A new year has commenced...

A lot of things have happened since my last post, so this is kind of a brain dump.  Apologies to those of you with short attention spans, lol...

I hope you all had a Happy Holiday season.  Mary and I enjoyed a nice, quiet Christmas and New Year.  Between my kids' work schedules and concerns about travel delays associated with omicron, visiting with family just wasn't in the cards.  Craig spent the day after Christmas with us, we had a Zoom celebration with Bobby, Lindsay and the grandkids, and we found some time to have a glass of wine (or two) with friends, but it was mostly just Mary and me alone at our mountain retreat.  I'm not saying it was bad - being alone with Mary could never be bad - it was just different.  I think it was the first time since Bobby was born that we didn't have at least one of the kids with us on Christmas morning. 

My step-dad - Phil Niesen - passed away on December 30.  It was his 88th birthday.  Phil married my mom 47 years ago, and even though their relationship had its share of rocky moments, they made each other happy.  He considered me and my siblings his children over time, and he was the only grandfather that our kids and grandkids ever knew (from my side of the family).  Being Grandpa Phil (and later, Great-Grandpa Phil) was a role he absolutely loved to play and our kids absolutely loved him, too. 

I was grown and almost gone when Phil came into the family, so I never felt that father-son relationship that he wanted so much.  My dad was always my dad, and Phil was just Phil.  His life was not a great example unless you wanted to learn what not to do, and he wasn't someone who I ever really turned to for advice.  We did have a lot of laughs, though.  In fact, making people laugh is one thing he did really well.  And selling stuff.  The dude could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.  

This last year was tough for Phil.  He had a knee replacement from which he never really recovered.  He had other health issues that led to significant weight loss and an appearance that was increasingly skeletal.  Through it all, his mind remained sharp.  His appearance, his immobility and his inability to take care of himself embarrassed him.  He knew his time was short and he fought for life with everything he had.  It was hard for him, for my mom and for my sister Mary and her husband Larry, who were his primary caregivers in the months preceding his death.  It was not an ending I'd wish on anyone.  As he said, sometimes angrily but mostly with melancholy, "This is a hell of an exit."

I hope he rests in peace.

On a happier note, I started a new part time job this week as a substitute teacher at the local school.  The photo above was taken as a little joke for my grandkids.  Every year on their first day of school, they take a photo with a sign that summarizes who they are at the start of the year.  I thought it would be funny to take a similar photo on my first day of school, too.  They got a kick out of it.

Anyway, I had been seeing ads all over town and in the local paper begging people to sign up as subs.  I'm retired, have some time on my hands and thought I might be able to help.  I went through the process of getting my substitute teaching certificate - submitting a resume, getting fingerprinted and passing a background check - then applied for the job.  The interview went well, the school board approved the hire, so I'm now a substitute teacher. 

I spent my first day shadowing teachers at different grade levels to get a feel for the place and the kids.  I got to sit in with kids from second grade (helping them with reading), fifth and sixth grade math, seventh grade science, eighth grade English, and high school American history, gym and wood shop.  I helped a special needs boy (fifth grade) with his math and he high-fived me a half dozen times and asked if I wanted to be his friend.  His teacher told me he usually doesn't warm up to people so fast.  That was pretty cool.  

My first real day as a sub is on Monday.  I've got a fourth grade class all day and am hoping it goes well. 

Wish me luck!

Finally, I'm nearing publication of my third book, which will be the second in the Buzz and The Little Guy series.  It's called "Buzz and The Little Guy's Talkeetna River Adventure" and is based on a whitewater rafting and backpacking vacation I took with Bobby, Craig and my nephew Mark.  It was a great trip and I hope I've captured the essence of it through the story and illustrations.  I expect it to be finished sometime in February and will update this site when it's available.  

That's all for now...