I Hear You & I Ignore You

That's what Scout just said to me as I scolded him to stop pulling the flowers off the hibiscus trees! That boy just doesn't listen! And he really loves hibiscus flowers!

So the weekend: First of all, Jim and I went to see Downton Abbey and thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn't much different than sitting in my own family room watching a show I love! They picked up, pretty much where they left off (a year and a half later, I think). Things were much the same except Carson's role had changed. The focus of the movie was a visit by the king and queen to Downton. There was a lot of  Branson in it, which made me happy because he was one of my faves and there were a LOT of little one-liners and digs by the Dowager. If you're a DA fan, you'll be satisfied and they left it with the possibility of another one.

Other than that, the weekend was good. Saturday, Jim and I had big plans to do a bunch of stuff but I had a rough night (up most of the night with some stomach issues) and so we only managed to do part of what we'd planned. We did manage to get Jim new glasses (he'll pick them up today), have lunch and grocery shop but that's it. We came home and just relaxed for the rest of the night. I was in bed by 8:00 because I just wasn't feeling great...I needed some rest I guess.

Sunday, I got up and felt 100% better. I walked Scout, who wanted to run after every single squirrel he saw (exhausting) and even managed to ride my bike after getting back from the movie. Even though I walked Saturday, I just felt like I didn't get my full exercise on so the bike ride was needed. Plus, it was a beautiful day though hot as hell. I made dinner, we watched some TV and I was in bed early.

My week this week should be no big deal. I'll take a half day Friday and we're starting a new book this week in LA (Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None). Nothing major...no meetings.

And that's all I've got. Not exactly sure what I'm doing today in LA so I'd best get a move on. Happy Monday...later!

I Have A Confession To Make

My confession: I love Mr. Rogers. I loved him as a kid and I watched him unapologetically . And I got a lot of shit for it! Yesterday I saw a commercial for the upcoming movie with Tom Hanks and I immediately got a tear in my eye...it just gave me that nostalgic feeling and made me miss that sweet, innocent time when I just wanted to see Henrietta Kitty (who could only say three words besides Meow..."Beautiful" Misterrogers" and "telephone"...I remember her saying "Meow Meow Beautiful Meow Meow"). Can't wait to see the movie!

Speaking of movies...Jim and I have plans this weekend - Sunday - to finally go see Downton Abbey and I can't wait. We'll go to lunch (Rusty Bucket) and then the movie. No other real plans.

I have my in-service today so my hours are 8-3. I woke up at regular time and did my work out for the day which means I can come home and just relax! Woot! My in-service will consist of three hours on cultural competency then lunch then a meeting about special ed law and I'll end my day with an hour at my desk. Not bad...at least no kids.

My lab in science yesterday went okay. It wasn't the kind of lab where I could hand the kids the instructions and just let them do their thing and of course 1/2 didn't listen to my directions and effed up at least one part of the experiment. Oh and then two kids determine if a number (say 3) was between 0-7 or 7-14 so of course they had a hard time figuring out if something was an acid or base. Ugh...I mean, I'm dealing with some LOW kids. Regardless though, the kids enjoyed it and I gave them all coke afterward (that was one of the substances we tested).

Okay well, my hands are numb so it's hard to type so I'll sign off here. Happy Friday! Later!

Advisory Sucks

At Kings, Advisory is basically Homeroom. This year, they started having these every other Friday (since we don't have kids tomorrow, they moved it to today). Most teachers have been assigned a group of kids (based on alphabet; mine are 2022s) and every other week, we get together and are supposed to do these stupid activities. This year the focus is "building relationships". I get it...they're trying to make school a safe place for kids; a place they can seek help if needed or whatever. So far, however, it's been a waste of time and today is going to be the worst. I know I need to have a better attitude but these kids are only interested in an extra 1/2 hour to study for a quiz or socialize with the friends they have in Advisory. Today, we're supposed to be making a banner for Homecoming based on school spirit. This will be a two session project and then they'll have each homeroom parade their banner through the hallways and other kids will vote on the best one. Points will be awarded and the winning Advisory will get some sort of "Spirit Shield". And we've been given almost no direction nor told what the points are good for. Stupid. I'm just hoping these kids will be a little hip to putting something together and I won't have to fight too hard to get some cooperation.

Here are my suggestions for Advisory: Don't have them on Fridays or at the end of the week (like today is). See, there are a TON of teachers who, for some stupid reason, like to give tests/quizzes on Friday and so kids are focused on that shit, not sitting in a room with a teacher they don't know who's asking them to fill out some "icebreaker" activity. And maybe every other week is too much. Once a month would be plenty! And maybe group the kids based on something else. For instance, as a special ed teacher who teaches kids who are LOW and need to work on post-secondary skills, maybe my group could be those kids and we work on transition activities for special ed paperwork.

