Good Evening, Flowers!
It was misting as I came home from bell practice tonight; it is just damp, windy, and cold out there! Today has had snow sprinkles, rain, and drizzle to keep it interesting.
We had a mini meeting after school to iron out some more details on the Famous Five Plan. All of the "thinking" and trying to cover all the bases before we start and I have the feeling it could be a bust. The kids are too likely to say, "you can't make me do anything!" and walk out of the room. I can't get too excited about eating a sack lunch so I'm sure they aren't going to be real excited about it either. The plan goes into effect on Wednesday because we can't do the schedule changes, set up a supervision schedule, and notify parents before then. It will be interesting to say the least.
"Gma" -- Glad to see that your are back home once again. We missed you! It sounds like your trip was a fun one.
I am beat! My computer crashed and I had to wipe everything out and reload everything. UGH what a process. I lost all of my themes that I had downloaded and all my e-mail addresses ~ Just had to start over as if this was a brand new computer. Good thing it is still under warrantee. Most of my files I had saved on disks so that wasn't so bad. Some I hadn't saved yet but I have the original's so I can scan them back in. Somethings like my pop up blocer program I dont have the code to reopen it and am waiting for the company to give it to me. Also my office program wouldn't reload. Big bummer there for the codes didn't work at all so I had to buy a totally new program that costs big bucks. OH well Life is good and I will bash on regardless.
Good Evening, Flowers!
It is raining hard tonight and has been misting most of the day. We are on the very edge of a 9" snowfall predicted for just north of us. I hope it misses us because tomorrow is when we go to Ian's house and his parents leave for Maui.
Not much is newsy from my corner of the world tonight. I am tired for some reason; guess I stayed up too late last night.
Maggie -- I'm sorry to hear about your computer crashing! I would have to take mine to the computer fix-it store as I wouldn't have a clue what to do! I hope you get everything back together soon.
Have a fantastic Friday, Flowers. I will try to check in from Jason's computer but if not, I will see you when we get back.
I have just about got all my stuff back in my computer ~ what a chore. I am so glad that I am in the habit of saving stuff on floppies or CD's.
We are going to go to a friends home tonight for dinner then play dominoes. I think she is making Lasagna so I will really have to eat light this day to fit the points in.
JEAN I think we will be coming out your way in September.
Top o' the early morning to ya! I am practicing for St Paddies day. I got to thinking about what a big celebration Chicago has on St Patrick's Day. They turn the Chicago river this emerald green on that day. It is pretty cool and of course all the stuff that goes with that the eggs and beer at the bars etc, they have a huge parade.
Well, my contacts have stayed in my eyes so far tonight. I went to bed early and fell asleep and then woke up and got up for a little while. I am going to head back to bed directly.
Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers about something. I went to the eye dr and then drove past my old job and turned around and decided to go for a short visit. I had a great visit, and the woman that is the VP is still there (they had a major shakeup not long after I left, sold the company back to the original owner and cleaned house pretty good including firing the president, office manager and her daughter all of whom are the reasons I quit.) Anyway, she asked me if I was interested in possibly going back to work that they might have a position open that one of the girls is not working out. She told me to e-mail her my resume so I did. Whatever comes of this, comes of this, but I got along really well with most of the folks there and would like to work there again.
Jean: Have fun on you trip and with the gs. Hope you didn't get your snowfall. We had a major storm here yesterday but I am hoping it will pass through so I can clean up the deck and get the patio furniture and grill our for the year again.
Maggie: Thank goodness you didn't lose any or much of your stuff. How odd that you would crash like that on something that is fairly new.
It is a beautiful day here and Will is out washing my car. There is a neighborhood cat that likes to use the top of my car for a hammock and has little muddy paw prints all around up there on that black convertable top. We have a totally inside cat, Turn and 3 cats in the yard. The outside ones live near and are very well fed and cared for, however, they also have dogs so this is a safe haven for them to nap and not be disturbed. I think we will just have to put a cover on the car because there is no way of keeping those cats off of it. Then where will they go when I get my puppy. He He.
JEAN I just know you are having a good time. Are you anxious for school to be out>
FAYE the worst part was trying to re-locate all my "goodies" that I had rounded up before. Plus I lost all mu e-mail addresses but did have most of them copied out and the few I didn't I will get them when they send me an e-mail. I sure hope you do get that job back now that the "trouble" is gone.
Type at you later - off for a "top down" drive in a nice clean just washed car.
Good Afternoon, Flowers!
