We survived. I don't have to LOOK at my 4th period class until April 4th. I'm so thrilled. My major behavior problem was in in-school suspension for the 4th day in the last 2 weeks. He was supposed to be out in time for my class but wasn't successful, so they kept him (that's how it works in our school: you get in-school for a certain number of SUCCESSFUL periods... successful means you do your work, you follow directions, etc. If you're not successful, you don't leave until you are successful). I didn't have to listen to any nasty rap lyrics or any beats on the desk. Amazing. They all did work. Most of them were successful in the behavioral realm too: we had a small incident of horseplay, and I caught one kid but not th eother. He told me to F' off, but then when he came back from resource he talked to me about it. He did a really nice job, too... I apologized to him for not seeing the other boy, and just getting him, and he apologized for what he called me. Then, another kid got to resource and told my TA and I to F' off. The rest of the kids were pretty decent today, surprisingly enough.
My TA even talked to me today and jumped into the lesson like she used to do.
Of course, that's not going to last for long: I'm scheduled to attend the CEC Conference the week we come back, and will be out Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for it. I'm going to plan the lessons out so she doesn't have to do much, but she'll still complain about being left alone.
I went swimming and lifted weights after school... I want to get there tomorrow before I go home. I won't be able to go on Saturday when I come back because I want to stop at the butcher's near my mom's house: their lunch meat and stuff is 10x better than anything I could buy in a local store. I always go there before I come back to Maryland... And the discount store. Gotta stock up on chips for bribes.
To those that celebrate: Happy Easter. I'll be back sometime Saturday or Sunday.
Well, little by little we are checking in to document survival till spring break. I am glad to hear from everyone...even if all the news is not the best.
Robyn- sorry about Dd's job..... I know that this was expected, but that makes it no easier. How is he doing? Any prospects for employment? How are YOU holding up?? Hope that's just water or diet coke in that glass!!!
Pam- well how did the first day of work for Ds go?? And your little one......get to the Dr yet?
Mouse- thanks for the Easter wishes. Glad your last day was fairly uneventful. Have a safe and good weekend.
Me, I am up to my eyeballs here...wishing I could just stay home and veg, but did something stupid. I told Dd we would go to her softball game today.....and I have to stop in to see my Dm sometime too. I really, really, really just want to veg out and enjoy being home without Dh and Ds trashing the place. Yesterday I cleaned Ds's floor(tile that needs to be stripped, I want the room carpeted, for some reason Ds does not- guess cause it makes more work for his mom!) and did a ton of errands. This is the only time I can get housework of any major kind done.....and I have all this insane running around to do. BTW, I think my son has more shoes and clothes than I have ever seen......and bless his heart, he left all of it strewn around the house. Oh well, I am enjoying not cooking.....Dd has been so sweet and easy to please for her mom as far as that goes.
Guess I'd better go and do something productive. See ya!
Ginny
You would never know that I just had a three-day weekend. I spent 8 hours on Friday doing school work for my grad class. And, I'm not done! Saturday I spent the day with DD so she wouldn't feel totally neglected. I slipped in an hour more of school work, making brownies, loading the dishwasher, etc. We went to see "Ice Princess." When we got home I had a message from my friend that she wanted us at her house for her party one hour earlier. You can't take an hour out of my already jammed up day. I managed to make the Easter egg bake, decorated the brownies, and boiled the Easter eggs. But, there was no time to dye the eggs. The party was for women only and the husbands took the kids out. I don't want to get into detail about the theme of the party. I will just say that if it wasn't my best friend hosting it, there is no way in heck that I would have attended. I was REALLY embarrassed, so I drank A LOT of alcohol...specifically several "s*x on the beach." My friend served light appetizers instead of dinner so the alcohol went to my head quicker, and I felt really crappy. I just wanted to get out of there. I had trouble sleeping between drinking too much and going over in my head about the party which was a major turn off for me. I was never so happy to see the morning come.
So, DD was very elated over what the Easter bunny and Mommy and Daddy left for her. Going to church was great...I even cried. We colored eggs after church then went to my DS house. Everyone behaved. Nobody got inebriated. It was nice and quiet, thank God.
