Here in Sweetwater

I enjoyed bathroom duty today. It was easy to just sit for two hours and grade papers and then read. After my duty was up, I went to pick up the purchase order and then mailed the registration packet for Nationals. It cost $36 to overnight it, but I'll get reimbursed from our team money. Our plane tickets are purchased so we are good to go! Now it's still a matter of getting the money from Josh's school. That is still up in the air.

I was disappointed that many of my students were not ready to give their speeches today. But I guess that is par for the course. We left for our trip right after school was out and we stopped at my house to drop my car off. We're now in Sweetwater for the night. We were lucky to get the rooms we have as the hotels here are sold out because of the goings on with the FLDS in Eldorado which is about 70 miles away. We'll get into Austin around 2:00 tomorrow. We will register and then go to a speech meeting that evening. On Friday the competition isn't until noon which will be nice.

Well, I'm going to cut this short and go to bed. I'll report again from Austin tomorrow.

So much to do

First of all I forgot to go to band rehearsal last night. It just completely slipped my mind and I didn't think about it until I was leaving school today and saw another teacher there that plays in the band. I got all the registration information submitted today and hopefully they will have a purchase order for me tomorrow. We still don't know if Josh's school will pay for his trip to Nationals. I know that they have the money, but I don't know if they're going to "find" it for this. Regardless, we'll find a way for him to go.

Today was very nice. I had conference time all morning and didn't have to do anything in regard to TAKS testing. I had two classes this afternoon and then two more conference times. I was able to get scripts ordered for next year. I need to spend what is left in my budget so that I don't lose it next year. I have more supplies to order but probably won't have time tomorrow. I have to do bathroom duty in the morning so I'll grade tests and do some reading. Then I have to pick up the purchase order, and then go to the post office and overnight our Nationals entry.

I have a little bit of a concern today. We were told that our contracts for next year were in our boxes for us to sign. There was no contract in my box today. I am hoping it is just an oversight. But it concerns me a little because of the issue with the other teacher retiring and they might realize that I am not able to really take over the theater and now they don't know what to do with me. Of course I also think of the worst case scenario. I did look up information regarding the policy on contract renewals and from what I understand they would have to have given me 45 days notice before the end of term if they were not planning on renewing my contract. So I guess I'll see if I have a contract in my box tomorrow.

Tonight I cooked philly cheesesteaks for dinner. It was quite tasty. I was famished. I tried taking a nap when I got home today because I was exhausted but it didn't work out. First Josh called to tell me that he was at a friend's house (which I do appreciate that he does that), then a very loud ice cream truck drove by, and then I got another call from Josh's speech teacher. So after that I gave up and started supper. Then a lady from church called me as she was going to listen to my radio interview and needed help on opening the file. Now I've finished supper and I'm watching American Idol. I don't know how I got addicted to that show, but I was bored one night and it was on so I watched it. Now I have to know how everything turns out.

I put laundry in and have to get packed for the next trip to Austin. We're leaving after school tomorrow and stopping in Sweetwater for the night. One of the students going has to go to her grandfather's funeral and won't be traveling with us. She will fly in on Friday evening and compete on Saturday.

Well, I better get going on getting everything packed and done so I won't be up late tonight.

Tiring

I spent most of the day working on the registration for the National tournament. I had to get pricing for airfare, car rental, figure meals and fill out all sorts of forms. The registration didn't open until almost 2:00 today. I have to get everything to administration by tomorrow morning in order to get a purchase order to send with everything in the mail to be overnighted on Wednesday before I leave to go to Austin (again). Tomorrow begins another week of TAKS testing. Thankfully I don't have to test this time since I won't be here on Thursday. I will get a conference period tomorrow morning which will be great. I have so much to do and get caught up on. Then on Wednesday I have bathroom duty so I'll probably bring a book to read. Then my sub will have the assignments on Thursday and Friday.

