Gas It UP!I

The Jim saga continues. I think he just needs to fart. He's having what he calls "sharp pains" in his gut. He said he thinks it's gas. I told him to walk around a bit and try and wiggle it out but that was a mistake because have you seen Jim walk? That's more painful than hearing him bitch and moan. (I know I'm a bitch! It's not my fault though...I blame my mother...love you mom!) Thankfully Jim's going to power through and go to work...better for him NOT to sit around at home making himself feel even more sick. I bet, if I come home this afternoon and he's here and I say, "Hey! How about a jaunt to Shooters!?" he'll suddenly be feeling A-okay. That just might be the miracle cure.

You know what I love? I love the fact that I was piddling around last evening and it hit me, "Oh shit...I have an 8 AM IEP meeting tomorrow." Everything is done...I just forgot because anymore, IEPs are just no big deal. When I was newer and younger they were a bit nerve wracking but after doing them for 16 years (at 18 average on my caseload, sometimes twice a year if a student heads off to the career center...that's probably about 350-400 IEPs)...I've got this. Thankfully I know my regular ed teacher will show and the parent was just in for the three-year reevaluation so this should be quick and easy.

What else? Started showing my kids in history class the first season of Survivor. Reason: We're studying WWII and they were a bit flabbergasted about Italy and Japan siding with Germany when it was pretty well-known that Hitler wanted to take over the world. I explained to them that gathering alliances helps you to move forward and eventaully you cut them lose...kind of like in Survivor. And of course, half the kids said, "What's that?" while the other half said, "I've never seen it". Perfect for the last 15 minutes of class when they're all hopped up, the lesson is over and I need some peace and quiet.

Okay well, today is the last day of a wonky schedule. So glad we got through that! Now we just need to get through the rest of the year. WOOT! Happy Friday to all. Later!

The Saga Of Sighs!

First things first: My teeth are all still intact. No cavities and the dentist said, "You do such a terrific job on your oral care!!!" Thanks - I try! I was in and out in a 1/2 hour but it would have probably taken less time if the hygienist an I didn't yammer on forever.

So I get home yesterday - do my prep work for dinner and then sit down to watch some recorded shows. Jim's home and hanging around. Around 4:30, Anne called me and I noticed that Jim was sitting on his laurels when he should have been getting shit done in the laundry room. So I give him the signal to get a move on. He gets up, I finish my phone call and continue my watching. And then I hear cussing coming from the garage, which I ignore because that's what you do when Jim starts up. A little while later I hear ruckus again and then a bit more cussing then nothing. I finish watching my show and get up to start dinner. First, however, I check the garage and see Jim is no where but, huh, there's crap all over the floor...like a little bomb went off. Or maybe someone threw a hissy fit for some reason. (I love it when Jim gets like this!) So I ignore and move on to the kitchen. About 5 minutes later Jim ambles down and I say, "What's wrong?" Jim says, "I can't find these screws I need." Oh, okay that makes sense why you tore the garage apart...NOT! Gee maybe if you didn't leave the place with crap scattered everywhere you'd be able to find things! I did not say any of this. I simply said, "Dinner will be in a 1/2 hour." He went his way, I went mine.

Fast forward to dinner. Jim comes to the table and sighs loudly as he sits down. I'm still getting things on the table and as I sit down, he sighs loudly again (as though I hadn't heard his first loud sigh). We proceed to eat...I finish first and notice Jim is nibbling at his meal. I nearly ask him what's wrong (again) but I decide not to because this is what Jim does. See...if I'm an expert on Jim and I think I am, he's doing everything he can to NOT work in the laundry room. And he's trying to get my sympathy and "permission" to take (another) night off. And I'm not going to do it.

So I get up and I do my dishes and Jim finally gets up and brings his stuff over and sighs loudly again and I ignore it.  We go on like this for a while...I watch the news, he sits down and cuddles up in the big chair and then I get up to go to bed and read. Jim says not a word to me except to say, after I toss the remote at him, "OOMPH!" (It hit him in the belly) "I didn't need that!" Me: "Why...what's wrong?" Jim: "My gut is killing me." Of course it is.

