Recovering

I am recovering from all the eating I have done yesterday and today. How could I pass all that yummy food that I prepared (minus the turkey and gravy)!

Today we got up early and did some shopping. It wasn't my idea, I would rather sleep in. But since I don't get much sleep these days, I figured...why not? I didn't find any good deals, but my parents did. I wasn't shopping for anything except for a microSD card for Andy's new camera. And I did get one for his camera and a larger one for my cell phone.

I got him a camera for Christmas that he had been looking at for some time now. It's a camera where he will be able to take it in the water with him when he snorkels. (Did I tell you guys this already?) It would have been better for me to wrap it up and let him be surprised, but the reality is...if he wants something, he gets it. It's better he knows than he buy it himself and I buy it too.

Andy called this morning. He played football (and did a good job...jock!) but hurt his pinky finger. He said it is very swollen right now. I told him to get it looked at and I hope he does.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving Day and it is very hard being away from Andy on such a family oriented holiday. He has already had his turkey dinner and is playing his new PSP. He's playing Madden and keeps losing to one of his friends. He is taking up space right now at his work area because his replacement is there and taken over everything.

We are supposed to show how thankful we are today. I, on the other hand tell myself daily how blessed I am for having found such a wonderful husband, having a great family and such special friends.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Wow, I am tired today. I could hardly crawl out of bed today. Andy called several times this weekend. He isn't on the computer very often anymore, so he calls. This weekend was busy with shopping but not sleeping. I still find it hard to sleep but hopefully I won't have that problem with that tonight.

School tomorrow will be fun. We are having a beach volleyball game against the 4th and 5th grade teachers. At my old school we would play kickball against the 5th graders and the faculty always won. Hopefully we'll that kind of outcome tomorrow as well. I didn't even know about this until today. It hasn't been hyped up very much.

I am excited to be having 5 days off. We'll see how much blogging I get done in those days. I plan on starting and finishing Twilight. And start figuring out what I will be taking with me to Hawaii. So if I'm not here much-its just because I'm busy. I hope all of you have a great long weekend and enjoy your family.

Well, once again I've been called out for being behind on the blog. It has been a fast several days and I find myself worn out at the end of the day.

School is going very well. Everyone that I'm involved with seems to be happy with the changes and we are now in a groove. It doesn't get much better than that. I might actually be pretty good at this job...of course I have all the perks and none of the downsides like paperwork. I'm not stressed at all and I get to see and talk to so many people.

I am even doing the after school program for one hour everyday. And I really do enjoy it.

Andy will be back to Hawaii soon. His replacement has arrived and Andy will be showing him what to do. He says that everyone there is ready to leave and are all moody (including him). I must be ready to because I had a dream last night about packing up my stuff.

Other than that, I think that life has been pretty much the same. I find that I have been catching up with a lot of old friends lately and it makes me very happy.

Here is my friend Jennifer and me having drinks and dinner earlier this week.

Some of this and that

I have completed my 2nd day in my new position and I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm doing my best with what I know and hope it works out. There is so much that I don't understand about this position. I look at things from a regular ed teacher and question things a lot. I'm probably driving the principal nuts-but she says I'm not. I do find that my days fly by very fast and I'm not as stressed. That's a nice feeling.

The teacher I subbed for in first grade was very pleased to see the progress the kids have made and bragged about me and them. Imagine that! I did something good.

While it was nice to hear "you did a good job" from another teacher, nothing compares from hearing that from a former student. You always hope that you are making a difference or an impact. On Sunday I received a message from one of my former students. She is at a new school this year and told me that she is doing wonderful. She thinks it was because she was in my class. I actually teared up when I read it. It makes all the hard work and stress worth it.

One last thing. I read something in the book I'm reading (Twilight) and it stuck out to me. I wonder what all of you think of it.

"When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end."

Chuck E. Cheese

Sunday the family went to Chuck E. Cheese. We had such a great time. David had went there once before with his dad's family and he hated it. He was scared...but not this time!

Weekend w/Jo

It has been such a fast weekend and very busy. Jo and her boyfriend came in to town on Friday and I feel like we haven't stopped since she's been here. We went to dinner on Friday night and laughed, talked, and caught up.

On Saturday we went to a bar in Manhattan to watch the KSU vs NE football game. Yes, we lost but its okay. The season has been awful anyway. We had yummy food, drinks and enjoyed chatting it up.

But before we went to the bar, we went to the mall. A few people have talked to me about the book Twilight. It is coming out as a movie this Friday. I hadn't heard of the book before but I thought that I should get it. Jo's boyfriend, Gene, wanted to read it too. So we had to make a trip to the bookstore.

Here are some pictures from the bar.

Me, Marcie, and Jo


Jo and Gene

Gene being a nerd and reading at a bar-guess the game was boring him!

Pictures from when we went to the zoo for their halloween thing. Sorry it took so long! I can't even recall if I ever said we went to this. The pictures were on my sister's camera and I finally got them from her.

