Monday, October 19, 2009

A Delicious Dinner





On the second Monday in October, the Resource team at Chets Creek hosted dinner at the Pablo Creek Plaza Chick-Fil-A restaurant. The teachers greeted everyone as they walked in the front door. They also carried treys, threw away trash, and wiped down tables. Dancing and laughing and music was involved as well. Everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner while visiting with all of the Chets Creek families. Coach Bailey set the standard for fun as she jumped in the bouncy house with her sons.
A good time was had by all and a part of the dinner proceeds were donated back to the school. Money, food and fun...what a great way to spend an evening!
See you in November when we do it again with the 5th grade team.


Monday, March 23, 2009

Take Care of Yourself

I am a breast cancer survivor. I have been cancer free for one year and a three months. On Friday I went to the Baptist Women's Pavilion for my 6 month mammogram. It was all clear. Such happy words to hear! I certainly had a joyous and thankful heart all weekend(and still do).


For all my friends of a certain age out there, please schedule your mammogram. To my younger friends, please do your monthly self check exams. None of this is difficult, so please take the time to do it. Jack Feather, one of my very dear friends, died of breast cancer. So gentleman, you are not immune. Pay attention to your body.


If caught early, breast cancer can be treatable. Please take care of yourself.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A Grateful Heart on Valentine's Day



I just had a wonderful three day weekend. That in and of itself is such a treat. There is actually time to accomplish all the necessary chores with some left over for relaxing and not feeling guilty about it. I love nothing better than to curl up with a good mystery book and I was able to finish one this weekend. The ex-policeman turned PI solved the case while he was recovering from a cancerous brain tumor. I could totally relate.

On top of that it was Valentine's Day. What a great excuse to sip a little of the bubbly, eat chocolates and be surrounded by flowers. Even in elementary school I loved this holiday. I loved decorating my little brown valentine bag and reading the cards that were dropped in it. I loved the special vintage pop up card complete with lace I always received from my great uncle. I even loved (and still do) those little candy message hearts. This was probably the start of my hopelessly romantic side.

Sunday morning was even better than Valentine's Day. For the 2nd year in a row, Jacksonville was the site of the 26.2 with Donna. Thousands of people started at 7:30 am and ran either a half or a whole marathon. That's 13.1 or 26.2 miles! I find it hard to believe that anyone can run that far-it just doesn't seem humanly possible. Yet thousands did, in their pink shirts, pink shorts, pink hats, pink wigs, pink tutus, smiling the whole way. These folks had a cause. They were running to find a cure for breast cancer. They were running for their friends, their sisters, their mothers, their aunts, for all of those who have survived or succumbed to this terrible disease. They were running so future generations would never have to face breast cancer. And they were running for me.

Yes, I am a 1 year and 2 month breast cancer survivor. So early on the morning of Feb. 15th, I donned my pink heart shirt and my pink sparkling boots, stood on the side of the road and cheered (since I could never ever run that far). I cheered for all those amazing athletes. I celebrated their hard work and dedication. I encouraged them to make it to the finish line. I thanked them for participating. Because step by step they were running to find a cure for breast cancer. Watching this group I knew it could happen. For this I was eternally grateful.


Monday, February 2, 2009

The Beginning...









Ok, here I go, jumping in feet first, holding my nose, hoping I’ll survive and not drown………..

In this thematic year of “Around the World in 180 Days” technology has been the main focus of our learning here at Chets Creek Elementary School. Wikis, blogs, twittering, the ning, all of it is zooming past this 55 year old guidance counselor at mach speed. I sit in leadership meetings feeling like I am in the baby pool just sticking my little toe in the water while everyone else is easily swimming the Atlantic Ocean of technology. I love the ocean and have finally decided it is my time to join and jump in. After all, I do the polar plunge on New Year’s Day every year-how much harder could this be?





I have been thinking about my own blog for months now. I wanted to start at Thanksgiving and write about the amazing blessings that start to encompass our campus at this time of year. The wonderful women at Jacksonville Golf and Country Club collect food and put together Thanksgiving dinner baskets for some of our most precious families. Every year their donations increase and more lives are touched through their generosity. Yet, I could not quite get started…





This spirit of giving continued on through Christmas as our students brought in over 1,000 canned goods and numerous toys. Many of our own families were the recipients of these donations as well as the community organizations of BEAM and Connections. Blessings came back to the giver as our business partner, BJ’s donated $1,000 to the school for the 1,000 cans we collected. The true meaning of the holiday was certainly celebrated at Chets Creek. Surely a guidance counselor could blog about this. Still I hesitated...


The perfect New Year’s Resolution…start my own blog post. January is the time to think about renewal and taking on new challenges. For the first time our principal sent out her end of the year survey in December. She asked for our reflections on the first half of the school year and for our goals for the last half of the year. I bravely wrote down, starting that blog, but you know what they say about good intentions...

Here it is February and still I have not made any progress. Is it fear of commitment? Having to write and post information periodically? Is it intimidation from all of my cohorts that are excellent writers and post weekly blogs that are read around the world? Could it be that I feel like I have nothing so worthy to write that anyone else would want to read? Perhaps…

What is so different about today? It’s the baby steps I have taken so far with a big push from the geek goddess here, Melanie Holtsman. First she helped me set up a Google account so I could read other blogs. This was soon followed by the creation of my very own iGoogle page. Then it was topped off with 70 Face book friends and a new addiction. All of this easily accomplished by the person who cannot even operate her boyfriend’s TV remote control. So now I am finally ready to dive into the world of blogging. Here I come….

SPLASH! Bits of Betsy is born!