1st day recap

No matter how many years I have been going back to school, I still get nervous that first day. You wouldn't think a 57 year old would still get those jitters but I do. I wonder how many kids know that teachers have the same feelings as they do. If they did, they probably don't believe it anyway.

The first day went as well as can be expected. It is designed not to be a normal day in the first place. I always remembered school as just starting. Going to classes or having all my subjects that first day. But maybe we had assemblies and activities that were only for the first day too. I think too that it is a middle school thing. Try and make everyone feel welcome and get an idea of how the schedule thing works. I think for alot of kids it is a good thing, but our kids could use a stricter schedule and a just plain normal school day. But it went fairly well, better than some years anyway. We only have 19 kids this year, down from 33 last year, so most of the day I kept thinking where are all the other kids. Woops this is all the other kids. Those 19 are some doozies though. I've never seen a group of 6th graders that are such wanderers. Hard to keep track of them when they all go in different directions. And we have one little girl who is definitely opositional defiant. Not necessarily confrontational but more a just stand there and not do what is expected of her. Hopefully we can get her turned around fairly quickly. The sixth graders consist of the oppositional defiant one, a downs, an austistic one, two are non-verbal and one with md in a wheelchair. It may seem like we have all 33 at times with that mix. We got a call from Roosevelt this morning. They were already having problems with my little Bernini. Seems she plopped herself down in the hall on her tummy and wouldnt' move. Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. We put up with that for 3 years and only had slight success with her. It will be interesting to see if high school can do something with her or if they will ship her off to an alternative site.

The cutest thing this morning, and I wish I had had my camera handy, was Will. Kyra and I were leaving for school when Scott came so we stayed an extra minute to say hi to Hannah and Will. Well wouldn't you know it Will came ready for school too. Here he comes walking down the sidewalk with his backpack (with wheels no less). It's a Diego back pack and he has new Diego shoes and a new Diego shirt. What a smart mom he has for getting him ready for school since now it will only be he and Amy and things could be kind of lonesome for him. If he wasn't the cutest little student you ever saw I don't know what was. I wish I could just freeze him at this age for an extra year or two. He is just so blame cute.

Well I haven't blogged much because the Olympics are just so good that I haven't wanted to be at the computer in the evening. It is going to be sad television when it is over. And with that I think I will go and watch tonights events.
TTFN

Happy Birthday to Me

57 How in the heck did that happen? We were asked today in an inservice how old we felt. Immediately I said 21 because really that is all the older I feel. Oh the body doesn't feel like it did at 21 and it definitely doesn't look like it did at 21 but in my head I am way more like 21 than 57.

Birthdays are strange things. I really truly believe that every day is a celebration of life and that one day isn't anymore important than the next. I truly try to appreciate every day and every moment but I don't think I celebrate near enough. And when it comes to birthdays I definitely have mixed emotions. On one hand I don't want any big doings and would like to just make my birthday like any other day. But then something happens like today. We all went out to lunch today at a Mexican restaurant. Most of the people I work with knew it was my birthday but this one teacher didn't realize it until the end of the meal. So when she went up to pay her bill she told them it was my birthday. Pretty soon the owner of the restaurant came over with a big plate of fried ice cream and gave me a kiss on the cheek and wished me a happy birthday. You know it was pretty nice to have my birthday recognized. It made the day feel special. Now isn't that what a birthday is supposed to be. Remember when we were kids and birthdays were big deals. For that one day we felt like the most important person on the planet. I've decided that we shouldn't give that feeling up once we become adults. If anything it's more important that we feel special for at least that one day out of the year. As adults we shoulder all the weight of the world and for one day we should get the royal treatment. Isn't it amazing what one simple act can do? An act that I wouldn't have done for someone for fear of embarrassing them because I thought I would be embarrassed if that happened to me. Well I wasn't. And I'm going to remember that and try to do a better job of celebrating moments whether they're birthday moments or just plain because moments.

Well one more day of inservice. I'm always glad to get to the school part of school. As nice as it is to have days we can go out to eat and work in our rooms, I miss having the kids around. At the inservice today the speaker (who was totally awesome) said you have jobs, then careers and then if you're lucky you have a calling. Well school for me is definitely a calling. I know I would do it for free most days. And I can't imagine doing anything else. Of course that's probably not what I say come about March, but deep down it's still there and that's what counts.

