May 2021

 All of us are on our way to being fully vaccinated.  Steve and I are fully vaccinated.  Jeremy has his second shot in a couple of weeks and Nick got his first shot on May 1st. They have also opened up vaccinations for the 12 and up crowd and Avian is excited to get their vaccinations done soon.  Doing our part!

Also noteworthy, I FINALLY cleaned out the truck.  It was time and needed to be done so badly.  Jeremy and Avian also helped so we ended up cleaning all four vehicles.  They all needed it desperately.  We got dumped on with rain the following day, but it was worth it!

May 2nd was Fast and Testimony meeting and Brother Fife, from the High Council, was in our ward.  He bore the testimony I needed to hear.  He talked about his family and how they are all making decisions to be on their own paths and some of those decisions have taken family members away from the Church.  He told the story of a gentleman from the ward where he grew up.  This gentleman was getting a lot of questions about how he could stand that his children were not following the gospel path.  Instead of getting upset and yelling he just calmly looked them in the eyes and said, "My family may not be perfect, but they are perfect for me."  Brother Fife said he has never forgotten that and now that his children are older and making their own decisions he thinks about the saying often. It helps him make sense of everything that his going on.  I really needed to hear that because my family is far from perfect, but they ARE perfect for me.  

May 3rd Nick found out the NTI discontinued their Nissan program due to the face that Nissan is not paying their master mechanics a living wage.  NTI wants their graduates to be successful so... He is super disappointed.  He has been given the option to switch to another masters course and is taking time to think about where he wants to go next.  

I spent the day in the classroom because there were no subs available.  I am not complaining because I miss seeing the kids.  They are so much fun and make the day go by a lot faster.  Avian applied for a summer job at LNC.  

Steve and Nick got the wooden posts in place for Nick's work out area in the backyard.  

It is going to be a great area when it is all done.  

May 4th I was back in the classroom helping teach the book "Speak".  It was what I had taught when Mrs. Locke was out on maternity leave a couple of years ago so I already knew exactly what she needed me to do.  

That night was the Band Banquet.  We pulled it off this year with an incredibly short timeline.  We didn't know if we were going to be allowed to have one until about 6 weeks before the event.  Mr. Scaringelli, myself and a small committee pulled it off and it was a huge success.  Right before we were supposed to set everything up, the sky opened and it dumped rain for about an hour.  Luckily we were having it under the canopy at the middle school so the rain really wasn't that big of a deal.  I am glad the rain stopped though because it can get loud with rain pummeling the canopy roof.  Because of Covid and the new regulations for group gatherings we had every family bring their own dinners if they wanted to.  This was nice because in the past it has been $25 a person to have a catered dinner at a local restaurant.  This made it so that some families were not able to attend the banquet.  This year we had a HUGE crowd and everyone really liked the laid-back atmosphere.  We have started a new tradition for the band banquet which is exactly what Mr. Scaringelli was hoping to do.  The night was a huge success!

We kept the tradition of the slide show as that was one of the seniors favorites parts.  I am collecting band pictures for the slide show for Avian's senior year so there will be pictures of all their years in  band.  

We had 150 people attend.  That is a new record, thanks to the  new and improved open format for the night.  

May 5th was on a Wednesday this year so there were no students in the building which was a the perfect excuse for a Cinco de Mayo teachers lunch!  LNC is a great school.  I love working there. 

Nick made his decision to switch to the Mopar Master Mechanic track.  His counselor told him that he would do well in this program and there were a lot more job opportunities upon graduation.  Nick is feeling better about the change now as well.  

May 8th I proctored the SAT.  Wow!  This test makes proctoring the EOG seem like a cake-walk!  It was intense!  We all survived though.  

May 9th was Mother's Day.  I got to Zoom with my mom and sisters and then was treated to dinner and two cheesecakes!  Steve and Avian had gotten me a salted caramel cheesecake and Jeremy got me a mango keylime cheesecake.  I think it is my new favorite.  So yummy!    Jeremy also got me a pony!  Nick made sure I was pampered with candles and bath bombs and I also got some Kohl's money.  It was a good day.  

May 10th, the craziness continues!  Someone hacked the Colonial Pipeline and gas prices are skyrocketing if you can even find gas.  It will all calm down eventually, but people have gone crazy!  Last year they were hoarding toilet paper.  This year they are filling up plastic bags with gas.  Yes, you read that correctly PLASTIC BAGS!!!!!  My oh my!!  I am just concerned because Nick drives so much between school and work that I hope he can find gas when he needs it.   Addendum:  we found that going for gas first thing in the morning (5:30ish or late at night were your best bets for success).

