Robyn, I sure hope you got released early from jury duty. I have been many times. The first time, I spent the entire day in the waiting room and read an entire novel! I've brought school work and done that for hours on end. I've been interviewed and excused because it was a rape case and I had been a victim of an attempted rape at 17. I am soooo due to be called again. Crap! Any time now. Hopefully you were excused.

Mouse, I know how you feel. My aide won't spend one extra second in our classroom than she is required to. She can barely fulfill her basic attendance requirement when she is getting paid. I do all the extras alone with my DD playing in the room.

Kerry, I'm glad you have a source of support at school. You certainly deserve the help.

I will be going in to set up my room on August 16th. School starts the following week. DD's school doesn't start until August 30th, so I have to find some people to watch her. :( It is times like these that I wish my parents were alive. They would have loved her and would have jumped at the chance to spend time with her. My in-laws are worthless and are unwilling to help. It is all about them. What we can do for them. Everything is on their terms. :p They suck. My DH really got a raw deal, and so did I since I fell in love with him.

Okay, enough negativity!!! I had my second acupuncture today. No problem except my feet. The needles hurt in my arches. Otherwise, most of the needles are painless. The cop from last time was next to me again...screaming his head off worse than last time. The doctor kept having to leave his other patient to attend to the big baby. Finally, he just removed the needles altogether. I actually enjoy the sessions. How often can a mother lie down for 15 minutes without anyone bothering her? 30 needles in my body...big deal! :lol: I just wish men knew what real pain was like. Wimps!!! :lol:

Later I go to the famously heartless mean gastroenterologist. I'm gonna get the annual speech about my weight. It won't matter that I've lost 12 pounds. All he will care about is that I haven't lost 70.

Summer sounds like today was the day for doctor appointments for you. Don't let the mean doctor get you down. Look at him and say that I lost 12 pounds and I am going to continue losing weight. If you had the summer like I did then you wouldn't be too worried about my weight either. I hope all goes well for you today. We start back to school on the 23rd. But I want to take my time and get my room ready and not be doing too much on the 23rd and be rested up for my students on the 24th. Plus this will get me out of the house and away from the kids for a while. Don't get me wrong, I love them to death. But they get on my nerves at times because we have to do whatever they want to do and not really anything I want to do. Sometimes they will do it, but it usually involves some whining. But I have decided that I am done being a doormat for people.
Robyn I hope you got excused from jury duty. How is your cold today anyway?
Mouse how was school today? Is Friday your last day with your kids for the summer? How long do you have off school before you start the fall session?
Well ladies I am done with the house cleaning. I really didn't put my heart and soul into since it is going to be dirty by tomorrow when the kids get here. All I really did is picked up stuff and put it away and swept the floors. It looks presentable if we have company. Next time I will dust. Can you tell I hate to dust? :) :)
I have books due at the library today and I am almost done with one, so I am going to go finish it before I make my journey over to the library. Talk to you all later.
Take care,
Kerry

Wow! You guys were busy! I'll see if we get as many messages when the school year starts! :)
My hand is attached, and I am using it more, and it doesn't hurt... but I've got the itches from the antibiotics. You know, when you screw around with body chemistry? My skin is all flaky, my head itches... and so do various other unmentionable parts including my toes! I'm hoping that when I change the bandage after my shower tonight that I'll see its healing well and maybe I can be at the pool by Thursday????
Thursday is the last day of summer session, and Wednesday is the last day of classes. I'm not entirely certain what we're doing on Thursday. Its usually a trip to a local City pool, which I won't be able to go to, even if I'm going to go swimming at my gym... the city pools aren't always the cleanest places. This pool isn't too bad, but I'm not taking ANY chances! And its a bummer, because there are very few staff that are willing to get in the water with the kids, just myself and one or two other staff. I missed the trip to the state park too, because I was seriously not eating at that time, and it was above 90, so my endocrinologist put her foot down and said I couldn't go back in June. She was afraid that I would get sick or pass out, and she's right... we had some kids get real sick from the heat.
The kids were whiny today... And some of them were just off the hook. I had trouble getting and keeping attention for some of them. 4th period was just bad... that's my group of kids with allegedly the most significant emotional problems, and most of them are certificate level students. Or should be. The diploma track guy is pretty bright but refuses to do any work.
And, staff has 11 days off (not counting weekends), then we go back. The kids have a full month off, as they don't come back till the Tuesday after Labor Day. I wish I had a little money so I could go away... I'd love to go to a lake or maybe a beach for a little bit... Just 2 or 3 days...

