sick and tired

Of being sick and tired. Josh stayed home from school today with a cold. I think he has been nice enough to give it to me. I started feeling a sore throat at the end of school today and this evening I've just gone down hill. I feel really tired and just blah. My chest feels heavy and I just want to go to bed.

I spent all day at school working on my budget and determined that we're running out of money fast. I'm making adjustments so that I can save some money and have enough to give some camp scholarships at the end of the year. I'm thinking of calling off the tournament that is tentatively planned for next weekend because that will save us a ton of money. I've also made the decision that I will only pay for the first entry for NFL district. There simply isn't enough money to pay for the extra events at $30 to $50 a pop.

I'm tired of the weather too. I wish I could send all the snow over to my friend Andrew. He would love it. I wish I had more to share, but I'm just simply exhausted and cannot focus very well. I played auditor and travel agent all day today. Well, I know it's early, but I'll probably head to bed soon.

Just busy and tired

Sorry for no post yesterday. It's not like I had a lot to say. Went to school and found out that the library was not returned to satisfactory condition. I profusely apologized to the librarian and sent some students down to straighten things up. Then I had a scare at lunch time. A teacher came and told me that a laptop had been stolen out of her room. It was a room we ended up not using, but had been opened in the morning because it was on the original list I had given the custodians. I put the word out to the schools in attendance and then during the next class she called to let me know that it had been found. It turns out that my students were on the ball and they had checked the room and saw that the laptop was out and they put it in a closet for safe-keeping. Overall the tournament went well and everyone was satisfied. We ended up clearing a little over $2000 after our expenses. Not too bad, but it could have been a little better.

I haven't been able to get much done it seems. As soon as I finish something, there's something else beckoning. I am way behind on grading papers and I have so many upcoming trips to plan for. You have to fill out several pages just to get approval to go on a trip and with it include all the estimated costs of the travel expenses. It's not difficult, but it is time-consuming. I stayed after school today and started sorting through the stacks of papers that were on and surrounding my desk.

I forgot to mention earlier that we took care of Josh's citation. The fine was going to be $175 if we just paid it and $275 for deferred adjudication. But we were able to get away with a $96 fee for court costs and Josh will just have to take defensive driving. After he takes the course, the citation will be removed from his record. That made me feel a lot better. Now I just have to deal with the damage to the car and we're playing phone tag with the insurance company so far. Who's hours are only 8-4?

Josh isn't feeling well today. He has either major allergies or a cold and he called me so I could pick up some kleenex, medicine and popcicles on my way home. I just hope he doesn't give it to me. I don't want it!

I should be grading papers right now, but I just can't make myself do it. I guess I'll just do some laundry, catch up on blogs, and go to bed early. Maybe I'll take my shower this evening so I can sleep in just a bit tomorrow morning.

Brief Posting

The tournament went very well. It got off to a slow start due to a stupid mistake on my part, in addition to some late schools and stupid debaters. But we ended up catching up on time and ended on time. I didn't have any major problems but I ran my ass off. By the end of the day my body was sore, my feet hurt and I was exhausted. At the awards ceremony my kids gave me a bouquet of flowers which are beautiful. When I go back to school tomorrow, I'll take a picture of them. I left them there because I thought I would enjoy them more seeing them all day. (And it's nice to show them off) In my haste to leave the tournament I forgot my laptop at the school. I took it up there in order to have it as a back up computer in case ours had problems. After the tournament I went out to eat with my kids and then came home. I slept late and went to the late mass this morning. I was going to go back to Hereford and get my laptop, but my dad called and wanted Josh and I to come out to the shop. He wanted to see the damage on the car and give Josh some money to be able to finally buy his iPod. So we went out there and got the money. We came home and I had some lunch and then laid down for a brief nap. My ex-husband called me and we talked for a bit, then Josh and I went to Walmart and just got home. This will be the only post until I get my laptop back tomorrow. I had to borrow Josh's computer to do this. I'm going to try to read a few quick blogs if I can before he wants his computer back. Otherwise, I'll have to catch up on the adventures of my fellow bloggers tomorrow.

Checking In

I got home around 9:30 tonight and then had to go to Walmart in search of stop watches. I had no luck finding them. But on the good news, my wallet was found with everything in it. I had left it in the suburban. I think I'm ready for the tournament tomorrow. I intended on doing several little things tonight, but it's just not going to happen. I have to leave the house by 5:45 a.m. so I really need to get to bed. I still have to find my speech shirt to wear tomorrow and I'm going to start the VCR to record Monk & Psych. (I know, I need Tivo) Well, time for me to attempt to get some rest... yeah, right... like I'm really going to sleep tonight and not have tournament nightmares.

Psychic?

