Don't you hate it when...

You are supposed to go to training all day for CPR and because you didn't carefully read the email sent out you get there an hour early?
You re-read through some of your blogs and you find a blaring grammatical or spelling error and you feel two-faced because you've been bitching about how poorly people write these days?
You got everything ready for a substitute and you spent the day worrying about how your classes are doing and if everything is going o.k.?
You get home and find out that your car insurance bill doubled because you had to go back to full coverage?
Your yard looks like a jungle and is way out of place with all the other nicely manicured lawns and both of your lawn mowers are broken?
The engine light comes on in your car AGAIN and you don't know why?

But on the good news front...
CPR training ended early, so I was home by 3:00 today.
I start RCIA classes in two weeks.
I don't live in a hurricane prone area.

I'm thinking.... I'm thinking... will get back to you on that.

Busy, busy

I'm sorry I haven't updated in the last couple of days. I've been really busy with school stuff. I spent the weekend grading journals. It was quite pathetic. You'd think that by high school that students could follow directions AND be able to write four complete sentences for each journal. Perhaps my standards are just too high or something.

I have to plan for a substitute on Wendnesday so I can go to CPR training all day. Planning for a sub takes a minimum of 3 days to plan and then a week to catch up. At least if any students pass out from seeing the grades they get on their papers, I can hopefully revive them.

Well, I've spent all evening working on more school stuff and now it's time for bed. That's all the exciting news in my world.

Teacher Nightmares

Well, they're starting again. I have those dreams where your class is out of control and you can't get control of it or there's that one student that you can't seem to get to behave. If you're a teacher, you know what I mean. Even when I quit teaching, I'd still have them every now and then; but I'm guessing now that I'm going back full time, they'll come more often. I've never really experienced those dreams in real life for the most part; the dreams are always worse. But I'd really rather dream of something a little more positive.
When I was working in the yearbook business, I'd have dreams once in a while that I'd forget to submit something important for a school and their books would come out wrong and I'd be blamed for it. I guess everyone in some fashion probably has their own work nightmares. Feel free to share yours here in my comments.

My Apologies

I apologize if I get too open with this post. You see, I decided to have a drink tonight. I don't know why other than it seemed like a bloody mary would taste really good while making enchiladas. And it was. And then I ran out of bloody mary mix, so I had a rum and coke or two. I know. I know. Drinking alone is bad. So sue me.
School is going as well as it can I guess. I had to make a new seating chart for one of my classes today and it seemed to really help.
I talked to Marty tonight. I initiated the conversation, but it was really nice to just chat with him. I think I'll eventually get to the point where we can be true friends. Well, I hope I can. I miss him as a friend. He's a great person and I love him for that.
I have a ton of papers to grade this weekend. I had students turn in their journals. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. Oh well. My plan is to have them graded and returned by Monday. I'll take several with me to the speech meeting that I have to go to tomorrow.
I have to get up early tomorrow which sucks. I was looking forward to sleeping in. I may have to talk myself into going to the 11:15 Mass on Sunday so I can sleep in some.
It's been interesting to check on my site statistics lately. When I click on the information it now shows what city people are located in or at least near. So it gets me wondering who's reading my blog from Lubbock; Lowell, Mass.; Saratoga, Ca.; Albuquerque, NM etc. If you're reading, drop me a line and let me know.
Well, I guess I haven't confessed too much. Not much to tell really. I haven't seen Brian online at all. Didn't hear from the lawyer. Still have my crush and am too shy to do anything about it at the moment.
Things are o.k. I guess. Can't complain too terribly much.

Football game

I went to the football game tonight to watch Josh play. The band did well, but only played a portion of their first song. Luckily, the pit has a big part in that.
The football game was o.k., but I kept getting annoyed by kids that were not carefully watched by their parents. You know... running up and down the stands and being obnoxious. I don't think I ever lot Josh behave that way. Of course my memory may be a bit faulty. But it is very irritating.
It's amazing how things have changed since I was in high school. The stadium I was in had a screen on the scoreboard where the action was shown close up and had slow motion instant replays. It was quite impressive. And then there's things that don't really change. It's the same students for the most part. The band is playing the same songs in the stands. It brings back such memories. Band was probably one of the happiest times of my life. I had great friends, a great deal of fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really miss it sometimes. I guess now I'll have to somewhat live vicariously through Josh.
Tonight will be a long night. I have to wait for the band to get back and Josh to call so I can pick him up. It sucks to have a football game on a Thursday night. Tomorrow I think I'm going to teach my classes how to play charades. The class periods will be shorter because of a pep rally and I think it will be pointless to try to do too much with them. A few of them need to finish the notes I gave today, but it shouldn't take too long.
I actually taught all day today and it's very tiring. I came home exhausted and tried to take a nap before going to the game but that didn't work. I guess when I do get to sleep, I should sleep well.

