I could use a nap

I did not want to get out of bed at all this morning. I took a benadryl last night because I was feeling itchy. I slept very well, but absolutely not enough. This morning was one that I wished I drank coffee. I had a coke instead. I'm still dragging though. I did get some things accomplished this morning, however. I am caught up on grading for my 5th period Comm. App. class. That is a relief. I'm figuring out grades for my debate and interp classes and should have those done by the end of the week. My desk is still a mess but I'm not sure it will be cleaned any time soon. I'm trying to get ahead on lesson plans so I can get things sent off to the print shop instead of wasting my toner cartridge.

You'll be pleased to know that my house is still clean for the most part. I have yet to get to the extra bedroom, but I think I'll be able to do that on Friday because I don't have school. It's a snow make-up day for us. I was excited to realize that I have morning duty off for the next 3 weeks. Then I have to do it the following Friday, then I'll have two more off. That's cool because I hate doing duty. It's one of those horrible extra things required of teachers. I think duty should garner some extra pay.

Well, I've wasted enough time on here. I'm going to try to get some energy going.

Yet Another Long Day

It didn't help that I didn't go to bed until shortly before midnight last night. I was on the computer (during my "free" day of Lent) trying to get my email changed on all the websites in which I have a logon i.d. My cable company changed and now I am FORCED to change the email that I have had for the past seven years. I'm a little perturbed by the whole thing, but I'm managing to slowly get it done. The problem is that sometimes I forget my logon i.d. or password because some places require numbers in the password and some don't and, well... you know how it is. So when you forget, they can send it to you via email... but if I don't change the email on file with them, then I won't be able to get it after April 22. So I figured out all the places I often visit (like ebay, expedia, amazon and such) and I'm slowly getting things switched over. I also decided to keep track off all the logon id's and passwords. I didn't want to save the information in a file on my computer so I bought one of those dinky little address books at Walmart and I'm keeping everything in there. That way when I forget, I can easily whip it out and look it up.

This evening I am still at school. We have a freshman orientation meeting tonight and I have to be there to promote the speech team for next year. It doesn't start until 7:15, so I'm here in my room once again avoiding grading papers. I am just so unmotivated in that respect right now. I do have to get some grades in soon. The end of the six weeks is only two weeks away. I did get personal profiles graded this afternoon. I need to enter some grades for debate and interp.

Now I'm debating whether I should leave and go get something to eat or if I should just wait until the thing is over tonight. I'm not that hungry right now, but I'm not sure if I can wait until 8:00 tonight either. I'm also afraid that if I leave, I'll lose my parking spot because of parents coming to the orientation meeting. I think I'll stick it out. If I get hungry, I have some soup or other snacks that I can eat.

A-Z Meme

The A-Z List

1. A is for age: 37. I feel older some days and younger others.

2. B is for beer of choice: Ziegenbock (only made and sold in Texas)

3. C is for career right now: High School Speech teacher and Forensics Team coach

4. D is for your dog's name? Max, Roo, and Mollie. (I can't leave out the cats - Tecko and Lucy)

5. E is for essential item you use everyday: Email

6. F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Monk

7. G is for favorite game: Rollercoaster Tycoon (computer) and Scrabble (board)

8. H is for Hometown: Perryton, Texas (birthplace) but most of my life I have lived in Canyon, Texas.

9. I is for instruments you play: Clarinet, Contra-bass clarinet, flute, recorder

10: J is for favorite juice: Cran-grape

11. K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: I can't think of anyone at the moment... not even my ex-husbands old girlfriends.

12. L is for last place you ate: (out) Feldman's Wrongway Diner

13. M is for marriage: Once upon a time... hopefully again someday.

14. N is for your full name: Sorry... but you can have my online name... Annabel Lee

15. O is for overnight hospital stays: I don't remember how many days I was in the hospital when I broke my neck after being hit by a car.. but probably a couple of weeks. Then, two days when Josh was born. Last was when I had a reaction to Eurythromyacin for a night in 1991.

16. P is for people you were with today? A bunch a people at Mass, Josh, then 3 of my students, some fellow teachers and others at a college speech team performance.

17. Q is for quote:While we have the gift of life, it seems to me that only tragedy is to allow part of us to die - whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or our glorious uniqueness.

