Long and Busy
Just like everyone else's day, mine was long and busy. How average am I?
Some things that might not have happened in your day:
1) I made all those who didn't do my noun cheer do it in front of the whole school at the cafeteria
2) I got yelled at for putting stamps on a kid's hand
3)I had to give sitting lessons because none of them keep still
4)Carpool under 100. . . woo!!

The best part of the day was this morning, though. Eric is out of town, and I was feeling sorry for myself. I wasn't even planning on drinking coffee because I thought it was too big of a hassle to make for one person. When I looked at the pot, however, I discovered fresh, hot coffee. Before he left, Eric had prepared the coffee and set up the timer so I would have a nice surprise. It's a small thing, but it made my day. Sometimes all you need is French Roast to feel loved.

Rah, Ack, Hiss
Hate Mondays!!!! Hate!! Burning hate!!!
I had no planning period and I had to teach an elective this afternoon. I had 16 know it all boys and was supposed to do a trivia game with them. They almost came to blows, one child tried to eat a mustard packet, and one made fake fart noises Not my finest hour. I unleased super bitchy Mrs. Bresie. Yes, I did.
Anyway I want to see no one, talk to no one, and think about nothing except my new issue of Entertainment Weekly and the upcoming CSI episodes I will watch in silence.
Does teaching make one a hermit?
I must go back and read about how much I love my job. Everyone needs a good reminder some days. Love the job. Hate Mondays!

Play Ball
The Rangers fell apart against Oakland, but despite some bad pitching and sluggish batting, the weekend was a lovely success.
It did not, however, begin that way. Friday at school was disastrous because the air conditioning went out. We had mass first thing in the morning, and 500 bodies were crammed into pews in 95 degrees of heat. I thought I was going to pass out. The priest, poor man, had to stop several times to wipe the sweat off his face! The day was pretty much a wash after that. Then I stepped in ants. Not my best day. Still we salvaged it by hanging at the Tap In Pub where the food is good and the drinks better. Yesterday Don and Chris made the driv eup, and we swam, lounged, and hung out at the stadium. Even Toby got in on the action. It was nice they could see what we've accomplished. Plus I like the words "Play ball!"Anyway now I'm settling down to all the things I did not get a chance to take care of, and I'm thinking of lesson plans (although not very seriously).
It's a nice day to veg and curl up with a book.

Lengthy
I've had a long few days, and my body is paying for it--sore everything! Last night I was on my way home when I heard that mom had had another attack. She had it at the doc's office at Presby hospital, and dad had to come and pick her up. They ended up leaving a car there, so I drove up to Carrollton, down to Presby and then out to Grapevine. I didn't get home until almost 8! Today I didn't get home until after 6.

Still despite the late hours all is good. i love my job! The students are responding well to me I heard this today:
"You're the best teacher ever"
and
"This is my favorite class"
That felt good.
The school is much more structured, but I think that it's really making me a better teacher. I feel more in charge of my classroom than I have before. This is a really good place for me to grow as an educator.
And with that noble sentiment I'm off to lie in the pool and then watch CSI. One can't be lofty all the time.

Things That Made My Day and the Crap that Ruined It
The good stuff first:
My bad class was so good today! Perfect behavior!
The kids responded to my assignment positively.
I heard this in the hall: "I actually had fun in English today"
I heard this in my classroom: "You're cool for a human being, but especially for a teacher.
No carpool duty!
I left work early after a long day yesterday.
A good hair day.

Then:
I came home to a horrible stink--Toby had shat all over his crate and then kicked the bottom tray off into the middle of the dining room, spraying some crap all over. His butt is covered in poop. I cleaned up the cage and the floor, but he is out in the back until Eric gets home because I refuse to wipe my dog's butt.

I know I am supposed to take the bad with the good, but dog shit is not what I had in mind.

