Brrr....

Brrr...

Wow, I am so over midwest winters. The only  thing  worse than dealing with cold, winds, snow/rain. Is dealing with the elements on crutches. I know it could be worse but that doesn't mean it is easy. I really just wish for good weather again, I promise I will appreciate the good weather when it finally returns.

Winter Coats ~ When I found a really good deal on Grant's winter coat I probably should have thought about getting a coat or myself. The last time I purchased a winter coat for myself was in 1996! Seriously, now it was a really nice ski jacket that held the test of time but still it's time for a new one.

Monday + Hump Day + Friday - Wrapped into One Day ~  It was teacher record day this past Friday. I quickly accepted snow days are intended for student safety, teacher days go on as scheduled. I was glad to be back but I still have a lot to do before the 2nd semester begins. There is also the big question of whether we will have school tomorrow or even Tuesday due to the weather.  A couple of days ago it was really looking like we were going to get hit with really bad weather, now it looks like we may just be a little south of the storm. Hopefully, for the sake of our long spring break we can get by with just a 2 hour delay but then again I am kind of hoping for a snow day or two. I woke up this morning worrying about Curriculum Mapper and that I haven't even begun to get mine together for the new reading class that I teach. It's hard to create a curriculum map with the minimal materials I have for the class and the fact that the direction of the class is always changing because the class is driven by the students needs not so much a hard core outline. You see I teach high school special education, my reading class has high school kids who read on a 2-4 grade reading level. Their individual needs are so "splintered" and I find I am regularly changing the direction of the class to try to keep up with their needs. I guess to solve the curriculum map dilemma I will just use the Reading Recipe book I use and let my lesson plans explain the changes...

Cleaning ~ In my last posted I mentioned I wanted/needed to clean out drawers, closets, and cabinets. Today, I spent some time cleaning up the "pit" in our house, otherwise known as my bedroom. My bedroom isn't perfect but at least it is better than it has been in a long time. I have a bad habit of letting my bedroom become the dumping ground for anything I don't know what to do with or when we are expecting company and I have 5 minute to clean the house. Am I the only one that does this?  I have yet to work on any other part of the house.

Surgery/ Doctor ~ I have a dr. appointment tomorrow with my knee surgeon. I am hoping he lets me starting "walking" again. I am allowed to walk stiff legged just as long as I don't bend my knee. I still wear my brace and use crutches most of the time but I can walk with the crutches. While this method of walking is better than not being allowed to walk and at first it was great but now I find my hips and back are hurting. I think/know I am hurting especially at night because my body is out of whack from the awkward movements I use to get around, especially at home.

Until next time ....

A New Year ~ New Start ~ New Direction

A new year often brings new resolutions. Resolutions that I usually forget all about by the end of the first week of the new year. This year I want to do things differently than I have in the past. I am going to make a bullet list of my personal goals.  The goals will be small and hopefully I can keep them up and not revert back to my old ways.

• House Organization ~ Clean out 1 new drawer, closet, cabinet, nook, or cranny each day. This should only take me about 15 minutes per day. My house is cleaner than it has ever been (on the surface) and now the cluttered drawers and junk that is shoved away is absolutely driving me bat crazy.  

• Exercise ~ Exercise 15-20 minutes a day.  I am currently on crutches and have been for the last 6 1/2 weeks due to knee surgery. They say, "You don't know what your missing until you lose it." I MISS moving my body. I didn't exercise much in the last couple of years but before that I was always active and enjoyed exercise. The sedentary lifestyle has really been tough on my body and I have gained a LOT of weight. For the time being my main goals are to do my physical therapy and getting off these stinking crutches!  I want to feel healthy and strong again.

• Money ~ I need to be more active in saving money for rainy days, a new car, savings in general, etc.... I am a single parent and I do not receive child support for my son. I do ok with money, just not great. I love to travel and go out to dinner with friends. Those two activities definitely cause a dent in my budget.    