Gilda Radner

18. R is for Biggest Regret: I have none at this point. Sure there are those things I wish I didn't do or did do or whatever, but I think that we learn something even in those moments that we regret so it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

19. S is for status: Bored, a little sleepy, generally happy.

20. T is for time you woke up today: 9:00 a.m.

21. U is for underwear you have on now: basic black

22. V is for vegetable you love: Cucumbers with Italian dressing or Vinegar & Oil

23. W is for worst habit: Putting things off (especially unpleasant things)

24. X is for x-rays you've had: Broken neck, dental

25. Y is for yummy food you ate today: Nothing to write home about but had a ham/cheddar sandwich.

26. Z is for the zodiac sign: Scorpio - watch out for my sting.

My Widget

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A Veerrryyyy long day

I sort of got to sleep in yesterday.  I didn't have to be in Hereford until 10:00 a.m.  I made it there right on time.  We got to our UIL district tournament around 11:15.  I had to check prose documentation.  (Proof that their story is published and meets category requirements)  We had a fairly successful day, but I also think some of my kids got (pardon the term) screwed.  My best debater lost her first two rounds.  She really shouldn't have lost the first one but when you have a judge that doesn't have a clue, sometimes it happens.  Perhaps it's luck of the draw, but she didn't even break.  One of my other debaters didn't break missing the cut by two speaker points.  My other debater, thankfully, ended up placing first.  My strongest poetry student ended up in 4th place (the alternate place) because of a squirrelly judge.  (A judge that is a squirrel ranks contestants almost completely opposite of other judges)  She was ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 7th in her round.  One of my other students actually beat her and placed 3rd... which makes me happy, but I'm still disappointed for the other.  In Prose, we took 2nd, 3rd and 6th place.  I thought the 6th place person would have done a little better, but she's a freshman so she's got time.  Now on to the exciting news.  My team completely swept both Informative and Persuausive extemp.  We took 1st-3rd place in both events.   (Keep in mind in this competition I can only enter 3 students in each event)  Now these students are going on to Regional competition in two weeks.  After that, hopefully some of them will make it to state competition. 

We had very interesting weather yesterday.  We drove through a brief hail storm on the way to the tournament.  Around 9:00 p.m. we were told that students needed to stay in one building or the other because of potential several weather coming.  Tornadoes had touched in New Mexico and the storm was inching it's way towards us.  Luckily it weakened to some degree and we weren't in danger of tornadoes, but I had to drive back to Hereford in a torrential rain storm with blinding lightning flashes at 12:30 in the morning.  I dropped the students off, then had to take the car back to bus barn and get my car.  That meant I had to get out in the rain and open the gate, pull the car in, switch cars, then close the gate.  I was a bit wet after all of that.  I didn't get home until 2:00 a.m. after driving back through the thunderstorm.  When I got back to town, the streets were quite flooded.  Luckily, I made it home safely and was in bed by 2:30.  Of course I slept in this morning. 

I haven't decided if I'm going to work on the garage today.  I think I may work on the spare bedroom instead.   I may have to go ahead and give my students a party for their successes at the tournament.  Well... I think I'll go have some breakfast lunch.

At least it's Friday

Well.. technically in terms of a school week it is Friday because there's no school tomorrow. We do have a competition tomorrow so I guess that is sort of like a Saturday. So I guess that means Saturday is a Sunday and Sunday is a Sunday or something like that. Regardless, it's the last day of the week and tomorrow I get to sleep in. That's always a good thing. Night before last I was awake at 4:00 a.m. and really didn't fall back to sleep. I was dragging all day. Then yesterday in the middle of 5th period I had a pain in my hip. It was quite weird and caused me to walk with a bit of a limp. It stayed that way most of the afternoon and subsided a bit by evening. Last night I took 1 1/2 tylenol pm and 2 regular tylenols. I slept much better and this morning the pain is mostly gone. It was very strange. I went to choir rehearsal last night. We are singing for several Masses during Holy Week. I think it will be awesome. Our choir has grown considerably. We have about 22 people committed to sing during the celebrations. Usually we only have about 5 or 6.

It's raining today. I'm sure Andrew already knows this but it came as a surprise to me. This morning when I left it was nice and I didn't need a jacket. I just ran an errand and it is much cooler and rainy. There's a little bit of thunder, but not much. This is Josh's kind of weather. I'm sure he's ecstatic about it. It's the kind of day I would like to be curled up in a blanket in front of the t.v. with a bowl of chili and rice.

I do have a favor to ask of you. My brother's girlfriend is doing a project as she is finishing up her degree to become a nurse practitioner. If you wouldn't mind going and visiting her website and then clicking on the Please Sign In page and fill out the comment form, she would be most appreciative. She wants to incorporate the comments into her final report.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. I gave my students an incentive to do well. I promised them a party at my house if we have 12 qualify for regionals. Well, that's all the news in my world.

Shoot me...

