Odds and Ends
This Year:
Rehearsal for Retirement
Summer school
Enumerate this!
Big Luke/Wild Kate
SpEd vs. Biology
To the dogs. . .
Season's Best From
TennesseeFire One
We’d hardly settled into the new year when I got yet another notice from Oak Ridge. That’s 3 pink slips, if you don’t count the return from Albuquerque. Cathy does, but wives are like that. So okay, 4 in less than 7 years. But dang if they didn’t mean it this time.
So after 3 months of doing the unemployment boogie with HR departments that don’t dance, I used the unemployment retraining funds to add a Special Education teaching certification to the Secondary Ed/English one. The new job search began in June and ended with me in a self-contained class with 4 students. This only to find unemployment is my favorite work, except for the pay structure. Just kidding. I’ve always been a Special Ed teacher, only waited this long to make it official.
Cathy, Temporarily
Cathy started the year with temp work, only to find she wasn’t meant to be a “Kelly Girl.” (If you’re old enough to understand this allusion, I hope you’re enjoying retirement). Then she became an “enumerator” for the Commerce Department’s Census 2000. This experience reinforced that there are some good, helpful people, a lot of nondescript in-betweens, and some more words-I-can’t-use-in-case-the-kids-read-its out there.
She returned to school in the summer, too, and spent the rest of the year interning as a Biology teacher at nearby Alcoa High. I’m trying to get her to think Special Ed, but she doesn’t want that all day and all night.
Luke in the “Big” Leagues
We have this large teenager living in the house. Sometimes we look at old pictures of him in disbelief. He and Kate were on separate softball teams for the first time because Luke had to move up to the A’s, one of bigger kids’ teams.
He also moved to Heritage Middle this year, instead of being with Kate.
Wild Kate of Claxton
Like Victor 200 years before her, our wild girl continues to see the world Kate’s way. Having Cathy narrate the thought processes highlights the autistic world view. Kate in the kitchen fingering the cast iron skillet, for example. Cathy doing play by play says, “Ew, nice texture! I wonder what it feels like wet.” Then Kate heads to the bathroom, frying pan clanging down the hallway behind her.
At school, though, they are still trying to prep her for life on this planet. This past summer included a month of her and Luke teaching my classmates (UT’s Special Education program at Claxton School) about the wonderful world of autism.
Kagogee
Cimmy and Fawn continue to enjoy their retirement with the Autistic Family. During the spring unemployment, I threatened several times to switch them to “Bargain Hound” (50 pounds for $8; if you dust off the bag yourself, you can get it for $5). Once winter turned to nice weather, I even suggested I prep them for dinner. However, the ever-practical Cathy pointed out that there isn’t much meat on either one. So here they are, still.
About the Title
So ends another motivating (if not financially rewarding) year for us. With a lot more time than money this year, I tried to throw a garage sale. One of the trollers among the stuff said, “It’s all just odds and ends.” More perplexed than insulted by this, I thought, “Isn’t everybody’s?” Remember: “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?” - Steven Wright
Peace in 2001 !
Kate, Luke, Cathy, and Jeff
lukate@charter.net