Oops, a Blessing, and Kinda Bragging....

So last week while I was in Miami,

we were talking about the continuing education

requirements for the license we hold.

Since I was mostly BORED,

I thought it might be a nice idea to

check "My Profile" on the state's

website and verify that my CEs are

in fact due this November.

I was kind of surprised to find there 

was a giant RED notice that my

email address appeared to be wrong.

Correct... we closed that email last

October when I retired and we changed

internet providers at the house.

Generally that causes a $250.00 fine.

Nope.

No fine.

Whew!

And then my eyes scrolled down to a

line that said I had one unread message.

On my way to clicking on that,

my eyes scrolled past the area that

shows my current licenses held.

It said,

No licenses on file.

WHAT?

I've been licensed since the 90's!

Clicked on the message which said

this is a reminder that your license

will expire on 4/16/18 if you do not

get an appointment (job).

Huh.

It was 5/6/18.

Missed it!

Strange they didn't bother to send me a LETTER.

Naturally panic ensued.

Luckily the lady I was visiting has a

very calm and level head.

We went out to dinner together that night.

She loves Red Lobster, and I had one in 

the parking lot next to my hotel...

On my way there, I was listening to Pandora

The Piano Guys channel.

Big surprise, right?

Just as I pulled into the parking lot,

still with that panicked feeling in my stomach,

Danny's Song by Anne Murray came on.

And out jumped the words,

"Everything is Gonna Be All Right!"

I love it when our amazing Heavenly Father

shows His love (and his sense of humor)

to give us those little messages we SO need

in one particular moment in a method we

are mostly likely to hear.

(This is the 2nd time I've gotten a direct

answer through music on the radio in a vehicle!)

(And thanks to that message, the feeling

immediately went away and instead of

laying WIDE AWAKE all night stressing,

I slept like a BABY...)

 Anyhow.

Fast forward to when I got home.

I researched,

talked to the folks at the State,

got finger printed,

and on Friday I sat for my State Exam.

(I took a practice test in the morning

and pulled a respectable 94%.)

Full of confidence (but STARVING)

I sat for my exam.

There were THREE questions that I marked

to go back and look at again,

but remembering "Collette's Law of Test Taking"

I chose not to change my answers.

The proctor was QUITE surprised!

She said she had worked there for the past

four years and had NEVER given out

a 100% score before!

She wanted to know my secret.

(They are SUPER strict about cheating,

I had to take off my jacket to prove

there was nothing written on my arms,

turn out the pockets on my jeans,

pat down my legs,

luckily my hair was pulled up so she

could see my ears, but I still had

to turn around so she could see the 

BACKS of my ears looking for blue tooth

devices!

Sheesh!)

I told her my secret was teaching the class

every month for the past 18 years.

"Nope", she said. 

"That's not it.

I've tested lots of instructors before."

I just smiled and shook my head.

Anyhow.

I'm all legal again.

(Disclaimer - it is PERFECTLY legal in our

state to teach the class without a license.

The license is only necessary if you SELL

insurance - AND only if you are paid

by commission... But I feel silly teaching

a class on passing an exam for a license

that I don't currently hold.)

And now I have more insight into what

my students can expect when they go to test.

(Things have changed a little since I

last passed this test... 30 years ago!)

Graphics

Maybe its because we own a graphics company

but I'm very aware of graphics I see on

the backs of vehicles on the road.

Sometime you just can't read them at all.

Sometimes they are pretty funny!

Sometimes they don't make any sense.

Years ago I followed a guy whose

graphics were advertising

CREAMIC TILE.

Really?????

I actually followed him into a 

parking lot and offered to fix

it for him for free.

Cuz what does that say about

you and your company???

(His friend did it for him and they

had already put tinting over it,

so it would be a THING to fix it...)

Poor guy.

Today on my way home from 

running some errands,

there was a guy in the next lane

over whose graphic said

got mack?

???????????????

What on earth does that mean?

And then I smiled.

Cuz I've got "Mack".

That's my darling's middle name.

I don't know what the graphic meant...

but it made me grin.

Story Worth - What is the farthest you have ever traveled?

Since I don't have a passport,

my days of traveling far and wide

are probably over.

(And I travel plenty here in the

State of Florida

for various schools...

and sometimes around the country

to visit my family!)

