Sunday, September 6, 2009

Hard to Look At

Yesterday I made my weekly drive out to Endar to visit Danny with my mom and Kyla in tow. My mom hadn't seen him in about a month due to her Alaska trip but I had just seen him last week. When we walked up to the pasture to pull him out for his weekly bath and carrot fest, I instantly had tears in my eyes. In just a week, he's dropped several more pounds and his ribs and hips have become much more prevalent. Meanwhile, the bully horse in is pasture looks fat as ever.

I pulled him out, curried the mud and dead hair off his dull coat, and gave him a bubble bath in hopes that he might look a little better. Even after the mud was gone, he still looked terribly skinny and emaciated. I always offer him a bucket of pellets to munch on while he gets groomed and he hoovered up the pellets like he was starving.

But he was generous enough to share his carrots with Kyla.


Not to mention he dove for any spare scrap of food on the ground that had fallen off the feed truck. With the increased number of bite marks all over his body, it's clear that he's just getting run off his food and not allowed to eat enough.


So I've sent an email to the lady that runs Endar requesting (and somewhat demanding) a change. Either a change of pasture or something needs to happen or I'm going to have to make make some decisions soon.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Starting a new chapter...

Today marks the "somewhat" end of my time working at URS for several months. The "somewhat" comes into play with doing freelance work while on personal leave but for the most part, I'm not reporting back to work until January 2010. I now start a new chapter in my life with the beginning of student teaching for my multiple subject credential.

I've been placed in a 4th grade classroom at de Portola Elementary School and have met my great cooperating teacher. Let's just say she has a lot to teach me with all her years of experience. I can't even begin to express my excitement with the lessons I'm going to learn, the experiences I'm going to have, and the knowledge that will be bestowed upon me. But with this new chapter comes anxiety, worry, and just plain scariness. I'm going to be responsible for possibly 35 students for 4 weeks in the coming months. BY MYSELF! Yikes!

So here I am on a Friday afternoon. With one chapter still open but the pages to my next chapter ready to be written. I know one thing's for certain. I'm going to hit the ground running on Tuesday when teacher meetings start and start sprinting on Thursday when students are welcomed back. At least I'll have good stories to share in the coming months of whirlwind...