If I buy another white sock. I started the task of sorting socks this
evening. I am still not done yet. I have sorted the easy ones...
colored... but am left with a huge pile of white socks. I don't know
how I ended up with so many socks and where they have come from. Sorry
I haven't posted.. getting back into school is keeping me busy. Luckily
it's sort of a short week. There is no school on Friday as it is one of
our snow days, but we have a competition on Friday. At least I won't
have to be there until 10:00 on Friday. There's also nothing on
Saturday either. If the weather is good, I'll try to get the garage
finished as well as the guest room. I did something amazing today. I
paid my bills on pay day. Well, I paid the bills that I had a bill
for. There's a few that will stagger in the next few days.

Yesterday, I went to Amarillo and got some beads for some new rosaries
that I'm making for my brother's girlfriend and one of her boys. I went
to the store and got some groceries and even got a bottle of wine. It's
been a long time since I've been able to enjoy a glass of wine in the
evenings. Well... I better get back to sorting my socks.

Dreading Monday

I hate the fact that I didn't get to school at all last week. There's so many things I wanted to get done before going back, but I guess it will be there waiting for me when I return tomorrow morning. I have decided that it's better to ease my way into the time change instead of having to instantly get up an hour earlier. I think I will be able to handle getting up early better now.

I went to the 11:15 Mass this morning and I sang and played my clarinet. (No, not at the same time.) I sang on the opening song and they played the rest of the time. After church, I went to my choir director's new house that she and her husband just bought. They finally settled down with a house in town instead of always commuting from Amarillo. They invited our priest over to bless the house for them. I thought that was a wonderful idea. We all visited for a while and had some wine, then I came home and had some lunch. I started a roast cooking in the crock pot this morning, but it wasn't done at lunch, but it smelled wonderful. It's now done and I'm going to go enjoy some for dinner shortly. I'm finding how much I do enjoy cooking and making dinner instead of constantly going out or cooking frozen meals. My house is still clean, but there's still laundry to do and the extra bedroom. My goal will be to finish cleaning it this week. I also need to finish the garage, but that is just a matter of some organization.

All the garage sale stuff is gone! By the end of the day yesterday everything I had left fit into two boxes except for two printers and the computer monitor. I called the lady that had stopped by on Saturday and sure enough, she came and picked it all up including the large empty boxes that I had left out as well. It is such a relief to have all of it gone! I'm sure I still have more to get rid of, but at least what is now in the garage isn't overwhelming.

I enjoyed being able to catch up on everyone's blogs! I was happy to see Pipe Tobacco posting again, though I understand what a great sadness he is feeling right now. I will continue to pray for him along with all my fellow bloggers. Well, that roast is calling my name so I better go eat!

Successful day so far

I think I'm down to about the last 5% of my stuff and it's a little after 1:00. I'm still amazed at some of the things that people have taken.. but not really. There's a few games left, computer printers (ancient, but still work), some stuffed animals and a few kitchen type items. I even found a home for the dog! I put up a poster about her and actually my former sister-in-law's sister took her. She said that she would take her to her husband and if he didn't like her, she'd bring her back... and she hasn't been back. I almost feel bad about it except I realize that I can't take care of her. She needs a place to run and they are going to be moving to a place with 5 acres. She has also destroyed too many things at the house including the charger to my camera. I was up before dawn this morning and I'm really tired, but hanging in. The first person to show up came just as it was beginning to be almost light enough to see and he brought his own flashlight. That was around 7:35. I still made some money today. I had two people insist on giving me something... so I have made $1.10. That's enough for a junior bacon cheeseburger at Wendy's! I just put up a sign outside that said "Everything is Free - help yourself (except for the tables). If you have questions, knock on the door." That way I could come in and have lunch.
It's turned out to be quite a nice day today. It was quite chilly this morning at 42 degrees, but right now it's 74 and hardly a breeze. (That's for you, Andrew). Well, I need to shut my computer down so that we can see if Josh's computer isn't working because of the networked needing to be refreshed. Hope y'all are having a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tired and sore