Just reporting in

I'm still alive and kicking. School is going fairly well, except for having to wing it a bit today since my printing wasn't finished. I have to take off a day next week and another day the week after that. I hate having a substitute. It usually makes for more work on my part. Work to prepare to leave materials for them and then work to catch up after being gone. But it's a part of teaching.

I got another letter from Prison Pete. This one was three pages typed. When I get a chance I'll write him back, but I don't have the time right now. Maybe this weekend. Well... maybe. I have to go to a speech meeting this weekend.

Josh has a game tomorrow. I have to hem his pants for him. Guess I better get busy on that pretty soon.

Still no news in the world of dating. But I'm still not worried about it. I've developed a little bit of a crush on someone though. And that's all I'll say about that.

Hip, Hip, Hooray!!

I can't believe they said yes. They didn't laugh in my face. O.k. it was just one guy, but I'm still amazed. The suspense is killing you, huh?
Well, I went to my bank today to finally ask about a loan to pay off my two big credit cards. And I'm getting it! I have to put my car down as collateral for a portion of it. But I'm really going to be able to get the loan. And I'll be out of debt in four years. Woooooo Hooooo!
It's saving me a little money, but not much since I have to go back to full coverage on my car. But in the long run I'll be so much better off.
So I called my friend, Pam, and we went to Applebee's to have a drink and an appetizer. It was nice to go out and visit with her.
School is going o.k., but my 4th period class is a bit on the rowdy side. I'm thinking a new seating chart may be in order for this class. Not sure yet. We'll see how things go during the presentations tomorrow.
Well, I have to get busy on some work for school. Will try to update more later.

Ready for another week

Where has the weekend gone? Oh yeah, I drove to Albuquerque and back... that's half of it right there. Today I went to church in the rain. Then I came home and proceeded to go back to bed and sleep off the effects of the zyrtec I took last night. I'm not sure how I made it through the service, but I guess the standing, sitting, kneeling kept me awake. I woke up sometime this afternoon and took Josh to Amarillo to get his hair cut. Finally. He's been growing it out since January and it was getting to be quite a mess. He has his grandfather's hair and it's dark brown, coarse, and a little wavy. It just kind of flew everywhere. Well, when he was told he'd have to put it in a pony tail for marching, he decided to get it cut. It looks really good now.
Then we went to lunch, came home and I procrastinated on getting school work done. I started some laundry but haven't put it in the dryer yet. I know you're fascinated by all of this. Well, I got some school stuff done and then it was time for the final episode of six feet under. Oh. My. God. Amazing show. It's not for everybody, but I really enjoyed the macabre series. Right after the show was over, my ex-husband called me. You see, I got him watching it when we were still together. We had a very nice visit and I'm glad we're still friends.

I've been giving some thought to the dating process. Basically it sucks trying to find someone that fits and I'm really thinking about trying to stop looking. O.k. I may never actually stop because when I do see an attractive man (in looks or personality or both) I automatically check to see if he's wearing a ring. But I'm thinking that perhaps trying to find love online is not the way it should be done. For me at least. I need to be patient. God help me. But I'm to a point where I'm o.k. with life right now and I'm not obssessing about having "someone" in my life. Sure, it would be nice, but I have other things to focus on and if Mr. Right should come along, it will be the icing on the cake.

O.k. that's my thinking this evening. We'll see if I still feel the same tomorrow, in a week and then next month. Well, gotta go finish getting my work done so I'll be ready for school tomorrow.

