On Beyond Zebra

 



"So, on beyond Z!
It's high time you were shown
That you really don't know
All there is to be known."

For those of you who don't know, On Beyond Zebra is a fantastic book by Dr. Suess. I love it because it reminds me that there is always more to something, than a person realizes. I work hard at trying to teach students that we must really look at things and think about things in a variety of ways to truly understand.

There is a LOT to back to school, beyond, sit down and let's open our books :-)

Take, for example, a tire that needs changing. It isn't just a matter of waving your magic tire iron and POOF, it's all fixed.  You need a jack and a tire iron. You need a level surface to jack your vehicle up. You need to know WHERE to put the jack so you don't put it through your vehicle. Do you have a spare? or a donut? do you know the difference? Can you get the nuts off the tire or did some ninja fasten those babies tighter than you could ever possibly loosen....you get the idea.

sure you could call a tow truck. Hello CAA or AAA. Or your dad. I did that. Once. That was the only time I was allowed to. It was followed by an intense course at home so I would know how to do this in the future. Sure, if I had a card or the money I could call someone to do it, but he wanted me to know how much work there was to it and how important it was to know how.

my but I ramble....where was I?

ah yes, on beyond zebra.

That was our catch phrase at work last week....the infamous first week of school. It stood for things like "on beyond exhausted", or "wow I always forget there are a million things to do". We had two or three new students register, for each classroom we have, that first day at school. We'd just get going in the class and there'd be a knock at the door and a new face, and we'd have to start again so they wouldn't miss out on info. There was a lot of desk pirating from room to room to make sure we found good fits for our kids, who come in all shapes and sizes. The copier when down. The laminator went down. The power went off once ( no clue why). You really have to go with the flow.

I was trying to gauge if my tiredness was the usual 'back to school 'tiredness that all staff get that first week when we are running around putting out fires, or if it was 'back to school' tired + colitis tired. All I know is that I needed a quick nap when I got home from school each day.


While juggling that I was making sure my boys were registered properly for school. That first day it was 'see ya boys. here are your cheques for  fees. Don't forget those novels you didn't return last year that now we're going to be charged caution fees for. How are we getting home. DS1 do you have hockey? DS2 do you have work tonight?" and off we'd run.  DS1 had to learn to be his own voice and negotiate his schedule for his graduation year. They were not wanting to let him change it but he needs an alternate schedule to play on this team. They've done this multiple times in the past so he was not breaking new ground. We had contacted one of the counsellors and he checked out the class and period options and made a schedule for DS to take to the registration table. It even had the counsellor's signature. DS was 3 hours waiting and 'using his voice' to make sure he got the classes he needed  in the periods he had available. It was a very important life lesson for him.

DH's back went out. He was on a week's holidays anyways but he could barely move. He had numerous appointments with the doctor, the chiropractor and the masseuse. I guess we shall see if he is able to work Monday. Kind of a waste of a week's holidays.

Add to that I went to get my meds filled and I discover that my medical coverage had been cancelled??? WTF??? so I was on phone call after phone call trying to figure out what had happened. More on that in a different post.

It was fantastic to go for a drink with some of my colleagues last night and relax and just give ourselves a chance to catch up and find out how each other's week had gone.

Another hockey weekend for us for DS1 as he has evaded cuts and is still on the team. DS2 worked three days last week. He will have to see if he can juggle work and school.

The only time I saw the boys was for a 15 min window around 10 pm each night when they got home and right before I dropped off to sleep. We'd go over the schedule for the next day so I would know what was happening.    Ahh the joys of busyness.

I am off for a wonderful walk in the fresh air after my leisurely coffee and then I am off to school to work for about 4 hours to get ready for the week ahead (or start to get ready)

The older I get, the more I realize how much I don't know about so many things. I bet you each have your own 'on  beyond zebra' for  your work or your daily routine, that other folks never really realize how much there is to what you do.