But back in the day,

when we still wrote on stone tablets,

you didn't require a passport

to see the world.

Rod and I went to Jamaica!

It was a FUN trip!

It was our 5 year anniversary.

(For our 1 year anniversary

we took a cruise called 

"The Cruise to Nowhere")

That wasn't nearly as far.

LOL

Back then, you could gamble as soon

as the ship hit international waters.

So they had these cruises that just went

across the international border and

parked out there so folks could gamble.

However, there happened to be a shuttle

launch scheduled for that day - so they

went to somewhere we could see the launch

and parked (ok anchored) there instead.

The BIG attraction to a cruise

(if you don't gamble, of course)

is the FOOD!

But since Kennedy Space Center

and Port Canaveral are literally

next-door neighbors,

they had to clear the area long before

launch window opens.

Which meant we had to go out

EARLY in the morning.

Generally you leave mid-morning,

lunch and dinner are on the ship.

FANCY, lavish, yummy food.

But we got Breakfast and Lunch.

By the time we got back on dry land,

we were STARVING!

Hit the local Taco Bell at the first 

town (Titusville) we came to.

It was still a fun day though!

But Jamaica!

Now THAT was fun!

We drove to Ft. Lauderdale

(or Miami?) and caught a flight

to Montego Bay Airport.

SCARY STUFF that right there.

The runway isn't very long and it

looks like you are heading INTO the ocean.

Then we caught a bus to our hotel.

It was the week before "season"

so lots of places were closed,

but the up-side was that there was almost

nobody on the island.

Beaches were empty.

Restaurants were nearly empty.

Everything was still cheap,

before the giant rate hikes for "season".

We rented a couple of bicycles and

tootled all over our part of the island

for several days, enjoying the beautiful

beaches and lovely snorkeling.

All alone.

We had budgeted $30 Jamaican 

for each day's expenses.

But found we could eat for MUCH

cheaper than that each day.

Which meant we got to take a TAXI

and go out to dinner to a famous

sunset spot / restaurant

(Bob's Cafe or something... lol)

and have LOBSTER!

The sunset was lovely.

Warm water lobster isn't as good as

cold water (Maine) lobster,

but it was still delicious.

And the company was outstanding.

On our final morning,

Rod and I both looked at each other

and said "I'm ready to go home."

One day less and we would have been

sad to leave. One day more and we

would have been bored out of our minds.

It was perfect.

And a terrific way to celebrate the first

FIVE years of marriage together.

(Yes, that was THIRTY-TWO years ago...

see note about re: stone tablets...)

Story Worth - What were your favorite toys as a child?

What were your favorite toys as a child?

I remember getting Chatty Cathy

from Santa. And the challenge

poor Mom and Dad had explaining

WHY Santa left her BOX in the

kitchen next to the fridge (where

the box of powdered milk usually sat...)

I loved my Chatty Cathy.

Pull her string (in her back) and she

would say all sorts of things.

She was a fun doll.

And I loved my Francie doll.

Skipper was Barbie's little sister.

Francie was her cousin.

Grandma Hanna made her a bunch

of really nice clothes

and Aunt Karen tole painted an old

round topped lunch box for me to

keep her and her clothes in.

Mom had some ceramic horse statues

that were just the right size for

Francie to ride on...

we had many great imaginary rides

across the countryside together.

I also LOVED Janie Sander's

little playhouse in her backyard.

Before she moved, we spent

hours and hours and hours

playing in that little playhouse

and avoiding Reef, her giant

Newfoundland dog.

He was SIX FEET TALL on his 

hind legs and although he loved

his little girls, 

we were terrified he would eat us.

My favorite "toys" though, would have

to be my library books.

A new one every couple of days

from the school library and the book mobile.

I was always a voracious reader.

Still am today...

(I've finished TWO books so far this weekend...)

(I'm "in" class, but you gotta do SOMETHING

to keep your brain engaged...)

There were lots and lots of toys.

I remember spending hours setting

up the little plastic doll house furniture

Mom used to have from her childhood.

(I think they were her's...)

We didn't have a doll house, so we

just had an "open concept" house

LONG before it was popular on Fixer Upper.

LOL

Roller skates in the basement.

Swing set in the backyard.

The little brown shed made a great playhouse.

Skates.

Hopscotch on the front sidewalk...

And although not a "toy",

we certainly  all "played"

the piano for at least 30 minutes

EVERY day.

