15 Years

This month marks the 15th anniversary of the Swann Family News! I will refrain from any sort of recap or summarizing as I have done in the past and simply say, "Wow, what a ride!" And while I don't say this here much, I look back every so often with a sense of awe and wonder over how richly God has blessed me and my family over the years, whether in good times or bad. So, to celebrate the most recent aspects of life...

I HAVE A CLASSROOM!
This is not to say I haven't had a classroom since coming to DA in 2015, I have, but this year it was decided to move me into a new portable. The only problem was that the City of Nashville didn't move as quickly to approve my portable for occupancy as we needed for them to. One week before school started the portable had just been set into place and the electricity hooked up. I knew then it would be Labor Day at least before I could move in, so I began setting up my classroom area on our stage. Keep in mind that our stage is also the visitor's side of our gym, so I've been trying to teach with PE classes on the other side of the curtain from me for the first three weeks of school.

Well, my prediction was accurate. Tuesday after Labor Day everything was ready enough that I scrapped my lesson plans for the day and put my students to work moving me to my new digs. There's still some work to be done out there. For example, I don't have an intercom so I have to set alarms on my phone to know when the bells ring. Even so, this is a far cry better than teaching next to a game of flag football, and as we progress through our class project of making pinewood derby cars this semester my students can drill, saw, sand, and paint without me worrying about disturbing the teachers next door.

THE ROUTINE
Four weeks into school we are definitely on our routine. The boys and I ride to school together most days, and I wait for them to finish cross country practice before we head home. Nate is doing a lot of the driving so he should have plenty of experience by the time he takes his road test for his license this winter.

I have really enjoyed the time I get to spend with Ben and Nate. You can't put a price on that sort of thing. And Ben hangs out in my room the last period of the day because he is scheduled for basketball but can't practice with the team while he is actively running cross country. We've enjoyed the time together, which is good because these days are numbered.

HEALING
Jenna has been back at school for three weeks now. She and her roommates are enjoying their new apartment, and they all wonder how they managed the small space of dorm life the last two years.

Her knee is continuing to heal nicely. Vicki took her to the doctor for a check-up last week and he seemed pleased with the progress. He told her that as soon as she can raise her leg with its own strength she can ditch the brace. Hopefully that will be soon. I know it has been a challenge to move around campus like this.

WHIPPING BOY
So one of our friends at church has taught Ben how to make a whip. I don't know how many hours he put into this project or how many feet of paracord it took, but Ben now has a six foot long whip which he cracks outside (until the mosquitos run him back in). It sounds like a firecracker, and can leave a whelp if you're not careful.

If you're wondering why a guy at our church is making whips, he sells them. He tells us his biggest customers are police officers. They buy them to train police dogs not to be scared of cracking or popping noises, which is cheaper than buying ammo for the same purpose.

THAT TRICKY NATE
So one of our teachers stopped me the other day and said, "I didn't know your son was so tricky!" It seems he had her convinced that she had given the class a quiz when she had not done so.

Well, I got him back the other day. We were driving by the Cross Plains Cemetery when Ben made the comment that he had never seen anyone mowing there. Naturally, I took the opportunity to say that no one ever mows that cemetery because the Methodist church bought a really expensive type of grass that never needs to be mowed. I had Nate going there until he asked what the name of the grass was and I replied, "Pullin' Nate's Leg #64."

Joe