Summer: Busy as it sounds, some of these are definite professional feathers for your cap! That is kinda nice, when you have time to breathe! I hope your aide is getting her rear to school to help you?

I am ready for the week, I think. The library didn't have any of the videos I wanted except Bob the Builder... so I'll show those to my first period class, and keep hammering on the safety. They're going to be upset because my TA is out all week.
She loves teaching them, so I give her a free hand with them, even if she does things very differently from me.

The rest of the groups are going to brainstorm safety slogans for construction, and then design/make the posters. I have card-stock, picked up pencil crayons at the store, so we should be good to go. I'm thinking about putting them in teams of 2, but I'm not sure about that yet. With luck, some of the videos will be in by Wednesday so I can preview and do questions for them on Friday when I'm not there.

I am still upset/ticked off about what happened on Friday; I'm actually wondering if staying in the classroom is worth it anymore.

Sorry not to get personal at all.....and there is so much to read from each of you this weekend. I am a major league burnout this evening.......snow this afternoon made the pm trip a headache plus.
See ya tomorrow.
Ginny

Evening Ladies,
Oh my God I think it is going to be a long three weeks until Christmas break. Everyone's kids at school today was over the edge. My kids' were over the edge with no returning point. I am going to be a busy lady this week. I have three reeval Multi-factored Evaluation meetings tomorrow afternoon and a committee meeting right after school. Plus I am to work my 2 hours of intervention. Then leave there and go to TOPS and then go to my stepsons' ball game. So I don't know if I will be able to come on at all tomorrow or not. Wednesday I work from 7:45-6:15, go work out and then go to Wal-mart to get the stuff for our school's breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning. Thursday I only work until 4:30. But then I have to get ready for my sub on Friday and do my lesson plans and copies for the following week. Friday is my personal day, so I can go Christmas shopping with my dh. Saturday I have to be at school by 7 am and work until 11 or 11:30. Then go to my sdd's two ball games that day. Sunday is looking like a day of relax for sure for me. LOL. So if I don't check in much this week atleast you will know why.
So after all that, how was everyone's day today? Are we all ready for the hustle and bustle of the holiday season?
Ginny, I am keeping my fingers crossed for a loss tomorrow night. I have been really careful of what I have eat this week so far and have worked out every day for a half hour or an hour. When is your WW meeting? I hope you do well also.
Mouse, I hope your day was a lot better than how you ended your week.
Robyn, did you survive your partying from this weekend?
Summer, sounds like you will really deserve your Christmas break this year. Remember to take time out for your self when you can. How is SB coming along?
Well I best sign off and get busy with my chores before crashing for the evening. Talk to you all later.
Take care,
Kerry

Wow! Everybody is sure busy!
Ginny: It may please (or scare you!) to know that one of my homeroom students walked in to the classroom today and said, "We're going to have a blizzard on December 15. I guarentee it!" I asked, but then I was sorry I had, because I couldn't make head or tail out of the answer.
Kerry: Busy!!!! I'm glad that I'm not so busy. I still need to get my mother's Hanukkah gift. I know what she wants, an iPod, but I can't afford that. She wants it for books on tape/CD, so there isn't much point in getting her a smaller on because that won't hold a whole book. So I'm clueless. I bought and mailed my grandmother's already: she loves Red Lobster and to eat out, so this year I gave her a gift certificate to Red Lobster. My father asked for an electronic organizer, but I can't find one that isn't a PDA like mine, and he doesn't want that. He just wants an address book thingy.
My friend David got a Build-A-Bear because he is SO hard to buy for that he didn't get anything last year or this year for his birthday... He's a computer programmer, and helps me out of all my really sticky issues, so the bear was named Fuzzy Logic.
I absolutely REFUSE to buy gifts for the people I work with except my TA (and she's easy too... she loves to shop, so a gift certificate to a department store usually pleases her).
HEY! You guys can help me out with this one... My Hanukkah Harry (errr, Secret Santa!) person wants a contempory Christian CD. Which one do I get him?! You can't return CDs usually, so I wasn't sure if I shouldn't just give him a gift certificate to a place with lots of choices. His other requests were diet coke and chocolate, so those are easy. My other friends and I seem not to exchange gifts... I'm never quite sure why, but we just don't.
Hanukkah starts this Wednesday at sundown. Really tough for me to get home by then unless I skip the gym, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.
My week didn't really start off better... I got accused of something again today, and had to go PROVE that I hadn't done what they said. Thank goodness it was pretty easy... I was accused of writing a kid up twice last week and not telling his team or his parent. But I didn't write any of the referrals I was accused of writing, and for one of them, I was off-campus! I am so glad our resource room logs all referrals and stuff by time and date! It was easy to prove I wasn't here the days this happened. But I still didn't get an apology!

