Well Robyn I feel the same way you do right now. I went to TOPS last night and gained 3 1/2 pounds. So what have I done for the last two days, eat more.Tomorrow is a new day and I am going to try and eat less. We can work on this together. Hope you enjoy your show tomorrow night!
Mouse, you go girl about working out and then getting ready for Back to School night. I did that one time when it was parent teacher conferneces at school. There was a group of us who were to be meeting, we just held our meeting on the track at the local Y. Hope tomorrow is a better day for you with your students. Those ideas for your fun day sound stupid and I can see why the one kid was in tears being asked to watch a dog obedience video.
Summer, bummer about the news from your doctor's office. Hope all this waiting comes to an end soon for you. Enjoy your full body massage on Saturday. That sounds like a lot of fun. Boy I could go for one right now. My students have me so tensed up it is not funny. Enjoy your birthday bash on Saturday! I laughed my @#$ off about the comment you made about your aide. You have the right attitude. Give her tons of stuff to do when she gets back from her mini-vacations.
Ginny, geez girl you sure have your hands full right now. Hope you can get your bus cleaned and the little angels don't destroy it before you get it inspected. Book a room with you gals in Vermont. That sure sounds like a lot of fun!
Well I best be off to bed. It was a long day today and my kids drove me nuts with their complaining and tattling. You sure could tell we had a full moon last night.
Have a wonderful Thursday!
Later,
Kerry

Its okay Robyn. People eat when stressed at times. Its normal. I don't know anybody that doesn't do it... even the people who say they don't do it do it sometimes.

I'm sure I'll come up with something more coherent later in the day.

Evening Gals,
Hope everyone had a great day! My day was going great until I developed a killer headache at lunchtime. I made it through the day though. I still have it, but did manage to go workout tonight at Curves. So I am hoping that by going to bed early I might be able to sleep it off.
Not much new and exciting here. I think I will sign off go take a few excerdin and go to bed early. Talk to you all tomorrow evening.
Have a great Friday!
Kerry

Joy of joys.........Ds broke his hand playing basketball and I am off this am to take him to an orthopedic Dr.......Oh, well. Hang in there ladies, it is Friday, after all!
ginny

Ginny that is so awful about your ds hand. How bad is it broken? Hope you had a good day anyway.
Summer, Mouse and Robyn how was your Friday's?
Believe it or not, my day was super. My boys' did not fight once today. We had a nice enjoyable day. We were even able to complete all our work that was planned for the day. I was able to carry out half of my evening plans tonight. I was suppose to have some time to myself. But my sdd best friend called to say that she couldn't come over to play because her mommy was ill. So I was able to leave her with my mil while I went to workout at Curves. Then I went to pick her up and we went to the movie store and rented Mean Girls. That is a good movie. It is so very true of how girls treat each other. Plus we made a stop at the DQ. I sort of eat healthy. I got a banana split. It was good. That was the only bad thing I eat today. So I finally had my eating under control some what today. Now let's see if I can keep this up through the weekend. We have a busy evening tomorrow night. My stepkids' soccer game at 5 p.m. and then it is off to see our nephew demo. derby his car. So dinner is still up in the air for tomorrow evening. I might just stop at Subway and get a sub for myself on the way to the derby and stop at the drivethru at Wendy's or McDonalds for everyone else. Well I am tired so I am going to head off to bed. Talk to you all tomorrow.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kerry

Mousie, maybe becoming a doctor would have been a great idea...just for the salary alone! God knows teachers are the lowest paid professionals, not to mention the least respected.

Robyn, I know how you feel about those 18W's. That is where I'm at...sometimes 20 depending on the brand. I weighed myself for the first time since the sh*t hit the fan, and I've gained 5 pounds. Actually, that isn't bad for the amount of time that I have been eating whatever the f*ck I want.