Quick Trip

Well, I made it back from my quick trip to Albuquerque. I left yesterday at 2:30 to go to my sister's wedding. It was a nice small ceremony. I'm still kind of surprised that she is married again, but she seems very happy and I hope things work out for her.
I slept in a bit this morning as I was out way past my recent bed times. I started having major allergy issues just before leaving and by the time I got home I was fairly miserable. I took an allergy pill when I got home and then slept for two hours. I'm up again and thought I was feeling a bit of relief, but now I'm sneezing again.
I need to hop in the shower and get ready to go to dinner with a friend of mine. And yes, he's just a friend. He's married and his wife is in Michigan. He's down here working on their house that they're trying to sell. He's heading back up there to go to school in a few days. I met them when I was doing theatre and they have become good friends.
I did finally hear from the lawyer. I guess it was the fact that he did get busy rather than blowing me off (which I basically assumed). I do get into trouble for assuming things a lot. I guess it's a leftover thing from dating guys that tended to disappoint me all the time. But I guess he picked up on the "break from dating" line and assumed that's what I meant. I don't even know what I mean any more. I don't know if I need to take a break. It's not really that I want to. I'm still interested in finding the right person and all of that, but am wondering if I am going about all of this the right way.
And am I so wrong in thinking that he wasn't interested? Isn't there a basic rule of dating that if a guy is interested, you should hear from him within a few days? Especially with the advent of technology and the ease of sending an email? I don't know. I guess I'm still new to this dating stuff and I do always tend to jump to conclusions. Bad me.
I survived my first week of school and it wasn't that bad. On Friday we took the kids to an assembly where Liz Murray who was the "homeless to Harvard" girl spoke. It was really interesting to hear her story. I hope that it sank into a few of the kids.

Things are getting better

Today I got my email working at the school. In spite of the technology guy that is SUPPOSED to be helping with all these things, I've pretty much gotten things to work on my own. I finally emailed someone with the right answers and was able to access my school email. Now I don't feel so in the dark about things.
My classes were really pretty good today. It was interesting because I even got some applause from them. I was explaining this shield that they had to create about themselves. It has sections on it where they are to fill in stuff like something they won't change their mind about, something they're trying to become etc. I created my own to give them an example. When I got to the part about becoming Catholic, a lot of the students seemed very pleased about that. One class even clapped. Yes, it's a very dominantly Catholic and Hispanic community, but it was nice to get their approval on that.
Tomorrow is a half day for the students. Teachers are supposed to have a work session at the admin building tomorrow afternoon, but I'll be heading to Albuquerque to my sister's wedding.
I left school by 4:15 this afternoon. So far I'm staying ahead of schedule. I do need to make some plans for next week, however. I'll work on that this weekend.
Completely off any kind of topic, I have three pairs of shoes at my feet right now. I tend to come in and get on the computer to check email and stuff and just kick my shoes off. This used to really bother Richard. Sometimes I'd have about 6-8 pairs of shoes out and around the house at any one time. And it's not a habit I could just break. Oh well. Now I ask potential mates if that would bother them.

Moving On

Well as best as I can. I'm getting settled in to my job. I've actually been staying ahead of the game and am prepared in my classes. But then again, it's only the first week of school. But for a procrastinator like me, I'm doing pretty well. I guess I'm getting into a routine of going to bed early and getting up early. I was in bed by 9:45 last night. I can't remember the last time I was in bed that early. But I've been falling asleep easily so that's a good thing. Getting up at 6-something isn't as bad as it used to be.
I never heard back from the lawyer I had lunch with on Sunday. Don't know if he's just gotten busy or isn't interested. But either way, that's o.k. Perhaps I just need to take a break from dating. I'm not certain I was ready in the first place. The good thing about going back to work like this is that I don't spend time thinking about things. I have the 30 minute drive to and from work, but even that seems to go by quickly. Oh, sure, I still think about Marty, but even he isn't at the forefront of my thoughts lately. I heard his grandfather isn't doing well though so I'm worried about him. Marty's grandparents mean a great deal to him and I'm sure being in Alaska is not helping.
I haven't heard much from Brian either. I guess he's busy too or he's still upset over the conversation on just being friends. Well, that doesn't bother me either. I think if and when I find the right relationship I'll know. Well, I hope I do. I thought I knew with Marty and I guess I was mistaken on that one. Therefore I have that problem with trusting my heart, but hopefully I'll get that back some day.

