Change Of Tune

Typically, I don't like
to be this person.

The HSA saga continues. So, yesterday I talked to my union president just to see if I should send a mass email telling employees to check on their HSA account to see if they've been charged the fee from Chard. He heard my story and told me to send it to the union members through the email chain. So I did. I explained what I'd discovered and that our treasurer had stated that the charge was because I hadn't signed up to transfer my money. Within a half hour, I'd had at least a half dozen emails from people who had also been charged. When I got home, I had an email from my treasurer. Suddenly, his story changed. He is now saying that we will not get reimbursed. He's stating that this charge is because our new bank decided to wait until the end of January to start moving money and because we weren't "customers" of Chard anymore, this was their fee. Hmm...so the original story I was told was bunk and now the treasurer is backtracking. And none of us were told this bit of information. It's complete horseshit. 

Needless to say, my email back to the treasurer who was so rude to me, was not nice. In essence I stated the following: (The last statement he said to me was: "You have always had the option to work with another provider such as a bank rather than moving to AF." Fuck you dude.

As for your last statement, I've never voiced a problem with the move to American Fidelity and I'm not sure why you've suggested that.  You've given me two different explanations for this situation. First, I didn't sign up for the transfer and that was why my account was charged. Then, I guess, when you found that wasn't the case, you're said I "chose to move the funds to AF" and the fee was the cost. My obvious issue here is that a mistake was made somewhere, by someone other than me and yet, I'm being made to feel like I've made the error. The members of this district should not be penalized with fees for this change. 

Here's my other question though, it seems that not all members were charged. Why is that? 

I'm sure my district will once again dick us over. I just wish there was more accountability and transparency. I did everything I was supposed to do but got the run-around. I was made to feel like a fool and the people in charge can't seem to get their ducks in a row or their stories straight. It's really frustrating. 

The only good thing to come out of this is that I'm pretty sure my treasurer is now having to field dozens upon dozens of emails from angry members. I'm expecting there will be a mass email sent out today with some sort of bullshit explanation for all this. Hmm...maybe that should have happened immediately upon finding this snafu. LIKE I SUGGESTED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Poor Jimmy. He didn't get home until 3:30 this morning. I think he said he had to be somewhere today by noon which sucks for him. However, it's just a small amount he has to do and then he has doctors appointments at 2:45. Ugh. Well, at least he'll be home tonight and I can make him a nice home cooked meal. And he can go to bed early and hopefully get some sleep. 

Good luck Maggie! Today she's getting a colonoscopy. Her prep for this was a whole lot of bullshit. They made her fast for essentially 48 hours. That's nuts. 

Today is my Friday with kids and I've made it an easy one. We're reading a chapter in English and watching a movie in history. I'm kind of hoping lots of kids will decided to make it a 5 day weekend and not show up. I do have to go to work tomorrow but it's a PD day and only the first half will be in (useless) meetings. I don't have to be in until 8:00 so my post tomorrow will be just a little later...probably by only a 1/2 hour. 

And that's all I've got. Happy Thursday! Later!

What A Tease

Yesterday's temps were such a tease. Not that I'm complaining. At. All. It was so lovely to come home and walk Scout without a coat on. In fact, I was a bit sweaty in my sweatshirt. Unfortunately, the rest of the week will be back to normal, 40s temps. BUT!!! Looking at next week, there are actual 60s in our forecast. Of course that comes with rain but I'll take it if it means this snow will go away. I'm so jonesing for warmer weather. (Not Spring because I hate Spring and all the storms it brings.) 

I finally got a reply, 36 hours later, from my treasurer regarding my HSA account. He confirmed what I told him after he FINALLY contacted our insurance guy. I did, in fact, sign up for the transfer of my money but I wasn't on "his list". I find this suspect and wouldn't put it past him to be blaming someone else for his fuck up. However, I should lead with grace and take him for his word. The problem is, his responses (until this last one) had a very condescending tone to them, as if I was the moron. Instead of him saying, "Hmm...let me investigate what you're telling me you did", he essentially said, "You're wrong. You don't remember what you did correctly. You fucked it up." I can't stand it when people can't just say, "My mistake." We'll see how long this transfer takes. 

Speaking of which, you'd think that in 2026, there would be a more streamlined way of moving this money to our new accounts. I mean, I can take a picture of a check and deposit it in my bank account. This transfer? Apparently the company where the money is now, has to cut a physical check, then SEND IT (snail mail) to the new company where they will then deposit it, which will then take up to 3 business days to clear. This whole process, we were told is going to take up to 4 weeks. WFT!? Am I living in 1892? (I don't know why I chose that year.) 

All of this to say, I had to pay for Jim's surgery yesterday with my bank card. Now, on the one hand, I'll earn points for that but on the other, this should come out of my tax free HSA account! ARG!!! 

Breathe Muir!

BTW - Jim's still going to be on 2nd shift tonight. Of course the amount of work that he was told was left on this job was wrong. Hopefully tonight will be the last night. Again, I'm not mad about it for me but it wears Jimmy out. He did, however, clean the house yesterday so that was a positive...again, for me. 

Dinner: More leftovers while Jim's on 2nd shift. Easy night for Muwee. 

K - best mosey. Happy Wednesday! (Ooh, tomorrow is my last day of the week with kids. Hot dog!) Later!

Sneak Attack

My little baby Boo is so funny and quirky. Every time he goes to get a drink of water, he has to sneak up on the bowl, as though it's going to jump up and bite him. When he gets there, he sidles up to the right side of the bowl and ever so gently gets his fill. Then, after he's finished, he reverses, walks backward in retreat before finally turning around and walking away. I don't know why he does this. Sometimes I wish I could get inside his head and figure him out. Love him so much. 

Jim's working 2nd shift tonight. Apparently for the job he was on last week, the carpet layers were supposed to be there over the weekend but they never showed up. He says it's only for today which is fine with me. We have plenty of leftovers and I can put him to work while he's home. His job today is just to vacuum. That's easy. Oh, and he'll have to walk Boo before he goes. 

I'm pretty excited for the temps today. It should get to 52! Holy merde! The boys can't wait to run around the yard again. Yesterday Boo tried walking around in the snow but it was so deep he couldn't quite find his purchase. Oh well. Soon baby.

In case you didn't know or maybe just forgot: People are stupid. I've been dealing with my treasurer at school of late and he's pissing me off. Backstory: We have an HSA. In the past, our HSA "bank" was Chard Snyder. Apparently they're raising their rates or some such bullshit so we're moving to American Fidelity. In October, everyone in the district met with a rep to go through enrollment. At that time, everyone also filled out a form to transfer the money from Chard to AF. This is a process that takes 4 weeks to complete and didn't start until January 26th. So I'm keeping an eye out, watching, waiting and then Lisa mentions a fee in her Chard account which had never happened before. So I look at my account and lo and behold there are two $4 fees in January. WTF? So I email the treasurer and he says that this is the fee that Chard is charging for those who are choosing to keep there money with them. Uh, nope. I put through the transfer paperwork. He said I didn't. I said, I did. I contacted my Insurance rep dude and he said, yup, I did in fact fill out the paperwork for transfer. I then sent another email telling my treasurer this and to fix the issue and of course, crickets. I better get a response today and skulls are going to crack! Dummies. 

Okay, I've bitched enough. Happy Tuesday! Later!

Toasty

For those of you not in the know, you will be happy to read that my heat is working and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg. In fact, it cost $108! One hundred for the hour they were here and $8.56 for the part, which was no bigger than my thumb nail. I'm sure that my heat pump's days are numbered but for now, it's all good. 

The weekend was pretty good and chill. Saturday we went out to lunch (Silver Spring House) and then Saturday night Jim opted for Eddie Merlots for his birthday dinner. We sat at the bar with all the other old farts and were home by 6:30. Sunday morning Jim wanted to go out to brunch so we went to Weiss up the road in Goshen. Dinner last night was Jimmy's fave, beef Stroganoff. Seems we did a lot of eating.

Speaking of eating, I don't know if it's because I started a new vial of meds but this last week I've hardly been able to eat. I'm not mad about it I just noticed that my appetite has lately been nonexistent. Additionally, I tried on a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear and HOT DOG! They fit. That made me very happy. 

