SIX WORD SATURDAY #9

On Saturdays Cate, at SHOW MY FACE, asks us to describe our life in a six word phrase.

Here are my six words:

TOO MUCH TO DO, PLEASE HELP!

WEEK IN REVIEW

Spent copious amounts of time doing paper work.

Adjusting to getting up at 5:00 a.m. again.

New student names to learn (150 to be exact)....that always stresses me out.

Finding my groove again...trying to mesh being a mommy, wife and teacher.

Never ending "TO DO" lists.

Scheduling OT, PT and SLP appointments for the upcoming months for Sam.

Falling into bed exhausted!

!ereH thgiR toN s'gnihtemoS

"WE" means Tracey!

It didn't take me long to realize that when my husband, Richard, says the word, "we," he is really referring to "ME."

You know what "we" should do....

"We" really should do that....

Why haven't "we" done that yet....

Next Sunday "we" can....

"We" need to....

Why don't "we" look into that....

At first it annoyed me, but then I brought it to his attention, and he knew he was nabbed. Then I started using it back on him, "We really need to mow the lawn." It is now very comical.


The most recent (...since Sam was born...) phrase has been, "When Sam is older, 'we' should get a puppy for him."

My husband is a MAJOR animal lover and the translation for this sentence is as follows:

"As soon as I can convince you and you forget how hard and involved raising a puppy can be, you, Tracey, should get a golden retriever puppy for me, Richard. Then you can do all the work (house training, brushing, cleaning up, obedience training etc...) necessary to raise the cute puppy to be his 80 pound adult self (even though you only weigh 100 pounds) and I can play with him, spoil him (not following the training rules) and enjoy the benefits of him and Sam will think I'm cool for getting him a big dog."

Sorry, but the Richard to English translations can be very long and involved.

My answer, "Richard, when you retire then you can get a golden retriever puppy and you can do all the work to raise it."

There is no translation needed for my sentence...I mean exactly what I said. And just so you don't think "we" are "petless"....we already have a dog and 3 cats.

POST IT NOT TUESDAY #10

Go to SUPAH MOMMY to link up. Use SUPER STICKIES if you want to create your own. Here is mine:

TIMECARD July 18-24

I am keeping track of how many hours I work during this school year. My contract only pays me to work 183 days a year, from 7:30-2:30 (that is 1189.5 hours). We are not told we have to work extra hours, but there is no way I could plan, correct papers, make copies, make phone calls, etc., just working to contract. Usually I arrive there at 6:15 a.m. and leave around 3:30 p.m. Then when Samuel is in bed for the night, I do at least another couple hours of work. I also take stuff home on the weekends.

This week I worked 42 hours.

Total to date: 73 and 1/2 hours.

GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS #106

My mother has always had a prayer list and I've now started one of my own. So each Sunday I will publish the prayer requests of anyone who e-mails me. Please keep us updated as God answers your prayers too.

Who we are praying for this week...

* My mother to be healthy and happy.
* Ray's healing from cancer.
* Shannon's cancer is worse then was originally thought.
* All those children still waiting to find a Forever Family
* Penny's, entire family needs prayers for healing their hearts and spirits.
* Deborahrose's family and friends need healing from their grief.
* K-the birthmother of our baby
* Bri's hubby's job situation.
* Dawn - husband to hear God and find his way to Him
* Christy prayers and praise
* orphaned and alone
* peace in the Middle East
* the Gulf Coast
* our economy
* honesty in our leaders
* all service men and women that they may come home soon

E-mail me if you have someone for me to add to the weekly prayer request. God Bless.

I HAVE A QUESTION #5

Do you feel you have enough time? If not, what would give you that feeling? How much has your attitude about time changed as you've aged?

Washing the porch off can be fun....

My poor peach tree is raining peach poop and really leaves a mess on my porch. So I decided to hose it off. I thought I could keep Sam on one side while I hosed the other.....ya right! He immediately crawled through the water and got his clothes soaked. So....

