Tis The Season

This has been a very good year. We continue to live in Robinson on the “Farm”. I just did not “farm” this year. Some of you may know that I am referring to my vegetable garden. It seems that our spring was so wet and my Spring schedule so hectic that there never seemed time to prepare the ground and actually get to work on it. While we all missed the fresh vegetables from the garden it did allow me more time to work with my flowers. Chris and I worked very hard last winter to protect the flowers and we had several that survived. I was kept busy all summer with the survivors and the new flowers that were planted, but it was worth it. The garden was very pretty and very restful to work in. Some of the flowers I had were marigolds, gazanias, carnations, dianthus, zinnias, geraniums, mint, chrysanthemums, and many others that I can’t remember the names of. I apologize for not having pictures posted but the hard drive containing the photos is not being cooperative. Guess I will need to get a new one.

This is my 4th year working in Waco ISD. Good news. I have been promoted to Kindergarten. For the last 3 years I taught Pre-K. The district realigned the campuses and moved all Pre-K classes to 4 “Pod” campuses. I did not want to leave Brook Avenue, so I asked to move up to Kindergarten if there was an opening. There was! I work with a wonderful group of people at Brook that really cares about the children. I could not ask for a better group to work with. It has been an adjustment getting accustomed to a different curriculum, but I think I have finally adjusted.

Chris has a lot more time on her hands since our grandson Jace has started Kindergarten and we quit running the antiques booth at the Cedar Chest. It proved to be more time consuming for us than we had hoped. Jace still visits often and has to stay for short periods when his parents schedule requires it. Yes, he also comes to visit just to visit. Chris has enjoyed using this extra time decorating the house. She also likes to shop for things that she thinks Jace will like. Chris has also discovered eBay. She loves to search for small items which she uses to decorate with. She has found several Gurley candles and other decorative items this way. As always, Chris loves to take care of her family.

Julie graduated from MCC with her Associates Degree. She has been working at HEB in the pharmacy. This has been hard for her since the pharmacy is open 24 hours and she has had to work some late shifts. She is planning to return to college soon and possibly pursue a degree in education. She has mentioned that she is interested in Elementary Bi-Lingual. She enjoys helping with Jace, so I know that she would be a good teacher. Julie also designed the logo for Grandpa Hank’s car lot.

Scott has returned to MCC also. He is working very hard to keep his grades up because he would like to pursue something in the Medical/Nursing field. He still works part-time at Circuit City. With any spare time that he has he works on cars, helps us do many things here at the house (Lifting, Moving things, etc.), and helps his Grandpa at the car lot occasionally. Scott, Jessica, and Jace have moved to Robinson and live nearby which makes it very easy to visit each other and help out each other when needed.

Jessica is a Pharmacy Tech at HEB. She has been there long enough that she is now working Monday – Friday and is able to have weekends off to spend time with Jace. This past fall Jessica and Jace also went to many Baylor football games with me. Jessica loves football, especially if she gets to go to the game and see it live. Jessica was also able to visit her family in East Texas several times this year. Jessica’s family came to Robinson for Thanksgiving this year.

As mentioned earlier, Jace is in Kindergarten at Robinson Primary. He thoroughly enjoys school and stays on Blue most of the time. Jace helped his Grandma Chris and Aunt Julie decorate our tree and the house for the holidays this year. You may look at the decorations by clicking here> CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS SLIDESHOW. I had to run some errands yesterday and Jace went with me. We were talking about school and his Christmas party. Out of the blue he said, “Mrs. Ringo knows everything!” I agreed with him and assured him that since I am a teacher I also know everything. He agreed. It seems that part of our discussion had centered on who stayed in school longer; his class or my class. My class left at 12:00 Noon. His class left at 1:00. Try explaining to a 5 year old that his class stayed longer because they stayed until 1:00 instead of 12:00, “But Grandpa, 12 is a bigger number than 1. Your class stayed longer. We left first.” That lasted a while but we soon called a truce and continued with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

Hank, Chris’ dad, continues with the car lot. For those of you that do not know, Hank operates Aardvark Auto’s in Robinson, TX. He enjoys his time there and going to the auto auctions. He still has his rental properties. Between the car lot and his rental properties, Hank is kept very, very busy. However, he does find time to sing at church and visit his sister June in Moberly, Missouri.