I'm still enjoying the Olympics and wish I could stay up past 9:30 to see it all. When am I going to hit that age where I don't need so much sleep. You know they say that as you get older you don't need as much sleep, well I must not be that old yet.
TTFN

Good bye Sweet Summer Freedom

Well today is my last day of summer vacation. It is definitely feeling unreal. I have to keep telling myself that tomorrow I will be back to school. I'm not sure I'm ready. I know I don't have things done that need to get done. I need to go through my clothes and figure out what I'm going to wear this week. All summer I've just thrown on a tshirt and capris and hit the road. I probably need to put a little more thought into it now. I don't have to worry about lunches this week but will next week, so I should think about that. Amy and I are going to the mall today. I am going to buy new underwear. I pitch my old ones and get brand new everything at the start of the school year. So that's what I am after today. Maybe I'll check out the summer clearance stuff (if there is anything left). My summer clothes feel a little tired.

Have you been watching the Olympics? They have been some good tv watching. Too bad I can't stay awake past 9 lately. I did wake up to see the mens gymnastics team win the bronze. That was cool. And Michael Phelps and his swimming. He didn't even feel well last night and he still broke a world record. They are all so inspiring. And then there is the little bits and pieces they do about China. It's really quite educational.

Boy did it rain last night. They said we had about an inch and a half. Everything is so green and nice. Quite different than it has been in years past.

Guess it's time to hit the shower and get a few things done.
TTFN

Farmers Market Time Again

In about 6 short weeks the Farmers Market will come to an end. Amy and I have been going almost every Saturday since school's been out. I don't know what we will do with our Saturday mornings come October. I didn't buy any flowers today but I know I will regret it later. Next week. I bought eggplants, tomatoes, green onions and some zucchinis. I see more ratatouille in my future. I could live on that stuff and probably should.

Did you watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics last night? If you missed it, you missed something. The pagentry and the special effects were amazing. I wish I could have been there in person, though television does a spectactular job. Even though the marching in of all the countries was a little boring, it was fun to see all the countries and athletes. I hadn't even heard of some of the countries. It truly is an amazing experience when you think about it. All those athletes who spend their lives working to just to get to the Olympics and some of them have no support from their countries. It should inspire all of us.

Well I watch the kids again today and then I think I have a few weeks off. I haven't been a very exciting babysitter these last few weeks. I think it has to do with doing it so much. The kids and I are both getting burned out. Today Amy and I talked about taking the kids to a movie, The Journey to the Center of the Earth. Hopefully the girls want to go. It will help pass the time. Maybe after that we can go to the splash park for awhile with Will. It's supposed to be 87 today so that sounds like a good plan. And then if there are any good Olympics events on this evening maybe we can watch them. When Scott and Amy were young we used to look forward to watching the events together..
Guess I better go and talk to the hubby for awhile.
TTFN

A Plunger in the Kitchen Sink - Not a Good Sign!

Last we night we decided to go for a ride. Steve said to refill my tea glass to take along. Well when I went into the kitchen I noticed the sink was not draining. Since the portable dishwasher empties into the sink, it is kind of important that it drains. I can't imagine what we would have come home to if I hadn't gone to refill my tea glass. So before we go on our ride Steve pours drain cleaner in and we leave. We come home and the water has drained out so Steve decides to plunge it to hopefully get the clog to release. Long story short - no such luck. The sinks were filled with water now and they were not draining. To snake them out they have to drain first. Seems like a simple enough thing right. Well at 7 this morning the water still wasn't completely out. Even by 2 when I left the house there was still water in the sink. Nice. By the time Steve gets home around 5 the water has drained and he can snake it out. Lets just say that when I hear some not so encouraging words coming from my hard working husband, I can only assume that after he snaked it,it still doesn't drain. After a call to Ace to see if they have a longer snake, we are now in the process of snaking further down the pipe. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We've never had to have a plumber Steve has always been able to take care of these things. Hate to have to break the trend now.

