Support Groups - Teachers Successfully Losing Weight/winter 2005

Hey everyone!
What a day! I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ready for the weekend to get here. Not that I'm wishing my life away, but seriously.......
I have felt so horrible the past two days. I finally went to the doctor today. I sat for over two hours to have her tell me to use a throat spray. Guess what? I have a sore throat. I wouldn't have gone if I didn't feel so terrible. I cried all the way home. Plus it is time for my my "Aunt Flo" to come visit......Just give me some midol........
I have just been plain old bad today. I ordered girl scout cookies from a student before we started dieting. They came in today. Let me just say those thin mints didn't stand a chance. Ok, so I didn't eat a box. I could've...I have locked them in my trunk. They will probably melt or something stupid. I haven't really been able to eat, so I have inserted my pepsi iv for the evening. It's terrible............Can't tell you when the last time I excercised. Last week I couldn't. This week it seems like I really could care less. I need to get out this rut I'm in. It will lead me down the wrong road.

Mouse: Sounds like you've had another day from ****. I'm so sorry. Wish I could make you feel better. Sending you a hug! :)

My kids were off the hook today. My first period outnumbers me 33:1.
Mostly girls, girls who never want to be quiet ever. I didn't even get to do the lesson I had planned cause everything else took so long. I told them Monday to expect a quiz today, well you would not believe the mess I heard today. Well, I can't remember.(We spent part of the period reviewing, going over homework, etc....) Well, I'll just guess, I'm just not going to bother... I said well if you would have studied like I asked you too.....They are supposed to be advanced. My second period acts like they've just been released from prison. I have to take them to the cafeteria. It's a constant, shoving hitting, smacking, tripping, running episode everyday. It's just ridiculous. And fourth?????????God help me when the weather gets warm......I don't even know where to begin with that group. So, I won't even go there today. Maybe it's just not feeling good and PMS, bad combination. These are the grouchiest, rude, kids I have seen in a long long time.

Ginny: You are too sweet. Did you finally get your dishwasher installed?
Sounds like you've been excercising like you should. Send me some energy.
Let me get to bed. Tomorrow is a new day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kerry: I'm in the process of doing an alternative assessment also. Fun,
fun fun!
Let me get to bed.
Pam

Lets just say I have the dishwasher from **** story........came online to pay a bill.
Be back later!!!!!
Ginny

ok, this has to be short......the dishwasher is in.......but he broke the stove doing so.
Doesn't get any better than this. Kids were MONSTERS yesterday and today.....mean nasty bus driver me broke up all their little social arrangements.....oh their faces this am were priceless as they found out they were not sitting with or near any friends.
Oh, well......gotta go. be back later.
Ginny

Hey!
Tomorrow is Friday! Actually today was a pretty good day. Can't complain too much. Still have a sore throat, but it will be ok. I am happy to say I lost another pound and a half! Yipeeeeeeee!
Ginny: Sure you didn't pay that man to break your stove? What were you saying about matching appliances???????????? Kidding. Sorry the kids were so nasty today. Sorry bout the stove too! On a bright note here, oldest son got a job today. Two prayers answered! Yeah!
Time to cook supper. Be back later!
Pam

Hi Everyone!

I've been MIA. . .it's this grad class I'm taking. I just finished a project for it, and have a paper to write. . .and then my thesis. My exercise has been non-existant for the last couple of days, and i'm feeling yucky because of it. I have a few minutes before bed to figure out how to juggle these well. . .because I'm not right now.

btw---school is going well. the kids are being good. . .

Good morning!
Can't believe that I actually got here with a few minutes to spare. Had to drive this am......picked up ONE student......yup just one. (this is a HS and a lot drive themselves or ride with friends). And I got to drive around for 1 1/2 hour in a new suburban (fully loaded, CD player....the works) to do so. I will have some CD's with me for the afternoon. This one catholic HS is the only school open today, so at least it is an easy day.

Paisley- sorry you have had a rough couple of days. (guessing that if you were not able to sneak a work out in). See if you can make an appointment with yourself to get some excercise in....even 15 minutes is good!!! Glad your kids were good, that can make all the difference in the world.

Pam- congrats on the 1.5# loss!!!!!!!!that is great~ and you must feel SO good about it. Wonderful news about Ds getting a job- what kind of job is it?
I hope it works out for him and that he can stay with the job awhile. Sorry your throat is still bad. Gee, maybe you should use some throat spray?! (sorry, just could not resist). As for those girl scout cookies....how about freezing some??? Gets them out of your face, and keeps them, hopefully off your lips and hips.

Kerry- congrats on the loss to you too!!!! Great news, even with TOM and irritable Dh. You indicated that you have a busy month ahead- make sure to get some time in for you- some excercise- to try to keep the stress from building up. Post when you can.......I always look enjoy hearing from you.

Mouse- well, we are on the downhill side of February.....hang in there. I guess it is also possible that you could use some sunlight....a lot of people suffer from a mild case of SAD. Spring is coming.....and March is only a few days away. I did not get to a WW meeting this week, so was not able to get the materials for you yet. But I will! I really want you to try their core program, there is no calorie counting and you eat based upon your comfort level. Lots of whole grains, veggies, fruits......and all that refined stuff is allowed but in small quantities. It is an easy program to follow. BTW, WW does not recommend eating too many frozen dinners (even their own!) because the salt content is so high. Ditto for the Lean Cuisine. I think they like to limit you with those to once a week or so. I am having a tough time getting a workout in this week and controling my eating.....so you are not alone.

Now for the stove/dishwasher story.....
The dishwasher was delivered Sunday evening, right on time. Then Dh looked at it and saw that he needed a few plumbing parts to install it, plus it was a good idea to replumb under the sink as those parts do wear out with time.
So far so good. Monday nite he stopped to buy what he needed. No progress with the installation. Tuesday, he was too tired (the cold/borderline pnuemonia he had really has slowed him down). Ok, so that brings us to Wednesday. I got home late with Dd and he was already attempting the installation.....and not a happy camper. So I took Dd into our bedroom to study for her tests (to stay away from him, the four letter words were already starting to fly). After about an hour I heard a LOUD crash.
No more cusssing......then I heard lots of clanking. Well, I still do not know how this all happened, but I got to the kitchen and the glass front on my stove was in a zillion pieces all over the floor. And Dh is still throwing tools, propane torches, pipe fittings......in its way. I never asked.......just walked out and in my best calm voice (SOMEONE had to act like an adult) said that I would clean up the mess as soon as he was done. Well the next am he did, sort of apologize, and has told me to go buy a new stove. (with the excuse that he hated the other one you see, and I did want a new stove.....right.....but heck, he is planning to install this too- so what will he go after the next time, the fridge?????? :dizzy: ). Not like we are made of money here....good part is that today is a paid holiday, and I will be paid for my driving time, so today I get double pay. Should help. Ok, nuff from me.
Happy Friday.....hope everyone else has the day off!!!!!!!
Gotta go get something done around here.
Ginny

Hmm. I won't be able to follow that part of the WW plan. I'm already so limited in what I can eat since I can't eat anything with chicken, no white stuff (mostly), and the nausea that makes me not want to eat most of the time anyway. Add in working full-time, part-time (the job at the gym), plus grad school, and Red Cross work, and I'm never home to cook! I'm not even here on the weekends.
I rarely get home before 6:30, especially on nights I go to the gym. I try to avoid processed foods during the day, doing slimfast (I can usually keep them down even when I'm really nauseated), and lots of times I do soup or cottage cheese with fruit or a low-carb yogurt or smoothie. The low-carb because it has the splenda in it, and I can't have nutra sweet/aspartame. I don't understand why the low-fat yogurt also has to have aspartame in it... and of course, I have the milk-fat allergy, so I can't have full-fat or anything above 2% milkfat without getting a rash and a headache.
I will say that my skin looks A LOT better since we realized that the majority of the issues were from too much milk fat! If I don't do slimfast for breakfast, I usually have 2 small bagels with egg white and turkey bacon or sausage or canadian bacon on it and some fat-free, no trans fat margarine (Its about 400 calories total for the 2 sandwiches). I also have plain oatmeal that I put cinnamon and splenda in or a tiny bit of granulated brown sugar (the granulated has less calories than regular for some reason), and of course that isn't processed. The only fruit I've ever liked in oatmeal is raisins and bananas. I don't eat bananas much anymore, because when I was on the glucophage/metformin, I lived on bananas, white toast, rice, applesauce, and jello... occasionally ramen noodles. Anything else was guaranteed to make me sick within minutes.
I love fruit and vegetables (I think the only veggies I truly dislike are cooked green cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and peppers... I'll even eat small amounts of cooked peppers, and I like banana peppers on sandwiches), I have been eating ONLY whole grain breads (I only buy bread at Trader Joes because I've discovered that other so-called whole wheat bread isn't really whole-wheat!).
I'll still look over the materials, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to follow it. I have done WW before, back in the early 90s, while a freshman in college. My roommate was doing it. I've also tried Jenny Craig (while in college as well, this time a male friend). I lost weight both times, but as I've said, the endocrine disorder didn't really rear its ugly head in a full-blown fashion until late 1998/early 1999.
:mouse:

YEAH WE'VE MADE IT TO ANOTHER FRIDAY!
Hey everbody! So glad the weekend is finally here.I just don't know what is going on with my body and I'm afraid to say anything out loud.
Ok, so yes Monday we really blew our diet! I mean omigod, we ate like pig beasts. That's the only way to put it! :D Tuesday we had the girlscout cookie incident as well as the pepsi problem this week. After our dinner I had gained 1 pound the next morning. I just said oh well it's to be expected.
Well, today I was down to 185!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: Not to mention the fact that I haven't excercised like in two weeks. Last week it was the injured butt and Flu thing, and this week I've been feeling bad. I need to get into high gear now and start excercising.I even made my husband weigh to make sure the scale was right. We have one of those scales with four little buttons, and you can save your weight. I weighed like three times in a row. I have not been down to this weight since I was pregnant with my nineteen year old. ( That was after gaining forty pounds)!
Ginny: I can truly identify with you taking your child into the bedroom to study cause of the flying four letter words. You must have been at my house the last time my hubby worked on something. And the colorful words he can string together............... :o My son got a job with a roofing company. His friend works there. He was actually home by ten thirty and up by 7:15 to go to work. He came home with money in his pocket today. Which may aid in his desire to keep working since the bank of mom and dad closed a while back. We're optimistic! Have you thought of going into the medical profession? You seem to have the same advice the doctor gave me about my throat ;) Still a little sore, seems worse at night. Maybe I just talk to much.

Paisley: Glad to see you back. It does sound like you've been busy. Hope your class is going well and glad your kids are behaving. That does help.

Mouse: Hope you aren't feeling so blue. I agree with Ginny: spring is coming. Hope your kiddos haven't driven you insane this week.

Well time to bundle up I am going to actually kick my butt into gear and walk tonight.
Take care!
Pam

Hi!
Mouse- the one thing I can figure out (sort of) from your food selections is that you might just not be eating enough of the fruit and veggie category. To your credit, your breakfasts sound healthy (and you are eating it too, too many people skip it!). The issues with milk fat/ aspartame etc.....should not be a problem. Thankfully there is splenda. WW has changed a ton since the early 90's, I think they were still in exchanges and now have entered the points system. It is easy to follow. Oh, and there is a cookbook (mini) they gave us that had some super easy, less than 5 ingredient recipes that called for stuff that most have in the house for easy dinners.
Very minimal cooking. I will dig that out and make a copy of the appropriate pages for you. Maybe it can work for you....(that would sure tell those crummy Dr's!!!!!). Soups are great , BTW, again there is a salt factor. I just got a soup recipe from the WW leader, and am giving it a try for dinner. I will let you know how it goes.


Pam- WTG on making it to 185!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!! What a wonderful feeling getting to this weight after such a long time!!!!! I am SO happy for you.

Wanted to post more.......Dh just came home......see ya later!
Ginny
I hope your weekend goes well and that you can get some rest.

Hey!
Hope everyone is having a great Saturday. The weather is beautiful down here today. I am so ready for spring! The weatherman has decided that if we don't get some sort of measureable frozen preciptiation before the end of this month, he will take a bath in the fountain outside of the tv station. So, we shall see...............
My eating has been horrible today! Took both of the boys to lunch today, to this Italian place that just opened a block from our house. My teenager would actually be seen with his parents in broad daylight! Miracles can happen. It's time for my "tom" and I could eat this entire house. I am about to die for some RED HOT FLAMING potato chips. I'm too lazy to go out, so I guess that's a good thing.
Mouse: I thought I had lost my mind and wondered why I hadn't read your post last night. I said geez how could I have missed that? I looked back today, and you were posting around the same time I was typing, so that explains it. Gosh, just from reading what you wrote to Ginny does make it seem hard to find things to eat? How did you find out you had an endocrine disorder if you don't mind my asking?
Ginny: Hope you are having a great day. Oldest son is completely sore this morning. Maybe he will really want to go to college so that he isn't having to work outside in the winter, and break his back. I think it will be a good character builder for him as I feel many young people today do not know what it is like to really have to work for things. Who knows, maybe he'll last the week. ;)
Laundry is calling talk to you all later!
Pam

Sorry I got cut short before. Pam- sore muscles are a wonderful thing for a young adult. As you said......sure makes the idea of a college education sound appealing.
And now that the Bank of Mom and Dad has closed his account- to see how far his $$ do or do not go can be an eye opener. Good luck to all of you......and much patience to you! But listening to his complaining about sore muscles must secretly make you smile.
My day is going ok. having a hard time focusing on staying OP, but as long as I behave myself, I can still pull off staying within points today. I got on the scale this am and it was not pretty......simply amazing how much I can derail my eating program in such a short time. Bummer.......but I AM going to a meeting Thursday, right after I get my hair done. Yup a game plan. And I need one.
Now for the continuing saga of my dishwasher. The new one does not work. We have tried everything.....and it is evident from the self- test that there is a solonoid or other electrically activated valve that is not allowing the water in. Oh gimme a break......so, another week of washing dishes. We are headed to Sears tonite, to ask about getting another new dishwasher and look into new stoves. Oh, and Pam, I first learned of my husbands proficiency with four letter words when he hung wallpaper in the bathroom (which was tiled half way up so the pieces were short and easy) in our first house. I heard language I had never ever heard before, and did not even think existed. (makes me laugh to think about it now, honestly!). Combinations of words....thankfully, Dd (18) was a baby at the time. Aw, men can be so creative.:)
Better go........hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.
Ginny

Augh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just left a long post and it got lost in cyberland.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.Willtry again later.
Ginny

Hi all.
Ginny: I do eat lots of vegetables, but probably not as much fruit, at least not during the winter. I have started buying frozen berries and peaches, because those are my favorite fruits, and that is why I only eat fruit during the summer. ;) I also love grapes, and granny smith apples. I found a recipe for microwave "baked" apples... called for lots of sugar, but I substituted the splenda and added cinnamon. Yummy, and quick!! I eat that with some fat-free skim milk, and its almost like apple pie (which I don't like, believe it or not!). I do the same with the frozen peaches a lot of times.
I also eat salad almost every night for dinner: romaine lettuce and spinach, low-fat or fat-free feta cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes. If I'm not eating salad, I keep frozen broccoli in the house (I really like the stems), and green beans.
I used to love clementines during the winter, but they don't seem to be agreeing with me lately... I'm eating mandarin oranges and grapefruit in water or juice. I also take a multi-vitamin... my reproductive endocrinologist recommended a pre-natal vitamin to replace some of the stuff the one set of pills takes out.
As for the four-letter words: You should hear my MOTHER! Yes, my MOTHER! My father isn't handy at all, and so my mother always did all of this kind of stuff... I still remember the words and phrases that came out when we put together my desk and bookcase! And not only does she say it in English, she says it in Yiddish too when she gets really upset! Woo hoo! I'm afraid I inherited my father's inability to put things together, for which I am forever grateful to places that put their stuff together. This winter, I bought a new vaccuum cleaner, and purposefully bought one that was already put together! :) Its one reason that I just don't see myself buying a whole house: on my salary, I certainly can't afford somebody to come put things that are broken together.
Pam: I don't mind you asking... I gained a lot of weight in a short period of time, probably about 2 years (1999-2001). I'd moved to Virginia and was finishing my master's degree, and in 1999 I'd hurt my ankle. I blamed the weight gain on that. I had all the other symptoms of something else being wrong, but I didn't realize it. I'd never had a normal menstrual cycle, and had been told multiple times that young people frequently had irregular cycles. I also developed thinning hair, but my mom had very thin hair too, and that is considered genetic. I saw my primary care doctor for a completely different reason, and she asked about polycystic ovarian syndrome. I then went through 4 medical endocrinologists who told me to just "lose weight" and join Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, and to exercise. My PCP was as frustrated as I was and suggested we try a reproductive endocrinologist. The insurance company only had one female reproductive endo in the area, and so that is where I went. Fortunately, she turned out to be wonderful. She knew immediately that there was something wrong, but wasn't sure what. She did all kinds of bloodwork, and slowly started the medications. She's not comfortable saying I have PCOS, although if I do I have a more severe case than most people. I drive to Virginia 2 or 3 times a year to see her.
There's a whole lot more there, and I get really upset when I do most of the right things 90% of the time, even 85% of the time, and don't get the results that even other women with PCOS get.
And let me be the first to tell you: it had BETTER snow in Baltimore today. It'd better snow a LOT in Baltimore today. I went to my mom's house last night after swim lessons, so we could go out to dinner tonight and I would come back either late tonight or early Monday. When we woke up this morning, Lancaster had gone from a winter weather advisory to a winter storm warning. We hit the 'Net, and Netscape's weather was reporting a winter storm warning for Baltimore, and that it was already snowing!!! My mom kicked me out of the house without so much as a glass of juice, so I could get back before I got snowed in at Lancaster. Its not snowing yet in Baltimore, and its currently 40 degrees and partly sunny. But we still have a winter storm warning, and if I type my zipcode into Netscape (which supposedly gets their weather feed from Weatherbug), it still says it is snowing. I have Weatherbug Pro, and its NOT snowing. The radar is clear. So... it'd BETTER snow tonight. LOTS AND LOTS of snow!
:mouse:

Mouse- well, I sure hope for your sake that this is the storm of the century!!!!! Do you have school tomorrow??? (oh,gosh I hope not!!!!) May the snow gods bless you with a ton...............Well, it sure sounds as though your eating well, and in a rather healthy manner. As far as the apple pie goes...WW told us to put one or two tablespoons of fat free cool whip on the apple (prepared pretty much the way you are doing so....and of course after the apple is cooked). It tastes naughty......so good!!! I can't wait to get a copy of the plan for you- and as I said, see if it works for you, if you have no luck or do not like it, just return the books to me. As far as the four letter stuff goes, my dad was pretty much a saint, my mother can have a bad mouth. And every so often some yiddish shows up in her language too. My mothers family (her parents of course deceased) were jewish, and my grandmother converted to Christianity when she remarried after being widowed.
My mom converted before marrying my father. Yup, some of the yiddish words are a hoot. But my Dh just cusses in plain ol' english, if that is what you call it. And as long as you do not take it personally, it is pretty hysterical.
I am going to leave this and see if it posts.....brb
Ginny

Well, it looks as though I will not be able to blabber anymore now........hope everyone is having a good Sunday!!!!!
See ya later.
Ginny

We are off tomorrow for President's Day, and I wouldn't be at all upset with a 2 hour delay or even a snow-day on Tuesday. We've only had 1 this year. I do want us to be open and on-time for Wednesday, but would love some more snow for Friday. Friday is that stupid field trip to the Steamfitters Union school. Not that the field trip itself is a bad idea, but because I didn't get to do the planning its utter chaos. The school is a business partner, and so our development office set it up. First, I don't think I have a single student that could get into the school: the math and science requirements aren't even OFFERED at our school for the most part! Second, I can only take about half my students because the school could only give us one day, and limited us to groups of 10. The school is 30 minutes one way, and the tour is 1 hour. I can already see it falling apart. Third, although I reserved the lift van, the transportation coordinator says I did not give her a firm date (I gave her a firm date for THIS trip, but not for the trips to Marriott, and I think she got them confused, or she got confused with all the emails back and forth between my supervisor, myself and the other staff involved in the trip). She doesn't usually goof, but this time she did. We have a school policy that you're required to let the school know TWO WEEKS in advance of anything that affects the school as a whole... and one of the certificate teachers did NOT do this. She is taking her class to the aquarium next week, and of course needs transportation for this! She could take the light rail or city bus, especially since she has some of the older students in the program, but she isn't doing that. She's taking the... lift van! And doesn't even have a student who uses a wheelchair! And of course, didn't notify the school so we had no idea what was going on until Friday afternoon. We had to go rearrange everything, and that was after it took me forever to put the groups together to eliminate possible behavioral issues, avoid pulling too many kids from physical, speech, mental health or occupational therapies... Trying to avoid hitting lunch periods, and getting the maximum number of kids on the trip as possible.
So, some snow would be very, very welcome for next Friday. If we have a 2 hour delay, we won't be able to go on the trip and I won't have to watch it explode in my face, because it surely will. I can't prep the students because I've never been there, and in order for one of the kids to attend, my TA is going to be his 1:1... he does very well with her off campus, and not so well with his own 1:1... so his 1:1 is going to wind up in my classroom with the rest of the class. It also changes the schedule for another child that is on a special plan and spends 2 periods per day in my room because his other teacher can't seem to handle him. I'm not sure why he does well with myself and my TA, but he does... and gets work done. He can't go off campus, although he does well with my TA and I, I don't think its a good idea for him to go to a completely new place. His behaviors really erupt when he's nervous or afraid.
Wednesday my TA and I are going up to a factory tour to see if it suits for our information technology unit. The Herr's potato chip factory. Should be an interesting trip, and I have a copy of the tour on video tape so we can prep the students in advance as well as give them an assignment to do while at the factory.
:mouse:

Hey!
It has been a long lazy cloudy Sunday. I got all my papers graded. Finally.............. Our grading period ends tomorrow. I am either getting ready for progress reports or report cards. We are on a six week schedule.
Finally took a walk today. After not walking for almost two weeks it was quite a chore. I'm gonna try and start doing the Watp tape again tomorrow.
Dinner is in the oven, and trying to get all the stuff done for tomorrow morning. Bookbag packed, lunch money, my lunch packed.....I always seem to have something that keeps me from getting to work when I want to. So I try to do everything at night, so that all I have to do is jump out of bed and get ready. I drank so much water today I feel like I'm going to float away. I have been so thirsty all day. It didn't help that right into the middle of our walk and a mile from home I had to go to the bathroom.......That sort of made the rest of the walk a little unpleasant.
Still not feeling great. This stupid sore throat thing isn't going away. I feel like I have a huge furball stuck in there.
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE.................I am only 1/2 pound away from my first goal. TWENTY POUNDS! I went and bought a new pair of pants today and they were size 18.
Ginny: That is so funny about the wallpaper. That is my house! My hubby plays this stupid football game on the xbox. He will be yelling and cussing at the football players on the team like they were really playing. It gets quite obnoxious. I'll say, honey, they can't help it you control them! :D
That sort of pisses him off, but sometimes I just can't help it. He was out in the front yard one day trying to put an alternator on my son's car, and omigosh.........I said Please, if you don't be quiet the neighbors are going to start holding a prayer meeting on our front lawn. He said" This is my house I can say what I want!" I exited at that point! I told him he needs to be exorcised!
Mouse: How exactly do you make the baked apples? WE LOVE BAKED APPLES...................I used to buy the stouffer's baked apples, until I found out how many calories were in them. Sounds yummy.
Have a great night everybody!
Pam

My sister sent me this, thought it was cute.
It is good to be a woman:
1. We got off the Titanic first.
2. We can scare male bosses with the mysterious gynecological disorder excuses.
3. Taxis stop for us.
4. We don't look like a frog in a blender when dancing.
5. No fashion faux pas we make, could ever rival the Speedo.
6. We don't have to pass gas to amuse ourselves.
7. If we forget to shave, no one has to know.
8. We can congratulate our teammate without ever touching her rear end.
9. We never have to reach down every so often to make sure our privates are still there.
10. We have the ability to dress ourselves.
11. We can talk to the opposite sex without having to picture them naked.
12. If we marry someone 20 years younger, we are aware that we will look like an idiot.
13. We will never regret piercing our ears.
14. There are times when chocolate really can solve all your problems.
15. We can make comments about how silly men are in their presence because they aren't listening anyway

Ok, now for a real post.
Mouse, I sure hope that you get a TON of snow Friday. Sounds like one of those no win situations. My family enjoyed the Herrs tour......it was not too long and we did get so sample some chips right after they came out of the frier. Yummy!!!!! We were there a few years ago, and it might have changed since then- but it was enjoyable.
Good luck with it.
Pam- hope you are feeling better. Go slowly working back to the level of activity you were at. It won't do you any good if you push too hard. Congrats on being only 1/2# from your mini goal!!! That must feel great. I have a WW recipe for baked apples....I will post it later.