Just this morning I pondered the idea of putting the extra $100's that I got from my uncle into my wallet since I figured Josh and I would be going to the police station today to deal with his ticket. I decided not to put the money in there because I thought to myself "What if something happens to my wallet?" I put the money back keeping the $100 and a few ones that I already had in there. And now I can't find my wallet.
I cannot figure where it might have gone. I called the restaurant that we ate at today and they hadn't had one turned in. I might have left it in the school vehicle we took, but I can't find out until tomorrow. I really thought it was somewhere in my room, but I looked twice and didn't see it. I could have left it at the location where the competition was, but I don't know why I would have had it out at that time. On the good news front, nothing extra has been charged on my card that I can tell so hopefully it hasn't been stolen and I'll find it at some point. But in the mean time it's driving me CRAZY. I hate not having my wallet. It's my life. I have my bank card, driver's license and gas credit cards in there along with my insurance cards. It will suck if I have to cancel all of those and get new ones.
The competition was successful for a couple of my students today. Two of them qualified to go to the state competition in April. The other two are alternates at this point. I didn't get back in time to go with Josh to get his citation dealt with. I told him we'd go during his lunch break tomorrow which means I have to come back to town during my conference/lunch period. I was planning to get the tournament supplies at that time, but oh well.
I stayed at the school until 7:20 this evening trying to get things done. I think I'm really close... but there's still a lot of little things to get done. Well, I guess I'll go figure out what to have for dinner since I can't go pick something up now.

And some good news!

I bit the bullet and decided to file my taxes online. I've always been a do it myself kind of person and have submitted tax returns on paper, mailed them, and waited for a check to arrive. I don't necessarily need the money right away, but I figure it would be good to have and perhaps I could save it for something else... maybe a coaster trip this summer??? Wooo Hooo! Of course all this is dependent on whether I have students that qualify for Nationals and if Josh wants to go to band camp in Nacogdoches. I'm just glad that I might have the means to at least go somewhere.
My refund will be in the vincinity of about $1900. That's about $400 more than last year... so I can't complain at all. Last year I used it to buy my laptop. I'm not sure what else I really want or need. I could get a new stove top for my kitchen and a new floor, but I'll have to think about it some. As soon as I make plans for the money, I'm sure something else will come up like major plumbing problems or something.
Oh well... I just wanted to share the good news and show that I was at least somewhat productive this evening.

What? Free time on my hands?

O.k. I don't know if I should really use the word "free" but I am actually home at a decent hour. I only had one student stay after school today and he could only stay a few minutes. I had to leave early in order to get to the bank and cash the checks I needed for our tournament and student lunches tomorrow. Now I'm home and not sure what to do. Oh sure, I could do the dishes... but I think I'm going to pass. Josh and I are going to go out to eat tonight. I have to see if I can get my car out of the driveway and then get air in one of my tires. The snow is starting to melt. I'm still staying hopeful that we're not going to get any new snow until Sunday at least.
We got our replacement trophies in yesterday so all is well in that department. I have had to adjust room assignments a bit because of teacher requests, but so far it hasn't been too bad. I have probably 70% of my judges entered into the tournament software program. I need to enter room assignments and enter the judging assignments. I have them figured, just have to get them in the program. I am only short four judging spots at this time. I'm really aiming to not have to use any of our coaches during the tournament.
I have to figure out something for my comm app class to do tomorrow when I'm gone to the speech competition. I really thought they would need more time to finish their request letters, but they are actually getting it done. I'm really amazed.
Tomorrow Josh and I have to go figure out what his citation will cost. I also need to get supplies for the tournament, but may do that Friday morning.
Well, gotta get ready for dinner. I'll try to report back tomorrow.

When will I get a break?

To answer Summer's question... I'll get a break during spring break in mid-March.
Here's the schedule until then:
Tonight - judges meeting
Thursday (during school) - Bus Safety speech competition.
This weekend - hosting our speech tournament.
Next weekend - Tascosa Speech tournament
3rd weekend - Midland tournament
4th weekend - All-state band in San Antonio - leaving Friday returning Sunday.
End of Feb/First of March is TFA State in Dallas (Wed-Sun)
The following Saturday will be the first day of spring break and that's when I'll get a break!
Until then I've resigned myself to the fact that the house will remain a mess. We'll do dishes and laundry on an as needed basis.

Hell Week

Well, it's officially begun. Hell week is here. It's the week before our tournament. Tonight I was at the school until 6:00 working on stuff. I had students stay after school for an hour to call judges and let them know their judging assignments. I worked on finishing the judges packets that need to be printed- by tomorrow. I hope the print shop can do a rushed job. We were supposed to have a parent meeting tonight but I cancelled it because of the weather. Instead I put the information for them on the web. I also finalized all the judging information on our website as well. I'm pretty thrilled with our technologically advanced team.

I didn't have time to cook so I picked up dinner which took forever it seems. I had to wait several minutes to place my order and then several more to actually get it. I got home and scarfed down dinner and then had to take Josh to play practice. The roads are still horrible in town. The highway is pretty clear for the most part with a few patches of ice here and there. I am going to earnestly pray for some warmth to hit so it melts this stuff away. If you are so inclined, I would also appreciate any prayers for good weather this coming weekend. I would hate to put all this work into our tournament and then not get to have it.

I hope our trophies arrive in time. I'm worried that the weather issues might have slowed down the transit. I will be at school late the rest of this week. Tomorrow is a judges meeting. Wednesday & Thursday will be last minute work and then Friday will be setting up for the tournament. Saturday will get here before I know it. I just hope things go well. It's kind of scary. This is my first tournament to run all by myself. And it's a TFA qualifying tournament which has a whole heap of issues piled on top of everything else. But hopefully it will be a good money-maker for us.

