Casual Friday 8/14/2015

On Fridays I join Aimee of Aimee Writes for Casual Friday, a post with “no structure, no prompts, no rules, anything goes.” Check out her blog here and join us in Casual Friday if you would like.

Another week is in the books.

My work week was busy with 20 hours of learning new computer software functionality which left 20 hours to concentrate on the rest of the job. I love learning new things and we have a very effective facilitator which made for a good learning experience.

Pre-season pro football started which makes this Green Bay Packer fan very happy. I watched the Packer/New England Patriots game last night  so I got my first football fix of the season. I am also a big fan of  the design show Project Runway.  The second show of the season was on at the same time as the Packer game. Why does it happen that much of the time I can’t find anything I want to watch on TV, and then my two favorite things are scheduled at the same time?

Kids went back to school in our school district this week. I no longer send anyone off for the first day of school, but I can’t help but remember all the first days of school I have known, first as a student myself, then as a teacher, and then sending my daughter off to school. I always loved school so the first day was always exciting and eagerly anticipated, but for so many it is a sad time as they say good-bye to the relative freedom of summer.

I read  this week that many schools across the country have a shortage of teachers. The article blamed it on the poor economy we experienced for years which cause fewer people to go into the teaching profession. I know that people never became teachers to get rich. Teachers in general make much less money than other professions that require 4 year degrees. I think there are many other factors causing fewer good people to choose the teaching profession and more of them to leave the profession. Until we stop putting barricades in the way of effective teaching and start treating them like the professionals most of them are, fewer and fewer people will be attracted to the profession.

In my weekly garden report, we finally have cosmos with more color. Two weeks ago I reported that all the blossoms were white. Last week we saw the first pale pink blossom. This week we have more varied colors, including some vibrant pink.

I have no big plans for the weekend as my preference is to spend quiet time at home. Reading and cross stitching along with church and the obligatory cleaning will fill my time. My colleagues must think I have a boring life because when they ask me what my plans are I always say I will be at home stitching, reading, etc. That, however, is what makes me most content.

I hope everyone has the kind of weekend where you too can do whatever makes you happiest.