What a waste of a perfectly good snow day!!!!! We got about 7" here....of course enough to cancel school and we are off for Presidents day. Ok I am enjoying the day off, but all this snow could have been put to a good use, like cancelling school, right?
Anyway, I am SO tired of dishes. Really tired. Think it has been a month since I have been able to use the dishwasher, and I cook a lot. 3 loads a day on a weekend is the norm. And yesterday with Dh being home for what could be the last time until June, I cooked a lot. And am still getting the stupid dishes done. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........
Sears delivers the new new(to replace the new one that did not work) dishwasher Wednesday. And the new stove. Dh finally confessed last nite to kicking the old stove, and that is how the glass broke. Ok, you can all stop laughing now.......no he would never hurt a me, or the kids....or anyone else. Not the violent type. But once in a while, just loses it on some inanimate object. Like my stove. That's ok!!! I picked out a GOOD stove the other day......not the usual good quality but very basic stove, that I would usually get. This one has some bells and whistles.....not top of the line or gourmet but a major departure from my usual. (had his blessing to do so too). So there....and no interest for a year.

I did get a walk in last nite. Dh joined me for awhile, but mostly I was by myself.
Today my workout will be shovelling the snow. I already did some. Guess I'd better go and put away some dishes and finish up the rest.
See ya later!
Ginny

Summer, Robyn, Paisley and Kerry I miss you !!!!!!! Hope you are doing ok.

Just me again.
Does anyone know the name of the web site that Summer used for planning her Disney trip? Something Bob's or Joe's......I dunno. It seems as though Ds's baseball team is going during spring break, and Dh will be chaperoning. So I'd like to help them plan their free time, what little they will have when they are not practicing or playing a game.

Just a quiet day here.....wish I had gotten more done, but still not having to run around like a jerk (my usual pace) has been nice. Gotta go bring in some wood for the wood stove. (no, we are not a ma and pa kettle, and I do go to the dentist......we just like the wood burner to supplement our natural gas heat.).
Got my workout in shovelling snow. See ya later!
Ginny

;) Well I'm so glad Monday is over with!
It has truly been a day! For the most part the kids were ok today. We had to work today to make up a snowday from December. Yuck! Well, fourth period..............My class comes in and they are getting their calculators and folders and starting on their warm up....A couple of kids are bickering back and forth which I squashed rather quickly. Next thing I know, there is a huge uproar, and a baggie of pot sitting on the floor beside this girls desk. :o
I called the office, got everyone calmed down and actually went on with going over the warm up and began teaching my lesson. Here I am walking around teaching with a baggie of pot in my pocket! :dizzy: Finally, after about twenty minutes or so, the deputy comes around, I give him the pot and went back to teaching. Then, the assistant principal comes in with a teacher's assistant, takes me to the deputy's office, I spent half a period filling out a statement of everything that has happened since the kids left me to go to elective, until these come in. How do you know it wasn't in the floor before the class came in? "I cleaned up my room after the second period left." Do you do this everyday? Yes. BLAH BLAH BLAH!
Then I had to go back and have the entire class fill out statements. Well, apparently, one girl had it in health class and gave it to another girl in there. She came to my class and gave it to another girl, who gave it to a boy, who gave it to another boy, who threw it across the room back to the original owner. I don't know what will happen since I didn't find it on anybody, but it was in the floor. But, they may put all the kids who had their hand's on it in ISS. Until, they can get down to the bottom of it.
So, after school, had to meet with two teacher's about their peer evaluations, then meet with the assistant principal. On to the DMV, to try and register my son's car, which they wouldn't let me do because I don't have power of attorney! :mad:
So, I came home and ate four or five girl scout cookies and drank a pepsi. I know wrong thing to do, but I started today and I needed that chocolate bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ginny: I LOVE HERR'S POTATO CHIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can't get them here in NC. BARBEQUE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no strength against the mighty potato chip. My oldest son complains cause we never have any in the house. No one can eat just one, so we don't buy them.....
Hope the new stove and dishwasher will work out this time. Maybe hubby won't have a fit and break this one! Gosh, he sure does sound a lot like mine! I'm laughing over here. The other night, we were going to take our walk. My youngest son, rides his bike while we walk, cause his legs just can't keep up with ours. Well, we recently bought a new tire for his bike, which my husband fixed without incident. That same night as we were getting ready to walk, my son's chain came off. Well, after ten minutes of not being able to get the chain back on he threw the bike across the yard!
Wasn't a pleasant walk. He was grumbling to himself, I will not be defeated by a stupid chain. :D Two days later the bike was fixed. Ha! Sounds like you had a nice day off. Don't really feel like working out today. Just now cooking supper and it's almost seven. I think I'll just make myself a salad.

Mouse: Did you get your snow??????? Wish we had today off. We were making up a snow day today! Yuck!!!!!!!
Hope everyone else is ok!
Take care!
Pam

We didn't get snow. We didn't get sleet. We didn't even get much rain! Oh, I was so angry. I could've stayed home at my mom's house for all of Sunday.
I didn't get the laundry done today or the dishwasher emptied, because when I came home from the gym and other errands, there was a big "warning sign" in front of the laundry room. I'm sure there was nothing wrong, and that somebody forgot to pick up the sign, but it was right in front of the doorway, and I'm not going to test the floor and possibly fall again... so the laundry will get done tomorrow or Wednesday.
I should go empty the dishwasher now, and I might. Sorry, Ginny. I don't use my very often, having decided that I'd keep up with the dishes, but last week didn't work so I need to take the clean dishes out and put it up to wash again.
I did finish most of a student's IEP... I need to make sure its all in order and well done because I don't be on-campus Wednesday for the meeting. Well, we might make it back, but that is the day we're going to the Herrs factory for the teacher's tour. We have to be there at 9:30, and the tour is an hour with an hour drive back... the meeting is at 12:50.
The apples, Pam: I just core them and stuff 'em in the microwave. If I have extra time, I'll put them in the crock-pot sliced, but I don't often have the time to do that. I would love a crock pot with a timer on it, so I could use it more often.
Ginny: I found Weight Watchers cereal at Trader Joes today, of all places. It said 1 serving is 1 point, and it meets my requirements of high fiber, low sugar and higher protein... so I bought it. I usually put the cold cereal on my fruit and yogurt, instead of eating it with milk, but... I might give it a shot.
:mouse:

Mouse, Never had the WW cereal, but I have found most of their stuff to be pretty decent. Let me know how it is!!!! What flavor (variety?) is it? I have used their english muffins, bagels and bread. OK, none of them are as good as the "real" thing but the points are so much lower it is worth it. For example, a WW bagel is 3 points.
A real bagel is 6points. And I get 22 points per day. So, I'd rather use WW bagel and save the 3 points. Aw, it is ok with your dishwasher, I know that sooner or later mine will be up and running. Guess I should say later as opposed to sooner! I did the apples tonite for dessert- I think one of the recipes I have calls for a wee bit of vanilla and of course some cinnamon. Comes out great........I agree!!!! Too bad you did not get any snow. But look at the bright side, you did get to the gym! But I hear there is another storm in the picture for Friday. We can only hope.
Gotta go get Dd ready for bed.
Have a great nite.
Ginny

Ginny---I gasped when I read your stove/dishwasher story (scaring my cat I might add). . .I can't believe that happened! You're so perseverant--If I were in that situation, I'd be like " this is a sign. we are NOT supposed to use the kitchen anymore!" It is CRAZY the things that are happening to you in that kitchen!

Take care, and I hope it all goes back to normal or better than normal soon!
:^:

Pam--What a crazy experience--random baggies of pot on the floor. I love that you wer so cool headed and just kept teaching. How sad that you had to get pulled out of your class to fill out all that paperwork, not once but twice! Seriously, couldn't your part have been done later?

I don't have a pot story, but I do have 3 balloons twisted together in the shape of a penis in my supplies closet. I took it off a kid a month ago, and our security guy hasn't gotten around to dealing with it, and "needs" me to hold it. I e-mail him randomly and remind him it's there. . .always a fun conversation to have. On the plus side, the nosy kids who walk in and open the cabinet like they browse the fridge until I tell them not to---don't do that so much anymore.
:D

Mouse--you sound really busy too. How smart to avoid situations where you could fall. . .and that field trip situation sounds scary. I hope that it all goes well despite the odds.

Hi everyone!

Sorry about all the sudden posts. It's just hard to post all at once when you've been gone, because I want to read everything I missed. I had a long week, but it got better toward the end.

Today, I walked in the Great aloha Run (and, um, walk). The course is 8.15 miles, but I had to walk 11 blocks to and from my car, so I think I walked about 9 miles today!!! :dancer: It was fun, and I got a free t-shirt and oranges out of the deal. I also got to spend a ton of healthy time with my cousin who just moved here last month.

A whole slew of people didn't show up. The sped teachers walking team showed, and the girls basketball team and their coaches ran, but I talked to a whole bunch of other people who filled out the paperwork to be in it, but who didn't come. Some of them are way more athletic than I am, so it felt kind of cool to be the only one at our school NOT with a dept/team who showed up. I think it felt good because it meant I motivated myself to get up at 5am and drive downtown. :coach:

Anyway, I went shopping--and got a belly-dancing video--and then came home and CRASHED. I think I'm wearing myself out with grad school, school, this union stuff, and trying to be healthier (no fast food runs, fitting in exercise). :faint: Before, I would have just had caffiene on those tired days, but now I'm just tired. It's made me realize how much I relied on caffiene to get me through those nights when I had no sleep. Now my body seems to just shut itself down when I'm exhausted. I think that's a good thing, but it's hard getting used to after years of being able to counter those tiredness signals by drinking caffiene.

I finish my current class on Wednesday--only 1 paper left in it, thank goodness. :sunny: Then, I am scheduled to finish my thesis by March 17, and then I am done with grad school. Thank goodness. It's been fun, but I think of how else I could fill that time. For example, I organize the teachers for Friday get togethers, and at the last one, I met a woman who teaches ballroom dancing. I used to LOVE to salsa, so I checked, and they have lessons twice a week at the rec center for $1 per lesson! That would be SO much fun!

anyway, Take care everyone, and congrats on sticking to your plans and posting regularly! :wave:

--p

Good morning.
Oh bummer,had to go back today.....well, the kids were subdued, and the perpetrators (main offenders whose seats were relocated) were also quiet. Even Dd noticed and as we approached school said how quiet the students were. Somehow I think that is the way it is supposed to be, not with me constantly wondering if they are self destructing back there. No walk yet....I plan on getting a short walk in in about an hour.

Paisley, you 9 mile walk sounds wonderful!!!! Great excercise and a lot of fun too. (I am jealous). Did you try out your new bellydancing video?? (brave woman, you!) That sounds like fun. I hear ya with the caffeine. I most likely ingest way too much, and even as active as I can be, at times it is the only way to make it thru a day. Good for you trying to eliminate some or all of it. You will be healthier for that. You must be so happy for getting to (almost) the end of grad school. Good for you finding some interesting ways to fill up the time, the salsa class sounds like fun! (something I might do if I had the time).

Not much new here.....just trying to get thru this week. Hard to believe that it is back to the grind today. Isn't it Friday yet???
Gotta go. See ya!
Ginny

Just me a chatting by myself today..... I did finish shovelling the driveway today and took a short walk. (our driveway wraps around the house, and is long..........). So that is my workout for today. Might get some time in on the health walker for another AP tonite. Good news, tomorrow am between 10:30 and 12:30 the new, new dishwasher and stove arrive. Just in time for me to be here and get back to work. I think God is smiling on me for being patient and not bellyachin' TOO much. I was afraid they would give me an impossible delivery time and I would have to potpone to Saturday.
Nuff of me babbling to myself........have a great evening!!!
Ginny

Ginny---I will wait and congratulate you until your stove and dishwasher are actually installed. . .so as to not run the risk of jinxing it! I tried the stretching exercises and the warm up on my belly dancing video this morning, and my belly is TIRED! It may have been all of 10 minutes of the light stuff, but I was feeling it this afternoon!

Take care all!
--p

Thanks for not wanting to jinx me.......(although I wonder what else could possibly go wrong.) Sounds as though your new video might be good for you, if you are sore from a light workout. Let me know how it is....ok, I doubt I would get it for myself (for fear of running the risk of someone seeing me do it!) but my abs sure could use a good workout.
Hope everyone is doing ok. Have a good nite.
Ginny

Wow... what a busy day. Lots of resource referrals, and my one kid who is on the special plan didn't do very well today at all. There was a LOT of self-talk, staring, griping, some work refusal. He has post-traumatic stress disorder due to abuse, and the story is that Mom has no health insurance and can't afford the meds. There are under and uninsured plans for children in this state. He's been in-patient twice at Hopkins, so somebody somewhere is paying for something! I'm also really worried about one of my girls: she had some real leadership qualities and is just being so absolutely negative during my class now that I can't deal with it. It all started with that stupid bathroom plan, and I'm being forced to adhere to it. I've told her, and my TA has told her that we had no choice, that we're being forced to follow the plan, but it doesn't matter. She really thinks that we've betrayed her, and since she is "so bad that she can't go to the bathroom all of a sudden", she is "going to be the bad kid you want me to be". Her team is actually SPYING on myself and my TA at random periods to make sure that we aren't letting her out of the room for any reason, and the child freaks at the end of the class period if she can't leave as soon as the bell goes, because she doesn't want to be late for the next class. The next class is only 3 floors and at the absolute opposite end of the other building. You can't get any farther away from my classroom, to be honest. If she's late, she gets lunch detentions.
Okay. Enough about school.
I got to the gym today, and then went to BJ's for school. We're having a "fun day" tomorrow, and since I'm scheduled off-campus for a planning meeting for 4th quarter field trips, I volunteered to do the shopping for the activities tomorrow. They talked about popcorn, but I suggested that we do single-serve bags of snack, so we don't have to worry about cups, plates, gloves and serving, with juice. Then each homeroom is doing a "treat". If I were going to be on-campus, I'd've done ice cream for them, but I'm not and there is no where safe to put the ice cream until lunch.
Instead they have soda and those "cookie bars" with the candy. I'll do ice-cream for them another time.
BJs also had "their" brand of two different kinds of fruit-flavored water... one sparkling, one not, both with Splenda. I picked up the sparkling, because there is only one flavor in there that I don't like: kiwi-strawberry. The rest sounded good: grapefruit, kiwi-lime, and blackberry. I used to buy Propel by the case, but they switched the multipack from black cherry, lemon or orange, berry to berry, kiwi-strawberry, lemon. That leaves me with only lemon, and while I like it, its not a first choice ever. I much prefer the orange, black cherry, and grape as flavors.
I'll be sure and let you know about the cereal, Ginny. I am pleased to tell you that the lowfat cheese crunchies I bought at Trader Joes are excellent. I also saw a "smartsnack" multi-pack of Lays products... baked lays, baked ruffles, pretzels, and something else. They have baked cheetos also, which are awesome. I didn't buy that at BJs, though, through much will power. :) But I might buy it as a treat next time I go. But I've had my treats for the week: the store had clam dip, which I love but haven't had in years, and soy chips, also the cheese crunchies. Calorie count is still okay, because I'm doing portion control.
I'm now off to bed... long day today.
:mouse:

HEY!!!!!!!!!

We need to get a prayer circle going for snow on Thursday! They are predicting. I am praying. COME ON NOW GINNY! :D
Was an ok day at school. No random drugs laying around the classroom today! It was funny, my best friend is the receptionist, and I called her yesterday when I found the bag of pot laying in the floor, she told the principal who said hmmm tell her to be very careful with that stuff...This morning he said So, did you enjoy that??????? :o I said well, I did eat some girl scout cookies when I got home~ ;) Those kids were all still at school today, and there is still and investigation. We shall see..........
Still haven't walked....I need to get on the ball, I feel like a slug! I am truly a sloth today! It was all I could do to get out of bed. It's only Tuesday.....
Paisley: Nine miles!!!!!!!!!Wow, my legs would have fallen off! GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!! :cb: :cb: Sounds like you've been super busy yourself.
I kind of wish that I had done grad school. I would like to go back eventually and get a masters but I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up!
Ginny: Holding my breath on the dishwasher deal.............Hope you'll be up and running soon. Hey with a broken stove....Do you still have to cook? I don't know that I would have run right out to get one! :) Cooking can be such a chore sometimes. Sometimes I just dread coming home and having to cook.
Mouse: You must have an amazing amount of energy to do all that you do. When do you get a rest? Is your fieldtrip to Herrs still on? Can I put in a request?
Hope you all have a great day tomorrow. I'm just sort of grouchy and blah!
Take Care!
Pam

Hi, all. The trip to Herr's was awesome. The movie they show at the beginning is kinda stupid, but the tour itself is decent. Our guide must be new, though, because she forgot a whole lot of stuff including names of machines and new products.
Pam: Just for you... Herr's will SHIP anywhere in the United States via UPS. Go to their website: http://www.herrs.com If that doesn't work for you, let me know: we can work a deal! :)
They give you fresh (literally right off the line!) hot potato chips to taste, and they were the best chips I've ever had. I only ate two though. I found one of my favorite snacks... of course, you know I like cheese crunchies, but I also love popcorn. Herrs started selling "salt and pepper" popcorn a few years ago, but I've only ever seen it at the discount grocery near my mom's house. But I found some at the factory today, and bought two bags off the discount rack.
I'm joining the circle for snow! I need it to start around 4:00 pm Thursday afternoon... they are saying around noon here, and I don't want to get stuck at school with the kids.
I didn't get to the gym today, but I did all the walking at the Herr's tour: about an hour of standing and walking around. And then my TA wanted to go out to lunch, so we did... she picked a buffet, Golden Corral. I had lots and lots of vegetables: broccoli, green beans, some salad, lima beans. I had some baked salmon and a piece of lean pork chop too. I'm WAY under calories today so I'll have to go find dinner. I haven't even gotten to 1000 calories. Vegetables are very filling but very low calorie... broccoli is kinda high though: I had 2 medium stalks, and that was nearly 100 calories!
No butter or cheese or anything, just steamed with some salt.
I'm still stuffed, and we had lunch around noon! Its 7:30 now!
Hope the rest of you had a good day...
:mouse:

Hi Ladies,
Hope all is well with everyone. I have been very busy with getting my alternate assessments done and still trying to keep a float with my normal daily routines. I also have two new students in my room. Another set of brothers, so that makes it a total of 9 special needs students in one room. Makes for some overcrowding. Have to work out some room rearranging. In all of this stress, I have gained 1 3/4 pounds last week. So I guess I have to keep a tighter watch on my eating and keep up my working out. Nuff about me.
Sounds like you all are also praying for a snow dance. The one aide for our after school program kept telling the kids tonight that we were not having school tomorrow because of the snow we are to get. Needless to say it hasn't started here yet. But I sure could use a day off. LOL One month from to day is my IEP meetings. So I have alot to get done in the next month. Three assessments due by March 4th, three MFE reports to write and 9 IEP's. Mind you I have only gotten the two new students today, so that should be fun trying to write an IEP on them after only having them in my room a few weeks. Oh well, I just need to keep coming here for support and not stay away like I did last week. Well I better go and get ready for bed. I am so tired here lately. Talk to you all later.
Kerry

Ok, all you snow lovers out there......from what I hear from my students, you must wear your pj's inside out, flush the toilet 3X and put a silver spoon under your pillow.
That guarantees a snow day. Be back later......
Ginny

Update on the stove/dishwasher......both arrived. Dh put the stove in (no fool, he wanted to eat!) and hopefully the dishwasher will go in tonite.
Mouse I am so glad you liked the Herrs factory. Great isn't it?
Hi to Kerry (good to hear from you, I was starting to worry), Summer, Robyn, Pam, Paisley. Gotta go, have a busy day.
Ginny

They just closed all the schools in the state today. I think we would have done well going in on time and dismissing early, because as of now the only snow on the ground is in the southern part of the state. And so, it looks like I'll have to go to the stupid field trip tomorrow unless we get the full 5 inches, plus the extra they are promising overnight. We have a winter storm warning again because of a storm coming from the midwest that will allegedly combine with this one so we may wind up with 5 inches by 5:00 pm today, and then another 1-3 inches by dawn Friday.
I do hope that we don't have to RESCHEDULE the trip!! :shudder:
My supervisor has approved the trip to the Herrs factory, but we're having lift-van issues again. Its only available on Fridays, and there is only ONE Friday in April and May that we can use it... which just happens to be the same day as the awards assembly AND the start of Passover. I'm willing to give up part of my religious holiday, and even getting my mother to drive out to the Herrs plant to pick me up so I can go with the kids ON THE VAN... and then she'd have to take me to Baltimore or at least drop me at the Light Rail station in Hunt Valley so I could go back down here.
And he's being completely inflexible about the kids missing part of the awards assembly. Most of the kids are certificate students anyway, so they'll likely be with us for 7 years... if they miss one awards assembly, I fail to see how important it is! Especially since the awards are just absolutely stupid! Seriously: they're handmade many times, and don't look professional, and the awards themselves. I've seen awards for 'Best Sense of Humor' and 'Most Improved Communication", the latter going to a child who uses a voice-output device. But she doesn't use her VOCA to talk, she uses it to beat herself with, and her idea of communication is to grab for any part of you and pinch! The awards are more like summer camp awards than high school.
And the honor roll awards are ludicrous as well, since the certificate students also get magna and summa cum laude. What a joke! And I have kids regularly getting highest honors who can't add or subtract without a calculator, and can't read anywhere near grade level, but have A's and B's in core academic subjects. We have very few kids who don't get honor roll certificates. I just cannot imagine how an entire school of kids with disabilities can get honor roll each and every quarter! It really cheapens the honor, IMO. I fought to include my kids in the awards ceremonies at my inner city school, but not every child in my class received an honor roll certificate! They were graded based on their IEPs, and then the guidance office and I converted those scores (4-mastered, 3-making progress, 2-making limited progress, 1-no progress made) to letter grades (4-A, 3-B/C 2-D, 1-F).
Okay, whatever. I guess he's saying that, again, those kids cannot go on the field trip. The one to the Union school for tomorrow was one that these kids couldn't go on either because none of them can get into the school nor will any of them understand what is going on during the tour... and we didn't have room for them to go.
So... I was thinking about going to the gym now, because the roads aren't too bad yet... but I bet by the time I finished swimming, it'd be bad. I think my mother would kill me if I went out right now.
:mouse:

Well, today was a hopelessly messed up day......early closure. At least my district was a bit prudent, and we just closed an hour early to avoid any hazardous driving. It ended up being a good call- as it just began snowing hard and I have been home an hour. Several districts closed at 10:30.....without a flake in sight. But a strange day it has been.