This week should be pretty easy since we only have kids through Thursday and Friday is an in-service. We have Monday off for President's day, which is also when Jim's having his hernia surgery so I'll also be taking next Tuesday off since he has to spend the night and I'll be bringing him home then (fingers crossed). I don't have any meetings this week (I don't think) and that's always a bonus. And then we're halfway through February! Bam! 

The big thaw will happen this week. I don't think it's going to get as warm as they'd first thought but there are some decent temps in our future. I can't wait. I'm so sick of looking at this snow and I know the boys are sick of not being able to run around the backyard. 

Dinner tonight: I think I'll be doing some pork chops with some sort of sauce. 

And that's all I've got. Time to get a move on since I have some grading to do with Friday's unexpected day off. Happy Monday! Later!

Fifty Degrees

No, that's not the temp outside, obviously. Rather it's the temp in my house. UGH! So, yeah, last night I was getting ready to go to bed and realized, Holy shit it's cold! So I checked my thermostat and it said 58 degrees. (I had it set at 62) Fuck! So I called Jim so he could help me reset the system. This happens sometimes with the cold, snow and ice. I reset and prayed. Nothing. I tried again and nothing. So Jim called our heating and cooling people (24 hour emergency number). BTW - it's 7:30 at that point. The guy called me and had me try a couple things. Nothing. He then said, "I think I have a part that I can bring to see if that fixes it...I can probably be there around 9:00" I said, "Tonight?" He said yes but I told him that we could wait provided someone could be here first thing. He said, "Are you sure?" I told him we had space heaters and would bundle up. 

Sleeping last night was surprisingly cozy. I had double the covers on my bed and started out with socks and a sweatshirt on. I ended up having to remove the layers and it actually said that the temp upstairs is 62. I made sure to keep the boys bundled up and they didn't seem bothered. 

I've had to take another day off which is annoying. Jim could have dealt with the shituation but A) He has a 7:30 doctor's appointment and B) they switched him back to 1st shift today. So here I am, awake at usual time because I forgot to turn off my alarm and when it went off, the boys were up in my business. Of course after I let them out and fed them (Scout didn't eat) they both went back to bed. Boo eventually came back down and is now cuddled up under my blanket with me in front of the fire. 

I looked back on my blog and found that the heat pump we have is 19 years old. Generally they're supposed to last 10-15 years. We got this one in March 2007. (Again, my blog proves useful.) I've been waiting for it to crap out. Over the last couple years it's gotten louder and louder but I was hoping to get through this winter. I can't imagine one would be proactive with a heating/cooling system considering it's cost. I mean, I'm not going to replace it until the current one busts. Oh man! I just checked pricing and it said for a house about my size a new heat pump can cost between $6,000 and $12,000. IKEA!!! That's a lot of moolah. In 2007, I had to take out an equity loan to pay for it and it cost $4500. At least I have the money to deal with this. 

Regardless of how long this fix takes, I'll be sitting at home. There's another snow event coming and I don't want to be out and about in it. If this fix is quick (doubtful) and the snow doesn't do much (we're only supposed to get 1- 3) maybe I'll do my Aldi shop late morning. We'll see. I may just have to hunker down in the hot tub.

Ice dancing started and I was able to watch the team competition this morning. The Americans are currently leading. Woot! 

Okay, my hands are numb so I'm going to get some mittens and try to get warm again. This sucks. Happy Friday! Later!

Gotta Get My Shit Together

I realized yesterday that Jim's birthday is Sunday (he'll be 58!) and I haven't planned a damn thing. Typically we go out to eat somewhere of his choice. In the past we've gone to Jag's, Prima Vista (did that a couple times), Scotties (that sucked last time). I sent him a text yesterday asking him where he'd want to go but of course got no answer. Maybe I'll investigate and just make reservations somewhere for Saturday. We're not big gift givers to each other so other than a card and a wink, I don't plan on getting him anything. Plus, we did just go to the Bahamas. Happy birthday Jimmy! 

In other news...I watched the documentary on Lucy Letby last night (Netflix). She's the neonatal nurse in England that was convicted of killing 8 babies. She also apparently tried to kill 5 others but they survived. There are a lot of people out there who think she's innocent but I just don't see it. There are just too many coincidences where the deaths and Lucy are concerned. Sad. What makes someone do such a thing? 

I'm also still watching Bridgerton but slowly. I'm liking the couple this season but I keep hearing things on Instagram etc. and it's annoying. Why can't people keep their mouths shut. Not everyone binges in a day. They only released 4 episodes so far and I don't know when they're going to release the rest. 

Did I mention that Prue Leith from the GBBO is leaving the show? I'm sad. I really liked her. But she is like 80 something years old and deserves a little rest and relaxation. She's still got a lot of other shit going on. They've replaced her with Nigella Lawson. I like her (Maggie doesn't but is willing to give her a chance) but upon first hearing about this, I thought it a rather odd choice. She's not someone I'd immediately put in the tent. She's known more for her polished and upper brow ways rather than being silly and jokey like those in the tent tend to be. I mean, she pronounces microwave as "meek-row-wah-vay". WTF!? She'd better get over herself pretty quickly if she's going to last. 

And that's all I've got. Jim's still on 2nd shift and probably will be through at least Monday next week. I'm not sure if he's working Friday but he should, in my opinion. I don't know why he wouldn't other than him bitching about it. 

Dinner: I have a chicken breast thawed and I think I'll air fry some boneless buffalo chicken tenders tonight. Yummy. 

K - best mosey. Happy Thursday! Later!

Sneaking Suspicion

I have a sneaking suspicion that yesterday's snow day was the last for the year. Friday we have some weather coming in around 7:00 (as of now) but I don't think that will turn out to be anything. Plus the timing isn't right. A week from now, the temps are going to start to normalize and we should be in the 40s. I know it's only the beginning of February but in this psychic's opinion, I think we're done. It was good while it lasted. 

Yesterday was really glorious for a few reasons. A) As I mentioned my boys let me sleep until 6ish. B) Jim was out of the house by 11 because he wanted to get some painting done at his friends house who he's helping out; he also had a doctor's appointment at 2:30 and had to be at work by 4:00. C) I didn't have to shovel the driveway. Interestingly, the snow never really stuck to the roads. At least in my neighborhood. D) I managed to get a good amount of mindless TV watching in and generally had a very relaxing day. 

Jim has ANOTHER appointment today and then on Friday. All of this (except Friday) is in preparation for his upcoming surgery. It's a lot and he deals with it like a champ. Friday's appointment is with his new dermatologist. His previous one has cut back her practice to exclude those pain in the asses like Jim. I think she's just doing typical body checks now. 

Last night I used my new crimper to make quesadillas and they were awesome. Worked like a charm. I ended up air frying them in my Ninja flip which also worked like a charm. I love it when a kitchen gadget that you saw online and thought looked pretty awesome actually turns out to be awesome. Some of them don't. 

And that's about all the exciting news I've got. I guess I'll hit the road. I have to adjust my Google Classroom assignments. Happy Wednesday. (I started typing Tuesday.) 

Snow, Suggestions & Snuggles

I mean, yes, I'm a bit sick of cold and snow and not being able to take my typical long walk with Scout every day. BUT!!! I'm not sick of snow days. Thankfully my district called it around 8:00 last night and even though I had already put in for a "sick" day, I was able to delete that. Woot! 

You'd think I would have taken advantage of my time alone (Jim at work) and the ability to stay up a little later to binge watch something in bed. However, I was tired last night and started nodding off at 8:00. I'm such a loser but I don't care. And bonus: My good boys slept until just before 6:00 this morning. 

Suggestion #1: Trip recommended a Netflix doc the other day which was excellent: Miracle. It's the 1980 winter Olympic story about the USA hockey gold medal win. It was really good. 

Suggestion #2: Netflix also put out a 3 episode docuseries on three of the upcoming Olympic Ice Dancing teams called Glitter and Gold. It was excellent and now I'm really excited to watch them in the future weeks when they skate in Milan. I have a favorite but I won't share that in case you decide to watch. Don't want to influence. Netflix should have done more of these little docuseries highlighting different sports. I guarantee it would pay off in viewership. Anyway, I highly recommend you watch. It's a beautiful sport. 