Okay - lets see, what else is going on? Well, like I've mentioned, today is the last day of the week with kids. YAY! The week has been pretty good and fast and considering I haven't been drinking all week, that's saying something! Jim's still feeling good and working hard...trying to make up for missed hours on Monday. Oh, and today I'm doing a "lab" with the kids. We'll see how much of a shit storm that is. They have such a hard time following directions, who knows what we'll end up with (we're testing pH in about 10 different liquids...no battery acids or hydrochloric...just regular stuff like coke and lemon juice). Should be "fun".

Okay - time to get a move on. Jim wants to leave a little earlier today but I want to be gone before then. Happy Thursday! Later!

A Love Of Tampons

Have I mentioned before that my dogs love tampons!? It's just another reason I need menopause to take full affect because every time I accidentally leave a box of tampons within reach of Boo, he destroys the box and I find partially torn apart tampons around the house and yard for days. It's ridiculous. I told Jim last night after the boys had been too quiet for too long that they were up to something but did he believe me? Maybe but did he check on them? No! He didn't and now I'm out $7 (the approximate cost of tampons). Ridiculous!

Speaking of the boys, they are being so bad this morning. First they went outside and started barking at my neighbor who was out with his dog. Then, they went tearing outside...chasing each other with Boo in the lead carrying, guess what? A tampon. And then they proceeded to bark at each other while running in circles. Ugh! They love this time of year.

Almost done with this week in terms of kids. Phew. One annoying thing is that there's a teacher from another district who is coming to observe my science class tomorrow. I'm not quite sure why she's coming to observe my class but I know she's young and the sped director said in an email that she's "feeling isolated". I'm not sure what that means. And apparently the circumstances with this woman's class is completely different from my class so I don't know what she expects to get from watching me. Not to mention my kids are a shit storm who are probably learning a minuscule amount because science is WAY above their head. I mean, we're talking about atoms and protons, neutrons and electrons. They can't grasp shit that's staring them right in the face. How are they supposed to understand stuff they can't even see? Anyway - chick coming is probably going to be a big waste of her time but whatever...makes no never mind to me.

Can I just tell you that the show "The Masked Singer" looks so f&%king stupid? I have no desire to watch that stupid show. I have enough stupid shows to watch anyway.

The heat is headed back this way. We'll be back into the 90s for the weekend and into October, apparently. I just hope that by the time we have our weekend in PIB, things are a little cooler.

I'm excited for Sunday!? Why? NOT for the Bengals (who play Monday anyway) but because Jim and I are going to lunch and the to watch Downton Abbey! Woot!

Okay - that's all I've got. Time to get a move on. Happy Wednesday! Later.

Instant Pot Debacle

Sometimes you just can't explain stupidity. Maybe I was tired. Maybe distracted. Maybe the stress from my day yesterday and thinking about Jim's fever (more on that in a minute) is to blame. Who knows? Regardless, I ruined my Instant Pot while cooking last night in a major, choking way. I mean, it's not out of the realm what happened especially since I'd nearly ruined it in the past in the same way. Picture it. I'm cooking...the Instant Pot is sitting on my glass stove top...I've released the lid and I'm just sauteing the sauce. Things are nearly ready for plating so I turn on the burner to steam my veggies and I continue my prep. Jim comes in and distracts me (not his fault though) and then I smell something foul...and then black smoke starts rising from underneath my IP where I've accidentally turned on the wrong burner. UGH! So I grab the pot and run it out to the front porch (because the bottom is melted and dripping all over the place) and I smack my forehead and say, "I can't believe I just did that!" Yes I can. UGH UGH UGH!!! STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!

Two good things in all of this: Dinner was made and not ruined. My glass top stove is fine. After letting everything cool down, it just scraped right off using a credit card. Oh, and now I have a new and improved IP on the way. Good thing since half my meals this week are IP meals.

Speaking of which, my meal last night (from my bible) was scrumptious: Better Butter Chicken (a rich tasting - though I cut much of the fat - curry dish).

So the Jim saga: First, he's fine. Apparently, (he says he told me all this but I question the accuracy of that) after Jim's last appointment the doc gave Jim to okay to increase one of his drugs slightly to try and combat the slight growth of one of his lesions. I think that with the increase and Jim's drinking Sunday and lack of water (good fluids) he sent his body into a bit of shock...thus the fever. Once I had gotten home, his fever had abated so all is fine. I told him to stop being an asshole and drinking like he did on Sunday (I told him then but he doesn't listen) because if this happens again, I'm going to be pissed. My day sucked yesterday because all I could think about was if we were headed back into a medical shithole. Jerk.

And that's about all I've got to talk about. The weather right now is terrific...low 50s and a high today of cooler than 80. Of course it isn't going to last and the weekend is going to be sweltering again but I'll just roll with the punches. I'm sure it will only be a few weeks when I'm bitching about rain and cold.

Happy Tuesday! Later!

Feverish

Jim's got a fever. It's only 100 but you know with his history...gotta keep an eye on this. Ugh! I'm hoping this is just a bug and he's not headed into a medicine induced spell...we'll see. In the meantime, he'll stay home this morning and see how things go...text the nurse practitioner. On the one hand, he said he's been feeling weird the past couple days but then I don't know how much I believe him because he never mentioned anything and he certainly didn't curb his alcohol intake yesterday. And now he's saying that he's been having little spells where he gets the shakes and is zapped of energy and he's wondering (one of his theories) if it's caffeine combined with the anti-depressant he's taking. (Can I just say how annoying it is that he doesn't bring this shit up when it happens?) Plus there have been a couple incidents where he gets massive headaches in the middle of the night. All things that probably need to be brought up with his doc.