...now we are down to our diaper....

We love walking in the water. It makes a great noise and it's very refreshing.

The dog loves getting wet too.

Then I put the hose on mist and Sam crawled under it and got his hair all wet too.

He is so cute. I love the chubby thighs.

How can you not love that face?!

I love this one! I entitled it, "Hi, God!"

He's enjoying drinking out of a plastic water bottle, but half of it comes back out of his mouth and down his chest. I think we are skipping the sippy cup stage. He doesn't like them.

He walks everywhere now. I think the therapists are going to be quite pleased by the progress he's made. He now uses the sign for "more," says, "ba-ba" for bottle. He really loves pointing out objects on his picture flash cards too. We make a big deal out of it when he gets them right.

I hope you choke on it!

So, we had meetings all morning at school today. As we broke for lunch, most people said they were headed to Dion's. They asked me to come, but I said I had brought my lunch. I went to the refrigerator in the lounge and opened the freezer and it was gone....YES, SOMEONE STOLE MY LUNCH! The good news...I had an excuse the join everyone else at Dion's. Really....you needed to steal a frozen dinner?! Ugghhh!!!

READING BOOKS WITH GRANDMA!

I love having Grandma and Grandpa visit. Here we are discussing my toes. I have 10 of them ya know!

I love cuddling with Grandma on the couch while she reads me a book.

Grandpa likes to listen to the story too!

Grandma is a really good story teller. She lets me point to all the pictures.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY #90....HI, GOD!

For more WORDLESS WEDNESDAY pictures go to 5 MINUTES FOR MOM.

The Bachelorette (week 9)

Ali Fedotowsky, 26, is taking her three guys to Tahiti.

SHOW RECAP:

Roberto, 26, the insurance agent, got the first date. They took a helicopter ride and had a very romantic date. Their physical chemistry is intense. He told her, "I'm falling in love with you." She said to the cameras, "I know he's in this for the long haul." Yah, right...my x said the same thing and 2 hours later he asked me for a divorce. I hate that saying. Just my baggage.....sorry....I think they have a physical attraction, but not the friendship part that is so important.

Chris L, 33, the landscaper, may have taken longer to get there, but I think their relationship is stronger. They were walking along the beach and found peals in oysters. Immediately I thought he needs to save those and make them into a piece of jewelry for her, especially if he's the one she chooses in the end. He did say, "I see myself with you forever," and "I love you." He told the camera that she's his soul mate. I also thought it was cute that, as they were walking along the beach, he turned to her and said, "How are you going to top this for our honeymoon?"

Frank, 31, the retail manager, goes to Chicago and decides he's in love with his ex-girlfriend, Nicole. He then goes to Tahiti and tells Ali how he feels and they are both emotional messes. She thinks he was a "coward," but then she says, "Even if he asked to come back, I would tell him it's too late." Isn't this exactly what she wanted Jake to do, take her back.

Richard's take on Frank is that he is too immature. He wants ANYONE to say I love you and with Ali he only has a 3:1 shot, where with Nicole, she said she wants him home now and he "completes" her. He needs too much constant reassurance because he doesn't have confidence in himself. "Their marriage will never last."

So it has come down to Roberto and Chris. I am hoping for Chris. I think they have the stronger connection.

Join me next Monday night, for the REUNION SHOW. All the crazy people will be back. Then the following week they will be in Bora Bora, where the guys will meet her family and they will have the final rose ceremony.

I WILL MISS YOU, MY FRIEND!

PE Teacher 'All About the Kids'
By Lloyd Jojola
Journal Staff Writer

At Mary Ann Binford Elementary School, there was a boy who would get into trouble quite a bit, so physical education teacher Janice Saavedra was always working with him.

But this day at school, Saavedra was gone; ill and unable to be there.