I got the garage sale set up. The garage isn't exactly cleaned, but it's cleared out for the most part. I did get the floor swept and some general cleaning done. I just need to mop the floor and organize the stuff on the shelves (our personal stuff) and the tools etc. I had some very early bird people that tried to come by when all I had was tables set up and a few boxes out. I asked them to come back tomorrow since I wasn't done setting things up. I have everything in my driveway which isn't a big deal because it's all free. I did have some people come by late this afternoon and they took several things. After going to Church tonight I came home and there was yet another lady that wanted to look. She took several things as well. She also offered to haul off anything that is left at the end of the day tomorrow. How cool is that? Josh and I went to dinner tonight since I didn't feel like cooking. (And just to be sure for those that think I'm not adhering to Lenten expectations, I had fish at dinner and had no meat today.)
When I got home, I gathered a few more things in the house to put out tomorrow morning. I'm sure I'll have people coming by as early as 7 a.m. despite the fact that I listed 8:00 in the paper. I will try to be ready to go by then... not that I have to do anything except answer questions. "Why are you giving this stuff away?" "Does the printer work?" "What is that thing?" But at least there's no price haggling. Well, I better get to bed so I can be up at the crack of dawn. And Summer... when I get my garage finished, I'll take pictures for you... just to prove that it was clean once upon a time before I load it up again!

Is it nap time?

I feel exhausted today. I have been doing pretty well this past week, but it's catching up to me. I probably shouldn't have put the garage last, but I felt my house needed more attention first. I didn't get to bed until after 11:30 last night. I intended to sleep in, but of course the phone rings at 8:15 this morning. I didn't answer because I didn't recognize the number and am certain it was a bill collector for my ex-husband. I tried to go back to sleep, but by then I was awake... sort of. I had some cereal and continued cleaning my room. I did part with several pairs of shoes yesterday but still have plenty in my closet. (And the under the bed thing is a great idea... except I have a waterbed, so there's no storage space.) I now am thinking that maybe I have too many clothes which is weird because I often find myself with absolutely nothing to wear. I think I have too many unfashionable clothes like t-shirts and such. I moved my winter stuff to the closet in the extra bedroom but my dresser drawers are overflowing. I have yet to sort socks and am dreading that task. Progress is still slow going, but at least it's going. I know I have to get to the garage soon, but I may have to have a quick energy boosting nap.

Can you have too many shoes?

Well, I've finished the living room and my bathroom is quite sparkly. I started cleaning out my closet and came to the notion that perhaps (just perhaps) I might have too many shoes. I've already parted with a good deal of them, but I may have to part with a few more. My closet isn't very big and my shoes are taking over. . I would love to turn it into a walk-in closet by taking over the storage space at the end of my
hallway which is next to my closet... but that won't happen any time soon - like re-tiling my kitchen. I am making progress, but it's slow going. I had intended on starting on the garage today, but it won't happen until tomorrow. Tomorrow is must as I have to get ready for the free garage sale. I hope to finish my bedroom by this evening. The only problem is that it will be interrupted by going to my brother's place to help his girlfriend create a website. I should be able to at least get my closet done in the next hour or so. Once that is done, the rest should be a snap. It's mostly a matter of putting clothes away and doing a bit more laundry. Well, I better get busy. Hope everyone is doing well. I'll catch up on your blogs on Sunday. But if you feel
inclined to email or comment, I won't complain at all.

To my anonymous commenter

I just love how when people are critical, they are afraid of revealing themselves and have to post anonymously. If you have something to say, then own up to it and don't be a coward hiding behind anonymity. But to answer your question, I gave up the internet at home for Lent aside from email. I decided that browsing the web and reading blogs were the biggest obstacle for me and would be something difficult for me to set aside. I did not give up blogging per se, I gave up the general browsing and such that I would do instead of other productive things. And in case you didn't read in the previous post, I found a way to post blogs via email so I am still not accessing the web which is my distraction. I do this because I do have some regular readers that appreciate that I post often. I am not reading their blogs and I'm only posting about my day for their sake, not mine.

I did have to go online to get the instructions to post via email and because I broke my own rule for myself, I said a rosary last night in penance. Giving up something is not a requirement of the season of Lent although people are encouraged to give up something or perhaps add something beneficial such as more prayer or exercise. We are to be more mindful of Christ's suffering through our sufferings. We should pray
more and do acts of charity. I am trying to do all of the above. I went to Mass this morning despite the fact that normally I would sleep in during my break. I've gone to adoration and am looking forward to going to the Stations of the Cross on Friday.

I am not perfect, but the great thing is that Christ forgives us even when we are sinners. I am thankful for that. I would direct you to other sites to understand more about the season of Lent, but alas, I cannot get online to do so. If you want more information, you could go to www.catholic.com.