After I finished watching Glitter and Gold, I went upstairs and started watching a 48 Hours episode because I loves me some true crime. I would have continued watching Bridgerton but I knew I'd most likely start falling asleep. With my day off today, I'll most likely continue with that today in front of the fireplace in between shoveling the driveway. 

My plans today: After I finish this, I'll watch the first few minutes of The Today Show (that whole story about Savannah Guthrie's mother...ugh...WTF?) then do a nice 45 minute yoga. After that, the sun should be up and if it hasn't started snowing yet, I'll try to get the dogs a little walk. (Nix that...looks like it started already.) I plan on swimming today and then just relaxing. Jim will have to go to work today around 4:00 which is when the snow should be moving out. Hopefully he won't have too much trouble getting there but he doesn't need to risk anything in my opinion. We'll just have to see what's up with the roads. 

Dinner tonight: I got this tortilla sealer which I think I'll try out tonight. I'll cook up some chicken and taco-size it then make me a quesedilla. Yummy! 

Okay, time to sign off. Happy Tuesday! Later!

2nd Shift

Jim's on second shift this week and I can't say I'm upset about it. He's been driving me a little batty lately and it will be a nice little reprieve for me. Maybe we've been spending too much time together or maybe he's just a turd. I know it's not me. HA! Seriously though, I don't keep him awake snoring. I don't use a tone of voice with him that I'd only use on my mortal enemy. Saturday while we were putting the laundry room back together (more on that in a minute) he was such a flaming asshole that I literally didn't voluntarily speak to him until Sunday afternoon. I'm not sure what got up his ass but it was unacceptable. He knew he was an asshole too but he's acted that way so many times toward me that he knows an apology just doesn't suffice. 

He tried to make things up to me yesterday by A) cleaning the house without me asking B) going to Costco and C) getting me a little candle when he was out and about. Gee thanks. That makes up for everything. Ugh! We all go through ups and downs and right now, we're at the nadir in our down. Hopefully a good solid week "apart" will help. 

The washer: All is well. Apparently it leaked because the pipe into which the washer drains had ice build up due to the cold temps. When it went through it's spin/drain cycle, it was partially blocked and so backed up and leaked. We put a heater in there and all is fine. One of the laundry room  walls is an outside wall and it just gets wicked cold in there. We'll know in the future what to do when the temps fall this low. The guy said our washer looks pretty good considering it's 10 years old and we should be able to get a fair amount of life out of her yet. $124 for the service call and I wasn't mad about it. 

Since Jim's working 2nd shift, dinner tonight will be my leftovers from last night: Spaghetti. Yum.

We're supposed to get 3-5 inches tomorrow during the day. They're saying between 8 and 8 which means during school. I'm praying they foresee the shitstorm that's going to be and close us. Fingers crossed.

K - gotta get the recycling out since Jim didn't do it yesterday and it's overflowing since they didn't pick it up last week and Jim's still asleep and will probably miss it. Another reason to be annoyed. He had all day to do that and didn't. Jackass. Later - Happy Monday! 

Annoying

I wonder how many posts I've titled "Annoying". I'm sure I've used the words hundreds, well, probably thousands of times in my blog. Anyway, why am I annoyed? Well, I mentioned yesterday that our washer is on the blink and I got an appointment for today between 12 and 4. This meant that I had to take a half day so I could be here during the window. 

Fast forward to yesterday evening when I got the text confirming and giving me a more accurate time. So apparently my window now is between 2 and 5. Fuck! I didn't really need to take a 1/2 day. Of course I'm not really mad about that. I'm mad that it's now extended beyond the original time. Five!? I'm hoping that the dude will be here a lot sooner than 5:00 because who wants to start a repair (if that's what we do) at 5 o'clock on a Friday!? And I'm pretty sure this company is based out of Beavercreek. Dumb. 

So Jim and I unstacked the dryer yesterday in preparation. It was no easy feat but we managed it with only Jim getting hurt. That was my fault because about 4 inches from the floor, I dropped my side. On Jim's shin. Oops. Surprisingly, he did throw a fit or cry for hours. He just said, "And I'm bleeding. But...these things happen." Better him than me, right? 

Who knows what will happen with the washer but I'd expect the repairperson to tell me if it's worth the fix or not. I mean it is a 10 year old machine and I think it's been gearing up for a breakdown. There have been times when the spin wasn't sufficient and I've had to re-spin. Fingers crossed though that it's an easy fix and not too costly. Certainly a new washer would cost a whole lot more. I'd just like the washer to last a little longer. What ever happened to appliances that lasted decades. They don't make 'em like that anymore. 

Weekend plans: Nothing much except possibly going out to buy a new washer. And here's a question: If I'm getting a new washer, do I get a new dryer? We'll see. I'm sure there will be some hot tub time in my future and cozying up in front of the fireplace since this frigid weather isn't going anywhere, some games, TV watching and lunch out. Other than that, nothing. 

Dinner tonight: Sausage patties, fries and probably green beans although I do have a zucchini I need to use. 

K - I need to finish getting ready. Happy Friday. Later!

Washer Problems

I did a load of laundry last night, as you do, and went in before heading up to bed to switch the load into the dryer and FUCK!!! Huge puddle of water. I went on my blog (thank the baby Jesus for my blog) and found that it's 10 years old. We redid the mudroom/bathroom/laundry room in 2016. I then went on my email and found the serial number and model number from my purchase (thank the baby Jesus I'm organized enough to retain receipts in my email folders). This morning I went onto Maytag's website and scheduled an appointment for tomorrow to have someone come look at it. Of course I'll have to take a 1/2 day (I was feeling puny anyway) because my appointment is set between noon and 4:00. That works for me. A two-and-a-half day work week sounds about right. Who knows how much this is going to cost. But, better to try a repair than just purchase a new one. 

In other news, I made pot roast sandwiches for dinner last night from our leftovers and they were so yummy. I have no idea what I'm going to cook tonight. I have sausage patties on the menu but I'm not sure about that. We'll see what I'm in the mood for when I get to school and figure it out from there. Oh, wait! I pulled a marinated pork tenderloin from the freezer the other day. Bam! Done! 

I'm so excited! First, that it's Thursday and there's an episode of The Pitt out today! Second, Shrinking started yesterday! Third, Bridgerton starts today! Paradise is coming out soon and there's a new limited series coming out March 1st on HBO/Max with Jason Bateman and David Harbour that looks good - DTF St. Louis. Hopefully the TV won't break anytime soon. Well, I have three TVs and of course my iPad so I think I'm safe. 

Okay, I spent too much time figuring out the washer and have now run out of time. Gotta head...later. Happy Thursday! 

All Good Things Must Come To An End

It's horseshit but alas, my little vacation has ended. I was really hoping for a 2-hour delay but I guess our district just doesn't give a shit about its kids. Reading the South Leb and Kings FB pages, there were a lot of complaining parents, pissed that the kids would have to stand in the street for the bus because sidewalks weren't clear not to mention the temps. It's currently -4 where I am with a feels like of -4. That's too cold. I should probably put on another pair of socks since my room is directly in front of the entrance where all the kids come in from the bus. Ugh! 

I can't say I'm happy to go back to work but it's fine. At least I already took care to push my previous assignments and so there's not much to do when I get to school. Plus, I didn't have any meetings scheduled and BONUS!!! The special ed meeting from Monday got cancelled. I'm definitely not mad about that. 

Yesterday was quite lovely. Other than yoga, I did nothing. Well, I took a bath and read a book and watched the documentary on Elizabeth Smart and cooked dinner but beyond that, nothing. And with Jim at work, I got plenty of me time. 

Jim was a pain in my ass sleeping last night. Actually I didn't know he was there until I woke up around 12:30 and he wasn't there. I guess his arm is giving him fits. When he finally came back to bed around 3:15, he tossed and turned and so then I was up. I tried not to be annoyed because I know this is driving him nuts but he doesn't do the things he should to try and alleviate it. Stretching, Tylenol before bed, intentional positioning. If you're not going to help yourself...

Dinner tonight: Pot roast sandwiches. Yummy. Can't wait. I'll probably just air fry some fries and open up a can of green beans. 