May 14th Avian spent the evening at Lea's birthday party.  It was fun for all the friends to be back together after so long being apart.  

May 17th Avian got their first Covid shot and Jeremy got his second shot.

May 18th let the EOGs begin. I was on hall duty and I walked A LOT.  Coach Brown tracked his steps and he did 5 miles so I am going to say I did about the same.  

Dr. Graham pulled me aside during one of my loops around the school and told me of a new position they had open for the following year and she thought I would be perfect.  It is an MTSS specialist who will work with the kids who are struggling and don't have 504s or IEPs in place.  It is basically what I had been doing all year this year minus the Zoom.  I told her I would think about it.  Wow!!

May 19th Nick called me to tell me he had gotten a speeding ticket.  I told him not to worry too much about it and we would talk when he got home.  WELL, when he got home and I found out the ticket was for doing 87 in a 55 zone I flipped a little bit.  Thirty-two miles over the speed limit is HUGE!!  He could have his license taken away.  He could be kicked out of UTI for this.  We had a big, long talk about going the speed limit NO MATTER WHAT!  It didn't matter if everyone else was going really fast, he needed to go the speed limit!

I also had gone to the chiropractor that day and found out that I have arthritis in my thumb and tendonitis in my elbow and shoulder.  He worked me over, adjusted my neck and back and gave me some exercises to do.  Hopefully this will help the pain go away and improve my functionality.  

May 21st I accepted the job at LNC.  I still didn't have the specifics of the job, but that seemed unimportant because I will get to work with the kids and help them improve academically.  Lee Koch, one of the new subs this year, would be able to take over my two long-term positions I had on the calendar.  It felt right.  

I also contacted the lawyer that had handled Jeremy's accident all those years ago and he said he would take the case but it wouldn't be simple because of a recent law change that was causing a backlog of cases in court. Normally he would be able to go in early and argue to get the speed reduced and finish off the case early.  Now he would have to wait until the court date which would likely be pushed back for as much as a year.  This may actually be a good thing because it won't show up on his record until the case has gone to court and hopefully he will be graduated by then.  I hired Ryan and we will hope for the best.  

May 22nd we spent the day power washing the side of the house and weeding the front gardens.  It looks A LOT better now.  

May 23rd Jeremy came home from work really happy.  He had gotten some recognition at work in the form of a promotion and raise.  His boss told him they are trying to create a full-time position and Jeremy would start training for the position along with a raise effective immediately.  

Avian started working at LNC in the tech department collecting computers and Ipads over the last week of school.  They are excited to be earning some money this summer.  

Steve started working on a cigar box guitar for a friend from high school who had seen all Steve's woodworking projects on Facebook.  It is going to be a fun project.  

May 27th Nick got another Student of Course pin.  This time it was for Automatic Engines which is one of the hardest courses at the school!!!! 

May 28th THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!!  Nick got his second shot.  SUMMER IS HERE!!!  LIFE IS GOOD!!!!

The fifth grade tie-dyed shirts as an activity and wore their creations on the last day!

May 29th we needed to get out of Charlotte for a little bit.  Since Nick and Jeremy were working, Steve, Avian and I hiked up Crowder's Mountain.  It was a great hike with a lot of beautiful scenery and not too difficult of a trail.  We went up with easier trail and came down the rock trail.  It was a blast.  Going up there were 300 steps and the trail coming down was call Rocky Ridge if that gives you any idea of the kind of adventure we were on.  

There were a ton of cool rocks. 

Boy tree?

Another cool rock

The lichens and moss were dripping off some of the rocks. It was super cool. 

Slick rock.  It looked like a slide. 

The stairs were tough but the view was worth it.  

Snackin' at the top.

Adding to the rock tower on the way back down.  

May 30th Nick needed to get out of Dodge so he and Steve drove to Wilmington to enjoy a day at the beach.  It was a much needed break since Nick has been working so hard at school.  Avian and I stayed back in Charlotte to go to Grace Licastri's graduation party.  It was fun to watch the kids hang out together since they haven't really gotten to see each other this year.  

May 31st was a do whatever you want type of day.  Steve worked on the guitar.  Avian worked on some art.  Jeremy worked at the bookstore.  Nick and I built a retaining wall for his workout area.  We were all happily exhausted at the end of the day.