Mouse-I hope that somehow you can come up with a good date for the trip to Herrs. Can't imagine a better trip for kids......low tech, lots of visual and great eats after!!!!!
Aren't the fresh chips wonderful? And we had a good time in their store, seeing all the different flavors they make that we do not see in a local store. Yup, your awards ceremony sounds like something that can be missed......hope that works out for you.
Gotta go make dinner......oh, do I ever hope for a snow day tomorrow, but doubt it wil be. Probably be a 2 hour delay.

See ya later. Opps....Mouse I forgot.....because of the early dismissal I did not get to WW. I will be there Saturday morning and hopefully take care of matters for you.
Ginny

Evening Ladies,
We had a two hour delay today. I think it was a waste of time because my kids were awful the whole day. So I was glad to leave this afternoon. I had to deal with one behavior problem after another. So I am going to relax a few minutes before I go down to the gym for my sdd's all-star ball game. I just hope they don't get beat tonight. Regardless of what the outcome of their game is they play again on Saturday. So maybe this will cheer me up some. I am really hoping for a snow day tomorrow. Nuff babbling by me.
Ginny glad to hear that your new stove is in. Hope your dishwasher works this time. Glad to hear that you made it safely home this evening. I have been good about getting my walks in in the morning and I think of you my sister in sweat. :)
Mouse sounds like your boss is not being very cooperative about your fieldtrip. I would have to agree with you on the reward assembly. I think it would be better time spent if they went on the field trip. That sounds like a lot of fun. Plus yummy! :) So did you get to the gym okay today?
Hi to Pam, Robyn, Summer and Paisley and Elana. Hope all is well with you.
Talk to you later.
Kerry

Kerry,
Great to hear from you! So you had a snow issue today too? Gee, these darned half days/ late openings whatever just seem like such a huge waste of time and effort and the kids are always wacky with the break in routine. I hope you got a few minutes in to relax before the game. Hope sdd had a good game- played well of course a victory would sure be nice too! SO much easier to live with when they win, aren't they? Remember, wear the jammies inside out, put a silver spoon under your pillow and flush the toilet 3X. I have a bunch of kids on my bus that swear it works for a snow day.....good luck!

Well, the stove and the oven worked great........and now (minus the cussing, thank the Lord!) Dh is gettting the dishwasher in. I hope. We really did get a defective dishwasher the first time- this one has a relay switch that the other one did not have, according to Dh. Hopefully I will be smiling later.......and not swishing the suds.
Better go play cats cradle with Dd........have a great nite!

Ginny

So, did you think I fell off the face of the earth? I didn't, but my computer did. I have been having so many problems mostly with AOL. I have spent hours struggling to get online only to get kicked off repeatedly in the middle of all sorts of stuff. Well, after spending a couple of weeks researching the best bang for my buck, we decided to toss dial-up and go with our local cable company's online service. By combining our phone service with the online service, we actually saved money and were able to get rid of voice mail since we won't be tying up the line anymore. (As I type, I am so paranoid about getting kicked off AOL yet again.) So, in the long run, we are better off and should have less hassles.

I've been taking my graduate class for a few weeks. The work will be a pain in the a** but the material is all review. So, earning the 3 credits won't be about learning anything, just an expense and a nuisance. Apparently with so many people with bachelor's degrees returning to school to get their masters with certification, the graduate courses have been "watered down" to accomodate people with zero educational courses and experience. Well, since I am a buuuuusy person, I guess not being terribly challenged could end up in my favor.

I have a question for you. Since my email address will be changing, will it affect me accessing 3fatchicks? Will I have to come up with a new name? If anybody knows, I would appreciate the info.

I'm gonna go back now and try to catch up with you all. Let me hit "submit reply" before AOL sends me on my way!

Hi!
First of all and in case I get booted off, Summer, changing your email address and ISP should not bother this site at all. I am figuring that because I used to get to the site and post from work (when I was a technical writer) and can do so from Dm's computer.
So, it would appear to me that your screen name etc....should stay the same. We did the same thing changing from dialup to broadband (that is what it is called, right?).
One of the best things I did....and we saved some $$$$ in doing so also. Got rid of the extra phone line....you know the whole thing. And it is faster. Anyway, I am so glad to hear from you. Guess I was stating to worry, so many have not been here for a while. I was beginning to think that maybe I scared everyone away. Funny, that you mention about the watering down of education courses for a masters. When the HR director mentioned to me that he would rather hire me as a teacher than a bus driver, and briefly we went over what I would have to do to make the change and eventually become a teacher. Of course, I would have had to take a ton of teaching courses, having never taken a one while getting my BS. It was during that conversation that I realized that they must be watering down education courses at the masters level- same rationale that you mentioned. So then, how does someone, such as yourself manage to take anything that is meaningful (guess that is some of what Mouse has been facing)? Just a question to muse over. For me I decided for many different reasons that this was not the right thing to do- one of the biggies was that the closest college/university is well over an hour away, and a horrible drive. All windy bumpy country roads....no lights at night....what a mess. Well, I hope your course works out well for you and is just enough of a challenge so as not to be a sleeper, but not too tough either.

Ok, I did everything right......wore my jammies inside out...silver spoon under the pillow(ok,Dd did that one!! and the toilet flushing 3X) and no snow day. Just a 2 hour delayed opening. WHich is a pain. Which means that I'd better get going.....otherwise nothing will get done here and we will not eat dinner until midnite.
BTW, I did get my kickboxing in this am (thought of you Kerry!) and the dishwasher works!!!!!!!! :) Hi to everyone......have a great Friday.
Ginny

We had another snow day today. I haven't ventured out: I was going to, but then changed my mind. So, no silly field trip. I do hope he doesn't try to reschedule it! I'll have to go out tomorrow for a couple of reasons.... I finally talked to the reproductive endo yesterday late afternoon. She called around 3:30, and said she wasn't sure I'd be there, but she was going to hope because the schools near her was closed as well. :) She is going to change one of the pills for one month and then do bloodwork, so I have to go to the pharmacy and pick those up since I need to start them Sunday.
She's unable to get ahold of the medical endocrinologist who did the bloodwork in December. I have an appointment with that one in March, so we'll see what happens. How can anybody expect to get anything done when doctors can't talk to each other?!
When they did bloodwork in December, the medical endo did all kinds of tests for diabetes, and not one for insulin resistance. I don't have diabetes, and haven't had fasting blood sugar higher than 112 ever. Anything between 70 and 120 is fine, so I'm a bit mystified as to all those tests... unless she, like most people, assumed that because I'm so overweight I must be diabetic! I get so tired of preconceptions and misperceptions of people, really... And I'd like to know if all the other dietary changes I've made since the last insulin test have helped more. I was within 3 points of being normal. I hope so, between the exercise and even more strict dietary changes...
I also have swimming lessons tomorrow and would really like to go do the water aerobics class. Maybe since I didn't do anything today I can get myself out of bed!
I did mention that to her, but she's not sure what to do at the moment... she suggested doing slow increases in the spironolactone to see if I can sleep better without it (since it seems to be keeping me up at night). She also extracted a promise from me that I would let her know if I had problems with the new pills... She's starting to realize that I'm not very good at that.
Grad school: There is a reason I chose to attend Johns Hopkins, and not any of the state schools in Pennsylvania (where I was at the time). The master's of special education classes there were mostly filled with people who needed to make good on the requirements of their emergency certification. I saw the coursework from Shippensburg and Millersville Universities, and was very much not impressed. The summer that I started at Hopkins, one of the teachers was complaining about the amount of work he had for his state university class... He had one 5 page paper, and a project. Now, I admit I was taking a legal systems class, but I had a 3-5 page paper due EVERY CLASS!!! I wrote at least 10 papers for that class alone, and I took two classes that summer. The other one was on vocational assessment and that class had quizzes, a mid-term and final, plus we had to administer several different tests to various subjects, score and write reports.
One person in the legal systems class complained about the amount of work requried since it was a "summer" class (it met 2 nights per week for 6 weeks), and the instructor (who just happened to be the head of the state of Maryland's special education department!) replied to something along the lines of, "What did you expect? This is Johns Hopkins and we do have a reputation to uphold!"
That's not to say that all the classes are that good... I have some serious doubts as to why my current supervisor occasionally teachers a class on vocational assessment and education at Hopkins since he clearly knows nothing about it.

:mouse:

:o Hey!
Hope everyone had a great week. I have been so darn busy that I have not even had the opportunity to get online. I wish I would have because I definitely would have worn the Pj's inside out flushed the toilet three times, and put a silver spoon under my pillow. WE DIDN'T GET ANY SNOW! Oh well,
such is life.
Been so much going on this week. Peer evals, grade level meetings, meetings for the writing test blah blah blah! I have been so pooped.
I think I fell asleep at nine oclock last night. I'm usually quite a night owl.
One day this week, my friend called at 6:38 to get the number for the lady who is charge of subs. Gave her the number, she said I'm coming over to drop off lesson plans. I said ok. I still hadn't packed my lunch, my son's bookbag, brushed my teeth. RUnning way late and supposed to be out the door by 6:50 at the absolute latest. It takes me thirty minutes to get to work. In the meantime, I LOST MY KEYS........I searched the entire house couldn't find them, I was stomping around like a madwoman. She pulled up, I ran outside to get her plans, which she hadn't even written yet and said ok when you finish, just put them in my car. I checked to make sure my car was unlocked, it was. The keys were still in the ignition. So, back into the house, to finsih getting ready it's already 6:55. Fly out the door, my battery is dead. Apparently I left it turned on too! Had to wake up hubby to jump my car. He said somebody must have left the light on! Ok so I played dumb, but you gotta understand he is not a morning person. It has been like that everyday. I think I'm losing my mind!
Uniforms.......Ughhhhhhhhhh. I am so in favor of this uniform thing. But, gosh it's been a huge pain in the tail.I have to be the fashion monitor every morning and write the names down of anyone who is not in compliance and send it to the office. Our uniform is black, blue or tan kakhis, light blue, navy or white polo shirts. One day a girl had on black jeans. I said hon you can't wear those, they aren't kakhi. She said well my grandma and mom said I could. I didn't say anything and just wrote her name down. Well, her momma had a fit, threatened to call the papers, the news, the school board on me........Blah! She came in with her parents this morning, never did find out the outcome of that meeting. However, she still had on those pants. I asked a fellow teacher just to check her pants out so that I would know whether or not I was losing my mind. She says, yup they are jeans. In the meantime, the girl goes into the bathroom after my class and changes into blue jeans and a t shirt. Her teacher told her in front of the library staff, to go and change back to her regular clothes, she copped quite an attitude. SO, the girl, changes, but leaves her blue jeans on under her pants. She was turned into the principal and he was fuming since her mother had made such a big deal about the fact that they always make sure their daughter is in uniform before she comes to school. Apparently she has been changing all along. She is in Iss for the day. :D
Remember the gamblers I had earlier? They are back! One of them must have racked in the dough because he was seen stuffing a wad of money into his locker. I think since I have the drug dealers and gamblers in my room, shouldn't I be getting a cut? I think ten percent is fair for my trouble! Ok, so maybe not................Just a thought.
I know I've babbled long enough. Ginny : glad your appliances are all in. Hope they are working great. Mouse: Wish I had been on that trip to the Herr Factory. I'm gonna check out that site. However, I need to stay away, cause they are my downfall. Chips and Pepsi....Yummy!
Still haven't excercised, tried to cheat today and buy a three muskateer bar today at work. The machine not only ate my money, but smushed the candy bar and wouldn't let if fall. :dizzy: Guess that was a sign. I had gained like two pounds back this week. I'm attributing that to water because of tom, but I'm back down to 184.5 today. I am making a promise with myself to excercise! I have been reading a book that's great and I can't put it down........Do any of you read Patricia Cornwell? Maybe I'll hurry up and get it finished then I can excercise.
Talk to you later!
Pam

I had an AWFUL day. I will not bore you with the details......but I am still in disbelief that a coworker tried to rip off the front mirror of my bus (with his bus, BTW) because we had a disagreement about a situation. This guy is one of those "my way or the highway" types..... and has no respect for women. I really don't care what he thinks of me, I am just totally wrecked out at what an unsafe thing he did this afternoon and that he tried to dammage my bus. I have yet to figure out how to handle this....I am considering writing a "note to file" describing what happened this afternoon, just to put in my folder, just in case I ever have a more substantial problem with him. We are in a union, so talking to a supervisor about him might not be the way to go. One of the shop stewards totally hates this guys guts.....and I am sure would support me.
Anyone have any advice here??? I am miffed......

Pam, I had a chat with that candy machine.....the one that would not give in to your chocolate fix! Guess it was a sign.....nope I have never read Patricia Cornwell, but have a copy of The Last Precinct here. SOMEDAY I will find time to read it. Ha! and don't hold your breath. Which book are you reading? I have heard she is a great author.

Mouse- I am sure you would LOVE to sit all these MD's down together and bash their heads......make them look at all the test results they have collectively sent you for and screamed "please give me some answers!!!!!". I know that this kind of nonsense would never happen if it were thier family member......answers would be had asap.
Much luck with the change in meds/doses. Something has to work out for you!
Thanks for the insight on grad school. It really echoes what Summer said and what I suspected. And I knew you would be the one to straighten me out on the issue. :)

Off to load the dishwasher. Got 2 loads out of it.....so I guess my luck has changed.
And the oven did a fine job for dinner, although it has some features that will take me years to figure out. Have a great nite.
Ginny

Woo hoo! I'm sending good dishwasher vibes in your direction, Ginny, as well as good stove vibes.
Pam: Would you like some virtual brownies? They're healthy. I'm going to get my rear end up and make a sandwich for dinner (I'm afraid I had quite a bit of that salt and pepper popcorn during the day today!) and make some fruit crisp for dessert. The other suggestion, Pam, is the new Jello Sugar-Free pudding cups. Splenda, not NutraSweet/Aspartame. Or maybe some of the chocolate sugar free soda? I never liked chocolate soda, though. The pudding is good! So are the SlimFast frozen chocolate bars.
The MD thing? Well... I'm content with the reproductive endo, and I like the gastroenterologist (even though I don't talk with her very often, and haven't since December). They communicate with each other. But it doesn't seem that the endocrinology field is able to do this. The reproductive endocrinologist is always on the ball, calling me and adjusting and working... and remember, she's in Virginia so I'm 75 miles from her at least. She doesn't get paid for any of the time she spends with me on the phone. She only gets paid for the office visits. :shrug: I don't know. If I have PCOS (and they seem content to call it that), there are lots of questions still: Why don't I have any monthly cycle despite the birth control pills? Why don't I lose weight the way a lot of women do, and why did I gain so MUCH weight? Why does my testosterone level continue to go up? I was really severely insulin resistant when I started seeing the reproductive endo, but its gotten a lot better... but I'm still having great struggles losing weight. I actually have more symptoms of Cushings than I do of PCOS, but they've done three different cortisol tests: salviary, blood and 24-hour collection of other bodily fluids... and all of them were within the normal range, though the blood cortisol is still a bit high. That can be from stress.
:shrug: I don't know. I WISH my weight were just a case of not eating properly but despite my popcorn binge this afternoon, I've still had less than 2000 calories. If I'm going to binge on something, popcorn is a good choice!
:mouse:

Hey!
Hope everyone is having a great Saturday so far. As for me? Trying to get my house in order. The laundry monster managed to catch up with me this week. :( Vacuum cleaner belt just broke, so I guess that will have to wait til I go get one. Darn!
Mouse: Thanks for the virtual brownies, but didn't quite get it. I ate girl scout cookies instead! I am going to check out the Herr's potato chip site, but I really need to stay far far away from there.
Ginny: As far as the maniac who hit your bus..........I would definitely get that on file somewhere. If there were any witnesses, I would get statements from them as well. What a jerk! I just finished reading Blowfly. Getting ready to start Trace. Don't start with The Last Precinct. She uses the same characters in her books, and if you start at the beginning you will really get to know them. The first one is called Postmortem. I am quite a bookworm. I will read until the house crumbles and falls around me. I usually spend the summer reading and working in the yard. Can't wait for the weather to get warm so I can work in the yard. My fishpond looks disgusting. My pump is floating to the top. I live in the yard in the summer, and wait for rainy days to work inside. My husband says I have a serious gardening addiction, and it's true. But, I love it!
Summer: We changed from dial up to Cox Cable High Speed Internet. I love it. I still have the same instant messenger name, as on Aol. I just changed my email address. I will not go back to Aol, although we have had the hardest time cancelling Aol. It's ridiculous.
Kerry: Glad to see you back. I wish I had the gumption to get up and walk in the morning. I just have this love affair with my comforter and pillow I can't let go of. It's sad. I'm an evening walker.
Ok, this is the third time I've tried to send this message. So, we shall try again. Laundry calling...........
Pam

Yup, Mouse a popcorn binge should not be a problem with weight, at least not occasionally. I did get to WW this am, and was up 1.6#......bummer but I know that I have had way too much salt the past few days. I am going to work very hard this week to get the #'s off. I am sure that you have done so, but what does your online research about your health suggest? Have you ever tried the NIH web site (national institute of health)? I have read some articles and they suggested that it is one of the more reliable health web sites. And not commercially driven, so it might be objective. And I am probably way behind you here, you have most likely been all over the web yourself, trying to find answers.
Froze my bones today at a fund raiser for Ds's trip to Florida. Got to WW and did my kick box tape. Now wish I could take a nap.......but alas, have to make dinner.

See ya and have a great day!
Ginny

Pam, you snuck in on me!!! Thanks about the Patricia Cornwell books. I guess I will have to get the first one from the Library. My problem with reading is if I get into a really good book, all else goes to the dogs....sleep, housework....the book takes first priority. Can't get away with that too often. Sorry to hear about your vacuum. (must be contagious from my house to yours!!) Hope the housework did not overwhelm you. Take care.
Ginny

I'm a bookworm too... I'm actually reading FOUR books right now. I'm re-reading the older Pern books so I can get the new one that just came out; listening to the new John Grisham novel on CD (I tried doing it at the gym, but its a pain in the pool because I had to keep switching the CD... So I'm listening to it in the car now mostly); and reading the new Lescroart novel (like Grisham, but he uses the same characters and the same setting: San Francisco, CA; His characters are really good, too... he's done his homework for character backgrounds!) at school. I don't typically eat lunch with anybody, because we don't have a teacher's lounge at the school... Sometimes the Construction shop teacher and his TA will come over and eat with me, but the other industry teachers only have one prep period, so it doesn't happen often. I use my 20 minutes to read. :)
I got my butt out of bed in time to lift weights and do the water aerobics class this morning, then swam a bit. I'm going back to the gym in about 20 minutes because we have swim lessons tonight, so I'll do some more swimming.
I've done gobs of research, Ginny... And my reproductive endocrinologist explains lots of stuff to me, and gives me copies of lab results and such. I have access to a full subscription to PubMed and other medical journals through my graduate student account at Hopkins. I don't understand ALL the terminology, but I look up what I don't understand, and I did take some Latin in high school so that is a big help.
They keep saying that I have something very similar to PCOS, and the medical endocrinologist says its just that... but I haven't responded to the typical medical treatment for that. A lot of doctors really just look at me and automatically recommend gastric bypass surgery. I'm very much against that... I'm sure it would help me lose SOME weight, because I'd probably eat well under 1000 calories per day. But if you could be in the same room with me, you'd see pretty quickly that I'm not "fat all over". Does that make sense? When I'm in the pool, you can see that my legs and my arms have muscles and you can see them. And you'd see that I look rather strange, because I have that thing hanging off the front of me... Pannus, panniculus, whatever it is... I'm told that all the exercise in the world won't make it really go away. Some of the fat in it might go away, but the skin will stay there in a lump. My reprductive endo and one of the plastic surgeons I saw last summer estimated that I have anywhere from 65-90 pounds in that one lump. The one surgeon said that if he removed it, I'd probably leave the hospital weighing about 250. Which, quite frankly, I'd be perfectly content with for the time being! But I don't have the $12000 that he wants to do the surgery, nor will I likely EVER have it. I have the time off... I have over a week of comp time and 2 weeks of sick leave, so I'd be good to go there.
My insurance company refuses to pay any part of it, since they consider it a weightloss operation and cosmetic.
It becomes really depressing... actually, it becomes especially depressing here, and when I see my orthopedist. He gives good lip-service, but I don't think he really believes that I go to the gym and exercise. And it gets depressing here because I have so MUCH weight to lose and its SO HARD... I gave up regular soda and junk more than a year ago. I changed my eating habits to eating a lot less, and more healthy choices in 2001. Not that I really ever had super-bad eating habits: my grandmother did the cooking in our house, and she had a minor heart attack when I was middle school. After that, we ALL went on low-fat/low-cholestrol diets because that was what was in the house. I grew up eating egg whites, egg beaters, turkey sausage, turkey bacon, lean ground beef, lots of fish, etc. During the summer, there is always a huge variety of fruit and vegetables in the house, and when I was growing up, I'd eat whole tomatoes the way you eat an apple.
The other thing, of course, is that it'd be nice to know WHERE this came from: is it genetic? My mom had problems with her ovaries and her cycle... but she HAD one! No other females in my family had problems. Is it from whatever my father was exposed to in Korea when he was over there? My mother thinks its from some cows that were sold where we were living that ate feed that was exposed to radiation, or perhaps from TMI since I was 5 years old when that happened... we lived near Peach Bottom when they had that accident as well.
Whatever it is, if it is PCOS, it matches in generic symptoms, but not specifics... and has many crossovers to other endocrine disorders include thyroid, Cushings, etc.
But... I need tog o... its nearly 6, and I have to be at the gym for my kidlets.
I'm hoping we go out for sushi afterward... ;)
:mouse:

Mouse, I hope you got out for your sushi and enjoyed it! Believe me, not for a moment did I think that you had not done research on your medical issues. We know our "Mouse" is much brighter than the average bear!! I figured that you were pretty much up on medical stuff, but just thought I would mention the NIH site. I recently spoke to someone whose husband was incapacitated by fibromyalgia, and I mentioned if they had done any online research. Her concern was dietary issues. Long story short, the answer was no. And they have high school aged kids.....so you know there is internet exposure. I could not believe that they had done nothing to attempt to take charge of their medical issues. But then I am one of those take charge types.....and I guess you all knew that by now. Check your PM's ok???

