Archive for October, 2006

Solace in A12

{ October 26, 2006 @ 11:58 pm } · { Tales from the teacher }
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I had a very bitter-sweet experience this morning. Between my 2nd & 4th periods I was visited by a former student I had 2 years ago. It was great to see her and I jumped up and gave her a big hug. I asked, “so, what brings you back Ashley?” She looked at me and said, “My dad died. His funeral is today. I needed to take a break for awhile.”

I was stunned. This girl doesn’t even go to our school anymore, yet she came here to seek solace when she is grieving. I was so sad when she told me about how sudden his death was and that she’s still in shock, but I also felt really privledged that she would think to turn to me when she was hurting. It’s been consuming my thoughts all day.

Here’s my question: why do my students love me AFTER they are in my class? Why can’t they be nice while they’re here? :)

Why do we teach?

{ October 21, 2006 @ 12:58 am } · { Tales from the teacher }
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I was just talking to my buddy, Marc, who is a first year teacher. Today was payday, usually a joyous occasion for everyone right? Not for a newbie teacher. Let me explain.

Marc puts in more hours than any teacher I know. He is here about 6:30 am and stays until about 6pm everyday. He is trying every gimmick, plan, and method to get his kids to love literature. He teaches 3 periods of junior english and is a tutor for the other 3 period. All this while still getting his master’s degree. Not only do his kids not appreciate it, but apparently neither does the government.

When you start as a teacher in this beloved state of Hawaii, you do not see your first paycheck for 6-8 weeks. I’m not exaggerating. The only way you can pay the bills is to take out a loan from the state of Hawaii which will be taken out of your paycheck for the next 6-8 months. It is unavoidable. I did it, my roomates did it, and now Marc has to do it. After his loan money was taken out of his paycheck that he FINALLY just got…he made $500…TOTAL!

Now, tell me what profession works 12 hour days at the workplace, just to go home to do work until usually midnight everyday including the weekends and pays you $500!?

The sad fact is most teachers have a second job just to make ends meet. And people wonder why kids don’t get a stellar education. When your kid’s teacher is working all day just to get off and moonlight as a server or bartender, then goes home to correct more papers, get 5 hours of sleep just to do it all again of course they’re not getting the best education possible.

Studies show that 30 percent of teachers will leave teaching during the first two years and that 40 to 50 percent will leave during the first seven years. Gee, I wonder why?

Sorry, just had to rant about this. Just makes me angry because every new teacher here has to deal with this and it makes it nearly impossible to survive! I spent many paydays crying in the parking lot and calling my folks to borrow money. With a degree in the profession you are working in, this shouldn’t be the case!

I’ve got to go. I’m taking Marc out for lunch…since he may not see a decent meal for a few months!

I feel the earth move under my feet!

{ October 16, 2006 @ 9:11 am } · { Life in Hawaii }
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We at the Price household were woken up by a strange phenomenon. We both heard a rumbling when Adam turned to me and asked, “Do you hear that?” I opened my eyes to the ceiling fan shaking. It was so long we had enough time to get dressed and get downstairs before the earthquake had stopped. We later found out that it was a 6.3 off the coast of Kona on the Big Island. They had 8 aftershocks at last report! We’re about 150 miles away.

Our two drunk buddies were passed out on the couches downstairs and the earthquake even pulled them out of their drunken stupor. Reports have surfaced that Tom’s eyes were bigger than anything Lugnut had ever seen. Am I the only one who had experienced an earthquake before? We had an aftershock about 5 minutes later.

So, what happens when there is a mega-earthquake…the power goes out. Wouldn’t have been so terrible if we hadn’t bought a ton of alcohol and meat to grill during our Broncos vs. Raiders BBQ that was due to start at noon. Thank goodness we bought a new gas grill, we were able to make some dynamite food!

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As luck would have it, 95% of the island was without power for over 12 hours. But we had a rockin’ “we have no power/earthquake” party! We sat around playing cards, listening to our iPods on teeny tiny speakers, exchanged ridiculous stories and ended up getting a little bit…ok a lot bit liquored up. Adam actually brought the hose in the house and hosed down our friends in the kitchen! Hey, there was nothing else to do. It was pouring down rain and there is no power anywhere! LOL!

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We just got power back at 7:30pm.  Seems that the Cingular tower may have been affected as I still have no cell phone service. Most of us had no cell service all day. We just hope the worst of it is over. No tsunami warnings are in effect, so seems like we’re ok. :)

We figured everyone would have heard since it made the headlines on CNN. Didn’t want anyone to worry.  Here are some pictures to show you that we are “A-OK!”

What are the odds?

{ October 15, 2006 @ 8:55 am } · { Life in Hawaii }
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The transmission went out on both the Honda and the Impreza on the same day that Adam gets home. Gee, what a wonderful welcome home suprise!

Nothing like spending a lot of money as soon as you get back huh? We’re both in good spirits about it though. Pretty much anything looks small compared to what we’ve been through lately. :)

He’s home!!!

{ October 14, 2006 @ 12:46 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Hooray, hooray, hooray, hooray! 