:mouse:

Kerry, I hate dusting too! I only do it for company, which isn't too smart since I am allergic to dust mites. It is just a pain. I'm better at cleaning the bathrooms, kitchen, and vacuuming. But, I'm having my siblings and their spouses over for a BBQ on Saturday night, so it appears that the dust rag will be making an appearance soon! We start school at the same time. I have three days of meetings and workshops, and then the kids start.

Mousie, I wish you were able to get away for a break too. After all the money we spent last week, we won't be taking a real vacation for a loooong time. We have a wedding in NH in September, so we will have a weekend away, but we will try to keep our expenses down. I'm glad your hand is healing, but it is too bad the side affects are troublesome. You are right, I won't be posting much once school starts, especially with me attending grad school. I've been out of school since 1992, so I'm out of practice with homework and writing papers. :( I don't even know how to do a research paper anymore. The last paper I wrote, I used the "old fashioned footnotes." Are footnotes still done the same way? And my info came from microfilm then later on from microfiche. I guess now it comes from the internet? I don't even know. I feel so queer and out of date!

Robyn, I hope your day was easy, but since we haven't heard from you yet, I'm getting a little concerned.

The meanie doctor ended up being okay tonite. He actually mentioned that weight loss doesn't always help my particular problem. That was the only mention he made about weight. I will have to have a liver biopsy. He says I can wait till February, which is good because the beginning of a school year is the busiest time of year for me. It really doesn't slow down till February vacation. It mustn't be urgent if he is letting me put it off. The only bad part of the appointment was that he had his nurse draw blood. I have deep and rolling veins, and I've learned that only lab people are experienced enough to do a decent job. You never let a doctor draw blood, and you also try to avoid the nurse. Well, she was bound and determined and wouldn't let me leave without getting some blood out of me. Her first attempt at my arm failed and was very painful in the process...BRUISE. I suggested I just go to the lab. But when I started to leave, she told me to sit. She was gonna try again. When I realized that I was dealing with a stubborn mule, I suggested a butterfly in my hand. Well, the heartless slug used a regular needle on the bony part of my hand. OUCH!!!!!!! :eek: The vampiress got her blood, and I got one h*ll of a BRUISE. The point of a butterfly is to make it hurt less. If I knew she didn't have a butterfly, I wouldn't have allowed her to touch my hand. I should have insisted on going to the friggin lab. Then again, I would have had to deck her on the way out. :mad:

I am exhausted. I guess I'd better go to bed early. DD is having a play date at our house tomorrow. The girl coming over always wants me to play with them. The only reason I'm inviting a friend over is to entertain DD so that she can play with another child. That means I should be left to do other things. I will have to clean in the morning because I'm too dead on my feet to do anything tonight. DH will have to vacuum since I don't want to aggravate my pinched nerve. He'll love that!

Ooooo, Summer! I'm so with you on the blood draws. I have *ONE* good vein on the outside of my left arm. LabCorp NEVER EVER listens to me, and I started refusing to go there even though it meant I had to pay for bits of the lab work myself; my wonderful endocrinologist's office picked up some of the tab. The last time I went to LabCorp, I left there with enough needletracks and bruising to have my principal ask me just WHAT I'd done over the weekend!! :o
That nurse should be drawn and quartered, Summer! Seriously! :mad:

