Wednesday, May 13, 2009

My Six Rules.........That I Try To Live By Most Of The TIme.

When I was growing up, I had fairly simple expectations for my life. I knew I was not going to ever make a ton of money because I have never wanted to do much else other than teach. I think I had a fairly old fashioned view of how my life would go, I would graduate college, get married, get a History teaching job, have some kids, maybe travel a bit, live in a little house, and just kind of be average in my own right.

It is funny how things work out.

Now, I am an uncle....probably on track to fulfill the role of "odd uncle" but nonetheless, uncle. Since Broxton was born I have thought a lot about advice I would give him as well as my own kids when I stumble upon them. I don't know what got me thinking about all of this except that it occurred to me that my job is essentially telling other people how to effectively live their lives when I am not so sure the way I live mine is the best. If people ask me if I am happy, I can't give them a clear cut answer either way. Been better, been worse. People ask me if I really want to teach Special Ed, the answer there is "probably not" but it at least gets me teaching and I do know I want to do that. It isn't a matter so much of wanting to teach Special Ed, more than it is that I can teach Special Ed. People also ask me and joke about me moving away again. I think once you go far away people close to you are sometimes either afraid or eager for you to leave again. For the moment, I like Boise. In the future, I can't say I won't try to take some wicked vacations but I suspect with some regret and relief that my days of living in places not near here are over. I think I am growing up despite myself.

Things I will tell my kids and Broxton someday:

1. Don't expect your life to go as you have planned. I say this with no bitterness; it is the simple truth. I think for a person's life to go exactly how they expected it to go requires an exceptional person and circumstances. I don't know many people who are where they are today because that is exactly where they planned to be.

2. Be flexible, positive, and deal the best you can with whatever comes your way. This kind of ties into the first thing but being positive is the important part, though it is sometimes the most difficult. If you can find good in all circumstances and you find enough good, did anything bad actually happen? I read this in a book once and will probably get it tattoo'd on to me at some point, "Everything is the way it is because everything was the way it was." Look at where you are today, what happened to get you here? I like that quote because it sums up the importance of history and the past in one sentence. Good history, bad history, you are the person you are because of it. The same can be said for the world.

3. Be the person you want to be, do what you want to do. The only times I look back and think, "Wow, I was an idiot" were the times I was trying to be something I wasn't. The entire four months I thought teaching maybe wasn't for me is a fine example of this. Be true to yourself.

4. Be afraid as little as possible without getting yourself or others killed. This world and everything in it is an amusement park, enjoy the rides and learn from them. The more you do, the more you learn. Never stop learning.

5. Be happy as much as possible. Sometimes this is a hard one and it is one rule that, like I said above, I am not sure I follow as often as I should. The way I figure it, is that at the end of life, if you can look back and come to the conclusion you had more good times than bad, you had a pretty decent life. Don't waste more time than necessary being sad.

6. The last rule and most important, be a good person. Pick someone in your life that you know to be good and try to pick up as much as possible from them. Sometimes, there may not be a lot of good people that instantly come to mind and when that is the case, the one rule I follow that has never ever let me down is to do what I think would have made my grandpa proud. Happiness comes from good and rule five says to be as happy as you can as often as you can. This means you should try to do a lot of good.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

One Semester Down, Two Classes to Go

As of a few minutes ago, I put the finishing touches on my last final project of the semester. This means that I have one summer school class and one independent study that I am doing this summer until I have done all of the school work for a Special Ed endorsement. I also have four tests that I am taking at different times this summer. After that, I am certifiably a Special Ed teacher. One cool thing about most education classes is that there are no final tests, yay! I had to knock out three projects but they went smoothly and I expect a 4.0 again this semester.

In other news, I am moving ahead with getting a modest house for myself. The townhouse I am looking at was made in 1980 but has been revamped on the inside. It is listed for $78,900 but I am going to initially make an offer for $70,000. I do not expect the owners to give it to me for that and figure the final cost of the home will be somewhere near $74,000. I am hoping they will end up covering the closing costs as well. This may sound like a lot to hope for but I know the house has been on the market for almost a year due to the crappy economy. I considered renting but for what my monthly payment on this place will end up being, it is almost pointless to throw my money down a rat hole. Financially, I know I can make all of the needed payments and I will be meeting with my bank later this week to make sure everything is in order there. Oh yeah, the place I am looking at is a two bedroom, one bathroom townhouse in Boise. It isn't fancy but it will be good for me and in the future, will make a great rental property when I get something better.

Overall, stuff has been going well lately. I am getting more clients at work which translates to more money. School is all but taken care of so I should be getting a teaching job this Fall or next Spring. I have also been dating more. This has happened with mixed results but hey, at least I am dating.

Oh oh, for anyone who has known me for a while, you know I have a small demon dog named, Lucky. I know there are those of you out there with scars and nightmares of him but you can all rest easier now. Lucky is being put down on Friday. He is 14.5 years old and deaf and blind. He also has bladder issues and we think his joints are putting him in pain most of the time so my family decided he needed to retire. I expect my mom to be inconsolable this weekend.