TPM
Eric rocks!
His immediate supervisor stepped down today, and Eric was chosen as the new Technical Project Manager!! He was thinking he would move up perhaps next year, but this is amazing and unexpected. We don't really know the details but it will probably be more money and certainly more impressive on the resume. I'm ridiculously proud! He's all modest and self-deprecating, but I just think he's a bad ass.
Anyway, not much else to report. I picked up Jen and Jay at the airport, and she was glowing (and the big rock was sparkling!) I also had a good day at school. My one bad class seems to have transformed--perhaps our class meeting was helpful. That or they were too tired to be bad. I do see them in the morning. I also got to talk about vocabulary. For a word geek like me, disucssing Greek and Latin roots all day is pretty cool. Yes, I am that nerdy. I also enjoy dissecting sentences. . . should I get a pocket protector?
I called a bunch of parents today. MY goal is to call all of my parents by the week's end and to introduce myself. I find parents are more cooperative if I make an effort to say hi rather than just calling when there is a problem. So far the parents have been really receptive and appreciative of my calls. They all told me what a nice place the school is, and that really made me feel good. Many of them also said their kids were very complimentary to me. It's good to make an impression I guess.
I just got out of the pool, and I guess I'm too content for my usual snarkiness or bemused attachment. (For Cranky and Petey--I'm tired of these m.f. snakes on this m.f. plane too)

Amy's Play House
We had a lurvely weekend playing host to Petey and Cranky. It was so nice to get to hang out with them and show them the town. Actually we just stayed around Grapevine and Southlake, but it was so much fun.
They got here Friday night, and we hung around the house for awhile, watching tv and chatting. Saturday we did mainstreet Grapevine and had a lot of fun hitting all the shops and the farmer's market. Then we swam for a few hours. Check these out:
Petey chilling in the hot tub
Me trying to drink a beer and stay on the noodle at the same time
Cranky enjoying rafty goodness
The boys kicking back
We also gave in to temptation and saw Snakes on a Plane. I was alternately thoroughly amused and terrified. No one would confuse it with good, but the movie entertained me. I won't bore with all the details, but this weekend there was much good food, laughing, swimming, and general goodness.

The best part of the weekend, however, was the phone call I got on Friday night: Jen called from Vegas to say that Jay proposed. It was funny, because I had this sisterly feeling, and I knew he was going to propose. When the phone rang, I answered, saying "So, are you engaged yet?" It would have been awkward if I had been wrong! Anyway, she is very happy. I am going to be the Maid of Honor. We will be having a lot of fun over the next few months. I can see many manicures in our future.

All is good except I did not do my lesson planning. Based on the complete exhaustion that I feel right now, I am not seeing it happening tonight either. Oh well. I think tonight calls for a bottle of wine, the swimming pool and the love sac.

My Girl Friday
I feel like a kid. . . TGIF.
I'm super excited because Petey and Cranky are coming up from Austin this weekend to hang. We're planning a lot of swimming, chilling, sipping of ritas, biking, shopping, and general goodness. It will be so nice to see them and get to hang with our own friends. I love Jen and her friends, but it always seems like we're losers who can't get our own friends. Now I"m importing them!
Actually I've met a lot of people at work who I love. Hopefully we can turn it into a hang out occassionally thing too.
I like my new job a lot. I know it's only day three of classes, but i can tell that these are really cool kids. I have 5 amazing classes and 1 not so good one, but I can handle one bad bunch a day. Even though a few students act like idiots, all of them are good at the heart. They are good natured, polite, smart, and well-mannered. Not many teachers can say that about their students.

Frankly just being back in the classroom makes me happy. It is what I was born to do, and teaching is when I most feel my purpose. I wish everyone could love what they did as much as I do.

Here's to happy weekend thoughts.

Teacher Leave Those Kids Alone
Today was the first day of claasses. I had really forgotten how much it stinks to have to stand the whole day! My feet are killing me. Those two inch heels that were really comfy while sitting are making them scream. Foot pain aside it was a pretty good day. I think I'm going to be happy at the new school. I snapped a few pics of my first day.
In the first one I'm chilling by the pool after a long day. Same with this one. Clemmy had to get in on the back to school action.
The final shot has nothing to do with school but proves that we finally have living room furniture. Please ignore the mess on the table. Since moving life has pretty much been constant chaos.

In bonus news mom has been released from the hospital. She says she feels better than she has since this all started back in June. I like the back to school season when everything still feels new and possible even if it is sometimes scary.

In Brief
No complete sentences for me today.
1) Mom gets out of the hospital tomorrow
2) School starts tomorrow. Completely freaked and terrified.
3)I need a glass of wine
4)Got a letter from old home owner's association--they are now complaining about the trim we painted in May. It feels good to be able to throw the letter away! Not my frickin' problem anymore.
5)What the hell will I wear tomorrow?
6) How shallow was number 5?
7)Eek
8) Where's that wine again?

That is all.