After I took Josh to rehearsal I had to boil water again to unfreeze the laundry pipe. I'm ready for summer. How much longer?

Arizona sounds good

I hate winter. Andrew-I would trade locations with you in a heartbeat right now. Now, I shouldn't complain too much. Generally our winters are fairly mild. But for whatever reason we have had quite a bit of frozen stuff this year. The most recent storm left about 7 inches where I live. This morning I spent 45 minutes shoveling the driveway and the car. I ended up taking the Honda since it's higher off the ground and some of the snow is still pretty thick. The roads are still horrible. I made it to church on time and then afterwards went to Walmart in order to get a real snow shovel. I used just a basic garden shovel this morning which sucked. As soon as I got there I realized that I didn't bring my wallet. So I came home got my wallet and headed just down the street to ACE hardware. Of course they didn't have any shovels. So I headed to the other small hardware store located on the square and it was closed on Sunday. I then came back home and decided that I would finish the shoveling tomorrow. Maybe then I can actually get my car out. Until the roads clear more, I'm not going to let Josh drive. I'll take his car in the morning.

So I came home, had lunch, watched t.v. and took a nap. Then I started some work on tournament stuff. I needed to wash clothes for tomorrow so I put them in the washer. I started dinner and just as it was about finished I heard water rushing into the garage. I rushed out and shut the washer off. It turns out that the way my dad rigged the washer drainage situation was not in state of brillance. It's too complex for me to explain but it boils down to it being frozen and so the water had no where to go except back into the garage. I ended up boiling some water and pouring down the drain pipe which seemed to do the trick at least temporarily.

Now I've got more work to do, but I've got a good start on things thankfully. Well, I better quit writing here and get busy.

Just a little snow

Same angle as last night's shot. It looks like it hasn't stopped snowing at all. Guess we're going to be home for a while. The shot below is our cars in the driveway. Andrew... I wish you were here so we could go make snow angels in the backyard and eventually make a snowman.

For Andrew

Well... we're getting snow... again. I'm sure I'll be able to get better pictures tomorrow, but these are for my friend Andrew who rarely gets to see it. We're supposed to get quite a bit. I went to the store tonight to stock up so we have enough to get through a few days. I'm sure that school won't be cancelled on Monday... imagine that.

I'm slowly getting caught up on my tournament stuff. I'm still worried about the numbers in some of my events, but we'll see what happens next week. I did bring stuff home to work on this weekend. I got most of the judges scheduled and we're a few short, but hopefully those will get covered in next week.

I was so happy that the new season of Monk started tonight and I was actually home to watch it! I also watched Psych which is another great show.

I'm generally feeling better, but now I have a watery eye problem. Well, at least I can crash tonight and sleep in tomorrow. I'm just going to stay curled up under the covers most of the weekend.... getting out only to check email, read blogs and get food.

Eh...

I came to school today. I didn't particularly want to, but I wasn't feeling quite as bad as yesterday, although I'm still not 100%. I went to bed last night at 7:30. Can you believe it? I was just so tired and couldn't keep my eyes open. I started watching CSI around 7:10 and was dozing off by 7:30 so I turned the t.v. off. I didn't get up until 6:30 a.m. this morning.

I'm trying to get my tournament stuff worked out, but there's just not a lot that I can do until next week. I don't know my final numbers so I can't really determine how many ballots I'll need. There are still schools that haven't entered. The only thing I really can do is start entering our judge information which I do need to get done.

Well, I'm finished with lunch so I better get busy with other things.

Blech!

I feel terrible. I didn't sleep well because I started having issues with my throat last night. When I woke up I didn't want to get out of bed and just felt pretty blah. I trudged on and went to school and have not felt good all day. I don't have a fever, but I feel achy with what feels like swollen tonsils. It kind of feels like the beginning of strep throat which stinks. I wasn't sure how I would feel in the morning so I went ahead and left substitute plans at the school just in case. It's a bad time to get sick, but if it gets worse, I'm going to the doctor because it's certainly better to do it now than be really, really sick next week before our tournament.

We unpacked our tournament trophies today and discovered that about half of them were completely wrong in size and their tops. 2nd place trophies were taller than 1st & 3rd place which were the same size. I emailed the company and am waiting to hear what we need to do about it.

Driving home today was the pits. I just wanted to curl up in bed. I made a quick bite to eat (Easy Mac & Cheese), took some tylenol and I'm going to be in bed very soon.

Books

To answer Betzy's question about the books I read on the trip....

The first book I read was Anyone but You by Jennifer Crusie. I discovered Jennifer Crusie's books a few years ago and I've enjoyed them. They're mostly your basic romance novel, but still pretty decent.

The second book and the one that made me cry was For One More Day by Mitch Albom. It was an amazing book and I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it and I think that Andrew would especially enjoy it. I love this author. I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven a few years ago and have re-read it since. I'm thinking about using it in my speech classes at some point. Both are must reads. I haven't read Tuesdays with Morrie yet, but I'm sure I will at some point.

The third book was Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. I have really enjoyed this author's books. The heroine is usually a woman that struggles with her weight which makes the books more realistic to me. I've read all four of her books now and I would recommend them to my female readers. Sure, guys you can read them too, but they're books that deal with more female issues. The movie In Her Shoes was from her second book.