This morning I got up and he's in the guest bedroom. He said he couldn't sleep all night because his bladder is killing him - like he has a bladder infection and he's got diarrhea (sorry for the detes). Now, I know I seem like a hard-headed bitch who doesn't care a fig about how Jim feels but this is what he does. He pussy foots around and sighs and pouts and moans when he doesn't feel well (or wants to get out of something) rather than coming out and saying, "I'm sick" or "I don't feel well" or "I'm not up to working tonight". He wants me to coddle him and read his mind. It's like he just met me. UGH! I'll be interested in seeing how he feels tonight.

Okay - sorry about the downer, mean Muir saga...sometimes you just have to get shit off your chest. Happy Thursday...we're almost there. Later!

Storms...Massive Rain!

Yowza...the weather went cray cray last night!. It hit like gang busters around 8:00. Mostly it was rain and loud thunder...no real wind but there was about 2 minutes of hail. Jim and I ran around the house to make sure the water didn't come into the garage (it was a bit of a worry the way the driveway was pitched) but thankfully all was well. One thing different as a result of the driveway was the amount of water that came off the side of the driveway and drained into the side yard. It was nuts and I think we're definitely going to need to put in a french drain there. Ugh! Add that to the project list.

On a positive note - with the rain and winds from the last two days, I believe all the stupid helicopters have fallen. I HATE HELICOPTERS!!! They are the bane of my existence! They litter the driveway and deck and clog the drains and sprout stupid little shoots in the middle of the yard and in my flower boxes...RRRRRR!!!

I'm finally sleeping like a baby again. While I was sick I wasn't sleeping well and even Sunday into Monday I slept fitfully. I would wake up with my heart pounding and then I wouldn't be able to get to sleep listening to it and feeling it pound. Hate that. Last night, however was a restful sleep and I didn't wake up once during the night.

Day two of moronic schedule. Yesterday sucked but today is going to be 50 times worse because I'll have my history class with wacky new autistic kid. He is exhausting. It's like having to deal with a hyper 5 year old who one minute is jumping up and down and then next grabbing half the shit off my desk and running off with it and then when you firmly say, "STOP!" he throws everything in every direction and while you're trying to pick everything up, he runs in the opposite direction shaking his head and yelling at the top of his lungs. Now, none of this has happened but sometimes it feels like it has as I try to keep up with his spinning mind. He NEVER listens and has had NO structured learning anywhere in his recent past and he has NO idea how to act in a classroom much less a school setting. Oh, and he can't whisper or talk quietly either which makes it very frustrating when trying to work with him in the library. UGH! Next year is going to SUCK when I have him for LA too. This too shall pass.

And on that note, I'd best mosey. I have a dentist appointment after school...fingers crossed for a healthy set of chompers. Happy Wednesday. Later!

Four Days Of Poop

No I'm not sick again (don't worry, you won't have to hear another illin' Muir saga). Today starts 4 days of an effed up schedule with four classes a day that are about 1:45 minutes long. I CAN'T STAND IT! Long bells like that aren't good for anyone. The kids have a hard enough time sitting for 52 minutes and if you're hoping they'll be productive during that time you're high! Not to mention trying to PLAN for a bell that long. I feel like we need a 5-10 minute recess during that time. Well at least it's only 4 days and we aren't a school with block scheduling...what a nightmare that would be.

Got an interesting email from a colleague yesterday about a possible grievance she wants filed against the powers that be. This is regarding a vacancy/posting for a social studies/basketball coaching position at my school. Apparently (and I didn't even notice), the job was posted internally on the 20th. However, in the minutes for the board meeting on the 19th (day before the posting), they had listed a person they basically already hired. The press release about the hire was made on the 22nd. Here's what the teacher said:

It seems pretty obvious that this is a violation of our contract, will the union be filing a grievance?  This seems especially important in light of the fact that it appears this position was created specifically for the person the district wanted to hire to coach basketball, and in a time when we are being told we have financial issues that will require a levy along with cuts.  I'm just thinking a grievance is a good idea.

Can't say I totally disagree with this whole debacle...certainly seems crooked to me. I'll be interested to see how this plays out. Sucks for the guy in the middle of the firestorm, however.

Possible severe weather expected this afternoon...not happy about that. Hopefully the sun will NOT shine too much today...that will reduce the possibility. 

And that's all I've got. Time to get to school. Happy Tuesday. 23 days left!!! Later!