Day Two

Well, I survived another day teaching high school. It wasn't bad at all. My worst class is 4th period, right after lunch and is all freshmen. It's also one of my largest classes. Some of my other classes are fairly small having only 12-13 students each. So far I think high school is far better than junior high... but it is still early.
I'm still frustrated by the fact that I can't log on to the computers. I keep complaining but nobody seems to be listening. Maybe I should start shouting.
I found out today that Friday is half a day for the students and the morning will be spent at an assembly. I had already scheduled to have a substitute on Friday afternoon and had to have that cancelled. My sister's wedding is this Friday.
I had to take Josh to Walmart today to get more school supplies. I can't believe how expensive school is getting. One teacher requires a 3 inch binder. Can you imagine needing to save that much stuff for one class? I have a 3 inch binder that hold all my teaching materials for several different classes.
Well, it's my bed time now and I need to head to bed.

I made it

Well, I made it through the first day. I didn't have any problems so that was a good thing. The student I was worried about wasn't even there yesterday. (Got a report on him beforehand)
This week is going to be exhausting, but I guess I'll manage. My afternoons are very long with 4 classes in a row right after lunch. And it's weird that some classes are full with 22-24 students and others only have 13-14 students. Well, I gotta head to school... just wanted to give you a quick update.

Tomorrow is it!

Lord, help me. Lord, help my students. All I ask is to let me have a good day.

I'm not sure that I'm ready. I have enough to get through the first day. Not certain about the rest of the week, but going to wing it a bit. I finally have book that I can start teaching from and haven't had much of a chance to go through it much. I'll probably use it to some degree, but create my own way of teaching the material. I wish I didn't have to rely on sending my stuff out to be copied. It's making things difficult.

I have no idea what I'm wearing tomorrow, but I did do laundry and organize my closet today. I bought a few new things, but may save them for later in the week. I do need to go to bed soon so I'll get enough rest and be able to leave for school early.

My date today was nice. We had lunch at a mexican restaurant. It was very good. We talked for about two hours. I'm not sure what to think of him except that he seems nice. Can't tell if there's sparks yet, but if he asks me out again, I'd probably go.

Well, I'm off to bed. If you happen to be reading this on Monday and feel the need, you could say a little prayer to help get me through my day.

Is it Saturday Already

I can't believe that school starts on Monday. I still have so much to do and yet I haven't accomplished much today. I was up late last night chatting with Brian. I'm sure I've upset him, but I told him that I felt the distance and the issues with his job is making pursuing something impossible. We are still friends and perhaps we'll still go out from time to time, but I'm not going to limit myself to a relationship at this point. When it's right I'll know and until then I'll just keep trying people on.
I'm going to try to get my house back to normal and clean now that the garage sale is over. I still need to pack the stuff in the garage up, but I've moved it all to the side for now. I'd like to start school with a clean house so I won't have to worry about it next week.
I've already had to schedule a substitute for half a day next Friday. I'm leaving to go to my sister's wedding in Albuquerque.
Well, I better get busy if I'm going to get anything done.

A Break at Last

Well, at least somewhat of a break. I do get to sleep in tomorrow. But sometime tomorrow, I do have to go back up to the school and take some of my big pieces of furniture up there. My friend, Derek, has agreed to bring his truck and help me. My room has barely any place for storage so I'm taking at least one of my sets of shelves. I still don't have the extra tables I need for students so I think I may take some of the extras that I have in my garage. I really don't need them now that I've had the garage sale.
I finally got keys to my room and the outside door. I still need another key for my cabinet that has a lock on it and I need to be able to log into the computer. I guess it's a good thing that we don't have to take attendance on the computer the first day. I didn't leave until 6:00 this evening and I'm feeling completely exhausted. I hope I can stay up long enough to at least watch Monk tonight.
I still have a ton of things to do this weekend, but I'm going to try to put school stuff on hold for at least tonight. My head is swimming with school stuff and I'm too tired to think about it all.
I thought I was going to see Brian tonight but he once again is unable to make it. And I'm not really upset. I've pretty much decided that this kind of relationship is impossible... at least for me. I want someone that I can see a little more often than every month or so. I'm not sure what's going on in his head, but I've already been looking at other options. I may even have a date with someone else planned for Sunday. So far this new guy seems pretty nice. I've talked to him on the phone a couple of times. He did send me an email stating he thought that I didn't sound as interested in meeting as I did before, but I think it may have just been the fact that I've been distracted with work lately. So I hope I do get to meet him. And if not, well, I guess I'll keep looking. Or maybe I shouldn't look so much. Yeah, I say that all the time, but I just can't help it. I like dating and I still want to find the right person for me. I know, I know... I should leave it up to God and let him handle it all... but it's easier said than done, you know?