As for school: depends on your program and University. You might be surprised about how many actual research papers you need to do. I do my share of them at Hopkins, but they ARE a research university and make no bones about it. They don't (and this is exactly how it was said in one class when I started my master's degree) cut slack in the education program, because... direct quote... "we are Johns Hopkins, and we DO have a reputation to maintain!" That was my legal systems in special education class. 20 page front and back small print syllabus, 14 legal briefs, 7-10 pages each... during SUMMER SESSION! :eek:
If they start talking about APA, go over to Amazon.Com, and find the book, "The World's Easiest Guide to Using the APA". I think the author is Carole Smith. Or Carol something. Anyway, get THAT and ignore the stupid APA manual. Its horrible. The other book gives clear examples and step by step directions.
As for footnotes, I did them in undergrad, at Hood College (where I started and quickly left... if you want to know that story, just ask. I was nominated the Anti-Christ of the English Department. :devil:.), but after that everything was paranthetical citation. That's just a fancy way of saying that you need to do your citations within the body of the paper. But MS Word makes footnoting REALLY easy, and so does WordPerfect.
Glad that the nasty doctor wasn't too nasty... but what's the reason for the liver biopsy? Elevated liver enzymes? I have that, but mine is likely from the glucophage because I never had it before I took that stuff... and I don't take it anymore, and they've become more normal, but it varies. The gastronenterologist I see now thinks it might be fatty liver instead... which makes me upset, because I don't eat high fat foods most of the time! And certainly didn't growing up!
Its annoying to be overweight like this, and eat healthy food... I mean, how much healthy can you get than turkey breast with 2 slices of bacon on whole wheat bread with no fat mayonnaise, salad with romaine, reduced fat feta, tomatoes, and low fat dressing, fat-free, sugar-free yogurt (antibiotics!) and grapes????
That was dinner! Okay, we could go fat-free on the dressing, on the feta, and no bacon... but that might be going to extremes just a bit!
I might have a fat-free sugar-free ice cream sandwich later...
Lunch was a protein shake, no sugar, no fat. Breakfast was one low-carb waffle with peanut butter and the fat-free, sugar-free yogurt. (They are the small 4 oz cups)
And ANNOYING... the people across the hall from my classroom are eating cheesesteaks and McD's and fries, and onions, and wearing tight clothes... and here I am, all healthy... ARRRGH!!!!! Oh, and I exercise too! Life just isn't FAIR!
You can't convince me that some corn fritters (once or twice a month?) or a 1 ounce bag of cheetos are the reason that I weigh this... you just can't!
Okay... sorry... mea culpa... sorry!
As for the hand, now I'm not so sure... it was a little oozy tonight when I changed the bandage. I poured witch hazel on it, to clean it out, put on more antibiotic cream... if it looks nasty tomorrow night, I'll call the doctor on Wednesday. It doesn't hurt as much, though, and I can use my pinky to type again. :shrug:

:mouse:

Morning Ladies,
I just wanted to drop in and say hi for the day. Sounds like your doctor visit yesterday was not a good one Summer. Sorry to hear that you had a vampire for a nurse. She was very determined to suck some blood from you before you left there wasn't she? I hope your arm and hand stopped hurting. Enjoy your playdate today.
Mouse I agree with you on the eating healthy and watching other people eat all that junk food and not gain a pound. It makes me mad that is how my dh's family is like. They look at me and ask why I am not either eating or why I don't fill my plate up like them. They don't understand what a struggle it is to have to lose weight. I hope that when they get older they get fatter. Then they will know what it is like. :) :)
Robyn how did it go yesterday? I hope everything is fine with you.
Well I am off to go work in my new classroom. I was moved to a portable with no bathroom or running water. We have to take my MH students into the other two buildings to use the restroom and to get drinks of water. So it is going to be a fun and interesting year.
Check in with you all later. Have a wonderful day!
Kerry

hey! didn't get excused from jury duty.... but i didn't get put on the jury either... it was a murder trial. MURDER! YIKES! it took hours to get to the point where i could come home. MURDER?! in my little podunk town??? soooooooo........i get to go back to the courthouse on thursday for yet another go 'round with the jury duty gang that i met yesterday... and i can play the sit and wait game AGAIN! i have tried more than once to get a deferrment due to needing to be moving school SYSTEMS, rooms, etc... they said NOPE. soooooooo i'm doomed to play the game for the month of august it seems..... i guess i will wait and see!

i have offically resigned from the teaching position that i've held since i was a very green kid fresh out of college! 17 years is a LONG time. i have yet to sign the new schools contract.... we're waiting for offical paperwork to arrive, etc... so for the moment i'm truly UNEMPLOYED! i'm just about sick. i nearly fainted from the anticipataion of turning in my resignation letter! what a fool, huh?!

soooo, i guess we should be very glad that ginny didn't head to the outer banks for her time at the shore. sounds like that area, including my beloved hatteras, is going to get hammered pretty badly by the hurricane. (they are saying it will be close to an Isobel storm.... Isobel .... well, i won't comment further....) we are already having the storms from the first wave of the storm....we are to get more.....it has been raining for weeks now...literally! if the winds come our way, many are fearful of what it will do to these trees in the saturated soil.... Isobel was sooooo painful and still so fresh in our minds...heck...there are still folks who aren't living in their homes due to storm damange (many in our county are living in FEMA campers.... 10 months later!) anyway.... things will be fine! BUT, if i disappear for awhile.... you keep us in your prayers! (Sound rather dramatic....like Scarlett O'Hara, don't I? I don't have NEARLY that wonderful southern belle sound!)

I have a friend who has ordered 30 beaded bracelets from me..... by October 1.... HOW on earth do I begin to tackle THAT?! Arghhh....

