A Heartfelt Thank You

This is the goodbye I sent in to our local newspaper, honoring our secretary who retired as 31 years of service to our school.

It's time to celebrate Mrs. Judy Holman, and her 31 years of dedication to serving Zionsville Schools. Starting at Eagle, then moving to the "new" PVE, then ZLMS, and then ZMS, Judy has been the face of our school for over three decades.
Through her former students' and colleagues' marriages, divorces, births, deaths, highs, and lows, Judy has been the rock so many of us have relied upon. From scheduling our parent conferences FOR us (oh, do we ever miss that!), to listening to our bad day (how does she ALWAYS know when a teacher needs a hug?), to driving sick teachers home, Judy has been the emotional heart for many of us as long as we've been here.
I know for those of us that come from PVE/LMS, four days will always remind us of Judy's love and compassion.

Veteran's Day: Due to her deep patriotism, I'm not sure she's ever made it through one without a box of tissues.

Thanksgiving Lunch: Candles, tablecloths, parents, grandparents, a full meal, and a smiling Judy.

Christmas Breakfast: Apply all of the above, but add 2 semi-trucks full of Christmas trees and assorted decorations. And, of course, every bus driver, custodian, maintenance worker, and cook got to work extra early that day because no one wants to miss her biscuits and gravy.

Awards Day: Critter, a few friends, and a box of tissues

Judy, thank you for being our friend, mother, and grandmother. And thank you for being the being the bright, smiling, understanding face that has greeted visitors to our school for 31 years.

We hope you and Dalton enjoy your well-deserved time together. And, of course, you both have a life-time invite to PayDay Friday.

A Lil History

Most of my posts are actually edits of what I send to our teaching staff every other Friday (payday). I send out some lil reminder that says, "Hey, time to go drink. Get off your ass and let's see who's class has the biggest dumbass." Below is an actual "invite".

4/14/1818 Webster publishes his first dictionary. Appropriate drinks: Absolute, Bombay, Coors, Drambuie, Everclear, Frangelico, Guinness, Harp, Icehouse, Jack Daniels, Killians, Leinenkugel, Makers Mark, Natty Light, Old Peculiar, PBR, Q (help!!), Red Dog, Sam Adam's, Tequila, Urquell - Pilsner, Vodka, Woodchuck, XXX (from the cartoon moonshine jugs!), Yankee Brew, Zima (feel free to add a Jolly Rancher, Grimm)

4/14/1865 Lincoln assassinated. Appropriate drink: One shot, served from behind

4/14/1912 Titanic hits iceberg. Appropriate drink: Anything on the rocks

Driver's Ed

Boy, 8, drives teacher's car home

An eight-year-old boy stole his teacher's car and drove a mile home.

Akos Szabo from the western Hungarian village of Koeszeg broke into the car, adjusted the mirrors and drove home to his shocked parents who were not aware the boy could drive.

Szabo said he had taken the car because he did not feel like walking home.

He has not been charged for the theft but has been expelled from school.

My take:

1) Either a) The 8-year old knows how to hotwire a car or b) he swiped her car keys. (note: the story doesn’t specify if the teacher was male or female, but obviously…)

2) We’ve recently heard the latest “National Crisis (which is, of course, the school’s fault)” is childhood obesity. He went through all this trouble to not walk a mile! A MILE! Why, in my day, it was a 10 mile walk, in the snow, uphill – both ways… (sorry, somehow I started channeling old-man Bloede’s thoughts...scary place to be.)

3) I do give him credit for adjusting the mirrors. Perhaps I can take Uland’s driver’s-ed course, and he’ll teach me what those shiny things are for.

4) As the parents, exactly what would you do when you look out and see your precious, bundle of joy has just pulled up in a stolen car? (You know the dad, on some level, had to be very proud! Angry, sure, but your boy driving at 8?! Very proud)

5) I’d love to know what model of car he stole. When I see “western Hungarian village”, images of BMW’s or Lexuses (Lexi?) don’t pop into my head. Yugos do. And seriously, he could’ve pushed the Yugo home faster than getting that piece of [insert appropriate modifier here] to start would have taken.

6) I’m not sure I could walk into my principal’s office and tell him a kid just stole my car. (Ok, I’m a bad example. While I’m not the Boy Who Cries Wolf, I am the one who usually convinces the boy it’s a good idea.) And then, would you want to be the principal who has to call the cops and tell them a student just boosted a car? We still haven’t solved the fire extinguisher mystery. What’s the chance of finding a car?