And that's all I've got. I hope the roads are okay. My road is still completely snow covered but Jim said all the rest are fine. Fingers crossed. Happy Wednesday...later. 

Can't Complain

I can't complain about another day off and I'm very thankful my school decided to close. From everything I'm seeing the roads still aren't great and the temps are ridiculous. I wonder about the rest of the week but I can't imagine that school would be closed any longer. A girl can hope though. 

Jim is going back to work, however he's still snoring in his recliner. I just yelled at him to get his ass up (I wasn't that rude) because I need him out of my hair. Not that we've had any issues but there is such a thing as too much time together. Plus I need him to tell me how the roads really are. I mean, ours has barely been touched though that isn't telling since we're a very back road. 

My plans today: Same plans as I had yesterday which is to do yoga, ellipticize, watch some shows, read, adjust my plans for teaching, maybe do some laundry, get in the hot tub, stay warm. 

Dinner tonight: I'll finally make Penne a la Betsy. This is similar to vodka pasta but has shrimp in it and uses wine. It's a good one. I'll probably make a salad too. 

What else? Oh!!! JJ committed to the University of Pikeville. I'm very excited for him. It's in eastern Kentucky and looks to be a really pretty campus. He was waiting to hear their offer to him in terms of baseball. So exciting!!! 

Okay well, I need to get Jim up and out so I can enjoy some me time. Happy Tuesday. Stay warm and safe out there. Later!

IMO

I don't want to sound like a doomsdayer or anything but I really don't think it's a good idea, nor do I think it's safe for me to have school until at least next Monday! (I was going to say Friday but the temps then are still expected to be frigid.) Today we're off due to road conditions but tomorrow? I still don't think roads will be cleared enough for safe travel in our district. Plus, we're going to be in an "Extreme Cold Warning" with wind chills nearing -25 (which is going to go through until Fridayish). Kids shouldn't be out in that...waiting at the bus...not dressing appropriately...being their stupid selves. It's really the kids I'm thinking about. 

Interestingly, though we are closed none of the local news channels has our school listed. Maybe it doesn't count. Loveland school isn't listed either. Hmm.

So yesterday was a lovely day spent mostly staying warm and shoveling, shoveling, shoveling. I went out every couple hours to shovel the path on the deck, remove snow from the hot tub cover as well as the snow on the tarps I laid out on the ground so the pups would have a snowless place to do their business. I took that up last night after the snow stopped and it worked like a charm. I also cleared a path down around the hot tub on the other side of the house where Scout likes to go. Jim and I went out around noon to shovel the driveway when he had about 8 inches and that was a bear. But we got it done and after that, I went out 3 more times to keep up with it. Our street has barely been touched but I didn't expect it to be. We'll see how long that takes. 

Plans today: Jim's off work as well so I'm sure today will entail some games, fires in the fireplace (we stocked up on Friday so we still have 2 wheelbarrows full), and binging some shows. Jim's into Broadchurch right now and I need to catch up on The Pitt. I'm going to go do some yoga after this because I'm really sore from all the shoveling yesterday, especially my back. Other than that, nothing. Ooh, maybe the hot tub again. 

Dinner: I didn't end up making the Aldi meal on Friday so I'll probably do that. I did make a really yummy pot roast last night so we could have pot roast sandwiches but we'll see. 

And that's it. I need to pick out a nice restorative yoga practice. Happy snow day everyone (who the hell is going to work today?) stay warm. Later!

12:41

12:41 is the latest time that my body has trained itself to wake up every night. It's the craziest thing because I'll wake up one night and immediately turn over to see what time it is and lo and behold, 12:41. The next night, I'll wake up and think I'm not going to look. I'll just close my eyes and ignore the clock. But then I can't help myself so I open my eyes and, holy shit, 12:41. Last night I woke up and thought, I'm going to wait. I'm going to let some time go by and then open my eyes and see that it's 12:45 or 1:00. Guess what happens when I finally look! 12:41. Craziness. 

Today should be an easy day. I mentioned yesterday that we're on a pep assembly schedule so I've got shorter bells (except my prep period is still an hour and a half...bam! Love having my plan during the lunch period) and it's a movie day. I'm hoping that I won't be back at school after today until at least Tuesday. Dare I hope for Wednesday?! 

So yes, snowmageddon is about to hit. They're now calling for 8-12 inches which is so crazy and exciting. I was hoping for one more snow day this year and I think we'll get it. Not to jinx things but all signs point to this being pretty major. Granted it's hitting over the weekend but it's so big that it won't stop until overnight Sunday. That makes it hard for snow removal and road treatment. Added to that will be the arctic temps. Tuesday morning they're saying it's going to be about -4 and that's not the wind chill. It's very hard to treat roads when the temps are this frigid. 

You know who I feel most sorry for? My boys. I'm going to have to really keep up a path for them in the yard and on the deck. The best thing I can do for them is to shovel a spot under the eave of the Florida room, right off the deck steps so they can get out and poop. They're fine to pee on the deck so I'm not worried there. 

Jim's job today is to go to Aldi. I went to Kroger and got things needed from there but I need some other basics. He's working in Covington and planning on going to Party Source as well. I told him about an Aldi in Newport and you know what he said? "Muir. I'm not interested in paying taxes on that food." He's so stupid. I replied with, "Well, you won't be paying taxes on the alcohol like you would in Ohio so it all evens out." I mean, Jaysus! 

Dinner: I think I'll make an Aldi meal. Probably burnt ends with mashers and brussel sprouts. Something easy. 

Ooh, I can't wait to get in the hot tub when it's snowing tomorrow. 

I have some shit I need to deal with at school regarding Stupid Baby. I got another email from his English teacher about his bullshit. The biggest complaint? He's late and asks a million times to go to the bathroom. It's called avoidance. I mean, how about "NO"! That's what I tell him. He asks to go to the bathroom and I tell him no. He asks again, NO! And I'm sure she didn't email his mother. It's not rocket science. But, I do know that something needs to be done here. He's just so immature. 

K - best mosey. Happy Friday! I'll definitely post on Monday but if I have a snow day it will be a little later. Later!

Well Rested

I'm surprised that I got through yesterday as well as I did considering my lack of sleep. I never felt like I'd hit a wall and truthfully, I never felt tired until after dinner. I did go up to bed early (just after dinner and before 7:00) but I watched TV until 8:30. I didn't want to go to sleep too early and then wake up early. I slept like a baby and best of all and lucky for Jim, he didn't snore. Phew. Jim lives to see another day. 

The saga that was Greg is currently on the back burner. I'm sure shit will hit the fan - again - with him but for now, my VP came through and dealt with the fuckers stirring the pot. When I got to school yesterday I marched my ass down to his office and told him, "I'm about to lose my fucking mind and you need to deal with this." (Thankfully he's a guy who gets me and appreciates my straight forwardness.) I gave him the details and my belief that the para was the center of all this mayhem. I told him he needed to put her in her place and thankfully he did...in a copacetic and reasonable way. He sent an email to the "team" stating that things were going to stay as they are and that the para is there solely to help Greg. Not other students and not the teacher. He stated that he's in support of my decision to allow Greg to acclimate and find success. He forgot to mention that there may be a need for the teacher to modify expectations for Greg and follow through on discipline referrals as behaviors arise so I replied-to-all and made those comments. Because if you're talking about disruptive behaviors (because they did) and not documenting them, they essentially didn't happen. CYA if you know what I mean. 

Hopefully today will be without drama because once today is over, my week is pretty much done. Tomorrow is video day and bonus, we're on a pep assembly schedule, which means shorter bells. And then, fingers crossed, this snow storm will hit as they say and we'll get a snow day Monday. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!

Dinner tonight: Last night I ended up pulling some chili from the freezer and making grilled cheese with it. I also pulled a premade meal from Aldi (chicken fettucine) so I think I'll make that. I'll probably head to Kroger today during my plan bell so I can gas up and get some needed supplies for the weekend. I don't think the snow will hit until Saturday afternoon so maybe I'll get to Aldi before that but who knows how this thing will track from now until then. 

And that's all I've got. Time to go figure out what sweater I'm going to wear today. Happy Thursday! Later!