Low Key

It was a low key weekend for me and much needed as I didn't feel normal until yesterday afternoon. Friday (Jim worked) I came home, had dinner (my first real attempt since Monday) and tried to enjoy a glass a wine but it just wouldn't go down so I was in bed by 8:00.  Saturday I got up and felt pretty good. I made breakfast and enjoyed a mimosa. After breakfast I walked Sami and then cleaned the house. At that point I was spent so I took a bath and a nap. The neighbors hung out in the circle but I was not up for it and was once again in bed by 8:00. I know - lame. Sunday I woke up feeling pretty good. After breakfast I went to the grocery and came home to do some clean-up work on the deck. While Jim worked on the laundry room I read my book and soaked up some vitamin D. At around 3:30, I went out to hang with the ladies in the circle and at that point I knew I was on the upswing. Thank God!

Jim and I finally got the stumps in our front yard ground. There were tree people taking 4 trees down next door so a bunch of us got stumps ground because the price was right. Happy to have that done.

Kroger brought their plants and flowers out last week and so yesterday I purchased my ferns for the front porch and my 2 hibiscus trees for the back deck. I'll look forward to getting my flowers planted sometime soon. I'm thinking maybe this weekend but we'll see.

Jim's making slow progress on the reno. He managed to get most of the insulation up but there are some adjustments that need to be done to the plumbing and drains in preparation for our new giant utility sink. Walls should be able to start going up in a day or two.

This week is still a wonky week with testing but today is the last day of AIR testing. This means that from 7:25 - 9:30 I'm in my room with students taking Biology. Tomorrow will start four days of government/US history testing during their own class time. This sucks because we'll only have 4 or 5 (can't remember) classes each day that are an hour and a half long. SUCKS! I have NO plans and dread that much time in one fell swoop with the kids. They get haywire. Oh well...only 4 days of that so I'll power through.

And that's all I've got. Time to get a move on. Happy Monday. 24 more days (and that includes exam week and my work day)!!! WOOT!!! Later

Shockers

It's always shocking when someone dies who seems too young to have passed, even though we are clueless as to their current physical/mental health status. (Robin Williams, David Bowie, Alan Rickman and now Prince). But we have a connection with these people because we grew up with them and we have memories of them and regardless of them not having memories of us, we mourn them.

I remember (and my siblings have similar memories) going to PIB when Purple Rain was released. We didn't have a "box" in the cottage to listen to - or at least not one my dad would want to hear blaring "our music". So, for the time we were there, we would grab our Purple Rain cassette tape (every night I think) and listen in the car - blaring it as loud as we dared...with the sunroof open, looking at the stars. I think we would rewind "When Doves Cry" about 13 times before moving on. "I Would Die 4 U" was probably my favorite (hand signing with the chorus) but "Darling Nikki"? Yowza...for my 13 year old brain it was so DIRTY! Thus, that got lots of air time. I'm sure we ran down our dad's and Becky's car batteries to dangerously low levels but I don't ever remember them saying anything. Good memories, the type of which I'm sure are shooting up to heaven from all over the world. What a legacy.

My health: I'm slowly getting my mojo back. I struggled at school yesterday in the afternoon but by 4:00ish I was feeling much better. I'm still not able to eat a ton of things and I get slightly nauseated thinking about most foods but I did manage to eat half a piece of lasagna yesterday for our dinner. We'll see how today goes.

Lets see...I've got nothing else. Jim has to work 2nd shift again tonight which is fine...we've got the weekend to see each other and hopefully next week will be normal.

That's all I've got. Last night's late night at school was fine. We ended up with only 5 kids in our room to present their senior community service projects (normally there are about 10) so we were out of there by 7:00...woot!

Happy Friday! Later!

Back In The Swing

I'm up and about so that's good. I'm feeling fine though my appetite still hasn't returned full force. I still feel slightly nauseous when I think about food or think about eating anything more exciting than oatmeal, mac and cheese, cinnamon toast or chicken noodle soup (that's all I've eaten for the last 3 days). I imagine that will change with time.

Today at school will be day 4 of testing - part 2 of the math. From there we'll have a modified schedule (not sure what bells are today) - 5 bells total. It's our last late night at school too (senior community service night). I'll stay rather than go home so that I can finish up an IEP for next Friday and then start (and hopefully finish) an IEP for mid-May (one of my seniors deferring diploma and going on to another program within the district).