Well, my body massage was more like a visit to the torture chamber! The gift certificate was to a place I've never gone before. It was in an old house done up to be a spa. I like antiques and all things victorian, but when I go to a spa, I want the whole treatment and ambiance. The decor was charming, but I wasn't given that "pampered feeling." Between the lack of spa atmosphere, and the extreme PAIN inflicted upon my body, I will never set foot in there again. I sure hope my sister doesn't give me another gift certificate to that place.

Kerry, sorry about the weight gain. I know you will drop it in no time. Maybe you are just retaining water. I hate scales. I'm glad you had a super Friday. Keep up the trips to Curves, and you will be right back where you need to be.

Ginny, sorry about your son's injury. OUCH!

My birthday bash was fun. They took me to Bennigan's. My two best friends were there without there husbands. One had to watch the kids since they couldn't get a sitter, and the other one is a big baby who doesn't know how to socialize with adults. My sister, brother, his wife, and son also came. We all laughed and laughed. The food was good, and the margaritas were even better! My brother picked up the whopping tab! This was a total shock because he has a reputation for being a cheapskate. That only makes it even nicer that he decided to do that for me. (I think he is a little freaked out about my current health status. He is a cancer survivor himself.)

I'm not really worried about myself anymore. I don't think I have cancer. I think the biopsy will be negative. My doctor told me if it is cancer, we caught it early. And as far as the waiting, I've gotten used to it. I'm truly taking it one day at a time.

I paid my bills and wrote my lesson plans this morning instead of going to church. This afternoon, DD and I are going to see "Shark Tale," and then we need to go for a walk to collect leaves. I wrote in my plans that the kids would sort leaves by color and size. So, hopefully we will find lots of colors.

Have a great Sunday one and all.

Evening Ladies,
Glad to hear that you had a wonderful birthday bash last night. Sounds like a lot of fun. Better than my evening. We went to the kids soccer game. Only for them to lose in over time and the boys were heartbroken. Went to see my dh's nephew run in the demo. derby only to place third and hear about how it was wrong that he got that place by my sds. Came home and went to bed early, since all my family wanted to do is watch football on the tv. Sorry about my little rant. I like your outlook on life, Summer. Keep it up girl. Hope you enjoyed your walk with your dd and found lots of leaves.
Nothing new and exciting going on here. Same old same old. Just a different day.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
HI there Ginny, Mouse and Robyn. It sure has been quiet here this weekend?
Have a great week.
Kerry

Well... it is 1 a.m. and I came to say hi....but just read that someone had written lesson plans... WELL DAMN.... I have fixed flash cards, written interim reports, written my weekly newsletter, written homework for the week, paid the bills and done most of the laundry, cleaned the kitchen, sat down long enough to read the ads in the paper to make the shopping list, cleaned out my bookbag, ordered from Scholastice (2 huge orders well over $100 each.... I LOVE this new school!), gone through the junk mail for the week, but DARNNNNNN, I forgot to write plans for tomorrow.......

so...I'm off to fill in the template and get it printed up before I fall asleep........
I am exhausted...and THIS was the weekend....and I still haven't done all that I need to do! ARGHHH.........

um...
take care....
meeee

Hi!
I am still alive......just so darned busy.
Robyn- sorry your weekend was so busy. Isn't it the pits when returning to work on Monday is actually restful in comparison. Hope your week goes well.
Kerry- stinks that your Sunday was such a bummer.....rant and rave all you want here! (hey, if it keeps us out of the refrigerator it is a good thing.) You have to vent....and it is surely a safe place here, right? Hopefully you got lots of good rest last nite and today will be a fresh start.
Summer- You have a great attitude.....and you are so right. With all that is going on, statistically you probably are fine...and as my neighbor (who has had a lump removed that was suspicious but nothing) what do we go thru all these tests for (mammo's, pap's) if we do not want to know that we are sick? We do this so that any problem can be taken care of before it is life threatening. You are going to be with us for a long, long time (of course you will keep posting once you get to your goal weight, right?). Keep up the great attitude.....and I'll keep praying for you too.
Mouse- you MIA too??? Hope you are ok!
Ds's hand was fairly bad- have to go for a recheck Friday. It is in a cast, and the Dr mentioned that he was surprised that he was able to reset it as well as he did (looked perfect to my untrained eyes). Other than that, just busy with life........hope to get back here later. Gotta go pick up my afternoon gang. See ya later!
Ginny

