Merry? Ha. In the scary month of May...

Have you noticed that the older you get, the faster by time seems to fly? I have. Blink, and you've missed it. Oy. I can't believe we're at the end of another school year already! Hard to tell who is more excited though; the students or the faculty (I'm thinking faculty, definitely ;o) To anyone outside the school system - and I've been right there with you - I'm sure you're thinking something along the lines of "Sure must be nice to have your summers off!" All I can tell you is that time is soooo earned. Until I started working in a school I had no idea how much a school year would take out of you mentally and emotionally. Summer vacations and school breaks are critical times for the adults to get a desperately needed recharge before returning to the front lines. Because our children have so much more to deal with than we did back in the day, a teacher's job has become exponentially more challenging.

Even for those of us who function more peripherally, (I interpret for a deaf student), the typical school day is incredibly draining emotionally. Add to that the mountains of paperwork now required of teachers (sadly, our society is becoming increasingly litigious), the struggle to manage classes that are far too large and often unruly (what ever happened to well-mannered kids?), and a steady decline in support from both administration and the majority of parents it's no wonder the burnout rate is so high. According to Forbes (this article), the teacher burnout rate in 2011 was 46% within the first five years; even higher than it is for doctors. Who'd a thunk it? I'm sure it's gone up since then, too. Without these much-needed breaks, I have no doubt this number would be twice that. Having worked in several different systems over the past 18 years I can attest that some schools are definitely better working environments than others, but the stress levels are high everywhere. Personally, after working with a deaf elementary student on a military base, I have to say it would be nice if every person on the planet came with a C.O. (Commanding Officer). At least then you'd have someone to go to when you exhausted all other avenues trying to work with a parent (and you'd better believe they get the job done, too!)  Although I have been known to refer to DH as my own C.O., it's from a completely different direction (to wit: "Captain Oblivious", HeHe).

Can you guess what this is? I'll give you a hint: it's not a snake - honest! My picture happy galpal Sarah and I went on a ['nother-other] photo bender a couple of weeks ago, and came across the strangest critter I think I've ever seen outside of a zoo (well, that and the high school hallways ;o) Although he slithered around like a snake, he also had four legs with long toes like a chameleon that he used to walk. Weird, right? Sarah and I sat there making up names for him, and came up with "Ssslizzard". We both went home and looked him up on line to find he is actually called a "Red Headed Skink". Have you ever heard of those? I hadn't. Personally, I was kind of partial to "Ssslizzard" but since nobody asked me I suppose we'll stick with Skink for now.

Since Skinks eat bugs, I'm definitely considering them one of the good guys. *laugh* This one is called a "Five Line Skink" (some neat kid-friendly info here). See how she tucked up her legs along her body to slither along? How weird is that? Skinks are fairly widespread throughout the United States, and are partial to wooded areas with access to sunny spots. Believe it or not, there are more than 1,200 different subspecies of Skinks. Pretty impressive. Sadly, Mom doesn't seem to have much in the way of maternal instincts. She kicks the kids out a few days after they've hatched, telling them they are ready to leave the nest. Then again, when you consider how stressed out our kids can make us (particularly when they hit their teenage years) she might just be onto something...

For those of you who may wish to avert your eyes, I'm going to say a very bad word now: Project. Please excuse me for swearing. The laundry tub in the photo is a long overdue checklist item for our visitor area. This little P-word has been neglected for some time; initially, the weather (too cold), then I broke my arm, and again back to the weather (too wet). Obviously, this statement is easily verified by not only the faded green on the box but also by the disgusting amount of dust and dirt it has accumulated; which means now I get to clean it first (joy). Anyhoo, I've decided to go public with its impending transformation (ha) and twist my own arm, so to speak (translation: Get a move on chickie! ;o) My grand plan is to turn this [formerly] pristine white laundry sink into something rustic. I have some ideas on what I want to do, though I'm not sure if they will work or not. Here's hoping! Looks like next week's post will be all about that.