I cringed when I read about the Vampire attack at the dr's office, Summer! I am one who has TEEENY TINY veins.... I am also a butterfly fan. In fact that is generally THE only way that they can get me to bleed....a butterfly in my left hand. I've also had a true FANG stuck in my hand and THAT will not EVER happen to me again! When I had surgery years back, the IV was a huge issue..... the head of the Vampires came and was successful on HER first try....meanwhile I'd been poked a zillion times! HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT!

Keep that hand clean and dry! Be careful of the itch from antibiotics.... YUCK! Acidopholis.... (is THAT how you spell it?!) has worked wonders for my sister who has "body balance" issues! I'm sure you know all about it tho! Good luck with BOTH the hand and the yuck!

Kerry, I'm glad to hear that you are "changing" things around your house! Ie, moving out of the doorstep role, etc! (((hugs))) You deserve more! :) My cold is much better. I've not sneezed at all today! :) Thanks for asking!

I've gotta go.... I am childless today and well, I hear my book OR my beads or BOTH calling to me! :) Earlier today it was the Reese's PeanutButter Icecream... so well these other options are BETTER! :) Ya'll take care!

Afternoon Ladies,
I went into to school for a little bit today. I was sort of looking forward to my new classroom. Now I hate it. I have floor vents to deal with and electrical boxes and plugs too. So it looks like I have a nice little challenge ahead of me on how in the world to rearrange my new room. But I have to say that my dh did come out to help me move a few things today. That is the first time he has ever come to school to help me. Needless to say that by the time he got there, I had moved the things that I wanted moved today by myself. But I was tired of waiting on him and learned from my mom, if you want something done right do it yourself. So I did. My lower back is telling me all about it right now.
I will keep you in my prayers Robyn that you don't get hit by the hurricane. I have cousins who live in the Carolina's and have heard the stories they have lived through with the hurricanes. So did you finish a book yesterday while you were playing the waiting game?
I think I am going to go and get a shower and then relax for a little bit. I have TOPS this evening. SO I will let you all know how I do with that.
Talk to you all later.
Kerry

I'm eating yogurt like no tomorrow... 8 ounces already today, and will probably have another with dinner. But I itch EVERYWHERE.... And remember how mad I was at the first surgeon for saying I had those horrible rashes and I've never had one? I think the whole antibiotic thing has given me one... ARRRGH! :cry: I ITCH!!!!

Kerry: how can they put you, with your kids (who sound like mine!) outside with no water or bathrooms??? I'm not sure what grade you teach, but can any of your kids transition independently? Are you supposed to teach self-help skills?
My one inner city school partioned off a science lab to give me a classroom. I shared the lights in my room with the other teacher who always showed videos... so we spent the year in perpetual twilight. And then there was all the science equipment... !!!!
I had dual-diagnosis MR/ED kids that year, 8 boys, 7 of whom were abused, 6 of the abused had been sexually abused. It was a teeny room, and I had no assistant.

As for hurricanes...oh, yes, fun... fun... NOT! I'd like a quiet start to my school year this year. It seems like every other year, we get something at the beginning of the school year that pulls me for Red Cross duty. In 1999 it was Hurricane Floyd. In 2001, it was the Pentagon (I was in Fairfax County, and the REd Cross sent me out to work on-site), and last year, 2003, it was Isabel.
I was thinking about something else... And I've lost it. :sigh: So sorry!

:mouse:

Kerry, I'm so sorry that you got stuck in a portable. I hope things aren't too difficult for you. Make sure you keep some Purell in your room so you can clean your hands in a pinch. When my sister taught special ed, emotionally disturbed 12 & 13 year old boys, she got put in a portable too. She now teaches 2nd grade, regular ed, and is grateful for a classroom even though it is a tiny triangular corner room. I have a normal room without a sink or toilet which is hard with 4 year olds. We are used to it now, but I look forward to our new school building that should be ready for 2007. Then, my pre-k will be "state of the art."

Mousie, I have a "so-called" fatty liver. I also have low cholesterol levels. This all started when I had my gallbladder out 5 years ago. Bile backed up and my liver was affected. DD was 18 months old, and my nurse in the hospital told me that it was very common for new mothers to have their gallbladders out a year or so after giving birth. On top of that all those hormones pumped into my body to concieve via IVF contributed to the gallstones. I admit that I was heavy during my pregnancy. I had morning sickness for 5 months, so I ate around the clock to settle my stomach. One of the main things that made me feel better was vanilla ice cream and cheese. I'm sure my diet of all that fatty dairy didn't help. Since my gallbladder was removed, I have had no choice but to eat low-fat because otherwise I get diarrhea. So, I find it hard to believe that I have a fatty liver. Whatever. I take milk thistle extract which is proven to help. The biopsy is to rule out any damage to my liver.