That sort of catches you up on all of us in a nut shell, a big nutshell. Kinda like a coconut shell.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our family and friends a glorious holiday season. Please remember that while we get busy in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of shopping, gift-giving, and holiday parties; the real reason for this holiday season is the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I would also like to ask all of you to take a moment to remember the families of those who are fighting for our nation overseas during this holiday season.
© 2007 Barry T Horst


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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

A Timely Message From Our Family To Yours

Plan, Plan, Plan, and Plan Some More

As noted before, I teach Kindergarten at Brook Avenue Elementary. Yesterday was the next to last day before the Christmas holidays. It was also the day of our Christmas Field Trip. For Kindergartners, field trips are pretty big deals. It's like the whole reason some come to school. After all, some of our children do not get to experience a lot outside their neighborhood. When I tell my class about the upcoming field trip they all think they will be going the next day. This continues for a week or two. Then they begin to forget about it until you send permission slips home. Then it starts all over again. The next day you hear something like this, "Are we going on the field trip today?" I say, "No, that is next week."

We teachers plan and prepare for our field trips well in advance. Especially since it is so important to the children that the trips occur without any problems. Yesterday's field trip was no different. Our trip was planned on, submitted, budgeted for, and approved in September. GREAT. No problems in store for this group come field trip day. We would be going to Cameron Park and then to the Mayborn Museum at Baylor University for their Christmas Around the World activities. GREAT!

Our planned itinerary for the trip went something like this:

9:00 AM - Buses arrive. Children board buses and we leave for Cameron Park.
9:10 AM - We arrive at park and children exit buses for playground. This is the day they get to run and play as reward for all their hard work up till now.
10:15 AM - Teachers prepare for picnic lunch.
10:30 AM - Time for lunch. After lunch children get to play, go to restroom, and get a drink of water.
11:30 AM - Buses arrive for loading and transport to the Mayborn.
11:45 AM - Arrive at the Mayborn for the exhibits.
2:15 PM - Load buses and make our triumphant return to school after a successful field trip.

No Problems!

Actual day of the field trip:

9:00 AM - Buses arrive for loading and the students are ready to board. We go to the buses. Bus drivers tell us that one bus is for 3rd grade, the other is for 4th. Oh! Go call to get this straightened out.
9:15 AM - Bus drivers are satisfied that Kindergarten can go on field trip and load bus. The other bus it turns out is for 3rd grade. They too are going on the same field trip, except in reverse order.
9:20 AM - Preparing to leave and the driver mentions that she will be taking us to the Mayborn. NO! We are supposed to go to Cameron Park. Bus driver has to call to get this new wrinkle straightened out.
9:30 AM - Bus driver returns. Trip to Cameron Park is OK. BUT....that means we will need the bus all day and we will have to pay extra for the bus. It seems they thought we would only be gone 1/2 day. We leave for the park.
9:32 AM - As we head to the park the children start to sing. There were 3 distinct groups singing. Their favorites were "The Wheels On the Bus", "Jingle Bells", and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". They sounded like this, "The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go...Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in...a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw him you would even say it glows. When all the other reindeer saw him, they would...go round and round, round and round, round and round." It was great.
9:40 AM - Arrive at park. We need our coats since the weather is cool. Children run and play.
10:15 AM - Teachers prepare for lunch.
10:30 AM - Lunch. Then you hear from the children, "We are going to eat on the ground?", "I don't want to.", "I'm not hungry.", "I want to play." and so forth.
11:15 AM - Bus arrives early, children want to get on bus but can't. The bus is early and we get to the museum early. A few minutes later we get on bus anyway and head to museum.
11:35 AM - We arrive at museum early. The weather is warming so we leave the coats on the bus then the bus driver tells us that she will be leaving and we have to take everything with us. A different bus will pick us up and take us back. So we take our coats, ice chests , and boxes into the museum. They are not ready for us because we are early. We walk around the grounds until they are ready.
11:50 AM - Let the festivities begin. The museum was great and fun was had by one and all.
2:30 PM - We board our bus for the return trip. We are tired. No singing now. The bus driver has not been to our school before. He gets lost and we get a tour of the neighborhood. He asks directions and we arrive safely back at school at 2:50 PM. Dismissal is at 3:00 PM.