I went to coffee at an old neighbors house today. Even though she only lives a few houses up the street from me I haven't really seen her in years. She sticks pretty close to home and has had to knee replacements ( which I didn't know about until recently). She was the one who got me to apply to work at the school. She had Bonnie and Vicki and me over to meet one of our new neighbors who has lived in the neighborhood for almost a year. Isn't that a sad state of affairs? It takes a year to meet a new neighbor. When we first moved into this neighborhood, everybody knew everybody. Now I think it's a sign of the times, a person doesn't know all their neighbors. And I know that I for one don't always go out of my way to meet the new people either. This new person is young with a 1 year old daughter. She works as a Reading Recovery teacher part time and a realtor part time. She seems really nice and I hope we get to know her better. It was definitely fun talking with all the old neighbors and reminiscing about people who used to live in the "hood".

Well I think I hear water running in the kitchen. Hopefully that means good news.

TTFN

I Like Summer Vacation

As my summer vacation is coming to a close, I am really starting to appreciate the laid back, carefree days. I can at times look to retirement and think I could so do this. Especially days like the last two with Steve home. We just putz around not accomplishing too much, but just enough to not make the day a complete waste. We went to Walmart today and bought groceries. How nice it was to go in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. I look at some of the couples I know who are retired and I think I get it. It's not about going and doing. It's not about travel or being busy all the time. It's about the spending quiet days together. Watching the dog play with his new toy, going to Walmart, sitting on the front porch and watching the world go by. It really isn't as boring and old peoplish as it sounds. In fact I suspect that it is what most people no matter what age they are, are doing. It's just that I used to be one who wasn't happy unless I was going or doing something. Guess I must be getting old. Anyway I am going to appreciate these last few days of summer bliss. A week from tomorrow is back to school.

I had one of those balance balls that everyone had a few years back. I never really used it much. So when I was putting the finishing touches on the spare bedroom the other day, I thought Oh I bet Grady would love to play with that. And sure enough! We took it outside today and he just had a great time with it. Chased it around the yard. Way better than getting him a puppy to chase around. This thing requires no maintenance. Of course I don't expect it to last long but at least he's having fun with it.

We had a nice supper tonight, teriyaki salmon and ratatouille. I forget how much I like ratatouille. I need to make it regular part of our menu. Tonight we put shaved parmesan on top. Added just the right amount of tang. I haven't had a diet coke since yesterday morning. If I could give that habit up wow! First smoking and then diet coke. Anyway I'm trying to eat healthy. I bought lots of good things when we went to Walmart. I am so sick of falling back on fast food. I came across these bag meals. Actually Amy was the one who said they were good. They are only 2 servings (perfect) and they are complete. No meat to thaw or anything. And they are only about $6 give or take. In ten minutes or so I can have a meal on the table. The perfect thing for those nights when I come home tired and the last thing I want to do is stand anymore and cook. Those are the nights when it's always fast food. No matter what crazy stuff is in these bag meals they have to be better for us than burgers and fries. And reading the labels they aren't too bad in the calorie and fat content. In fact perusing the aisles of Walmart, I've discovered a person really doesn't have to cook at all. There are so many already prepared items out there. I still think the more we stay away from processed foods the better, but realistically I know that on many occasions I'm just not up to cooking from scratch. I guess it's like anything else you just have to pick the lesser of two evils. So hopefully with things like that we can stay away from take out.

Well it's time for pj's and a little tv. I need to get a regular bedtime routine in place too. The last couple of nights I've been awake for like 3 hours in the middle of the night and then we've slept in until 7 or 8. Totally unlike me and definitely not good with school in a week. That will be an adjustment.

TTFN

Three, Three Posts in One

Ok so my blogging every day in August was a failure already by day 2 but hey. I have excuses man. Poor ones mind you but excuses never the less. Excuse for Saturday-I babysat until after 10. Excuse for Sunday-camera and video were in my purse in my car. I told you they were poor ones. But I have pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not always a failure!

Saturday Amy and I once again went to the Farmers Market. It just gets better and better. The tomatoes are amazing and the flowers!!!!!!!!!! I finally bought flowers now that I have a vase big enough. I love fresh flowers and if I had lots of money I would have fresh flowers in my house every day. Not fancy bouquets either just posies as they say. Then Amy and I went to the Humane Society. They had the cutest golden puppies. I refrained from getting one even though I really want another dog. The wise thing to do would be to get a older dog but those puppies, they can really tug at a person heart strings.