The last book was Gone by Lisa Gardner. I just happened upon this author a while back and for a mystery/suspense book, I've found her books to be quite intriguing.

I also bought The DaVinci Code. I know, I know... I'm behind the times by not having read it. I also know that Catholics in general don't like the book because it gives a false idea of the religion, etc... but I think you have to take things like this with a grain of salt and realize that it's just fiction. So I may jump on the band wagon and get it read at some point.

Sorry Andrew

I was going to try to get a picture of the snow for you, but by the time I got home most of it had melted away. Last night I got in too late to take a decent picture, but the frost on the trees was really beautiful. The thing about snow here is that we may get it, but usually it's gone again fairly quickly. The streets in town last night and this morning were pure sheets of ice. Now most of it is gone with a few icy patches and slush here and there. Hereford wasn't nearly as bad as it was here. Their streets were pretty clear.

I got home today and was finally able to survey the damage to Josh's car. It's not great, but it's not too bad. It could be a lot worse. The problem is that he is supposed to appear in court by the 26th and he is in school every day and I never get home until almost 5:00. I'm not sure that I want him to go by himself.

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at school. I have to teach classes and get ready for our upcoming tournament along with all the other things we have to do as teachers. Oh well... this will pass soon enough. Just two more weeks.

I have to head to the store and figure out what we're going to do for supper this evening.

I'm finally home

What a trip. I think for the most part it was worth it. My uncle paid me well - a lot more than expected. That will come in handy when it comes to the costs of Josh's incident. I wasn't sure if I'd make it back to Amarillo with the weather, but we didn't have any problems other than leaving Orlando late. We didn't get to Amarillo until 7:00. The weather is clear here and really cold but the streets in town are horrible. I really do not want to go to school tomorrow.

I ended up reading four books on my trip. I bought a 5th just in case, but didn't get to it. I finished the 4th book about 20 minutes before we landed in Amarillo. On the way home I had to go by my dad's and pick up a check from him. He's loaning me the money to pay off my last credit card. Then I had to fill my car with gas. I then went to Sonic to pick up dinner. I didn't get home until around 8:45. Now it's just about bed time for me.

Home Soon

I'm down to my last 15 minutes of internet service. I'll post again once I get home tomorrow evening. So far it's been an uneventful day for me. I ran credit cards, made change, kept track of orders and kept a database of business card contacts. I also finished my book and played a game of rollercoaster tycoon. We ordered pizza for lunch and now it's about time to leave to go to dinner. We're going to try to get our boarding passes printed this evening which I hope will give me and "A" boarding pass. I would rather sit in a window seat. Well, I hope everyone is having a good day and that most of you aren't freezing to death. I'm not looking forward to getting back to 16 degrees.

For my dear readers that like read daily

I apologize for the lack of posts. As you probably have guessed I didn't have internet access. The stupid hotel doesn't have it (what hotel doesn't have it these days??) but they do have a business center--that I would have to drive to. The convention center has wireless, but it's not free. But since I'm a complete internet addict I bit the bullet and paid for service today because I must blog! And read blogs! And check my email! And whatever else!

So there are three new posts below... I did write even though I couldn't post. I will only be able to post, read and access stuff today as I'm only paying for one day (at $24.95). Well, now I'm off to read what has been going on in everyone else's world.

Random Thoughts I've had on this trip

If you have a blessed chest and you’re wearing a shirt that you have to constantly pull up in order to avoid your nipples showing what is the point in wearing it in the first place?

I am hypocritical when I say this, but I can’t stand listening to people snore. I know that I snore when I sleep, but I sleep alone (other than the pets) and so nobody has to deal with me. But I hate having to hear somebody like say on an airplane snoring away for three hours. One of my carpool people does it as well on the way to school sometimes and it really grates on my nerves. Is that bad of me to say that?

I wonder why I don’t read more. I do love reading when I actually get to do it but I only do it when I have large blocks of time. I hate starting and stopping a book. I get into them when I read and I like to read as much as possible and often finish a book in a day (or more if they’re short) The last Harry Potter book did take a couple of days though and I had to start and stop it quite a bit. I brought three books with me. I’ve finished two of them and am working on the third. Luckily this one is quite a bit longer so I probably won’t finish it until tomorrow (Saturday). I’ll have to get another one for the trip home.

Why wouldn’t a fancy resort have wireless internet? It seems everybody and their dog has it these days. I am currently writing this in Word because I have no internet access. I can connect at the Convention Center for $25 a day. I will probably break down and get online tomorrow (Saturday). I am totally and completely internet addicted. That’s something I really should give up for Lent but I honestly don’t know how I’d do as it’s also a big part of my work at school.

There really is no place like home. I do like being able to get away and go on vacations from time to time, but I’m really pretty much a homebody. I worry too much. I think about my animals and Josh and my house. And I like my own bed.