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea.

It's a beautiful flower.

We have a gorgeous,

HUGE plant in the front

of our house.

Kyle hates it.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

I remember taking this picture.

I remembered I took it in February,

because that's when the bush flowers.

(The bougainvillea flowers all year...)

So I went searching through my photos.

Sure enough, I took this picture

February 23, 2015!!!!

Wow.

Anyway.

(That had nothing to do with anything...)

The school I'm at this weekend

has really beautiful landscaping

and one of the things they have

are some beautiful bougainvillea!

They have multiple courtyards,

each one has 4 of these bougenvillea

... stands...?

(I've been doing insurance all day,

my brain is basically mush...)

I thought they were really beautiful

and also pretty useful.

It has benches (and could also have

a picnic table or whatever....)

But you get the beauty of the tree

as well as the shade.

I like the idea...

I took some pictures so I could remember.

Maybe someday...

(It would look REALLY good in our back yard...)

South Miami

Here I am...

in South Miami.

For five days.

When I check into my hotel room,

I never unpack.

I live out of my duffel bag.

But this time,

since I'm going to be living here...

it seems like forever...

I went ahead and unpacked.

When Soni came to visit,

she unpacked.

I laughed at her.

So, Soni, I unpacked.

LOL

It's a nice hotel.

With a Red Lobster and McDonald's

right there in the parking lot.

I'm set!

I'm learning how to use the new

technology for how to get my students

registered without paper.

(Except it turns out I need paper...)

We take care of that for the first

10 minutes of the class.

Then for the final 10 minutes we call roll

and do a little paperwork.

That's all I'm here to learn.

Which means I get to then spend 10 hours

in the middle listening to her teach

the same stuff I teach and have been teaching

for the last 18 years.

Snore.

Except I LOVE watching other teachers!

This particular teacher is a kindergarten teacher

in her "day job"... which makes her pretty entertaining

to watch.

I have my computer open and am

jotting down notes of fun stuff she

does that I might want to incorporate

into my class.

There's a lot that I know I'll never

do - it's just not my style.

But it's still fun to see how other

people do the same thing.

Anyhow.

(I also downloaded a couple of books

to my Kindle... lol)

Bet you're jealous!

My life is SO EXCITING!

HA!

Typing Again....

I'm back to sitting at the kitchen table.

This time though, I printed off the

source document so I'm not trying to read

off my laptop.

Still typing on Rod's laptop though.

It has a larger keyboard.

This time I'm typing up a log of all 

the town's resolutions and ordinances

going back to 1989!

It's pretty interesting!

And fun to see myself being appointed

to the committee I used to be on.

Meanwhile,

I got a phone call from my teaching boss.

He was HAPPY to hear I was 

currently sitting on my couch

doing NOTHING.

(ok, I was eating breakfast,

but since it was 10:30 in the morning

I didn't want to cop to that... lol)

He asked me to drive to South Miami

(yikes)

on Thursday afternoon and spend

Friday through Monday attending

the school of another instructor.

I'm going to learn how to use the company's

new e-Logic where the student is 

assigned a QR code (those funny looking

little stamp things) on their phone 

when they register for the class.

Then when they arrive, all they have

to do is tap their phone to my iPad

and presto! They are all signed in!

Eliminates all the paperwork!

Also eliminates all the "I was here on time,

you can't dock me 5 hours for being late!"

It timestamps when you tap.

No arguing anymore!

And the other instructor is FUNNY!

So it will be a treat to sit in her class

and watch how she teaches the same

stuff that I teach.

(And shamelessly steal some of it, I'm sure!)

I feel a little bad for her though.

I'm the most "senior" instructor

(except Barbara who has been teaching 

since the earth cooled, but she doesn't travel...)

and I imagine it can be intimidating to have

someone like that in your classroom,

watching your every move.

I try REALLY hard to not be,

but I've had other instructors watch me,

and it doesn't matter how nice they are.

It's intimidating!!!

Anyhow.

I'm going to spend the 4 days with her.

Then the last 2 weekends of the month

I'll implement what I learned in MY class.

And then starting in June they are going

to start sending the other instructors

to my class (one or two at a time) so they

can also be trained on the new system.

I think it's going to be FUN!

But I'm going to be out of town for 5 days.

So I'd better get finished typing!

BYE!