The hurrier I go, the behinder I get! In all the time since I've been off school, I have managed to (mostly) catch up with the laundry and clean the living room. Period! Last night, I was so discouraged (and tired) that I wanted to give in to the fatigue and the clutter and do nothing. Thankfully, the will to survive in a clutter-free world keeps working on me.
Robin, bless her heart, is bored. Yesterday, it didn't go so well. Today, she was better behaved but uninspired. I couldn't get her motivated to go shopping for materials to make Girl Scout SWAPS. Tomorrow or nothing! She has a trip to the Children's Museum on Thursday evening with her Daisy troop, then Muncie for the weekend. The time doth fly! (According to phone calls, Ryan is having a blast in east Tennessee with his boy-cousins.)
Major Pat called me tonight to tell me that the 60-meter net was going great guns if I wanted to check in. Posh! The 60-meter net is chanelized. I'm lucky if I can just check in to the regular nets on the regular frequencies! (In fact, I've only check in, like, twice in the last two years.) He's pushing his luck to ask me to do more! I will ease back in...
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Spring Broke
I could have predicted the colder temps this week, because it is spring break for me, of course!
After a long and busy week, yesterday began our break from school. I was up at 5:30 in order to get Ryan packed to go to west Georgia with Grandma Judy. (Robin flew to Georgia with Grandma 2 1/2 years ago, so it was Ry's turn...only they were driving.) Worked hard all of the rest of the day, too...just to get started on the work of the week. And there's plenty of it to do!
I have been going through cheap keyboards for some time now. Meg brought one out from her room for me to try...and I fell in love. Went out the very next day and got one. It's a Logitech "Wave", which is one of the ergonomic ones. It was a little pricey (just over $50) but well worth it. I will recycle the others, keeping one as a backup...but I doubt it will be necessary unless I do something stupid like spill stuff on this one. I'm careful!
In celebration of being "off duty" today, I actually turned on my HF radio and started refreshing my memory of how to use it. I actually had to wiggle some wires to remember which antennas went to which positions on the antenna switch. I checked into three SATERN nets. (Happy, Patrick??) We are at the bottom of the 11-year sunspot cycle, so conditions aren't the best. In fact, the spots should be on the increase by now, but the cycle seems somehow delayed. (Solar flares=bad for radio; sunspots=good.)
Robin will be back from Muncie tomorrow. We'll have to plan our week. (She and I will man the fort here at home for the rest of our break.) I think she has a Girl Scout outing and an invitations to make Girl Scout SWAPS for a camping excursion she will attend with Meg later in the spring.
My main goal for the week is to get the house in order. If I get lucky, I can actually do some yard work. I have contracted with TruGreen Chemlawn to put on a pre-emergent herbicide to keep the dandelions in check so mine won't be the yellowest yard in the neighborhood this spring. If I'm REALLlY lucky, I'll be able to finish scraping wallpaper in the bathroom and get the room painted (after a year of shredded wallpaper walls!)
Just a couple more months before I am officially retired. I look forward to less stressful days (said with fingers crossed!).
After a long and busy week, yesterday began our break from school. I was up at 5:30 in order to get Ryan packed to go to west Georgia with Grandma Judy. (Robin flew to Georgia with Grandma 2 1/2 years ago, so it was Ry's turn...only they were driving.) Worked hard all of the rest of the day, too...just to get started on the work of the week. And there's plenty of it to do!
I have been going through cheap keyboards for some time now. Meg brought one out from her room for me to try...and I fell in love. Went out the very next day and got one. It's a Logitech "Wave", which is one of the ergonomic ones. It was a little pricey (just over $50) but well worth it. I will recycle the others, keeping one as a backup...but I doubt it will be necessary unless I do something stupid like spill stuff on this one. I'm careful!
In celebration of being "off duty" today, I actually turned on my HF radio and started refreshing my memory of how to use it. I actually had to wiggle some wires to remember which antennas went to which positions on the antenna switch. I checked into three SATERN nets. (Happy, Patrick??) We are at the bottom of the 11-year sunspot cycle, so conditions aren't the best. In fact, the spots should be on the increase by now, but the cycle seems somehow delayed. (Solar flares=bad for radio; sunspots=good.)
Robin will be back from Muncie tomorrow. We'll have to plan our week. (She and I will man the fort here at home for the rest of our break.) I think she has a Girl Scout outing and an invitations to make Girl Scout SWAPS for a camping excursion she will attend with Meg later in the spring.
My main goal for the week is to get the house in order. If I get lucky, I can actually do some yard work. I have contracted with TruGreen Chemlawn to put on a pre-emergent herbicide to keep the dandelions in check so mine won't be the yellowest yard in the neighborhood this spring. If I'm REALLlY lucky, I'll be able to finish scraping wallpaper in the bathroom and get the room painted (after a year of shredded wallpaper walls!)
Just a couple more months before I am officially retired. I look forward to less stressful days (said with fingers crossed!).