What else? Oh, my car is finally parked in the garage. Woot! Jim works 2nd shift for the next few days which is good because we ran into a bit of a snag with the reno that needs to be taken care of right quick. He'll be able to do the purchasing for that today and hopefully get most of the work done as well. This project can't end soon enough! So sick of looking at unfinished work.

So apparently allergy sufferers are in hell and I'm surprised that I've not been suffering. Especially since I've been lax these past few days with taking my pill. I always believed that my biggest issue is ragweed which is bad in August/September but realistically, it's a crap shoot as to when I'm affected.

And that's all I've got. I best get moving since I have no idea what I've got on my plate for today. Happy Thursday! Later!

Well...That Sucked!!!

I blame Eva since she was sick too and I don't think I've had that type of illness hit me since I was maybe her age.

So to sum up (and sorry for any graphic information): I started my illness around midnight Sunday into Monday. I definitely tried to get through school on Monday but with my visit to the restroom ever increasing there, I knew it wasn't going to be possible. I went home around 10:30 or 11:00. I continued that path through the day but overall, I wasn't feeling awful (except my tookus). I even managed to eat dinner on Monday evening (big mistake!!!). Around 2:30 AM Monday into Tuesday I started throwing up and didn't stop until yesterday afternoon. UGH! I couldn't keep anything down except water and the evacuation happened from all points. Jim came home around 5:30 with coca-cola and chicken noodle soup. Nothing has ever tasted so good as that coke and I managed to get most of the noodles and broth down (couldn't eat the chicken). Luckily it all stayed down too.

Around 6:30 I took a shower (the first since Monday morning) and around bedtime - 9:00 - I made my last painful trip to the terdlit. Thank the baby Jesus because I think I'm nearly out of TP (not really but you get what I'm putting down, right?). I did take today off because I didn't know how I was going to do today. I'm still not completely well, I'm still really weak, achy - from throwing up, I guess - and exhausted but I'm definitely on the upswing. Nothing sounds good to me except coke and cinnamon toast (that's what Eva had for dinner last night) but as time goes by, I'm sure I'll get my appetite back (unfortunately). That's one way to lose weight.

One of the worst things from yesterday (aside from throwing up and the other) was having to deal with all the disgusting food commercials on TV. It was terrible. Everything made me want to run for the porcelain throne! Especially the Hardees commercial for a certain burger I don't even want to think about. It literally was on every 15 minutes. And I won't be eating kale salad anytime soon. YUCK!

Okay - I'm done talking about my illness. Hopefully I didn't get anyone sick (especially Jim).

Today I'll just chill on the couch. Jim's working 2nd shift for the next two days which I'm happy about because A) he'll get things done in the reno and B) I have to be at school late tomorrow so Sami won't be alone for too long. And then, WOW, it's Friday. YAY!

K - best relax...happy Wednesday. Thanks to all my girls at school who have helped and covered for me. So sorry! Later!

Gonna Be A Rough One

I've been up pretty much every hour...sick. I can't call in, however, because of testing and I have NO plans ready. UGH! I'm still not doing well but I'm hoping I'll power through and as time goes by things will straighten out in my belly. Man...this sucks.

I'm now running late because I've had to go back and forth to the bathroom (sorry for the TMI) so that's all I've got for you. Sami seems like she's feeling puny as well...hmm...

K - wish me luck. Later!

Final Post Until Monday?

Probably. Sorry. When I'm at Maggie's, it's just not as convenient to post there but I will post on FB.

Plans this weekend: When I get there today, Eva will be getting ready to host a play date with her friends. That should be fun to watch. Then afterwards - with Charlie in Cincinnati overnight - Maggie, Eva and I will go out to dinner. Friday Eva will go to school and afterwards, we will all go to the zoo. Woot! Beyond that, no plans. I'd be happy to sit around and relax...enjoy the weather...take a couple of nice walks at the park.

Last night with the packing I needed to do, I decided I wasn't going to cook. So! Jim and I headed to Shooters. After that, we came home and had a beer with the neighbors. Can't wait for summer and lots of hanging out in the circle.

