My Own Meal

Josh's family isn't celebrating Thanksgiving until today (Friday), so I made my own Thanksgiving dinner. It was delish. Now let the "real" meal begin in three hours.....

Beef Stroganoff

Green Been Casserole

Dressing

Dinner Rolls

Many Thanks

I've had the entire week off. It's been amazing, and I needed this time so badly.

I know, I know. I'm a teacher. I get the summers off. I get two weeks off for Christmas. How could it be so bad that I was dying for some time off? I love my job, don't get me a wrong, but only a fellow teacher could understand the daily schedule and stresses a teacher experiences. I desperately needed some time to refresh, especially since we haven't had a single day off since Labor Day. And despite my time off, I've been in the process of grading 150 essays.

A fellow teacher called this week to express her jealousy of me getting the whole week off. I gently reminded her that while, yes, we got Monday and Tuesday off, they were furlough days. Two days of unpaid holiday. Two days pay that will be taken directly from this month's paycheck. Two days that will greatly impact my budget for the month of December. Two days out of SIX furlough days my district has planned for us this school year. Two days out of six that my community chose to disregard everything that we teachers are trying to do for their students. Two days out of six that equals a three percent cut for ALL Jeffco employees.

And we recently took a survey asking us about next year's pay. Our options: Three percent cut. Five percent cut. Ten percent cut. I had to choose. Every teacher had to choose. And the final question on the survey: Would you rather keep your same pay and cut teachers? Or, cut your pay and keep teachers?

I wonder what tenured teachers are going to answer?

Despite the $70 million my district has to cut over the next two years, which leaves me probably without a job next year, I am thankful I have a job THIS year. God has been great to me over the past three years. I was blessed with a job at Chatfield, and God has supplied me a job for two years after that first year even when the chances were slim. I am thankful for amazing students, amazing teachers, amazing friends, and a paycheck every month, even though this paycheck will be significantly less.

I am thankful for my family. I miss them dearly today, but I am so thankful I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with them two weeks ago. I love Carson, Kye, Corinne, Case, Siahna, Collin, Kate, Shan, Jeff, Mom and Dad. They are the best family a girl could ask for.

I am thankful for my friends. You know who you are, close and far, and I thank God for you.

I am thankful April is in remission.

I am thankful for Josh, my boyfriend. We met two days after Thanksgiving last year.

I am thankful for my beautiful apartment. I have made it my own, and I love coming home to what I have created.

I am thankful for my Jesus who died for me.

I am thankful for how blessed my life has been.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a Misunderstanding

As Josh and I pulled up to his house, Josh realized a car had been following us and was pulling up behind us. It was dark, and all he could see was the lights shining brightly into our mirrors.

I did not realized we had been followed, so I started to open my door to get out. Josh warned me to stay in the car.

He then realized that someone was walking up to his window. I was trying to see the car behind us and thought I saw cop lights on top. Josh also thought he saw lights.

A man appeared at Josh's door, and then there was a man at my door with a flashlight shining into the car.

Josh rolled down his window. "Officer, good evening. Am I being pulled over?" The reason he asked was because the officer's lights weren't flashing.

"Well, not exactly. But we do need to take a look at the front of your car. Did you hit and run someone about ten minutes ago?"

"No, sir. We just went to the gas station to get a drink, but we didn't hit anyone."

The officer said he needed to take a look for himself. Both he and the officer at my door went to the front of Josh's truck to take a look for any damage. There was nothing, and they were satisfied.

"Sorry for the troubles. Someone reported a truck with your description hitting a car about ten minutes ago and then driving away. It happened on 8th Avenue driving north, which is where we spotted you. We just had to make sure it wasn't you. Thanks for your time."

Josh and I went inside, relieved that it was just a misunderstanding.

Vampires

My student who passed out was back in class yesterday. I went up to him to make sure he was OK. I asked, "How are you feeling?" His response, "Ok." I asked, "Did they figure out what made you pass out?" His response, "No."

He's a man of few words.

Which reminds me to tell you that the twins are the two quietest,weirdest students I have EVER had. They don't speak to their peers, and they don't even speak to one another. I have never even seen them communicate with each other, and often times they won't sit by each other. They are very strange, to the point of me not even being able to describe how weird they are.

The story I'm about to tell, however, will give you a glimpse into their strangeness.

I asked the principal last night if she knew what had happened to make K pass out. She went on to tell me that he has a long history of psychological behavior and spent the majority of his 8th grade year in counseling and psychological institutions for mental problems. She told me that last year, he threw in Science because he got a bad grade on his test and wasn't able to handle the news.

