Well even though I don't use electronic grading, being expected to grade for work done in the future doesn't make sense and is inaccurate. By the way, I'm glad there is someone else out there who shares my view of "growing up."

Following a very nice weekend...shopping with gift certificates, movies with DD, take-out, a really fun play date with my best friend and her kids yesterday, adorable Christmas pictures taken of DD this morning, I feel the stress upon me. DH told me he is $400 short. So to avoid the mortgage payment being made late, I wrote him a check off my credit card...which I hate doing. But, we must make that payment. I can't lose my home. I can't lose my child's home. I've told him before to get a second job and not just rely on overtime. I told him again tonite that he needs to either get a better paying job or get a second job. We can't live like this. I'm working a second job and not seeing my child as much as I should. He is working overtime and is not around as much as he should be. But we must pay our bills. AAAAAHHHH!!!

I forgot to tell you. Get a load of this...I went to the surgeon tonite so he could check my incision. He just had to tell me that my weight is putting me at a higher risk of getting breast cancer, and just because I'm okay right now, it doesn't mean I will be okay in the future. In other words, I'd better lose weight. Duh! No sh*t Sherlock! Why is it that doctors think we are ignorant about the ill effects our weight has on our health?! Intellectually, I know I need to lose weight. However, the stress I've been under while waiting to find out my diagnosis has added even more weight onto my already overweight body. I know I need to lose weight. I'm not an idiot. But something psychological inside me is preventing me from doing so. Right now I just want to dig a deep hole and hide in it.

Evening Ladies,
Just a quick note to say hi! Had a nice relaxing weekend. Had to work a long day at school today. I was there until 8 tonight. I did the afterschool program from 3-6 and then worked the spaghetti dinner that we had to support our school levy in Nov. So I am one tired puppy right now.
Summer glad to hear that your tests come back with wonderful news!! Sorry the doctor had to act like an a@@hole about your weight though.
Mouse I use an electric gradebook and my boss lets us cut off grades a few days prior to the end of the grading period if we want to. All long is there are enough grades in there to justify how a student earned their grades. Sounds like you have had a long week and weekend.
Ginny and Robyn, hi there gals. Hope all is well with you.
Well I am off to bed. I hope I am not grumpy for my kids tomorrow. I warned them that i would be tired tomorrow and to be on their best behavior.
Talk to you all later.
Have a great Tuesday!
Kerry

I posted a long ranting thing about my kid and his iep and his worthless teachers... I'll spare you the reading......

I am going to go nuts trying to deal with this.......

meanwhile back in the kitchen... I eat... YUM...THAT solves everything....bleech..

Just a quick hello to let you know that I am still alive......my big day off I spent cleaning my mother's house and attempting to debug her computer (BIG sarcastic thanks to my sister!!!!!). And now the car needs repair....so I will be driving a trip this Thursday nite.....this week is going to be torture.
Anyway- Summer that is wonderful news about your biopsy. I keep on telling my Dd (the 8 yr old, the only one who listens anymore) that when I grow up I either want to be Peter Pan or our cat (who has one dilly of a wonderful life!). She keeps on telling me that I am grown up......but that sure gives you my perspective on aging.....
Mouse, Kerry and Robyn- sorry not to get personal right now. BTW- I can identify with the kid bringing a knife to school.......had one bring it on the bus last year (and I took it away from him on the way home- he had been at school with it all day.........). Not a nice feeling......
Hope everyone is doing ok. See ya later!
Ginny

Robyn: If I can help with the IEP issues, just drop me a note.

Summer/Ginny: Yes. Ugh. I don't want to grow up either... or if I do, I also want to be my cat and sit in the window and sleep in the sun. And play with toilet paper rolls and lay in the clean laundry.

Kerry: That is my thought... if the marking period ends 10/6/04, I shouldn't be putting grades in the gradebook on 10/6/04. I should have my grades in and finished at least 3 days prior to the marking period cut off. Just because WE end our midterm on 10/6/04, and don't print reports until 10/8/04 doesn't mean that its good practice or that any real school district does it that way. I swear: If I had done that in Fairfax County or even my horrible City school, I would have been in major trouble!

Robyn, I'm so sorry you are stressing over your son's iep. I sure hope it gets better...and don't feel like you need to spare us from reading your rantings. Girl, that is what you do best...heck I sure need to do it an awful lot, and you read me! Take care.

Mousie, I have this picture in my head right now of lying in a basket full of laundry fresh from the dryer. Wow that sounds good!