Drove home yesterday excited to see my new driveway! I was mighty disappointed to see the view at left. No big deal though. The weren't really supposed to start until yesterday but the driveway guy decided to open it up to let it dry for a day on Tuesday (after all the rain we got Monday). He'll finish it up today and tomorrow. Oh, and they finally got the check that I mailed out on the 29th. I'll never send from the post office next to my school again. This is the second time something went out of there and took 2 weeks to make its destination. And yes, the driveway guy even mentioned that it was postmarked the 29th. I even handed the envelope to a post office worker who was emptying the box so I knew it made it "out". I should make a complaint.

And that's all I've got. I still have a bit of packing to do so I'll head up and out. I'll be on the road directly after school and I hope to get to Columbus before 4:00. Later...happy weekend.

Good Surprises

First of all I love a good surprise pic from Maggie of my girl.  Here she is getting her first haircut yesterday! She said she loved it! She got about two inches cut off...just to shape it. It's still long and luxurious!

I got a pic from my neighbor yesterday morning of her son enthralled with the goings-on at my house. Seems the driveway demolition was underway!!! It wasn't supposed to start until today (due to the amount of rain we got on Monday) but WOOT WOOT!!! They got on it early! Hopefully by the time I get home today all will be complete. I'm excited!!!

Speaking of the driveway - I was just reading the do's and don'ts and it says not to part on it when it's hot or in direct sunlight for the first 100 days. Sorry Jimmy. He's also not allowed to park on it for the first 14 days. I can drive on it after 3-5 days but of course I currently can't park in the garage because there's still renovation materials in my way. Hopefully by next week.

I just checked the sub site to see if I got a sub for Friday and YAY I do. Of course I have no idea who it is so hopefully all will go okay. It'll be a movie day so no big deal. (Just looked him up and found his pic...I've seen him around the school so and he looks okay...board member of a local school district).

Speaking of school - I started teaching WWII yesterday and at least one of my kids is gaga for this. He was quite excited leading up to my class. Literally he would walk in the room and yell out, "WHOO!" It's a lot of pressure on my part to make this exciting. I'll do my best. I've already revamped my lesson to make it more detailed. My original lesson would have only lasted about a week but this new one will take about 2-3 to cover. It includes the war in the pacific and all the major battles. I'm sure a couple of my students will be bored as hell but they would be anyway. You can't make someone love history...especially when there are cognitive roadblocks.

Tonight will be a whirlwind of getting ready for Columbus. I'll come home and do laundry and pack since I'll be leaving directly after school on Thursday. So excited for the awesome weekend weather, the zoo and Eva. And Maggie and sharing many a mimosa with her!

K - I'm out...time to get my teach on. Happy HUMPDAY!!!  Later!

Dumb Facebook Quizzes

You know those quizzes you see on Facebook - what Harry Potter character are you; what kind of tree would you be; what is your optimal color; what Disney character are you...and so on. Well I took one that posed the questions: What is your perfect state to live in. The first question was: What do you prefer - mountains, ocean, skyline other. I of course chose mountains. I also said I could TOLERATE crowds. Best of all was, what's your favorite season - summer all year round, all four seasons, I don't know, cold and snowy. I chose all four seasons. What state did I get? F&%king FLORIDA! Come on. It's as if the quiz was really determining what state I would LEAST likely live in. Stupid waste of my time. By the way - Hermione is my Harry Potter character. Duh!

In school news - nothing. We're gearing up for testing and got our room assignments yesterday. We - the sped department - were told that we would each have our own, separate room assignment because of the numbers but guess what? Lisa and I are in our room together. WOOT! Knock on wood - hopefully that won't change.

Crazy rain yesterday...needless to say, Sami didn't get her walk. Which meant that I had to get on the elliptical. It will be nice for the next many days so she'll definitely get her walk on.

I took a sick day for Friday and so far no sub has picked it up. Uh oh. Not that I can do anything about it or that I'm worried about it but it does suck that we are so short on subs. At this time of year, teachers are out left and right and we probably have 5 or 6 reliable people out there. I'm guessing there will be an email going out soon that there are [blank] number of people out for Friday and we need massive coverage. Oh well...what are you going to do?

Nothing else is happening. Guess I should mosey. Happy Tuesday. Later!