I was just too pooped to get online last night and headed for bed early! My back, shoulders, and arms are sore from lifting 25# of Ian all weekend! He finally started looking for his mom and dad late Saturday afternoon. He doesn't talk much but would point to pictures while going from room to room. By Sunday he was a bit on the crabby side because he needed a nap but just wouldn't settle down. Nothing we did pleased him in any way, shape, or form. When we took him to his sitter, he was glad to see them so that made me feel better. They have a 3 year old girl and a boy just 6 weeks older than Ian so he has playmates there. I plan to call and check in with them later. We go back again on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until Jason and Amanda get home. He's too little to understand so there is no point in trying to explain it to him. I didn't think they should leave him for so long but what do I know!
Maggie -- I can just picture the cats sleeping on top of your car. Lasagna sounds good and I haven't made that in a long time. We will be here in September because school will be in session . . . unless I decide to retire. Long story, short version is that we get a day and a half of personal leave time. I took half last Friday (we only had a half day to start with) and will take the whole day off this Friday. Well, they figure the first half and second half as the "whole" day, then dock the second half of the whole day. They pay the whole day first and then the half which leaves me an hour and 45 minutes "short." I couldn't convince the powers-to-be and so I guess I will take a mental health day sometime! I have 120 sick days which is the maximum and have had them for the last several years. It's crap like that that makes the possibility of a union look pretty good! We had our behavior plan meeting after school today and it is just going to make more paperwork for the teachers. We'll also have to supervise the sack lunch time for these "yahoos" when we should be able to just kick them out the door if they don't want to work and follow the rules. I came home with a huge GRRRRR!
"Gma" -- I have my fingers crossed for your job possibility! I loved spending the weekend with Ian but wish he could understand why his parents had left him. I felt so bad for him when he'd point to pictures and then look at us. He's normally just so happy and good natured and he looked so confused and sad. He doesn't talk much so it's hard to understand what he wants when he points in the general direction of something. He definitely lets us know what he doesn't want!!
I need to put in another load of laundry so better keep moving. Have a terrific Tuesday, Flowers!
JEAN I can imagine how sore you are from lifting Ian so much. YIKES, think of exercising with a huge sack of potatoes. When you retire will they pay you for those earned unused sick leave days? I had enough time built up that I coasted a year before my retirement kicked in. I retired when I was 45 and boy does that seem a long time ago. Wonder where all those years went.
Out "top down" ride was wonderful! It is still in the 70's and it is just after 7:30 pm here. Got up to 75 here this day.
Good Evening, Flowers!
It was a beautiful day in my neighborhood today! Most of our snow is gone and what is left is black and grubby looking. Our grass hasn't started to turn green yet but it won't be long I hope.
Maggie -- No, we don't get reimbursed for the sick days that we don't use. We get five emergency days each year but they don't carry over to the next year if we don't use them. We also get bereavement days and how many depends upon the reason you are using them; five is the maximum per immediate family member. When my dad was in the hospital, I ended up using 17 days and got paid for 15 of them because of the emergency days, his death, and then my stepgrandmother died during the time I was home with my dad. I figured after 12 years of never using any, they could pay me for both deaths because I would have gone to Bemidji for her funeral had I not been with my dad at the time. That's an 8 hour drive from Storm Lake so would have been at least three days. We have teachers who take sick days at the drop of a hat but I just can't do that. My dad retired when he was 55 and said he would go back to work at 65 if he ran out of money. He never did though. I don't see Bob retiring any time soon and he will need a hobby job when he does. He's not very good at just sitting around and doing nothing. I keep telling him he can be the Wal Mart greeter!
I have a load of towels to fold so had better keep moving. Have a wonderful Wednesday, Flowers!
It has been a wonderful 79 degree day here this day. However, a sad thing happened ~ a dear friend was out pulling a few weeds and just died. Last night when Will saw him he was just as good as ever. Just goes to show that we never know when our time will be up. He was my buddy and I will miss him.
I am going to tweek my program because I have been having much difficulty staying with that 25 average a day that I lost on before. I may go back to it later but right now I have to do something and since I have started to exercise some I may be able to lose with the points I am alloted in my weight range but not eat the extra 35 flex points a week we get. I will give it till the end of the month then re-evaluate it. I may have to drop down a range or two but we shall see.
JEAN maybe you and your husband could do some traveling and see the country when you both retire. We don't just "sit around." Or just think all the farming he would enjoy doing....