Not much new here....see ya later.
Ginny

Me again!
I finally got off my butt and walked two miles tonight. In addition I think I drank about 120 ounces of water today. I need to move that scale it's making me insane. I drink a lot anyway, but usually a mixture of unsweetened iced tea, a pepsi, and some water. Hard for me to get the water in during school days, because I just can't run to the bathroom without an act of congress. Especially with my kiddos can't leave them unattended for a sec or all **** breaks loose.
Well, I feel that's a major accomplisment for the day along with the umpteem loads of laundry I've washed.
Mouse: I have had several cysts on my ovaries. Quite painful. Do you have pain at all? Usually mine will just go away on their own. I started having that problem in my late teens. I would go to bend over and it would feel as though someone had stuck a knife in my side. I have one now, but it's not as bad. Doctor just watches them. I was on the pill to shrink them, but not anymore. I wish I could read at lunch. We have to escort our kids to the cafeteria and eat with them.
Ginny: Please keep your bad appliances to yourself. Minor fix with the vacuum. 2.00 and it's done. Guess that means I have to vacuum now. I tell ya though, I got a heck of a deal on my vacuum cleaner. When my old one died we went to Kmart and found a bagless dirt devil it said it was on clearance for 96.00. It rang up for 30! What a deal! I had never been so excited about purchasing a vacuum cleaner before.
Ok, talk to you all later!
Pam

No sushi tonight. I was asked to go, but when I got out of the locker room the two people that I usually go with were gone. I know one of the people who usually goes was sick tonight, because she guarded instead of teaching (for which I'm told I should be grateful... she's a tall and large lady who wears two-piece swim suits!). :shrug: I ran to Giant to get the rice I forgot to buy, and found some "low carb" canned pears. I picked them up to try, and they weren't bad. I don't understand how they have less calories than regular pears or pears in water, but they did. Got some more mandarin oranges too, since I seem to be really wanting those lately!
I agree, too, Ginny: I don't understand how people can have a health problem and not at least do basic research to figure out what is going on or if the doctor is right. I didn't start off this way, believe me... but I did after that horrible surgeon insisted that the only way I'd lose weight would be to have gastric bypass surgery. And, its a good thing I started doing this because last Spring my primary care doctor (who is about my age, she's not more than 4 years older than I am because when we met, she told me she was from Harrisburg, PA... and mentioned the year she graduated from a high school I attended for 1 year) wanted me to take these medications that were for people with diabetes and designed to protect your organs from the effects of being diabetic and having high blood pressure. I have neither condition, though I do tend to have higher blood pressure in the doctor's office. That isn't unusual, as I've discovered... it took many months of record keeping and buying a blood pressure cuff to use at home before she'd believe that I didn't have high blood pressure! Anyway, I have gotten into the habit of looking up the medications I'm assigned to take before I take them... and this one had a moderate drug interaction with another one that she had me on! She had me start taking spironolactone because of my alleged high blood pressure, but my reproductive endo had wanted me to take it for years... I wasn't willing because one of its side-effects is running to the bathroom. Its a diuretic, and since I didn't have a TA in my room, that wasn't going to happen!! I asked her about it, and she said the pharmacist and the drug comparison chart was wrong, but I checked more than once!
Also, just like I wouldn't expect a parent to make me solely responsible for the educaiton of their child (IE, you have to enforce things at home, read to the child, play games, etc... its not just the teacher!), I don't expect my doctors to completely cure my health. I have a responsibility as a patient to make sure everything is kosher. And I've learned that most doctors won't do it... lots of times the specialists don't ever talk to the primary care doctor, and while my PCD might know some of what is going on, I've only ever seen the new PCD one time. She's referred me to various specialists, and they may have contacted her, but who knows?
Pam: I do have some pain... mostly on the right side, but occasionally on the left. As far as my doctor can tell, I don't ovulate at all, which would explain the lack of cysts: there isn't anything to turn into a cyst. She was really surprised when she got the results of the very first ultrasound because it showed a very, very thin lining... and it hasn't gotten any thicker over the years. So, she's pretty sure that its not that middle of the month ovulation pain. I've learned to pretty much ignore it: there isn't anything we can do about it except monitor: I have an ultrasound yearly, and see my reproductive endocrinologist 2-3 times per year, though she only does an internal exam once a year mercifully! If I'm stressed, it'll hurt worse, or if I think about it (like now! :blush:.)
For lunch: When I worked in Baltimore City schools, my TA did that... I had to do breakfast though. In Harrisburg, I had to do it every day all 3 years I taught there. By the last year, I'd convinced the cafeteria staff to let us come in between the 2nd and 3rd lunch shifts. It was too chaotic and my kids got pushed out of the lines or stuffed in the trash cans. I had a really good TA my last year and a half there (we're still friends, though I haven't heard from her in a while... whoever answers her phone when I call never gives her the message!), and couldn't see how it was fair that she didn't get a break during the day... so we both went to do the lunches. It worked well, especially when I started graduate school. She never had a problem with my leaving when the kids went to Art or whatever special they had last period so I could be on time for grad classes.
I had lunch duty a couple of times in Fairfax County, but mostly had morning bus duty. Since I had a homeroom AND morning bus duty, I didn't get lunch duty very often. Don't ask how I watched a homeroom AND did the bus duty. Its a complicated story that relates to an administrator not understanding the difference between a child with a severe physical impairment... and a child with a severe physical impairment AND a cognitive impairment.
:mouse:

Good morning!
Just a short hello.....I had a tough nite last nite. This thing at work is bugging me, and some minor issues with Dh. (why do we always have to rent the disgusting bloody movies????) I was a naughty girl and did some stress eating......gotta stop that.

Pam, glad your vacuum is fixed! Like your bargain story.....wish I could find a bargain like that. I will need a new vacuum sooner or later, but am not happy with my bagless.
Too messy to clean out the dust.(I have dust allergies). Congrats on getting the walk in!

Mouse- so you suffer from White coat high blood pressure too???? I do have high blood pressure, which thankfully is well under control using meds, but my BP goes up theminute the Dr walks in the door. Thankfully we figured that out without too much pain. BTW, who makes low carb pears?????

Sorry to be so short...gotta get ready for church.
See ya!
Ginny

This is going to sound awful......but today has been such a pleasant day. Dh, Ds and Dd (the older one) went to Ds's pitching lesson and then off to a basketball game (Ds's girls HS team). So Dd and I stayed home, walked to the library and took out her next book report book, plus 2 videos and I got the Patricia Cornwell~ Postmortem. I got lucky, Postmortem was not available- then I got the brainstorm to look in large print. They had it in large print and I took it. So now I just have to find the time to read it, but at least I got the book. Then Dd and I came home and have just had a great time. The "Dear America" series is on video....Dd loves those books (got the history love from her mother) and we had a great time watching one of them. They are due home in about a half an hour......oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

NOW for this darned snow. Aw please, I do NOT want another half day....early closure...I want a day off!!!!! Seems as though the weather channel will not commit to a start time. Those stupid half days kill me, as I am sure they do you too. It seems like a whole lot of work for nothing.
Guess I'd better go put the finishing touches on dinner before the gang returns. See ya!
Ginny

Ginny: Yea. Apparently. We never realized it because I like my reproductive endocrinologist and she's the only doctor I've seen for more than a year other than the primary care doctor I had growing up, and until I left PA. The orthopedist didn't usually bother with my blood pressure except when he did the injections on my ankle in 2000, and you can't tell anything by that. But no.. My blood pressure isn't even in the "danger zone" of 120/80. Its usually 112/65 or lower.
The pears are from Del Monte, and they are in big cans and little single-serve cans. They weren't bad, nice and crisp... not soggy. They had peaches and fruit salad too, but I don't like canned peaches at all, and of course, there are canned peaches in the fruit salad! :) The taste was a little odd... a bit too sweet, perhaps? I like my apples and pears a bit on the tangy side.
Hope you enjoyed your Sunday. Looks like we're going to have a whole lot of snow on Monday & Tuesday... I went to the gym early today after going out for breakfast with somebody. I swam over a mile today, and swam for an hour and twenty minutes.
:mouse:

Pam, did AOL finally cancel your account? Did you call an 800 number to do it, or did you do it online? The new company we are going with told us to cancel them ahead of time, so I guess I will have to get in touch with those nuckleheads soon.

Mouse, I don't have too many options for my masters. None of the private or ivy league schools offer "birth to 5" for a graduate degree. The only way to get it is from Southern CT State Univ., my alma mater. I have no interest in teaching older children, so there is no point in getting my masters in anything else.

Ginny, no I didn't disappear. It is just so hard to post when it takes me 45 minutes to log on and then continually get kicked off. In fact, I'd better post this before everything I typed is lost in cyberspace!

Have a great week one and all!

Summer: It wasn't meant as critical. I had to go out of state to find a program that I was interested in taking. I didn't want a masters in "just special ed" because I already had that. Of course, given NCLB, it seems I should have gotten a degree in elementary education. Somehow, getting an undergraduate degree in elementary education now will make me "highly qualified". WHY this is, exactly, I haven't quite figured out... I teach high school, and wouldn't dream of ever giving my students elementary-type work, because they'll refuse to do stuff that looks babyish.
And why an elementary ed degree somehow makes me more qualified than a bachelor's degree in mild-moderate disabilities and a master's degree in transition planning (basically guidance counselor/career counseling for people with disabilities) with a concentration in severe and multiple disabilities, I'm not sure either.
Although it seems that the state of Virginia will consider me highly qualified with a certficiate of advanced graduate study in an area of teaching... so since I'm doing assistive technology and curriculum & instruction for special education, that should take care of VA. Pennsylvania seriously wants me to go back to undergrad and get a degree in elementary education, complete with student teaching. I student taught in self-contained classes for special ed... and did do an elementary placement, but only 1, and only for 6 weeks... so they say that doesn't count.
As of now, at 5:11 a.m.: All of my students will be out today for snow. EVERY school district is closed right now except the one we follow... which is good, because we might get credit for the day.
As long as Baltimore City opens on time, or even 2 hours late, we get credit for the day even if the rest of the kids don't show up.
And we're small enough and Baltimore City largely uses Mass Transit and not school buses, so we might pull it off. Baltimore City only buses kids with special needs, all other kids walk or take MTA buses/subway.
But watch... I'm going to go get dressed now (traffic reporter is saying to "leave now"), and when I get to the school, we'll be closed. ;)
:mouse:

Greetings from the rainy state!
Got everything accomplished that needed to be done. Finally, left school with an empty bookbag for a change. Yipeeeeeeeeeee! Peer evals done, retention letters mailed. Blah Blah Blah!
Was an ok day today. Had a parent conference this morning. The woman did not say a single word the entire time we were in there. She just kept looking at us and rolling her eyes. I finally thanked her for her time, asked her son what it was he needed to be doing that would help him be successful and then begged out of there since I had someone covering my class while I was conferencing. Somehow, I just don't think it was very productive. I tried to be positive and she just kept looking at me like I was an alien or something. We have tried to get her in for a conference about three times, and she never came. Finally, another teacher wrote him up and he couldn't come back without her. We'll see. He was great in class today.
We give the writing test tomorrow. I really hate testing days. It screws up the whole schedule.
I gotta get some stuff done. I'll be back later.
Pam

Okay, so we had another snow day. I was right: I got to school and Baltimore City had closed. Why, I don't know. It didn't even start to flurry till after 10:00 a.m. I went to the gym, swam, and then came back to school to do grades. Mid-term ends Wednesday, and our database administrator is a bear. I want to make sure I'm up-to-date and ready to run. Now, I have no idea how I'm going to meet the requirement of being required to have a grade for the last day of the report period (no, I'm not joking... If you don't have a grade in your book dated for the last day of the report period, everybody freaks out. Ridiculous!), since I haven't seen ANY of my kids since last Tuesday. Wednesday was the behavior reinforcer, Thursday, Friday and Monday were snow days. If we're out tomorrow or a lot of kids are (and it looks like they will be: Anne Arundel is getting hammered right now with really heavy snow. The airport is reporting a rate of 2" per hour of snowfall), that means we'll come back to a Wednesday half day, and I'll only see my morning students. :shrug:
On a lighter note... I had to get a prescription filled for my reproductive endo, and they called it into the Rite-Aid next door so I wouldn't have to go drive. That place is typically scary being an inner city drug store. It has an alcohol section larger than the pharmacy! Anyway, I'm standing there waiting for my prescription, and this guy comes up to me and offers me several bible tracts and a flyer from his church. I smiled politely and said no thank-you. He looked at me and says, "Oh. You're an atheist?" I didn't think I heard him right the first time, so I asked him to repeat himself, and I had heard it correctly. Again, I smiled, and said, "No, I'm Jewish." "Oh, you're an Israeli?" "No, I'm an American." "Then how can you be a Jew?" "There are Jews in every country in the world." "But Jews are from Israel." "Israel didn't exist until 1948, and was called Palestine before that." "Oh. So, you don't believe in Jesus?" "No, I'm sorry. He was just a teacher, a rabbi." "Oh. So who is your ONE, you know, the ONE." "Gd." "You don't think the Messiah has come?" "No."
He walked away, over to the prescription counter, and was laughing. I was trying hard not to, I didn't want to be rude. He comes back over while I'm now waiting in line, and gets real close to me. "Who was the guy that died on the cross then?" "Well, his name was Jesus." "Wait... You said you didn't believe in Jesus." "No, I said I believed he was a rabbi, a teacher." "Why did he die then?" "A bunch of Romans didn't like what he was saying and killed him the same way they did with a lot of other people." "Don't you believe in the Bible? Have you ever read the REAL Bible?" "Yes, I've read the Old Testament and the New Testament." "And you don't believe in Genesis and Exodus?" "No, we believe it, but they are history stories. The bible isn't law, or a book of how to behave." "Then what is your book?" "The Talmud is the book of Jewish law."
He blinked at me, multiple times, and says, "Oh. So you think that the Jesus that was on the cross wasn't the Jesus I'm talking about." "No. I believe that Jesus was a rabbi. And he was definitely a Jew." Dead silence, shocked looks.
I managed to get out of the store when he was distracted, because I think he might have followed me home.
:mouse:

Hey mouse---what a bizarre exchange. . .only in an urban drugstore, I swear! You handle yourself so well. I usually just say no thank you, and tell them I don't want to discuss it when people do that to me, but you clearly know exactly how to deal with that. Nice. Congrats on going to the gym and swimming. :cp:

Pam--ugh, testing! :( We start the tests on Thursday. . .I'm NOT looking forward to it. Some genius decided we would do better if we <b>didn't</b> have our own students, so I get to give the test to 9th graders, and all my quirky little 8th graders go to high school teachers. I wrote down where they go on a chart today, because I know a bundle will forget where to go, and I gave them the low down on the teachers they'll have. The only good I can see is they get a chance to impress their future teachers, otherwise, this is ridiculous! :dizzy:

Ginney--There is NOTHING shameful about enjoying "me time". . .enjoy away!! I'm sending snow day wishes (the no need to get up early and go in for a 1/2 day kind) your way! :D

I think I'm in official self-imposed exile for these 3 weeks. . .I have 2.5 weeks until my final thesis is due, and a presentation I have to organize and give on it. I was thinking of just inviting colleagues over for drinks (and um a slide presentation?) but I need an administrator there, so it's dept meeting or grade level meeting. . .we'll see. Anyway, I'm so close to being done with grad school I can taste it! and I can't wait. Tonight I worked on my slide presentation for 3 hours--it was due at 8pm. . .I cannot wait to have those 3 hours every day back. I did the belly dancing tape 20 minutes this morning. . .no exercise since, but I'm off to go stair step to old Friends episodes. I have to adjust my slider, because I finally pulled myself down from my plateau of forever, and am at 177.

take care all!
--P

Okay. YEsterday, with absolutely NO snow on the ground, we were closed. Today, with more than eight inches of snow, we have a 2 hour delay. Explain this to me? It only took Baltimore City until 5:40 a.m. to announce the damn delay in the first place.
I can HEAR cars and other things going by and crunching (mostly the buses, probably) on the snow on the street outside.
And I don't have a choice about going in, because my TA won't drive in the snow, and I bet our team leader doesn't come in either. I knew they were going to do this because everybody made fun of them and laughed their heads off over the schools being closed yesterday. There is absolutely no way you can tell me that today, after 8 inches of snow, plus some sleet and ice, that the roads are okay. Not after we were closed last Friday for a mere 5 inches of snow.
I, myself, really don't mind driving in the weather at home in Lancaster. I do it and have done it all the time. But people in Maryland act like they don't know what snow is, or that it can make the roads slick. Most people in this area have SUVs or trashy cars... and they all drive like the roads are dry. They scare me ... and I'm a pretty good driver.
:mouse:

Good morning!
Half day yesterday (those early dismissals are killers!) and no school today....oh, did I need a day off!
I'll be back later.....to really read the posts and say hello.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Ginny

Where do I begin?
Mouse- sorry about the guy in Rite Aid....I have a ton of mixed feelings about him, but no matter what he really did a disservice to his faith and a lack of respect to yours.
As far as your snow days....we have had some really stupid stuff go on here- last week 90% of the county closed at 10:30 am and the snow did not begin until 5!!!!
My district was one of the few that did not make that mistake....we closed an hour early, that was all. Then there was the afternoon that we ice skated home- ok they were trying to squeeze in the 7-8th grade ELA's but was it worth the risk???? That afternoon was torture driving home...and I generally have nerves of steel and was scared. So go figure.... I hope you got in safely and home safely too....and that your day went pretty well.

Paisley- congrats on breaking the plateau!!!! Withyour self imposed exile, I guess we will not hear too much from you......we'll miss you but understand that it is for a good reason. You are so close to the end, and a great accomplishment. Check in with us when you can.

Summer- I can't wait until you boot AOL, I miss your regular posts. But understand, there are days when this site is unstable and the posts get lost. And that is so frustrating. Check in when you can too.

One thing I dislike about these days off is there is SO much I want to do, I panic knowing that I can't get any or only a little of it done. Anyone else suffer from that?
I would have loved to hang out and watch TV (see the am news, that is all), read, sew, clean, bake cookies, aw the list goes on......and I just freeze as I get so little time for me that I am unable to decide what to do. Am I mental?
Well, I did finally make the dust ruffle for Dd's bed, something I have been trying to get to for a long time. Bought the new curtains last spring,and they looked so cute, I thought a matching dust ruffle would look nice. they did not sell one, so I bought another pair of curtains, cut them to fit and made the dust ruffle this am. It looks sweet... and I wish I had some more time to make my next project. Oh well. BTW, I did start Postmortem and it seems very interesting.
Gotta go make dinner....see ya!
Ginny
Hi to everyone I missed.

Hey!
We've moved from the rainy state to the windy state today. The writing test went off without a hitch. One test down, the biggie isn't until May!
Came home today to a sink full of dirty dishes! Ughhhhhhh! :mad: It really irritates me because I didn't make any of them, however, I refuse to cook dinner in a dirty kitchen, so I loaded the dishwasher. I think my oldest finally decided to clean his "pit" cause I haven't seen so many glasses in the sink at one time....... Wondering where all those came from.
Tomorrow is my husband's fortieth birthday. Won't tell me where he wants to go to dinner, cause he knows I plan on really embarrassing him. I will embarrass him anyway, but it could've been much worse I guess. I was planning on excercising as soon as I got home today, but we have a houseful of chilluns here, and so I guess I wait til the crowd thins out.
I am still stuck at 184.5. I have been there since Valentine's Day!. The scale is not my friend right now!
Paisley: Glad to hear from you. I know what you mean about being on the plateau forever. It's getting on my nerves. Good luck with all the papers, presentations, etc....The end is in site. Let that give you hope!
Ginny: How are you liking Post Mortem? I'm reading Trace, it's pretty good. I wish I could sew. I do all sorts of crafts and stuff, but I can not sew! I remember being in Home Ec in 7th grade and we had to make a skirt which we had to wear to school. I had to stay after school to finish it. It took me forever, and my poor mother had to sit in the car and wait for me. It eneded up looking like a potato sack. Yuck. Not to mention that I just can not cut straight. I am terrible. I don't care if I have a ruler, I can't draw a straight line or cut a straight line. Maybe someday, I will learn.
Mouse: I agree with Ginny. That man definitely did a disservice to his faith. I believe one thing we need to teach young people is tolerance. Even if someone has different views from your own, it's most important to be mindful of others. I think you handled the situation properly.
AND FOR ALL YOU SNOW PEOPLE..................STOP HOGGING ALL THE SNOW! JUST STOP RIGHT NOW. EVERYTHING KEEPS JUST GOING NORTH OF US, AND I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED A DAY OFF. Ok? Just one. Is that too much to ask? Ok, so we have spring break in three weeks. I can hold on for three weeks. I think I can.....I think I can....I think I can............
Have a great day!
Pam

Pam,
I would be happy to share some of the snow.....although I think Mouse has had more than any of us (or at least snow days!). My major condolences on the sink full of dirty dishes....our Ds does the same thing to me- and he is SO good at making a snack/meal/feast (adolescent appetite, so who knows) and not cleaning up a darned thing. It is so discouraging to come home to that, especially when you know you left the sink in good shape. Take a deep breath....he has made some major strides recently, right? Be thankful for those, and pray that maybe next time he will load the dishes himself. (I try to look at it as though my family wants me to remember them....what a remembrance, eh?) So where are you going for Dh's birthday?? Some of the big chains (Chilli's and Olive Garden do) make a big fuss over bdays.....singing and all that stuff. I did that to my Dh once, and had one of the taverns at Williamsburg singing to Dh. And they gave us a wonderful cake for him. Took Dh a few days to get over that one. BTW, I like Postmortem- it has interested me since about the second page. Now to find the time to read it. Once I get done with Post Mortem, does it matter which order I read Cornwell's books in????
Ok, Dd has a map quiz tomorrow (finally, all 50 states and abbreviations and we are DONE!) and a quiz on Robert E Lee (a wonderful person in my book). So I'd better go.
See ya tomorrow! G'nite.
Ginny

Pam, One thing I forgot last nite. Sorry to hear that the scale is not being kind to you- there are times we all hit plateaus, and I guess you are in one now. Focus on some of the positive steps to weight loss that you made this month, maybe working out more or just feeling better. And the good news is you did not gain, with Valentines day in there!!!! That is a good thing.