The Struggle Is Real

I'm on so little sleep today I hope I can get through. I went to bed at regular time (turned out the light around 8:30) and went right to sleep but I woke up at 10:30 then again at 11:30 when I had a nightmare. After that, I couldn't get back to sleep because of A) things going through my brain (more on that in a minute and B) Jim was snoring like an asshole. I tried to do some deep breathing and ignore the snore but he was either too loud or the randomness of his nasal outbursts were not enough to lull me to sleep. At 2:30, after much nudging and poking, Jim woke up and said, "WHAT'S GOING ON!?" I said, "You've been snoring non-stop since 11:30." He ended up going downstairs but by then all I could think was, Only 2 hours left to sleep. Only 1 hour left to sleep.  I did manage to get to sleep for a minute but of course woke up 9 minutes before my alarm was set to go off and now here we are. 

So the thing going through my brain: Greg, my little troubled child and his digital media class. Yesterday, his guidance counselor sent an email to me, the VP, and the DMA teacher because she'd apparently gone to him about Greg in her class. Basically she wants him out. My response was that he's barely been given a chance to have success or not because of his suspension and I don't want to just switch his schedule after we'd already done that. Not to mention there's nothing else for him to take. She then responded with a nearly identical email that the other DMA teacher sent regarding a different student who they were trying to boot from class. She then added that the para in the class with Greg could better spend her time helping other students. 

The thing that pisses me off is that I know the para is mostly responsible for this whole shit show. Oh, and by the way, the only reason the para is in that class is to help Greg. She was only put in there because I added the need for a para in all non-cotaught or resource classes to his IEP at his IEP meeting. I've tried to calm down so I don't lose my shit but I'm going straight to my VP so he can deal with this. I'm not dealing with it. If they want him moved, they can call the parent and have that discussion. But I'm going to make it known that the para is the catalyst for this whole mess and she isn't meant to be helping other students. Fucker. Calm down Muir. 

I have no desire to cook tonight. I know I'm going to be exhausted. The plan I had for last night's dinner (shrimp pasta) didn't happen because I didn't have shrimp. Instead we had stuffed peppers and a salad. I still don't have shrimp and can't go to Kroger during my plan because I have a meeting. I'll figure it out. Maybe I'll pull a soup and make some grilled cheese with it. 

This weekend should be interesting. There's a storm developing in the Pacific right now and they're keeping an eye for possible significant snow. Of course right now they're saying it's going to hit Saturday in the Ohio Valley but who knows? Maybe that'll shit closer to Sunday and give us a snow day on Monday. Fingers crossed. 

Okay, I need to change what I'm wearing because I don't like the sweater I chose. It's choking me. Happy Wednesday. Later!

Headed Back

I was hoping that with the cold as shit weather we may get a delay but alas, I'm not that lucky. Oh well, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth since I still have a 4-day work week. I can do that. 

So sad. Yesterday an elementary teacher from my district (South Lebanon Elementary) was killed in a car accident. She was 28 years old. Another individual who was in the other car was also killed. We have way too many car accidents resulting in deaths in this area. I think yesterday there were three accidents where at least one person died. That's crazy and on a holiday? I remember when my former neighbors moved here from North Carolina, they commented to us how stunned they were with the amount of deaths due to car accidents our area has. I can't argue with that. It seems every morning there's at least one story on the news reporting that. 

Yesterday was a very lazy day for me. I did walk the boys and it was cold as shit. They each went a mile and I was fine with that...so were they. Beyond that, I just lazed around, read my book and tried to stay warm. We went to dinner early at Rusty Bucket before going to Steve's mom's visitation. We were home around 7:15 and went straight to bed. I watched a little TV but Jim immediately went to sleep and started snoring like an asshole. Dummy. 

School should be pretty easy today although I do have a lot of grading to do from Friday. However, it's all on Google Form and shouldn't take too much time. 

Dinner tonight will be Pasta a la Betsy. It's a Pioneer Woman recipe (actually, Betsy is her sister)...sort of a take on vodka pasta but with wine and shrimp. Jimmy loves it and I haven't made it in a while. 

Okay - I guess I'd best get a move on. Happy Tuesday! Later!

Forgot It Was Monday

I'm much later than usual today, even for a day off because I forgot it was Monday. Sorry about that. 

Weekend recap: As you know, I went to Columbus to hang with the Egberts and to see Mom. It was very relaxing. I got up there around 10:30 and Maggie and I just hung out and chatted until it was lunch time. We went to Hudson 29 which was delicious (we split a burger) and then headed home until it was time to pick up Eva and Meg from school. Actually, Meg had a hair appointment so Eva brought her friend Ruby home. From there Maggie and I went to see Mom. We stayed for about an hour and chatted then headed back home. Maggie and Charlie's neighbors came over at one point and we just hung out and Maggie made a couple pizzas. After a nice long soak in the hot tub, I was exhausted and we were probably all in bed by 10:30. 

Saturday we literally didn't do anything except hang at home, watch football and chill. Eva had a party to go to so she left around 6:00. Again, we watched football and Maggie made meatloaf for dinner. I was in bed by 10:00ish. 

Sunday we got up and I guess Mom called Maggie really early and was very confused. She thought there were people in her house so Maggie went to get her around 7:00 thinking a little change of scenery would help to reset her mind. It didn't. Not only was she convinced that there had been people in her house but she also believed she had three cats (instead of 2). We kept telling her she only had 2 but she was adamant. I ended up taking her back home around 9:30 (she was ready to go back by then) and she was still very confused. I went in to get her settled. She walked back to her bedroom and called out, "Can you help me fix this?" I went back and found her nightstand askew and everything unplugged. Her clock, her lamp, her phone. I asked her what happened and she said that she had to unplug everything because of the something was making a noise and driving her crazy. Then she started talking about her three cats again. I told her to show them to me and she pointed to Whiskers, then Dinah but couldn't find the other cat. I tried to tell her she only had two cats and she just huffed and puffed and told me I was crazy. Hmm. Oh, and then I found the remote she lost a week or so ago. 

I'm not sure what's going on with her. Is this just increasing dementia or could she have a UTI? Is it dehydration (she doesn't drink enough) or because she doesn't eat anything but her protein shakes.  According to Maggie, she's very up and down. One day she's clear as a bell and the next not. I know how frustrating it is for Maggie. Ugh. 

Plans today: Jim's at work and after I finish this I'll do some yoga. I'll give the dogs a little walk but it's cold as hell and only getting colder. I'll probably get on the elliptical and then relax until Jim gets home. We're going to have an early dinner before we pop into Steve's mom's visitation. 

And that's all I've got. Happy Monday! Later. 

It's Been 6 Months

It's crazy to think that it's been 6 months since I've been to Columbus...I think. I went in July to stay while the Egberts were in the Gulf Shores and I'm pretty sure I haven't been since. School started and was crazy then they were out of town a ton. I'd planned to go in November? Then Jim got pneumonia and went into the hospital (of course it's Jimmy's fault). Hopefully (fingers crossed) nothing will happen between now and when I leave to delay my trip again and hopefully I'll get there safe and sound. Of course we've got bands of snow falling throughout the area but by the time I hit the road, all will be out of here. 

Trip sent me a text yesterday to tell me he started watching Best Medicine, a new series on Fox, and was liking it. I had told him about this series coming out a few months ago because it looked right up his alley and the star, Josh Charles, is someone who'd been on Sports Night, a series Trippy really liked. Of course in the time that had passed, I forgot about it and couldn't remember the name of it. I was thinking about it a couple days ago and then Trip sent the text. Kismet! I watched the first episode yesterday (it's also on Hulu) and really liked it. BTW, Trip...have you watched "The Pitt"? If not, you need to...it's so good. Also on Hulu. 

My plans: I'm happy to report that Boo did NOT bark at the door in the middle of the night. Woot! He also managed to let me sleep until 5:18 (2 minutes before the alarm was supposed to go off) so that's progress. He let me sit on the couch with only about 5 interruptions while I sipped my coffee, played my NYT games and watched some TV. Around 6:15, I found the energy to get on the elliptical and now I'm posting. I'll get up here in a bit to shower and finish packing. By then it'll be light enough to walk the boys. They'll each get about a mile and then I'll leave. Hopefully the roads will be fine. That puts me on the road around 9:00. 

