Monday, May 26, 2008

Sunday, May 18, 2008

I Take It Personal

If you ask any athlete, there is always one person on the team that feels responsible for every loss. On my team it was me. I was the goalkeeper. If we lost it was my fault, if we had a bad game it was my fault. That is the kind of person I am. I cannot relax when I am a part of any activity because if it does not go as planned I feel totally responsible even if I am not in charge of it. I have recently decided that no matter what I do I cannnot do enough to make it turn out correctly. It's hard to please 100% of the people 100% of the time. I keep telling myself that, but I don't believe it. I want everyone to be happy even if I am unhappy. I have always done things for everyone else and not for me. I am trying to do more stuff for me, but nothing I do for myself is good enough either. I just don't know what to do anymore.
Last Monday I sent out a survey to everyone at Family Home Evening. For the most part there were a lot of good comments. But there are three people who totally loath FHE. These three people completely trashed everything that we have done in FHE and said they have not liked any of it. Here's the best part. The survey asked if anyone would be willing to coordinate a family home evening one night. If so then a name and phone number would be needed. The three people with the most negative thoughts didn't want to help. It's really hard for me to take people like that seriously. if you are going to complain that much and say that something needs a makeover then how about volunteering to help. Until you decide to help don't criticize. Even though I have trouble taking things like that seriously I still take it personally. I feel like I cannot make things good enough. I also feel that I have failed. I hate feeling like I have failed.
Me failing seems to happen a lot lately. I can't find a job that I want. Which means my dreams are going to be placed on hold again. I can't help but feel that I am not worthy enough for anything. Some people seem to think I am living a great life. I have no attachments. I am not married or dating, no kids, no familial responsibilities, no student loans (thankfully I did at least one thing right in my life), but it's still hard for me. I feel as though no matter what I do I will never be good enough for anybody. It's a personal issue, I know.
There was some good this week. We had a teacher appreciation dinner this week. I forgot about the dinner and didn't being a change of clothes to work, so I had to go shopping between work and the dinner for a new outfit. I did a fantastic job. I purchased a whole new outfit (shirt, jeans, shoes) for under fifty bucks. I must say, I love clearance racks. My mom also visited this weekend. We went shopping again and I bought a new wallet from COACH and received a 10% discount. Again, another financial victory. I also finally found the perfect centerpiece for my dining room table. Actually, I purchased the stuff to make it and it turned out to be beautiful. I also ate at the best Indian food restaurant ever, India Palace. All in all it was a week that started with lows, but ended with highs. I call that a pretty darn good week. I still take everything personally.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

A Few of My Favorite Things

Today is Mother's Day. I had a chance to talk to my Grandma Gilmore. I love her. She always has the best advice and knows how to make my day. Grandmas are great. I love mine. She also tells me little stories about my dad that he never told. Today she told me my dad was a messy child. If you look at my dad today you would never think he was messy. He's so perfectionist. Come to find out he was not always like that. I love hearing those stories about my dad. I also talked to my mom to wish her a happy mother's day. She is coming to Austin this week and next weekend she will com visit me. It will be really nice to have her visit. I love spring a summer because I always have people visit. When people visit I get to take them to my favorite places around San Antonio. I love, love, love the La Villita/Hemisfair park area. I think it is goreous! I love the little shops and all the foliage and man-made water falls and stuff like that. I just love downtown San Antonio. It's really a beautiful downtown. It has so much history and beauty. I think my next favorite place is the Brackenridge Park area. I really want to go to the Japanese Tea Gardens and see what it is all about. When I get a chance I will do that. There is so much to do here I just don't have the time or even energy to do it all. Someday, I will get it all done.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Ventilation of Stress

I hope everything works out. These past two weeks have been so stressful that I felt like giving up on everything. I was asked to help with the school soccer team. Who knew I was going to be the "administrator" and having to do all the business stuff. I had ONE WEEK to get the uniforms, find a field that was not being used, and find referees that were free for the weekend. Then three days before the game it has to be rescheduled because the head coach of the other team wasn't going to be able to make it. Here's a suggestion: Instead of rescheduling the game and hoping that everything works out and the field and refs are still available how about sending the assistant coach with the team. Or another good idea, don't schedule games that overlap with another school event, DUH! So, as usual with where I work, there has to be a last minute change in the schedule. Instead of my principal telling the other principal that we play the game on Saturday or they forfiet, he gives in and decides to reschedule. Have some guts to support your staff that has been working day and night and going in for six hours on a day off and getting things set up. How about when you set everything up for a tournament you set up the schedule at the same time instead of allowing six weeks for a team to form then giving one week to find fields, uniforms, and refs during the busiest time in Texas soccer! Get out of your little world where everyone caters to one another and get in the real world where no one cares about you would you? Geez Louise it's irritating! How about the adminstrator do his job and find all the fields and refs and things like that. That's the adminstrators job, no the PE teacher's job. PE and athletics do not mix. Just because I know what I'm doing doesn't mean I do everything. I am trying to prepare for the biggest fitness test my kids will have to go through and I am dealing with stuff that the admins should be dealing with.
Stressor number 2: FitnessGRAM
What legislator got into his head that forcing ALL kids in school to do the FitnessGRAM was a good idea? It's (at the largest schools) six PE teachers testing thousands of students. So since PE teachers have to help with the TAKS does that mean classroom teachers have to help with the FitnessGRAM? Yeah, right! A classroom teacher being forced to help the PE teachers? PE is so beneath the other subjects. What a load of crock that is. I have 338 students to test and get results in by the end of the month. On top of that when did I get the instructions for how to do everything? Two weeks ago, the week before TAKS. On top of that I don't have a computer to download the software. Why do I not have a computer to do that when I said at the beginning of the school year that I needed a working CD/DVD player on my computer? Again, PE is beneath all. This week I have to test all of my students and figure out how to upload information when I don't have the software downloaded yet. If I don't get it all done by the end of the month I will be seen as "non-compliant" with TEA and that goes on my teaching record. The pressure is on. Will I get to skip my classes to get all the information entered like other teachers get when they are bogged down with work? Not at all. I will have to go into work earlier than I usually do and stay much later to get it all done. I won't have any help. Even though my AP told me I would have help, I can't really get any help unless the software is downloaded to the school database and every teacher has access to it. Good luck to me. The next few weeks are going to be absolutely stress filled.
Stressor number 3: Rockwall
I have another interview this week about a coaching job. This time it will be in Rockwall, TX. I am excited, but I am also very nervous. I have to take a day off of work and it is my last day to take before everything starts coming out of my paycheck. If this one doesn't go well, I don't know what else to do. I am grateful I still have a job for next year where I am working, but that isn't going to help me achieve my goals. I don't want to just sit in an office teaching PE all day. I want to be out there coaching. I want to use the knowledge I have, not let it go to waste. I am actually good at what I do and I am tired of not being able to use it. Club ball is not an option for me anymore. I am not appeasing to parents and parents want that out of a club coach, but that's not me. I don't know, I just don't know.
Am I going to feel better after placing this blog up? No, but at least I was able to vent for a little bit and it gave me something to post. I just hope everything turns out as it should. And when I mean should I really mean as I want it to turn out.