So far so good today..been a bit wierd but nothing too horrendous. BTW, I have one coworker who has sanely told me that I have to report the moron who scraped my bus last week (the moron has been strangely quiet, and very low key). I feel kind of sick about the whole incident, but will deal with it, what choice do I have?
See ya later. Hi to everyone.
Ginny

Hey!
It's been a really good day so far! I woke up this morning after just complaining yesterday that the scale hadn't moved since Valentine's day to find out I was down to 183!!!!!!!!!!!! :cb: :cb: Twenty one pounds now! Then, I decorated my entire kitchen with black balloons and streamers. It really suprised my husband. Sent him over the hill balloons at work. We are going to Outback for dinner. I am starving. I already know what I'm getting!The Alice Springs Chicken. Yum Yum Yum. I'm going to try really hard not to go overboard tonight. I could start eating right now! I'll be good.
Ginny: I would definitely read the books in order! I have been able to get some at thrift stores and yard sales really cheap. I think I have them all now. I just like her writing style. I feel like I really know the characters in her books. I know what it is like to not have time to read. I ususally try to read every night before I go to bed.
Well, let me go help my son with his homework so that will be out of the way before we go out.
Talk to you all later.
Pam

Pam, enjoy your dinner out!!! I have never been to Outback (that is a long story... and am probably the only one here who has not). Congrats on the loss!!!! Seems as though the scale was just fooling you the other day. I hope it is as kind to me, but I doubt that. This has been a tough week. thanks for the advice on Patricia Cornwell.
I guess the listing at the front of the books is in order.. or is it alphabetical? Or I can spend some time on the library's web site to figure it out by publishing date. A million different ways to skin a cat......no offense RC and Imp.

Today was not too bad.....I finally spoke to the kinder and gentler shop steward about the moron, and even she encouraged me to report the fool. He got in my face and died today......so I guess I will.
Gotta go get dinner on.
See ya later!
GInny

Hey!
Ok we're back from dinner. I have discovered once again that I just can not eat the same way I used to without feeling bloated. I was even good during dessert. Mostly, because they brought my hubby his birthday dessert
and he was eating, we were sharing, and he bit into a piece of metal. The spring from the ice cream scoop! I was done about that point. Which was probably a good thing. However, just for kicks, I weighed myself, I do every night just to see the difference in the morning, and I was up to 185.5 Yikes.
I didn't even eat that much. Who knows! Weird how the scale varies from day to day. I know you aren't supposed to weigh yourself everyday, but I do anyway. Can't help it.
Alright, enough blabbering from me. Stuff to do.
Pam

'Morning!
Pam, usually restaurant food is crawling with salt, so give the scale a few days rest and then see. Did you ask them about the ice cream spring? And how was the chicken?
Could not sleep, so I got up and did my WW tape this am. And lots to do today, this is my day for lunch at Ds's school, which basically takes up my entire break from work, so I will be busy. When does this merrry go round stop!!!!! I need a break.
Gotta go get started on my day. Miss all you non posters, Summer, Robyn, Paisley, Mouse, Elana and Kerry. Hope you are fine and just busy.
Ginny

Hi, all.
Sorry, I kinda disappeared after Monday. We had school Tuesday, and the only reason is because everybody laughed at the schools for closing Monday. We didn't get any significant snow fall till around 2:00 pm. We're very, very windy right now. I've had to put my towel back in the window to block the cold air.
As you can see, I've gone back to doing some weight lifting... but I admit that I'm sore right now. I probably did too much today.
Today was really a bad day... and I was upset but I went to the gym upset, and did the weights first then the swimming. I probably should have just done the swimming.
Imp doesn't at all mind your comment, Ginny. ;) He takes it in stride, but would like to point out that most people skin raccoons or minks instead of cats. :meow:
The reason today was a bad day was because yesterday right before the students left, my TA got mad... she's been doing the majority of the unit planning for this hospitality unit, and largely keeping me out of the loop. I don't really know what is going on or where we're going. She does a good job, so I'm not terribly upset... just that because I'm not sure where we're going, I can't do some of my typical planning, and I can't adapt some of the work. She'd asked me to make her some stuff, and we disagreed about how to present it. She wanted to just GIVE them the information and I thought we needed to do something with it. Its a list of jobs in hospitality, and how they're broken down into 'front of the house' and 'back of the house' jobs. The book that the list came out of had a great activity including a chart to put the jobs in, a word-search, a crossword puzzle, and a list where they wrote 'front' or 'back'. We could have done any of the activities, just two of them. I tried explaining that to her, but as usual, when she gets mad she just walked out. She said that she would let me do all the planning and preparing from now on and she wouldn't do any of it. Then she walked (flounced) out of the room.
She came back around our homeroom's lunch time, and I told her that she needed to be back here at 12:30 so I could go to our department meeting. She didn't respond, she just looked at me, and left again. She's supposed to be in homeroom with us and at lunch on Wednesdays, but I don't hold her to it. Our homeroom is pretty good so I don't typically need help. And usually when I ask/tell her I need her, she comes through. This time, however, she not only didn't come back, she went to the meeting on her own. I came in late, and was in trouble because our financial development rep was at the meeting, and had needed to talk to me. I told our dept. chair what happened, and she decided this needed to stop. I agreed, but wasn't sure what we could do. We did come up with a plan, including my trying one more time to get her put back to a TA-II which is where this whole thing started.
This morning, however, she didn't show up until first period started. She didn't come down to homeroom, and made me late for my hall duty because she wasn't there. I did my hall duty, and another teacher stopped to get work for a student who is in-school suspended, so I was busy with that. She had first period do a drill, but then gave out these worksheets that she KNEW I made for a much higher functioning group of students. I asked her why they had those, and she said that I'd made it clear yesterday that she was just to hand out work, not make or do any of it. I told her that she knew very well I hadn't said or meant that, and she replied that it boiled down to the same thing. I told her I wasn't playing this game with her anymore, and asked her to speak to me in the hallway. She refused, I asked again, she refused again, and I told her then we needed to talk with an administrator. She told me I could go, but she wasn't going. So I went. I told our dept. chair, and she talked to administrator.
The administrator asked me to use some of my comp time and go home early...which I did... I went to the gym...
We're supposed to meet tomorrow... I'm worried about what is going to happen during the day because it appears that we're not scheduled to talk until 8th period tomorrow.
:mouse:

Hey!

I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday. I need a break! No, planning today. We were supposed to have a Math meeting at noon, but I was already scheduled for an IEP meeting. So, missed the math meeting, I am on the countie's Math Leadership team but the meeting wasn't scheduled until yesterday. So, the IEP meeting was already in place. I had ten minutes left of my planning period, and the Math Coach for our county stopped me to discuss what I had missed in the meeting. There went planning. I think I have only had one day this week. Had a parent conference after school that lasted for an hour and a half! Her son has just been diagnosed with bipolar and ODD. I need to look into that. He was in the meeting and was quite rude to his mother as well. I just don't know what to do about this student because he also has torrets syndrome (sp) in addition to bipolar and adhd. A lot of his ticks, can be misconstrued as behavior. My coteacher and I can not figure out half of the time which is which. She says laughing is one of his ticks. But, if I get on him, he laughs, and the other kids just think he is being rude and getting away with murder. Obviously, I can't say, look, he has some issues ok. I don't know what to do. We are trying a behavior plan, and assignment planner to help him get organized, but we'll have to see. I think I am going to look on the internet. His mom said comorbidabilitites?????????????// I don't know exactly, she wasn't sure, just that his problems complicate each other.
Ginny: the chicken was most most excellent. Thought I might get a bite of it for dinner tonight, but of course the food munching maniac teenager that resides with me already ate it! Probably for the best.
Oh well, what can you do?
Mouse: What a day! It's really hard when you have problems with people you have to work so closely with. I am terrible in those situations, and people tend to walk all over me, because I hate conflict. I wish that I had some backbone when it comes to problems like that. I hope everything will work out ok. I'm sending good wishes to you. Hope your meeting will go well tomorrow and that you'll get everything resolved.
Well, I have dinner cooking and I need to make a test. Maybe I'll be back later.
P.S. Ginny: How's the situation going with the "low key" bus breaker??????
I looked it up, I think it must be comorbidities.
Pam

Oh my gosh.....I am in shock. Seriously. And I am just too pooped to get personal tonite, so please forgive me. After talking to several other drivers, all of whom reacted in a very sane manner (there are some who are vindictive and nasty, not these, however,) and the kinder more easy going shop steward, and the only supervisor I could find this am (who very emphatically told me I had to report this to the director) I went in to our director. For the most part, I have found HIM (gender is important here) to be fair, and proactive. The type who likes to fix things that are wrong. I as calmly as I could explained to him what happened.....upon his probing I got a bit teary, but did NOT cry....thought I handled myself well, as a matter of fact.
He then looked at me and told me that he percieved what happened to me as not only being wrong, but some major sexual harrassment. I sat in shock.....he then went on to tell me that he has no tolerance for that.....and described this individuals attitude toward women. (poor at best). And then told me that because he is such a crafty SOB, just how he will react/respond to the situation (the other person is very spiteful and can be nasty) might take a day or so.....he has to evaluate what would work best.
(the moron is one of those who has a nasty response/ or slimy defense to everything).
Well, here I sit in shock. And I wonder why I have felt out of focus this week and stressed.......my boss is right, the more I think about it this was an attempt at intimidation and harrassment. Think I need a nice long walk.....and a good nites sleep. And thanks to you here for listening and I know at least one of you encouraged me to report the bum. So I did. Time to move on and get some sleep. Nite!
Ginny

ginny---i'm just catching up. . .how awful! :censored: i am really impressed by how well you handled yourself when you finally did report the jerk. :crossed: i hope that this twit gets taken care of and that you can relax. :goodvibes

pam--good luck in figuring out that student. . .i am always amazed by special ed teachers. :lucky: right now, we're giving our state test, and it's 2 teachers to a classroom. . .my co-proctor is a sped teacher, and we were talking about all the things he is responsible for. . .amazing.

mouse---what an annoying situation with your colleague. :eek: i think you need to remember that you are professional and good at what you do, and that she overreacted to what you said. The big problem is how unprofessionally she behaved by deliberately giving students the wrong materials, and then by refusing to speak with you in private about her concerns (as a professional would). don't worry. if she does anything else like that, it's just something to add to your list for the meeting. It's SO cool that you went to the gym when you didn't have to be at school anymore. :cp:

i'm down to 175.2. . . :D i've been working on adding some resistance training--but i can't buy weights or a gym membership--->too expensive. so i've been doing, push ups, sit ups and the belly dancing. . .i think it's helping. there's this teacher in my building who's socially inept, but has a good heart. . .who's very focused on his own weight loss, and he noticed that i'd lost weight. it was kinda cool. I mean I figured he'd notice first, but I didn't think he'd be appropriate about commenting on it.

On a bad note, our school is officially getting restructured. I hate NCLB--not that burning/fast hatred, but just a slow constant hatred. It's kind of funny though. We bought this special test that helped decide if we were to be restructured, because it was on the computer and the kids took it every 5 weeks. . .it has a million flaws, the results are always filled with errors, and we get told how terrible a teacher we 8th grade ela teachers are. Even though we know we're teaching

anyway, today we started giving the state test. We aren't allowed to give it to our own students, so I found out where my kids were and gave those teachers their names/behavior issues/a copy of the current assignment so that if they finished early they would have something to do. WELL---all afternoon, people were commenting on what GREAT writers my kids are. :) i was thinking "yeah, i know" my hope is that the other test will be proven not to match the state test, and we won't have it next year.

Ok, I am in a better frame of mind today, and I think have accepted my situation and am going forth with the business of living. Hey, I even saw the jerk this am and did not have the overwhelming urge to run him over! I feel much better, and at least now knowing that I have my boss's backing and support can deal with it. Now, I could play the vindictive game and tell the other shop steward who has it out for this guy anyway.....and has privately told me that she would love to get in a situation where she can make this guy look like a fool. Ok, Ginny, clean up your thoughts......as much as it sounds amusing I can't do it. On to you ladies.

Mouse-gee, what a miserable situation. I do hope that your day goes smoothly until 8th period when you can address this situation with your administrator. Lord willing, his/her ear will be receptive, comprehend the situation and find an acceptable solution. Good for you for staying professional....and for going to the gym to burn off the stress. BTW, I have not been near the post office this week,with all the junk going on here....I will let you know when I get there.

Paisely- congrats on the weight loss!!!!! That is great!!! I hope (and am sure!) that your students will test beautifully as a testimony to their great and dedicated teacher.

Pam- gee that one student sure sounds like a challenge. I drove special ed for a turretts syndrome student this summer, and I can so easily see how confusing it must be......what is deliberate behavior and what is not? And then how do you get this student to "blend" in with others....whose own behavior issues might be agitated my this student's? I am glad that today is Friday.......this was a long week for all of us!

Ok, so much to do! Hope everyone's Friday is going well.....my thoughts will be with you Mouse around the end of the day when I figure your meeting might be.
See ya.
Ginny

Happy Friday everyone!
Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I am so glad it's finally here. Was a typical crazy Friday. But, I made it through.
Ginny: I am so glad that you reported him. I didn't want that to come back on you. Do you feel relieved? You are better than me, I am a big cry baby. Especially if I am mad, I cry very easily. I have felt very weepy all day. It just seems like I'm spinning my wheels. You are right about the student. He is definitely challenging. He was terrible today, and wanting to fight a boy because the boy looked at him. My co teacher had to take him out of the room and make him walk it off.
Paisley: Congrats on your weight loss. I wonder if your computer test is like the one we have been giving. It's called the scan tron. It's awful, the computer freezes, graphs won't display, and the everytime you get a question correct, they get harder. If you miss one, the questions get easier. We don't test all of our kids for the state tests either. We have them alphabetically and sometimes we have them, and sometimes we don't.
Atleast you can not be accused of coaching, or misconduct that way. I am not a special ed teacher. I do teach an inclusion class, and have over fifty percent of the exceptional students from the 7th grade in my classes, but it's hard. I usually get behavior problem kids anyway, because I can generally handle them without killing them and sending them to the office everyday.My coteacher is an LD teacher and she has the patience of a saint. I tell her the same thing you just said.
Mouse: Hope your meeting went well today, I was thinking of you.
Let me go rest for a little while, I'll be back later.
Pam

Here I sit, basically in shock.......won't bore you with the details. But, my director told me he might just visit the school that the incident happened at.....and he did today. The moron driver tried to back into and ram my bus, I do not know if the director saw that or not, as I think he showed up a few minutes later. Either way, his presence was felt, and hopefully Mr Aggressive will get the idea. I am so used to bosses who do nothing....or getting little support or help that this is a shock to me.
Anyway, Dd wants to go to the book fair and I have to get dinner on. Hope everyone survived Friday and has a restful, stress free weekend.
Ginny

Pam- our posts crossed. Could your hormones be getting the better of you? A student like the one you are dealing with can so easily crawl under your skin...what a test of your patience. And I am sure you at times must feel as though you running around in circles for one student and doing a gross disservice for the others. Good thing you have the coteacher to help out. I cannot imagine facing that alone. Hope your evening goes well- you deserve a calm night.
Ginny

Ginny, I'm afraid I have to borrow your words... I'm in shock.
I've been in shock since the meeting this afternoon. First, she showed up late for it. The principal had to call her. Then, when she showed up, it was like Mount Saint Venom had exploded. If she had accused me of murdering a student and burying the body in our bus loop, I would have been less surprised.
Its way too long to go into, but she really truly accused me of not teaching, not planning, and only trying to "team teach" with her when somebody came in the room to observe.
I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. All of this hatred because I disagreed with her on how to present something and then insisted that she talk to me about it so I would know what is going on?
I'm just horrified... and now I have to pick up the pieces for the rest of the quarter and figure out what exactly it is we're supposed to be doing. I don't even know all of the materials that we have in the room because she keeps them locked up above her desk... and she told the principal that I was lying when I said that, that all I have to do is ask her for it. She said I was jealous because I wasn't familiar with the material and she was.
I just don't believe it. I really figured that we could talk this out, and maybe hash the problem out... She's well-liked in the building and I'm not. I don't know what I'm going to do, and I'm already dreading Monday.
:mouse:

A quick good morning.
Mouse- guess we both have some bridge building to do.........gosh I could go on for pages here, but you have to remain professional (I am sure that you would) but try to be a peacemaker. You at least have to finish this year up with your head held high.
Anyway you can now talk to your supervisor privately to see what she percieves is a good course of action? I dunno......just some initial thoughts. Gotta go get ready to take Ds to his 8 am practice....ugh.......
Ginny

Down a big whopping .6# this am at WW......don't laugh too much. Actually I am happy as this week was horrible and PMS is setting in. Got in a nice 35 minute walk during Ds's ball practice, and then read some of Postmortem. Can't believe it, the library called and a book that I ordered 2 months ago.....fiction book called At Risk came in. I think it was on the best seller list, otherwise it would have not taken 2 months to come in. So I'd better get my buns in gear......think I will have to put Post mortem aside for the other book as it is probably a 2 week loan with no renewal because it is new. I'll pick it up tomorrow.
Hope everyones Saturday is going well. Nite!
Ginny

Hey!
Been a busy Saturday! Eating didn't go so well. However, I am happy to report that I did excercise today! I bought the one mile WATP instead of the two and half mile one I had, because I haven't really been doing much of anything. I really liked the one mile. As a matter of fact, I did it this morning, then I did this evening too! My youngest son was trying to do the tape with me, bless his heart he is not very coordinated. ;) He lasted half a mile then the game boy was calling so off he went. I guess what he lacks in coordination he makes up for in brains! Ha!
Ginny: Atleast it's not a .6 gain right? I am finally back down to 183 today. Seems like everytime I get a big weight loss, we go out to eat and then I am starting back where I was before the loss. I need to get a handle on that. Haven't read today, but I am getting ready to take a bubble bath, put on my pj's and grab my book.
Mouse: I am so sorry that your meeting was so awful. I just can't believe that some people are so petty and unprofessional. Ok, I have been saying that a lot at work, and I have found that either I have led a very sheltered existance, or some people just have no manners. I think it sounds a lot like jealousy on her part. Is she an assistant or a coteacher? I can't remember which. This situation sounds very much like the situation the EMD teacher down the hall has been living with this year. I think her assistant was finally fired, or resigned. We're not sure which. I hope everything will be ok. Don't you wish that you could just record her so everyone could know exactly how she is? I can't stand people that are two faced. BLUCKKKKK! Unfortuately, I found in my school that I work with some very catty backstabbing women. All they do is gossip, and bicker. I try to keep to myself. However, everyone always seems to come to me with their problems and so I just listen. I could really be an expert blackmailer if I was so inclined.Sometimes, I just turn off my lights and shut my door. But, I am fortunate that the lady who coteaches with me is wonderful. I LOVE HER! I couldn't ask for a better partner. As a matter of fact, we've both requested that we work together again next year. We've really clicked. I wish you luck. Saying a prayer for you!
Ok hope you have all gotten plenty of rest. Talk to ya later!
Pam

Wow, has everyone been scared away???
Just a quick hello anyway. My morning has been ok....kiddies were pretty good. Pam, glad you like that WATP tape. Leslie is so much fun and so encouraging.
Hope you got your bubble bath in and some reading time.
Gotta go. Have a great day!
Ginny

Hey!
Hope everyone had a good Monday. Mine wasn't too bad. It's beautiful here today. The temp is 71! I am ready for spring spring spring!
I actually got up this morning and did the 1 mile watp tape before work. It is shorter than the other one I have, and I woke up with plenty of time to spare so I said what the heck. I am gonna try and do that again tomorrow. But, I do love my bed!
Ginny: I haven't really gotten much reading done! I am going to try tonight after I watch American Idol. I have become a TV aholic. I should be outside pulling weeds or something, but blah. We raked the beds and stuff, trying to get ready for spring planting time. I already have daylilies and cedum coming up in the front and some pink flax. There is one little pink flower out there. I had put some blue bell bulbs in the dirt, last summer and had meant to plant them and never did. They are coming up in the container! Don't know if I can transplant those or not. Enough of my babble about flowers, I could go on and on. I just love them. Maybe I'll go out and get the net and clean out the goldfish pond. It look pretty nasty though. Or maybe not. LOL
Mouse: Hope everything went well at work for you today with that TA!
I'll be back later, wanna go outside and enjoy some of this warm weather. It's supposed to be cold and raining tomorrow.
Bye!
Pam

Me again! Took my baby dog for a walk. Ok, so she took me for a walk. She was more interested in dragging me to every dirt patch, tree, mailbox along the way. Oh well, so I got my resistance training in today too!Scrappy doesn't weigh much but she sure is strong!!!!!!!!!!!!! Off to do dishes!
Pam

Hi, all.
Well, I'm not sure if this is progress or not, but my TA actually said good morning to me today. And she did answer some direct questions that students asked me that I knew she could answer. However, she started 1st period's class off and went roaring ahead without checking with me or asking what I'd planned... then got mad when I took over for the rest of the day. And the kids are starting to notice: they're asking her why she's "depressed" and why she's reading magazines. Because that is what she's doing during classes... reading the back issues of women's magazines that I steal from my grandmother for the kids to cut up when necessary.
She'll occasionally work with a student (we had a kid in 7th period having a bad day and she worked with him 1:1 for most of the period), but when she does, she doesn't do what the rest of the class is doing or use the materials that I've made.
She sits with the kids and flips through the magazine, and glowers. Its just awful. I feel like I'm being observed constantly and found wanting. Several times during the day she'll just walk out of the room as if she can't stand being there anymore.
I don't know what I'm going to do if I have to be out of the room or attend a meeting... especially if her name is on the email, because then she'll think that she should go.
My supervisor was back today, but when I talked to him this morning he didn't have any information; he said he'd get back to me. I did ask him directly if I was going to have to take the blame for this the way I've been blamed for everything else this year. I didn't get much of a repsonse, and he never did get back to me.
:mouse:

Hey!
Mouse BE STRONG! I'm sorry this behavior is continuing. She has to realize as well, that as an assistant, her job is to assist you! Not to be snotty here, but you have a **** of an education. Sounds to me like she is the type of person that is going to be ugly no matter what you do. Just hang tight, hope tomorrow is better.
Pam

mouse--sounds to me like her attitude is partly because she's well-liked in the building. Can you request a switch in TA's? Then it wouldn't be saying that she is terrible, or that you are. . .and maybe if another teacher has to work with her, they'll see what you do, and you'll have an ally. It is SO hard to work with someone terrible who's well liked. I'm sorry about your situation. Perhaps it'll settle down in a bit. . .she can glower in the back, just teach on without her.

