As we were introducing ourselves, one woman said she works as part of
the PART team. Everyone nods their heads knowingly, and  I’m
thinking, “The what?”  Then the instructor asks her what the PART
team is.  Now I’m thinking, “Oh … good.  I’m not the only
one who doesn’t know, and now she’s going to explain it.”  Then
the woman replies, “The PART team is the new name for the PET
team.”  Then the instructor gives a nod of recognition, and that’s
that.  I definitely felt like a gargler (see post below).  Teaching has a billion acronyms, and I’m just getting the hang of those.  Now I get to learn a billion more. 

I had a crier at school today.  This
boy has said about 5 words to me in three days of school.  He
started crying for no readily-apparent reason and continued off and on
at the drop of a hat throughout the day.  He has been referred for
psychological testing with no result.  One thing I do know is that
he is suffering from debilitating perfectionism.  Any tiny
“failure” sends him into a crying fit, albeit a quiet one.  The
only way I could get him to participate in P.E. today was to tell him
that anyone who did not participate would receive an F.  That did
it … he shot up out of his chair.  I guess the fear of getting
an F outweighed the fear of potentially doing something incorrectly
during P.E.  Aiya! 

On a more serious note, one of my coworkers, Alicia, experienced a
horrible personal tragedy this week.  She left two weeks ago to go
on an African safari with her grandson and was due to return last
night.  Yesterday morning we received a call at school from
Alicia’s daughter telling us that her longtime live-in boyfriend had
passed away.  Apparently he died in their bed and nobody found him
for five days until the neighbors called the police to report a
suspicious odor.  Alicia’s daughter said that the mattress was
soaked with blood and even after some work by a biohazard crew, the
house still smelled horribly.  They found out that the boyfriend
had been terminally ill but had never told Alicia.  If she had
known, I know she wouldn’t have taken the trip.  I just can’t
imagine coming home to that news.  When her daughter called us,
Alicia was still on her way home from Africa and they’d had no way of
notifying her.  I just feel so awful for her.  There just are
no words …

Too tired for cutesy pictures today … maybe tomorrow.  Hope all are well….