Sunday Evening Blues

In my family - I believe Maggie and my mom suffer from seasonal affective disorder. You know when winter rolls around and there's less sunshine and they get the wintertime blues. For me, it's Spring/Sunday evening affective disorder. In the Spring (as the end of year comes closer and closer), when Sunday evening rolls around I get very blue. Sucks and I hate it. I know I should think, "YAY! We're that much closer to summer vacation," but for some reason I get blue and I hate thinking about the end of year and end of year testing and the plans I've got to come up with to get through to the end. UGH! Of course Monday morning rolls around and I'm my normal chipper self, ready for the week.

Speaking of the week - I do believe I'll be making it a 4-day work week. I'll be taking Friday off (as long as I have nothing in the works that I forgot about...I'll check when I get to school) and heading north on Thursday after school. Woot! If I don't do it this weekend, I won't have a weekend through May to see my girl. Cough cough.

Mom - here's the pic that Trip sent (he sent the same one twice). I don't want to post it on FB since they aren't on there.

On the renovation front: We managed to get the vanity in!!! It took a bit of finagling because there had to be some adjustments on the vanity and pipes so that it would slide in but after two days of tweaking "we" finally managed it. It looks terrific (if I do say so myself). The mirror would have been up too if Jim hadn't put a hole in the wall. Oops. He then had to cut more out of the wall to put in reinforcements for hanging the mirror which means he had to mud the wall again which will take another few days to dry, sand, remud and then paint. In the meantime, we'll start the laundry reno. Almost there.

And that's about it. Rain today and then sunny skies and warm air for the next 7 days! WOOT!!!  Happy Monday. Later!

Saturday Morning Post

I'd like to apologize for NOT posting yesterday. We had an apparent outage when I awoke in the AM and so couldn't follow through on my normal routine.  I told my mom I would post this morning...so here you are (almost forgot, by the way).

 I mean, is there anything better than a Cookie Monster Blooper reel!? Uh, NO! My fave part is when he says, "Me okay...me okay...me trooper!" It's such a conundrum as to who is my favorite muppet: Cookie Monster or Grover...tough to decide...currently we are tied.

In other news - I got home yesterday and as I drove into my neighborhood, I encountered Jimmy walking Sami. Such a nice surprise...my hubby was home early and Sami was getting her walk on! Woot!!! I thus felt it important to take a moment and reward us both with a treat after a long week. Off to Shooters! From there we came home, Jim headed out for Chipotle and afterward, I took to the tub...the bathtub that is.  I enjoyed some bubbles and the Mumford and Sons channel on Pandora. I actually had more Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder than M&S but I've got NO complaints because I loves me some Pearl Jam!!!

Plans today: I'm going to grocery shop, exercise and maybe do some dancing...and quilting. Jim's going to do some reno. Plans on that are to get the molding up and get the vanity in with faucet, toilet roll holder and mirror. From there, we'll start demo-ing the laundry room, which I can actually help with. My hope is that we will get EVERYTHING done by the time we go to PIB in May. I would like to get it all done by the first weekend in May but we'll see. I've told Jim his complaints and boo-hooing is going to just have to get sucked up (his ass) and he's just going to have to power through. We'll see how that goes...I'll just have to keep him well hydrated and fed to ensure he doesn't implode on me. I've got my work cut out!

K - I'm out. Time to get to Kroger and get Jim up and off his ass! Happy Saturday! Later!

Highhhhlarious!

If you know Game of Thrones - this is perfect! If you don't - you need to watch Game of Thrones! How many times do I have to tell you people this!

Lets see...I can't think of a dern thing to write! Oh, except Saturday! It's going to be 38 degrees!? The high!!! 38!!! Ridiculous! However, on a positive side, it will most likely be our last fire for the season so that's nice.

I'm reading a really interesting book: Survivors: A Cal Henderson Novel by Robert Palmer. Look it up...read it...really good.