I'm sidelined with a bit of a cold/sore throat. . .no exercise today--I tried to exercise through it this weekend and I think it's making the sore throat linger. today, I had the kids just work on their March Essays, and did mini-lessons with itty bitty groups so I could talk quietly. Tonight, I'm going to bed early and hoping I wake up tomorrow able to speak loud enough to teach.

take care, all. . .

I've fallen and I can't get up.
HELP!

We had a half day....it started snowing hard the minute I pulled in to drop off my students. What an awful drive home.......awful. The roads are impassable in some areas, and it seems to be getting worse. I hope Dh can get home safely.
Gotta go get rid of this headache.
See ya later.
Ginny

Today wasn't any better in TAland. She pretty much had the same behavior, except today she flat-out ignored any student that I was directly working with while I worked with them. The one child she worked 1:1 with during 7th period finished most of the assignment, then asked for his index cards like he was told to do. She checked his owrk, she'd helped him. But instead of getting him the cards, she said, "You'd better ask somebody for the cards." This is not a child who will understand that she's not talking to me or something... he struggles to get a C, and had a VERY rocky start earlier in the year. He really improved when we did our construction unit... and has been trying superhard despite not being interested in hospitality. He can't read very well, has horrible handwriting, and very poor fine-motor/executive thinking skills. He's diploma track because he understand the information if you can get him involved enough to listen. Anyway, she just got up and walked away from him... so he quit. I was with another student, but when I saw his head down, I fixed it... he finished his work. But she just walked away from him and told him to ask "sombody"????? She checked his work! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Ginny: get rid of the headache.
Paisley: Feel better.
Pam: I don't know... I have other thoughts on why she's acting this way. I can tell you all if you're interested.
Robyn: Would you like some help? ;)
:mouse:

Mouse...when is your spring break???? Got any plans?? (I am trying to be an optimist here)
My headache is slowly going bye,bye. Dh got home just fine, thank goodness.
Gotta go.
ginny

Another 2 hour delay. I am going to have to come up with a list of "short" jobs that I can do each day to most efficiently use days like this. I get nothing done, or so it seems with a day this fragmented. Hugs to each of you out there....hope your day goes well.
Ginny

HELP I HAVE A MAJOR CASE OF THE MUNCHIES TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!I am at this don't give a crap who cares if I'm fat mood. I'm going to try and excercise while dinner is cooking. But, who knows. It's been a horrid week at school. It was off to such a beautiful start..........
Yesterday, we had severe weather. The power kept blinking off and on, and I had finally just started my lesson, when all the power went out. Ok, so this is with my wild and crazy group of second period maniacs. Atleast my coteacher, was with me. So, we couldn't use the calculators, too dark to see the board. I opened all the blinds, still too dark. We had to sit there........Then, an assistant principal said Ok guys, get your kids into tornado drill mode NOW. So, I moved all the stuff away from the interior wall, made all the kids get on the floor hands over heads, butts up in the air. This was not attractive. We had to stay like this for over an hour.............I wanted to take my yardstick and start beating butts, that were sticking up. Ok, so finally we get to go back to our seats, still no power. Our lunchtime had come and gone...........Still no power, no phone, nothing. I called my hubby at home to find out what the deal was with the weather. Apparently a funnel cloud touched down somewhere. We had to keep these kids for four hours! All of them complaining cause there was no lunch, and asking me when they were going to eat. I WAS HUNGRY TOO. But, the funny thing was, I had been in the same room with them, with no outside contact. I said" Should I pull out my crystal ball, and see when we are going to eat???? I don't know either. I wish I did. They finally dismissed at 1:15. It was terrible. My coteacher and I at one point said we should just use my cell phone and order pizza, and charge it to the superintendent who can never make a decision about anything..................Maybe, I'll stock up on snacks, since Tornado season is around the corner, and the lights blink off where I work if a bird flies by....
Ginny: Hope your headache is gone. Still snow hogging I see. Durn, can't you be a pal?
Mouse: Yes, I am absolutely interested in your thoughts.
Paisley: Gosh, hope your feeling better. My huby has been sick out of work for three days. I told him if I got sick, it was ON!
Robin: Do we need to send in the troops?????????????
I'll be back later.
Pam

Okay... wow... tornado mode, Pam. You definitely deserve to be stressed about that. And yea, I think Ginny needs to share the snow too. At least enough for a couple of 2 hour delays? PLEASE? The less time I have to spend with that woman the better!
Spring break isn't until March 22nd or somethign: Good Friday. And there is a strong possibility we're going to lose 3 days (Wed/Thur/Fri) of the following week because of the snow days.... and believe me, the staff won't be happy but the kids will be horrible. They really don't get the concept of "missed school for snow, must make up time". And it especially doesn't help when the local news reports that the local school systems have "X days" before they have to "make-up"... when reality is that they have the ability to build days into their calendar that we don't have because of our summer session and going more days (we're classed as a 10 month program).
So... TAland...
Last year, my TA was demoted because of NCLB. She was ranked as a TA-II, which I think is an exempt status: she could earn comp time, and didn't get overtime. She became a TA-I. The rules for a TA-I are different, and our administration made a huge deal out of many of them... including, but not limited to TA-I's not being alone with kids in the classroom (they later said for extended periods of time), and not being allowed to swipe their ID badges to clock in before 7:30 (because they would wind up with overtime pay) and a must to clock out no later than 3:30. She was pretty bitter over a lot of that, because she typically comes in early as I do. Last year, they only allowed her one prep period/break, and it was in the afternoon. She had to teach or support periods 1-5. That's a lot without a break. She was assigned to provide support to the hospitality industry area during 1st period, and did all of the teaching of that group. She complained about it, but I think she really liked it.
Then, at the end of last year, she received a letter from human resources that said her pay was going to be frozen because they had paid her that whole year as a TA-II, even though she was a TA-I. That really hit the fan. She started threatening to come in exactly at 7:30, not do an ounce of anything extra, use her sick leave and comp time. She also dug her heels in even farther with NCLB... she won't even take the PRAXIS exam, which she could probably pass. I've offered to write her letters of recommendation or help with a resume so she could find another position within the hospital that runs our program... we've had other people leave for the same reason... but she hasn't done so. Everytime I've had to elave the classroom this year, she's given me nasty looks or made comments. Last year, she started taking time off whenever I had to be out of the room. Not always, but just often enough that it was noticeable, and a lot this year. Since summer session, she's taken 2 whole weeks off... the last time in December, and she had known I was taking that Friday off too. My supervisor told me I had to find coverage or tell her she needed to come in or I couldn't have the time off. We don't have substitutes in our school, so other staff have to cover for us.
In any case, this round started because of a disagreement over how to present materials, and I think its a combination of her being bitter over the way she was demoted and her pay frozen... and also her belief that I can't teach the hospitality unit as well as she can. She may be right: I teach something similar for the Red Cross, but that is a quick and dirty 4 hour class. And she's taught it in at least one class or another for at least 3 years (this year, 1 period last year, and the 1 year she was in the hospitality area). I think that my disagreeing with her was a huge blow to her ego, and she took it that I was saying she wasn't good enough or as good as me because I am a certified teacher. Add in that I told her that I've been told that the state won't ALLOW me (never mind REQUIRING ME!) to become highly qualified becuase I don't teach a core subject. Imagine: she's required to do so, but the teacher in her room isn't????
So. That's my take on it. It makes sense.

Hey everyone!
I am soooooooooooooo tired, disgusted, hungry. I just want junk food.
Something. It's not even time for my "tom". I don't know. I think I have discovered I must be a stress eater. I keep finding myself coming home and just wanted to snack, or drinking a pepsi. School sucks. The kids have just been wild this week. We heard the teachers in sixth grade complaining last year. I now know why. All these kids do is talk. We were trying to play a game today, and all they were doing is arguing. We had to stop. You have no more than asked them to be quiet, then they are talking again. It's ridiculous. It is annoying me to no end. I have tried positive rewards for the ones who can follow directions, I have given treats to the ones who have all their work turned in. BUT IT'S MAKING ME INSANE!!!!!!!!! :mad: :mad:
We have discovered that all the rooms on my side of the hall in the building I am in have mold on the floors. We thought maybe it was the tiles coming up and maybe glue, but a man who teaches Science says it is mold. He is a house inspector and says he knows what mold is. He has been sick a lot this year. Another man, has also been sick for four months. I have had sinus headaches almost daily. So, someone from the central office came in today, asking me if anyone in the classroom had been having health problems, I said well, kids are sick all the time, who's to say? I told him about my problems, then I asked him why, he said oh we're just checking some things. Then, he tried to tell me it wasn't mold, but glue. But, it's not sticky, and it's black, and there are little black dots, on the walls up near the ceiling. I don't know. So they are going to do some tests or something. I think my room is the worst, especially the closet which is a book room. The floor is almost totally covered and black, it's gross. We'll see what happens with that.
Mouse: Yes, your explanation does make sense. I can not blame her for being hostile, but still, it's not your fault. Hang in there. We've had a similar
problems in our county. In order to be a teacher's assistant, you have to have your bus license. Well, they decided with the budget being the way it was that the bus drivers would not be able to get overtime anymore. So, teacher assistants were either having to clock out, early, or leave and then come back, or blah blah blah. It's caused a lot of problems. Now, they are requiring them to go back to school. Some of these people have been assistants for many years. It's a mess. We were in an IEP meeting today, and the LEA said that with the NCLB, that it's going to really hurt us next year in the exceptional program. For example, the lady who works next to me is certified LD, and she will no longer be able to teach 7th grade math, unless she is a coteacher with a certified teacher. They are going to have to add more inclusion classes so that they don't lose so many exceptional teachers or mainstream more students. It should be interesting to see what changes occur for the next school year. By the way, I thought about you yesterday. I was reading First Magazine, and there was an article about PCOS. It was interesting.
Ginny; Hope you are doing ok. Oh, by the way, we're supposed to get our snow on Saturday, if they haven't already changed the forecast. I need some motivation....... I'm starting to get to that point in my diet that I want to quit....I'm seeing no results right now, and have gone backwards actually. I was doing so well, now nothing. It's getting harder and harder to stay on track, and it's becoming harder and harder to get myself to excercise. I don't want to quit, but I just don't know. Seems like I just can't be successful. I always do great until I get to March, then it's three birthdays in a row, and I just quit. I am going to keep on trying. But, I just don't seem to have the same enthusiasm I did a month ago. Other than adding a pepsi when I have gotten home the past two days, I haven't really changed anything else all that drastically. The scale is refusing to budge. I have gained a pound. I did excercise yesterday, and I am planning on excercising today, but I feel so stressed I just want to eat eat eat.
Talk to you all later.
Pam

Just a short hello......I am SO burned out. This week has been torture.
Pam- hang in there!!!!!!!!!Don't give up!!!!!!!Experiment, find some new foods- buy yourself a new cookbook (try going on ebay for some of the WW cookbooks- there are some really good ones, and easy to prepare)- buy yourself a diet magazine,the WW magazine is good and even good for a non weight watcher member. Most importantly dont give up!!!!!
As far as the mold goes, some simple bleach will answer the question. If those mysterious black spots almost seem to dissolve with bleach.....well! sure sounds like mold to me.
Sorry not to get personal with anyone.....I am so pooped, there is not enough tea in the world to keep me going. Nite.
Ginny

Mouse- you hang in there too....from my quick skim of your post, sounds as though this week has not let up for you either.
Ginny

Hey!
TGIF!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooooooo glad it's Friday! I've been bad again today! It was my friends birthday, so............we had cake for lunch. Ok, so it was just a small piece, but it was quite delicious. :o Also, ate some hot fries. Ok, well I actually counted out the portion and shared half of them with the dog. However, I am getting ready to excercise shortly. So, I am just trying to do something right, since I've not been eating too right.
Ginny: I know what you mean about being pooped. The clock seemed to be going backwards there towards the end of the day. Hope you'll get some much needed rest this weekend.
Oh, by the way, the man from the county came back out to look at the classroom today. Never would say that it's mold, but............We're having our floors redone, and he is putting an air monitor in the rooms. HMMMMMMMM............Interesting.................. We shall see. I am quite happy about getting my floors done. They are gross.
Gonna go rest for a while. Talk to you later.
Pam

Pam- glad that they are looking at the unhealthy conditions in your room. Yup, very interesting.......let us know what the results are. Hope you got your workout in!

I am SO glad that this week is over. But this weekend is packed full also.....it never seems to end. I can't wait till spring break....Dh and Ds are going to Florida, leaving Dd and I home alone together for a week. We will have school 2 days (they are leaving 2 days early) but I don't care. No big meals....no fuss...no piggies to clean up after.
Am I selfish or what?I can actually maybe get something done then!!!!
BTW, now that skiing is over- thank goodness, I will settle down to a regular WW meeting, which I so desparately need. Wednesday nites it will be for me....cant wait.
I have lost some of my focus, and that is some of the reason.
Gotta go........Dm on the phone.
See ya later.
Ginny

Sorry I've been gone soooooo long. :( I finally have a high-speed connection to my computer. Dial-up had really gotten out of control for me. It got to the point of me only reading my email once a week and not even attempting to do anything else online like 3fatchicks, for instance. It took me an hour or more to get connected, and stay connected long enough to read and respond to a few pieces of mail. So, I would devote one day a week to it. I can't spend an hour a night just reading email let alone anything else. I can't tell you how many posts I typed in only to lose them to cyberspace. Finally my DH saw an ad for phone service and online service for the same price as what we pay for our phone alone. We jumped at it. Then it took forever to get the guy to come out and connect us. But it is done. :D AND I AM BACK!!! ;)

Soooo much has been going on. If I repeat anything from a few weeks ago, just ignore it since I can't remember the last time I posted.

I am somewhat enjoying my grad class. I'm not learning anything, but I enjoy being around young people (I sound like I'm 100!) and talking with them. It makes me feel younger than my 40 years. I just turned in my first major paper which took me 9 hours to complete! AAAHHHH!!!! It has been so long since I had to do something like that, and it was a lot different before I had a husband and child to interrupt me. They'd better get used to it. I've got 9 more classes to go!

DD is enrolled for the next session of gymnastics beginning in a couple of weeks, and she has started her first cheerleading clinic which lasts for six weeks. She is a natural. Her cousin, who attends ASU, has a full scholarship for cheerleading. Who knew that it would be taken that seriously?! But, I guess it is considered a sport now, which it should given the skills necessary for some of those moves.

DH is trying to get a parttime job, but has had no luck so far. We are in the process of trying to refinance to a lower mortgage rate again and are waiting on the appraisal. Please pray that we get it.

My career is going very well. The early childhood department made me a mentor to a new preschool teacher at another school in the district. She used to teach 3rd grade and then taught head start for a couple of years. She is a nice person, but she is utterly clueless. I thought she was just going to observe my teaching, but I've had to teach her how to teach. She doesn't know how to write objectives. She knows very little. Apparently she is one of those teachers who became certified through a masters program. After seeing how so many teachers that go through these programs seem so underprepared to teach and how my graduate courses have been "watered down" to accomodate people seeking certification with a masters, I really have to wonder how this can be allowed to go on. This chick is making more money than me because she has 30 graduate credits (She didn't pass the comprehensive exam so she doesn't have her masters.) and is being paid as if she has her masters. I became certified the hard way, am better educated, am being paid less money, and have to train her how to be a teacher!!!!! :mad: How fair is that?! :rolleyes: But, it feels really good to be the teacher chosen to train her. My director told her that she was being trained by the best. That was pretty cool. And my supervisor called to apologize for not popping in all year only to tell me that I didn't really need her since I had become "my own guru!" So, I guess I shouldn't complain about the money. I should just be happy that I am successful, and I love my job. My poor DH hates his job and is underpaid. Going to work every day for him is just an obligation. Nobody should have to live like that. Then again, he is too lazy to go back to school and change that. God helps those who help themselves.

So, now on to my weight, diet, and exercise...
I've been on and off. I am making a stronger effort to eat healthier...more fiber, smaller portions, etc... I still give in occasionally to bad foods and bad habits. This endless winter doesn't help at all. We've had so many snow days, and there is something about the cold and lousy weather that forces me inside and makes me EAT CRAP. I always do better is the warmer weather. I can walk, play basketball with DD and DH, and just be generally more active outside. I haven't even been able to get to the gym much because the only days my schedule allows me to get there have been days when the driving conditions have been too dangerous. So, even though I am making an effort to eat healthier, I'm not doing well with the exercise end of things. I have been trying to exercise at home all winter, but it hasn't worked for me. I look forward to spring weather when even if it is raining outside, I can still drive to the gym. Right now we are buried under a ton of snow. I can't believe next week is spring and Palm Sunday!

The mother of my "first love" passed away this week. He is related to me through marriage, so we have seen each other periodically over the past several years. I loved his mom and always wished that she had been my mother-in-law. She was a wonderful person. Hospitality was one of her special gifts. She was a very vibrant and loving person. I haven't seen her in years, but I never stopped thinking about her. And, I couldn't help but compare her to my actual mother-in-law who is really lacking in affection and social skills, not to mention many other attributes. I never got over my first love. He is married with one child, just like me. We've both grown in different directions, but when I see him, my insides melt, and all the old feelings come back. It is so inappropriate, but I can't help it. He refuses to use my married name which infuriates my DH. It is pretty funny! :lol: Of course his wife can't stand me. Whatever. Anyway, his mother's funeral is taking place out of state and the memorial up north isn't until the end of April. I, of course, will be there with my DH to honor this woman that I loved like a mother and to support her family...the family I always wished to be fully mine. It is going to be very emotional. And, as superficial as this sounds, I am angry with myself that I am so fat. Even though my first love and I are married with children, I don't want him to see me like this. So, I guess I will have to go into "high gear." I feel ashamed to be even thinking about how I look when all that matters is that he lost his mom.

Well, I guess that is all I have to post for now. It is great to be back. I've missed all of you!!!

Summer,
So glad you are back!!!! And it sounds as though we will see a wee bit more of you now, congrats on the internet connection.... But with you in school at nite, that will keep you busy. How sad about your first loves mom. My heart goes out to you.

Sorry to be short....strange weekend. I did get to a WW meeting yesterday and stay for the meeting, which felt SO good. Needed a kick in the butt.
Gotta go.......see ya later!
Ginny

Yes, Ginny, I am hoping to be around a lot more often. That is great that you were able to get to a WW meeting. DD is sick, so I don't know if I will be able to get to the gym today. Hopefully.

Summer,
I hope Dd is feeling better!!!! And that it passes quickly. I still am hearing of a lot of strep and other sickness out there from my students. (BTW, my Dd is complaining of a sore throat.......). Sorry you can't get to the gym. Perhaps you were able to sneak in a short walk or at least get some sun. Today in NY it was sunny.....cold and snowy yet, but at least sunny!

I am excited- this is the first day in a long time that I was actually "in control" and stayed OP. Got a short 15 min walk in too. Oh, I hope I can stick to this.
Gotta go- enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Ginny

New exercise routine...

You might want to take it easy at first, then do it faster as you become more proficient. It may be too strenuous for some.

Always consult your doctor before starting any exercise program!

SCROLL DOWN...

































NOW SCROLL UP.. .

That's enough for the first day. Great job.
Have some chocolate.

Gin, you crack me up!!! :rofl:

Ok, who had thier chocolate??!!!!! :)
So far so good for me today.....been behaving myself eating. Got in 15 minutes on the gazelle, and a 15 minute walk a bit later. But now off to my messy house.
And the other big mess for this week, my luxury vehicle is due for state inspection this week, so I have to clean the bugger. Got the ceiling done last week.....now the windows,floors, seats....oh, I hate DOT but love the clean bus afterward.
Have a good day.
Ginny

I HATE AOL!!! :mad: They are such a pain in the *ss. They refuse to be cancelled. Somebody told me they have been trying to cancel them for months unsuccessfully. It is kind of like "Hotel California," you can join, but you can never leave. I cancelled over the phone last week. Today I received a letter stating that I agreed to receive a month's free and then continue to pay my monthly membership fee. What, are they nuts?! I clearly remember the conversation, and at no point did I agree to such a thing. :mad: I've been on hold with them for 45 minutes trying to cancel this account, and you know what? I bet they will never pick up this line. They are probably hoping that I will get tired of holding on. They s*ck. :p

So, anyway, did everybody except Ginny get scared off by my return? I showered today...what gives?! :?:

Guess who decided to skip school today? You guessed right, my irresponsible aide. She is up to a whopping 15 days absent from school. I spoke with my previously very proactive principal today who suddenly doesn't want to "make waves." Supposedly, my aide just started a new attendance cycle in January. So, she is no longer on probation. She is no longer in danger of suspension. She gets to start the new year with a clean slate. And, since she has only missed four days in 2005, she is not in trouble. They forget the 11 days in the fall and who knows how many days from last spring...about 10 or so. How nice for her. She basically can do whatever the f*ck she wants and nothing will happen to her. :p

DD had cheerleading tonite. It was so fun to watch her.

Well, I guess it is time for me to chill and wait another 30 or so minutes for AOL to pick up the phone.

Good morning Summer???? This is AOL- we heard that you really wanted another year of our crummy service, actually liked being booted offline......want me to be quiet now?

Anyway- yesterday was busy.....not bad just busy and I ended up the day feeling sort of like a cold was setting in. Amazing how one day back to work and I feel beat all over again.

Back to you Summer, sorry about the aide with an attendance problem. Hope that gets resolved soon, for your sake. Glad you had fun watching DD cheerleading- bet that felt good! And no, you did not scare anyone, it has been a bit slow here.

