the mother of the missionary and she thanked me for letting her know.

Now you know, the day in the life of a fifth grade teacher includes crying, cussing, proselyting...(and no refrigerator).

This job is never boring!