At a hectic point that day, the boy asked Cella Garcia, another PE teacher who worked with Saavedra, " 'Do you need help, Ms. Garcia?'

"I said, 'sure,' " remembered Garcia, who was putting up equipment and such. "So he starts helping me out. And he looks around the gym, and he looks at me, and he says, 'You know what? It's really hard around here without Ms. Saavedra.'

"So I think even the kids saw that she was a strong person."

Saavedra taught PE for 23 years at Mary Ann Binford Elementary. She was the one who started the Play Day year-end outdoor celebration and the annual school and community fitness Fun Run that's come to be named after her. She oversaw an intramural sports program during her lunchtime, ran the after-school program and was instrumental in starting the school's conflict mediation program, which trains students as mediators so they can iron out their differences among themselves.

"Her label here at the school was 'PE coach,' but she was more than that," said Angela Gurule, a colleague. "She was all about the kids. She was here for no other reason except for the kids."

Janice Saavedra died July 10 after battling cancer. The Albuquerque resident was 49.

Saavedra was thrilled when she landed the physical education teaching position at Binford, said her life partner Deborahrose Poster.

"It was her dream to teach PE (and it combined) her love of sports, her love of teaching and her love of children," said Poster, who also is a Binford teacher. "And she had a gift with that. She knew how to explain things to them to make them better at what they did. I saw examples of that throughout her whole life, even with her nieces and nephews."

One niece, Alyssa Martinez, wrote this about Saavedra: "You were always there for me to cheer me on in the sports or when I messed up, you would always be there to cheer me back up and tell me what I needed to do to be better. Whenever I had a choice to make, you would always be the first person who I would ask for advice. You would tell me what you thought ..."

Martinez's tribute is one of nearly 40 to Saavedra that was posted on an online funeral home guest book Friday.

Saavedra was a Duke City native who moved to Bosque Farms when she was about 10. She graduated from Los Lunas High School, where she was "an amazing athlete and great teammate," those who played alongside her recall.

"What didn't she play," Poster said. "She played basketball. She played softball, she did track and field, volleyball."

Saavedra got her bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of New Mexico and returned to school to get her elementary education degree.

After substitute and student teaching work in Los Lunas, Saavedra got a job as a fifth-grade classroom teacher at Mary Ann Binford, and a few years later became the PE teacher.

"When I first started working there, I was mostly amazed that she knew every kid's name — 840 students in the school, and Janice knew every child's name," Garcia said. "I would see it with her kindergarten class that came in. She would repeat their name as they came in all the time.

"She said it's important to make them feel special."

"Ms. Saavedra" or "Coach Saavedra" was not the type who ambled in when the school day started and skipped away when the last class concluded.

"She worried about the kids," Garcia said. "Sometimes during her prep time she would say, 'There's been kids who are getting into trouble at recess,' so she would go out and she would walk around the grounds during recess just to make sure they were behaving."

In the conflict mediation program, she didn't settle for the children who were eager to take part. "She would put a lot of thought into it and she would choose students who sometimes were maybe taking the wrong path and she would say, 'I know this program is going to change them,' and it would," Garcia said.

These are among the many descriptions of Saavedra: "The backbone of Mary Ann Binford." "The rock-hard foundation of that wonderfully loving school." "Janice was loved by her co-workers and students. She was always upbeat and full of energy."

Poster says students gravitated to Saavedra for a number of reasons: Her knowledge of sports, and helping the children learn how to play them. There was her charm, or as Poster said, "there was always hugs."

"It's one thing to give the kids advice, but it's another thing to give the kids advice and for them to understand it and grow with it," said Tim Martinez, a nephew. "Janice had the ability to do that."

Martinez also leaned on his aunt for advice, advice that drew reactions like, "Why didn't I think of that?" or "Oh, wow, that makes sense."

"That's what's going to be greatly missed about her," he said. "The family lost a loved one that we're going to miss dearly, but I feel bad for the community because she had so much more to give to the community. ... She had so much more room to touch other people, especially the youth."