• Dating ~ Meet men! That's what I need to do. It seems like a fairly simple plan. I mean, I don't have to marry the first man I meet but I do need to meet men. I don't go out much. After working all day as a teacher, tutoring 5-6 hours a week after school, being a parent, and then bar-tending 1 night out of the weekend; I don't have time or the energy to go out meet new people. Even when I have the energy I have to find somewhere for my son to go so I can go out...gee, I wonder why I stay home so much. :-(  

Let's see what the next few weeks bring in regards to my goals. 

WEll, 

Hmm, It Seems Like I am Forgetting Something...

Oh, yeah...I seem to have forgotten about this blog, then I forgot the password to even go in an write a post. About the same time I forgot that I was following the Weight Watchers plan.....


So, now that I have admitted my mistakes I guess it is time to get back on track.

School/Work - There are only 10 more days of school!!!!! I have to go back two additional days for inservice days but that is ok. I am ready for summer though, at this point in the year I am so excited for summer vacation I can't stand it! Really, like it makes me crazy to think about the next 10 days knowing a much needed break is around the corner.

More Classes? - Yes, even though I swore off EVER taking another college course (I have 2 bachelors and a masters degree) I am in the process of gathering information to earn a certification in drivers education. The amount of extra money I would make for teaching driver's education after school through out the school year would give me a MAJOR boost to the ole paycheck.  It is a much better return on my money compared to what it cost me to earn my master's degree.  It is only 3 classes so it won't be too rough, I am just over the whole idea of being a student at this point.

Grant "Sick" - Monday morning was rough getting Grant to get ready for school. He was crying saying he had a really bad headache and that his stomach hurt. Of course, this information comes as we are supposed to be heading out the door to catch his bus. I made the quick decision to take him with me to my school. Shortly after that though he seemed to feel much better. I guess he just needed a go to work with mom day. Don't worry that is the first day he has missed all year and he is on the honor roll, so don't call child services on me it was hardly educational neglect. Besides, he listened to my lectures in Earth Science and Biology and he was able to contribute to the discussion and let me just tell you...that boy is pretty bright, he made me proud!

Grant has Spunk -After school on Monday Grant decided to walk around the school while I did a little bit of work in my room. At one point he had been gone awhile. I was just about to go look for him. Before I could do that though he came back...where had he been? He found a party! And proceeded to party with the group.  The Debate Team was having a pizza party for the of the year and Grant totally jumped in and made himself at home. If nothing else I can say he is not shy.

Puppy - My dad's hunting dog had puppies three weeks ago. She ended up having three puppies; two girls and one boy. When they were first born the girls were just a little bit bigger than the boy. Fast forward 2 weeks....umm, the girls were pretty big an the boy well he was barely growing. I watched over the dogs last weekend and became increasingly concerned as the girls seemed to just keep growing and leaving their brother behind. In fact, if he was nursing the girls immediately went over and knocked him off. Poor little guy didn't stand a chance against his GIANT sisters. (When my dad is around the mom won't lay down to let the pups nurse because she gets so excited, so he had never seen this.)  I decided it was time to intervene. I started removing the girls from the dog pen so the little tiny guy could nurse. I have also started supplementing his feeds with some puppy like formula. My dad took all three of the pups to the vet today to get them checked out. I was nervous what the vet was going to say about the boy. Good News! All three puppies are doing fine; the girls just happen to be HUGE an the boy well he is tiny but his vitals were all good and the vet didn't see any concerns other than his tiny size. We will continue taking the girl puppies out of the pen a few times a day so he can eat without being knocked down and I will supplement a couple of times when needed. I noticed tonight he seemed stronger now that he is getting his individual feeding time and the supplements. Time will tell, I hope he makes it.

Puppy Weights from today.
Girl #1  - 4 lbs 12 oz
Girl #2  - 4 lbs 8 oz
Tiny Boy - 1 lb 7 oz   (Do you see why I was so freaked out?!?!?!)

