Thankful Thursday

Just like a couple of weeks ago, I have many things to be thankful for, but I am going to focus on just one.

First, some background: in addition to The Books Nook, I have a classroom blog. I write at the end of every school day about homework the kids have or about upcoming events or about interesting things that have happened during the day. I use it chiefly as a communication tool with parents, keeping them informed of what goes on during those seven or eight odd hours during the day that their kids have lives that don't always involve parents.

Yesterday, when I sat down to do my classroom post, I logged on to our blog and found my latest Books Nook post - on my classroom blog.

Yesterday morning I had dashed off a post quickly before I left for work, and I had accidentally posted it on the wrong blog!

My first reaction was complete and utter mortification! I hurriedly deleted the post and sat, holding my chest for a moment as my heart ran a sprint.

Then, as my mind cleared, I began to analyze the situation. First, I checked my statcounter. As my luck would have it, I had had more visitors that day than usual.

Next, I thought hard about the content of my post. It was a really quick post about a computer game I've discovered on addictinggames.com , and the only personal editorial comment was that discovering a new game could be dangerous for me this time of year. Okay...deep breath...that's not so bad.

And that's where Thankful Thursday comes in. I am so very grateful that my accidental post was not this or this. I think I might have been looking for a different position for the fall if that had been the case!

By the way, my new obsession is a game called Lucky Balls. Give it a try, but don't say I didn't warn you - it is fairly addictive!

What Was the Right Thing to Do?

I attended a church council meeting tonight.

It was probably the first one in which I invested any emotional attachment. My question is, though, was that the right thing to do?

Until tonight, I was detached, sitting back, learning the ropes, nonchalantly voting on financial statements and whether or not to purchase a new stove for the catering committee.

Tonight, though, our church school co-ordinator's contract was up for renewal.

Not to seem biased, I have to say that she is currently an invaluable part of my life - my spiritual life, anyway. But I don't want to seem biased. ;-)

First, as a church school teacher, I owe her a debt of gratitude because she makes my job do-able (Is that even a word?). She does virtually all of the preparation, she runs all of the joint portions of the time (ie: the opening singing, the large group prayers, etc.), and she completely co-ordinates the large-scale productions, such as our musical. Without her, there probably would not be a church school, certainly not to the extent that we enjoy now.

Second, as a parent, I owe her a debt of gratitude because without her efforts, I'm not sure #1's life would be nearly as inter-twined with the church as it currently is. She was hired almost two years ago now, right around the time when #1 started to get a hint of "pre-teen attitude". Without our co-ordinator causing church school to be cool again, I may have lost him from the fold, so to speak. Instead, now I have a 12-year-old who has volunteered to regularly change the saying on the sign in front of the church, advertising up-coming events and who engages in discussions regarding religious symbolism in the movies with the priest .

Third, she is my friend. I appreciate her work so much, but I also treasure her friendship and would never want to lose that.

So, I'm sure you can see why, in a discussion regarding the renewal of her contract, I could possibly get a little hot under the collar. Of course, there are only two people on church council who have anything to do with the church school, so several of the opinions put forward were overshadowed by ignorance on the subject (Again, no bias intended ;).

I tried hard to sound detached, intelligent, and impartial, but I'm not sure it worked.

The good news is that yes, we are re-newing her contract. The other good news is that, during the refreshment time after the meeting, I had a chance to suck up to all of the people I may have (just slightly) offended during the meeting.

I hope I did the right thing.

Brotherly Advice

Today is the track and field meet at the boys' school.

#2 is a little worried, as it's his first meet. Last night, he was anxiously thinking aloud, "They haven't even taught us how to do the ball-throw yet."

#1 replied with the air of contemptuous authority that only an older brother could convey, "I believe ... you throw ... the ball."

(Note the pauses for dramatic effect.)

;-)