Saavedra was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in late 2008. She left Mary Ann Binford for a time, returned, and left again in August 2009.

"And still there was not a day that went by that there was not at least one student who, when they walked into that gym, they would ask me, 'Is Ms. Saavedra back?' 'When is Ms. Saavedra coming back?' " Garcia said.
"The kids really, really missed her."

Along with her life partner of 23 years, Deborahrose Poster, Saavedra's survivors include her father, Arthur, of Bosque Farms; sister, Josie (husband Candy) Gabaldon, Los Lunas; brothers, Mike (wife Ida) Saavedra, Los Lunas and Steve (wife Barbara) Saavedra, Bosque Farms; many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. Services took place this week at St. Joseph on the Rio Grande Catholic Church. Interment followed at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

SUPPORTING MY SON

Sam had his orthopedic appointment this morning. The pediatrician had said to let him walk around the house in his bare feet, but the orthopedist said he needs the support of shoes because he's stretching out the ligaments too much. He bends his ankles way in, or "over pronates."

We got good news: they will not have to cast his legs and the supports are covered by insurance. They will look like the pink ones in the picture, but they will be in blue. The doctor had to order them, so we have to wait two weeks to start. He'll need to start wearing them for 2 hours a day and eventually work up to all day, except when he sleeps. He can't wear sandals anymore, either, and he'll have to wear socks. His feet get very sweaty, so hopefully he'll get used to them. Because of the supports he'll also be wearing size 6 shoes.

The doctor seemed to feel the maybe in six months to a year he won't need them anymore and can just wear little ones that slide into his shoes like odor eaters.

With all the therapists he'll be seeing (OT, PT, and SLP) I was glad to find that this will not be a big deal and that everything so far is covered by insurance, even co-pays.

I want to be proactive now, so that in a few years, hopefully, he won't need any more of this.

TIME CARD

Last year I found A LIFE IN THE YEAR OF A TEACHER. This person had kept track of how many hours they worked during the school year. My contract may only pay me to teach 183 days a year, 6 1/2 hours a day (that is 1189.5 hours), but most elementary school teachers I know come in to work during the summer to prepare their rooms, or they spend time at home planning way above and beyond what they are paid for. How many jobs do you know where you take stuff home? Not many! We are not told we have to work extra hours, but there is no way I could plan, correct papers, make copies, make phone calls, etc., just working to contract. Technically, I have to be at the school from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Usually I arrive there at 6:15 a.m. and leave around 3:30 p.m. Then when Samuel is in bed for the night, I do at least another couple hours of work. I also take stuff home on the weekends.

So, for this year I am going to keep track of my hours each week. My last day of school for 2009-2010 was June 24th. I did do some prep work in May and June to get ready for the upcoming school year, but I won't count that. So, I am saying the 2010-2011 school year started on June 25.

From June 25 to July 10 I have already worked 18 and 1/2 hours and
from July 11 to July 17 I worked 21 hours.

Total to date: 31 and 1/2 hours.

GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS #105

My mother has always had a prayer list and I've now started one of my own. So each Sunday I will publish the prayer requests of anyone who e-mails me. Please keep us updated as God answers your prayers too.

Who we are praying for this week...

* My mother to be healthy and happy.
* Ray's healing from cancer.
* Shannon's cancer is worse then was originally thought.
* All those children still waiting to find a Forever Family
* Penny's, entire family needs prayers for healing their hearts and spirits.
* Deborahrose's family and friends need healing from their grief.
* K-the birthmother of our baby
* Bri's hubby's job situation.
* Dawn - husband to hear God and find his way to Him
* Christy prayers and praise
* orphaned and alone
* peace in the Middle East
* the Gulf Coast
* our economy
* honesty in our leaders
* all service men and women that they may come home soon

E-mail me if you have someone for me to add to the weekly prayer request. God Bless.