On Tuesday, the day of this event, I had just shared with my students a story about a "Vampire woman" who has been going around Denver biting people on the necks. We were all laughing and joking about this story and the strangeness of this woman who thinks she's a vampire. This story has been the major news story around Denver this week, and police were offering a $2,000 reward to anyone who could give information to the whereabouts of this lady (she has since been found and arrested).

K passed out a few minutes after sharing this news story.

He later told his mom that this story scared him so badly that it made him pass out.

I was horrified. He passed out because of something I said! My principal told me not to worry (or to change anything) because of his history of mental illness. I am still worried about everything I say now.

Praise God!

Have you ever had a crappy day? Sure.

Have you ever received good news on a crappy day that puts things in perspective?

I did this week. Things have been stressful at work, and I have 150 essays sitting on my desk. They have been there for about four weeks. Still haven't touched them. That's how I will be spending my Thanksgiving break. Grading. Oh joy.

But I was stressing at work on Tuesday when I received this text from April, my best friend: "I'm at the docs now....officially five years since I finished chemo. Hoping I'll hear today that all of my docs have declared me to be in remission!"

My heart skipped a beat. We have all been waiting for this moment.

About thirty minutes later: "My doctor said by all standards I am now considered in remission! I do not have to have any more scans. I just have to be aware of signs if it were to come back. She said that they don't believe it will come back. That this is a true miracle. I will see her once a year for check ups. I'm so ecstatic! I have been so blessed! Thanks to you for your encouragement and prayers along the way! It's time to celebrate!"

Tears filled my eyes. April is in remission.

You can read her original story here.

You can also check out my friend, Katie's, story about April (and some pictures).

Praise God. April is in remission!

My First Time

Calling 911.

Ever.

I knew this day would come since I deal with 150 students on a daily basis. I'm lucky it hasn't happened sooner.

Fourth hour had been going for about 10 mins. We had gone through the trivia, the howdy's, the instructions, and my students were beginning to pull out their Gatsby book and journals. I was sitting at my desk taking attendance.

I have a set of twin boys in this class, Kevin and Kyle. I honestly can't tell them apart. The other day, one of them was absent and I had to ask the one who was there, "Which one are you?" They have no distinguishable marks to help me tell them apart. They sound alike, they dress in the same style, and their faces are identical.

As I was taking attendance, one of the twins came running to my desk and pointed. I looked to where he was pointing, and his twin brother was passed out on the floor. "What happened?" I shouted. I immediately started shaking.

"I don't know. He just passed out." I ran to the boy, but then I knew I needed to call someone. I ran to my phone, which is on the other side of the room. I called the front office.

"This is Shiloh Nichols in D115. I just had a student pass out."

"A nurse is on the way."

"What do I do? Do I call 911?" I was so shaken, I couldn't think clearly. I was shaking. My knees were hitting one another.

"Yes, call 911 immediately."

I didn't know if I should run to the kid to check on him or call 911 first. I couldn't see the boy, and I had no idea if he was breathing or dead.

I also knew that I couldn't have a student call 911. It was hard enough for me to do, let alone one of my other students. So I dialed 911, who answered on the first ring.

"911. What's your emergency?"

"I am a teacher at Chatfield. I just had a student pass out, and he's on the floor right now." I glanced over and saw one of the twins sitting in the desk. He had his head in his hands, and I thought he was crying. Poor kid...upset about his brother, obviously.

Then the questions came flooding. What's your address? I remembered. What's your phone number? Blank. I never call my school. I spurted out what I think to be the number. What room? D115. Is he breathing? I don't know, I can't see him.

The other 28 kids started laughing. One student yelled, "Ms. Nichols. He's back up." I looked over to realized that the twin who had his head in his hands was the one who passed out, not his concerned brother. I was happy to see that he was up, he was breathing, but he was whiter than any person I have ever seen.

I told the operator he was sitting in his desk. She continued to ask questions. How do the paramedics get to your room? I gave directions. Is there a back way to your classroom? Yes, I gave directions. Can I have someone stand outside to help direct them? Yes, someone is already outside. What does this person look like? He has a Chatfield shirt on with a Chatfield hat. What color is the shirt? Burgundy. What color is the hat? White.

All the while, I was trying to find his medical charts (if I had them). I had a student rummage through my desk to find my folder. She found it, but there was no medical history for the boy.

After I had answered all her questions, she instructed me not to give him any food or water, to put a trash can by him, and to just let him sit until someone showed up. I hung up the phone, visibly shaking.

In the meantime, within a minute of me calling the front office, every single person from the office was in my room. Two police offers. Two campus security. One nurse. Five assistant principals. The principal. Four counselors. It was chaos. Someone ushered my other 28 students from the room. The paramedics arrived about five minutes later.

