Yikes! I haven't updated in months

Hmmm.... where do you begin when you haven't updated in so long?

School
It's my third year teaching, which is known as the tenure year. So if I still have a job come the end of May I am pretty much set for life. Oh my! But that also means I have to make it to May which seems rather challenging some days. I never wanted a job that would be overly repetitive, and no two days of first grade are exactly alike. However, I didn't anticipate the challenges I would face this year. I started the year with 17, 9 boys and 8 girls. My girls have always been on the quieter side. They are sweet, not quite as sweet as girls from last year, but still rather sweet. My boys on the other hand have made life interesting. Very interesting. Side note: When teachers get their class lists we often go the the grade below and start asking around for information. This is what I heard from one Kindergarten teacher, "Oh. You have him, him, him, him, and him." Not good, especially since that K teacher didn't have any of those boys as students. To sum up my boys, they are active, engergetic, impulsive, and immature. Now lots of first grade boys will fall into some of those categories. Some might fall into most of those categories. I got the select few that fell into almost every category. Then to put them all in one room. Oh my! They are a huge challenge. Huge! Just ask the other first grade teachers, kindergarten teachers, P.E. teachers, music teacher, library staff, administration, etc. This is not an exaggeration. The other problem is they feed off of each other and their behavior. Then a few weeks into the school year I got another boy who fell into all of those categories as well. Just as I was beginning to get everyone settled I get a new student to shake everything up. Now that I had 10 boys life at school had lots of difficult moments. I began seeing Mr. J, Mr. B, and Mrs. S the ISS teacher lots. Six of my ten boys have visited the office, and most of them one trip wasn't enough. The other challenge with my boys was their academics. One is learning English as a second language which is a unique challenge to face. Another has repeated K and still has great academic struggles. I feel like I am trying everything I can think of, but still having minimal success. Another boy is very young and immature. He knew enough to make it out of kindergarten, but his parents and I knew from the beginning that he would have A LOT to learn to make it out of first grade after one year. So pairing the behavior and academic struggles life hasn't been easy. Even with all that being said, I was still disappointed to lose one of my boys a couple of weeks ago. He was a big behavior issue, but academically was one of my strongest students. His home life was unfortunate, which lead to his moving and transfering to another school. The daily behavior problems have lessen a bit (not much), but I would still rather have him back with his behavior problems. I felt like we were making so much progress. I was truly heart broken when I learned he would be leaving. I know we, my class and I, have made lots of progress. However, I worry that we still have so far to go to get to where I feel like they should be at the end of the year. We still struggle to get things done in a timely manner. Unfortunately, we have not had as much time for writing as I would like because we need so much time for reading and math. So that is school in a rather large nutshell. I really do love my kids. I know I will miss them over the break. I also know that I will be worrying about them and their substitute when I am gone.

Alabama Football
I love football! It makes my heart happy. A few of those games nearly made my heart stop. This football season was a blast. I got to go to Atlanta and Auburn with friends to cheer on my team. I got to spend every football weekend playing around like a kid with Rachel and Anna. Rachel will be graduating in May from law school so she won't be there next fall. Anna will still be there, but I don't think it will be the same. Maybe at some point I will have to realize that I am an adult and I can't go to Tuscaloosa to play. I am super excited about going to California with Rachel, Brad, and a bunch of other law students. Hopefully we will make it on The Price is Right! It will surely be hard to top this football season.

Life
I feel like my relationship with mom is better. Especially when compared to how awful it was a year ago. The same can be said about my relationship with Becca. I still don't agree with the choices they are making and have made. It just seems like I am so different from them. Now let's see if I can make it through the holidays with them, ryan, and the extended family. I still haven't made friends here that are my age. I do have a guy friend now, which is a first. I am still trying to make sense of it. His crush seemed to complicate things in the beginning, but I have made it clear on several occasions that nothing is going to happen. He does cheer me up when I am sad or grumpy. I am pretty much still searching for my Prince Charming. Maybe between the six or seven wedding I have this summer I will find Mr. Prince Charming.