Jean: That poor baby! I know your heart has to hurt knowing there is no way to explain it to him. Maybe it won't be long and mommy and daddy will be home and all will be right again!
Maggie: We could have used that 79 degree weather yesterday! DD and I took Thomas to the zoo and packed a nice healthy lunch to picnic. We got to the zoo and the clouds moved in and when we got inside the wind started blowing and the temp dropped and we were freezing. Lasted there half hour and then we went to Applebees for lunch because it was too cold to eat outside! On top of that dgs acted like a total little brat the whole time and drove his mother nuts! I tried to keep him entertained, but he just wanted to act up yesterday! She finally went ballistic, took him outside in the cold and told him to put his hands on the car and stand in the cold until he could apologize and be a good boy. In they trooped and he started it all over again so we scooted out at soon as we could gulp down our food.
I started something yesterday on my thread that I think it a neat idea. I had all the ladies make three lists, I couldn't, I can, and I am going to. Listing everything they couldn't do before they lost weight, what they can do now with whatever weight they have lost, and I am going to, what they want to achieve. I told them to keep adding to the list and keep it in a prominent place so that when they wanted to eat they could see the list and maybe not give in just to get more I am going to's on the list!
Well, I need to post then get started for the morning before Jack gets up. Today is clean dd's house day so I have to get up early to get my own chores done!
Good Evening, Flowers!
We had an odd assortment of weather today; started out with sunshine for my drive to school, dark clouds and rain in the early afternoon, HUGE snowflakes when I drove home from school, and then sunshine to finish off the day! Almost all of the snow is gone now but the temperature is going down again.
We had two "yahoos" for sack lunches today. One kid hasn't started the point plan because he is on out-of-school suspension and the other one managed to just barely not make enough points to avoid it. The "leader" of the group was very vocal about the whole thing and walked out only to be coralled into the office until he settled down. The last kid, who is on in-school suspension for the 7th day and hates peanut butter, ate his pb sandwich without comment. He was pretty mellow all day. The best thing is that news of "the plan" is filtering down through the ranks and there are several possible candidates who are a bit worried that they will be given the points sheets. It just might work!
Maggie -- I am so sorry to hear about your friend! I/we would like to do some traveling but probably won't go very far as long as we have the cats. They are not good riders and we don't have a good cat sitter that would be willing to catsit for an extended time period. Our neighbor, who does it in the summer, goes to Texas for the winter months. Bob just bought another tractor and needs to overhaul the one he had. He is still looking for a hobby farm. Good luck on adjusting your program -- keep us posted on how it works for you. My program has flown the coop at least until after Monday night when I have card club. Sometimes I'm better off to just quit and then start over fresh and guess that is where I am at right now. I don't know why this has to be so darned hard to do!
"Gma" -- Actually, Ian is getting along good at the babysitter's house. I think probably because there is nothing to remind him of his parents. He is sleeping all night and taking long naps; I think the kids keep him on the go. Jason called tonight and they were watching the whales from their deck. They should be home early Sunday afternoon if all goes as planned. I can hardly wait to watch Ian's face when he first sees them! I like your "couldn't, can, going to" idea. In the class I took last summer, the facilitator was big on journaling -- said to keep paper and pen/pencil within reach at all times. I have to work on that. I applaud your daughter for removing T from the restaurant! I guess all kids go through that at least once -- they just have to test the waters from time to time.
I need to go through some recipes and make a grocery list. I figure if I have most of the food ready to go, for card club, I won't have to do too much on Sunday when we get home.
I don't know if it is old age, senility or what, but I don't even work outside the home and I always seem to be busy now so I am not here as often. I know it is really crazy with the wedding only 4 weeks away and our trip is 3 weeks from today! It is all I think about anymore.
Jean: I have the grocery detail today! Commissary shopping, which is always so much fun, but I think back a little over a year ago and it was really hard for me to walk around and shop in the commissary without my hips and legs hurting and now it is a breeze. In fact, I can do it faster. Maybe their hairbrained plan at your school just might work! When in doubt scare the pants off them!
Maggie: Hope things are going well with you. I have locked my kitty in the closet and in my office two times this week so I went yesterday and bought him this adorable red collar with gray kitty paws and a nice red bell. Now we know where he is at all times. Took him some getting used to. When the bell would ring he would look all over to try and find where the sound was coming from and the more he looked the more the bell rang! It was pretty funny! Now we have a clinker (dog's rabies tags) and a tinkler (cat's bell) Oh what fun when you are asleep and they get frisky up on the bed. Our vocabulary word for the day: CACOPHONY!