Finally Done

Today I was finally done in 1st grade. I made it through 8 weeks with them and I'm excited to be out of there. But when I was leaving the classroom today, I felt weird. It just felt odd to leave and know I wasn't in that room anymore.

I will now be SPED teacher. I'll work with kiddos who have a learning disability of some sort and already that has caused me to have headaches. Before I go back to school on Monday, I have to come up with a new schedule of when I'll be pulling the kids and how I will be able to service all their needs.

It doesn't matter where I go or what I do...just like in everyone elses daily jobs and careers there are always things that make our heads hurt.

Andy is almost done from where ever he is and I'm excited for that. I can't wait to be able to call him when I want instead of writing a bunch of emails throughout the day just so I don't forget to tell him something. And not have to wait for him to call me.

Oh yeah...here is a picture of my new bag. Its so big, way bigger than I thought. My nephew fits inside of it! Also, it is ecosensitive made from recycled water bottles.

Odds and Ends

Yesterday was a "busy" day for me but I forgot to tell you the most important part! If you followed this blog during the summer, then you already know how I watched a lot of reality TV. Yesterday I did that! I watch a marathon on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. And I scheduled a reminder in my phone so I can watch it tonight. Awful, I know! But it was so lovely to sit in a warm bed watch TV all day.

Also I keep forgetting to tell you that Andy got his tennis shoes stolen. He has to walk a mile from "home" to work, so when it was raining his shoes got wet. He left them out to dry and they got stolen. Apparently his weren't the only ones to get snatched up. Its a good excuse for him to get a new pair of shoes.

This is my last week with 1st grade. Three days left and yes I'm counting down! We have gotten into a nice groove and now its time for me to move on to my next assignment. I hope the teacher appreciates all the work I've done and I also hope they (her and the class) will get get in sync easily. She wants to come and observe how our day goes before she comes back and I hope she can.

Have a warm night!

Back to work...

Today was such an ugly, cold, grey, and rainy day and I enjoyed it very much. I did get a lot done but from the comfort of my bed.

I looked up what I had to do in order to sub in Hawaii. It is very difficult compared to what people have to do here. I have to interview with schools to see if they want me to sub at their school and then take a 30 hour class. The upside is, I get paid what the certified teachers get paid because I'm certified. I also think that it would be the best way to earn money for a while since Andy and I plan on taking an extended vacation in March/April.

I also registered with a job website that help military spouses find jobs. I had to fill out quite a bit of stuff...but that's what you gotta do to get a job.

And lastly, I found a family doctor that I'm going to call this week to schedule an appointment with when I get to Hawaii. I have been so spoiled having my doctor. I worked for him for 6 years, so I have an in. When I need something, I call up and they get me right away and fix me up. Spoiled! And I feel like my current doctor is the best. He's an internal medicine doctor but he sees me for general things. I decided instead of having a doc for general things and a doc for girlie things is too many docs. So I decided to do just one doc that can do it all. Plus family doctors deliver your baby and I prefer to have one doctor for everything so he/she would know every thing going on.

I told you I was busy today.

Super cold weekend

This weekend is shaping up to be quite cold. Brrr is the only word that comes to mind to describe how cold it is. And even though it has been a cold day, I did manage to do a little running around. I had lunch with my friend LaToyia at an overpriced cafe'. But the atmosphere was nice and the hot chocolate was yummy. I also got in some grocery shopping for some semi-healthy snacks. Oh, that reminds me I bought oatmeal raisin cookies; I should have one before bed! And finally I went to my old school to do a bit of volunteering. They had their annual fall carnival. I know how much work it is to put it on from my previous years of working it, so I knew they could use the help. But they seemed to have things covered, so I dipped out early.

I did get a chance to chat with my friend Jana (she's gave me the CD that had Cool Bear Hunt). I have been blessed with some very special friends and Jana is one of them. I don't see or talk with her often. She is very busy with trying to finish her teaching degree and doing interning so time is limited. But she is not too busy to check on me and I'm thankful for that.

Other friend news...my dear friend Jo is coming to town next week. I'm very excited about that. I met her through a friend in college and we'd party together. We have remained friends throughout the years and I'm so excited to see her and finally meet her boyfriend. I'll post pics!

And tomorrow is a special day. We are taking my nephew to watch Madagascar 2 tomorrow. He has only went one other time to the movie theater and that was last weekend. I'm excited! He calls the movie "move it, move it" because of one of the songs that's in the first Madagascar. He loves music and dancing.

Stay warm !

Well, well, well

Well, well, well...I said I would get these kiddos the way I wanted them before I left them and what do you know, I think that might come true. I might be crazy for saying this but they have been so wonderful and I am feeling great about them. I find the days to be not so nuts and that we get a lot more accomplished. I might even miss them when it is time for me to leave them (did I just say that?!?!).

Andy sent me pictures of where he's at...but where that is, I still don't know. Enjoy!

Constantly learning

I've said this before and I'll say it again, I am always learning something new. I know there are teachers that think they can't learn things from newer teachers but I think you can. Today I learned how to do the Cool Bear Hunt. My friend Jana made me a CD and it has so many neat songs on there. I even showed my nephew. He didn't do it with me but he liked it. And since today was a really good day with behavior, we spent the last few minutes of class learning the new song and dance moves.