We all survived thanks to the advance planning and unerring execution of that plan! "Yeah, right!"


© 2007 Barry T Horst



This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Welcome To My World

Last night Chris asked me, "Are you finished with the paper?" That sounds like an innocent enough question. After all, when most people finish the paper you can tell they are finished. The paper ends up being a mess. Not so for me. If I get the paper first I will look at it section by section. I begin by setting the inserts aside. I then begin with the last section. After reading each section I fold it neatly and then place it back in the correct order. I then look at whatever inserts interest me and then return them to the paper. This process becomes a little more difficult if someone has beaten me to the paper. Before I can begin to read the paper I must straighten it and get it back together. Then I can look at it. When I finish, the paper appears to look as if no one has looked at it yet. Hence the question, "Are you finished with the paper?"

It doesn't end with the paper. Lets go grocery shopping. Items must be placed in the cart neatly, not just thrown and piled in. Ideally, similar things should be together. Same is true for placing the items on the belt for the checker, especially with refrigerated and frozen goods. It doesn't stop when I get home. First, don't help! Let me do it! The canned goods must be placed in the pantry grouped according to what it is. Soups and canned meats on one shelf, canned fruits and vegetables one another, all labels facing the front, etc. The same goes for the refrigerator and the freezer. You know the drill, "A place for everything, and everything in its place."

I tend to also group and arrange the glasses in the cupboard also. Like colors together. We have some of the glasses like they have at some restaurants. You know the kind. They are blue plastic, have a smooth pebbly finish and a soft drink logo printed on them. Our cups have the Pepsi logo. When ever I put these up the Pepsi logos must all be facing the front. If not, I have to fix them. In another cupboard we have cups/mugs. All are grouped according to style and since these are the Campbell's Soup mugs they are arranged with the graphics facing the front. Isn't it horrible?

When Chris does the wash she will hang up the pants and shirts at one end of the curtain rod for me to tend to later. Why? Well the clothes on the rod are arranged in order by what article they are and by color. It goes something like this: Seasonal items (Sweaters and such); Dress Pants grouped by colors; Long sleeve dress shirts grouped by patterns and then colors. Then I have Polo style shirts with stripes grouped by predominate color and comes the solid Polo style shirts grouped by color. Near the end I have t-shirts grouped by color. At the end I have a section of t-shirts that I have received as prizes from various promotions. Oh by the way, all the hangers are white plastic. No colors for the hangers and definitely NO WIRE HANGERS!

The same goes for the socks in the sock drawer, as well as other items of clothing.

At work I have been accused of being Obsessive-Compulsive. I will take out a ruler or tape measure to determine how to place something on the wall. It must be evenly spaced. It must be hanging straight. I even clean the room before the custodian comes in to clean the room. I don't like a messy room. My students know that I don't like a messy room. they help pick up any trash and make sure the chairs are pushed under the tables.

My grandson, Jace, likes to sort things and place them in order also. Just like his Grandpa.

Thanks Jace for the compliment.

Welcome to my world!"


© 2007 Barry T Horst



This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Milestone For The Blog

The Blog has reached a milestone this evening. The Blog has had its first international visitor. The Blog is barely one week old. A few days ago I installed a FEEDJIT widget on the site. This widget tracks the location by city of the visitors to the Blog. This evening we had a visitor from London, England. Left click the map on the upper portion of the left sidebar and see where the other visitors are from. Just think, visitors from far and wide; from Riesel, Texas to London, England are viewing and reading the Blog.

Isn't technology wonderful?


© 2007 Barry T Horst



This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Way To Go McDonald's

Some of you may remember my post from yesterday, Can You Believe This???. This is the post where I show the local McDonald's displaying the Texas flag above the American flag. I drove by today on my way home from work and the flags were flying high and proud in their proper positons.




Thank you McDonald's for your prompt action!


© 2007 Barry T Horst



This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.