The weekend was fine. Nothing major happened. We went to dinner Saturday to Bite...it was good. Yesterday I finally got my guest room/exercise room back in order. I did some major purging and I'm so relieved that's done. Now we just need to get to the basement.

This week at work will be a semi-short one because I have an in-service on Friday (no kids). That makes me happy...a little break even if I still have to be at work and sit in some meetings. Aside from that, LA will be easy because we're watching Hamlet this week.

And that's about all I've got. It's finally raining here but it won't be near what we need. I wish it would just rain all day but that's not going to happen. At least it brought some cooler weather though by next weekend we'll be near 90s again. Stupid.

Okay - better go check on Jimmy and then head to work. Happy Monday. Later!

Back To Boston

Kerr Hall...my dorm

In my dreams, that is. I had my recurring dream last night where I'm in Boston and going back to college. In this one, I was going to live in an off-campus apartment that I'd never seen so my dream was all about me trying to find the damn place. My dream started by Fenway Park and I was walking with Maggie trying to find Fenway (the road) which is where my apartment was located. This also happened to be where my actual dorm was when I lived there. Of course in my dream, I walked in the wrong direction and lost Maggie and ended up having to get a taxi to take me to my little hole in the wall. And then of course with all this, I missed my first class. Ugh! I'm guessing I'll continue having this dream until the day I die.

In other news - IT'S FRIDAY!!! I'm so happy. This was a long week! I look forward to hanging with the neighbors tonight and then Saturday Jim and I are going to a local restaurant - Bite. We made reservations a couple weeks ago (hard to get a table last minute) and I've been looking forward to this. It's a BYOB place so that will cut down on the bill! I like that...more restaurants should do that. Other than that - we'll be doing some clearing out in the basement and I want to get the guest room that serves as my exercise room straightened up as well.

The weather is still hot though not humid so it doesn't feel that bad. I'll be happy when it cools down around Monday and we get some rain but until then...I'll just go with the flow.

Tonight for dinner will be some chicken/shrimp kabobs in a teriyaki sauce, corn and probably some roasted potatoes. Something easy for a Friday night. Last night we didn't eat until 7:00 because the neighbors kept showing up. Oh well...who cares. I was still in bed by 8:00ish.

Okay - well, it's final test day for Hamlet...YAY! History we'll continue watching Hugo and in Biology we'll wrap up reading Science World, the magazine I ordered for the year.

Happy Friday! Later!

Getting To Know You

I don't have much to talk about. School is school (TGTIF - thank God tomorrow is Friday). Nothing happening here at home. My pups are still cute (although they caught another chipmunk Tuesday that I forgot to mention...or did I?). It's still hot (although the evenings are quite lovely and the humidity is low but we need rain!). So...I thought I'd share one of those "about me" lists you see on FB (I'm not one to do that on FB but I'll do it here for kicks and giggles. So here it is:

1. Do you like blue cheese? LOVE
2. Coke or Pepsi? NEITHER
3. Do you own a gun? NO
4. What flavor of Kool-Aid? GRAPE
5. Hot dogs? TURKEY DOGS
6. Favorite TV show? GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF
7. Do you believe in ghosts? YES
8. What do you drink in the morning? COFFEE - THE STRONGER THE BETTER
9. Can you do a push-up? YES
10. Favorite jewelry: MY MOM'S GOLD VINE BAND SHE GAVE ME...NEVER COMES OFF
11. Favorite hobby? QUILTING
12. Do you have ADD/ADHD? NO
13. Do you wear glasses? NOT ANYMORE (READER'S)
14. Favorite cartoon character? TOM CAT
15. Three things you did today. WOKE UP, SHOWERED (YOU'RE WELCOME), ATE
16. Drinks you drink all the time? WINE, WATER, COFFEE
17. Current worries? GAINING THE WEIGHT I LOST BACK
18. Do you believe in magic? THAT'S A STUPID QUESTION
19. Favorite place to be? PUT-IN-BAY
20. How did you bring in the New Year? I WAS SNOOZING
21. Where would you like visit? SCOTLAND
22. Name four people that will likely play NONE, THIS ISN'T FB
23. Favorite movie? TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
24. Favorite color? BLUE (IT CHANGES)
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? NO
28. Where would you rather be right now? PUT-IN-BAY
29. Favorite food? PASTA (WHICH I HARDLY EAT ANYMORE)
30. Least favorite chore? UNLOADING THE DISHWASHER
32. What's in your pockets? (I'M NOT WEARING PANTS...JUST MY UNDIES)
33. Last thing that made you laugh! RAJ ON BIG BANG
34. Favorite animal? BOO AND SCOUT (DOG)
35. What’s your most recent injury? STABBED MYSELF AT PIB WHILE PREPPING DINNER
36. How many TV’s are in your house? 3
37. Worst pain ever? NOTHING I CAN THINK OF (KNOCK ON WOOD)
38. Do you like to dance? Yes
39. Are your grandparents still alive? NO
40. Do you enjoy camping? I USED TO BUT WOULD LOVE TO GO GLAMPING!