Kerry, I'm glad to hear that you had a relaxing weekend. I didn't know you also worked at your after school program. Do you enjoy it? I hate to admit this, but for me, even though it is a loooong day, it is the easiest money I've ever made! First of all, the hourly rate is outstanding! Second of all, once we are done supervising homework, the kids just play with my center activities, and we sometimes show a video. Third of all, I get to work in my room and take care of things I don't have time for when my students are present. The only negative is that it takes away time from DD. I certainly wouldn't be doing it if our financial situation was better. But since I have to work a second job, it is definitely right up my alley!

Ginny, I'm with you...Peter Pan all the way!!! I have loved that movie since I was a child. When Disney came out with the anniversary edition, I grabbed it.

Today I had the pleasure of announcing to all my coworkers my good news. Well, not all of them...just the ones I shared my medical issues with. And, I had the weirdest experience. There is a teacher in my building who has never really given me the "time of day." No matter how friendly I've been toward her or helpful when she needed to borrow something or whatever, she just has always given me the "cold shoulder." Well, today she runs up to me and gives me a BIG HUG because she heard the great news through the grapevine!!! I almost dropped dead right there in the hallway between the girls and boys bathrooms. I was tongue-tied and said something really cliche' and felt sort of happy yet awkward. (What an idiot!) Apparently she can really relate because her mom had a double mastectomy and another teacher in the building (her friend) is also going through this. She is beating herself up for not getting her annual mammogram in two years and plans on going immediately. Anyway, I hope that maybe now we will have some sort of connection, and it doesn't go right back to her ignoring me. How pitifully lame do I sound?! I don't need her as a friend, but when I'm in a situation like this, it becomes my goal to make someone that is aloof my friend...I guess I like a challenge!

Well, I'm gonna hit the hay and cozy up with a trashy novel. DH is watching the Yankees and Red Sox compete for going to the World Series. So, he won't even notice when I slip upstairs early.

Evening Gals,
Well first things first, I made it through the day. But boy I am I tired tonight. I went to TOPS tonight, only to gain a 1/2 pound. I can't seem to get back in the losing mode since 3 weeks ago. I am going to have to do something to kick my weight loss up.
Summer about the afterschool program you are right it is the easiest money. I have to work the homework room for an 1 1/2 and then we usually do a small enrichment lesson with the kids and then let them play outside for the last hour of the program. Plus I am able to use my homework time to get my stuff done that I couldn't do when my students are present too. That way I don't have to take much work home with me this year. So that is nice. glad to hear that you have a connection with your one coworker. I hope that it keeps on improving between the two of you.
Ginny sounds like you had a busy day off yesterday. How is your mom doing? I hope things are going great for her.
Mouse, hope your day went better today. Have you been able to make it to the gym yet this week? I haven't been able to go to Curves yet this week. So I am hoping to go tomorrow evening. It all depends on if my dh can pick me up from school on time and I can get to the gym before they close. They went me work out even though they are closed but I still like to get there before they close.
Robyn, please feel free to vent away. You might just get some much needed advice and be able to see the problem from another angle once you share it with us. We are always here for each other. Hope your day went better today!
Well I am off to bed. Talk to you all later. Have a great Wednesday!
Kerry

Another short hello.....

Mouse- ah......I forgot about the toilet paper rolls. Had a cat years ago that I had to buy double the amount of TP- one roll for me, one for him. Thanks for reminding me of that.

Summer- how nice that you were able to connect with someone regarding your experience. Sometimes people are like that.......they can't open up themselves unless they see you do so first..... How are you feeling? Less sore, I hope.

Kerry- I hope you get to Curves soon. I know how important that is to you! I forget, what diet are you on? (just wondering why the stalemate at the scale)

Robyn-Hope your IEP issues somehow happily resolve......hang in there......there has to be a way to work this out.

Gotta hop in the shower and get ready to face the masses.....Did I really have Monday off???? Sure does not feel like it.
See ya later!
Ginny

Well, just me again. Somehow survived my am route, despite the fact that the students are settling in a bit and now a bit too comfortable with the rules- in other words getting rowdy. I will be writing up the flashers little brother when I get back in this afternoon. He does not take me seriously at all.....proceeds to make all kinds of noises while crossing rr tracks (and I have about the worst crossing in the am, fully loaded bus- the view of the oncoming track is totally obscured by a large switch box and the bend in the track so that I am totally relying on my ears and the rr lights and gate and a ton of prayers while crossing and this little brat is making noises). Sorry for babbling but this crossing has always scared me- yes I follow all procedures but it is still a bad crossing. So, with a big smile on my face, I will write this monster up. Doubt it will do any good, but it sure will feel good!!!!! (and I would love to be a fly on the wall in this house for a day just to see how wierd it is in there to have created these kids). Thanks for letting me vent.

Kerry- back to before....I forget which program you are following, but I know you attend TOPS. If you are interested, I can send you a copy machine copy of the pages describing WW Core program, to see if following that breaks you out of your weight loss slump. Don't get discouraged!