After all of the overindulgence of alcohol, candy, and food, I am sooooo ready to get back on program.
Tuesday, we have to drive to Long Island for a funeral. DD will be going to her first funeral. I thought she should go since it is for DH's aunt, and DD didn't know her. This way she will have some experience with a funeral without it being traumatizing since the woman was a stranger to her.
Summer- is this funeral for the former Bf's mother?? I am so sorry that you have to face an emotional and sad part of life for this weekend. My prayers are with you for travelling mercies and support. Too bad about the party- sounds as though it was more stress than it was worth. Hopefully the remainder of this break will be restful and calm for you.
As for me.......the men in the white coats are outside my door, banging on it with the stretcher and straight jacket and a ton of morphine...... The good news- we got to church and that was nice.....a wonderful Easter service. Then my day imploded. Just fell on itself.....where is the tylenol???????
I will be MIA for a few days......Dd and I are headed out for some R and R. I will miss being here and each of you. See ya next weekend.
Ginny
Hey!
Back from my momma's house. It has been a very crazy weekend. Friday I was hurrying and scurrying trying to get my house semi straightened so that I wouldn't have to walk back into a disaster area. I had just washed my hair and was about to dry it, when the firemen knocked on the door and told us that we had to evacuate because the people digging the cable line had hit a gas leak. I didn't even have time to grab a coat, and it was freezing, not to mention my hair was wet. We were outside for an hour. Finally got back into the house, and still couldn't leave cause the road was blocked off. Couldn't leave until three. Went out for Chinese food. Was a buffet. Not a good thing..............
Saturday, my son called from Myrtle Beach saying he needed me to Western Union him some money he had a blow out. Took care of that.......
Family stuff....................
Great Easter Dinner, too much food not to mention that darn candy from the Easter Bunny that my son kept sticking in my face. Good day overall.
Until...........ten.......when my oldest called to say that he got a noise violation ticket and had three days to come up with $121.00.......Ok, so today he gets up to go to work and drove to the gas station where his car died again for third time in a month. Another tow tomorrow. I can't even sleep in in the morning, because I have to take him to work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AHHH
THAT'S IT HE IS OFFICIALLY UP FOR ADOPTION!!!!!!!!!!!
Went out to Red Lobster tonight for my birthday, again ate too much.
Guess it's back to healthy food now that I'm in a more controlled environment. Got the Walk away the pounds three pack with the one, two and three mile dvd, and some weighted balls. I'm pretty excited about that.
Wish it was new furniture or a fridge, but I'm pleased.
Mouse: Thought about you this weekend because I bought some Herr's barbeque potato chips which are still in my car. They don't have them here, but they do have them in Virginia Beach. I'm so bad...............
Ginny: Good luck with the r and r.
Paisley: Glad you found your way. Hope all is well and congrats with finishing your grad class.
Summer: EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF PARTY WAS IT????I AM SO CURIOUS NOW????????????????????//
Hope everyone gets a much needed bit of rest.
Take care!
Pam
We just got back from the funeral. I am so drained and exhausted. My house looks like a tornado hit it, and I don't even care. Screw it. I woke up at 4:30am so I could have enough time to make myself beautiful (well, presentable), get my DD ready, and be able to leave by 6am. We got to the funeral on Long Island with 20 minutes to spare. We were lucky we left when we did and didn't hit the usual rush hour traffic on I95. The church was HUGE and only 20 people attended the service. It was really weird and kind of sad. Apparently a lot of people had attended the wake last night, but I would feel really awful if a close family member of mine had such a small showing at the funeral. Afterward, DH's family took everyone out to his aunt's favorite restaurant. It was very nice, and I had a chance to reacquaint myself with family members I hadn't seen in over 10 years. We left after that. We were very fortunate to have safe travel for our 5 hour round trip drive.
Pam: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! The party? Let's just say it was a mistake. It was a party that only adults would attend to purchase private items. Get it? Well, as much as I enjoy being "amorous," deep down (no pun intended), I am an old fashioned girl. I love my husband and all that goes with it, and personally, I prefer to leave that part of my life as that. My friend, on the other hand, is searching for something she hasn't found yet. Apparently this is her current solution. And, she is trying to drag everyone she knows in with her. In my opinion, it won't make her any happier than anything else out there in this crazy world. She needs to look inside herself to find what is missing. Anyway, Saturday night's party mortified me. I know I sound really "square," but it did. I had a really hard time sleeping and trying to sober up. NEVER AGAIN.
