We think we can! We think we can!

Howdy,

Only a couple weeks and we are off to Germany (Nov 3^rd thru 12^th) for a very needed get-a-way.  Then we are back for less than 5 weeks and then we are home for Christmas (Dec 16^th thru Jan 2^nd).  The added bonus there is that everyone is coming home for the holidays.  Scott and Cassie will be there the same days as us and that will make it complete.

I know that I promised to try to keep this year’s letters a little more positive, but this has just been a wreck of a couple weeks.  For the last two months, Missie had not been receiving any pay for her position of Science/Math Coordinator.  So when she went in to ask, she was told that they had changed it to Team Leader.  This meant, that they expect the same amount of work, yet there is no pay increase for this “title”.  The $4500 USD hit can be swallowed, but it really irritated us to no end, that we gave up three additional weeks last summer so she could come back and work with the new teachers – this is only expected of “Coordinators” and “Heads of Department”.  This is now the third time that we have lost promised compensation totaling nearly $15,000 – it’s getting harder and harder to swallow and still keep a smile on our faces.  There is no appeals process, so… ?

The second kick to my desire to motivate occurred a couple days ago when I lost all my files on the computer at work.  The network has been marginal at best since we have been here and getting worse.  After loosing data last year when the hard drive crashed, I chose to keep all my files on a flash drive.  This also allowed me to take all my data back and forth between school and home.  Each day, the computers lock up between 3-5 times each, because the network is not large enough for the number of users.  So on this day, I was trying to go home and after watching the pixie wheel spin (MAC users will know what I mean) for over an hour, I finally powered the computer off.  In the process, it erased about half of my flash drive and de-linked the rest of the files.  Even after trying to use recovery software, it is gone.  I basically lost most of what I had created in the last month – I know I should have backed it up somewhere, but I didn’t.  I was able to retrieve some of the files I needed from emails, and I have hard copies for the others, but just few days of frustration.

The next pleasantry came when we were told this week that we will need to write ALL of the curriculum and lesson plans through grade 9.  That means three years of lesson plans for me, but 5 years worth for Missie.   I think they know we are not coming back and think they are going to get their last miles out of us – I don’t see that happening.  They are certainly making the decision easy for us.

It has been a tough couple of weeks, but we are really staying focused on the end.  I have started lifting three evenings per week and continuing to swim at least two days a week. Missie walks on the treadmill while I am lifting and swims most days I do.  We have been trying to find new restaurants just to get out an evening per week.  The weather is nice (between the dust storms) and we will start camping by the ocean this next week.  The basketball court in front of the hovel is getting some use in the late evenings and seems to draw the neighbors out of their caves.

The photos this week are from a field trip I went on with the 6^th and 7^th graders on Thursday.  This was at a museum for Arab art.  It went as expected.

Lesson of the Week: When you do a good job – they always want you to do more.

Love to all,

Doug and Missie