Still working

I did get up this morning and go to Mass. I came home and started some laundry and then went back to bed for about 45 minutes. After getting up I continued working on my desk area. I am proud to say that it's clean, but that's really because I moved a bunch of stuff off of it that eventually will be replaced, but for now it's clean. The daunting task ahead of me is sorting through the tons of CDs that I seem to have collected over the years. Some are music, some are software, some are backed up files from multiple computers and others are a complete mystery as to what is on them. But I am making progress. I'm getting laundry done and actually folded and put away. I really enjoyed sleeping on my soft sheets. I even wore my special silky pajamas. I also put together 3 bags of clothing to donate to charity. I sorted through the remaining baby clothes I had. I'm taking some to my brother's girlfriend/wife for my nephew and some I'm sending to my cousin Amanda for her little boy. The rest is bagged up along with some other things. I got rid of a bunch of lingerie that I had. I never wear it and some of it is too small. It simply filled up a drawer that I could use for more important things like t-shirts and sweat pants... oh my ex-husband would shiver at that thought... but since I have nobody to impress, I might as well be comfortable. Well, I guess I should quit taking all these breaks.

Slow Going

I hoped to get more accomplished today, but it's slow going for me. I did sort through about two years worth of bills that I can now file. The mess around my desk is getting smaller, but there's still a mess. In between bouts of sorting I've been doing laundry so that has taken up some time today. I also remembered that I needed to get some things ready for the charity people to come pick it up. I went through three boxes of baby clothes. I saved some to give to my nephew and bagged the rest for charity. I did save a few special items like the outfit that Josh wore home from the hospital. I just changed the sheets on my bed and I'm washing my comforter. There's nothing like going to sleep in freshly laundered sheets. Ah, I can't wait! I'm hoping I'll get up
early enough to go to daily mass in the morning.I am really loving my new mp3 player. I've been wearing it around my neck and listening to it while I've been cleaning. I tend to do a better job with some good music blasting. What's on my player you ask?

I have a bunch of 80's tunes that I jam to as well as some other oldies and a handful of songs from the 90's. I don't think I have anything from this century unless you count the musical Chicago. I also have a good deal of classical music, lots of Christian and a little bit of country. You won't find any rap blaring in my ears.

Tomorrow my plans are to finish the living room and then do my room and the bathroom. Once the living room is done, my room shouldn't take too long. Don't get me wrong... it's still a mess, but most of it is laundry and organizing my closet once again. I have shoes all over the place. The killer will be the craft room as it's been the holding place of things that "I don't know where to put them right now, but I need to
get them out of the way." Thursday is devoted to the garage during the day, but in the evening I have to go to my sort of sister-in-law's and help her with a web page.

Well, enough of a break for me. I wish I knew how things were in your world.

Cleaning Machine

** I only partially cheated on posting this… I sent it via email although I did have to briefly logon to figure out how to publish via email. But I've promised myself to say a rosary tonight as penance.**

Well, I guess it's time to cover what I've been doing lately. On Monday I turned into a cleaning machine and spent most of the afternoon and evening cleaning the kitchen. It looks mighty fine if I say so myself. I even cleaned out cabinets and made things more accessible. There's still more cabinets to go through, but I only have a week. This morning (Tuesday) I got up early at 8:15 a.m. – yes that's early for spring break – and I cleaned out the refrigerator. I realize that it looks like I'm an alcoholic. I have about 4-5 bottles of drink mixers (margarita mix, etc.) in my fridge. But I guess if I truly were an alcoholic, I wouldn't have all that in there. Actually, I can't remember the last time I had a mixed drink at home.

I went to the newspaper office and placed an ad for my free garage sale
so I'm committing myself to actually going through with cleaning out my
garage. I will get to it hopefully by Thursday. I put down Saturday as
the date so that will give me two days to get it done… which shouldn't
be a problem.

I started on the entry way this afternoon and reorganized the two closets there. While cleaning the kitchen I put lots of stuff in the entry way that had to be cleared – most of which is now in the living room and I'm sitting her dumbfounded because I don't know what to do with all the stuff at this point. I've been sitting in my chair staring
at the shelves of books to the left of my computer and I just don't know where to begin. I have stacks of old bills to sort through and file among all sorts of other papers that somehow have accumulated. I have cords, pens, pencils, cd's and lots of other junk surrounding my desk.

The thing about me when I actually clean, I really clean. I get things organized and throw out lots of stuff and clean all the nooks and crannies. My goal is to have the living room done tonight or at least by tomorrow afternoon. I did get Josh's bathroom cleaned and mopped so that leaves me with my bedroom, my bathroom, and the craft/guest room before tackling the garage. I at least want to get my bedroom/bathroom done before Thursday. I can save the craft room for Sunday. It does feel good to have a nice clean kitchen…I actually want to cook in it now.

Well, that's all the stuff going on here in mi casa. I guess I should quit procrastinating and get back to cleaning.