In which my son causes me grief

This whole driving thing is a blessing and a curse. I love the fact that I no longer have to play chauffer at all hours. I’m glad Josh doesn’t have to walk to school any more. I hate that my insurance has now tripled (I think based on what the agent told me, though my first real payment will come this month). But I still worry about him and today it was justified. I got a call from my insurance agent this morning needing Josh’s social security number. I gave it to him and then he said the other part… “Am I aware that Josh had an accident that morning?” Oh geez. I was not. I guess it wasn’t serious as Josh didn’t call me and I heard it first from my agent. I called Josh immediately afterwards and he told me about it.. and it was his fault (though I’m still not clear on what actually happened). He received a citation so in addition to my insurance probably doubling now (which does that make it now 3/5ths or 2/3rds more than before… oh well, I’m not a math person) he will probably have a huge fine. I think it’s time the boy gets a job. I’m not mad; I know these things happen. I wrecked my dad’s truck when learning to drive… luckily it wasn’t bad and I just went into a ditch and dented it. I’ve also had my share of close calls and others running into me. I just figured it would be a while.. and it makes me think that I was a bad teacher or bad parent because I didn’t give him enough instruction to avoid such things. I probably should have just found a way to pay for a regular driver’s ed course, but when you compare a $20 home taught thing to a $300 actual course… there’s not much choice in our world. So do I make him use his Christmas money to pay for the ticket or do I let him go ahead and get the iPod he’s been wanting. Of course this is all speculation on my part, but I’m contemplating the financial ruin at this point. I don’t want to be a parent that bails him out and I think he should be responsible for it, but he doesn’t have a job and I don’t give him an allowance. I simply pay for things that he needs (like clarinet reeds and lessons) and give him money when he asks to go to the movies and such. I worry about him getting a job because I don’t want him overburdened and I don’t want his grades or extra-curricular activities to suffer. Ah the joys of parenting!

And I thought I was so smart

I got up Thursday morning and had a brilliant idea. Instead of risking my shampoo exploding, I would just carry my make-up bag with me instead of packing it in my suitcase like I normally do. It’s fairly small, no biggie. I was already wearing my comfy, yet practical shoes you can slip right off for the x-ray machine at the airport. I decided to not wear a jacket, but took a light one in my suitcase so I wouldn’t have to deal with it on the plane. I left in plenty of time to get to the airport. I parked and went in to get my boarding pass. When I got it, it was labeled “B” and suddenly I remembered that I should have printed it the night before. Oh well… at least I wasn’t in the “C” group. When I started going through security, almost up to taking my shoes off, I was reminded of the new travel rule concerning liquids. In my infinite wisdom of not packing my toiletries in my suitcase, I was breaking the rules. My stuff was more than 3 ounces and I didn’t have a plastic baggy to put them in. I didn’t want to throw away my big bottle of Mary Kay lotion I got for Christmas so I turned around, went to the gift shop to buy my 11 cent baggy and then went back out to the car to put up my shampoo, conditioner and lotion. I debated about the facial moisturizer because it was technically 4.5 ounces but it was only half full. I headed back in and lost the bet on the moisturizer and so they had to throw it out. I was lectured about not having all my liquid travel items in the baggy (I forgot about my saline solution and toothpaste… but is that really considered a liquid??). How ridiculous? I mean do they really think I’m going to make a saline-shampoo-toothpaste bomb using a tampon as wick? It’s almost not worth it to travel these days with all the dang hoops we have to jump through. I did make it on to the plan and got an aisle seat. I flew to Albuquerque first (strange to have to fly west to be able to fly east to Orlando) and I had a two hour lay over. I finished the book I started in Amarillo and then found out that our plane was broke and we were getting another one but it would be 30 minutes late. We had to change gates (because people start standing in line 45 minutes early) in our lines so I was at the back of the “B” boarders. I was lucky enough to get another aisle seat, but really wished I had a window seat because I was tired and I could have at least used a pillow against the window. I was surprised that we did get more than just peanuts on our flight – we got a snack box with dried fruit mix, a cheese/cracker handi-snack, and cinnamon crisps. I had started another book during the wait in Albuquerque and finished in on the plane. It was really, really good and a must read for all of you. I was crying periodically and trying to keep it subtle. It was a 3 hour flight to Orlando, then I had a 45 minute wait at baggage claim because one carousel indicated my flight number but of course after waiting for eternity I realized that it actually came out on another one! Then I had to get a shuttle ride to the hotel which was another 20 minutes. I finally got to the hotel and checked in without a problem – amazingly. It is a time-share resort type place so I had to have a ride to my room as well. I was starving by the time I got there, but still had to wait 2 hours before the others would get back from the gun show. I was also exhausted because I barely slept the night before. I tried napping, but it didn’t work. We finally went to dinner – a Cuban/Mexican restaurant. I had fajitas. We then went to Walgreens (thankfully) and I got shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer. We came back to the resort, I took a shower and went to bed. And that’s the end of day one.

I hate packing

I'm totally exhausted but wanted to at least post briefly before I leave for Florida. I'm taking my laptop with me, but I'm not sure about internet connections while I'm there... hopefully I'll be posting some during my trip. I really intended to be more ready before tonight, but it's just not possible. I should resign myself to the fact that I will always wait until the last minute for everything and should assume that most things will take 4-5 hours more than anticipated.

I had intentions of getting more things done at school today... that is until our internet decided to freak out and not let me on to a very important page that I really HAD to access today. It is the site that allows me to register for speech tournaments and since I'm going to be gone this weekend and another teacher is taking my students to the tournament this weekend, I really needed to be able to print out a list of students going and their events. I ended up having to go to the admin building so I could access the page... but of course as soon as I got back, one of the tech people at the high school figured a solution to the issue.