Maggie and I plan on going out to lunch, seeing mom and then hanging. Dinner tonight: Homemade pizzas and a salad. 

Jim's still puttering around here so I guess I need to light a match under him so he can get a move on. 

K - best mosey. Happy - ooh, Friday! Later!

Condolences

Godspeed to my brother-in-law, Steve's mother Paula who passed yesterday. It's always hard losing a parent as I now, unfortunately know but I believe she was struggling for a long time to let go so this is probably a bit of a relief for her family. Prayers and hugs to all of them. 

Today is going to be my Friday. I decided to A) take tomorrow off and B) head to Columbus for a couple days. I'll obviously get to see Maggie and family but it's also been a long time since I've seen Mom. We have no real plans except to hang. It's going to be frigid so I'm happy to just hunker down. I won't leave here until 9ish so I will post but may be a bit later than usual since I'm hoping to sleep in a bit. Who knows if that will happen, however, because Boo has been a stinker of late. 

Boo's issue: I think I mentioned earlier in the week that Boo had gotten into the habit of waking up in the middle of the night to go outside. He doesn't need to pee or anything, he just wants to go out and his clock was set to do that. I told Jim that we were going to put the kibosh on that so for the last two nights, when he's gone down and barked at the door we've yelled, "NO!!!" That's all it takes for him to come back upstairs, tuck himself in bed and go back to sleep. However, he's waking up just before my alarm goes off (at 4:20) and standing on me. That'll be my next hurdle with him. Cute, little stinker. 

You know what I hate? I know hate is a strong word but in this case it's fitting. I hate unscented soap. Several months ago, I needed soap and when Jimmy went to Costco (of course it's Jimmy's fault) he accidentally got me a giant package of Dove unscented soap. It sucks. I mean sure, it gets me clean but I don't feel like I smell good. Sure, I get out of the shower and slather myself with lotion but still, I want smelly soap. What's the point of soap if it doesn't smell good? Dumb. And unfortunately, I have a million more bars before I can buy new soap. Sometimes I get fed up and I use a bar of Jim's but it's man soap and doesn't leave my skin soft. Ugh! 

Nothing worth mentioning is happening at school other than kids are annoying. But again, nothing new so nothing worth talking about. 

Dinner tonight will be air fryer stir-fry chicken with Brussel sprouts. Yummy. 

And I guess that's all I've got. Time to get a move on. Happy Thursday. Later!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!!

Let me start my post today to wish my favorite sister-in-law a very happy birthday!!! I hope it's a good day without any work (or life) snafus. You are one of the, no, I'll say THE sweetest people I know. I'm so happy to call you family! I love you and hope it's a great day!!!

So we have this building sub at work, let's call her Bambi. Bambi is about 60-some odd years old, from New England (with a heavy accent) and I'm pretty sure she's on the spectrum. Bambi has been with the district forever, first as a regular sub and then when Covid hit, she became a permanent building sub. 

Here are some good things I'll say about Bambi (before I slam her). She's reliable. She NEVER misses a day. In fact, she even shows up when she doesn't need to, which is annoying. I mean, she's a building sub and yet she comes in for in-services. She truly has no life. But, I said I'd say nice things...sorry. She really means well and is a kind and generous woman. She stocks the staff bathrooms with Bath and Body Works soaps all the time and always sends out emails to wish us all a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year or Happy Summer or Enjoy Your Friday or It's the Middle Of Summer, I Hope Everyone Is Enjoying Their Time Off Because I'm Not Since I Have No Life. (Oopsie...I slipped again.) Anyway, my point is, she really is nice. 

Now, here is the really annoying thing about Bambi: She's always first in line for anything free. Donuts in the breakroom first thing in the morning? Well, since Bambi arrives at school at about 6:30, she's already filled her plate while everyone else is just arriving. Much needed school supplies provided by the PTO for teachers? Bambi will have one of everything stuffed in her pockets. Here's the best though, one time, the PTO provided Skyline for the Parent/Teacher Conferences. The next day there were leftover supplies and dozens of hot dog buns. I watched while Bambi grabbed a gigantic bag of buns (probably 50 to a pack) and scuttled out to her car to stow them away. It was crazy. 

So I'm getting ready for bed last night and one of my lunch ladies sends a group text saying: "One funny thing happened today...Bambi ate some of the marshmallows from the winter display on my desk. Gross! They've been there for about two weeks and kids have touched, sneezed and coughed all over them!" I mean Bambi! Really? In her defense though, I did overhear her telling another teacher that her daughter (who is over 30, still living at home and a total raging bitch who treats her mother like a 5-year old) has put the kibosh on sweets and snacks in the house apparently so everyone would lose weight. (BTW - the daughter is stick thin so she's really targeting her mother...an adult.) I guess Bambi is really hungry. 

Can you believe that I've been blogging for nearly 20 years? I looked yesterday and my first post was April 3, 2006. That's some crazy shit! That's a lot of wasted time talking about nothing, huh? 

Dinner tonight: Leftovers. We have a ton and I ain't mad about it. 

Ooh, the smoothie I made this morning is extra delicious. I think it's because I made it with coconut milk instead of my usual almond milk. We'll see if Jim notices. 

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

Review: Skyline Chicken Chili

As I mentioned yesterday, last night, I served Skyline's chicken chili for dinner (coneys and 3-ways). Here's my take: Delicious! Jim couldn't tell the difference. I think it had a slightly different taste but not in a bad way. They say it's somewhat spicier but I didn't find it spicy. It has a slightly different color and the consistency is thicker which in my opinion is better than the original. Best of all, however, it's got fewer calories and it's less greasy. You know when you open a can of original and the inside of the can is caked in grease? No grease whatsoever with the chicken chili. I will certainly get that again. 

Dinner tonight (since I'm talking about it already): Polenta with Italian sausage and vegetable ragu. Which reminds me, I need to take the sausage out of the freezer. After tonight's meal, I'll probably need to have leftovers because we've got a bunch in the fridge. 

My IEP meeting yesterday was fine. Except, I'd had the conference room reserved so I could Zoom in private and my school psyche was in there. She apparently had a planning meeting and it went long. Thing is, she hadn't signed up. I tried to then sign up for the other conference room (which no one had signed up for either) but the ESL teachers were apparently testing in there. It was kind of annoying but one of my VPs let me Zoom from his office. Since it was only a 15 minute meeting, it was no big deal. Bam! No meetings for another month. Oh, and I fucked up the other day when I said I didn't have anymore evaluations this year. The last three IEPs I have this year are also evals. UGH! I hate that. Those meetings take FOREVER! Ugh! Oh well...at least the end is near. 

Boo's been a turkey lately. He's been getting up in the middle of the night, needing to go out. Legitimately he does go right out, do his business and come back in but I think it's happened so often his body is now trained to do that. I make Jim take care of it but we need to nip this in the bud. 

I guess I don't really have anything else to talk about. So I guess I'll finish my routine and get to work. I'm sure I can find plenty to do. Happy Tuesday! Later!

Too Fast

This weekend flew by and I'm not okay with that. It was a pretty good weekend. Mostly relaxing. We did go out and finally purchase a recliner. After shopping around we found that Big Sandy had the best prices and the largest selection. Interestingly, the first chair Jim sat in was the one he chose. It was also a lot cheaper than I'd expected to spend. It's a zero gravity so reclines really far back plus it has a massager and can charge your phone. It isn't the mac daddy of recliners but it's everything Jim wanted. Unfortunately it isn't in stock so we may have to wait until March but we've waited this long trying to find the right one, what's another couple months? 

Other than the above and lunch, Jim and I were home. We were going to go out for dinner on Saturday but instead we got take out from Tony's. I'm pretty sure the take out dish was larger than what you'd get in the restaurant. My eggplant parmesan will feed me three times. So good. 

We also finished watching Stranger Things (WAHHHHH!!!! So sad it's over), got in some football (although I don't really care about the playoffs but I'm rooting for the Bears) and played some cards yesterday. You could also find me in the spa several times over the weekend. 