Oh... and for your laughing pleasure: my class's assignments today were to come up with "construction shop safety slogans" in teams. They're going to use their slogans to design 2 mini-posters on Tuesday and Thursday... Some of the slogans include:
1. Take off your rings, and protect your bling blings!
2. Hard head? No! Hard HAT! (one of the assistants accused a kid of having a hard head today and not listening...)
3. Its not hocus pocus: Keep your focus!
4. Don't you dare be unaware!
5. Wear the shoes, or you'll be singing the blues!
6. The mind boggles: Better wear your goggles

Those are the ones that stuck in my mind. There were many, many others.
I told them that the mini-posters that came out nicely would be laminated and we'd hang them in the construction shop for the teacher out there.

Hey ya'll! I've just finished helping the oldest with his Civics test prep. He also had BoyScouts tonight (I help the leader with record keeping and have to stay for the duration of the meetings!) ....prefaced by the worlds most rapidly thrown together dinner... prefaced by the world's most speedy run through the grocery prefaced by the worlds S-L-O-W-E-S-T and LONGESSSTTT day at school!

Sounds like every one has recooperated from their weekends of "NO SCHOOL"! Isn't it amazing how quickly we get RIGHT back to crazy business of our "work life"???

Dear me, Summer, please don't burn your candle right down thru the middle! SuperWoman that I know you are deserves to take a breather every now and again! We miss you when you are MIA...but totally understand! Visit as you can!

Mousie, sometimes you've gotta change your location. After 17 years, I had to! I'm sorry that things are so crazy where you are currently! Emotional exhaustion is a horrible drain on your body and psyche! Can you widen your search area? You have to get out of where you are!

Kerry, WHAT kind of sports are your stepkids playing NOW?! Basketball?! Right now we only have Scouts and various Band practices to "enjoy"! We sit out of sports for the majority of the winter! Yahooo! You also need to take a breather every now and again!

Ginny, SNOW?! YUCK! I am sure that you deserve your downtime tonight! Altho I sure missed your mouth! Hope the white stuff disappears in time for your morning run tomorrow!

I'm heading off to redo my plans for the week. Not sure WHAT I did....but I printed out the first full week of November instead of the first full week of December! Wow! Very impressive! Glad I didn't have any visitiors in my room today snooping around my plan book! I realized that things weren't "right" just prior to the kidlests arrival! Good thing I've got my stuff "planned" in my head too!

Ya'll take care.......... hope your Tuesdays are calm, cool, collected and fully clothed! (Sorry...couldn't resist!)
meee

Mouse,
The slogans have me giggling! They are great! I bet the posters will be great!
I think my favorite is the one about taking off your ring to save your bling bling!
You can tell them THIS ring story....
My parents had been married for 20+ years. My father had never had his wedding band off. He worked at the local Shipyard. He was "grandfathered" about many of the "safety policies" as he had worked at the yard for so long. One afternoon, his ring got caught on a piece of equipment. His hand was pulled into the machine right by the ring. Had it not been for a fellow coworker, he would have lost more than the wedding ring and 4 weeks out of work as his hand healed! The ring cut his finger down to the bone. It was horrible looking AND he can no longer wear a wedding ring at all on that finger as he has horrible scars and extra tissue! YUMMY, huh?!

He also refused to wear the "modern" steel toed shoes! No one said he was a genius! Good news is ... He retired from the shipyard with his feet intact! Not because there weren't close calls tho!

Anyway..... maybe your kidlets will enjoy a true gore story!

enough of my mouth for now!
...and I've GOT to get the RIGHT pages printed for my plan book!
Night.....

Wow, thanks, Robyn... I'll have to share those stories with some of the boys. With one class, I kept pounding on, "If you aren't safe in here, you will NOT EVER get to the shop." because a whole bunch of them really, really want construction for their industry.

But you're right: I need to leave. They just blame me for stuff I didn't even have a part of. I can't figure out hwy that case manager told the parent I wrote her son up when I had nothing to do with either one. I was a witness to one incident, but my department chair said she'd handle it... she filled out the paperwork, and put my name on it. And the other one, like I said, I was OFF CAMPUS. I knew my TA sent the kid to resource, and I knew it was because he was disruptive (we code our grading sheet because the kids get 10 points per day toward a "workplace/professional behavior" grade... that is 50% of their grade in my class because we're teaching work-skills), but I don't know anything else.