And there you go...a little about me that most of you probably know anyway...except maybe that I wasn't wearing any pants right now as I haven't gotten dressed for work yet. 

K - well, time to get a move on. Happy Thursday! Later!

2:30 AM Is NOT Playtime!

Jim got up in the middle of the night with a massive headache (this happens sometimes for him on pill days...he barfed too poor guy) and when that happens, he goes downstairs to sit and wait it out. Well, the boys know he's up and don't like that they can't go play with him so they play on my face instead. Needless to say, they got yelled at. After that, they settled down until Jim came back to bed. Thankfully, however, I managed to get back to sleep. I'd yell at Jim but it's not his fault. Maybe next time he can just close the bedroom door.

Yesterday was a doozie of a day. Actually, it wasn't bad until 7th bell when a couple kids had a geometry quiz and another couple kids were freaking out about all the work they had to do this week. The geometry quiz was a pain in my ass because it was on proofs (which suck to begin with) but they've only been learning about them for 2 days. I mean, proofs are HARD! Kids don't get them and you quiz them on them after only two days?! Give me a f&%king break! And I can't help them because I don't get it half the time either. UGH! So I came home and eased my brain by exercising. And I had just finished up with Jim came home and I got irritated all over again because of his eye doctor appointment. So I had to go for a bike ride...oh and then I decided I deserved a glass of wine so I had one. Hopefully today will be a better day.

Can I tell you how much I love the cheetah cub - Kris - at the zoo!? Man is she cute! And her puppy companion is adorbs as well! I want a cheetah and a puppy companion!

Scout's so tired (Jim just went over to love on him) he's not even wagging his tail. That's what happens when you get up at 2:30 and think it's time to play!

Okay well, I need to finish my routine. Happy Wednesday! Later!

Attack Of The Killer Moths

It's that time of year when, as I'm sitting at the kitchen table with the slider open, eating breakfast and blogging, when some moth, which has been fattening up all summer, enters my house, beams me in the head and freaks me the f&^k out! I mean, every morning! You'd think I'd do something different to prevent this happening! I did turn out the light above me this morning after the mother of all moths bounced off my face 13 times (while I screamed, "JIM! GET HIM! GET HIM! KILL HIM!!!) So annoying.

Jimmy finally took my car in for an oil change, brake inspection and tire rotation. The guy said my brakes have hardly any wear on them...I told Jim that's because I try never to stop. HAHA!

I'm finishing Hamlet with the kids today, which I'm happy about for two reasons. 1) It means that for the next week and a half, I won't have to "teach" (bc they'll be doing review, the test and then watching the movie) and 2) I'm sick of being tortured with these kids reading aloud and struggling through simple English with their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade reading level. I know that's mean but it gets trying when you're trying to beat the bell. I've got one kid who throws in an "uh" every few words..."To uh be uh or not uh to be uh that is the uh question." I'm all like, "STOP THROWING IN 'UH'!" (No I didn't do that.) What I am happy about is how these kids, who really do suck at reading, just don't care and always volunteer to take a part in the play. Makes me so happy that they try!

You know what Scout likes to do? He likes to bite on hands and feet that are under blankets. He and Jim have a routine every morning: Jim grabs a blanket to sit and watch TV in the recliner and Scout sits at his feet playing with his them...biting them. Of course Jim, who is the most ticklish foot guy I know, yells/giggles the whole time, "He's biting my toes! He's biting my toes." It makes me smile and Scout wags his tail harder than at any other time when he's doing this. Love those boys.

Oh, and if you're wonder what Boo does during this whole show: He's running in circles from the kitchen to the living room to the dining room and back again with his duck in his mouth. He'll do it about 5 or 6 times before finally settling down and sucking on his stuffed duck. He's a kook.

What else? Nothing. Mom reminded me that today is Constitution Day which means I'm supposed to teach about the Constitution. I'll figure something out when I get to school. I'm sure it will involve a little Schoolhouse Rock and some word searches...maybe some extra credit opportunities.

Okay well, time to get a move on. Happy Tuesday! Later!

30th Reunion

I still can't imagine that 30 years have passed since I graduated from high school and seeing these ladies proved that 30 years can't have passed based on how good we look! It was really good to see everyone and hilarious to hear some of their memories of me. I would share them but they are rather inappropriate and horrifying that I was such an ass! Thankfully I lived, learned and didn't get arrested! How that didn't happen I don't know. I shouldn't question and just be thankful.

The reunion was at a bar called Pearls and was really cool. I told my neighbors that we need to make plans to head down that way (it's on Eastern Ave down near the Precinct), visit a couple breweries, have dinner at Tostada's (sing a little karaoke) and then go to Pearls for some cocktails! Of course their in!