Then there was the issue with my underwear today. I don't know if the underwear has stretched, my butt has shrunk or it's just too big to handle my underwear, but well... I had issues with it staying up today.

Because I didn't get the things done I needed to during the day, I had to stay after school to get things ready for my sub and to get my tournament information ready for the other teacher that's taking the kids to the tournament. I anticipated staying an hour and a half... that actually turned out to be three hours. I got home at 7:30, had to cook dinner, then do laundry, then pack. I appreciate the opportunity to go to Florida, but at this point I'm wondering if it's worth it given my sanity at the moment. O.k. maybe I'm exaggerating a tad, but packing is still a pain in the butt. But I'm so excited that I get to use my new computer backpack... that makes it all worth it. Just in case you're wondering about me this weekend... here's where I'm staying... and here's where I'll be working. It is kind of a strange place for me to be considering I've never even shot a gun.

Well, I have to get to bed... I'm leaving way before the crack of dawn in the morning.

Back to work

Well, I still hate getting up early in the mornings. I did get a lot accomplished today, but still didn't get enough done. I suppose I'm ready for tomorrow. I actually made dinner tonight. I made San Francisco chops which were quite yummy.

Tonight I made a baby website for my brother's new baby. I'm also working on an announcement for them, but am waiting for him to send me more pictures.

Now I'm debating about whether I'm going to actually do some laundry. If I were you I wouldn't bet on it.

My New Nephew

Please meet Timothy James. He was born on Saturday, January 6 at 12:18 p.m. He weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz. He's a happy and healthy baby though a bit small. He is kind of a miracle baby because when he was born he had a knot in his umbilicle cord and the doctor said that if any more strain had been put on the knot it could have killed him. He's absolutely adorable and both my brother and his girlfriend are very proud.

Quick post

Good news all around today. First, I have a new nephew. My brother's baby was born today a little after noon and his name is Timothy James. 5 lbs, 11 oz. and 18 inches long. I'll be able to go visit tomorrow and will hopefully remember to take my camera so I can post pictures.

Next, Josh made All-state band again and this time he was first chair at area. 4 others from his band made it to state.

Finally, we won first place sweepstakes again at the tournament we went to today. We even accomplished it with only 12 students and without the "star" on our team. Some kids that have never had success did pretty well today.

But now I'm tired and I'm going to go to bed. Stay tuned.

Must. Stop.

Watching. Romance. Movies. Maybe it's time for just a shoot em up, blood and guts movie. I do like the chick flicks, but it just makes me feel bad right now. Those sappy lovey dovey endings where the guy and girl end up together and live happily ever after. Kind of makes me want to puke at the moment. Yeah... been there before, but my cyncism is starting to set in.

Don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm angry, frustrated or hate men. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that dating just isn't an option right now. I'm not even looking any more. I cancelled all those pointless personals sites a while ago. But I have to stop watching these romance movies with all the happy endings. It will be a bit of a relief to finally get back to work where I won't have time to watch such frivolous films nor have time to think about my single status.

Updated links

I haven't updated the links in my side bar in a long time. I had at least one outdated link and several other missing links of new blogs I'm reading regularly. Today I tried to update the best that I could, but if I've left you off and you're a regular reader of my blog, do let me know. I'll be glad to link to you if you just let me know.

And do check out some of the sites I've linked if you haven't already done so... there are some great reads in there!

Today I actually got some laundry done. I still have more to do, but I've made a dent and the dishwasher is running as I type this. I have to go to bed early tonight so I can leave a little before 7:00 a.m. and head to Hereford to leave for our speech tournament. Luckily the tournament is at a town that is only 20 miles away.

I'm going all out tonight and cooking a frozen pizza for dinner. So sue me. I was thinking of enjoying some libations (as Pipe would call it) this evening. The temperature has dropped considerably since this afternoon so I guess the cold front has started to move in. I'm trying to avoid turning the heat up too much, but I'll probably give in because I really hate being cold.

I'm not sure what to do with myself today. I spent a lot of time on the computer reading blogs and writing my previous post. The t.v. has not had anything good on today so I've left it on The Weather Channel most of the day. I'm thinking about trying my infocom games to see if they'll run on my computer. Or maybe I'll finish my latest rollercoaster tycoon scenario. Well, I think I'll work on figuring out what kind of beverage I will indulge in this evening.

On Gaming & Computers

Thanks to Proxima's comment I've come up with a new/old topic to write about. She commented about not finding many other female gamers. I don't know that I would really call myself that, but there are a few times I've been completely hooked by a game. It probably started when our family got an Intellivision. I would spend hours playing Astrosmash, Auto Racing, Dungeons and Dragons, Frogger, Pitfall and even Football. Since I lived in the middle of nowhere (i.e. the country) and had nothing else to do, it helped pass by many hours. On my 11th or 12th birthday I wanted a little mini-pacman game and I got it. I loved that thing. I played it for hours as well. Eventually I developed a bit of a life when I got into high school and didn't play much in the way of games. I was in band and speech and between the two, I didn't have time for much else.