Survived today....the monsters were so noisy. Actually had one 5th grader apologize for acting like such a creep. That is ok.......the seating chart is coming.....soon too!
(revenge of the bus driver). Survived DOT last week, when I had to clean the bus inside and out from top to bottom. Fortunately I passed. Major relief.
Did some stress eating today......not too awful, though. And I did get a 35 minute walk in this afternoon (I was tired but it felt good!)
Nuff from me, I'd better go. I have a ton of computer stuff to do tomorrow while I am off, so I can get a bit more personal then. Have a great nite.....
Ginny

I guess I am MIAM: Missing In Action Mouse? Just a very busy mouse.
I'm required to take the students on a minimum of 4 field trips. I have over 50 kids... when I counted today, I came up with 49, but I know that can't be right. There have to be more.
Anyway, I've been saying since July that transportation was going to be an issue. We have 4 mini-vans and 1 lift-van at school. Our school provides no transportation, the local schools that send the students bus them to us. We have 180 students; 67 of them go on community instruction trips weekly... The other two vans are part of work-based learning, our off-campus job training program. We share the vans and the lift-van with other programs.
So, here I am, required to take these kids out on these trips... and have no transportation. They said they'd rent a bus: but I only have a budget of $1000 for the year... and each TRIP (not day, each TRIP!!!) costs $150-$300 or more depending on the bus company we go with and whether or not we need a lift-bus for our students who use wheelchairs. I have 6 groups of students, with 8-9 in each group except one smallish group of 6. So now they're not going to rent the bus and I got the transportation mess dumped back on my lap. And since this is a required part of the curriculum, if I don't get them out on these trips, it'll impact my evaluation negatively.
We have a "bus" that needs some repair work, and a driver with a CDL license, but the hospital that runs our program won't approve funding for a driver or repairs.
We're also required to have a 1:3 staff to student ratio... so if I have 9 kids, I need 3 staff members. But we're also reuired to have 2 staff per van... so with 9 kids I need two vans and 4 staff.
The whole thing has given me a huge headache, to be honest. I had letters ready to go to businesses and stuff done in August. And they're still dragging their feet.

When I come up for air, I'll let you all know. I'm still getting in some exercise at least.

Mouse- bravo for you getting some exercise in!!!! Despite the stress of what you are dealing with, that is an accomplishment. (but if you were like me you would be biting someones head off without the stress relief of a workout). Wish I could help you out here......got the CDL, got the vehicle (hey, it even just passed inspection!)....have a benevolent boss.....but I don't have a lift or a monitor. To add to your headache, if the trip were to take place here in NY, each handicap bus would need a monitor, who must also be state certified. Anyway- hang in there!!!!!!! Hope you can get a few strokes in from time to time.

Reminder to everyone.......GET YOUR FLU SHOTS! (those who can tolerate it, or take the nasal immunization) It is that time of year and we are exposed to so much.

Not much new here. Dh was el crabbo (like that spanish, eh??? ) last nite. I was a good girl, and ironed instead of binge my anger away. Ok, I admit I ironed so that I could get more stuff done so that I can have tomorrow off. Tomorrow nite I am leaving Ds in charge of dinner (spaghetti/meatballs/italian bread and undetermined as of yet veggie). All he has to do is thaw the meatballs and sauce....the rest is easy. Then I am off to a WW meeting and then get my hair cut and colored. (haven't been for either since early June!). The house will look like the hurricane took a detour thru it.....and they will all be plunked in front of the TV - but I need a night off. Ok, nuff of me babbling......gotta go. Hope everyone is doing ok.
Take care.
Ginny