Hello all.
I went to my mom's house and we ALSO went to Red Lobster, Pam. My grandmother loves the restaurant, but it is sadly out of their budget since my mother was forced into early retirement. So, I gave her a gift certificate for Hanukkah, which they hadn't used... so we took that and I paid for the rest of the meal. We had LOTS of leftovers because we got an appetizer. We all love calamari, and broccoli, so we almost always have to get the calamari with broccoli and red peppers. I don't like red peppers but my mother and grandmother do.
And then, of course, we had dinner... I brought home nearly my whole dinner. All I could eat was the steamed vegetables. Red Lobster has a separate grill for the fish and then one for chicken and beef.... so I was able to get grilled fish! If they had grilled the chicken on the same spot, of course, I couldn't get it. I had grilled tilapia, wild rice pilaf, more broccoli and a salad... and 2 biscuits... all of which came home with me on Sunday and was dinner Sunday night and/or last night.
My grandmother had some type of stuffed shrimp with lobster, crab and cheese, and my mom had lobster with shrimp.
Yesterday I cleaned around the house a bit: I changed the sheets and cleaned the bathroom. I took my quilts to the dry cleaners today because I don't think I'll need all 3 of them for the rest of the year. The other quilt that is on my bed now was dry cleaned last spring, so it'll get thrown in the dryer with some lavendar and hung. It costs too much to have them dry cleaned every season: $58 for a full and a king sized quilts that are typically on my bed for the winter.
Its still too chilly to change over to short-sleeve shirts, and I have a feeling I need some new polo shirts for school.
And then I went to the gym. I think I went a little nutso... between being out of town and the weather plus cleaning yesterday, I haven't been since thursday afternoon. I swam for more than an hour today. 1.28 miles. I'm sure I'll regret it tomorrow....
I need to do some lesson planning for next week, since I'll only be at the school on Monday and Tuesday, go to the dentist, and hit the gym tomorrow.
I also want to price some DVD players: cable here is getting outrageously expensive. If I can get limited cable that has local stations and some other channels, I'm going to buy a DVD player and get NetFlixx. Its cheaper, and I can watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it.
I have a perfectly good VCR that is hardly ever used, and I need to keep it because most of the stuff we have at school or get for school is still on video tape... so I can't see the point of getting a dual VCR/DVD player as long as I can hook both of them up. That shouldn't be too hard.
The hard part will be convincing Comcast that I REALLY DO want to downgrade my service. And its their own fault: they keep raising the prices for City residents and always well in advance of any increase in services. They raised my rates a year ago for OnDemand, but I just got OnDemand last week. And let me tell you, there isn't ANYTHING there.
Good morning!
Hope everyone is having a good spring break so far. I have been sooooo lazy. It was really hard to get back on an eating plan yesterday after eating sort of regularly this weekend. But, I drank tons of water and did the two mile Watp tape I just got. That really was a lot more intense than the one mile. I liked it though. The weather here is absolutley gorgeous. It was in the upper sixties yesterday, supposed to be in the seventies today and 80 on Thursday. I am going to do some major yard work on Thursday. The yard looks terrible. I guess I should clean the house at some point. Summer, that same tornado has made it to my house. Oh well, maybe at some point, before we go back to school I will get around to cleaning it. Ha!
Had to get up at 5:30 yesterday morning so I could take my son to work. That sorry excuse for a car of his..........He doesn't work til Friday, so atleast I won't have to play chaueffer today, and maybe his car will be fixed by then. I know the mechanic we take the car to just loves to see us coming. Still haven't finished taxes yet, but it isn't looking good...............
Summer: Gotcha! Never been to one of those parties but I know some people who are the same way.
Mouse: Well haven't you been productive? Pass some of that energy my way please. I feel like I could sleep this vacation away.........
Managed to lose another pound. Don't know how in the world that happened.
Well just stopping by I'll be back later.
