Signs From the 70's

I just noticed this sign on the restroom door at school. I have worked here for 15 years and just noticed the picture beside the word “WOMEN”. Doesn’t the woman look like Judy Jetson or the mother in the Family Circus comic strip? Our school was built in 1970. This sign has never been changed!

The sign for the men’s restroom is long gone. I wonder if it looked like George Jetson or Ward Cleaver? It was replaced with one that simply states "Bathroom". There are very few men here. We have a faculty and staff of approximately 80. There are only 4-5 men here on a daily basis. The men were over taken by the women a long time ago! There is only one set of restrooms for faculty and staff. When you have to go, it doesn’t matter where you go, as long as you get to go! Visitors are usually confused as to which one to go in. It really doesn't matter - they are same inside!

There is no confusion for the students.

The boy looks like Charlie Brown.

The girl looks like Charlie Brown's little sister.

I can’t believe that I just blogged about the restroom door signs.

I think I need a break.....

A long vacation with lots of cool drinks to sip.....

Somewhere with lots of restrooms would be nice…..

Lesa

Wordless Wednesday

Blog Catch Up!

Good grief! Where did the time go since I posted on here last?! I started back to work part time on April 13 and full time beginning on April 20. I don't think I have stopped since then! I'm ready for another break from work but not like the last break I had with surgery! Only 22 more days of school for the students! I work year round so my fun just begins when school is out for the students.

Back the ark out of the garage!

I may need it to get to work in the morning!

It has rained here for the past three days! This is the radar right now for us. There is more of this moving in tonight and tomorrow. The highs have been in the upper 50's. I am so ready for carpi pants and sandals everyday - not once a week! There is rain in the forecast tomorrow also but the high is supposed to be in the 70's. Yucky and humid. So much for my hair looking good.....
And then I think - if my hair looked good - everybody at work would be totally shocked and amazed!

Last Sunday, Neil & I rode over to Todd County to the Chapel Hill Church Cemetery. My father's sister is buried there. It was an absolutely beautiful Spring day. Here are a few pictures that I took of the church and the cemetery.

This is the tombstone of my father's sister. Dad was born in 1930 so he never this sister. He was the last baby born and the only boy. This was Granny and Papa's first baby. I can't imagine the grief and pain that they felt losing this sweet baby girl. They went on the have five more babies and losing one other little girl. I'm not sure where the other baby is buried. Her name was Mae. I'll have to ask my cousin who is the storehouse of family history knowledge!

Kathleen
Daughter of
W.C. & Mary Thaxton
Born
Nov. 30, 1912
Died
July 10, 1914
"Budded on earth to bloom in heaven."

Lesa

What I Love About Working In An Elementary School.....

As most of you know, I am a secretary in an elementary school. I'm so blessed to work in one the best schools in our district. We have very few discipline problems. Our school has scored the highest or second highest in test scores for several years. There are 570 sweet little darlings that enter our building each morning bright eyed and bushy tailed looking for another day of learning!
This afternoon as I was driving home, I was thinking about how blessed I am to have worked in the same place for the last 15 years. I was also thinking of the reasons why I love my job. Now don't get me wrong. There are days I want to get in my car and go home at 8:00 in the morning. Most of the time it's rather busy in the office You never know what each new day will bring in the door! One thing is for sure - there is never a dull moment!
Tonight I decided to list some of the reasons why I love working in an elementary school.

What I love about working in an elementary school:

1. Fat Free Chocolate Milk every morning for breakfast
2. The sound of the children’s voices blending as they say the “Pledge of Allegiance” each morning. – mispronounced words and all.
3. The feel of little boy heads that have a new haircut.
4. That sweet smile when you tell them they are handsome with their new haircut – (See #3.)
5. No one really notices when you spill your drink on your pants or blouse first thing in the morning. By the end of the day, half of the school will have something on their clothes too.
6. Sloppy Joes and tater tots – I never had them as a child. Mom didn’t fix things like that at our house.
7. Those gapped tooth grins. Somebody always has their two front teeth missing!
8. I can giggle out loud and no one thinks it’s unusual.
9. The amazed expressions on the faces of students that see me at Wal-Mart. Some really do think I live at school. Several even ask where the principal is at….. Like we only travel together in a bus…..
10. Those little arms that appear from behind you and wrap around your legs, neck, or whatever they can reach, to give you a hug each morning. That's why I go to work on days that I feel like staying home.