Then I went over to Scott and Wendy's at noon to watch the kids. The girls and I went to the library while Will napped. Haley read a book while we were there. I'm not sure Hannah even reads all the ones she picks out but Haley devours them like a piece of chocolate. I was the same way when I was her age. I used to walk to the library all the time and get stacks of books and come home and read and read. I was into horse books and must have read every single one in my small library in Miller. Steve came back later to watch Will and Hannah while I took Amy and Kyra's boyfriend Dan to Brandon for Kyra's performance. I was so impressed with all they learned in such a short amount of time. When I got back it was time for supper and we went to Burger King. Yuck in the food department but the company was great. It was just Hannah and Will with us because Haley had a birthday sleepover. Will was just a goof. He would put on that crown and then pull it over his face. "You see me now!"

Then he would pull it up and say "You see me now!" What a character!

Sunday was a quiet day. I even took a nap in the afternoon. I haven't done that in a long time. A year or so at least. Later in the afternoon we took Kyra and Amy to Sams. Can you feel the excitement? It was really hot yesterday. Probably one of the hottest days of the year. 93 with really high humidity. I don't like the humidity. But the hottest part of the day was at 4:15 in the morning. We had a heat burst. It went from 70 degrees to 101 degrees in around a half an hour. We didn't have any damage but I guess there was some in the center of town. Strange.

Steve is home today and tomorrow. I hope we can work on the laundry room. It needs some major dejunking. I started a little bit last week but I need Steve to help haul it all out. No sense in sorting it all out if some of it doesn't get hauled to Goodwill.
Guess that is about it for now. Need to get dressed and get busy.
TTFN

Goodbye July, Hello August

I can't believe it's the first of August already. Summer really does just fly by doesn't it. If only January, February and March went as fast. In ten days I will start back to school. I'm ready but I'm not. I wish I were going back thinner. I wish I had done more clutter control. But other than those two things I've had a very nice summer. And even if mentally I don't know if I'm ready to go back. I need to go back. I can see myself becoming more and more of a slug. Not good. Going back and having a routine will be good.
I cleaned my kitchen today. I took out the steam cleaner and cleaned the top of my stove and my cupboards and countertops. I rearranged a few things and that always makes it look better even if it is just moving things around. What I wouldn't give for a bigger kitchen. No matter what I do, my kitchen always looks cluttered. If even one tiny little thing is on the table or laying around it looks like my kitchen is a mess. Unfortunately I like kitchen things and cookbooks. Sooo, my kitchen is always in a state of clutter. I go over to Scott and Wendy's and just drool over the amount of cupboards and counter space. The things I could do with all that space. But alas, the best I can hope for is someday to remodel. Right now my main dream is to have an exhaust fan. From all those years of smoking, whenever I fry or cook something over high heat the fumes and smoke make it so I can hardly breathe.
Poor Amy!!!! Tuesday she started having back pains. She could hardly walk and sitting for any length of time was out of the question. Wednesday she was worse. Thursday we wanted to go out to eat and hit stores downtown. Well we went out to eat at Sanaa's and hit Zandbros. And that was all she wrote. She went home and called the doctor and got in. They gave her 3 meds. This morning her back was somewhat better; she could move easier anyway, but after she took her meds she got nauseated and sick to her stomach. Poor girl. I ended up taking Kyra to her practice and picking her up because Amy didn't think she could drive that far. Hope she's better tomorrow. Kyra has her concert at 4:oo.
Tomorrow is the Farmer's Market again. I don't need much produce but I want to buy some flowers. I've been drooling over the flowers for weeks now but didn't buy any because I didn't have a big enough vase. Amy bought me one earlier this week so now I'm ready. I watch the kids tomorrow from 12-9. Realitively short day. I'll probably take Hannah and maybe Will to Kyra's performance in the afternoon. Haley has a slumber party so it will be just Hannah and Will and I. Not sure what we'll do all day. I should come up with something for Hannah and I to do while Will naps. At the moment I can't think of anything good. Grandma Bakker always does craft things so I don't want to steal her thunder. Maybe I can teach Hannah a card game.
That's about it for tonight.
TTFN