Wishing you a blessed week and as always, thank you so much for reading this far!

Depending on your profession, this month may (ha, couldn't resist) or may not be a really hectic one. To be honest, the older I get the crazier all the months seem to become; do yours? May is when educational employees spend the majority of their time peeling children off the ceiling and wearing out their knees over same (lotta prayer going on there ;o) For those of you who think it "must be nice" to have your summers off, I will say that I can remember having that very same covetous thought. Prior to the diagnosis of DD's hearing loss and my career change, I was a *cough* civilian. I can remember thinking how very lucky teachers were to have all that wonderful time off. Well ahahaha, now I get it (boy do I).  People in the educational field often question their own sanity (present company included) at least twelve times a day. Look where I was with my student this week [photo inset]. Now picture a gymnasium full of fifth graders all learning to shoot a bow and arrow. Yep, gotta be a real nut case to do this job. Summer breaks. Are you kidding? We need all that off time to fit in all those therapy sessions with our shrinks...

Not only is this the last month of school, but it is also time for my very last oncology appointment (I hope). This July, I will be five years out from my cancer. I think that the first and the last appointments have to be the scariest. The first simply because you cannot get your brain around the fact that YOU actually have cancer. The excellent health you thought you had has poofed and you find yourself suddenly facing multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and all kinds of other horrible and heinous things that you must do if you want to live for any length of time. Wondering why I'd worry about the last? Because I am almost there; so close to the big anniversary it's scary. There's also the happy thought that since I was "young" (40), the chances of a recurrence are much higher than if I had been 60 or 70. Rather like giving up your security blanket, I guess (although I'm sure Shadow would let me borrow his ;o)

The further out you get from the initial diagnosis without a recurrence [and the first five years are the diciest] the better your long-term chances of survival. That is provided something else doesn't get you first. The oft-touted percentage of survivors in the high 90s sounds awesome, except that it's only good for five years AND only counts those patients whose death was direct result of their cancer. In other words, if you died during reconstructive surgery, got pneumonia or had a heart attack because of the damage to your system from the chemo, or died at five years and one week, it doesn't count (can you say majorly manipulated statistics?? *rolls eyes*).  I can't help but remember that Elizabeth Edwards [whose husband is a PUTZ] was originally diagnosed with her cancer in 2004 which returned with a vengeance in 2009 just shy of that five year anniversary. I'm praying hard that God will not ask me to walk that particular path again but His will not mine, right? Between the residual fallout from the medications like arthritis, a defective Vegas nerve (digestion), heart blips, etc. and the ongoing aftermath from the muscle disease, plus Fibromyalgia and Raynauds Phenomenon, I'd really like to think I have the medical bases pretty well covered, don't you think? Yeesh ;o)

Things aren't always what they seem, as I'm sure you already know. With that in mind, [and a bit of irony I found funny] I just had to add this little clip I shot of the Girls while we were working on the patio roof. There's nothing so peaceful as a herd of horses grazing on a nice sunny day. A gentle breeze upon the air, tails swishing lazily to and fro...

Appearances Can Be Deceiving from Jen on Vimeo.

Temperatures included, we are definitely getting warmer around here. The almost patio still gets a cheesy grin each time I walk out the door (last post). It will be curing for the next couple of weeks before we can give it a nice rustic finish (and I'm SO ready *bounce*bounce*bounce*)

Before I forget, thanks again to Ann of Anns Snap Edit Scrap, not only for accepting the request to be Epic Farms' very own Digital Diva (didn't know it came with a title, did you girl? *grin*), but also for her help with our fundraiser and mentioning us today on her beautimous blog. We would also like to say thank you to Duke for letting us borrow his mom's creative genius from time to time, so -

Many, many thanks to you both!!

Well, I'm sure that's more than enough of me for another week. Hope yours is wonderfully blessed (even though sometimes those blessings come disguised as character building lessons ;o) Take care!