Andy won $42.00 playing poker today! He doesn't even know how to really play so I'm pretty impressed with him.

Other than that, it is super cold here and my count down has begun to warmer weather. I hope everyone is well and I love hearing your thoughts and comments. Bye for now.

OH WOW!

Today I felt uplifted and hopeful. I am overjoyed that America has chosen change. Now we just have to see it! McCain's speech was wonderful. He was respectful and complimentary.

And with that lead in, I am already seeing change. The classroom continues to be a struggle but looking back we have made so much progress. I have decided to look at things differently and try to be more positive. It was another bad but I don't have a headache and I don't feel as stressed.

Not to mention (a toot of my own horn and much needed validation) while I was talking with the teacher today she complimented me. She said their work has been so good and she has noticed the changes in them. I feel proud that I am perhaps making a difference.

Random Thoughts

My Poor Husband

Andy has been working practically nonstop for days now. I feel bad for him. On top of working all the time, it has been raining for days. And when it rains like that, his room gets flooded. Talk about not getting a good nights sleep. His 5 hour nap that he thought he was going to get turns into only 3. Poor Andy.

Election Day

I am eager to see how the election turns out. I'm so excited!

Classroom

Today was a very hard day at school. The kids were so talkative. I felt like I didn't get anything accomplished. But I think I am getting a handle on some of the kids that I often have trouble with but now I have issues with new kids. I keep trying to adjust to them and change my normal style of teaching. I continue to keep our routines the same because I know kids need consistency. I guess I'll keep trucking along but the daily headaches don't help me at all. Stress headaches! UGH!

I also know that the stress from being away from Andy probably adds to the way I feel in the classroom. So I wonder if maybe I think it's not as bad as I think it is. Maybe my level of patients is lower than in my previous years of teaching. I have always loved being a teacher. Now I feel like such an awful teacher for not being exciting about going to school.

I think we should always learn from our experiences through reflection. But sometimes we should trust our intuition. I have always thought I would be better with the older kids and through this experience I have proven that assumption to be correct. Often we think we might not like something and then we try it. Then we find that we do enjoy it. This is not one of the times!

I have mentioned Michaele before in a previous blog. She is a wonderful teacher and is so knowledgeable. She is amazing with the little ones. I am a big enough person to admit that I am not. But I have made the effort to try my very best every day, which includes getting advice from others (we can always learn). I have always felt fortunate to be in a career that I love. I have been living my dream. For that I am very thankful. Not everyone has that same fortune.

Election Eve

No one ever emailed me back to let me know if I can vote or not. I'm still pretty sure that I can't which makes me pretty sad. But just because I can't vote doesn't mean my temporary first graders won't be. Tomorrow at 10:45 am we will be kids voting. We have discussed the candidates and we've read books about the election. We also talked about how to make a good decision about who you vote for and that it's good to be informed. Then today one of the little boys says "who's the brown guy?" I said "Obama". He said "that's who I'm voting for!". I did ask him if that was the only reason he was voting for him and he said yes. The students will choose the candidate that I'm sure their parents have shown support for. But it seems as though that student has made up his own mind. And the truth is, I'm sure there are a lot of people who will vote for him on the basis of color.

Are you wondering who I would have voted for if I could? As I said before, I wasn't sure who I would vote for. I have continued to follow the news and all the extra stuff on the candidates. At the end I would have voted for Obama. He and his beliefs are more in line with mine than with McCain and Palin. They are too conservative for me and I do not agree with Palin at all. And while I'm sure there are a lot of you out there that are McCain/Palin supporters, lets come to the conclusion to respectfully disagree.

That being said and since I can't vote, I do hope all of you out there that can, will vote. I told my students today that it is important to vote and I truly believe that.

I can't wait to see how it all ends and I will be staying up late to hear the results!

Saturday Fun

Yesterday my friend Maia called to tell me about Xavier's football state championship game in Lawrence. Unfortunately they lost to the team in the last 4 min. of the game. But soon all was forgotten after an early dinner at McDonald's (I know, not part of my diet) and we were headed off to Kansas City.

We went to the haunted houses there. They are set up in old empty warehouses. I went to two of them and they were so much fun! I screamed and laughed all the way through.

I have always hated haunted houses but I used to be in charge of making one at my previous school for the fall carnival. I know now that it is all fun and not scary.

Anyway, back on my diet and the gym tomorrow, PROMISE!

Inactive

I got a school email that gave a link where you can see if you are registered to vote. I have been a registered voter since I could vote. I even get jury duty, so I know I'm registered. I looked up the website and put my info in and it says "status: inactive". WHAT! Inactive? I look it up and it says I have to reregister to vote. But it's too late to register to vote. Which means I will not be casting my vote for this presidential election. It's my fault for not checking into this earlier but I didn't know I could become INACTIVE. Just to make sure I'm going to call on Monday.