The sad part was, I didn't even know which student had passed out. I had to ask the nurse who we were dealing with. It was Kyle. They brought his brother back into the room for questioning. His brother stated that Kyle passed out in his chair. Kevin saw Kyle passed out and shook him. That's when Kyle fell to the floor.

Long story short, the paramedics did a series of tests on Kyle. He was as white as a ghost, so it was apparent something was wrong with him but all the tests came back OK. His parents were notified and his mom arrived at the school before the ambulance was ready to wheel him away. My room was a complete disaster. Kyle was taken from the room on a stretcher and was headed to a hospital for more tests.

After my room cleared of the 15 extra people, I was able to bring my class back into the room. They were curious, of course, so I had to take some time to explain that Kyle was going to be OK.

After class, I went upstairs to make sure everything was OK. I found out that the brother, Kevin, ended up having a breakdown in the office because he was so worried about his brother. He started pounding his chest and he also passed out on the floor.

Both boys are fine.

An hour later, I am fine. It took a while for the shaking to stop, and I got a headache from the stress of the situation, but everyone is fine and I hope to never have to do that again.

Fear of Thanksgiving

I have to admit that I don't always trust people's cooking. I know my mom is a good cook, so I enjoy going to her house for dinner. I know Shannon is a good cook, so I love when she invites me over. I know my sister-in-law (and my brother, for that matter) is a good cook, so I get excited when I'm invited to eat with them.

Beyond that, I get a little nervous when people invite me over for dinner. If you've never proved to me that you're a good cook, then I'd rather go out to eat. No offense to you. You might be the best cook in the world, but until I've tasted for myself, then my trust for your cooking runs low.

Food is pretty important to me, and if you ruin a good thing, then I'll leave disappointed and may never come back.

Above all meals, Thanksgiving is my favorite. It's my favorite holiday, by far, because of the delicious food, the football, the long weekend, the family, the, well, thanksgiving of it all. I love green bean casserole. Stuffing is my favorite. I could take or leave the turkey, but give me the corn, the mashed potatoes, the gravy, the stuffing. Load my plate high. Let me enjoy the food. Let me go back for seconds.

And then there's dessert. Pumpkin pie. Cool whip. That's all I need. I'll skip the other pies, but give me a good pumpkin pie and I'm in heaven to complete this amazing feast.

Only my mom can perfect Thanksgiving. Her mashed potatoes are free of lumps. Her gravy is thick and fatty (just as it should be). Her green bean casserole is heavenly. Her stuffing is made from scratch and delightful. I don't want any other Thanksgiving meal than hers.

When I was invited to Josh's family Thanksgiving, I couldn't help but feel a little fear. What if they don't have green bean casserole? What is the stuffing is made from a box? What if the gravy is runny? What if the mashed potatoes are lumpy? Could my mom make the meal and bring to Denver?

And then Josh told me the worst thing he could have said: "My family talked about doing a themed Thanksgiving this year. I heard mention of an Asian meal or Mexican meal."

WHAT? You CANNOT have Asian or Mexican for Thanksgiving. I almost bailed.

But then I received an email from his mom asking me to sign up to bring something. On the list was turkey and all the regulars. Phew!

Josh, I'm back on for Thanksgiving.

I still hold fear that the food just won't be as good as mom's. It probably won't be. But I controlled what I could control. I signed up for a few things that I know I won't mess up. At least three things will be delicious, made by my own hand.

Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Cake Roll

I covered the important things.

Dessert.

The Most Wonderful Time

Decorations

I'm one of THOSE people.

I put up my Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving.

Gasp.

I did it last night, and I am proud of it. I figure if I'm going to take the time to set up a tree and decorate, I want to enjoy my work for longer than a month. I am so pleased how it turned out, too. I will definitely post a picture when I get back from NE this weekend, but it just makes the Christmas season feel real. It adds a touch of warmth to my place as I sit around my fireplace.

Now, who would like to come over for dinner to enjoy my tree with me? Any takers?

Church and Shopping

After many, many church visits, awkward greetings, and fake smiles through the introductions, Josh and I finally found a church we both like in Greeley. It happened upon Josh about three months ago as he was walking home from campus one afternoon. Pastor Jonathon was passing out church invites, Josh grabbed one, and we decided to check it out.

We were immediately mauled (in a good way) by the small congregation, and everyone was thrilled to see a young couple visiting. It's a small church of about 30 people, and I'm pretty sure we met all 30 people on our first visit.