Robyn, I hope this jury duty crap ends quickly for you. I also hope the bad weather goes away. Rain rain go away, come again another day, if you don't I don't care, I'll pull down your...okay I'll stop right there!

I hate play dates. DD's friend is so friggin needy. The first 90 minutes was fine. They played. But once I gave them lunch, it was all downhill from there. I kept on having to referee. DD doesn't like that she has to treat her guests in a special way. Then, when it was time to go in the pool and mommy to sit and read her trashy novel, DD found a dead bird in the pool...while she and her friend were IN THE POOL! EEK!!! We have this West Nile Virus in our mosquitoes that is killing birds so I freaked. I screamed for the girls to get out of the pool. I rushed them into the shower. I scrubbed DD's friend with her bathing suit on. DD waited angrily because she wasn't first. Then while her friend dried off and got dressed, I scrubbed DD naked and washed her hair. "You didn't make her take off her bathing suit...You didn't wash her hair..." Let her mother do a more thorough job later. I wasn't gonna give anybody else's kid a shower naked. At least I tried to clean her up in case there was any bacteria in the pool. I called the town's health department to report the bird. Then I spoke with the sanitarian who said the girls would be fine since they weren't bitten by the diseased mosquito. DH collected it from the pool with rubber gloves and disposed of it in two plastic bags in our outdoor garbage per directions by the health department.

So, I decided not to cook. I'm having take-out meatballs and a salad. No more pasta, pizza, :( .

I just found out that our financial situation is much worse that I thought. I know what shape my finances are in, but apparently DH has let things slide. He called a credit counselor and was recommended to a bankcruptcy lawyer. All I can say is that I am mortified, embarrassed, and ashamed. :( I don't know what else to say.

Hi Ladies,
Summer I feel so bad for you honey! I am sorry that your financial situation is bad. It is nothing to be embarrassed about. Millions of people have been in your same spot. I was there a few years ago. I tried to be a tough person and fix it on my own. But I was only digging my hole deeper and deeper. So I know what it feels like. If you need to talk about it more, please feel free to pm me. Sounds like you had the playdate from ****. What a scary feeling to have about the bird in your pool. YUCK Double Yuck. I hope your day goes better tomorrow.
Mouse I feel really bad that you are so itchy. I wish I could wave a magic wand to take your itchies away. So were your kids a little better today? How are the reports coming?
Robyn glad to hear that your cold is getting better. So what did you end up doing the beads or read a book? I hope you were able to do both.
As for my classroom, I have MH students in grades 6-9th. I have a 6th grader who is classified DH and put in my room for more one on one instruction. I have a 7th grade boy who has Down Syndrome. I have two new 7th graders coming in and don't know what their disablities are. A set of 8th grade twin brothers who are austic. Then a 9th grade girl who is in a wheelchair, due to a car accident when she was very young. So I have a wide range of abilities in my classroom this year. Purell is going to be my new best friend this year. Along with a bottle of hand lotion after my hands try out from the Purell. I bet you all thought it was going to be a bottle of liquor. No I think I will keep that at home for those really bad days at work. :) :)
I went to TOPS tonight. I lost 3 pounds. So I was happy that I got rid of the two I gained last week.
Well I am going to go and get ready to go for a walk with my dh around town. Now that the sun went down maybe it will be cooler out there.
Take care,
Kerry

Morning All,
It is a hot day out already. I went to the gym to workout this morning and it was very hot when I came out to my friend's car. I did get weighed and measured though today. According to their scales I lost 2 pounds last month. They always weigh me 3 pounds heavier than my scales and the scales at TOPS. I lost 5.50 inches from my bust,waist, abdomen and hips. Plus my body fat went down 1.60%. So I am finally seeing some inches melt off. I am pleased with my results.
I thought about going out to school and unpacking a couple boxes and then decided it to was hot outside for manual labor like that. I think I will just try to stay inside for the day.
Well I better go and get ready to get my shower. I feel kind of gross since sweating during my workout and then getting into a hot car.
Talk to you all later.
Kerry

Just a quick hello......we got back last night. A pretty good trip as far as I was concerned.......hurricane Alex was not really a factor- as a matter of fact, kept the sun from being too oppressive!!!!

Gotta go get to the bank.......I'll be back in a few hours!!!! Missed you all!
Ginny

Welcome back Ginny! Glad to hear that your trip was a good one. We missed you too!