I'm still in field trip h*ll... still no deal with the transportation. One of my new students is from my home state of PA. He'll be bussed to us from York everyday. That is a lot better trip than quite a few of our kids since we have kids from just about every county in MD and DC. The traffic from DC or Calvert County is a lot worse than the traffic from York! I can't wait to find out what district he's typically assigned to... And then I'm going to apply for a job there!
The district must care a LITTLE bit if they've agreed to pay for him to come to our program... there are very few private programs in the Central PA area, and I've seen districts completely isolate the kids by hiring a separate teacher and aide for one kid and desigining a separate program. That may sound good, but really, its not any good at all for the child.
They also dropped the concept of "working IEP binders" on us. Each case manager now must maintain a green binder of information on the students. ITs a duplicate of the binders that we store in the IEP office. Seems a waste of time and trees to me when the current IEPs and quarterly reports are on the server. I have a copy of each student's IEP that I case manage in a binder and file other information in that binder as well. I don't have ROOM for 5 binders... they have to be locked up! I have next to ZERO locking space in my room.
Its just another thing I have to do, when I don't have enough time to do what they already want. Like, to run my community service club, I have to give up planning periods... they won't do a club period this school year. But our kids need community service hours to graduate with a diploma. Most of them don't or can't do it outside of school. So my club is much in demand for seniors. But without an established club time, I'll give up a planning period and who knows how much other time to come up with activities for them!

Evening Ladies,
Just a quick drop in for me. Sounds like you have been having the same kinds of days that I have been having these last two days, Mouse. I knew this week was going to be a bad one yesterday morning when I asked another staff member how many more work days until Friday? at 9 a.m. We had only been in school for 45 minutes. The kids have been more active and mouthy these past few days. I put up with a sick child all day long. He threw up four times and had the runs all day long. Called mom at 9:15 and she said that she was in the doctor's office. Called back at 1:35 to check on her son and to say that she just got out of the office and was on her way home. Send him on the bus. So it was a rough day. I hope to God that my aides, my other students and I don't get sick from him. It just pissed me off how uncaring the lady was about her son. It was her sister who was seeing the doctor. She could have left and came to pick up her son and came back for her sister.
Ginny sorry to hear that your son's hand was broken more severe than first thought. How did he break it again? Enjoy your night to yourself tomorrow. Those evenings are always fun and few and far between.
Robyn you poor gal! You sound so stressed. Remember to breathe and relax some. Sounds like you really love your new school though. So that is a great thing!
Summer, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow. Enjoy yourself.
Well I went to TOPS tonight. I stayed the same weight wise. So I guess I am going to have to try and kick it up a notch to lose some next week. I really need to start losing again since the end of Nov. we are having a birthday party for my grandma. She turns 90 and the whole family is going to get together and some of my family hasn't seen me in a few years and I want to surprise them with my weight loss. But I would like to be a little smaller by then.
Well ladies it is off to bed for me. I think I am all ready to start another day tomorrow. Lunch is packed, clothes laid out and a warm coat set out since I have to do bus duty in the mornings. It is suppose to be down in the low 30's tonight here. So I just might freeze in the morning waiting on the bus.
Talk to you all later.
Kerry

Thank you for the birthday wishes!

Following a CPR class on Monday night, I had trouble relaxing to go to sleep, and when I started to drift off, the clock read, 12 midnight, and I realized that I was officially turning 40. I wasn't pleased...I cursed the gods...I was pissed. Then the nucklehead who shares a bed with me began to snore. I tapped him and told him repeatedly to wake up and that he was snoring. He didn't stop. So, I moved out to sleep in the playroom. Shortly thereafter, the dog started to snore. Needless to say, the following morning, I was exhausted, crabby, and a total *****! Guess who was an hour late and didn't call, so nobody knew whether or not she intended to show up?! My aide strolled in at 9:30 with a plethora of lies only to tell me that she may (will) need a week off to deal with some personal issues. I told her that her job was in serious jeopardy and had better speak with the principal.

I have more to write, but DH just found mold under wallpaper he was removing! I have to help him.