Luckily I left early because they were 30 minutes early.  Jesse called as we were driving down the flightline and told me they were arriving in 15 minutes.

I was shaking so much while waiting it is miraculous that any of the pictures even turned out. I wasn’t alone though…all the wives were bouncing off the walls.

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  cute-kids.jpgThe kids were literally bouncing as the MAG provided a bouncy house…at 6am. We had to drop off the banners yesterday so the advance party Marines could hang them for us.

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All the Marines were greeted with a handshake and a lei. It was like watching rockstars depart the plane! They literally rolled out the red carpet.

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 Tom got off the plane and took a picture of all of us! LOL. I’ll try to get it from him to add next time.  It was like looking for Where’s Waldo. Finally I spotted him and started screaming and tearing up. It was probably the most amazing moment of my life.  He seemed pretty excited to see me too. :)

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 We had to hang around the hangar for awhile while they turned in weapons and waited for all their bags to get taken off the plane. It wasn’t too bad. It’s good to see the whole crew back together.   It ended up taking a little over an hour which was much better than the 2-3 hours they told us it might take.

When we finally got home it was fun to show Adam our new house. He drove home in the new car and as we turned down our street I told him, “you can’t miss it.” The huge sign was a pretty sure giveaway.

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We’re just glad to be together again. Went to the mall and City Mill to get stuff for the house, get keys made, etc. We actually ran into several guys from the squadron…seems like everyone had the same idea. It’s just so nice to feel whole again; I’ve been missing such a huge part of myself for 8 months.

We’re planning on having a BBQ on Sunday afternoon, so will hopefully have some more fun pictures to post.

Thank you for all your support this whole time. We are both so thankful for such great friends and family.

Love from Mr. & Mrs. Price…reunited again!

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Sleepless in Kaneohe

{ October 13, 2006 @ 2:15 pm } · { Life in Hawaii }
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So, it is 4:13 am and it is officially time for me to get ready to head down to the hangar.  I could have been getting ready hours ago as it has been impossible to sleep.  I’ve got the pumping heart and queasy stomach. I’m just so excited for him to be home.

Kinda bumbed that it is still raining.  His sign is made with water-based paint, so it may be ruined by the time he gets home.  Oh well, I’m sure he’s more interested in the warm shower, warm bed and ingredients for shrimp dip and banana pudding in the kitchen!

Just 2 hours now.  I’d better get ready!

Love you all.

Mel

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

{ October 13, 2006 @ 6:46 am } · { Life in Hawaii }
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Got a call from Adam a couple of hours ago.  He is on American soil about 2 hours outside of Chicago.  He’s not too happy though…it’s 36 degrees.  That’s a big change from the 140 degrees he’s grown accustomed to!

 Also just got a call from my KV saying that the time has been moved up to 6:30am instead of 7am.  Please keep in mind, this is the time they are supposed to LAND, not when I will actually see him.  Be patient and we will call all of you.  They have to stand formation and I’ll have my phone on silent, as I won’t be able to answer it anyway.

Very, very soon though!!!  He is super excited and so am I.  I think I will pass out from sheer exhaustion as soon as he gets here!  We’re both so pooped! All he asked for was a hot shower when he gets home. :)

You’ll be hearing from BOTH of us shortly!!!

Guten Tag!

{ October 12, 2006 @ 8:59 pm } · { Life in Iraq }
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For those of you non-German speakers, that’s “hello” from Adam. He called me at 4am from Frankfurt, Germany. He sounds like a new man…well, he did have a beer in hand when I talked to him. They were leaving in about 30 minutes for Canada. So, he should be on his way to Chicago by now.

We have been told we may hear from then while they’re there, but Adam said that they were only having about an hour layover at each stop. We’ll know when they’ll get to us when they leave Oakland sometime tonight.

I am so excited. I have permanent butterflies! Got my special dress yesterday from my designer friend, Ivy. She designed me a dress for his homecoming. Hooray!!!

We’re down to hours now!

Not a lot to tell…

{ October 12, 2006 @ 1:37 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Just got an email from the KV network. They are in Kuwait still going through “processing.” They should be leaving there at about midnight Hawaii time. We won’t hear from them again until they hit Chicago sometime tomorrow.

We also won’t have a finalized arrival time until they depart their second US stop in Oakland. From there it is a 5-hour flight to K-bay.

I wish there was more I could tell you. Haven’t heard from Adam in a few days, as they are not flying through the usual “civilian airports” there are not phones readily available. I’m not even sure if I’ll hear from him before he lands here. Who knows.

As always, I’ll update you as soon as I hear anything new.

2 DAYS!!!

Leaving Kuwait

{ October 11, 2006 @ 8:25 am } · { Life in Iraq }
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Hi all.

Still haven’t heard from Adam himself, but our CO’s wife keeps us pretty up to speed.  Latest word is they are on a plane waiting to leave Kuwait. Next stop is Germany. Only a couple more days until he is back on US soil! Finally.

 Sorry there’s not more to post.  I promised to tell what I know and presently, this is it. :)

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