Things I thought about while driving to pick Enid up from school.

I guess it's some weird quirk of mine (for lack of a better word), but when I pull a bunch of books at the library for research, I always have to shelve them myself. I'll walk all over the place just to put them back where they belong instead of simply placing them on one of the carts sitting around for re-shelving. Am I the only one? AND If I see books out of place while I'm searching the stacks, I have to fix them. I don't think volunteers that shelve really know alphabetical or numerical order.

I've been in the library several times when story time is over, and if anyone stays in the library afterwards, they have ALL walked straight over to the DVDs and not picked out books. The same thing almost always happened in VA. The library is merely a video store for a lot of families. It always makes me wonder if those kids have books at home or ever get read to.

All school year, the director at Enid's preschool has asked people to enter in the Sunset Avenue end of the parking lot and exit on Franklin Street. I'd say about 25% or less actually do that... probably much less. Also, out of all of the family vehicles there in the mornings, I only see 3 or 4 small trucks and cars including mine. Everybody else has an SUV or minivan, and they're not little SUVs... they're Suburbans and the like. It adds to the difficulty of backing out with parents coming in the wrong direction when you can't see past the huge things you have to park in between. Oh yeah... and not to mention the fact that most of them allow their kids to run through the parking lot in and out between the "cars".

After spending a few days each week at Elm City Elementary (just about every week this semester), I realized just how hard some Special Ed teachers have it in Wilson County Schools compared to other districts. I'm not surprised of the turnover rate or difficulty in finding faculty.  Shannon has never even been offered an assistant, and sometimes she has as many as 20 kids in the Resource Room from Kindergarten to 5th grade, so of course they're all working on different things. She's teaching a lesson to a few over here, reviewing for the EOG over there, and trying to keep behavior issues to a minimum. She always says that the wheels could fly off at any minute, and sometimes they do. The few Special Ed teachers that I've spoken with from Nash-Rocky Mount schools have much smaller group sizes and either an assistant or inclusion teacher with them. I agree with what one of the Teacher Assistants at Elm City said... "Special Ed teachers should get paid more than the regular teachers. They have to teach and do paperwork and deal with crazy folks!" Not all of them are crazy, but whether or not the kids are, there's a pretty good chance that the parents are. I have sit in on several IEP meetings, and let me just say that whoever coined the phrase "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." was absolutely right.

I'll be registering for UNCG classes soon.  I was impressed with my transfer and the 2Plus Admissions Coordinator.  Gerald found out by requesting his own high school transcript (mine wasn't required) that they charge more ($5) than the community college ($1)!  As an employee of Nash Community, you receive transcripts for free. I've always had to pay $5 for UNC transcripts and Christopher Newport University's are free. I assume the fee helps cover paper costs. In this day and age, I don't see why it's all not computerized.  That would save time and paper.

Friday, we get the keys to the house in Morrisville.  Can I get an "amen"?