Well, I have a busy day...Ds left this on so I thought I would say a quick hello.
Have a good day!
Ginny

Busy day ended up being not as busy.....Dd woke up with some bad stomach cramps.
And being that Dh had a stomach bug last nite, I kept her home. She felt pretty crummy this am, but seems much better now, although tired. They are desparate for drivers, so I will work this afternoon....and take her with me. I did get a ton of paperwork done this am, the bills and that (why does that take so long?? anyone else have that problem?)
Gotta go....see ya later.
Ginny

Hey guys!
Hope everyone had a good day! Mine was great! We had another early dismissal today at 12:30 because the water pump to the well at school died and we had no water. I was especially excited because I was supposed to cover ISS during my planning today. I DID NOT WANT TO DO THAT! Our grade is the only grade that has to cover for the guy who does ISS. I know everyone needs a break. However, this man comes and goes as he pleases, spends more time in the office than in his room and is a general slacker. It ticks me off. However, didn't have to do it today! Yipppppeeeeeee!
Ginny: I am all about that new excercise program of yours! Works for me. I actually got up and excercised this morning before work. Aintcha proud? I woke up at four thirty to the sound of freight train snoring coming from my hubby. Could not go back to sleep. I finally got up at 5:15.
Summer: THAT WAS ME WITH THE AOL PROBLEM FROM ****!!!!!!!! Still have it as a matter of fact. So now, I'm paying for high speed and Aol. At some point or another they did a thing on AOL to update information. Well, since my husband was the one trying to sign on, he logged in and changed the billing thing. Now, everything went from being in my name to his, but they won't talk to me because he is the one who changed it.........He has had similar problems. I need to go back on and get the 1800 number again. They make me ill! Maybe it will eventually get cancelled. This has been going on since December. It's crazy.
Finally lost another pound. Yippppeeeeee. I feel like I have been losing in slow slow motion. But, nobody's fault but my own. I have had this love affair with food for so long, it's hard to say goodbye. Atleast to the good stuff. I know it is taking longer, but if we really want to go out and eat we do, I have still been trying to make better choices, however. It's working for me. Although, I would love an instant fix sometimes. I guess I have just realized that, this is going to have to be a life long process, and that I may as well just learn to make the best choices I can, and not be discouraged if things aren't perfect.
Enough of my yapping. Talk to you all later!
Pam

Hiya!
Pam, congrats on the # loss! How neat that you broke out of your slump.....bet it feels so good!!!!! Yup, I am so proud of you for getting that workout in. Even if the freight train had to wake you up to do it!!!!!!!(funny, the same train comes thru my town too!) Sounds as though you had an all around good day. Hopefully that will be the beginning of good days for all of us. I am starting to worry about Mouse, Kerry (ok she is busy with school, I guess) and our resident cheerleader, Robyn. They used to check in so regularly.
Ok, nuff from me. I am going out for a short walk. Dd seems much better. I did drive this afternoon, and had only about 20 students- between drama and enrichment most of the kids stayed after. That makes a very happy bus driver!! :)
Have a great nite.....
Ginny

Hi, everybody.
It was a real busy weekend: I was in DC for a Red Cross youth thing Saturday, then did the St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday. The one student I figured would ride in a vehicle insisted on walking the entire 1.3 miles.... so I walked with her. Until I tripped over a manhole cover near the end of the parade route. The other teacher caught me, but that did me in, and I had to ride the rest of the way. At least it wasn't in front of the review stand.
My TA is still acting like a jerk. She doesn't talk to me, doesn't do anything that she isn't directly told to do, and does whatever she wants if I'm not in the room. And my supervisor still isn't doing anything about it. It'll be interesting: I'm attending the CEC convention April 6-9, and won't be in the classroom on those days, or at the school. I'm also scheduled to take kids to DC for a Red Cross event on April 15th, so there's another day out of the room. Plus IEP meetings upcoming (I have 2 or 3 in May), and any other reason somebody wants to yank me out of the classroom... including Passover.
I woke up with a headache and not feeling so hot, and normally I'd go to work anyway, but I stayed home and slept today. I'm sure I'll hear about it tomorrow, but its only the 2nd day I've missed all year long. Even if he lets me use my comp time, I still have 43 hours of comp time left... if not, I have 51.5 hours. And I'll get more on Friday and Sunday... we have two leadership seminar events.
:mouse:

Just me again!
Too much time on my hands today! Ha! OK ALL YOU SNOW HOGGERS AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE................What was the drill Ginny? Silver spoon under the pillow, flush the toilet three times??????Something else. They are predicting slight (as slight as it may be) chance of snow the next three days. Ok, I'm only one one day. I have tons of papers to grade and a house to clean, youngest one's having a birthday party Saturday, presents to buy..........I NEED THIS SNOW INFO ASAP! :D
Mouse: You must have esp or something, Ginny just talked you up. Hmmmm Ginny: have a little psychic twinkle going on? Sorry your TA is being a butt.....Sometimes it's good to stay home when you aren't feeling well. If it's anything like where I work, they make you feel guilty. And there's so much sub stuff to do when I'm out, and then the wake of the substitute...... Hope tomorrow will be better. I hope you are feeling rested. You stay so busy you need some rest!
Cooking spaghetti tonight. I hate it! It's everyone elses request so, I am eating cereal and a bagel. Sounds good to me. I could live the rest of my life without ever eating spaghetti. Now lasagna on the other hand...Yummy!

OMIGOSH, I FORGOT TO TELL YOU. The marine's are trying to recruit my son.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o :mad: :( :?:
This man is so persistant. I truly admire the military, and am a navy brat, however...........I don't want my son getting his face shot off. The guy keeps calling, and came to my house yesterday when I wasn't here...He is trying to entice him with a five thousand dollar sign on bonus. Ok, so I put a scrolling screen saver that says.........GET A JOB, SAY NO TO THE MARINES!MONEY WON'T HELP YOU WITH YOUR FACE SHOT OFF! Ok, that may be a little harsh, but that gives me a stomach ache. It took me a long nineteen years to get him to this point, alive, and well, and he is my baby! I've tried the guilt trip, the what would your grandfather say???(He was a navy chief.)
He says he's thinking about it. However, he has a job interview day after tomorrow with a manufacturing plant, so we're being hopefully optimistic. Say a prayer......The roofing thing didn't work out!

Pam

Mouse- glad to see you back....so sorry you are not feeling so good. I think it is great that you took the day off. Best that you rested up, and hopefullly kept this from turning into something worse. Stinks with your TA (is it something with TA's???Summer is having trouble with hers too). You ok after that trip on the manhole cover?

Pam- gee I hate to scare you.....and I am a promilitary person, my Df (deceased) and Dh are both veterans. But I have a coworker who enlisted into the army, and was promised "no Iraq". Guess where he is going in 2 weeks.......Ok, I personally think that he was mistaken in even believing such a promise anyway during wartime- but it is a consideration. I'll pray for you and your son....but then there are stories like my Dh's- he was scheduled to go overseas into a hotbed, and was called to be an MP- stayed stateside. God has His ways, and you never know. On a lighter subject......lets get this straight!!!!!!! Silver spoon under the pillow. Flush the toilet 3X right before you go to bed. Wear your pajamas inside out and backwards. I have a 3rd grade student who swears by it. Best of luck. And if it does not, I will give you Valerie's phone # for a conference call regarding what you forgot (valerie is the 3rd grader).

Hi to everyone else......gotta go.
Ginny

I am sick :p . DD gave me her cold. On Monday, when I felt it coming on, I forced myself to go to school. So here I was, sneezing like crazy, with a sore throat, and I had to make due without my aide. Because of state regs, I have to maintain a ratio of 1:10, so I do get "help." But since my aide is out so much, and the teachers complained about losing their aides all the time, the principal came up with an hourly schedule for several different aides to take my aide's place. It is utterly hectic, and the kids get really confused by all the comings and goings of different adults. It is not unusual for an aide to be midsentence in a read aloud and just drop the book and leave because her time in my room is up. If NAEYC was aware of this "system" they would have a fit. And, since I have basically trained my aide to be like a co-teacher, these replacements can't do much more than take someone to the bathroom or photocopy. Some will talk to the kids and get involved with activities, but the majority just want to gossip with me. And, I don't have the time or the desire to do that. Anyway, Monday was a joke between me feeling like crap and the revolving door of aides. By yesterday when Miss Thang returned, (she had a new hairdo and her nails had new acrylic tips!) I was really sick...body aches and the like. But, I really am trying to keep my sick time usage down. Between DD's illnesses and my own, I've been out 5 days which isn't a lot, but it is enough. So, I suffered till 5pm yesterday at the after school program. At 4:55pm, I told the principal that I wasn't coming in on Wednesday. So, now I'm up to sick day #6. :(

Oh, and on Monday when I spoke to the principal about the fact that Miss Thang is on probation and supposedly was going to be suspended if she was out one more day (she's been out 4 more days), she told me that my aide now has a clean slate because her new cycle began in January. So, despite the fact that her attendance record for as long as I've known her has been atrocious, nothing is being done. And, I guess I must accept the fact that even though my principal arrived at our school ready to conquer all including my aide's attendance, most of her promises will not come true. :mad: Someone else is pulling the strings. :?:

I got myself in trouble yesterday at dismissal. Mrs. G. lives next door to Mrs. J. They are supposedly good friends, and their DD's play together. They are both in my class. Well, Mrs. J. can't always pick up her DD, so Mrs. G. picks up both girls a lot. Lately Mrs. G has been picking up very late, so yesterday, Mrs. J. said she could bring Mrs. G.'s DD home. I saw no problem since these women are friends and Mrs. G. is always helping out Mrs. J. I thought it was nice of Mrs. J. to offer. Well, when Mrs. G. arrived 30 minutes late to school and found out that her DD went home with Mrs. J., she had a fit. Her DH blew a gasket. Apparently Mrs. G. doesn't trust ANYONE with her DD, including Mrs. J. My question is, "They why are you friends with someone you don't trust?!" So, now I'm in trouble. :( I wrote a letter of apology for my aide (if she is there today) to give to Mr. & Mrs. G. Hopefully the matter will be dropped, and they won't go to the stupidintendent. :?: My mistake...I shouldn't have assumed. :p

AOL, what a friggin nightmare. I was on hold with them for over an hour Monday night. When I finally got through, the jerk on the other end of the phone played all sorts of games with me and tried to trick me into staying on with AOL. He kept asking me why I didn't want AOL and trying to make a deal with me. It ended in a screaming match. I still can't believe how hysterical I became. I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau, which I plan on doing. Nothing I said worked until I became so crazy that I think I scared the man. You should have seen my DH's face. This isn't my normal way of dealing with things, but I had no other choice. If the man had been in the same room with me, I would have beaten the sh*t out of him. So, Pam, don't give up. The numbers are: (888)265-8003 or (888)265-8008. Don't bother trying online cancellation. It didn't work for me, and when I got online assistance, that turned pretty ugly pretty quickly. The funny thing is that when my cheap rate for my new online service expired, I was considering returning to AOL, but doing broadband. After their behavior, I not only refuse to return to them, I will use my BIG FAT MOUTH to let people know to stay away from those horrible people.

Mouse, I'm sorry things have gotten so bad with your aide. At least when mine decides to show up, she speaks to me...even if I don't feel like speaking to her. Sorry about your fall. Are you alright?

Pam, congrats on the weight loss. You have a very healthy attitude. I can't imagine how you must be feeling with the marines stalking your son. There should be laws against that...yeh right...that'll happen! :lol: I swear, I would march right down to that recruiting office and give them ****. What is wrong with me lately? I'm totally going postal! It must be perimenopausal hormones run amok!!! :devil: Everybody better watch out for that crazy fat blonde preschool teacher!!!

Ginny, glad DD is better. I hope she doesn't give you the bug.

Pam & Ginny, that train makes trips through my bedroom every night as well! Sometimes though, I'm the train!!! :o

Have I told you all about the nimrod who is our new custodian? In case I haven't, let me get you all up to speed. 1. While filling the snowblower up with gasoline INSIDE THE SCHOOL, the nimrod spilled all of it all over the floor. It caused students and teachers to become dizzy and some to vomit. The principal refused to evacuate. 2. The nimrod mops the hallway floors during the busiest times when all classes are passing in the halls. 3. He does the same thing on the stairs. 4. The nimrod was messing with the electrical and caused a power outage in the cafeteria...ovens and refrigeration were affected. 5. The nimrod likes to vacuum my classroom while I'm in it working or trying to eat my lunch...and he has B.O. so he stinks up my room. 6. The nimrod says, "Hi, how ya doin'?" about 50,000 times a day. Eye contact must be avoided at all cost. 7. The nimrod mopped urine off the boys' bathroom floor and then while waiting for my aide to exit the nurse's bathroom proceeded to MOP THE NURSE'S DESK WITH THE URINE-SOAKED MOP! 8. He was storing all of the school's reams of paper in the boiler room. The list goes on and on and on... The school secretary, the assistant custodian, and I have all reported him to the principal who (am I not surprised?) refuses to do anything about it. She still doesn't believe what my aide said about the nurse's desk even though nimrod admitted to it and said, "Yeh, huh, well that was my mistake." We reported these events to nimrod's boss who continually defends him by saying, "Well he doesn't have common sense, but he works hard." In other words, he isn't doing anything about it either. He just checks in on him to make sure he hasn't blown up the place. If you ladies don't hear from me for a couple of weeks, you can be sure that nimrod has either killed us by doing something stupid or has finally gone postal!

Take care. I'm going to bed.

I have survived another DOT......my arms are aching and I am tired. Now just hope the darn bus passes on Friday. The mechanics gave me a break- washed the outside for me and finished my seatbelts. I think they are kinder to drivers who take careof their buses and they can see that there is some effort in daily maintenance. All I know is that it saved me about another hour of backbreaking slave labor. I hate DOT.

Summer- hope you are feeling better!!!!!! Sorry that Dd was so generous with her cold and shared it with you. Drink lots......tea, water, soup....and get well. Good thing that you took the day off, perhaps it will help you get over this sooner.
As far as the Mrs G and J thing- golly a most common mistake. I might have been tempted to do the same thing.....hopefully common sense will prevail and nothing come of it. Gee, that janitor sounds interesting!!!! Please do not send him to us....I work with enough wackos as it is!


Got a 15 minute walk in this am.......and then my intense bus cleaning, which at the pace I was going at Ifigure is worth at least 1 AP. Gotta go regroup for the afternoon.
See ya.
Ginny

I am pooped......did not sleep well last nite and then to top it off my fun activities this am. Glad that the kiddies were pretty good, although I did mention to them all the stuff they left me.......smashed in seatbelts and candy wrappers in the seat cushions.
Oh well........nuff of me babbling for one day. See ya tomorrow.!
Ginny

I need somebody to help me, because otherwise I *swear* i'm going to kill my supervisor and my TA. Maybe I can get one to push the other off a bridge? Murder Suicide pact? SOMETHING?!?!?!?!?
Because I wasn't there yesterday, I missed the staff meeting. For some stupid reason, they don't send minutes from staff meetings out on email. That'd be a great idea, wouldn't it?? Anyway, they announced a firedrill, which my TA didn't tell me about. My dept. chair came down 2nd period and told me. Fortunately. Then, my TA knows about the fire drill, but WAS NOT IN THE ROOM! Fortunately, the occupational therapist was visiting us and helped me out. We have that one child with us 2 periods per day who has the serious behavior issues. He needed staff right with him or I anticipated (and we almost had as he came back in the building) a major behavioral meltdown.
4th period was absolutely off the hook when they came in the room. One kid slapped another kid's hat off his head (today was hat day). He has a behavior plan for aggression: a backhanded slap to another kid isn't aggression????? It is in my book!!
Then, another kid started something with somebody, and one kid went in the hallway, the other kid went to resource because he told the other student to suck him off. But, I'm in trouble with my supervisor for sending the kids to resource. I asked him to come down and observe instead of sentencing me to attend all of the department meetings for that group, but he refuses. He says that my TA will go to the industry meetings and catch me up, and the department chair will go to the other department htat my homeroom is a part of. Not that this will EVER happen!
I just can't win. And they still haven't done anything about my TA. My supervisor is a total toad. I'm leaving in tears almost every day, and its SO hard to get up and go to that place daily.
And the solution? I'm going to get the lowest functioning kids in the building to teach "mailroom" and basic office skills to. I can't even keep teaching Survey because my TA is going to stay there and they're going to bring in a new teacher.
I don't WANT to teach that! I really don't think I want to teach at all anymore, honestly.
And you can just imagine what this is doing to my exercise or anything else. I'm so wiped, I'm coming home after work and going to sleep. Most of what I eat I throw up again, and the pills they gave me don't help much lately. If I don't throw up, I'm so nauseated, I can't handle it.
Thanks for asking, but yes... I'm fine after tripping. I had the sense to bring my walking stick with me for the hike, and so between that and grabbing the other teacher's shoulder (he had my backpack so I grabbed that), I was okay.
But really: why do I bust my butt doing this stuff only to get yelled at AGAIN by my supervisor who absolutely does NOT support me in anything!? He makes "motions", but he doesn't really support.
:mouse:

Well it seems this is the place to be with all you fellow teachers out there in this weight loss thing together. Anonymouse... yikes it sounds like you have had quite the day... it is def known that sped teachers can burn out especially when there is no support and it sounds like you don't have any right now. I had a similar situation and realized I still loved teaching and just wasn't in the right job... a new job gave me the a whole new outlook on teaching. THe way I am able to get through those exhausting days and still get to the gym is by going right after school, then you don't have time to crash until you get home. Good luck!

GREETINGS FROM THE SLEETY, SNOWY BUT NOT STICKING HAD TO GO TO SCHOOL ANYWAY STATE...................UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Ok Ginny: Set up that conference call. My third grader is convinced that the problem was that we forgot the spoon. He said that must be the key because, spoons are cold............HMMMMMMMMMm, never thought about that.
Welcome grracoon, and what should we call you??? You'll love this place. These ladies are the best, and what a group of comedians I must say..... :lol:
Well, it was a day........First period was great....We were constructing three dimensional models and it went especially smooth...I am surprised because they are definitely a group of talkers. It was a long long day. Remember the pot incident I had where I confiscated a baggie of pot during fourth period? Well, the girl came back, and yesterday ratted out two boys saying they had pot, which I was obligated to report, they were searched, they found a condom, no drugs, but a condom. I told the principal that atleast we didn't have to worry about a bunch of babies........The rumor is that this boy is meeting a girl and having sex in the bathroom! :sssh:
GROSS! So, we have another investigation ongoing in the gambling, drug room. This is crazy!
I am happy to report that I have gotten up for the last three days in a row and done the WATP tape. I did it with one eye closed this morning. I keep waking up at like 4:30. Wasn't for the train this time............My husband and I have a deal worked out. He falls asleep immediately once his head hits the pillow. Mid thought, mid sentence, doesn't matter he is asleep. I, however, can not do this.....So, he goes into the livingroom and watches tv until I can fall asleep. He usually falls asleep once he is in the recliner, and lately has been coming to bed in the early morning. I think this is what is waking me up.. I told him that no judge in this land would convict me of murder with the way he snores............ I did the tape twice yesterday. The only problem with me getting up so early, is that I am ready to go to sleep EARLY. I am usually quite a nite owl. Yes, all my thoughts are very random today. Sorry about that........I feel very jumbled today.
MARINE ALERT...............Son got a job today! Ok, well I hate to say it outloud because as soon as I say it then he will quit. It's with a plastics plant. I think it is temp to hire, twelve hour shifts, two days on, two days off. He goes for a tour of the plant Monday, and safety training on Wednesday. So, maybe that will keep the Marine's at bay for a while. I hope so anyway. He played semi pro football last year, and they had their first team meeting of the season last night, so maybe with that and working and possibly going to college this fall he'll stay out of trouble. We'll see.....
Also, two of his friends were hired there also. This is great, I can see my grocery bill going down, down, down already. Imagine the possibilities!
Mouse: Gosh what a crappy day! You crack me up about the murder suicide pack :lol: :lol: :lol: ! The thing I think stinks is that your TA who won't even talk to you is supposed to report back to you about the meetings? Yeah, that's gonna happen........ YOU FELL?????????What happened? I hope you are ok.... Only one more week til spring break here, how about there? That should give you a little hope anyway. We only have forty one school days left. I can't believe it. I can't wait. I am in the midst of a true nervous breakdown. I was thinking of becoming a Walmart greeter myself......Hang in there.
Ginny: Sounds like you've been your usual busy self. Which WATP tapes do you have? I have the one mile, which I use two pound weights with, cause I don't have the kind she uses, and the two and a half mile walk and jog, which I just don't feel like doing. I love the one mile, but since I was walking further than a mile outside, I feel like it's not enough....I have been trying to do it twice. There are so many, two mile with abs, two mile super calorie burn.... I don't know which one I should get next. Any ideas?
By the way, how's the dishwasher? ;)
Summer, thanks for the numbers. I told my hubby all about your story. We feel for you.... Hopefully I will get it straight soon. Glad to see you back.
Well, let me stop babbling and go get some papers graded. I am getting a true resistance work out just hauling my book bag back and forth from home to school. I just keep adding papers to it, guess I should go grade them.Blah! :(
Pam

Hi. Good day today: my TA was in another class all day long helping out. I was by myself, which causes some concern in regards to staffing, but it was much better than being glowered at all day and ignored.
I know she won't tell me what is going on... she didn't bother to tell me about the fire drill. :mad: So what does my supevisor say when I mention this? That he'll tell me. HELLO?? WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO ADDRESS HER BEHAVIOR?!?!!??!
I guess by this point, the answer is never. Whatever.
Ginny: I tripped over a manhole cover when the parade route swung onto the next street. I was fine... I only tripped because it was uneven ground and I was stupid enough to walk over the cover. I know better than to do things like that. My orthopedist insists that I have osteoarthritis in my ankle from the weight and the previous injuries, and claims not to remember our discussion about nerve damage... but if I have arthritis in the ankle, it should HURT, right? Guess what, it doesn't. Mos tof the time I feel nothing at all... and I trip over rough ground or on stairs because I think i've set my foot down or something, and haven't.
I think I'm going to bed. I'm leaving early tomorrow fo ra doctor's appointment, so I only have to put up with her for 4 periods.
:mouse:

TGIF!
Only four more days til spring break! I THINK I CAN! I THINK I CAN! I THINK I CAN!.......
Tomorrow is the big birthday bash! We're going roller skating. I think I will skate too. I haven't skated in years. I'll probably break my butt or something stupid. Sounds fun though. Still haven't bought my son a present. Can you believe he said that having me for a mother was not a good enough gift? Dang the abuse! Guess the prudent thing would be to get one tonight, huh? Bought the plates, cups, napkins, goodie bags, table cloth all YUGHIO, to the tune of 31 dollars. Gosh, parties sure can be expensive. Haven't gotten the cake yet, but he wants an ice cream cake so, I guess we'll do that tonight, as well as CLEAN THIS NASTY HOUSE! Yuck!
How come everytime I get close to my mini goal that I set for myself I mysteriously gain a pound and a half? It's really starting to annoy me. I was at 181.5 on Wednesday. Now, I was 183. It's making me insane.
Well off to do some work I guess. Be back later!
Pam

What a day.......glad this week is over.......

My luxury vehicle passed DOT this am,I am so happy to have it back.

Pam- Hopefully I can get here tomorrow to offer my review of the WATP tapes. My question for you is how tired are you after doing the one you have 2X? Some of the higher milel tapes are more rigoruous than others. Congrats on the marine alert being off......what a relief. Gross story about the bathroom too.....and you have to put the spoon under the pillow. I have a 3rd grade expert who says so.

