Ethical Dilemma

I opened up my blog tonight to get to a link to show my husband. And then I saw it.

I am still Miss Evans on this blog. My URL is missevansexample.blogspot.com, and each posting attributes the thoughts and words to Miss Evans. I am no longer that person.

I started this blog as an example for my juniors who have to create and maintain their own blogs, so I designed everything around that. I even tried to be careful at first about sharing my personal beliefs, because I was using it as a teaching tool in public school. I soon woke up and realized that my students probably aren't reading a single thing I write on this blog, so I decided to start including references to my faith when I felt like it. (And Beloved Students, if one of you does actually decide to read a post or two, here is my disclaimer that what I write here are my personal beliefs; this blog is not a platform to attempt to brainwash you to think like me. No lawsuits, please.)

So now what do I do? I can easily figure out how to change my profile, so the postings can be claimed by the correctly named person, but what do I do about the URL? (I don't want to start a new blog. I have a hard enough time remembering this one.) I guess all this means is that there will be a little part of Miss Evans that doesn't go away...metaphor, anyone?

Pictures

I love blogs that have amazing photography interspersed with text so insightful it makes me jealous and mentally stirred all at the same time. I adore photography, and while at the moment I do not have a decent camera, I am going to start including some photos with my postings. Starting tomorrow. I have missed so many opportunities lately. The trip to Ivanhoe's after parent/teacher conferences, the weekend of good deals with Andrew - I may have to back track and include that one, the beauty of the fall leaves which have outdone themselves this year, the Pioneer Festival....the list goes on an on. I'd like to include pictures of our new house, but right now it's boxes and piles of who knows what everywhere you go. If it weren't so embarrassing, I'd include before and after pictures. Maybe I still will...

For My Husband

Andrew and I joked on the way to work today about what I would write in my blog today...I wasn't actually going to write anything and just let things sit and percolate, but I feel the need to post something for his sake. Good thing for the day: a husband who can make me laugh at 6:30 in the morning when I am tired and just want to stay home. Thank you, Jesus!

On a Dollar a Day

One of the signs last week that showed how the depth of my sickness was the fact that I did not have the energy to read - even for fun! This was serious indeed. But once the doctor gave me some medicine, the first thing I felt like doing was reading a book that I had checked out of the library about a week previous. Since reading the opening chapter, I have been totally and completely fascinated by the book On a Dollar A Day: One Couple's Unlikely Adventures in Eating in America by Christopher Greenslate and Kerri Leonard.

These two English teachers - yes, they had me with that much - decided to go on a culinary adventure of sorts, but one that is unlike anything I have thought of before. They started by eating on a dollar a day each for a month. After that, they tried living on the price given to those on food stamps; they had a mathematical formula for figuring out what the amount should be. Then, they moved on to what it costs to eat healthfully. That was interesting in itself, but I really appreciated the social justice slant that pervaded their thinking and writing. Although I am not quite done with the last chapter, this book is one that I think may change my life, as strange as that sounds. I believe I was primed for it, waiting for a catalyst to push me in the right direction - who new that mono and a book from the library could bring me to this point? (Reading this after a week of total brain-rest made me more able to focus and fully interact with the ideas.)

How might it change my life? There are so many ways, but to begin with, I am rethinking a unit with my students. I have a very tight schedule for what I have to teach, but I am planning on changing a couple of literary units to focus on the social justice issues that are pervasive throughout. This may seem small, but I feel like this is the beginning of something different. And Andrew and I are thinking of embarking on a project of our own...

A Week Away

The next time anyone tells me they have mono, I will be far more sympathetic.

I had no idea how debilitating this virus really is; I missed the last five days of school, because I did not have the physical energy to stand up for more than 30 seconds. Now, on doctor-prescribed steroids, I can stand up, but doing much else is pretty difficult. I am at school, attempting to teach, but I am struggling to make it through what would typically be one of my easiest days ever.

People have made many comments today after my long absence, and it has been interesting to hear them. Most people are kind and at least pretend to be sympathetic, but some people do not have an empathetic bone in their bodies. (Apologies for the clichés - I blame the mono.) If someone has been absent, missed work, been gone for awhile, and it is clear that they have been sick, they may not find it funny if you ask how their vacation was and continue to make light of their situation every time you see them. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive, because I still feel horrible and am trying to do the right thing by going to work anyway, but I feel like if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything at all. (See above apology.)

To wrap up my rant and to reiterate my initial sentiments, while I would have at least pretended to be sympathetic before, I have a whole new understanding for people who have to deal with something debilitating over a long period of time. I know with mono there is an end eventually, so I really empathize with people who struggle with things like fibromyalgia. And that is what I hope to focus on; not the insensitive comments of others towards me, but thinking about how I can help those who don't have an end in sight.