When my family got a Commodore 64 computer we found ourselves playing text-based adventure games like Deadline - which was very addicting and we never did solve it. I bought that CD a few years ago and tried playing it again - still with no results. When I first moved out on my own in college (after a year in the dorm), I got to take the Commodore computer with me. (My parents must have upgraded) I became obsessed with a game called Impossible Mission. It's one of the few games I ever actually mastered on my own. I also played a few other games like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, but those 5 1/4 inch floppy disks didn't hold a lot of data so you ended up either putting in disk after disk or eventually going through all the possible games quickly. Eventually I got busy in college (and had a baby too) and no longer used the outdated Commodore. I would use the Mac lab at the University to write my papers and such and didn't have time for games.

When I finally graduated (after 7 years) and got my first teaching job, I decided that I needed my own "real" computer. I was pretty set on getting a Mac because I had grown accustomed to the "windows" type interface. My brother, however, talked me into getting a PC proclaiming how amazing the new windows system was. (It was Windows 3.1 at the time) I got a loan for about $2000 to buy a computer and a desk and my brother put a machine together for me. Here's a little segue into a story about Josh and the computer.

Josh was about 4 years old when I got the computer. I bought him some games that he could play to learn the alphabet and some phonics games. Of course by the time he was four he could already spell almost any dinosaur you could think of and was reading Dr. Suess's The Foot Book on his own. On my computer back in the day when you booted it came up with a startup menu and you could choose whether you wanted to go into windows or Dos or some other program. It was basically a "Welcome" screen before you went into windows. My child somehow got into the settings for the welcome screen and made some changes. When I booted up my computer it said: "Welcome to Jurassic Prak" (spelling as is) "Good evening CD Man" I discovered that he also added a password to it and I couldn't undo what he had done. I tried every dinosaur name I could think of and couldn't get it changed. My brother had to finally come over and go through some back door thing and reset it for me. I then had to add my own password so he couldn't make any more changes.

Back to computing and gaming--

So in 1994-1995-ish I had a pretty new computer for the time. (Keep in mind it was a 386 processor and probably a 400 MB hard drive.) I couldn't believe that I could play my music CD's in it (although I only had one or two at the time) I could do all sorts of school work on it and print things out on my new HP600 ink jet printer. I was in heaven! And then I got another game - Myst. It was amazing. I understand Proxima's comment about starting to play in the morning and then all of a sudden realizing that everything's dark. I would stay up until 3 in the morning and play it during the summer. (no school of course) At one point in fact I turned my love seat around to face my computer so I could be more comfortable playing since I spent so many hours on it. I eventually finished the game (though I admit to needed some of the hints to complete it) but I enjoyed it. In fact several years ago I bought the sequal to it, Riven, but I still haven't played it. Maybe one of these days I will. I still have it in my shelf. My dad made me a copy of Sim City 2000 at one point and I got hooked on that for a while.

I got online for the first time in either late 1995 or early 1996. I ended up using AOL because of it's easy interface, but had to really watch myself because that's when everybody still charged by the minute. When I met Richard (my ex-husband) in April of 1996, he helped me switch to a local provider that had unlimited time and a monthly cost of less that $20 for teachers. It was still dial-up and horribly slow, but I could surf for hours. While on AOL I got really hooked on chatting and even ended up having a guy come from California to visit me. Looking back I realize that might have been pretty stupid. Eventually I got married to Richard and in 2000 I finally had the means to upgrade computers again. I orded a new computer through Dell and spent 4 years paying it off. But I still have it... it is my ancient desktop that is sitting in my old office now craft room. It still works but had been upgraded from time to time and had Windows ME on it which sucked. I think I eventually got XP on there.

After I got that computer and I started my rollercoaster phase, I got the Rollercoaster Tycoon game when it first came out. It was so addicting. I remember playing it all summer (again have to do it during my breaks). I mastered all the levels of the basic game. I then got RCT2 and played it, but never did complete all the levels I don't think. I ended up using my Jostens laptop as my main computer for a while and then had to go back to my old one after I quit. That prompted me to buy my current laptop when I got my tax refund last year. I've played a few other games over the years like Scrabble, Boggle, Card Games, Solitaire and such, but none have been as addicting as some of those early ones.

So would you call me a gamer? I don't know. I play every once in a while, but not regularly. When I go back to school I'll have to give it up as I'll be too busy. But now that I've written this, I'm very tempted to go back and play some of those old games again!

Nothing new

My vacation is quickly coming to a close. I slept in again today. Then this afternoon I went to Amarillo with a friend and went to the bookstore. I got two new books. I am going to hold off on reading them until my trip to Florida next weekend. I'll need something to pass the time. I also will take my laptop and try to finish off the last five RCT3 games. I've been very good the past two days and haven't played it any more. I watched CSI and now I'm watching Shark. I have to go to Josh's school tomorrow to have a form notarized for him to be able to try out for All-state band on Saturday.
We have a tournament scheduled for Saturday but we're supposed to be getting a cold front and possibly snow. (I'll take pictures if we get any Andrew) My gas bill was huge this month so I'm trying to keep the thermostat turned down. Well, I don't have anything else to report... it's been another slow day. Tomorrow will be declared laundry day.

Pipe's Meme

This is stolen from Pipe Tobacco.

147, 1, 4, 7.

