fly with mhe

So much had happened to me last week. There was our school’s Christmas play and the white water rafting last Saturday. No wonder, I slept till noon today and had a slight fever yesterday afternoon yet still went on with my day as if everything’s fine. Oh well.. Vacation days, no more forcing myself out of bed early in the morning till next year, no more morning rituals, no more books to check and papers to check, etc. Yet there’ll be music every night, the same music played over and over. But at least I had a break from work.

Christmas play. They were unbelievable. My kids each had two presentations. The other one being the handmime which we practiced for about a month. Their other presentation they did with other kids from the other classes. There was only 1 intermission between the last presentation before their handmime and things are still to be prepared. Masks had to be put on for the first time, their gloves had to be properly fixed and with those kids, they still had trouble putting those on. I’m so glad their parents were also supportive, they dressed up their children quickly and without a cue drew to the stage to sit on their places. Upon their presentation, I was all praises. They remembered all their actions, I need not remind them what action comes after what and so on. They were so attentive and alert. I was so proud of them. They said it was beautiful. I say, those kids were the best, not because of my effort, but because they gave their all for that last presentation of the night. I even had one kid who courageously presented even if she had a fever and eaten nothing for lunch. She even vomit once in her chair after their opening song. Poor girl. Yet she bravely stood on the stage to do her dance and the handmime.

White water rafting. Capped the week with an adventure. Was not really excited like Mari though it was my first time. Didn’t expect much, didn’t expect to be thrown out of the raft, and was confident that there’s nothing to be scared about. Maybe because I was confident that our guides will take care of us and because we have our vest and helmets on. True enough. The 5-hour white water rafting was so much fun. At least no paddling in the air for me. Though I sat at one point when I stood while going along with a class 1 rapid, Kevinski leaned so much at me that it would have been difficult to have a foot-hold on my right legs as I could have been thrown down. But it was fun. Really. There were instances also that we can jump from our raft and swim in the clean river. Somehow my swimming skills was put to use when we jumped from the raft and went along the rapid beside a cliff. It was exciting because I had to pull my younger bro so he could face towards the flow of the water. Upon reaching the rock, I had to delay springing back or else I could have hit my younger sister. Opted to touch the rock instead before springing back upon seeing that no one’s behind me. Glad I had no bruises on my palm, only red marks, the rocks were a bit sharp. Hence, I loose my hold on my younger sister rendering her to be swept with the current and away from us the other raft had to paddle to her to rescue her. While shouting instructions of  ‘back float, frog-kick’  to my sister, I was looking back at my younger bro who seemed to be stuck on the rock. Was getting worried what happened to him, until he pulled himself out of the rocks with Kevinski and Mari. Then there were those funny moments in our raft where we faked throwing a rope to our sister’s lap. Good thing she didn’t stood and jumped from the raft. Hehe.. Then there was the bump my sister and Marmie had while they stood and we had a head-on collision with a rock. Good thing they were not tall or else they could have been thrown out of our raft with that collision. On the other raft, we could hear their shouts when they go through a class 2 and 3 rapid. An indication that they were enjoying. Hehe.. Few chit-chats and chow-chow here and there. Then it was over. I really had fun. Gonna do that next time. But I wish to do the advance type, more challenging and longer.

This week. So far, so good. Thankful that I could have some rest. Thankful that I could spend more time at home, tidying up the mess in my room. Thankful that I could spend more time with the people I prefer to be with and make music as much as I want to. Thankful for the gift of employment hence my Christmas gift to my brothers and sister. Hehe.. Not to say, last Saturday was my first time to taste Sushi, it was delicious.

A site I once read had this advise, “turn your work into a game and you will find joy and satisfaction in it.” That was what I did with my preschool class yesterday. We had a short game of patterns and instead of supervising them from my usual place at the front, I joined their circle and played with them. Though they were quite uncontrollable yet they enjoyed it immensely, which prompted my teacher assistant to join us. After our snack, I had them identify the pictures of animals and match them with their young. I intentionally made extras just in case a kid picks his choice of animal. Fortunately, they didn’t mind what animal they were coloring so in effect I am left with 2 extra animal pictures. Seeing that they were busy with their works, I grabbed a crayon and started coloring on the extra sheet. My assistant joined in too. It felt good, was not stressful and I felt light afterward. Turning it into a play was good and definitely a learning experience as well.

Which also reminded me to take each day as it comes. I may have a lot to attend to these days yet it doesn’t mean that everything has to be done all at the same time. I may procrastinate at times. Loss sleep and suffer headaches afterward. Yet things had to be done and all at the appropriate time. Trust that it is still okay and that I can still breathe even if these tasks overwhelms me. Breathe.. Breathe.. Smile..

We got 5 days off from work starting tomorrow, counting in the weekends. Tomorrow is the city fiesta, a non-working special holiday for our city. Then on Monday, National Heroes Day which is a official declared holiday. Yehhey!! Long break..

And long workday break for me means NO CLASS, more time with friends and dvd marathons. Hehe.. As always.. I have to finish watching the last 4 episodes of NUMB3RS season 3. Other title on my list to watch is the season 7 of 24. Hopefully I could have time for it on Saturday. Tomorrow morning though, be meeting up with some friends of my friend having problems with their thesis paper. Meeting up also with a co-worker who wants to borrow my NUMB3RS dvd. Monday morning, meeting with the boss at school. In the afternoon, be with the youths to plan out our activity for the October festival.

Notice that when I don’t have class or even when there’s extra time for relaxation, its either I’m with the youths or having a marathon run of shows I’m interested in or music tripping? It seemed as though I don’t have any other choices. Are my options limited? Hhmmm.. Or, am I limiting myself?

Read this line somewhere, “When your student hurt you, do not hurt him back. Hurt the other student instead”. Haha.. Unreasonable.. Okay okay.. I’m just tired right now. Thinking up of reasons why I don’t want to go to work today or handle my MR student. For one, she would be hyperactive again this time. Yesterday, I had to restrain her feet so she won’t kick me or lie on the floor. I must say, she made me weary after almost an hour of doing that. I felt like I had a workout in the gym, except that my dumbells were her feet and strength. Hahayz.. Sometimes, I just want to sit with her in our room and not say anything, not try to teach her anything and just stare blankly at her, see her smile for no reason at all. Glad my other 2 students weren’t as tough as her yesterday.

Finally, I’m done with my reports, but not after watching Star Trek 6 : Undiscovered Country. Hehe.. To say, I rewarded myself in advance with this one.

Back to my topic, made 3-pages and 4-pages report per child and another 2-pages for a new one. Much browsing, scanning and reading through preferences like books, notes, articles on the net, even previous reports I made for my old student and reports from other professionals forwarded to me. Tedious job we say but necessary for the child’s progress, where the child is right now, his needs and capabilities. More so, getting to know the child more and knowing where best to develop and address his skills or learning.

Finished my report at 4AM with some background music from my stored files. In the morning however, continued my reward of finishing the Star Trek movies my brother had in his computer. Watched Star Trek 8 : First Contact and Star Trek 9 : Insurrection. Great movies to watch on a break though.