On a sad note, Bob Weir died. He was one of the front men for the Grateful Dead and now there's only one founding member left. Of course the music will never die which is exactly the legacy Bob wanted to leave behind. RIP. 

Ooh, I saw that Mouse Island is for sale! Only $5,000,000!!! Anyone want to go in with me!? (If you don't know, Mouse is the island that sits right at the Miller Boat dock in Catawba. 

Dinner tonight: I think I'm going to do Skyline but I got the chicken chili. We haven't tried it yet and I want to see if it's all that. Yummy.

And that's all I've got. Today I have an IEP via Zoom. After today I won't have another one until March (ish) and only three left for the year. AND!!! only one more that includes an ETR! Bonus! This is pretty exciting for me. 

Okay gotta head out. Happy Monday! Let's hope it's a quick week. (Oh, right next weekend is a three-day weekend! Yippee!) Later! 

Personal Trainer

I've decided to take on a personal trainer and I found the perfect one. He's really cheap. He's fine with getting paid in treats, chicken jerky and cuddles. His name is Boo. How did this all come about you ask? Well, my plan for this morning was my typical Friday morning plan: Up at 4:20, feed the boys, drink my coffee, get on the elliptical. However, when my alarm startled me out of my cozy sleep and I tried to hop out of bed but instead rolled/fell, I realized I was too damn tired for all that shit. So I made my mind up to just relax. No elliptical. No sweating. Just some me time on the couch until about 5:20. 

Fast forward to 4:45. This is the time when Boo, who'd been watching the clock, climbed on top of me to sit in my lap and lick the bejesus out of my face until I agreed to get up to give him his after-breakfast treat. He's relentless. This morning, same thing happened but instead of hopping up, I tried to gently shove him off me and say, "Uh uh! Not this morning." But he didn't let up and started pawing me. Once again, I tried to gently push him away while saying, "Boo! I'm not doing it this morning. Give me a minute." But he wasn't having it. He once again, pounced on me and even more aggressively "kissed" me. And then who joins in the pestering? Scout. He jumped in, pawing at me and bark/howling. I mean, what the heck!? I'm convinced they were saying, "C'mon!!! Don't give in! Be strong! Power through!!!" So I did. And when I got off that elliptical I was so happy and proud that I didn't let the exhaustion take over.

Oh, and The Pitt is back so I got to watch 1/2 of the first episode which makes me happy. What doesn't make me happy is that they're releasing episodes once a week. That's good and bad. Good because at least it will fuel me on Fridays to work out but bad because now I can't binge. 

I've really been enjoying my spa lately. The last two days I've gotten in to swim and it's been lovely. With the warmer weather, I turned down the temp a bit and it really gave me gas to complete a full workout. I've found that the tippy top temp (104) makes it hard to get a 30 minute workout in. Of course anticipating the lower temperatures coming, I turned it back up to 104 and am excited to get in tonight. So happy we put that thing in. Even with the problems it's given us it's still worth it.  

I have an ETR/IEP today which I'm not looking forward to. It's for a kid who spends half his day at the career center and half at Kings, which means, I never see him. It's hard to give sped services to a kid who you don't see. I'm trying to convince the parents to convince the kid to go full time at the career center next year. We'll see if that happens. It's also for the kid who didn't get the modified exam a couple weeks ago. I'll be interested to see if the parent say anything about that. If they do, it will be very hard for me to NOT throw the gen ed teacher under the bus. I will not take a bullet for her, that's for sure. And considering she alluded to it being my fault, I'll certainly make sure there's no question that she made the mistake.

Dinner tonight: I'm going to use the leftover taco meat to make taco salads tonight. Yummy. 

Plans for the weekend: We need to clean the house but other than that, nothing much. We really need to get back to Big Sandy's to bet a new recliner. Maybe we'll do that. 

Okay best mosey. Happy Friday! Later!

Grow A Set

To start, because I know you're curious, my IEP meeting went well yesterday and I think once the parent showed up (on Zoom), the meeting lasted all of about 15 minutes. Most of that was spent with the parent opening a link so she could sign paperwork. It was excellent. Again, scholarship IEPs are pointless and mostly just an irritation but they're harmless. (Knock on wood...I know there have been some troubling cases.) 

Why does this week feel like the longest week ever!? I was sitting in my car yesterday, having arrived at work, procrastinating walking into the place and I thought What day is it? Is this week 2 of the quarter? And then I realized it was only DAY  THREE of the quarter! FUCK!!! 

So earlier in the week, I sent an email out to all of Stupid Baby's teachers (of which he has one new one since his semester class changed) giving them a reminder about his behaviors, filling out his behavior chart and so on. I got an email back from his new teacher who thanked me for the info then asked about SB's phone. (As most kids are, SB is addicted to his phone and will try to have it out every minute of the day.) He said, "Does he normally agree to set his phone on your desk or does it take some convincing?" I replied with, "I don't give him an option. I just take it out of his hands. If he argues or pushes back, send him to the office." I mean, why is this so hard? Agree? Fuck that. I'm not asking for him to agree, I'm telling him to follow my direction and if he doesn't? Bye! These fucking teachers are such pussies. 

In other news, I have a little break today. From IEPs that is. I might just go to the store during my plan period to get a break from all the busy work I've been swamped in. But of course I have a stupid staff meeting at the end of the day. It's apparently an update on the construction which I don't give a shit about. I can look out the window and see what's happening. There's piles of dirt. There's an elevator shaft that's been built. There are a couple cranes moving shit around. You know when I'll care about the construction? When it's done and I'm moving in. It pisses me off that this meeting is mandatory. Why are you wasting my time? Dumb. 

Dinner: Maggie got me jonesing for a hamburger so we'll have hamburgers and fries tonight. I'll probably just open a can of green beans to accompany. 

I finally weighed myself after 3 weeks of not. I'm down 10 pounds since I started. That's fine with me. Being on the GLP for 8 weeks that's a little over a pound a week which is exactly what I was told I should expect. Slow and steady wins the race. My clothes are fitting better and I feel good. It's so interesting how this has changed how I think about food, in a good way. Hopefully things will keep on keeping on and I'll meet my goal weight by March or April. We'll see. 

I knew it was only a matter of time before ICE killed an innocent bystander. I'm sure this will have no impact on what the government is doing. People are allowing our country to turn into a military state and I don't understand how more people aren't outraged. What's it going to take? 

Okay - I best mosey. Happy Thursday! Hot dog it's Thursday!!! Later!

1 Down 3 To Go

These first two weeks of the year are busy, busy, busy for me because of the number of IEPs scheduled. In 6 work days, I have 4. Yesterday was number one and I'll have another today. The one today is my scholarship IEP which always leaves me in a foul mood. These are the dumbest fucking things we're required to do. I mean, I kind of get it: The district of residence is required to write an IEP for any scholarship student in case they come back to attend their district school. The chick whose meeting I have today happens to go to my alma mater - St. Ursula. And I'll tell you of all the scholarship IEPs I've had to write and spearhead, St. Ursula is the WORST provider. The chick in charge of giving me info to enter into the IEP is completely inept. She gave me the same exact information last year as this with hardly any pertinent information. She obviously has no clue what an IEP is nor how to write one and that's a problem. In truth I really don't give two shits because again, scholarship IEPs are stupid and it really only makes the counselor at St. U look like a fucking moron but come on dumb ass, throw me a fucking bone. Hopefully this meeting will take less than a 1/2 hour. 

Yesterday's meeting for Greg went fine as I'd expected. Both parents and a mighty beat up Greg attended. Turns out, they spent most of Monday evening in the emergency room after the fight. Greg has a swelled shut right eye, a concussion and they'll have to reevaluate later after his swelling goes down to determine if he has a broken nose. I'm guessing even if he weren't suspended, he wouldn't be attending school. The parents decided NOT to press charges against the other kid which in my mind is dumb. Granted, Greg's actions started the ruckus, but the other kid threw the first (and maybe only) punch(es), plus he's a known hothead. I kind of felt sorry for Greg. I'm hoping, however, that this teaches him a little lesson: Stop acting like an asshole or you're going to get your ass beat. 