Now howcome everyone is here on the week that I am so darned busy I can't see straight!!!! Good to skim the posts......that is aboat all I am up to now, with this collosal headache.
BTW, I have thursday am off.....have to take Ds to the Dr, you can bet I will go for a long walk......and enjoy a sane morning (if there is such a thing).
Wish I could get personal..gotta go with mini notes.......Mouse, as for your Christian friend, CBD (Christian book distributors is the company name) is a catalog/online place, they have everyone.......and also gift certificates. You could also try a CD called WOW2004 (I think) which is sort of a best of the year thing in contemporary music. Kerry- I kind of blew the challenge for 2 days.......hope to get to WW this evening......but have gotten lots of workouts in. Hope your WI goes great! (I am sure it will!) Robyn- sorry about your long........slow.........day........love your comment about having a "clothed" day.......Summer....you doing ok?
Monsters were ok, or sort of today.....I am pooped. Hope you are having a great Tuesday!
Ginny

Well, I'm home and early too. The fog here is so thick and so bad they let us go before 3:30, and on a staff-meeting day, too. From my classroom, I could not see the building across the street, and the highways were already starting to pile up with accidents. I came home instead of the gym, which bites. I only have half a mile left to swim before I'm finished with going around Key West. I really wanted to be done today, but the fog is really bad. And, honestly, I needed to do laundry anyway since I put it off last weekend, and wasn't home the weekend before that. Its been almost a month!
The kids were absolute MONSTERS today. My 4th period class is the most severe kids anyway, but they were just insane. It was like they completely lost their minds. They had this thing going where one would say "balls" (and yes, they DID mean THAT kind!) and another would fill in a curse word. It took 25 minutes to get one of them out of the classroom to the resource room, and then resource sent him back in 10 minutes. He came back doing the same thing, too.
Another one tried to fake slap me and intimidate me into letting him do what he wanted. After he tried that slap I just looked at him, and he's shorter than me, and said, "Out. Get OUT. Go." Which is not normal... I try very hard to keep them in the classroom most of the time. While that was going on, two other kids decided now would be a good time to wrestle. I told resource that they should just move down to my classroom for that period.
Ginny: Thanks for the tip. I'm going to go check out the catalog. I'm thinking a gift certificate is the best route to go, because I don't have any idea what he has.

Mouse.......guess this whole month the kids are going to be monsters.......they get so excited about the holidays (BTW, Happy Hanukkah!). Guess the fog helped you out, sent them home sooner!!!!! (ok, bad weather is murder for me, good for you!)
Good luck with CBD- I have dealt with them for years and they are good to do business with.
My brats were not too bad......but the same with the preholiday excitement. I live from tylenol to tylenol........did not get to WW, either tomorrow, Thursday or Friday...depends on how my other errands go. Have to get my BP checked tomorrow.....how bad do you think that is??????(I am on meds).
Gotta go help Dd study for Science. Sorry for being so terse.
Have a great nite!
Ginny

I spent 2.5 hours at the hairdressers tonight....got my hair colored and cut and styled and spent the time "talking girl talk".... ohhhhh it was wonderful! I've been going to the same salon for about 8 years.....sooo when I walk in it is sorta like "Norrrrm!" It was JUST what I needed!

BUTTTTTTT....while I was enjoying myself.... the rest of the world went on with out me and NOW I'm behind!

Not enough time to get personal tonight....

Mouse....I'm with Gin....Get a WOW2004 CD and call it a gift!

gotta run
take care

Hi Gals,
I am proud to say that I lost 1 1/2 pounds this week. So that takes care of the 1 1/2 pounds that I gained last week. LOL So Ginny thanks for the mini challenge. It really helped me. So I hope that it helps you as well.
My day went okay. My meetings went well all things considered. Our electric went out due to the high winds and rain we had. So we spent the last two hours of school without an electric. So that meant I was able to go home two hours earlier than normal since they cancelled the afterschool program. Came home to veg for a little bit and then went to TOPS for a few minutes of the meeting and than off to the boys' basketball game. Then I came home to watch the Biggest Loser. I love that show. Then I was motivated to workout afterwards. So I am hoping to have another loss next week.
Ginny I think we are all going to be very busy for the next few weeks. I know my kids are starting to drive me nuts. So I can just image how it must be trying to drive these little kiddos home all hyper. Hats off to you, sweetie! No wonder you have been having headaches lately. Hope you are able to find some time this week for you. Good luck with your weigh in.
Mouse,I agree with Robyn and Ginny about the gift certificate. It is always hard to buy gifts for co-workers when you really don't know their tastes that well. I have to buy two presents for two parties next week. One is for my TOPS gift exchange, were we are going to play The Right Family Christmas game. I have to come up with a $10.00 gift. It is hard when the majority of the group is older ladies in their late 50's to early 60's. They don't excerise that much so I can't buy a working out video or a set handheld weights. Any suggestions? I hope that your day goes more smoothly tomorrow. I loved the slogans your kids came up with yesterday. I bet their posters turned out great today. You will get to swim that 1/2 mile tomorrow. Enjoy your swim.
Robyn, glad that you got to pamper yourself tonight. It is always nice when I get to do something out of the ordinary for me. My stepkids are playing basketball this winter. My dh is the girls' coach for my sdd's team and the boy's coach for my 2 sds' teams. So it makes for an interesting next couple of months. I think the kids are going to play a sport for each season of the year from now until they are out of school in 9 years and 11 years. So I am going to have to get use to the constant running around from practices and games. But I still make time for my workouts in all this confusion.
Summer hope all is well with you. How did your visit and picture taking going? Well just think only 16 more days until Christmas. So your maddness will come to an end soon. But probably not soon enough for you.
Well I am off to bed for the evening. Talk to you all tomorrow.
Take care and have a great Wednesday!
Kerry

