October

Today is our first debate tournament. This year’s topic is Resolved: the United States federal government should substantially increase its public health assistance to sub-Saharan Africa. Clint and I have lots of cross over in our subjects this year which is kind of fun. I have a buy round so I thought I would up date you all on the drama we loosely refer to as our family life. I got up this morning to leave and found the first frost on my car. It is the middle of October and we will just now put the garden to bed. Last weekend was Red Flannel Festival and Homecoming for Forest Hills Central. What in heavens is with this weather? It was 86 degrees last weekend for Red Flannel. How does one wear long underwear and eat chili with temperatures like these? Clint has started a grad program through Western Michigan to complete his vocational teaching cert. When he signed up he called me on the way home to ask me if I officially have to hate him now. I told him “yes it is in the contract when you get your degree from CMU, they make you sign in blood to hate all Broncos” I told him I should sign up for some classes with U of M so we could be rivals on two levels.

We just found out this week that one of Clint’s co workers – the same one he long term subbed for last year –Nov. to June while she was out with breast cancer, has been diagnosed with brain cancer and will have to go on leave. Another teacher just left in an ambulance with a hernia and will require surgery so Clint has been asked to teach an over load on his prep. They teach in two hour fifteen minute blocks. A normal full load is two blocks with students and one block as prep. He will now be teaching all three. This is a seven hour contact day with multiple preps, while he is writing the curriculum for the Med. Tech. class as he is teaching it. Oh yeah there is that grad. school thing as well, and did we mention we have a five month old? He called me to ask if he should take the over load and I asked if there was any one else who could do it that wasn’t writing new curriculum or a first year teacher. The answer was not really. I said “I think you have to do it”-I then heard the hollow thudding sound of a forehead connecting and re- connecting with a desk top. “As crazy as this is” I said “look at it this way, you don’t have brain cancer.” One of his administrators said at least he would be well compensated. Clint asked if it was enough money to make his son sleep though the night. Touché

My life seems sane by comparison. Debate is going well. Our book club book is Grave Site. I am not taking any classes this semester. I will take the last geography classes in the spring –post debate season- for my social studies major. I am turning my history minor in to a social studies major to make George Bush and Margaret Spelling confident in my ability to teach civics and philosophy. I find it interesting that the only classes I lacked to teach theses courses are economics and geography. I am not sure how macro and micro econ. and world and US geo. make me more qualified to teach philosophy but apparently they do. What do I know about education? I am just a teacher not a politician. The only other real excitement has been my regular whining to the state legislature about their lack of ability to come up with a budget. Tom if you are reading this I am still mad that it took you seven months and an eleventh hour “save” after a partial shut down to do what the governor recommended last spring. Make no mistake we know there is still no real full solution, and we are paying attention.

The kids are doing great. Abby has started the flute. We just bought her flute from the new music store here in CS and she was very excited to open the box and see the shiny instrument. Caelun is up to fifteen pounds and starting to stand. He will be six months old on the twenty-eighth of this month. He is very social and happy. He loves his big sister and Abby is so good with him. He has just “discovered” the cats, and smiles and laughs when they come to him. He will reach out and “pet” them little do they know what is coming when he becomes mobile and can fully full clasp his hands. He started day care on the day he turned four months old. Kristi Rice, who is doing our day care, is awesome with him and he and her two year old Cole have a great time. Cole sticks his tush out and does his “happy baby dance” when I drop Caelun off. We have also discovered Caelun loves football. Clint was watching the MSU v Wisconsin game and Caelun was enthralled. He would laugh, giggle, shriek, and throw his arms towards the screen. The only issue was he seemed more excited by the Wisconsin team than MSU. I think it was the red uniforms but that didn’t stop Clint from explaining to Caelun that since both he and Grandpa Medford are MSU grads Caelun was rooting for the wrong team. I am coming from the stand point that those cheese head things are really not an attractive look for anyone much less the round bald headed thing Cae has going on. All in all we are doing well. The fact that I have time to write this is a positive sign.

September

Dear Family and friends,

Our Christmas letter is getting so voluminous that I needed to do something. Now I suppose the first course of action for most folks would be to simply write less. This however, would not let me be the obnoxious person that I am regarding the need to wax eloquent about my wonderful red flannel town, my and my husbands students, my fabulous garden club, my invigorating book club or our helpful library, and of course my amazing family. Okay enough of the gushy stuff. I have a week left before students arrive, Clint is already back, and I am feeling the need to reflect. I know the beginning and end of the year occurs December 31/January 1 but that has never felt like a new beginning for me. I think I have been on the school cycle for so long with my dad being a teacher and then becoming a teacher myself in addition to all of the years of schooling that the beginning of the year for me is always in the fall. I am not Jewish but I have always related to my Jewish friends and students who celebrate Rosh Hashanah. It is right around the corner - September 13- which also happens this year, to be the first day of Ramadan. For those folk of the non- Jewish persuasion Rosh Hashanah is also know as Jewish New Year. This not the get drunk and party ‘till you fall down kind of New Year, but a time for reflection and atonement. A time to be thankful for what one has, make changes in oneself regarding things one isn't happy with and in general take stock of one's life. This is my kind of holiday. As the school year approaches and summer winds down I can't help but to look back on this most amazing year. What a difference a year can make. At this time last year I was thinking in the abstract what it might be like to have a baby. This was the month we were going to start "trying" to get pregnant. One year later I almost can't believe I have the wriggling little person in my life named Caelun Rhy Conley.

We are very excited that Clint was offered a contract at KCTC, where he has been a long term sub twice over the course of the last two years. They started him at step five, giving him time for his hospital experience. He is going to teach a Med. Tech. class with a full lab and he gets to write the curriculum. He is very excited. It has been a long road for him to make this career shift but this is really his dream job. Hear hear to a new year- may the marathon begin.

Shalom.