A Southern Rehabilitation

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." — Seneca June 9th, 2026, was the last day of my last year as a regular education teacher. I have been a teacher in either Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, or 4th grade for the last 27 years. I'm not going to lie, the last ten years have been rough. The last 6 years have been even harder. Early in this school year (2025-2026), I was so "beat down," "distraught," whatever one may call extremely overwhelmed, that I actually made an appointment with HR to discuss the possibility of retirement. I also spoke with my financial advisor, and he said, "Dawn, give it two more years, then retire and start everything, including SS." The meeting with HR was also disappointing, so I knew I must carry on.  I spoke with my principal and asked her to let me know if ANYTHING opened up. Please let me know. "Anything" meaning NOT in the regular ed classroom. I asked ab...

It's Spring time... I love the Spring. It is my favorite season. Everything comes back to life. The birds start their incessant singing, the grass starts growing again and the sounds of lawn mowers can be heard throughout the neighborhoods. The trees start their beautiful blooming process. Oh, how I love the Dogwoods when they begin their show of gorgeous pinks and whites. The Dogwood trees are my absolute favorite, but my, the Red Buds! Early Spring signs are the yellows of Spring... the Forsythia bushes and the Daffodils. Tulips, Irises, Pansies, Geraniums, Daisies, Rhododendrons, Mountain Laurels, all those beautiful flowers, are like food for the weary winter soul. Spring is a Rebirth. A time to start fresh, brand new. The barren days of Winter are over and it is as if the earth becomes reenergized and awakens with vim and vigor. The height of Springtime is a heady feeling. I can't get enough of it. Extraordinary colors can be found everywhere one looks. My world becomes ...

Today is the day I'm starting this blog. I've thought about blogging for a long time. It wasn't until a friend just came out and told me, "You need to start a blog. Like now" that I began to give it serious consideration. Well, that was weeks and weeks ago.  I love to write. I've always kept a diary or a journal ever since I was a little girl.  THIS, this is waaay different! I guess I've been afraid to put my thoughts out there in cyberspace for the whole world to see and then criticize, judge, mock, scoff, shake their heads, whatever... This same friend also told me that having the "whole world" read my blog is a whole lot easier than having my friends and family read it! It looks like I'm about to find out. I'm being brave. I'm taking a leap of faith and just jumping in to this whole blog scene.  Here we go... "A Southern Rehabilitation" is the title of this blog. Oh, how I've searched for just the right title! I...