Work, work, work

Well, yesterday was probably the most beneficial of all inservice days thus far. I still don't have keys to my room, nor can I log on to the computer, however. But I did get all the basic information about school policies etc. Today is a full teacher work day. I'm going to try to get my room together as much as I can today.
I'm really exhausted from actually having to get up at 6-something in the mornings and "work" all day until 4:00. I know I shouldn't really complain because right now it's not like I'm actually doing a lot of "work". It's just taking some getting used to.
My apologies for the boring state of my blog right now. I'll try to find more interesting things to write about soon.

Somewhat more productive

Well today was a little better. This morning was a bit boring as we had a "professional" speaker talk to us. But it was the same message about what we need to do as educators... but nothing about HOW to do it. I went with my friend Stephanie to lunch at K-Bob's because I had a $10 gift certificate.
When I got back at 1:00 I had the custodian let me in my room. (Since I still have no keys) I unloaded my stuff that I had. Another teacher in the building was kind enough to let me borrow a dolly. I put up the materials I had, moved a desk into my office and then worked on my speech materials that still needed to be sorted.
At 3:45 I tried to check on getting some keys, but the office of my building had already closed. I then visited with my mentor teacher about lesson plans and what-not. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about my first week of lessons because I don't think I can get copies of materials back by the first day. I guess I'll wing it.
Tomorrow and Thursday I won't get to be in my room at all. I think I'll make plans to go up there on Saturday and see if I can get someone to help me take some shelves up there and possibly the extra filing cabinet that I have.
I have more to share, but think it will be told in the other blog.

Wasted

No, I don't mean drunk wasted. Just a bit of another wasted day at work. Got to school at 8 a.m. and we began our meeting around 8:20. Spent some time going over goals and whatnot for the year. Then we had breakout sessions that covered things like TAKS guidelines (which don't really apply to me), school policies (which was only a very quick overview), school discipline (again another brief overview), and then more stuff on goals and expectations. Then it was time for lunch. Went to a chinese buffet with my mentor teacher. It wasn't bad. The afternoon was to be a work day. Couldn't get keys to my room so I came back to the main building with my mentor teacher and she found out that she couldn't access her "I" drive which had all her teaching materials on it. I got some basic information from her, but nothing much really. Then she took me back over to the other building so I could "work" in my room. Well, still couldn't get keys, but my office door was open. So I gathered up all the extra "stuff" that was in my room (old books, cables, etc) and then hooked up the computer that was there. Couldn't log on. Then I sat and worked on a list of stuff to bring and do. I started reading the book that was given to us today. Around 3:45 I went back to the office to see about keys and what could be done with the extra stuff. Was told that another teacher had the keys but couldn't find me... hello... where else would I be but in the room??? Then I talked to the computer guy of sorts and was told that I have new computers, but they haven't been hooked up and that it's going to be a pain to get rid of all the stuff in my room and then there was a discussion with the technology director about me being in that room and now it's kind of up in the air as to what room I'm going to be in. So tomorrow I have no idea where I'm supposed to be. So I finally walk back over to the other building at 4:00 and somehow I miss the person that I rode with so I spend another 15 minutes trying to locate her (since I didn't have her cell number). It was a frustrating day where I didn't get much accomplished. I hope tomorrow is better.

Back to School

Well, it's getting to be that time again. School starts for me tomorrow. I have inservice all next week. The first day of school will be the 15th. Josh doesn't start until the 16th. I took Josh shopping today to take advantage of the tax-free weekend. Got him enough stuff to get him started including a new pair of shoes. Luckily most of the stuff was on sale.
I'm taking my camera to church tonight and will try to get some pictures of it and post them on here. It truly is a very beautiful church. Now I think it's time for a nap. I think I still need to catch up on the sleep I missed the other night.