Summer- I can probably answer this myself, but is Dh a Sox fan or Yankees??
Trash the Yankees all you like here......just because I live in NY I am NOT a Yankee fan. Dh is a Sox fan all the way. As a matter of fact, this time last year (same scenario) I was just outside Boston college shopping with Dd.
It was really neat to see the how with Boston press wrote about the playoffs. And if you don't follow baseball, hope your book is nice and relaxing.


Mouse- you getting any gym/swimming time in? How are the lessons (swimming) going?

Robyn-how did you day go?????

FYI, my mom is doing ok. She is progressing slowly- but looks pretty normal and is slowly becoming functional. Her house was a MESS....(so what else is new?) so Dd and I did some cleaning up for her. My sister is a lazy slob. End case. I know our Dm is no housekeeper, but she could have done something to help.
So, speaking of slobs, I'd better get moving and clean up here. Got a wee bit of a cold, but nothing too awful. It is just slowing me down.
Hope everyone has a good day. See ya later.
Ginny

Ginny, that sounds just horrid... I'd probably kill the kid or say I was going to. I have to drive students in our vans, and I flat out refused to get licensed for our lift-bus... I'll drive the Red Cross' emergency vehicle (ambulance size) and a 16-passenger van, but not that lift bus. It has an extra powerful engine because of the lift and the weight of the chairs... its all in the back. I almost always threaten the kids with dire consequences when I drive...
I am getting the swimming time in, but not the weights. I'm not getting to the gym until after 4:30 most days, and I have this strange desire to be home before 7:30... so I've been bad about weights. But I have been doing at least half a mile 5 days a week.
I didn't get home tonight until nearly 8... I had to go over to Whole Foods near my apartent/school to drop off information because I want to take the kids over there for our retail field trip... and I'd been told our PR/Development office had set it up, but I got there and they adn't. So I had to quick put together information about the high school and my program for the manager and drop it by there. I missed him, of course, and he isn't in again till Saturday. There goes my field trip for Tuesday.
And GOOD NEWS.... Back in August I submitted a presentation for the Council for Exceptional Children's annual convention. The CEC is the largest special education professional organization in the United States, and perhaps world-wide, becuase they have international membership. Their annual convention is huge... and THEY ACCEPTED MY PRESENTATION! Its what they call "provisional acceptance" meaning that the judges rated the presentation high enough and interesting enough to run... but they have to see if they have room for all the presentations. So now I need to get my butt registered... but its $300!!! I'm hoping the school will pick up a chunk of it without too much problem.

Ginny, you crack me up. I am not a baseball fan at all...they spend too much time scratching their crotches and chewing tobacco. I prefer hockey myself. It is a fast paced sport and manages to hold my attention. DH is a die hard Yankees fan. He cried when Mickey Mantle died. My father, and most of my family are Yankees fans. I have some family in Massachusetts who, of course, are Red Sox fans which can make family gatherings entertaining to say the least. I stay out of it since I'm not in the least bit interested. I thought last night's game was the deciding game for who was playing in the world series only to find out that it was game 1 of a possible 7. Then the world series. Add the presidential debates, and there isn't a friggin thing to watch on tv. After working hard all day, I like to have at least an hour to vegetate and watch entertaining junk on the tube. I already told DH that he'd better give me one hour tonite to watch my new favorite show, "The Mountain" at 9pm. We have a second tv, but it is in the playroom right off DD's bedroom, and it would wake her up if we watched it at night. He can spare one hour. It won't kill him. New subject...I totally understand your anger at that little nimrod making all sorts of noise at a dangerous crossing.

Kerry, sorry about the gain. But, you know how it goes. It could be your cycle. You could be retaining water. Lot's of reasons. Just keep on keeping on!

The kindergarten teachers in my building are not meant to teach young children. They are harsh and cold-hearted. Retirement seems like the perfect solution to me, but only one is near it. Anyway, the worst one of all got many of my students from last year. They are really struggling emotionally. Those who are smart enough to be successful are not great, but okay. But those who are slower learners or creative thinkers are really being mistreated. Last year one of them was the author of a class book. The book won an award. The child is a really creative and in my mind, unconventionally intelligent. He can be a little "spacey" but is capable of so much in a loving and supportive environment. He was so successful in my room. Well, I made the mistake of telling his new K teacher that he is bright. Now she constantly tells me that he is stupid. It hurts me so much because I know he isn't, and I really love this little boy. I hate it that she thinks he is stupid and probably isn't very nice to him. Two other boys from last year she refers to as, "Dumb and Dumber." One of them saw me standing in my doorway today and ran up to give me a hug. When I hugged him back, she yelled at him, "Don't you dare go in her room!" The poor kid got so upset. All the parents I had last year that have this teacher come complaining to me that she is such a witch and they miss me so much. Their kids talk about my aide and I constantly. It just breaks my heart.