Ticked Off
The doctors have made a tentative diagnosis: Tick Born Relapsing Fever. Only my mother could get such a completely messed up bizarro disease. THey have begun treatment despite the fact that they are not completely sure she has the disease. Hopefully this will start her on the path to recovery and she will be released soon. We anticipate her getting out sometime this week. Hopefully this will be her last hospital visit for a long time. We are all completely worn out and weary of sickness.
We were cultured and went to see The Full Monty at Theatre Three. It was hysterical. Everyone loves full frontal nudity. Then there was yummy goodness at the Gingerman and Lee Harvey's. That's the part I need to keep focus on, not the worry and hospital. My hubby is a wunderkind at plumbing apparently; he fixed the pool and the washing machine this weekend. I guess if suddenly world peace is achieved and we no longer need defense contractors, he could have a lucrative career in plumbing! He just needs to develop an ass and a beer gut. I'm sure he'd be happy to work on the latter. I'm always amazed at his ability to fix things--definatley not my style.
I ahve two more days of inservice and then we leap into the school year. I am not ready, but I"m sure it will happen whether I am feeling ready or not. I can do this. . . right? I need a surge of confidence--failing that I need lots of chocolate.

Is 7:30 a.m. too early for a drink?
Those are the words Eric greeted me with this morning. When I took a look around the house, I wanted to head to the bar myself.
Sometime in the night Toby got sick all over the house--he puked and peed and did various other ickiness upstairs and down including on our brand new couch which has been in the house less than 12 hours. There is a lot of stuff that will be hilarious later on down the linge, for example I can now acknowledge various humorous aspects of our move, but this will never amuse me. He is now in his crate, and I"m frankly not sure if he will ever come out. Eric is steamcleaning the carpets, and I'm not sure if he'll calm down any time soon.
Mom also had a bad day yesterday. She had one of her attacks again while at the hospital. Interestingly despite the fact that they have several times told us that they needed to get blood cultures during one of these attacks, none of them took any initiative to actually take blood during her two hour attack. They are looking at Lyme's Disease, but they also just disscovered that they don't hink her intestines are working properly. Perhaps we'll have a diagnosis soon, but I doubt it.
Where's that dink?

Leaky
I'm all pathetic and self-pitying at the moment. Definately not my most attractive phase! I shall attempt to get over it now.
Our pool is leaking--or atleast one of the pipes it, and plumbing problems make me cranky! THat being said my broken washing machine seems to have somehow fixed itself. Perhaps the plumbing demons are trying to broker a tentative peace or something.
We had a staff retreat today which would have been nice except that I seem to be allergic to something in the room we had the retreat--my eyes went watery and I honked through several kleenexes. Yup, I'm the queen of first impressions. I keep trying to remember how I felt when I first started my last job and how quickly I grew to be happy there. This will happen too.
We were supposed to spend the night at the Gaylord tonight, but that is not happening any longer, so I wnat to try to come up with something special. This has been a hard summer, and we really need a place to unwind even if it is just a few miles away. Perhaps I'll call up the Embassy SUites and see if they have any last minute deals. I need some serious pampering. That, and some chalk holders. It's a glam world.

Midnight Rider
It's after 4 am and going back to sleep seems a pointless task. I was awakened by the usual mind wrecking pain that 4 advil hasn't yet begun to touch. I really hate this. Once my insurance kicks in, I'll try another doctor. Perhaps this one will have an answer for me. I guess 4 is as good a time to blog as any.
First day of full faculty meetings was yesterday, and it went fairly well although I still have no idea what I am doing. For a control freak like myself, that is a scary prospect. Still, the school seems nice and I feel I could be successful there.
Mom is back in the hospital--she had another attack. They will most likely transfer her to the research hospital in Dallas on Monday so the rare Infectious Disease teams can take a crack at her. Perhaps they'll find something everyone else has missed. The situation is getting out of hand.
If it weren't 4 and I hadn't been just curled in a ball on the floor crying in pain this post might be cheerier. Better luck next time.