Hallelujah and I'm a Genius

I'm back online. I've been having serious withdrawals from the computer. I guess I'm addicted huh? My name is Jennifer and I'm an internetaholic. My brother brought my computer back today and I finally backed up some files that I wanted and have now reinstalled windows. I then also had to reinstall the wireless driver and card and now I'm finally connected to the net. But I won't be on much tonight because I'll be going to bed very shortly. I'm in a state of total exhaustion combined with a miserable case of allergies.
The garage sale is over and it was a pretty good success. I brought in a little over $200 and that is without selling the freezer. I will put an ad in the paper for the freezer and see if I can get rid of it that way. There's still some stuff left and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rest. Probably pack it up and give it to charity. But overall I can't complain and am happy with the results. But I am completely dog tired. I was up until 4:30 finishing getting most of it ready and then went to bed for 2 hours (though, I'm not sure I slept) and was ready to open my door at 7:30 this morning. And now tonight I've been bombarded with major allergies and am in a state of misery at the moment. I will be going to bed soon after this post is finished.
Friday at work was dull and the only thing that was truly useful was the information on health insurance. My head was swimming with all the information and I have to make a decision about that soon. Tomorrow will be the first service in the new church building and tomorrow evening there will be an evening prayer and I'll be singing in the choir.. God help me. Really. I need it.
Well, that's a brief update on my life and I'll try to post as regularly as I can. It's good to be back.

My Good Deed for the day

I rescued a bunny rabbit last night. My cat brought in. I had just gotten in bed when I heard a very strange screaming sound. I thought it might be a bird or something. So I ran into the living room and saw a rabbit run across the floor. I yelled for Josh to come and keep the animals back and then I cornered the rabbit in the kitchen. I picked it up and noticed they had basically started the skin in. It was very sad... but it was still o.k. I had Josh get one of the pet crates from the garage and put the rabbit in it until I could take it to the vet. This morning I called this vet that will rescue such animals and took it to them. Once they release it back in the wild, it may not make, but I think it deserves a chance and I certainly didn't want my cats to eat it for dinner.
I'm almost done sorting the garage sale stuff. I actually had a customer today that stopped by and when I told her I was setting up for Saturday she said she wouldn't be here. I told her she could look around but I didn't have anything priced. I ended up making $6.20.
Today I'm going up to the school to check out my room. Tonight I'll begin pricing everything and finish on Friday evening. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll have my house back to "normal" and everything out of my garage. What doesn't sell is going to be boxed up and sent to charity.
My first day back to work is tomorrow. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Wish me luck!

Still Alive and Kicking

Well, I'm still not finished with going through all the boxes, but am much closer. Most of what's left is toys. Unfortunately the weather report indicates that we could get rain this weekend so I'm really trying to figure out how to get everything set up INSIDE the garage if necessary. I already have 8 tables set up and a row of shelves along the wall and it's getting packed quickly. Oh well, I guess I'll figure it out eventually.
I didn't get much done yesterday because I spent most of the time reading the 6th Harry Potter book. It was very, very good and I won't give any spoilers, but I'm not sure I can wait 2 years for the 7th book.
I'm going up to the school this week to check out my room. I have an acquaintance that works there and she called to invite me to go up with her. I found that I have a room in the new building which means it should be a nice modern room with the computer drops that were requested. Now whether or not I'll have computers will be another story.
I'm still talking to Brian, but it's not daily. It's been over 3 weeks since I've seen him. I am keeping other options open and have begun conversing with another guy through a different personals site. Can't say much yet as we've just began exchanging emails. But we'll see.
On the good news front my brother called to tell me that my old computer actually does work and there was just a loose wire that caused the computer to not come on. Hopefully soon I'll have my own computer back to get me by temporarily. He says it sounds like the hard drive wants to quit, so I'm still looking into the possibility of getting a laptop at some point.

Good-bye for a little while

I have to give my laptop back this afternoon, so this may be my last post for a little while. My brother took my old computer last night to see if he can get it working again. I will check my email from time to time so if you want to get in touch with me, that would be the best way to do it until I can get another computer going here. This will be an interesting situation as I tend to rely on an internet connection a lot. So be patient. I'll be back. I just don't know when at this point.