As a little experiment, I thought I would encourage as many of you as are willing to conduct a little experiment for me. I think it will be fun and will give us each insight into our collective personalities. If you decide to follow through with this game, please leave a link in my comments so others may see as well.

This game is about letting others glimpse something about you, based upon what you read. I have done something like this before, but thought it was time to do so again with a twist:

1. Pick up the nearest book to you from where you are now sitting at your computer.

2. Open the book to page 147 (If the book does not have 147 pages, then put that book down and go to the next closest book until you find one with 147 pages).

3. On that page, go to the first new paragraph on that page.

4. In that paragraph, look for the 4th sentence and write it down (If there are not four sentences to the paragraph, take the fourth sentence after the start of that first paragraph).

5. In that "fourth" sentence, count to the seventh word, and write that down (Like before, if the sentence is shorter than seven words, go to the seventh word following the start of the fourth sentence).

Now, for what you post on your site:

1. Name, author, and date of the book.

2. The required fourth sentence.

3. The required seventh word.

4. A paragraph about what this seventh word means to you (it does NOT have to be in context with the rest of the sentence or paragraph).

5. A paragraph stating why this book is near you, and why it is a part of your life.

My Answers:

1. Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich June 2006

2. Nothing that has a big orange arrow on it saying 'Look Here.'

3. The word is "arrow".

4. The word arrow means direction to me. It can mean pointing you to the right way whether it is in directions or in life. Sometimes it's an actual image of an arrow that points you the right way... sometimes it's a person that guides you along your journey.

5. This is one of the books that was on my bookshelf that is to my immediate left. It was the one that was sticking out the most and that is why I chose it. It is part of a series written by the author that has the same character named Stephanie Plum. They are laugh out loud books that always gives me joy when I read them and I look forward to the new books that come out each spring/summer.

Work day

I had to go back to the school today and meet some of my students that are going to the tournament this weekend. I ended up having 7 students drop out of the tournament and several that dropped other events. I did get them to perform their events for me. And that's all I did today. I slept late, went to school, picked up dinner, came home, ate and that's it. I don't have anything else to share. No pics, no video, no stories. Maybe tomorrow will be a more interesting day. I guess I'll go read about everyone else's days and see how they went.

First video diary

Following in the footsteps of Andrew, I am posting my own brief video diary. I had to edit it together as my camera only takes video in 30 second clips. I had more, but decided to edit for time and file size. This is a clip going to my school and in my classroom.

Time to start thinking about work

One of the great things about being a teacher is getting the time off for Christmas break. I would have to say that we certainly EARN that time off and it is a nice respite from teaching. I do have things I should be working on right now, but am not really doing much of it. I do have to drive up to the high school today because I forgot the list of my students phone numbers/email addresses that I needed to remind them about our practice session tomorrow. We have a tournament this coming weekend.

Yesterday I didn't do much. I did play my game a little bit. I learned some cheat codes for it. Josh and I went to my brother's place for dinner. He is living with his girlfriend who is due to have their baby any day. They have a very nice & plush house. They have thick, heavy furniture all over the house. I don't know that I care much for it. The more I visit other people's homes, the more I feel bad about mine. I have two old couches that are usually covered in dog hair and a recliner. My computer chair has a big rip in it. My kitchen table has cracks in the tile. The kitchen floor has tons of cracks & chips (because my dad in his infinite wisdom laid wall tile down on the floor - which makes it very slick when it's wet.) I don't have a lot of accessories, paintings and decorative items in my house. It's pretty simple and basic, but then again, I don't have a huge house payment.

So today I have to eventually take a shower, get dressed, go to the high school, come home and try to talk myself into doing laundry. Right now I'm fixing lunch. I'm not in too much of a rush to get moving at the moment. Josh has to go back to school tomorrow. I don't have much more to share today. So far my break hasn't been very exciting - not that I want it to be because exciting isn't always good/exciting.

Happy New Year

Sorry I didn't post yesterday (technically). My wishing in the New Year was rather uneventful. I slept in until the last minute before I had to get ready to go to church. I went to Mass, then went to the grocery store and got a few things. I made myself clean the kitchen & living room. They're basically picked up but not sparkling clean. I did use the lint brush on the couch and I think I gathered enough hair for another dog. I made Josh clean his bathroom. Well... I didn't make him, I just told him to do it. Around 6:00 we headed to Amarillo and I picked up my friend Kirsten. We tried to go to Olive Garden to eat, but the wait was an hour or more. We left and went to Applebee's and only had about a 15 minute wait. I had a perfect margarita and the three cheese chicken penne. We came home and I made a drinks for Kirsten & myself. We then watched Fantasia 2000 until Kirsten had to leave. (She has to get up early tomorrow morning.) I finished watching Fantasia and then we watched the Schoolhouse Rock DVD. I also started playing a game of RCT3. I missed the ball dropping and the "official" notice that it is now 2007. I didn't even have any champagne. I have a bottle in the fridge, but I didn't want to drink a bottle all by myself. So I guess I'll save it for another special occasion should one arise. I don't have much more to tell... a rather boring day with no exciting bang to usher in the New Year.... which is fine by me. Now I'm off to bed. Sweet dreams to all of you and I hope you are all off to a great start in the new year. May you keep your resolutions or if you're like me, you know better than to make them!