Yet another lazy Sunday

I went to the 11:15 mass although it was still 10:15 in my world. I don't know if having the time change during spring break is a good idea or not. I guess in a good way I can ease into the change, but if I sleep in every day it's still going to be difficult in a week when I go back to work. I did soak some dishes today and started loading the dishwasher. I also went to the store and got real food to cook. I'm going to make a roast, some lemon chicken, seasoned turkey breast, and stir-fry this week. At least that's my plans.

It's been overcast all day. It rained last night and you go see thunderstorms in the distance. Andrew would have loved it! The weather is supposed to stay this way. Josh loves this kind of weather and thinks he would love it in Seattle. I don't mind it once in a while, but I'm not sure about all the time. I'm thinking about starting on the garage tomorrow... but we'll see what happens.

It's been an uneventful day, but I did enjoy catching up on my many blogs. I'm certainly going to miss them again as soon as midnight rolls around. Last year, I didn't give in on Sundays when I gave up cokes and fast food, but the internet is just too much for me. I'm so addicted... that's why it's a good thing for me to give up.

I don't have anything else to share. I will probably blog again next week when I go up to the school and work. In the mean time, y'all take care.

Lenten Loophole

Last year for Lent I gave up cokes and fast food. I did o.k. with it, but there were times on speech trips where the only thing to eat was fast food. I didn't however make an exception for Sundays. In case you didn't know, Sundays are not part of the 40 days of Lent. Technically, when you give up something for Lent, you don't have to abstain during Sundays. Some people find it easier or more challenging to simply keep trucking on continue their track through every Sunday. This year, I am not going to be one of those people. I do feel kind of bad about giving in to myself, but I did make sure that I was correct on the issue of Sundays being a "Free Day" of sorts. I will still pray a rosary tonight since I am somewhat giving in here. With that said, here's the post I wrote last night in Word.

Not using the internet is so freaking hard. I know it’s been frustrating for my few faithful blog readers, but it’s pure torture for me. I’ve spent the day organizing and transferring music to my mp3 player. And when I say I’ve spent the day, I mean all day. There are so many times that I want to go online and check things out. For example, I have some songs listed that I don’t have the artist’s name. I so want to go and look that up. I really want to read blogs and catch up on everyone’s lives… and it’s only been one day! I did read blogs until I left school yesterday (Friday) afternoon.

I did sleep in today (Saturday)… all the way until 8:00. I was awake at 8:00 but didn’t get out of bed until some time after 9:00. I started creating some playlists on my mp3 player. I have a free trial subscription to the Rhapsody service so I can put all kinds of music on it for free… but the catch is that you can’t record the files to CD’s or anything and you have to keep the subscription going or the music will technically “expire.” But it’s a nice way to sample some cool music.

Now to answer the questions I received:

Leann – My plans for spring break are to sleep, clean the house, clean out the garage (again), sleep, read, watch t.v., and do laundry. Very exciting stuff.

I also think that the DaVinci Code is fiction because the Library of Congress labels it as such. I didn’t agree with the notions presented in the book, but I took it with a grain of salt and enjoyed the mystery of it.

Andrew - Josh’s dad. That’s a whole blog in itself. Josh’s dad was what I would call a kind of “player” back in the day. He was Hispanic, cute, and a talented trumpet player. He was suave and a flirt. He was also a bit pretentious (comes with being a trumpet player). He was smart, driven, and had a passion for music although he eventually became a Chiropractor. I think Josh gets his passion for music from the both of us. He could certainly charm the ladies and when he came into my life I was on the rebound from my first serious relationship. (Another long blog in that story as well.) He didn’t have much of a role in Josh’s life for a long time. He didn’t want me to have him. He wanted me to have an abortion. I wasn’t the first girl he got pregnant, but was the first to have his baby. For the first two year’s of Josh’s life, the only support I got from him was a package of diapers and a gallon of milk. When Josh was able to walk and talk he got more interested in him, but by that time he married the next woman that he got pregnant and had another daughter. I could go on, but there’s a lot of bad things that happened in regard to Josh’s father that I choose not to repeat in a public forum for Josh's sake. He made many mistakes that caused a lot of people and himself grief. Let’s just say that when I heard that he committed suicide, I wasn’t surprised. But I would also like to add that I’ve come to terms with forgiving him for his past actions.
Oh – and I will definitely not give up internet/computer again for Lent. I’m certainly suffering in my own way.