Into the Fire
After this long, strange summer I find myself on the cusp of returning to work. While excited to get back to doing what I love, I am also terrified of entering this new situation. All of my ususal composure vanishes when I think what if I don't know what I'm doing? Silly, I know, but there it is.
I know I'm at least physically ready as Jen and I did some back to school shopping yesterday. I got a bunch of nice clothes and a few new pairs of shoes. Even if bumbling and incompetent, I will at least look pretty cute while in the classroom. I'm thinking of getting a haircut to embark on this new stage. I tend to cut my hair at important parts of my life--I think that's a Jewish custom, but I have adopted it. I'm thinking cute shoulder length bob or something. I also need a back to school mani and pedi to get me ready to go.
Mom is being sent home tomorrow. Hopefully this will go as planned. She is very ready to return to real life even though there is still no diagnosis. We're waiting on a number of test restults. It might of course remain a mystery forever. I hope to never set foot in Plano Presby again.
It's starting to storm which is a rare even in August in Texas. Maybe the end to the long, hard summer is upon us.

Milagros
Miracle of miracles, Toby and I actually just had a really fun time together. After I got home from work, I wanted to chill in the pool. Usually when I try to swim, Toby is barking and being horrible; it started out that way, but after I swam my laps, i let him come out and I put him on the raft. He loved it, and we swam together for almost an hour with no barking or yelling insanity. That combined with the crating we're now doing at night and during the day gives me hope that perhaps a pleasant future with him is possible.
The first day of work was pretty neat. All of the new teachers in the diocese met at this parish in Cockrell Hill which is by Oak Cliff. It was a really cool networking time. I actually ran into 2 people I knew from Austin. Nick used to teach at St. Mary's, and he's an amazing person, and Debbie was at St. Gabriel's for years. It was good to see them both. I also met up with my new team teacher, and she's wonderful. We instantly hit it off, and I think together we can really develop a cool curriculum that meets the needs of the students. The whole day made me really positive about teaching, especially in a Catholic School. I go back tomorrow for two more sessions. Next week i start inservice at my new school itself. I'm very excited to be getting back to what I do best.
Mom also had a good day. She is feeling fairly upbeat. They are now looking at an endochronical problem, and they ordered new tests. I think, however, that they will probably send her home Friday or Saturday and see what happens. I hope that this whole mess might possibly stay in our rear view mirror. I just don't want another relapse, I am not sure any of us could cope with that. If all goes well and she is out of the hosptial as planned, we are swimming here on Monday. I sometmes thing that's the best therapy--better than an anti-biotic.
E and I are planning a nice evening in--maybe some hot tubbing and Chinese take-out. Can't be too wild now that I'm a working woman and all. . .

Dr. Livingston I Presume or Into the Bowels of Hell
For all of you hanging on the edge of your seat, mom does not have malaria! We, of course, were terribly concerned about this. Her travel to foreign lands, Canada, had us all worried about tropical insect based diseases. This is a huge relief to everyone. You can all let out the bated breath.
The scoping procedure scheduled for 12 yesterday did not happen until after 6 p.m. So of course she could have no food, no liquids, not even a stick of gum all day. Anyway we were all convinced that this would be the test, that we would finally have an answer. There is, of course, nothing wrong with her digestive system according to the doctor. Mom actually said, "I've never been so disappointed not to have colon cancer." I agreed with her which shows how twisted the situation has become. I wasn't hoping for colon cancer, obviously, but I was hoping they'd find something there that explained this summer of hospitalizations. We're on day 17 in the hospital, and we are still where we were on day one, clueless. We are, however, more than a little crabby about the whole thing.
Tomorrow I go back to school and will be unable to really help during the day, so I am kinda bummer. I don't know how much real help I have been, but it makes me feel useful to be there, to get juice, ect. . .
Maybe today will be the day.

Damn Hills
After hanging at the hosptial all day yesterday, I was up for some action, so Eric and I checked out some of the bike trails in Grapevine. IT was a wonderful ride except for those aforementioned hills. It's amazingly beautiful here. The trail runs around Lake Grapevine, and as we paused by a park at the side of the lake about 5 miles in to watch the sun set over the water, I was amazingly glad we live here. There are actually 32 miles of trails although we only covered about 9 yesterday. That being said, I am supposed to do a 20 mile ride in a few weeks, and I feel hopelessly unprepared! I really need to get serious and being riding every day again if I am really going to do it. It's so hot taht the heat just sucks all my energy, especially on those damn hills!
I accidentally went swimming this morning. . . I was cleaning the pool and it looked so wonderful that I just dove in. I get so much peace there. Well I typically do, but Clementine decided that she wanted inside and ruined my perfect early morning with her constant meowing.
I'm off to the hosptial in a minute to sit with mom while she has a procedure done this afternoon. I hope this is the one that tells us something. It's about time.