Monday, March 23, 2009
My Day Off
I took today off from school. Had to go in on Sunday just to finish a test and lay out lesson plans to do it, but I had a list of things to get done at home... Guess how many of the things on the list I actually got done today? Go on, guess! If you said "none," you are correctamundo! Okay, so what DID I accomplish?
I gave Meg and Grandma Judy a morning off. I got up, fixed the kids' lunches, got them up, dressed, and breakfasted...then delivered to their prospective schools. Took a run to Fashion Bug (clothing store for fat ladies) but found that they didn't open until 10:00. Came home and unloaded the dishwasher and fielded a couple of phone calls. Set up an online account to pay the Comcast bill. Went back out to shop at Fashion Bug. (I need clothes!) Also stopped at Shoe Carnival. Then Wal-Mart for food. (Food?? Where am I supposed to put it? The pantry is full. The top of the fridge is full. The freezer is full. The problem is that we are buying more fresh veggies and low-cal food than we used to. It all takes up space!) By then it was 2:00. I started chopping veggies for a stir-fry. Picked up the children from Grandma Judy's, referee'd a fight or two, and went from there.
At one point, I realized that it was Monday and probably a Girl Scout meeting night. Yup! Took Robin to GS while Meg and Ryan went shopping for some things that Meg needed. At issue is the fact that Meg's debit card is missing. It's around here, somewhere.
Ryan's new soccer coach called tonight with the info on the spring schedule. Looks like we'll be splitting our time! We are trying to maintain a calendar so we all know what's up, but it gets tricky.
I have three more days of school before spring break, but I have to be honest and say I really don't want to have to go in. There are so many things to be done here that work seems to be a waste! (See how I am?)
Meg loaned me a new keyboard tonight...an "ergonomic" board that I am loving. Gotta get one of these!! Oh well...it's only money!
During spring break, Ryan will be going with Grandma Judy to Tennessee to his cousins'. Robin will be here with me. (Meg doesn't get a spring break.) I have to get a plan together. There are lots of opportunities. For example, Robin's GS troup is going to The Children's Museum. We'll get by!
WAAAY past bedtime. Hitting the sack shortly.
I gave Meg and Grandma Judy a morning off. I got up, fixed the kids' lunches, got them up, dressed, and breakfasted...then delivered to their prospective schools. Took a run to Fashion Bug (clothing store for fat ladies) but found that they didn't open until 10:00. Came home and unloaded the dishwasher and fielded a couple of phone calls. Set up an online account to pay the Comcast bill. Went back out to shop at Fashion Bug. (I need clothes!) Also stopped at Shoe Carnival. Then Wal-Mart for food. (Food?? Where am I supposed to put it? The pantry is full. The top of the fridge is full. The freezer is full. The problem is that we are buying more fresh veggies and low-cal food than we used to. It all takes up space!) By then it was 2:00. I started chopping veggies for a stir-fry. Picked up the children from Grandma Judy's, referee'd a fight or two, and went from there.
At one point, I realized that it was Monday and probably a Girl Scout meeting night. Yup! Took Robin to GS while Meg and Ryan went shopping for some things that Meg needed. At issue is the fact that Meg's debit card is missing. It's around here, somewhere.
Ryan's new soccer coach called tonight with the info on the spring schedule. Looks like we'll be splitting our time! We are trying to maintain a calendar so we all know what's up, but it gets tricky.
I have three more days of school before spring break, but I have to be honest and say I really don't want to have to go in. There are so many things to be done here that work seems to be a waste! (See how I am?)
Meg loaned me a new keyboard tonight...an "ergonomic" board that I am loving. Gotta get one of these!! Oh well...it's only money!
During spring break, Ryan will be going with Grandma Judy to Tennessee to his cousins'. Robin will be here with me. (Meg doesn't get a spring break.) I have to get a plan together. There are lots of opportunities. For example, Robin's GS troup is going to The Children's Museum. We'll get by!
WAAAY past bedtime. Hitting the sack shortly.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Gosh..
Has it been three days since my last post???? Where does the time go?
My students calmed down a bit after my last diatribe. Some get it. Some don't. At least I haven't come home angry every night since.
I am taking Monday off in order to get some paperwork done re: retirement. Since I wasn't able to get everything done for a sub before I left school today, I will have to go over the weekend. Ugh!
We took the children to Chuck E. Cheese's tonight as a reward for good behavior (mostly Ryan's). Meg was able to get off work about an hour early so we could beat the insanity....somewhat. Since they aren't going to Muncie until tomorrow noon, we tried to get the kiddos to clean rooms tonight, etc...which was somewhat unsuccessful. Robin is currently sleeping in my bed--just feet away--FINALLY. Robbie is a complex character, very much like her mother. That bugs her mother!!
Bedtime.
My students calmed down a bit after my last diatribe. Some get it. Some don't. At least I haven't come home angry every night since.
I am taking Monday off in order to get some paperwork done re: retirement. Since I wasn't able to get everything done for a sub before I left school today, I will have to go over the weekend. Ugh!