Mouse-that is just wonderful news for you regarding your presentation!!!!!! What a great achievment to get some national recognition for all your efforts and hard work.
Congrats!!!!!!!!! I am glad to hear that you are getting some quality pool time in for you. (know that the pool is to you what walking is to me!). Well, as far as getting home early....maybe you just need the rest, and well being that none of us are getting immunized against the flu, proper rest is one big factor in fighting it off. (yup, I am trying to make lemonade out of lemons!). Don't push too hard....you must be needing a break or something.

Summer- ok, lets see......this makes sense.......you live in New England and are married to a Yankee fan......I am in NY married to a Sox fan........and we meet somewhere in the middle where there is either a good novel or chick flick, cause I am baseballed out too!!!!!!!!!! I love hockey- same reason....action and not so.....yawn.......boring...... Glad I made you laugh!!!!! And as far as the idiotic presidential debates.......I am so sick of them and this whole election. Please, can we get this thing over with now?????? The election lasts one- just one day- and the weeks and weeks of hype are killing me. Honestly, I do know who I am voting for- all the debates in the world will not change that. And I do not really believe that a debate is a valid forum....not the way they are run. How sad about the bad attitude teachers. How disheartening for you and the kids to find the best in a student, only to have someone else knock them down. You will always be remembered as the teacher who loved them for who they are~how special is that!!!!! (and keep on giving them hugs, as if I had to tell you that!)
I wrote up my little monster today.....just had to. Too many safety issues. Survived the rest of today, the kids were pretty good and the day went pretty well for the most part. Got about 3 miles of walking in today. And it is going to rain for 2 days so I will be limited to tapes.
I'd better go.....time to get Dd into bed.
Hi to Robyn and Kerry! Hope you are doing ok.
See ya tomorrow.
Ginny

Yahoo on the presentation being accepted for the convention...

...and *HOCKEY* ...gotta love a sport where they rip each other's clothing off :P Professional baseball on t.v. is sooooooooo boring.... when you're there in real life watching it ATLEAST you get to watch the freaky fans in the stands and eat junk food because it is THE law of the stadium....

I have not resolved ANY of the issues about my ds' IEP...but thanks for the support with it! Mouse, I may have to "use" your brain...cause I'm ready to kick some middle school teacher fanny!

I have been so overwhelmed with my evaluation being due this week. Did it today and got an excellent review! It was a great lesson and the feedback was WONDERFUL!

gotta run..dh issues!

Evening Ladies,
Well I had a great day. My kids finally realized that I meant business and stopped their petty fights. I was actually able to get some work done today that I had set out to do. So that was a shocker in itself, since something usually comes up and sidetracks me. I got my 2 mile walk in this morning and then my 3x's around the circle at Curves tonight. So I am happy with my efforts today.
I was a week late on my TOM and I think that has screwed up my body for the last three weeks. But I am hoping to get back on a plan. I had been watching my carb intake and limiting it to 60 grams 3 meals a day and 30 grams for a bedtime snack. I had been following this for about two months and then I slowly fell off the bandwagon. But I am going to start phasing myself back to that program, since it was helping lose weight. But my eating today was sort of on track.
Mouse congrats on the presentation. I hope that your school will just step up and pay your way to the confernence. Sorry to hear that your planned fieldtrip was not so planned out after all. When do you think your kids go on there?
Summer so what trashy novel are you reading right now? I am with you all about baseball. After spending my whole summer going to ball practices and games for two different teams, it got old real fast. Now we are into socceer games and those parents are the rudest parents I have ever seen. I have to keep my mouth shut at the kids' games because I want to just lay it on the line for these parents and tell them off. You just keep loving and nuturing those kids when ever you see them. Two of our first graders in the afterschool program, told me tonight that they remembered how I would read them stories and play games with them last year. That they missed me being their teacher. So that made me feel really good after spending 1 1/2 hours with 5th and 6th grade students. There is just one pocket of those kids that no matter what I do they have to try to overstep my boundries. Tonight I laid down the law as soon as they walked in the door and I didn't have that many problems with them. It doesn't help that two of the 6 graders are twin sisters. SO did you get to watch your show?
Ginny, glad to hear that your mom is doing great. I bet she sure appreciates having you as a dd. Sounds like you two are very close. I think alot of my problem has been stress lately at school and home. But I am going to channel my stress in a more physical way and not by eating. I would appreciate the info though. PM and I will give you my snail mail address.
Hi Robyn, hope you are having a great week!
Well my dh needs the phone. SO I will talk to you all later.
Have a great Thursday!
Kerry