Other than that on Saturday, Jim and I had a nice and relaxing weekend. Friday we hung out a bit with the neighbor, had dinner. Saturday we got up and walked the dogs. I did a little shopping while Jim cleaned and then we headed down to the trail to ride our bikes to Milford and have beer and lunch at LMB (Little Miami Brewery...they just tapped their Oktoberfest). When we got home from there (Jim was full of beer and took forever to pedal the 3 miles to our car) we both needed a nap plus I needed to be fresh for my reunion. We went to dinner at Paxton's early and then I headed out. I was home late (for me...11:30). Sunday was just about football.

The week shouldn't be out of the norm though it's still hot as balls! They're saying 91 today. I with this shit would just stop! I'm so sick of my clothes. Stupid. I don't have any meetings this week so that's good and we're wrapping up Hamlet tomorrow which means the kids will be tested on it and then I'll get to show the movie.

K - I'm out...Happy Monday! Later!

Triskaidekaphoabia

Triskaidekaphoabia is the fear of the number 13. (I actually spelled that right the first time!) Selenophobia is fear of the moon. So today, I really feel bad for people with irrational fears. What would you call someone who is afraid of both? Triskaidekaselenophobia? That's a mouthful. Should be an interesting day at work.

I got kicked in head last night by Boo. When it happened, it made me chuckle. I love that boy.

I contacted the guidance counselor about the girl I mentioned yesterday who is potentially going to be wed in an arranged marriage. He didn't have anything helpful to give me but at least I put it out there. Not that I thought there' be anything TO DO (she's 18 and this isn't far from the norm in their culture) but I still might try and have a little chit chat with her about what her life MAY be like as a woman in Saudi Arabia. Just a little FYI session. Not a lecture.

I made a kid cry yesterday. Well, let me clarify: My wacky autistic/ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) kid asked me 1st period if he could call his mother. I said, "Why do you need to call your mother?" And he said he wanted to tell her he cracked his phone. I told him he didn't need to call her right then...at that very moment and he could just text her. (BTW - this is something we've been trying to break him of...needlessly calling his mom during the day.) Apparently he was unable to text her so I said I would email her. He wasn't acting like it was that big a deal but when he went back to his seat he started bawling. So he had to go out into the hallway and get a hold of himself. I went out to deal with it and found out that they had JUST bought the phone and within a day, the stupid poor kid had cracked the face and he was worried she would kill him. And this is why you don't buy your kid a $400 phone. I'm all for flip phones for teens. They can make calls...what else do they need? In the end, he talked to his mom and was able to get himself together.

I gave a test the other day in history...I think I mentioned this. This is the class where a couple MH kids come in and so I get Diane (aide/dog watcher/person extraordinaire) to help me in class. Well, she was giving the test to two of the kids and as they do, they were acting like kooks. The one kid (who constantly talks about his TV being busted) was told that if he didn't get it together he would get an F on his test. He said, "I don't want a 0! I want a 200!" Kid's going to be disappointed when he gets his test back. However, he did get a good grade!

No plans tonight except to hang with the neighbors for a cocktail...maybe some cards. I'll make a cobb salad for dinner...something easy.

And that's all I've got. Time to get this day started. Episode 3 of GBBO today! I'll get to watch that after school. Happy Friday! Later!

Arranged Marriage

So I have this student, a senior, whose parents are originally from Jordan. She was born here, however. She's a bit of an awkward girl and pretty immature for an 18 year old. Her parents divorced a few years ago because dad is abusive but I'm not sure mom is much better. From the day I met her, this girl had a job (at 14) and mom takes all her money. In other words, she's completely controlled by her parents. The other day, she was leaving my LA class and she mumbles to me, "Mrs. Hanke, I've been talking to a guy." Me: "Oh, well, that's nice." And then she says, "I might get married." Me: "Oh...wow, when?" Her: "After I graduate. He's in Saudi Arabia." Me: "Oh, so are we talking about an arranged marriage?" Her: "Yes. He's 29." And she shows me a picture of this dude and I'm trying not to sound like I'm freaked out and trying to figure out how to respond but all I can think of is Which number wife will you be? and You'll never see the light of the U.S. again. And I'm in a pickle about what to do here. I mean, she's 18. She's excited about this but she obviously has no idea what her life in Saudi Arabia would be like as a woman. And really, neither do I but I know about the stories I've heard. And what if I school her and her parents find out and I get them coming after me. Ugh! Who would want that for their daughter? But maybe I'm just making an assumption. I don't know. I'll probably talk to her guidance counselor (who won't give a shit because all he cares about right now is football as he's also our head coach)...ugh...poor kid.

And here's what an article said about why women should flee Saudi Arabia (aside from the fact that women can't try on clothes when shopping! What the heck!) :
No Freedom to Travel or Get a Passport
No Freedom to Choose Marriage Partner, and Child Marriages
Domestic Violence 
Employment Discrimination
Health care Discrimination
Inequality in Divorce, Child Custody, Inheritance
Challenges to Transferring Guardianship
Restrictions on Leaving Prison and Shelters
Restrictions on Studying Abroad
Political Repression

Still hot as balls here and isn't going to get any better for over a week. Pfft!