Lesa

Only In An Elementary School

There is never a dull moment in an elementary school. Our student council for the new school year has started meeting on Wednesday mornings. Being 3^rd through 5^th graders, they have a lot to learn at the start of school. They are so eager to start their new “jobs” helping around our school. Each day they have assignments such as watering plants, checking the bird feeder, hanging the flag in front of the school, and basically learning to be good community helpers. Thursday we had a "small" problem with the flags.

Guess what we learned how to do before this day ended?

These are the best views on a Friday afternoon.
I felt like the little girl on the left. I would have looked rather funny skipping with my hands in the air.
If we could only be like children -
happy and carefree with not a worry in the world!

The best part is that we have a three day weekend!

Lesa

The Rumble of Random Thoughts

Please "bear" with me - this will be a long rambling post.......

This has been a very busy week for me. We have started the new state computer system at work. Most of the student addresses did not convert over from the old system. Guess what I have been doing at work since Monday? Since we have 540 students enrolled as of Friday, I have been putting addresses in the computer day and night, every waking moment, and in my sleep! The best part of the new system is that it is web based, so I can work from home when I need to. Thank goodness we have DSL at home! I stayed home all day Tuesday and worked without any phone interruptions. I washed 6 loads of cloths, cooked supper and enrolled 68 kindergarten students. I stayed in my PJs until 2:00 in the afternoon! I could easily get used to working from home!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

July 23, 1988

Wednesday was our 20^th wedding anniversary. I was "several" pounds lighter and had long 80's style hair in this picture! It seems like just yesterday that we were dating and falling in love! I took the day off from work Wednesday and we took a little trip to Evansville, Indiana for shopping, eating, and to visit the cemetery where my great aunt is buried. We had never been to the cemetery before and got lost - just a little! There was lot of road construction and detours in the area.

St. Joseph’s Cemetery is located near Mesker’s Zoo. I have never, in all my life, seen a cemetery that large! It was one of the most beautiful, well kept, peaceful cemeteries I have ever seen. We stopped at the main office to find directions to the gravesites. My aunt, uncle, and their daughter are buried there. We found them very easily with the printed directions that we were given. We could have looked all day and never would have found the markers since there are over 37,000 people buried there. This is a picture that I took of one of the statues in cemetery. The other picture is looking across one area of the cemetery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today we drove over into Missouri to Lamberts. This was Jennie’s first Lamberts trip. We got there at 1:00 and got our number - #454. They told us it was at least a one hour wait time. We went to the Outlet Mail to shop instead of waiting outside in 98 degree heat! When we returned, they were calling #448. We waited outside for about 20 minutes before they called our number. We stuffed ourselves with rolls, fried okra, fried potatoes, and much more! I ordered the fried jowl and had plenty leftover for breakfast in the morning! We stopped on the way home in Paducah at the mall and shopped there for awhile. There were great sales on baby cloths and you know that Jennie never has enough cloths! It sure felt great to get home tonight and take off my shoes and rest.

This is Jennie waiting to enjoy Lambert's for the first time!

It didn't take her very long to spy the rolls!

Can you tell that she might be just a little bit spoiled?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have no big plans for tomorrow other than the usual Sunday stuff. I’m putting a pork roast in the crock pot tonight for sandwiches tomorrow for dinner. I also plan to fix baked potatoes in the oven, macaroni & cheese, and slice some tomatoes. It will be just a lazy day for us before we start back to work on Monday. It is supposed to be in the upper 90s and humid for the next several days. I think I can hear the air conditioner calling my name this week!

Lesa

Faith

“Prayer is the key to heaven,
But faith unlocks the door.
Words are so easily spoken;
Prayer without faith is like a boat without an oar.”

