Apologies...I've been MIA

While I'm sure the only person who is truly sad when I take a hiatus from blogging is me, I'll pretend that more of you are affected by my absence from the cyber writing world. A quick recap of the last few weeks.

5K-The 5K I had been writing about with so much anticipation went well. While I know Michael would have like to run faster, I was happy because I had my best time on 3.1 miles. I know there are more races in my future, but they will not be longer than MAYBE a 10K. I'm not opposed to running more than that in general, but I just don't know how much I really enjoy the race feeling. I could eat my words, but I doubt it. 

Other updates:

Mom is doing as well as can be expected given the situation. Thank you to those of you who have been praying. So often I think we discount that act, but in earnest, I know that it makes a difference. Continued prayers would be appreciated. It's a hard time for my parents right now, and I am constantly convinced that prayer has brought them this far.

My job has been a weird combination of wonderful realizations and scary things to come. For those of you who I talk to on a regular basis, you know that teaching has been a struggle for the past few years. Adjusting to LC was harder than I thought it would be, and I don't think I even really understood it had been difficult for me until recently. Maybe it's finally having my own room, maybe it's the fact that I'm finally feeling secure with the content for my courses, or maybe it's because my first year was an adjustment and my second year was heartbreaking because we watched our beloved principal succumb to cancer. Whatever the reason(s), I didn't feel like me. 

This year has been different. I have relationship with my kids again. I joke with them like I used to. They come to me for regular high school issues (formal dates and too much homework), but also for big, important, scary things ("I'm gay, and I'm scared to tell my mom"). We talk about things that matter to them. I share things with them I wish someone had told me. For the first time in years, I feel like my job matters. And yet...

For the first time ever, I really wonder if my job matters. So much has been happening in the educational politics of my state. The gist of it is  that the state is demanding high results for teachers and kids while neglecting to include parents into the equation. The result is inevitable: standards will be lowered statewide in order to present the illusion of success. With all of these changes, teachers are being encouraged to sacrifice their desire and obligation to foster good study habits, organizational skills, and basic responsibility to decrease their "failure rates." My belief is that while the push is to decrease these failure rates, we're actually failing our kids. We will be producing generations of people who, unless they have parents who foster responsibility, will go into the world as adults expecting information to be spoon-fed to them. It's scary and sad, and I wonder how long I can be a part of the destruction of our children.

Wasn't THAT an uplifting post?! (insert eye roll here) I'll try to be more consistent (even if it's just for you, Bex). With Christmas coming, you may be getting some cooking/crafty posts. Get excited!