Abbagirl – My love life… oh, you and your sense of humor! I haven’t had a date in over two years now. I’m certainly not breaking any hearts, but that also means that my heart is not getting broken either. I’m not sure if you ever read about the whole Marty thing, but I haven’t even heard from him in almost two months. I guess when the time is right it will happen, but I’m not losing any sleep over my lack of a love life. I just tell myself that I’m too busy to date and I’m starting to really believe it. Really. (Though I admit, I wouldn’t mind going out to dinner with a member of the opposite sex that isn’t my son.)

Well, that’s all the excitement in my world. I have yet to lift a finger in getting things done around the house, but I figure I could ease into it.

To answer your questions...

First, there was nothing in my teacher's box. That is usually a good thing. Well, I haven't had much of an issue at this school; but when I taught junior high, I always dreaded seeing those blue notes from the principal in my box. That usually meant I was in trouble for something. So far I haven't messed up here, but I was playing solitaire on my computer yesterday when my principal came by. I only had four students in class so we really couldn't do anything. My debate classes are debating and there wasn't enough to hold a debate and judge. I think today is a pointless day because a lot of students are going to be gone for sports trips. Ah well... I brought a book to read today so I won't be completely bored.

As far as singing in choir goes... I have no idea what we're singing because I'm an idiot and didn't realize that choir practice was Wednesday night and not last night. We're planning on singing for the Easter celebrations so it will probably be some Easter music like Christ the Lord is Risen Today. (Which is a favorite song of mine)

I started reading the DaVinci Code last night. It is very intriguing and no, it isn't making me question my faith. I understand why Catholics were upset over it as it tends to put the Church in a bad light (keep in mind I'm only half-way through it) but once again, I take it as a piece of FICTION.

And that's all the questions that have been posted in comments thus far.

Update: Well, no additional questions came forth today so I'll be heading home and won't blog again until next Wednesday or so. I'm to page 369 in the DaVinci code so it will be finished in the next hour and half or so. And now it's SPRING BREAK!!! Yahoooooo!
So ASK AWAY! Please! Give me something to do today. I'm begging you.

Thanks y'all

I appreciate the comments. I really wasn't sure if anyone was still reading since I can't check site meter. I do, however, check my email once a day so if you do comment, I will read it.

Last night I organized the music on my mp3 player. When I transferred music from my computer to it, some of it was put in odd categories. I also listened to and downloaded some additional music. I have a free trial subscription to Rhapsody so I am trying out some of the music on there.

I didn't cook last night, I just had leftover pizza and salad. My cousin that is visiting kept trying to have conversations with me and I found that he still annoyed me. I don't know what it is, but he still grates on my nerves. I can't explain it. I went to bed at ten and although the alarm went off at 6:00, I didn't actually get up until 6:30. Since I am not carpooling today, I decided to not leave very early. I am staying after school to work, however. I also realized that I have choir practice tonight. That will give me something to do at least.

Yesterday I put together Reader's Theatre scripts for my interp classes. They have to do their own small group performances and then each class is doing a large group one. They are going to perform for some elementary schools some time after spring break. I hope they enjoy it. I thought it would be fun and I got some responses from elementary teachers that are excited about it.

I don't know what else to write here. I keep starting sentences and deleting them because they seem pointless to mention. Well, I guess I'll try to make myself do something productive. I think I'll go check my teacher box in the lounge.

Just three more days

That's what is keeping me hanging on at the moment. I went to bed by 10:00 last night though I could have easily gone to bed at 9:00. I woke at 6:00 a.m. and was not ready to get up at all. I rolled out of bed around 6:25 and got ready. I'm still tired and I don't want to be at school. The kids probably don't want to be here either, but I still have 20 minutes until class starts. I should be updating grades or sorting through my piles of papers or something, but it's just not going to happen. I will probably come up to the school at least one day during spring break.

I finally made it to the grocery store. I know I shouldn't go when I'm hungry, but I did and now I have lots of snack items. I made homemade pizza last night with salad. I didn't do much of anything last night. I watched NCIS and then CSI. Not being able to get on the computer has been very difficult. I just left it in my backpack so I wouldn't be tempted. I'm not sure how I am going to manage during spring break. But I do have some grandiose plans of yet again cleaning out my garage. (How many times is it now, Summer? I've lost count.) I am going to put an ad in the paper for a free garage sale. I really just need to get rid of all the extra junk that I have in there. I am going to try to go to some daily masses, but with the time change happening, I'm not sure if it's going to happen. Ugh, the time change. I am so not looking forward to it at all. I'm sure I'll be grumpy for a few weeks until I get adjusted.