Tomorrow is Friday and I'm excited. I kept thinking yesterday was Thursday which makes for a long week!

I finished watching Four Weddings and a Funeral yesterday. Sad that's over but here's the thing: I thought the whole time watching that it seemed much more of a remake of Notting Hill than Four Weddings. And then yesterday, there was a montage in the final episode just like the one in Notting Hill...you know the scene...where Hugh Grant is walking through the street and "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" is playing.  Same scene but the song was in another language on Four Weddings. Anyway and regardless...I really liked the show and I'm sad it's over.

Okay well, that's all I've got. I guess I'll head to school and get my day going. I set up two more IEPs for October so I'll have plenty to do over the next few days.

Happy Thursday! Later!

18 Years.

I hate that there are these days where something so catastrophic happened that I remember where I was, what I was doing, what day it was, what I was wearing, who I was with and so on. 9/11 is one of those days and on one hand, I can't believe it's been 18 years and on another, it just doesn't seem like that long ago. Especially in this day and age of such hate. How can we be where we are now, in a place of such contention, knowing where we've been and what we've, as a country, muddled and fought through? How is there such divide when we proved ourselves to be a country that was able to come together with such unity to re-build and stand strong against a force that wanted to tear us down? How have we allowed such a force to rise up again and spread such potentially ruinous hate!? It's truly shameful. But, today, I won't let that be what I think about. I'll remember what we were then, directly after the attacks and how getting kicked and pummeled didn't mean defeat. It only meant we had to gather more tightly together. I'll remember that when you're down, you're not out. It's a different kind of fight but it's a fight we've won before and we will again. 

In other news, it's still f&%king scorching out. I checked the weather last night during the Wheel to see about the temps for today and it said that at 7:00, it was still 93 degrees out. Now, I don't believe that was the case at my house but for freakin' sake Mother Nature...cut this shit out! I'm ready for lovely fall weather and I'm sick of all the same clothes I've been wearing...which only causes me to want to online shop which isn't good for anyone. 

I'm in the midst of trying to figure out my December trip to the Caribbean. I emailed a travel agent parent from school but I'm not sure she'll really be able to help me. First, she doesn't really deal with credit card points so I'll probably just have to figure it all out myself. May have to rope Charlie in to help me with my trip since he's so well versed in planning. 

Nothing else is happening here. I'm giving my 2nd test to my history kids and I have a feeling that most of them won't be prepared. What are you going to do? Takes a bit for freshmen to realized that when you don't study, you don't pass tests. 

Okay - time to get a move on. Happy Wednesday! Later!

Scorching!

It is going to be one hot mother f%&king day and I'm not looking forward to getting in my car at 2:30! However, I'm glad it wasn't like that yesterday since I had to run errands after school (Aldi, Costco). 

Guess what? My meeting for Wednesday got cancelled which means my week got a little easier. The meeting will be rescheduled for October which is fine with me since it's already written and I don't need to do anything to prepare at this point. My week got a little worse though when Diane called in sick yesterday (and today) and we didn't have a sub for her, which means those crazy boys in my history class only had me to crack the whip. Thankfully, they did pretty well but man...they keep me on my toes. The one is slower than molasses and the other won't stop talking about his "busted TV". He's been talking about it for 3 weeks. I wish someone would fix it for him. I'm pretty sure he's the one that broke it though. 

Yesterday I made a really delicious meal: Turkey kielbasa and shrimp kabobs and zucchini. I made a really yummy marinade and because Jim was so late coming home, I got a nice carmelization on my kabobs. Jimmy loved them! Tonight: Sheet pan chicken with rosemary and lemon with potatoes and green beans. 

I'm getting REALLY into Handmaid's Tale of late. I always thought it was good but as I'm getting closer and closer to the end of the first season, it's really picking up. I only watch it about once a week so I'll be able to make it last but as it gets good, I'm afraid I'll start binging it a bit more. Especially after Four Weddings and a Funeral ends (Wednesday I think). At least I still have GBBO (Great British Bake Off) which I can ONLY watch once a week. Oh, the television problems I suffer. 

I lost my first match up with my Fantasy Football team but I don't really care. Other than my quarterback, I really don't know my team. And the fact that I lost to Lauren is a good thing because she's so competitive, maybe she won't lose her mind on this one thing. Speaking of which, we were playing euchre this weekend and I made a really stupid mistake (I may have been influenced by alcohol) and when we lost the hand she looked at me with the devil in her eyes and said, "I'm pissed! I'm REALLY pissed!" And I said, "That's fine...I didn't do it on purpose and remember it's just a game of euchre...but you're allowed to be pissed...sorry by the way!" And then I ignored her behavior...and she got over it. But it was funny...I mean...I don't remember the last time I made such a stupid move. And not just playing euchre. Hee hee.

Okay well, I guess I'll head out. Aw...I forgot...I planned on wearing my blue flip flops and just remembered they busted on Saturday! (While I was out too...had to walk around barefoot...thankfully I never had to use the bathroom when I had no shoes to wear.) 

