FEBRUARY REFLECTIONS

I wonder how the New Year is treating all of you. As for me, it has been demanding in many ways, but it has been productive, too. My classes finished on February 11; my ladies wrote the final exam in Business Communications in the morning. I have since marked those exams and compiled the final marks for the course. I am humbled by the achievements that my students attained and by the demonstrations of what they have learned in my class. They worked hard; they were eager and cooperative and we shared many wonderful moments together. I wish them all the best in their future endeavours. They deserve success. By the way, the average final mark attained was 84.7%. Kudos and applause to all seven of my special students!

Although I have not achieved the level of organization that Barefoot Deliberations reports in her blog, I am working on it! Over the course of my six months of teaching, I created innumerable files. I had lesson plans, lessons, assignment sheets, answer sheets, exams, and spreadsheets with student marks. I will use all of this material again, but in the meantime, I have moved all of these files to a flash drive and have since deleted these files from my computer. I don't need that kind of clutter in my system. I want to do the same with my stories and novels eventually. I feel that if my computer ever crashes, I have my back-up system in place.

This morning, I took some time to go through my side of the master bedroom closet and a couple of my dresser drawers. I needed to see what I wanted to wear when I go to Cuba. Yes, hubby and I are flying to Varadero next Sunday evening and we will get to spend a week down there. The average day time temperature is between 80 and 85F, so out came my summer clothes: shorts, tank tops, light blouses and capris. And then I needed a nice outfit for the a la carte restaurants. And I then I looked at my old, grubby flip flops and decided I will need a new pair or two. I also discovered that there were many items that I no longer wear, so when we return from our vacation, I will be donating a bag or two to the Thrift Store. Next on the agenda will be hubby's side of the closet and his dresser. That could be a joyful process! I swear the dear man does not know how many clothes he has and he never agrees to donate or toss. Bless him - he thinks he may actually fit into some of this stuff again one day. Guess what, dear? You won't!

So, an attempt at organizing is under way. And I promise I will be kind when I go through his stuff. I will be gritting my teeth, but I will be kind - honest.

I am anticipating going to Cuba. We've been to the Dominican Republic and to Cancun and the difference in life style always takes my breath away. I am sure this country will introduce me to new and exciting experiences, also. I will make a report on our excursion when I return, but I know one thing already: I am so grateful that I live in Canada.