Pam
Pam: Congrats on the loss!!! You are doing great. My spring break is three weeks away, and I am soooooooo ready.
I had class tonite. I got my first paper back...I got 75 points out of 75 possible points!!! A perfect score!!! Yippee!!! I was really sweating my first grad school paper. I've been out of school for 13 years, and I have been feeling kind of rusty. So, it feels really great. I handed in two more papers, one of which I had to do an oral presentation on tonite. The professor seemed impressed. Hopefully the papers (I spent 8 hours writing them) will impress her as well. Obviously I want an "A" in the class.
I have a student who is living in a foster home and is doing very well. His drug addicted/bipolar mother and drug addicted father are fighting to get custody back. The boy came to the foster mother one year ago failing to thrive, unable to walk or talk. Now one year later, he is one of my brightest and happiest students. I wish I could adopt him myself so I could protect him from these horrible people. I have written letters to help the foster mom retain custody, but she thinks the court is bound and determined to return him to his "biological" parents. I am so scared for this boy's future.
I have so many students who I am worried about. Teaching in the inner city surrounded by poverty, insufficient health care, drug abuse, etc., makes me feel so helpless to make my students' lives better. I teach them and love them as best as I can, but in 11 weeks they will no longer be mine to help. I'm really gonna miss my babies when they graduate and move on to kindergarten.
Hi Ladies,
Sorry that I was MIA for a month. I had to get a lot of stuff done for school before spring break. So my computer time in the evenings were nonexisit. Then I pulled a muscle in my neck/upper back and have been doctoring that for the last few days. So I have spent my break sleeping off the pain killers the doctor gave me. I do feel a little bit better. So that is what is new with me.
I will check back in with you all later when I can sit in front of the computer longer to catch up on what is happening with you all.
More later,
Kerry
Hey!
Been a busy couple of days. THE WEATHER IS GORGEOUS! Shorts weather actually. I have been working in the yard the past two days. Yesterday I had to drain and clean my fish pond which was in itself an all day task. I went and bought a wet/dry vac to suck out the sand which was attached to the bottom. How have I lived this long without one? I don't know. But, it's refilled, plants repotted, and bubbling away like it should be. Today, was cleaning up all the debris from yesterday, and raking this nasty yard. Winter has done terrible things to my yard. I must have eight million sticks, gumballs and leaves back there. We had to stop cause of rain, but now that the rain is stopping, it's getting dark. I may atleast turn on the outside spot lights and try and finish bagging the last bit because the trash comes tomorrow and I would love to have most of it gone when the trash comes. My legs are killing me...................
Kerry: What happened to your neck? I'm sorry to hear about that. Too bad you're down during spring break, however, you could have to go to work feeling yucky. Hope it gets better.
Summer: Hang on, Spring break is coming. You can make it. I seriously think I would have had a nervous breakdown if we had to go one more day.
Ok, well my computer addicted poker playing hubby is lurking, so let me go.Talk to you all later.
Pam
Kerry: WELCOME BACK!!! WE MISSED YOU!!! I hope you feel better. Have you ever tried a chiropractor? Let me tell you, they can work miracles, especially if they are trained in accupuncture. Either way, heal up fast, and I'm glad you are back.
Pam: Shorts, huh? I'd say I've got a couple more months before we will be able to wear shorts. Today the high was a whopping 50 degrees, and everyone was going nuts with spring fever. I can't imagine how crazy everyone would act if it was warm enough to wear shorts!!! I mean, DD and I were able to wear our fleece jackets instead of our down jackets, and that was a total thrill! I feel so much lighter and "slimmer" not walking around in a big poofy down jacket. I'm sure Robyn is experiencing similar temps to you, and Ginny is experiencing similar temps to me. We already know that Paisley is in PARADISE.
I have my period, and I am SOOOOO BLOATED. God help me, I feel as if I will burst! I can't wait to go to the gym tomorrow. I just need to work off all this water and fat. I feel gross. But, it is great motivation.
I'm not looking to the time change, you know, it is time to "spring ahead" on Saturday night. (Don't forget to change the batteries on your smoke detectors!) I hate losing an hour.
Sounds great with all of you.