Happy Tuesday! Later!

A Full Week

I'm dreading this week for 2 reasons. 1) It's a full week! and 2) It's going to get into the 90s which blows. I'm so done with HOT weather and I didn't want to have to turn on the AC again but these are the drawbacks to living in Ohio. Watching football yesterday I wished it was cold enough to have a fire in the fireplace...can't wait.

Other than those reasons above, the week should be fine at school. I do have an IEP on Wednesday but that shouldn't be too bad...it's for a senior who's an easy kid.

Oh, the saga of my passport...I forgot as it happened Friday. So I went to the post office for my appointment Friday and when I got there with all my stuff, I was told by the guy waiting on me that they have to have a copy of my birth certificate. What!? It doesn't say that anywhere on the form. But...I managed to race home, grab the document and get back to the office within 30 minutes. So I get it all complete (copies of my birth certificate and my license like the guy said) and sent off ($145 later...I thought about paying extra to expedite my passport but didn't...glad I didn't now.)

Fast forward to Saturday morning with Jim at Milford's post office. We get there and hand the lady all the documents including the copies of Jim's birth certificate and license and she says, "I need the original birth certificate as well to send off." Me: WHAT!? Yep...apparently the guy who waited on me Friday fucked up. So now, I have to wait for the State Department to contact me and then send the document off and then I'll get my passport. Everyone out there said it wouldn't take that much longer and travel plans for December won't be affected...we'll see. Dummy! I called Loveland after hearing and the post master was pissed at the guy who waited on me. I felt bad for having to turn him in but DUDE! You're an idiot!

In other news, poor Boo got stung by a bee yesterday. I saw him playing with something in the kitchen and when I investigated, I found it was a honey bee. I immediately got the bee away from Boo and then his paw proceeded to swell a bit and he started licking it obsessively (I'm sure because it hurt). I gave him some Benedryll and all was well. And bonus, I think the bee survived. Lesson learned for Boo...I hope. Probably not.

The weekend was good...relaxing. The only real thing we did was go to Mitchell's Fish Market for dinner on Saturday and Little Miami Brewery in the afternoon. Fun.

Okay - time to get a move on. Happy Monday! Later!

Starting Off Rough

Scout started jumping on me this morning and I thought Jim can handle this! It's too early! And I rolled over and waited...sure enough, Scout went to Jim's side of the bed and jumped on him. But of course, Jim didn't get up with that boy so I laid there a little longer and finally after a loud yawn from a certain pup, I rolled over to check to see how much longer until the alarm went off. To my dismay, I realized it was 5:19 and I had overslept! By 20 minutes! UGH! I shaved some time off by NOT shaving my legs but I'll still need to make this short. Here are the finer points of what's going on:

• I made a REALLY delicious soup (Chicken Curry) in the instant pot last night. (Maggie, you wouldn't like the mushrooms in it but it would be just as good - not better - without.)
• The kids at school are driving me nuts - specifically one who I need to name because he's going to be talked about A LOT on here! It they aren't bothering me about work they haven't even tried to do yet, they're not listening or lying to me or just being oppositional! TGIF!
• I've got 12 points so far in my fantasy football league (had Chicago defense for last night's game). I don't pay much attention to my team, generally but I do have Matt Ryan as my QB. We'll see how I do. 
• Today at school will NOT be movie day except in history where we'll watch a video on Thomas Edison (we're studying the Industrial Revolution).
• One of my colleagues - I'll call him Hawk - is driving me nuts. He's playing a bit of a moron lately. He's one of those people who "reply to all" in a group email. Hawk! The rest of us don't need an email from you that says thanks! It's annoying. I've also told him over and over again to cut that shit out! Yesterday he kept sending one of HIS kids (who I have in LA) to my classroom to see what she may have to make up in my classes. I told her that if she were on our grade book app, she could check herself. So I had to go over and tell Hawk to step it up and set his kids straight so I didn't have to do his job! ARG! 
• I'll leave school about 45 minutes early today for an appointment after school. I need to remember that I'm doing this. 
• The weekend: No real plans except to get Jim's passport application completed and sent out. Maybe dinner out on Saturday...we'll see. Other than that, relaxation.

And that's all I've got. Happy Friday! Later! (I think I'm back on track in terms of time for my morning routine.)

Sad For Mol

After exercising yesterday, I was sitting in front of the big industrial fan I have, trying to cool down and stop sweating (with dogs licking my salty arms and legs) and I opened Facebook to see what was up.  Sadly, I saw the sad news that one of my best friends' from high school's mother had died - Marilyn Toomey for those family members who knew her. Adrienne (my friend) and I were in grade school together at Mercy Montessori (I left after 4th grade) and then came back into each others lives at St. Ursula. I spent a TON of time at her house in Indian Hill through my high school years and then from there, we spent our first year together as roommates in Boston at Northeastern. Funny enough, when we went to Boston in 1989, Adrienne's parents moved to Marblehead Massachusetts (just outside of Boston) for her father's job (he was an engineer with GE). So, while we were at Northeastern, there were several times when we would take the train up to her parents house and spend the day or weekend with parents. Mrs. Toomey always gave us the attention we were missing while living in a dorm and needless to say I have so many memories of her. The two, however, that stick out in my mind are of her driving her three kids to Mercy and dropping Monica and Mitch off at the Little Red Schoolhouse in her white VW bus. She was so tiny...under 5 feet and with her haircut, she always put me in mind of a fairy or an elf. She was so cute.

