Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Frustrations and Fortitude

It's during weeks like this that I am eternally grateful to the boy for wanting to be a "farmer man." I teach 12th grade English and am responsible for making graduation and all senior activities go off without a hitch. In the past few days I've received emails from parents that:
  • The way I dealt with tickets to graduation was a "pain in the butt."
  • I obviously didn't consult the parents when I scheduled graduation for 10:00 AM on a Wednesday (BTW, this date and time is given to us by the county).
  • The county website has us listed as graduating at the civic center and we're graduating at the arena.
  • My choice for a videographer is not whom this parent would have chosen.
  • The senior dinner didn't last long enough.
  • I was ignorant in instituting a dress code for senior dinner (apparently teenagers don't own ties anymore).
  • I needed to get input from all parents before making plans for any senior activities
  • A mother is upset that all of the students will be dressed the same at graduation and her cat could do a better job of picking the date and time (refer to above).
And best of all

"God would bless [me] and [my] children" if I'd give her student 20 extra points and ignore the three essays and four homework assignments her daughter didn't turn in, in order for her to pass my class.

I had half a mind to tell the ticket, location and time, and cat lady that they were welcome to hold their own graduation ceremony in their back yard at the date and time of their convenience. "Pomp and Circumstance" is easily downloaded from their computer and the students could all dress as they pleased and they'd have a grand old time. Of course, they'd have to have a parent committee for all 446 of the prospective graduates in order to approve it.

I didn't, but that didn't stop me from wanting to. Never mind that it's finals week and I have to make sure I've prepared my students for their exam.

By the end of the day, I was ready to call that momma's cat and seriously felt I had the fortitude to drown myself in the water fountain. Either that or call up John for a BM...John, I'd take one electronically if you don't mind. :)

Then, I came home, walked out into the garden and saw:
My eggplant forming out of the blossom...it's a little white instead of purple. Do you think it will make it or is it poor pollination?
The tomatoes in their full glory.
My black radishes topped out 1 lb and 10 oz
My banana peppers starting to form.
The beans are starting to climb their hanger and will be at the deck soon.The purple beans are almost ready to blossom.
And put together a plate with a few carrots, the red radishes and black radishes that I pulled.
It didn't hurt that I could visualize these mommas as I ripped the radishes from the ground. I'm now peaceful, serene and content. I must say the martini helped me achieve this frame of mind. Now the 2 yr old girl is holding the boy's hand and kissing and hugging him singing the Barney theme song.
All is right with the world.
Although, I seriously am going to have to institute a Barney Free Zone in this house.

18 comments:

  1. My poor Ribbit. But isn't it nice to have a beautiful, calming garden on those days when "everybody" hates you and you can't do ANYTHING right?

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  2. OMG, very funny post! Ha! Good thing for the garden......heh.

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  3. You know, Granny, you can't make 440 some odd kids' parents and all of their extended family happy.

    EG, it's really only half of the story, however, it's the first time I really got to see the magesty of the garden.

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  4. Run over to my blog...there's something just for you ;-)

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  5. Oh, sorry for the crap week. There's no pleasin' everybody now is there? (Ignore any and all poor english grammar, spelling and punctuation - m'kay thanks. Just graduate me anyway!)

    At least there's garden-therapy. =)

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  6. Those are HUGE radishes, and very cool looking. Do they taste normal? I am kind of looking for a bit more spice, hehe, my salads are bland and I don't want to add dressing galore.

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  7. What a wonderfully funny post. I just hopped over from Granny's.
    I sometimes think gardens were created just to help us with our troubled minds. Glad yours helped.
    Better days ahead!

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  8. Just Jen..I know, I almost didn't let the cat out of the bag since I figured people would think I'd judge on grammar. I promise to keep my red pen in check.

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  9. Sinfonian, Uh...Yeah. You could say they're spicy. Oh my goodness are they spicy. You have to let them sit for a while in the fridge to make them eatable. I actually grow them for my dad and he slices them, covers each slice with salt, stacks the slices and waits for a while and eats them with cheese. It's not bad, but man, are they spicy.

    They actually grow much larger than that in the fall. You can really only do four per SQFT, one in each corner. If you want them really large do two per sq ft, alternating corners.

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  10. Hi Sue!! Thanks for popping by. Hope to see you again soon!

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  11. I will be sending you a BM subliminally about 4:00 pm today. John

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  12. I know you have had a stressful couple of months!!! You do a wonderful job with all of this and are much appreciated by those that matter!! Remember, I am just down the hallway if you need anything!!

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  13. John, I'll take it!

    SHansen, it's really not as bad as it sounds, it all just happened all at once. You already do SO much for us. Thank you.

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  14. People can be sooo thoughtless! I feel your pain Ribbit! Whew... is school out soon?

    My boys are done next week, 5/22.

    Your garden looks marvelous! What a great escape!

    Sending you a hug!

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  15. Thanks for the hug, Toni!! You know, it is what it is. Today was a better day. Graduation is May 21 at 10:00 AM, but you know, I'm not ready to stop teaching. For some reason, this year was different in that respect.

    Hope to see you back soon!

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  16. Oh my gosh - those radishes ARE huge! I guess I just looked at them and read "beets". 0.o What variety are you growing?

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  17. Just Jenn, they're black radishes or (nero tondo). Johnny's Seeds sells them. The flesh is crisp and very hot. They mellow a bit if kept in the fridge a few days. I grow them for my dad, but in the fall, they'll grow twice that big. He likes to eat them with salt and cheese.

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