I finally have all the contact business straightened out. I went back for my recheck yesterday and he said everything looks fine. Since he changed the curve on my lense, it doesn't fall out now but it is not too "tight" as he calls it, which just means it moves ok in my eye. Even though I can't read without reading glasses, it is cool to wake up and be able to see the clock etc instead of wall to wall blur all the time.
The funeral my dear Cowboy had to preach Saturday for our friend that passed away on the 9th so suddenly went so well that even today when we were out to eat after church sercices folks were stopping by the table and telling him how they enjoyed it. Funerals aren't for the dead but for the living that loved them. There were about 150 of the people at that service we didn't know before the funeral. Glad they all liked my husbands presentation. What a way to meet lots of folks from town. The man that died knew many people because he used to own the biggest lumber yard in the area. What a guy. He was my buddy and I will miss him but do know as a certainty that he is now in a better place and got to go there before me. It was kinda funny when one of his daughters asked, on the day before the funeral, what my husband was going to say. He told her that he wouldn't know before he got up to make his presentation. She doesn't know how quick on his feet he is. But when you have done them for little bity babies and teens that died on over doses or car crashes, young mothers or husbands who went so soon or the old folks it kinda prepares you for when you do one for one of your dear best friends.
It has been a very busy week for us around here. We have another friend in the hospital that has to have a quad by-pass tomorrow and we will go to see him on Tuesday. He is in a hospital about one and a half hours drive from here.
Life is good my cyber friends. I choose each day when I arise that it will be a good one. We do have the power to choose what our attitude will be about any given situation that arises. Don't sweat the small stuff for it just doesn't matter and don't worry about the things you can't change. Don't worry about the things you do have control of ~ just do what you can. Worry does not help one bit and most of the things folks worry about never happen anyway. Yes life is good.
It has been quite a day - or week I should say. The grave site service went well and my husband is still receiving complements on that presentation he did at the funeral service. Maybe more preachers should take a page out of his book! The friend I mentioned in my last post had a 5 heart by-pass instead of the 4 that they origionally thought. He is doing great so the doctor said so we will get to see him in intensive care tomorrow.
Hope everyone is doing fine and guess what ~ after you read this you get to start a new thread because my post is number 14. I am off to sweet dream land right now as soon as I shut off this computer.
Steel Magnolias -- #9
The plan goes into effect on Wednesday because we can't do the schedule changes, set up a supervision schedule, and notify parents before then. It will be interesting to say the least.
in Iowa!
Thursday
I hope you get everything back together soon.
Friday
I sure hope you do get that job back now that the "trouble" is gone. 
Lasagna sounds good and I haven't made that in a long time. 
We will be here in September because school will be in session . . . unless I decide to retire. Long story, short version is that we get a day and a half of personal leave time. I took half last Friday (we only had a half day to start with) and will take the whole day off this Friday. Well, they figure the first half and second half as the "whole" day, then dock the second half of the whole day. They pay the whole day first and then the half which leaves me an hour and 45 minutes "short." I couldn't convince the powers-to-be and so I guess I will take a mental health day sometime! I have 120 sick days which is the maximum and have had them for the last several years. It's crap like that that makes the possibility of a union look pretty good! We had our behavior plan meeting after school today and it is just going to make more paperwork for the teachers. We'll also have to supervise the sack lunch time for these "yahoos" when we should be able to just kick them out the door if they don't want to work and follow the rules. I came home with a huge 
GRRRRR!
He's normally just so happy and good natured and he looked so confused and sad. He doesn't talk much so it's hard to understand what he wants when he points in the general direction of something. He definitely lets us know what he doesn't want!! 
from Iowa!
Back again....
I had enough time built up that I coasted a year before my retirement kicked in. I retired when I was 45 and boy does that seem a long time ago. 
Wonder where all those years went.
in Iowa!
It just might work!
Good luck on adjusting your program -- keep us posted on how it works for you. 
I think probably because there is nothing to remind him of his parents. He is sleeping all night and taking long naps; I think the kids keep him on the go. Jason called tonight and they were watching the whales from their deck. They should be home early Sunday afternoon if all goes as planned. I can hardly wait to watch Ian's face when he first sees them! I like your "couldn't, can, going to" idea. In the class I took last summer, the facilitator was big on journaling -- said to keep paper and pen/pencil within reach at all times. I have to work on that. I applaud your daughter for removing T from the restaurant! I guess all kids go through that at least once -- they just have to test the waters from time to time. 
now.