Josh received a phone call the very next day by the Pastor inviting us to dinner, to which Josh turned down since I don't live there. We have continued to go back every other weekend (when I'm visiting Greeley), and we've really started to enjoy the cute little church. There's much I could say about it, but what's important is we're both feeling like we're being fed there and that it fits our needs during our dating long distance.

The pastor and his wife are young (we've estimated around 27 years old). They recently moved here from South Carolina to begin this church, and they have a little daughter who is a little over a year old. They are so sweet, and Pastor Jonathon knows his scriptures. They both come from teaching backgrounds (she was a teacher in SC but now stays home with their child, and he used to be a principal at a Christian school in SC). They are eager to talk to Josh and me about education.

I wish this church could be more of a regular occurrence, but we're happy find a place we both like and feel like we're growing.

_______________________________

On a side note, I went shopping with Josh's mom on Saturday. She called Josh over a week ago and invited me out for a day of shopping. She wanted to take some time to get to know me a little bit better, and I was excited to go shopping with her. Upon my arrival to the shop, I realized that it wasn't just Debbie and me shopping; it was also Josh's sister, Josh's two nieces, and Josh's great-niece. I had no idea an entire group was going!

It was a good afternoon, however, and his mom started to warm up to me a bit. She's more on the quiet side, so it's taken a while to feel comfortable around her, but I really think she's starting to like me!

So now the question remains....do I have to get her a Christmas gift?

Peer Pressure

Things I've done because of peer pressure:

1. Climbed a 14er (never again)

2. Jumped off Rush, a 40 foot bridge in Nebraska, into a river below...twice (dumb, dumb, dumb)

3. Started this blog

4. MS 150 (completed four years)

5. Raided a stage at a bar so we could dance in front of the crowd

6. Changed the color of my hair

7.

A Kind Email

It's not often teachers receive kind words (from either parents or students), but I received an email yesterday that made my day. I wanted to share...

Dear Ms.Nichols,

It has been great seeing you around the school here and there
and I miss having you as a teacher :( .

You are one of the only teachers who really tried to talk to me and get to know me outside of getting grades in class, and I thank you for that. You taught me how to write better papers, organize my thoughts, and yes, taught me that I actually have to read books for school instead of spark noting them. :) I was very blessed to have you my junior year. You truly care about how students do in your class but also about their outside lives, and most teachers don't, as you probably know, so it was amazing to have someone actually care.

I hope everything is going well for you and that the underclassmen are behaving, although
I don't think you would ever have a problem.

Your Friend,
A C

Dinner in the Trash

It was a complete flop, and I was embarrassed. This was the first meal I made that had to be thrown away with the pizza delivery guy on speed dial for back-up. It was horrid to the point that Josh didn't even eat it, and that's saying a lot because Josh will eat anything.

It was a lesson learned in corn bread making.

When I visit Josh in Greeley, we eat out almost every meal. He doesn't have pots or pans, nor does he carry spices in his kitchen. He has one wooden spoon, some salt and pepper, and ketchup in his fridge. Typical bachelor. I find it impossible to cook in his kitchen, so we head to Red Robin or Roma's or Texas Roadhouse or Chinese or Subway or whatever else sounds good at the moment. While I LOVE eating out, it was time to put a stop the money spending and unhealthy food.

So I've started cooking meals at my place and bringing them with me to Greeley. It's not ideal, nor is it easy for me, but it's better than eating out. I make the meals Thursday evening, cart them to school with me, carry them into the school building and stack them in the fridge for the day, and then take them back out to the car with me for the trip to Greeley (I leave straight from school because it's faster and helps me avoid traffic on Friday afternoon). It's a lot of work to safely get my dishes to Greeley but we both enjoy the home cooked meals and being able to relax while eating dinner. (This past weekend, the egg casserole leaked in my car and got all over my seat....still working on the travel accommodations).

This past week, I found a corn bread casserole recipe. It was easy and I knew Josh would like it, so I whipped it together and got it ready for transport. It was a layer of corn bread mix, a hamburger mixture, topped with more corn bread mix and cheese. Saturday evening, I stuck the casserole in the oven. The corn bread looked weird, but I didn't think anything of it.

After 40 mins. of cooking (it called for 20), the corn bread still wasn't done. It was gooey, but it was also starting to burn. I knew it needed to come out, but I also had a feeling it was not going to be good. We attempted to eat it nonetheless, but the corn bread was mushy and soggy. I was almost gagging as I ate my bowl. I was still hungry, but it was so awful I wasn't about to have seconds. Josh didn't even have seconds! We dumped the leftovers in the trash.

We ended up eating my breakfast casserole (which was a hit) for dinner.

Note to self: Corn bread MUST be baked immediately after mixing it together or it loses it's form and doesn't cook. Who knew?