Summer Job - I am spoiled! I haven't worked during the summer for the last 9 years. I can't believe it has been that long. Anywho, I decided I needed to do something to start making a little extra cash, give me a purpose over the summer, and to get out of the house and see people who are not related to me.  So, my student teacher from this semester got me a job at the reception center that she bartends. I will work on Saturday evenings for $10 an hour plus tips. The tips + hourly pay will give me a chance to earn some cash to pay for all the fun stuff we like to do over the summer without going into debt. Wish me luck, the only bar experience I have is from the other side of the bar....and lots of that though. I told the manager that and he thought I would do fine.  ;-)


My Desk is a Wreck - Not that you care but my desk at school is a MESS! Every day I tell myself I need to clean it up but something always happens and I can't seem to make a dent in cleaning it up. Maybe tomorrow....

Well I better go to bed. Did I mention there are only 10 days of school left? Not that I am counting or anything... :-)

Talk to you soon,
Julie

Follower #2!!!

Welcome Honeybee!

The End has Come!

The end of spring break that is. We had a fantastic and relaxing week off work/school. We didn't go anywhere just did some stuff around the house, went out with friends a few times, went to the museum and last but not least we just returned from the Le.gofest.

L.ego Kids.fest
Let me just say L.ego Kids.fest was fun and absolutely a genius idea. Parents were buying their kids L.ego sets left and right. I know my son has a renewed interest in playing with the L.ego's he already owns. At first it was a little bit overwhelming and it made it difficult to be able to figure out where to start. Once we settled in we began to enjoy the day. My nephew went with us and we only had to use the "Lost Parent" service one time. lol. The boys are big enough to walk a little bit by themselves with me nearby waiting in a line. Well they got a little too engrossed in what they were doing and I couldn't see them. They lost track of time and instead of searching through thousands of people I went straight to the booth and had them paged. Thankfully we were reunited within minutes. I was trying not to panic but trust me I didn't let them out of my sight again, whewhhhhh!



Lightening McQueen - They said it took 1800 hours to build him.




G-Man and my nephew, can you figure out which one is 8 years old and hasn't realized that the obnoxious pictures will haunt him as he gets older.

Not Loose, but Then Again Not Tight!
My W.eight Wat.chers project has been a little lax the last week. I don't think I have done too badly but I didn't count points. However, about 10 minutes after I put on my jeans this morning I realized they were looser than they have been in the last few months! It made me feel better and I hope that is enough to keep me motivated for the next week.

Wahhh, Spring Breaks Over!
While I hate the idea that spring break is over and I will be back to getting up at 6:00 a.m. I know it will be for only 7 more weeks. Then we will have 11 weeks off for summer vacation. I am definitely looking forward to summer vacation. We have passes for the local amusement park for this summer and I am looking forward to going there at least 1x a week. The rest of the time I spend swimming. It's a rough life, I know but hey someone has to do it, it might as well be me. What do you do for fun during the summer?

I Have a Follower!

Yay!!!!! Hi Sarah! I am so happy to have you as a follower... Hopefully there will be more to join us soon.

Thank you!

Woo Hoo!!!! Vaction is planned!

Well, I did it, I made plans for a trip for this summer. It's not exactly a super exciting trip but I know G-Man t will enjoy it and it will be fun. We are going to go to North Carolina and he is going to go to a day camp for Animal Studies on a college campus for 4 hours a day. I have a very close friend who is a professor on this campus and we will stay with them and enjoy the mountains and the college town when G-Man is not in the camp. I will take a few books and my hiking shoes and enjoy exploring the town while he is at the camp. In the evenings we will hang out with my friend, her husband, and their toddler. I am so excited! I have been on many, many, many vacations from my former days of working for an airline. I haven't had flight benefits for a few years and I am beginning to appreciate trips like this even more.

We are on spring break and overall it has been a pretty low key week. Yesterday, we went to the museum with my mom. While we were getting ready to go to the museum he said he was excited about going. I asked him what he was the most excited for? He said because he got to go with, "Gram and you." I said, "That's sweet, thank you." He said, "Yeah, so when I annoy one of you I still have someone to talk to..." He is such a stinker!

Well, I better get outside and get some mowing done. Given I am starting in the middle of March, I am anticipating mowing for 6 months this year! Ugh, the price we are paying for a fantastic spring with great weather.