I think my readership has dropped because of not posting every day. I knew that it would be a risk I'd take by giving up the internet at home for Lent. I don't know this for certain, but comments have been quite lacking - not that I'm urging you to comment, but that was something that let me know that some people were still reading. Ah well... as Andrew puts it "The things people do for religion." I wanted to choose something this year that would have an impact on me and it certainly has! I realize how much I rely on the internet for practically everything!

I probably will at least read more without the internet as a distraction. I did finish the book on the Zodiac and so now I can watch the movie when it comes out. The book was o.k., but it was very slow in some places. The fact that he was never caught gives the feeling of it being "unfinished" which is a kind of "duh", but I guess I just wanted more. I have several other books to keep me busy. I am planning on reading "The DaVinci Code" despite being a good, strong Catholic. I think one has to take the book as it being a piece of FICTION and not get your panties in a wad over it. I don't think reading it will make me question my faith.

Well, class is about to start so I better get myself in teaching mode.

Harry Potter Syndrome?

Some of my more recent readers may not be aware of the fact that I broke my neck after getting hit by a car when I was four years old. Obviously, I survived and I'm not paralyzed. I did crack two vertebrae and had surgery to fuse them back together. I have a long scar on the back of my neck that was made up of 80 stitches. I generally haven't had problems with my neck since then other than once incident of whiplash in a school bus accident. But lately my scar has been bothering me. I wonder if I just slept wrong during our trip this past weekend, but it feels kind of sore in one spot. At least I hope that's all it is and not because some evil witch is trying to kill me.

I did have some strange dreams last night though. I dreamed that my former best friend and I were friends again for some reason. It's always strange when I dream about her. I'm still tired. It seems I can't get caught up on sleep. I went to bed by 10:00 last night and I was still tired when I got to school this morning. I just don't want to be here. Now I'm hearing this weird beeping noise in my room and I can't figure out what it is.

I have company at home. My cousin and nephew are in town visiting. They got in around 6:00 a.m. this morning. Last night I had to get the guest mattress ready. I haven't gone to the store yet so I hope they're not hungry. Josh and I went out to eat last night. I'm having my leftovers for lunch today. (Chicken friend chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy - for you Andrew)

Well, I suppose that's enough rambling on my part. Despite being gone and not getting online, I still don't have much to say. I have really missed reading blogs though. I just now found out about Pipe Tobacco's mother and that was very sad.

Busy and worn out

I went to bed at 8:45 last night. I was so tired from the trip. My kids didn't do well, but that was expected. About half of them got to quarter-finals in some of the their events, but that's it. One of my students, however, did get a $500 scholarship from TFA which was awesome.

I'm just trying to get caught up on things right now and I'm really glad that spring break is next week. I am not, however, happy that it's daylight savings time this weekend. At least with spring break here, I can hopefully ease into it.

Well, I gotta run... my carpool person is probably ready to go. I'll try to update more at lunch tomorrow. I spent it today looking for hotels for the NFL National tournament in Wichita in June.

TFA State

Well, it's officially started and I have no idea how my kids are doing. I do know that the duets aren't doing very well, but I have no idea on the individual events. Luckily, I was able to be released early last night from the Tab room. I found out yesterday that my student that was alternate to Nationals is going to get to go. One of the other competitors moved into another event because of another one that isn't going to go and now my student gets the spot. We surprised her at Wendy's (the restaurant) last night. I wrote on a napkin "Katie - Guess What?" and then on the inside it said "You're qualified for Nationals in Extemp!" We had a person working there deliver the napkin to her and she was so blonde that she turned to us and said "I don't get it." I said "Did you read it?" She said, "Yes, but what am I supposed to guess?" I told her to open it. The shock and surprise on her face was priceless. She was very excited.

The tab room was very boring yesterday. I liked working on the computers better last year though that was boring too. The problem is that I know very few people in there and so I pretty much just keep to myself. I don't make friends easily I guess. I am working the duet acting table which means that we check the ballots when they come in and then send them to the computer people to enter the rankings. We also get the ballots ready to go to the judges table as well. Once the ballots are out or in, we have down time. They don't want us to leave much so we just sit around. I did enjoy having my new mp3 player though. I also brought my laptop but I didn't really use it. I tried to get a wireless signal and it didn't work very well. I'm going to leave the laptop here today and not lug it around. I have been trying to read one of my books but I just can't get into it very well. I bought the Zodiac book about the Zodiac killer, but so far it's a kind of slow read. I do have some other books so I may start one of those instead.

Well, that's all the excitement in my world. We have another long day at the tournament, but thankfully we did get to sleep in this morning. I'm taking students at 11:00 to go eat then get to the tournament. It's Friday so I can't eat meat. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about food today. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Hope all is well in my reader's worlds.