School: Nothing too exciting. We had a meeting yesterday and I came away with two observations. First - the newest of our teachers (I can't remember the nickname I gave him during his annoying first year here last year) wears women's glasses. I think they are the same pair that I wore about 5 years ago. The second observation I made, which is an old observation that I was reminded of yesterday: Lil Platt is ridiculously annoying. I think she talked for 20 minutes about how worried she is on how the kids taking the ELA (reading/writing) test in a couple of weeks will do. She's all up in arms about their extended time because IF they have to take advantage of the extended time, they will have to get up, move rooms and that will be TOO much of a distraction and OH MY GOD!!! SHUT THE EFF UP!!! I mean, Jaysus Mary and Joseph. Needless to say I didn't hear much in the way of details yesterday during the meeting because I was distracted by the glasses and so had to text Kim and Diane about it (which they replied to by telling me another of the sped teachers had his finger half way up his nose to which I replied, "and the other hand was down his pants...completely inappropriate!) and then when Lil was speaking, I had to tune her out. Whoops...bad Muir. Guess Lisa will have to clue me in on what I missed.

Had a dream last night that I was at school and in a room with two kids when a storm hit and a tree came crashing down on top of us. UGH! Thankfully - by the way - the winds were not bad yesterday. Thank you Jesus!!!

Okay well, I'm out. Happy almost-Friday! Later!

I Hate Wind

Unless I'm at PIB, I hate wind! Today is supposed to be another bad wind day. UGH! It's supposed to start around noon and go into later afternoon. I'll be at school for some of it but will be coming home in the midst of it all. WHY!? I knew this spring would be dicey. Crossing my fingers that all is well this time tomorrow. (May have to take the other half of the ativan I have.)

Happy birthday to Becky!!! Not sure if you'll see this since you're in Las Vegas but I hope you have a great day (from the pics you've posted it looks like you're having a great week!) Love you!

School is school. Nothing major going on.

Jim is NOT working second shift today which means that he's not able to start on the laundry room but that's okay. He's been doing little things every night for the other part which keeps me happy.

Additionally, the driveway hasn't been started because of weather. And they say they haven't gotten the check which is crap because I sent it over a week ago. We'll see how things go through the rest of the week. If they don't get the check by Friday I'll just have them take it out of my credit card and then hold on to the check. Stupid.

And that's all I've got. Best get a move on. Not looking forward to the winds today...may need to drink wine tonight. UGH!

I'm In Pieces...Bits & Pieces!!!

  (A little Joan Jett title...I thought I'd change it up from my normal "Bits & Pieces". And, it looks like this was a remake - as I'm sure my friend Diane would tell me...if she ever read this...by the Dave Clark Five. I'm betting I would like Joan Jett better.)

So...I stayed late at school yesterday because there was an "executive council meeting" and as a building rep, it was my turn to go. I swear I always manage to go to the ones that people just start rambling on about shit I don't care about. Why can't people figure out that in a meeting like this, issues that are "for the greater good" are the things that should be brought up rather than personal matters. JEEZ! I was there until nearly 5:30!

On another matter I finally had to lay into "useless sped teacher" yesterday. He came in to "apologize" about the mess from Friday and I pretty much told him what I thought. I could tell he was a bit nervous having to confront me but GOOD! He should be nervous. I also told him that I didn't understand how he could continue to basically not do his job (I didn't say it quite like that) and there were never any consequences to him and that it really just pissed me off. In the end, I grudgingly accepted his apology (I never really said, "It's okay" but I shrugged and said, "okay". Because I know it will happen again.)

Jim is on second shift tomorrow so he's going to start dismantling the laundry room. There are certain things in the mudroom/bathroom that have to wait for the laundry room but Jim is also working on getting the molding up around the doors and then baseboards.

Reds win!!!  I actually didn't see it because it was 2-1 (Reds losing) and I didn't get home until late and I needed to watch the finale of Walking Dead. Which, by the way, I was not thrilled about. This is the worst position our "people" have ever been in and I feel like it's the beginning of the end. I mean, how many seasons can they continue? I'll be a nervous wreck until October (exaggeration).

What else? Nothing much. Oh, just a little piece of gossip (that has nothing to do with me): I was told yesterday that one of the teachers at my school won't get to teach the honors class that she's taught for years because - get this - so far this year, she's been absent a total of 4 weeks! FOUR WEEKS of missed instruction for the kids in her class. And by the way, she teaches the lowest and higher kids. And she doesn't have a chronic illness - I'm not being a total bitch. She's a definite hypochondriac though. And I I'm pretty sure she doesn't even have the sick days to do this. I'm pretty sure that she had to "borrow" sick days last year and we only get 15 a year so she can't have built any up. Crazy. Not sure how that happens. But it's not any of my business.