The other memory I had of her was this funny little quirk that was just so her: When Adrienne was born, apparently Mrs. Toomey couldn't decide if she should name her Adrienne (obviously she chose that one) or Molly. Well, Mrs. Toomey, after deciding, realized that she liked Molly better and so for the rest of her life, she called her Molly, or Mol as was more often the case. It was even to the point where when she would call the dorm room for Adrienne and when I would answer, she would say (thinking I was Adrienne), "Mol?" I commented on FB about those memories and Adrienne's commented back was that she's so sad that there won't be anyone who would ever call her "Mol" again. Makes me teary just thinking about it. So sad for her.

Well, now that we've all started our day on that cheery note, I'll try to move on to other more uplifting things. Oh - I know - I made a meatloaf in the instant pot last night. Verdict: Delicious!!! And let me tell you it was so easy. I literally mixed the ingredients and had everything ready to go within 15 minutes. Now one thing I did do differently was I used a mix of ground beef and ground turkey. Additionally, after it was done cooking in the pot, I took it out, put a glaze on and put it under the broiler for few minutes. Lip smacking!

For those who are counting, that's 5 recipes from my new bible that have been hits! I've been making notes in my bible after each make so I don't forget any needed changes that need to be made or that I made. Best buy ever in a long while.

Okay well, I need to get going. Happy Thursday! Later!

Kids Don't Listen

One of the things I hate about a new group of kids is the little habit they have of never listening. Literally, yesterday while I was going through some "housekeeping" with the kids in history to clean out their binders with the chapter we just finished in order to put the new work in, I had to say, at least 15 times, "Open your binder. Open your binder. Open your binder. If you're sitting there staring off into space you should know that I want you to open your binder. Binders should be open. Open your binder!" Then, I had to say things like, "Open up to the Questions tab" or "take out the old chapter" just as many times. And then as I walked around the room to the kids who I'm pretty sure were just being obstinate and trying to make me crazy by not doing what was asked, they would get all pissy when I said, "Why haven't you followed the direction that I just asked you to do 17 times?!" And I would get the typical freshman response of, "I DID!!!" with a shitty look and eye roll thrown in as they finally open their binder. ARG!!! You f&^king kids are going to get the biggest knuckle sandwich you've ever had! Or I'm going to end up in a mental hospital!

Breathe...breathe...only 15 more years...you can do this! (I don't think I can do this!)

Scout just went outside and reached up into the hibiscus tree that sits right outside the sliding glass door, grabbed a flower, pulled half the tree into the house before it finally gave way and ran into the living room (with Boo chasing after him) to chomp on the damn flower. And through all this Jim was sitting at the kitchen table with a mouthful of cereal yelling, "HEY HEY HEY HEY!!!" Bad dogs don't listen! (I love them!) 

There's something that happens every year at this time...I get these stupid bumps on my legs. This year is terrible. I'm wondering if I have psoriasis or something. So weird. They don't itch though but every time I shave I slice some of them and "sometimes I bleed". (What movie, Maggie?)

Okay well, that's all I've got. Tonight I'll make a meatloaf in the instant pot. We'll see how that goes. I mean, how bad could it be?

Happy...ooh, it's humpday...happy Wednesday! Later!

Too Fast

The weekend went way too fast but as Jim said, it's a good thing we're going back to work today because we can't keep drinking beer all day in the driveway! Actually, I really didn't drink that much yesterday because I was so sick of drinking! (Who ever thought they'd hear that from me?)

So yeah, the weekend was good! Saturday we spent the day at Trip and Susan's new house helping to prep the walls for paint. Jim and I took wallpaper down and Trip and Susan washed the walls. It's a great house in a really nice and pretty neighborhood. They have so much room and I'm just so excited for all the rehab to get done and for them to get in. J.J. seems excited too. I asked him if he was happy or sad about moving and he said, "A little of both." How thoughtful that kid is! Love him.

Saturday we came home and just played cards with the neighbors. Sunday I took Jim to Shooters and then we played the rest of the day. Jim's set up the whiffle all field again in the circle so we played some whiffle ball and corn hole and of course, cards.

I took a lovely bike ride yesterday around the neighborhood. They repaved a road that was a menace recently and my butt was happy. The boys went on lots of walks this weekend (I think total, Scout walked 11 1/2 miles for the three days) and I think they're also ready for us to get back to work. They're exhausted.

The week at work should be easy. Just reading (in LA) and starting new chapters in Bio and US History and it's a short week so bonus.

Okay well, I'd best get a move on. Happy Tuesday! Later!