Ok, I am here to keep myself from devouring every piece of junk food I can possibly find, make, beg for or scrounge up........

Robyn- congrats on the hair cut! (doesn't it feel so good!!!!) I am jealous.......but happy for you. Sometimes that down time/girl talk is just what you need. And usually the humor at those places is pretty hysterical......what you get when you can let your hair down, literally!

Kerry- congrats on the 1.5#!!!!!!!That is wonderful, and I am so happy for you. Glad I could be a wee part of it.....even if just to provide some incentive. As far as your gift goes, how about a Healthy Exchanges cookbook (or WW or whatever.....). Also, there are some great videos for more mature individuals, but if this is a grab bag and you do not know who will get your gift that might not work. (collage.com has tons of excercise videos, and many for the older ages). What about a gift package of herbal teas or flavored coffees??

Well, my day was ok.....the normal running around and I was actually looking foward to a sane nite (tomorrow I am supposed to take Ds to the Dr for his hand). Then at 5, Dh calls with the news that he had an accident and the truck is totalled. He is fine.....thank the Lord, so the rest is just fluff, really. But he is just such a regulation crab right now....I had to pick him up from where he was. And thought that in doing so it might make us late to get Ds from bball practice. So, I did what I thought was the right thing to do..called school to tell them that maybe we will be a few minutes late getting Ds and that everyone is ok.........(hey, to me that was the logical thing to do, right??) Well, he is proud....and upset that he had an accident (and the more I hear him talk about it some of it had to do with the way he drives, I find him a bit aggressive, but then with what I do all day, I cannot be aggressive at all, as a matter of fact, my family teases me constantly about how much of a non risk taker I am behind the wheel.......gee, I hope none of you are english teachers, this is the most awful runon sentence ever!) So ~ I got chewed out for even mentioning that he had an accident. Now he insists on going to get Ds and drive him to baseball tryouts (from basketball.........). I would rather have gone instead of him but he is so proud....ah, testosterone is a wonderful thing. So, here I sit a burnout......Dd's car gets out of the body shop either tomorrow or Friday. (ironic, right?)
Anyway, enough babbling from me........with the car situation now, I wonder if I will get to WW this week.....might have to skip again, which I have never done before. And now the major question..........next week I have an appointment to have a "Robyn" done for my hair- cut and colored.......have had the appointment for 4 weeks.....I am considering skipping the color part to save $$ (now that that is becoming an issue with all this car stuff!). What do you ladies think??
Off to take some tylenol........BTW, my blood pressure was great this am 112/74, resting pulse 62..........both are probably orbital now!
See ya later.
Ginny

Hey!

Gin, here are some (((hugs))) for you! Sounds as if you could use a few tonight! I'm
sorry that the demolition derby is continuing for your family! Thank goodness that your dh was unhurt!
.....about your hair...... I say GO do it! Is the amount of $ that you would save REALLY going to make THAT much of a difference? I sound like a spoiled girl.... I went years without having my haircut in order to save money and time.... mmmm.... didn't save the world...the money saved was NOT noticed or appreciated by my own Attila...AND I felt horrid cause I looked so haggard.... And with your family wrecking cars.... well.... I know it sounds horrible....but I think it would do your blood pressure some good to go sit and be pampered for just a little while!

Kerry, Congrats on that loss! You are a true inspiration! Keep up the great work! Enjoy all those sports practices and games! :P

Mouse, congrats regarding your KeyWest swim! good for you! Hope today was idiot free at work! REALLY... you need to leave! I am LOVING my new job!

gotta run!
take care,
meeee