We took the children to Chuck E. Cheese's tonight as a reward for good behavior (mostly Ryan's). Meg was able to get off work about an hour early so we could beat the insanity....somewhat. Since they aren't going to Muncie until tomorrow noon, we tried to get the kiddos to clean rooms tonight, etc...which was somewhat unsuccessful. Robin is currently sleeping in my bed--just feet away--FINALLY. Robbie is a complex character, very much like her mother. That bugs her mother!!
Bedtime.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
I'm Ticked!
And the longer I think about it, the more ticked I get!
I have ONE student who pushes my buttons. Today, unprovoked and in the middle of class, he announced that his mother lives in Plainfield, so he intended to look me up in the phone book, ride his bike over here, and egg my house. In the same class period, ready for the dismissal bell, he managed to break a ceramic art project of another student. I'm done with him!
Meanwhile, grades were due today. Bonus points saved a lot of kids, unrealistically...but I basically don't care. I have 50 days left to care. Beyond that, I'm done!
All I want out of this spring is to keep the lid on. Ugh!
I have ONE student who pushes my buttons. Today, unprovoked and in the middle of class, he announced that his mother lives in Plainfield, so he intended to look me up in the phone book, ride his bike over here, and egg my house. In the same class period, ready for the dismissal bell, he managed to break a ceramic art project of another student. I'm done with him!
Meanwhile, grades were due today. Bonus points saved a lot of kids, unrealistically...but I basically don't care. I have 50 days left to care. Beyond that, I'm done!
All I want out of this spring is to keep the lid on. Ugh!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Ugh
This has been a "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" weekend. I shirked the things that really needed to get done in favor of what I wanted to get done. It is a beautiful day. I should have been working on things outside. Instead, I worked on things INside. My bedroom has been the source of my attention. Never mind that I have about 117 themes to grade and a whole yard to tend to...not to mention laundry and clutter. Grades are due Tuesday. Never mind about that, either! All I really want out of life is for everything to have a place to be...and for it to be in that place!
I have promised the grandchildren a swing set. I am somewhat torn between a traditional metal-pole deal (which is cheap) versus one that is more like a playland (which is more expensive and they will eventually outgrow). Gotta make a decision soon because I have to find someone to put it together and have it ready for good weather. And broken bones and bloody lips, etc. What am I thinking????
The children are over at the other grandparents' with Daddy and Kendra right now. Ahhhh....!
I have promised the grandchildren a swing set. I am somewhat torn between a traditional metal-pole deal (which is cheap) versus one that is more like a playland (which is more expensive and they will eventually outgrow). Gotta make a decision soon because I have to find someone to put it together and have it ready for good weather. And broken bones and bloody lips, etc. What am I thinking????
The children are over at the other grandparents' with Daddy and Kendra right now. Ahhhh....!
Friday, March 13, 2009
It's Me Again
We have had two half-days with students the last two days, with the remainder to be meetings. I was to meet with the other two English teachers at the middle school, but both have been absent. Thus, I departed early, came home, and took a nap both days. It has helped.
Today was designated as a day to do safety drills: lockdown, tornado, fire, earthquake, power outage, bomb threat. It was a "reverse schedule" day. My worst class was to be under my supervision for the biggest part. I was impressed by their behavior. They took it seriously. Imagine!
Then came the bomb threat deal. We were under Code Orange. Then I got a card that said we were to avoid a certain area during evacuation. I patiently waited for the word to evacuate. It didn't happen. Then we got the word to dismiss to the next class...and my students informed me that everyone was returning to school from the outside! Oops! Somehow, I had missed the fact that the PA would not be used to dismiss us because of feared bomb detonation. In short, in a real event, my students would have been in harm's way! I wasn't alone, but it didn't make me feel any better....
Meg drove Ryan to Muncie tonight.
Robin stayed here...her choice...to attend a birthday party tomorrow. She and her mommy got into a play-riot act tonight. It probably did both of them good!
Tomorrow is another day.
Waaayyyy late.
Today was designated as a day to do safety drills: lockdown, tornado, fire, earthquake, power outage, bomb threat. It was a "reverse schedule" day. My worst class was to be under my supervision for the biggest part. I was impressed by their behavior. They took it seriously. Imagine!
Then came the bomb threat deal. We were under Code Orange. Then I got a card that said we were to avoid a certain area during evacuation. I patiently waited for the word to evacuate. It didn't happen. Then we got the word to dismiss to the next class...and my students informed me that everyone was returning to school from the outside! Oops! Somehow, I had missed the fact that the PA would not be used to dismiss us because of feared bomb detonation. In short, in a real event, my students would have been in harm's way! I wasn't alone, but it didn't make me feel any better....
Meg drove Ryan to Muncie tonight.
Robin stayed here...her choice...to attend a birthday party tomorrow. She and her mommy got into a play-riot act tonight. It probably did both of them good!
Tomorrow is another day.
Waaayyyy late.
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