How faith when you speak to the Master.
That's all He asks you for;
Prayer is the key to heaven,
But faith unlocks the door. ”
Written by: Samuel T. Scott & Robert L. Sande
Copyright 1955 Duchess Music Corp.

I’ve been singing this song in my mind all day. I can’t imagine what I would do without faith. How would I begin each day? What do people do that don’t have faith? Where do they find their strength to face each day?

Today was one those days that I relied on my faith a lot. It is so hard to go back to work after being off for three days. I had training this afternoon on the new state computer system – yuck! There was also a little bit of “drama” with some of the people attending the class. I can’t stand drama. This was not the place or time to be acting silly! I’ve got to admit that I actually learned a lot today. Now maybe I will not be so lost that I embarrass myself when the new system starts! I hope the rest of my week is better than today – I’m sure it will be!

I took this picture several months ago when I took the pictures for this post.

Hope you have great rest of the week – I know I will – no matter what!

Lesa

Cheese & Smooth Peanut Butter

I am a secretary in an elementary school. I am convinced that we have the cutest and smartest kids in our school. I love my job even when some of the little angels "lose their halos" and have to spend time in the office.

I am amazed on a daily basis at the things that they say. Today a little sweetheart came to my office on an errand for her teacher. She is in the first grade. Our conversation went like this:

Ellie (eyes dancing): “Oooo – those are cute little note pads! What do you use them for?”

Me: “I use them to write notes on when I mark pages or forms.”

Ellie: “They sure are small. They are small enough for a mouse to write on.”

Me: “If you were a mouse, what would you write on the little note pad?”

Ellie(very slow and thoughtful): “I would make a grocery list.”

Me: “What would you put on the grocery list?”

Ellie: “What do mice like to eat?”

Me: “Cheese, peanut butter.”

Ellie (eyes dancing again): “Peanut butter and crackers are my favorite.”

Me: “Do you like crunchy or smooth peanut butter?”

Ellie: “Smooth.”

Me: “Me too.”

Ellie: "I would put cheese and smooth peanut butter on the list."

In my mind, I could see a little mouse, with a long tail, holding a large pencil trying to writing out his grocery list for the week.
cheese
smooth peanut butter

Ellie is a girl after my own heart. We both like cute little note pads, smooth peanut butter, and we both have vivid imaginations. If only I had some peanut butter and crackers in my desk. We could have had a picnic……

Lesa

CATS Testing

I know. It sounds like I'm having my little feline girl tested for some kind of illness. In the state of Kentucky, the accountability test that is administered every Spring is called CATS. For the life of me, I cannot remember what the letters stand for - it's late and I'm totally whipped at this point!

This is the second week of CATS testing at school. Tomorrow is the last day for testing – thank heavens! Nine days is very hard and stressful for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students to test. I have monitored in classrooms for several days over the past two weeks. Teachers and monitors have to walk the room the whole time testing is in progress. It can last anywhere from 1-2 hours. My rear end has been dragging out the tracks of my chubby feet this week. Several days I came home absolutely exhausted. My couch was calling my name when I came in the front door. I can’t imagine how the students and teachers feel!

I remember when Justyn was in middle school. I would pick him after school. Normally he didn’t even want me to speak to him until after we left the parking lot. It wasn’t cool to have your Mother pick you up and act happy to see her at the same time. On testing days he was very different. He would get in the car and dramatically let his head fall back on the seat and say “Oh Mom! It was horrible! We had to sit quietly all day (probably two hours) and think!” Now for a teenager to sit quietly is a chore but to think at the same time is painful! Not to mention for long periods at a time. I think this convinced Justyn that he never wanted to be a priest or work in a funeral home! It was on these days that I would ask him if it was a Baskin-Robbins day. All he strength to do was to nod his head. As we sat eating our ice cream, I knew that these days would pass way too quickly. It was certainly not cool to be seen eating ice cream with your Mom but when she was treating you – it was OK!

Our local Baskin-Robbins has long since closed. Justyn is now 27 years old and testing is still just as stressful to all involved.

I think I may need to buy stock in Ben & Jerry’s. We have become very good friends over the past two weeks!

Lesa