Okay well, best mosey. Happy Tuesday...can't believe there are flurries scattered in the tri-state area. Come on Spring!!!  Later!

Drama, Drama, Drama!!!

Lots of drama this past weekend and it all started at school Friday around 10:30 am.  I won't get into all that because it would only manage to start my week off on a sour note and I don't want to do that.

Friday was fun and easy. My neighbor and I went out for a couple of drinks down in old Loveland and our other neighbor joined us for dinner. It was nice to get a taste of everything that's happening only 5 minutes from my house. New bars, new restaurants, Graeters. Such a small town homey feel so close to home. We were home by 9:00 and I was in bed and asleep by 10:00. Jim had gone out to a union meeting and then his brother-in-law's birthday celebration. He was home after me.

Saturday started out good with Jim working on the reno (painting) and me cleaning house, walking Sami and grocery shopping. Things didn't get harry until around 3:00. At that point the winds started and my nerves were quick to fray. By 4:30 I was hunkered down in the mudroom (the place in the house where there are no windows for me to see the swaying trees and the sound is muffled). I was texting my neighbor Cari who offered me a pill to calm my nerves. At first I declined but then I told Jim and he said, "TAKE IT!!!" So he ran over and got me an Ativan. I took 1/2 and felt much better within about 30 minute. It just ever so subtly takes the edge off. I was able to come out of my hiding place and cook dinner. By around 6:00 or 7:00 the winds had calmed but not before one tree went down in the circle and two of my neighbors had one fall on their house. (Although one of my neighbors only had damage to the gutters over their garage).

I know that my fear is slightly unreasonable but with the trees surrounding us, it's hard NOT to freak out.

Yesterday Jim and I managed to get most of the floors in (we had to stop when we approached the laundry room) and we DID get the toilet in! YAY! We're making progress (not as quickly as I'd like) and hopefully things will move along now so we can move on to the laundry room. In the midst of all the reno stuff, the neighbors needed our help getting the tree cleaned up in the circle. It was actually quite a nice little scene as the neighbor who has caused such problems and angst due to his annoyance of the dogs in the circle came out and did more to get things done than anyone. They also got another tree down that was dead and a danger. Team work!

After that, Jim was done and so no more reno was tackled (which did not make me happy). Jim proceeded to drink too much and was basically passed out by 5:00. Dinner alone for me. Oh well.

And today starts a week that should prove to be annoying and long. I'll be at school until well after 5:00 because of a union meeting. Additionally, the autistic kid who started a few weeks ago is extending his day into my history class (COUGH...BULLSHIT...COUGH). Found that out at the end of Friday with no warning and NO team meeting. Whatever. I'll figure it out despite the assholes.

(Ignore me!!! I'm still bitter)

And that's all I've got. Time to get to school and figure things out. Gotta help one of the secretaries with her taxes. Later! Happy Monday! GO REDS!!!

Yay For Friday!

It's been a good week...no complaints...especially since it's now nearly over.

Plans for the weekend: I'm supposed to go out tonight with a couple of the ladies in the neighborhood...not sure where or who exactly will be there. I want to go to the new bar down the street...The Casual Pint. It's got about 30 beers on tap...I'd like to try every one of them! Lofty dreams! Jim has a union meeting tonight and there's a suprise party at Mecklenburger's for his brother-in-law (last minute...his sister sent him a text and I already had plans so there you go). Saturday will be a day to work on the reno...I'm determined to have the paint complete and the floors down. I should correct that: I'm determined for JIM to have the paint complete and floor down. How long have I been saying that?! I'm so sick of saying that! You know what's coming next: Then the toilet can get put in.

Our laundry tub came in the mail yesterday. It's ginormous. We got one that's double the size of what we currently have. The great thing about it is it's wide enough to put Sami in there and bathe her if need be and the nozel is removable. Nice, huh? With that purchase, pretty much all the major buys have been bought. The only thing left is shelving for the mudroom and laundry.

What else...didn't get any major storms yesterday - thank you Jesus! We got a major downpour, however with a couple rumbles of thunder and the wind did kick up for about 10 minutes but that was it. Whew!

And that's all I've got. Best get a move on.  Happy Friday! Later!

P.S. Spell check is not working!