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Happy 2010 to all of my family, friends, readers and supporters! At the moment, many of you are fighting off a hangover or bustling about shopping. Today, I have decided to use all of the knowledge and wisdom I’ve gained from former teachers, books, friends, family and omni media to ensure that if I am going to have a great year I better do what it takes.

For the next month or so, people will be speaking about their resolutions and how they are going to make major changes. Life will be different. You know the talk. But then, they say they will start right after they have their cup of coffee. In fact, they should start before or while they have that cup of coffee. According to my sister, Ingrid, we shouldn’t even be having that cup of coffee. We should be drinking green tea with antioxidants. So two days ago, I bought the green tea and have had two cups in two days. It’s quite good. Perhaps it’s the brand Yogi Tea because I have tried other teas that didn’t taste as good.

I was never a coffee drinker until I started working at Jane S. Roberts K-8 School. It’s a small school but so far I haven’t figured out why it takes up every ounce of my energy. I literally go home drained. Therefore, one of my resolutions this year is to drink that green tea and find away to not leave work feeling like I have pushed my wheelchair in a 10K.

There is life after work. So many teachers take home their own homework even though the community feels that we are glorified teachers and our job is so simple that even a monkey could do it. Those cute comments cut into the hearts of many teachers who put hours and hours before their actual work day to write lesson plans, grade papers, prepare labs, offer free tutoring, call parents, attend workshops, fill out mumbo jumbo district paperwork and so much more. I tend to laugh at these comments because whenever I call a parents about their child’s low academic scores and lack of homework, they almost always, and I do mean always say “I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t control my child”. They can’t control their children but we,as secondary education teachers, are expected to control 25 or more students for each class period.

Therefore, I will continue the resolution I made several years ago, I will give all of me to my students during school hours but I will no longer take my work as a teacher home with me. After work, is the time I have given myself to pursue my other interests. It doesn’t make me a horrible teacher. Teachers have told me that in order for them to be a great teacher for their students they must take work home with them. That’s not necessarily my case so here is a good time to put that boring cliche and say, “to each, his own”.

I found out that once I have a life after work, I don’t get so burned out or frustrated with my students and actually, it helps me connect better with them. So this is one resolution I will keep for many more years.

In the future, you will read more about my new puppy, Fendi. How and why she became a part of my life. But for now, I want to share the news that she will be a priority in my life. This is important. In the past, I have made other people or things that really wouldn’t benefit me a priority and when it went sour, I blamed myself for wasting so much of my time. But not anymore, it’s going to be a rocky road for people who want me to make them a priority this year because my calendar is pretty much packed!

So my resolution this year, is to go back to my core values and work in those areas with people who actually share those same beliefs. This is one of my most exciting resolutions. It started yesterday when I spent my first New Year’s Eve the way I wanted and today I woke up feeling great!

So many more resolutions left to discuss and why not? Isn’t life about change?
But that’s for later.

So if you want to know more about a Latina diva on wheels who works as a middle school teacher during the day while living with Osteogenesis Imperfecta and pursues other areas of interest, you’ve come to the right blog.