Kerry: Sorry to hear about the back/neck, and glad you're back.
Summer: Congrats on the papers!!!! I need to get my rear in gear: I need to write a paragraph to start off the project for my independent study this semester. I've done research and I think I know where I'm going, just haven't gone there yet.
I have the summer classes picked out, but I'm waiting to hear from my advisor if he'll let me do it or not. If he does, I'm probably going to wind up with 9 credits: 2 classes first session, and then the pre-req from one of the first classes for the second session.
I went to lunch today at Fuddruckers with a friend from the gym and ate about half of this absolutely huge taco salad. I ate mostly lettuce too, because when I dumped it over, all the beef wound up on the opposite side of the plate from the pico de gallo and the lettuce. I didn't eat much of the shell.
Then I went to the library and the gym... My friend came later and walked with me in the pool... I swam 40 minutes before she got there, and then we walked for an hour. I went to play in the therapy pool (its deeper, and warm) then for another 40 minutes.
I had pizza for dinner.
Oh, and talk about horrifying customer service: I ordered a bathing suit from Junonia. This isn't the first time I've ordered swimsuits from them, because it is hard enough to find the chlorine-safe swimsuits for larger women. None of the other catalogs or sports companies sell them at all... actually, most of them don't have chlorine proof suits in any size. I have two one-piece tank suits from Junonia that have held up really well with just one issue: because they are polyester-y, they chafe. So if I do a lot of kicking or water aerobics, I break out in rashes on my legs. I have another one on the right side where my swimsuit strap rubs. I saw they had two-piece swimsuits with that fabric so I figured I'd go to that. I ordered it, the damn thing cost near $100 ! It got here today, and the idiots packed the wrong order. Now, if this was the first time I'd had a problem I wouldn't mind, or if they had treated me like a customer on the phone instead of somebody they had to deal with... But, no. When I first told her, she put me on hold because she said she didn't know what to do. Then she came back, and asked me to give her the style number on the bag... I told her that the bag was mislabeled, and the style number on the bag's label matched the order form, but the description didn't match the item. I ordered a tankini, I got a bottom. So she says that I need to ship it back to them (at my expense), and they'll reimburse me and ship the new item when they receive the old one back, but I still need to pay for shipping on the new item. Uhm, excuse me? You screwed it up! I had paid extra for UPS 2-day shipping, too... I asked her if they couldn't send out the new item and then I could turn around and send the old one back to them that way... that's what all the other companies and stores do when they screw up. She said no, and that for her to send out the new item right away, she'd need to charge me again for the item and shipping. I told her this wasn't the first time they'd messed up an order and I'd had to send an item back, and that it took them damn near forever to credit my account last time and then send the new item... they hadn't told me the item was back-ordered by MONTHS. I ordered the stuff in September and got it in November.
They are getting the whole order back, and I will do my best to NEVER order from them again. And with all the swimming I do, I go through suits fast.... especially the ones that aren't chlorine resistant. But I guess that Lane Bryant's suits (about $30-40 each) equal one of the Junoina suits at $100 a pop.
I'll be back sometime Saturday or Sunday.
You can't take an hour out of my already jammed up day. I managed to make the Easter egg bake, decorated the brownies, and boiled the Easter eggs. But, there was no time to dye the eggs. The party was for women only and the husbands took the kids out. I don't want to get into detail about the theme of the party. I will just say that if it wasn't my best friend hosting it, there is no way in heck that I would have attended. I was REALLY embarrassed, so I drank A LOT of alcohol...specifically several "s*x on the beach." My friend served light appetizers instead of dinner so the alcohol went to my head quicker, and I felt really crappy. I just wanted to get out of there. I had trouble sleeping between drinking too much and going over in my head about the party which was a major turn off for me. 
I was never so happy to see the morning come.
DD will be going to her first funeral. I thought she should go since it is for DH's aunt, and DD didn't know her. This way she will have some experience with a funeral without it being traumatizing since the woman was a stranger to her.
with spring fever. I can't imagine how crazy everyone would act if it was warm enough to wear shorts!!! I mean, DD and I were able to wear our fleece jackets instead of our down jackets, and that was a total thrill! 
But, it is great motivation.