I had a dream last night that I'd invited a bunch of people over to Raeburn to swim. We were swimming and hanging and I looked around and saw a bunch of people I didn't know. And that's when I realized, "Shit! This isn't our house anymore!" I skedaddled out of there and left the new owners to their pool. 

We're on a stupid "assembly schedule" today for some wrestling match at the end of the day. I guess we do this every year but I can't remember. I guess I shouldn't complain though because bells are shorter, thus, I don't have to see the kids for as long. AND!!! Since my plan period is during the lunch period, I still get an hour on my own. Woot! 

Remember the kid who I've had for a couple years who is mentally ill, often hospitalized, banned from having a Chromebook in his personal possession because he's a little sneak? He charged about $5,000 to his step-mother's Amazon account buying crazy shit like computers. Well, he's at it again. Yesterday, he was using the Chromebook that is assigned to my room for him (each of his teachers has a specific "loaner" Chromebook which is kept in their room, specifically for his use) and for some reason, he couldn't get to the link to sign on for an assessment I was having the kids do. I went over to Lisa to see if she could riddle out the problem and she was able to sign on with his username and password. So I go back to my room and try again. Nothing. And then I realize, this little fucker is signed into his Chromebook under his brother's email. Fucking little sneak. I had to report him which is a problem - for him - because his parents are going to lose their minds and I'm pretty sure he's on probation. Ugh. This kid is one that freaks me out to. The way he looked at me when I caught him gave me the willies. I'll be interested to see if he's at school today. This is the type of shit that puts him back into the hospital. 

Dinner tonight: I think I'll do a sheet pan meal of kielbasa, potatoes and broccoli. 

K - best mosey...I've rambled on long enough. Happy Wednesday! Later!

Great Start

(Insert sarcasm) Yesterday actually started really well. Although I had nothing in my plans, I managed to get most of the weeks lessons posted on Google Classroom. Additionally, I finished an IEP and sent the draft for Fridays meeting. (Actually, I sent the email to send the draft but found when I got up this morning that I forgot to attach the doc...oops. I guess my brain is still in vacation mode.) My classes went fine mostly because I'm easing everyone, myself included, back into the swing of thing. 

And then 6th bell came along and Greg (whose schedule was switched at the end of last semester to be in my - sigh - ELA class) didn't show up. I emailed the powers that be but of course they didn't respond. I emailed the attendance secretary and nurse to see if they had any ideas. The secretary emailed back to say she was pretty sure he was in the nurse's office with a bloody nose. Uh oh. Then I started getting smatterings of information from students about a fight. Great. Then my VP showed up to tell me the shenanigans that Greg managed to get into. Now, there are different versions about what happened but apparently Greg decided it would be a good idea to try to bulldoze his way through the crowded hallways while yelling, "Out the way muther fuckers." The story goes that he barreled into a hot head who didn't take kindly and clocked him. Greg started swinging and then a fellow football player of Greg's witnessing the melee, tried to break it up. Long story short, Greg is suspended for 3 days. So, good news, bad news.  

Of course the IEP for Greg is today. Should be interesting. Oh, and get this, Greg's parents are headed to Hawaii tomorrow for the rest of the week. They're leaving their older (20) son to take care of Greg. Hmm...I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with leaving my mentally unstable kid without parental supervision in that way but whatever. It's probably a good thing he's suspended but what a way to start the semester. 

In other news, I thought I'd been really quick in my routine this morning but now I'm running late. So, I'm going to close here. Dinner tonight will be pork tenderloin with rice and probably steamed cauliflower. Nothing special but still delicious and easy. 

K - best mosey. Got lots to do this morning. Happy Tuesday. Later. 

Christmas Fave

I was very remiss in my post from Friday (yes, I posted late on Friday, so go back if you didn't see it) about my Christmas gifts from Jimmy. Granted, our trip to the Bahamas was our real gift to each other but of course we bought each other things so we had things to open on Christmas morning.  Jimmy got a lot of Bahama gifts (beachy shirts for dinner, new swimsuits and swim shirts) and needed clothes for everyday wear, all of which he likes. Most importantly, however, Jimmy got me the one thing I really wanted. If you know me, you know I loves me a Ninja product. I have Ninja pans, a Ninja grill, and the Ninja ice cream maker. The one thing I didn't have that I really coveted was a Ninja flip. It's a 10-in-1 machine that does everything except the dishes. Thankfully, Jimmy took the hint (when I sent him a picture of it from Costco with aisle where he could find it) and purchased it for me. Why I love it? Well, it does everything. It makes perfect toast. When I don't want to use my oven, it's large enough to bake, broil or warm anything. Best of all, it saves me counter space, thus the "flip". So far all I've done is toast and air fry some hash brown patties. I can't wait to do all the things!        

The weekend was good...relaxing. We got back into the swing of things after our trip, took down Christmas, played cards with the neighbors, walked the boys, cuddled with the boys and I procrastinated doing anything to ready myself for today. I absolutely should have done something but I said, "fuck it" and decided to ease back into school and figure things out when I get there today. 

I'm pretty sure I'm mostly ready for the new semester but truthfully, I can't remember. I know I did all the needed things like sending grades and IEP progress reports but I can't remember if I got my Google Classroom set. It doesn't really matter though because 1st and 2nd bell will just be my Guided Interventions and in ELA we're finishing up watching Harry Potter (we didn't quite finish after kids finished their exam). The week is going to be a bit crazy because I have 3 IEPs, starting tomorrow, but they're mostly done. Friday's isn't but I'll get that cranked out today...hopefully. 

Today I'm back on the exercise/eating well routine. Not that I've been awful these last two weeks but I need to be better. I'm still doing the GLP-1 but I haven't weighed myself in two weeks. I'll weigh myself on Thursday and see what's what. I probably gained a pound or two but that's okay...I'll get back to where I want to be. 

Dinner tonight: We have a million leftovers so we'll do that. Choices of homemade Detroit pizza, burritos, pork and sauerkraut and tuna noodle casserole. All good. 

Okay, that's all I've got. Time to go kiss the babies goodbye. They're going to be so sad and mad that I'm leaving them. They keep telling me to quit my job and be a stay-at-home dog mommy. I want to so bad but then how would I buy Boo all his treats and ducks? 

Happy Monday! Gotta figure out what the hell I'm doing at school. Later!

Forgive Me!

I really can't be blamed for not posting. I mean, I can't remember what day it is and then my computer was stowed away which meant I didn't have it staring at me to serve as a reminder that I was supposed to post! 

Here's a 10 day recap of what's been happening: 

Christmas was good...chill and delicious. We were at Becky's for dinner and had our normal Prime rib, mashers and sides. Jim and I were home by 7:00 ish? I can't remember. We were in bed early so we could get to the airport. All travels to the Bahamas went off without a hitch. In fact, we arrived at our destination a little early. 

The Bahamas! It was amazing and exactly what I needed. I'll say that the resort wasn't as nice as Punta Cana and the food wasn't as good but the beach was incredible and I loved the pools. The people were fantastic as well. It was exactly what we needed and reminds me that I love a beach resort. Five days was the perfect amount of time. A week would be too long I think, mainly because I just miss my boys too much. 

We got back on Wednesday and other than our last flight, everything was on time. The final leg of our flight had a small delay and we got in about 30 minutes past our original landing but that was okay. 

Yesterday was a day of travel recovery. I did loads of laundry and hugged on the boys. Scout actually got two walks because when I went to walk him in the morning the roads were a complete sheet of ice. This meant he only got a mile walk and that just wasn't going to do for him. I ended up going out later and giving him a good 3 miler. He was so happy. He's currently looking at me with sad eyes, knowing that I'm not taking him after I finish this. 

I managed to get our annual good luck meal in yesterday: Pork and sauerkraut and as usual, it was delicious. I also managed to get a good soak in the hot tub and I plan on swimming later today. I gotta get back into the swing of exercising again. I did work out in the Bahamas but not like I normally would. 

My plans today: after I finish this I'll head to Aldi. Jim's taking his truck BACK into the dealership (dummies didn't fix what was wrong while it was there last week) and then we'll come home to take Christmas down. I'm ready to have the clutter put away. 

Dinner tonight: I'll either make a Detroit style pizza or burritos, whatever Jim's in the mood for. Or maybe we'll go to Tony's.