Lately...

Sorry, no Mundane Monday this week. I have found out who has been hired to take over my class. She is young and fun and my retirement has now provided her a full-time contract position, so I am very happy that a young teacher now has some stability. 

March came in like a lion with blizzard warnings and white-out driving conditions, so I'm looking forward to lamb-like weather by the end of March. Since putting a heat bulb in the chicken coop and with the increased daylight, the hens have stepped up to the plate and are laying more. Not everyone is producing, but I am now occasionally getting five eggs from eight hens. I tell them they are "good girls". We had a slightly more mild day this past weekend, so I pushed and shoved at the gate to the chicken run and shoveled snow away enough to be able to open their little chicken door and they came outside onto a muddy little patch for a couple of hours. 

I decided to actually act upon one of the MANY recipes I have pinned in Pinterest, and made something called French onion baked chicken. It involved a lot of caramelized onions and mozzarella and parmesan cheese. It was so good. It tasted just like french onion soup. When did ordering french onion soup in a restaurant become out of fashion? I remember ordering it often back in the 80's. That, and caesar salad, were very common to have as your main meal. 

As of this morning, I have thirteen teaching days left. I have been purging my things, leaving items and resources in the staffroom for anyone who wants them. Of course, I am leaving some in my room, as well for the new teacher. It is the little things, that I've kept over the years in drawers and cubbies that have meaning. Years and years of class pictures, a little sculpted clay pumpkin with googly eyes made by a student, a small painting of a toucan from another student, SO many pins with slogans on them from years of contract negotiations and strike actions, an ancient troll doll given to me from a student from my very early days of teaching... What has brought particular joy, has been files that I have labelled "Happy File" from a couple of schools. My very first principal, who I admired greatly, told me I should keep such a file and put positive notes from parents, and little hand-written cards from students in there, because there would be days when I would need to look at them. She was absolutely right. I went through such a file yesterday, wishing the students had written their last names on the cards and little notes that told me I was "the best teacher in the world" (haha, until their next year's teacher came along!) because I've taught so many I couldn't recall anymore who it was. I was close to tears when I finally removed (but not discarded) a special items from my top drawer yesterday reminding me of a sweet girl who I taught for two years, who died along with her sister and father, in a house fire. 

We are now considered to be in a "Green Zone" due to our Covid numbers being so low. Our province in only just getting organized to vaccinate people over 80 years of age. It is beyond me why it can't be done like flu shots by pharmacists, all very organized, quick, easy, using everybody's health cards as data in an already existing database. Sigh. 

I just read in our little local freebie newspaper, a notice saying that my family doctor is retiring as of May 1st. There was nothing sent out to the patients. There is no information regarding any other physician taking over his patients. So, our family will now be one of so many orphaned patients without a family doctor who will have to go to the emergency department for any of our medical needs. I am not begrudging my doctor his retirement, but I am very displeased with the lack of communication to his patients. It takes A LOT for me to start to trust any physician, so this gives me an anxiety that I have to work hard to control. I know I'm not alone in this situation, however, as a close friend of mine had her doctor retire, too, and she also goes to emerg. for all of her medical needs.

Eee gads, I've written a lot for something that was just supposed to be a quick catch-up and it's time I had breakfast and get going to work. Over and out.