Mouse- what a bummer with your supervisor........hope your day went well! Its Friday!

Welcome Racoon!!!!!! (what should we call you?). Lots of humor and support here......

Gotta go. Have a great evening!
Ginny

Good Morning!
Just a quick hello before I begin the crazyiness of this day. Have a few short hours to get everything done before the party. Just need to finish mopping the kitchen and that room will be finished. I am on strike! I weighed today, and was at 183.5 . I know it's almost time for my tom but gosh it's so irritating. I'm just going to keep excercising and eating right. Ok well today is pizza and ice cream cake, but not a whole lot I can do about that.
Ginny: Glad all is well. As far as how tired I am? I don't know. I don't even really get out of breath. My husband did the one mile with me last night for the first time, after kind of making fun when I first got it, and he was sweating and out of breath during the first one. It was sort of comical. I think my husband and son both have the same rythym problem. :lol: I may just keep doing this one for a while, but would like to be able to progress to the next level. Although, I have a hard time with the weights after doing it the first time. Maybe I should just do it the second time without the weights. I am really amazed at how tired your muscles can become with just using very light weights.
Have a good day everyone!
Pam

I have come to the unmistakable conclusion that as long as I let my TA do whatever she wants, whenever she wants or follow her directions, she's perfectly fine. This was borne out yesterday: she helped another teacher 1st period, was allowed to do what she wanted 2nd period because I had to pull a student to do a vocational inventory, got mad 3rd period and walked in and out of the room because I presented the information differently than she wanted, and 4th period was perfectly happy to work with the small groups that I broke the kids into.
Then I went to have the bloodwork done, and to see the medical endocrinologist. I always get this stupid lady at the lab who doesn't even know how to log into the computer or do what she's supposed to do. Its SOOOO annoying! Fortunately, she has learned that she can't get blood out of me and turns me over to one of the other technicians.
The doctor's appointment just sucked. I'm so tired of specialists and nurses and doctors. You want to call it PCOS? Fine. Call it that. I don't have cysts, and I haven't responded positively to any of the medical treatments for that disorder. I still don't have a menstrual cycle. I never have one. My testosterone is going up again, and I'm gaining weight along with it. In December when she weighed me with my sweatshirt, turtleneck, the whole deal on... I was 10 pounds lighter than I am now with nearly the same clothing on. How did I gain 10 pounds?!?!?!
I told her about being tired, and she immediately suggested a sleep study. WHAT? I'm on how many medications that carry warnings or suggestions about dizziness/drowsiness and you think that I'm tired because I have sleep apnea? Where'd that come from?!
And if that weren't bad enough... although she and I hashed it out during the first visit, and I thought it was a dead issue (if I hadn't thought so, I would never have gone back), she is insistant that the only way I'll ever lose weight is to have bariatric surgery. Like :censored: I'm going to have that done. I am not interested, its not on the table for discussion and it WILL NOT HAPPEN. I don't know ANYBODY that hasn't had major issues with the surgery, and many of them are unhappy about either the surgery itself or the limits on the diet (not the amount of food eaten, but what they can and cannot eat). My diet is already so limited, I don't think I could deal with making it even more limited. I asked her, since a lot of times I throw up and even if I eat more than I should, I rarely go over 2500 calories. Most days I'm comfortably between 1500-1700 calories. I asked her what, exactly, she thought the bariatric surgery would do to help me lose weight that I'm not already doing, and her answer was that it would allow me to lower my eating below even my baseline needs. In other words, I'd get medical intervention to starve myself. Isn't that what she is saying, afterall? She recognizes that I already don't eat a whole lot, and probably don't eat more than I should, but that I still don't lose weight... and that its somewhat related to this endocrine disorder, but that the only way I will lose the weight is to have surgery that allows me to starve myself.
I told about all the visits to plastic surgeons last spring/summer/fall, and she agreed that surgery (to remove the panniculus) might be a valid alternative. I told her we couldn't find a surgeon who accepted my insurance that was willing to perform the procedure, and she told me that the insurance company is required to pay for weight loss procedures because of a law the state legislature passed a year and a half ago. :(
And when I kept saying no to the bariatric surgery, she just got up and walked out of the exam room. So, I guess there goes another endocrinologist down the drain.
Why can't I find more than ONE doctor that will listen to me and do something to help me????? I don't understand. I try not to eat too much, I've given up soda, most white stuff, most fried foods, lots of sweets. I can't eat any type of chicken products, and I throw up a lot. What more am I supposed to do!?
:mouse:

Hi!

Mouse- what a frustrating ordeal for you. To me this is starting to sound like there are maybe 2 Dr's in the country who are able to diagnose and treat your particular condition and the awful thing is that you have not found any of them. Just an idea, and I am sure a rather expensive one- is there a teaching hospital (and I am sure it is probably New York, or Boston - could be Balitimore- you catch my drift- major city) that specializes in endocrine disorders? We have a friend who after years of messing around with local doctors (and he lives in a suburb of NYC) finally went to a specialist in Columbia Presbyterian Hosp in NYC. Finally a real diagnosis, and appropriate meds. I also know that in my neck of the woods, a person with a dire cancer diagnosis should go to Sloan Kettering in NYC. They can treat some otherwise untreatable patients. I know you have been to Baltimore to see Drs there. And there is the healthcare network issue. And the last thing I want to do is frustrate you. As far as your TA goes, sounds as though she has some major maturity issues. I am sure that you can come up with some creative way to get some cooperation from her, and still get things done.
You, my friend, deserve the Nobel Peace prize for putting up with her.

Pam- sorry about the bad WI. Salt is a killer....and with TOM around the corner, it is most likely that. (my WI was awful yesterday too!). Got a busy day today, huh? As far as the WATP tapes....I have the kickbox one, but I think Kerry will agree that is the most strenuous of them. Bang for the buck- as far as the most intense workout (other than the kick box one which is more intense) would probably be the WATP Express Walk Strong. It is a 2 mile tape- 30 minutes and you can use an excersise stretchie with it. She does crank up the tempo a bit, and it is somewhat more intense. But I also like her 3 mile and 4 mile tapes. The 3 mile one is all one workout- 47 minutes and calls for 2# hand weights. Pretty intense. The 4 mile is great because it is broken down into 3, 20 minute segments. One 1 mile segment, and 2, 1 1/2 mile segments (they are a bit faster paced). The total tape is 1 hour, a long time but it gives you the option to do any combination of segments....and intensity. Very versatile.

Gotta go.......BIL and SIL on phone. See ya later.
GInny

Mouse, I am blown away by what you are going through with doctors. Have they forgotten that this is your body? You most certainly have the right to refuse a surgery that you don't feel comfortable with. Have you researched the doctors at Yale? I'm also sorry you are getting zero support from your supervisor. It seems like as soon as someone gets promoted to administration, they lose their balls.

Welcome Raccoon!!!

Pam, Congrats on your son's job. I will pray that those :p marine recruits :p will leave him alone. Regarding your weight, maybe it would be better if you weighed yourself less frequently and relied instead on measurements to keep track of your progress.

Ginny, Congrats on getting your luxury vehicle back!

I still have the cold, and right now it is deciding whether to settle in my sinuses or my chest. I won't be surprised if I am on antibiotics soon.

I found a used bookstore today called, "The Whistle Stop Book Shop." How cute is that? I turned in several books, got a credit of $30.00, picked out seven great trashy novels and two chapter books for DD, and paid only $4.00!!! I don't bother with our library because the selection sucks. :p But now that I've found this cute little "hole in the wall," I can get good books really cheap!

We just got a Target store in my neighborhood. I am excited because we really needed a store like Target. DH applied for a parttime job there but didn't get it. When I went there today and saw all the "lowlifes" they hired and read the sign, "Now Hiring," I wanted to scream at somebody. (Perimenopausal woman raises h*ll in new Target. See page A2.) I controlled myself and toured the store. It has a Starbucks coffeeshop! It is a really nice store, so maybe I will forgive them. I guess he is overqualified, but what are educated white middle-class males supposed to do when they need to make extra money? HELP!!!

On Friday, we had our "Black History Month" assembly. :?: Are you wondering why we are celebrating Black History Month in March when it is no longer Black History Month? :dizzy: Don't ask me. The Home School Coordinator dropped the ball in February and INSISTED that we have it in March. So, the 2nd and 3rd graders put on a musical play that was OUTSTANDING and brought everyone to tears. I was asked to have my classes sing. Since we learned "This Little Light of Mine" during February, the actual Black History Month, my kids sang that. It went well. However, no other classes performed. Afterward, the special ed teachers approached me and asked when I found out about the show. I told them about two weeks ago. They flipped because they weren't invited to perform and didn't know about the show until the day before when the invitations went home. I can't blame them for being upset. They are threatening a law-suit because it is against the law to exclude the special education classes. Oh Boy! The kindergarten teachers found out three days prior and refused to throw something together. Again, I can't blame them. I didn't hear from first grade. All I can say is that the Home School Coordinator surely screwed up! :(

My eating has been both good and bad. But, I got back to the gym and had an excellent workout. So, I'm on my way to being back on track.

Miss you Robyn and Kerry!!! :(

Just me again. Summer, I hope you are feeling better~ sounds as though you are not too optimistic at beating this cold without the help of antibiotics.
Just remember to take care of yourself......and get to the Dr if you need to.
Stinks about the employment situation at Target. I wonder why they do stuff like that???? But congrats on getting a decent store nearby. EVERYTHING is 1/2 hour from my house, except for the bare necessities like a food store and pharmacy. Glad that you are getting your eating/excercising under control. Spring has a way of inspiring that in us!! Oh, happy Black history month :lol: :dizzy: ! Oh, there is probably some good reason for the delayed observance, I would love to hear what the excuse is!

No walk for me today....and I am pooped. Did ok with my eating until I had some chocolate........I will have to be a good girl tomorrow, that is for sure.
Gotta go- see ya tomorrow.
Ginny

Hey!
Was a semi-successful birthday party. We took four boys to the skating rink. That was a mistake. I don't think we'll do that again. My son went around once and said his feet hurt. Two of the boys decided they weren't going to skate at all, so, they just wanted to play in the play area, that was an extra cost. The other boy skated a couple of times, and then played video games the whole time. My hubby and I were the only ones skating! Omigosh my legs are sooooooooooooooooo sore this morning. I have muscles hurting today that I didn't even know I had. ON the bright side, I only wiped out once. It was fun. I hadn't been skating since my nineteen year old was in the second grade! My husband skated with me, and had only been skating once in his life. It was comical. I especialy loved it because he is always good at everything he does and I could actually do this better than him. I told him that and that we should go more often. He said No, I don't think so. ;) :D They all came home and had a silly string fight in the back yard. My back yard looks like a mixture of green, purple, yellow, snot strings. We also bought these little plastic guns from the dollar store that you put these little poppers in and they shoot out confetti, and streamers. So, they loved that as well. Overall it was a good day.
I am pleased to say that I only had two pieces of pizza, and a small but yummy piece of chocolate cake. MMMMMMMMMMMM!

Summer: Yes, I know you shouldn't weigh so often, but I can not help it. It doesn't send me over the edge when I don't weigh a certain amount, but believe it or not, if the numbers are what I don't want them to be, it helps me to eat right. I have been recording my measurements, and am pleased to report, that since January I have lost five inches off my waist and four off my hips, and various other amounts. I have been using this pair of jeans as a guide too. I had one pair of jeans that I kept in a drawer, because I loved them. They never really fit me right, and I could barely button them, and went without oxygen once I did, if you know what I mean. Today, they were a perfect fit! Yeah!

Ginny: Thanks for the advice on the Watp tapes. I have been using two pound weights with the one mile, and I am really seeing a difference. I have been looking for the two mile here, and I did see a watp express it has the one and two mile on it. I may get that.

Mouse: Geez, that does sound like a frustrating doctor's appointment. I hope you'll be able to find a doc that you are happy with that can actually find out what exactly the problem is. Atleast you finally had one peaceful day without sulking from your TA.
Four more days til spring break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
Pam

Pam,
congrats on surviving the party....hey you got a workout from it even if the boys did not quite follow suit! And some skating time with Dh. Sounds like a bit of fun anyway. And great news on your jeans fitting better and the improved measurements... bet that feels great!!! Look for the WATP tapes on Walmart.com or even ebay. they are sold new there sometimes too.
Gotta go, I want to get a WATP session in myself. We have some wet rainy weather here.....so no outside activity.
See ya later!
Ginny

G'afternoon, all.
Pam: Sounds like a great party. I was never a big skater, at least not after I skated myself down the steps at my grandmother's apartment complex when I was 5 or 6. I might have been younger, couldn't have been older. I remember a hurried trip to a nearby military base for medical treatment (that's what you get when you have parents in the military!).
Ginny: Congrats on the bus, I forgot that the other day.
Summer: Oooh, icky cold. If I haven't ever recommended it before, you might want to try Stash's Wintermint tea. Some grocery stores have it, but I typically order larger boxes from Stash's directly on-line. It is spearmint, wintergreen and other herbs. The mints have the same chemical compound as aspirin (which is, believe it or not, a naturally occuring compound!) salicyates. Yea, yea.... I was an herbalist one summer at the PA Renaissance Faire. I got paid $5/hour to learn that stuff and pretend that I was part of a Cornish pirate group. I worked 3 days a week, and that was a great job with great money for a freshman in college! Oh, yea, we also got 10% of 10% of the total take from the game booths that we ran. I made enough to pay for 18 credits at the community college the year I worked there. ;)
As for the doctors: I have had so many doctors recommend that damn surgery. They all tell me that I can't lose the amount of weight I need to lose, and only a few of them recognize that its complicated by the endocrine disorder.
It really does sound as if they are telling me that starving myself through a medical procedure is the best way for me to go when they recommend the procedure.
I don't know where to turn to get help. If I had the $12000 for the panniculus removal, I'd pay it in a heart beat even though the thought of surgery scares me. Especially a major operation like that.
I even have the sick leave now that I need from work, so I could do it this summer. I have 2.5 weeks of sick leave, 2 free days, and a week of comp time. But I don't know where to look to even find a decent plastic surgeon anymore. I just can't go through that degradation that I went through last summer/fall again. Calling all those doctors offices, and then meeting the physicians in person only to find out that many of them were just awful people. Rude, arrogant, uncaring.
I don't know what else I can do about my weight. I know it needs to come off, and I recognize that I do eat badly occasionally ... But who doesn't? And even my "bad" probably isn't as bad as most people. Yesterday would be a "bad" day: 2 peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast on whole grain bread: 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, and sugar-free fruit butter made at a local place near my mom's house. Its JUST fruit, no sweetner added at all. I have strawberry-rhubarb right now which isn't my favorite, but they're closed for the winter. I'm trying to make it last till they open again in May. They also have pumpkin, peach, pear, cherry, and apple in the sugar free. Pumpkin and peach are my favorite. Both are great with peanut butter, in plain yogurt, oatmeal, or cottage cheese.
Lunch was a sugar-free frappacino from Barnes and Noble, and fish from Long John Silver. I don't eat cole slaw, and it comes with small fries. I also had a chocolate chip cookie.
Dinner was 3 pieces of salmon sushi and a hot dog without the bun.
Exercise: I went to the gym, lifted weights for 35 minutes, then did the water aerobics class which is 55 minutes, took a shower, came back to the gym later for swimming lessons (90 minutes of chasing kids around the pool) and before lessons I swam for 45 minutes.
Today: Leftover lobster rangoon for breakfast, and then nothing till dinner. I hit a local buffet for take out, so it was a mishmash... but I have the leftovers in the fridge. I got a lot of baked coated shrimp, so that is what is left. I had a little bit of beef & macaroni, green beans, half a slice of pizza, and 2 small hot dogs. I have sugar-free mini-cheesecake in the fridge later if I'm hungry. Exercise was doing my grocery shopping, driving, taking a shower. I was going to the gym, but we had thunderstorms, so I know the pool was closed.
I will definitely be at the gym tomorrow, though on Mondays I usually only have time to lift weights or swim, not both because I won't do the Monday night water aerobics class. The instructor is rude. I also have to go to BJs for school, so that'll be Monday or Tuesday. Its right near the gym.
I don't think I'm slacking on the exericse, I don't think I'm being a huge over-eater.
I already know what tomorrow's food will be: "fake eggs' (egg beaters), canadian bacon, on a bagel for breakfast, a dannon smoothie, with cottage cheese or yogurt and soup (maybe) for lunch, then the left-over shrimp with salad for dinner. I also found a key-lime pie (individual size) at the store, so I might have that.
When I go to BJs, I'm going to buy more water, but I also want the snack-pack they have from Frito-Lay... they have all the baked stuff/low-fat in a snack pack now. That way I can portion control snacks easier.
I don't know what else I can do.... or where to look, who to talk to, anything. I'm relatively positive that the tiredness is a combination of factors: I've had trouble sleeping ever since I originally hurt my ankle because it twitches/jumps, and there are times I can't bear to having anything touching it. I have to take tylenol or something to stop that at night. At least 3 of the medications I take carry warnings about dizziness and/or lightheadeness. And that doesn't include the benedryl I take for the insect allergy. I'm also insanely busy lately... I work full-time, I teach swimming part-time, workout at the gym, I'm in grad school, and I do all that community service stuff for the kids, plus my own work with the Red Cross.
That doesn't exactly scream sleep apnea to me... It screams that I have too much I'm doing, that I'm on medication that makes me dizzy/unfocused, and that I probably don't sleep enough at night. I get up at 5:00 a.m.,and leave at 6:15 but I don't usually get HOME until 6:30 or 7:00 at night.
But I was completely unable to convince the endocrinologist of any of this. What's the point of paying her if she's not going to listen to me?!
I don't know if any of you are fans of the band "They Might Be Giants", but right now I'm thinking about the song, "Twisting in the Wind".
:mouse:

Mouse-
I will get that WW stuff off to you later this week, after all the nonsense here dies down. Dh and Ds are leaving for Florida tomorrow, and Dd just came home from her softball trip to SanFrancisco. So I have been rather up to my eyeballs getting other peoples lives in gear. Not that I am trying to shove WW down your throat.....I just wish I could help you somehow.
Hope your day goes well with the Torture TA....perhaps this week will at least be peaceful.
Gotta go drive the kiddies in......
Ginny

I am so tired I could scream.......don't know why, however. And I have a crummy headache. And my asthma is acting up a wee bit. Maybe I need this spring break!! :lol: Got thru today, kiddies were ok, for the most part. That probably means I am in for a rough day tomorrow. Oh well, I will get there when I get there.

I suppose I should go do something productive. See ya later!
Ginny

Hey guys!
One down and three to go!
Day was ok today. Nothing majorly monumental which is always good for a Monday. Most of my kids are back from ISS today. The one girl who I would like to knock out, was already on my nerves. She has absolutely no respect for anything. The day the water went out in the building, the principal happened to walk into my room and he asked her to sit down and she just looked at him and kept on standing up. She is just rude. Today she yelled out that the GD teacher and yes she used the initials, and then said mother effer. I said you know whether or not you used the word, I find it totally unacceptable. She said well my momma don't care. I said well I do care. Tried to call the mother. Unreachable. She is a mess. Other than that, not to bad.
Ginny: I did the two and a half mile walk and jog last night, and with my legs already sore from skating, it wasn't fun. I made it through however.
I think I will just go back to the one mile today. I added these one pound weights to the walk and jog.
Mouse: Your bad eating days are much better than mine. Here's my yesterday: piece of cold cheese pizza breakfast.with a pepsi, two peices of cold pizza for lunch with a pepsi, piece of chocolate cake. Dinner: grilled chicken breast and salad. I was hungry! You certainly out excercise me that's for sure. Although, I have noticed that since I have been excercising everyday, I miss it when I don't do it. I remember those trips to the navy clinics. I hated it.
Well, gotta go, talk to you all later!
Pam

Evening.
Okay, I left at 6:15 this morning, and I just got home now. The cat was insanely hungry because he emptied his feeder this morning, and had to wait till I brought the bag of cat food in from the car tonight (not enough hands last night!).
The food changed just a tiny bit: Breakfast was exactly what I wrote. Lunch was low-carb/fat-free yogurt, weight watchers cereal, and a smoothie. Snack was a bag of chips (150 calories), and a sugar-free mocha with skim milk from the gym... about a 6 ounce cup. Dinner is the left-over shrimp, salad, vegetable lo-mein and 3 pieces of salmon sushi. Snack tonight will be the mini-cheesecake.
About 1500 calories today, all told. I went to the gym and swam for an hour, then did the shopping for the student's fun day... that involves not just pushing the cart in BJs, but hefting the cases of soda, juice, snacks, etc. I didn't buy the baked snack pack from Frito-Lay: I looked at the nutrition information, and its awful. A REGULAR bag of Doritos is 140. The baked bag is 180! The pretzels in that bag are 220 calories, too. I went with a multi-pack of the new Nabisco 100 calorie packs: oreos and wheat thins. I like both. Anyway, this is what I have planned for tomorrow:
Either my bagel sandwiches or a frozen breakfast with eggs, ham, cheese, and potatoes: 250 calories. I might add a bagel to that, since my bagel sandwiches are usually 370. Lunch: cottage cheese, 2 hard-boiled eggs, wheat thins. Dinner: Left over sushi, salad, frozen dinner that is a veggie eggroll, brown rice, and garlic shrimp. Oh, and either a smoothie or slim fast for the afternoon snack, since I'm going to the gym.
Ginny: :dizzy: Maybe you have sleep apnea, too? :devil:
Pam: Well, then I wish somebody could explain to me why I just don't lose weight. It SUCKS. :cry:

:mouse:

I think it is time that I start a new thread. See you on the flipside!

Hi!!!
Hi Everyone!!! I'm officially DONE WITH GRAD SCHOOL!!!!!! :dancer: And it feels SO good. I have time now. I actually have time!!!

It feels so good. I was so overwhelmed at the end of grad school. :tired: I had no time for anything but my class and that thesis paper/presentation. . .and just when I thought I was done, I had to take a big comprehensive test, but now I'm really done. I can post here, just when summer's starting a new thread, sadly. . .and it's SOOOOOO good to be back.

Without having time to post here, it was really easy to slack off on my exercise and diet. I've been terrible the last 2 weeks, but pretty good today and yesterday. To reward myself for finishing, I bought a dumbell set. :strong: I read the "ladies who lift" forum recomendations, and got one that you can change the plates on. It was heavy--40lbs total--to carry upstairs to my apt, and I realized that that HEAVY weight was actually exactly what I have left to lose. I was tired from carrying it up, and I realized that what feels like normal now will be what tired will feel like when I lose weight. :chin:

sweet!

Anyway, Hi everyone, I missed you and I am SO glad to be back!!! :cloud9:

--p

Paisely-
Summer started a new thread......see you there!!!!!
ginny