Josh is at a banquet for theater tonight. I just heated up some chicken poppers and corn for dinner. I'm going to bed shortly as I feel exhausted. I played a little bit of rollercoaster tycoon and watched a show on the the 50 cutest child stars grown up. It's not a very exciting post, I know, but it's back to the grind for me. On the up side, there's only a month left! Woo hoo!

Coming down from Cloud Nine

O.k. I think I'm back to normal. Now I have to deal with all the arrangements in order to go to Nationals. I have to get our registration completed in three days. Tomorrow will be spent getting that together.

I sang at church this morning. I'm not sure how well it went. We seemed to get off to a rough start. Of course I was sight-singing mostly since I couldn't go to rehearsal on Thursday last week. After church I went to Pet Smart to get stuff for my dog. He keeps licking an area on his leg that has a sore and it just won't heal. So I got one of those lamp shade collars to put around his neck so he can't touch it. I also got some spray that should help heal the sore. I used the clippers on him yesterday and now he doesn't look like a mop any more. He's been needing a hair cut for a long time but I couldn't afford to take him to the groomers. I've been afraid of using the clippers, but I finally figured it out yesterday and it wasn't too bad. Of course the cut isn't really even, but it's better than the hairy mess that he was.

After Pet Smart, I went to Walmart to get groceries spending more than I wanted to, but really with the costs of groceries rising, I can't help but spend $100 every time I go. I came home and just vegged the rest of the day. Now I've got to start getting ready for another trip to Austin this weekend. We're leaving Wednesday after school and driving half way. I won't get back until Sunday evening and will have to go to church at the student center. If I get back by 5:00 I could go to the Spanish Mass instead.

Well, it's way past my bed time so I'm going to head that way.

Grinning from Ear to Ear

You can probably guess by the title of the post that I will be going to Vegas this summer. Two of my students qualified. One is going in Humorous and the other Oratory. On top of that Josh is going as well as he is the second Oratory to qualify. We'll be in Vegas June 14- 21. Woo Hoo!
It was so exciting today, I could hardly contain myself. I was very worried about oratory because it could have come out a bunch of different ways. I had two students in there as well as Josh. There were some other students from other schools that I knew had qualified in other events and would be going in those events. My students placed 1st & 2nd and Josh placed 3rd but since my 2nd place student chose to go in Humorous, Josh was bumped up. Now I just hope that his school will come up with the money to pay for him to go. If not, I think more letters will be written. I would think that a school could find the way to pay for a student to go to Nationals.
Well, we made it home and now I've got to figure out something for dinner. I'm tired after spending the day waiting and then driving home for two hours. I think I'll be calling it an early night. I have to sing at church tomorrow and need to be there by 10:00 for practice.

Only time for a quick update

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Wednesday evening I got home late after staying at school to get my sub instructions ready. We left Thursday morning and have been involved in the tournament since 1:30 that afternoon. I've barely had time to check email and read just a few blogs. I don't have access while at the school. I have a few results that I can't share yet. My kids don't the results and won't know until tomorrow morning/afternoon sometime. So I can't tell you if I'm going to Vegas this summer or not. You'll just have to wait until I get back tomorrow evening. Sorry it is really just a brief post, but I'll try to catch you up in full when I get back.

Some Concerns

It seems that they are not going to hire someone to replace the theater teacher that is retiring. The personnel director assumes that I was hired to fill the slot. I was hired to fill the speech slot, but not theater. I don't have a background in theater and would have no clue as to what to do. I also have no desire to take on the theater program including the one act play. I don't know if they are going to just let the theater program dissolve or if they will get someone to take it. I also wonder if they will try to guilt me into it. That also means that potential our class sizes would increase since we don't have a third teacher to teach three of the classes.
I also wonder if I'm even going to be in the same classroom again. It wouldn't surprise me if I have to move a fourth time in four years. I've volunteered to teach an evening speech class if I can come to school later in the morning. I don't know if it will make, but I think I could handle sleeping in each day. I think if I just didn't have to get up before dawn I would function better.
I don't know if I'm going to get everything done before Thursday. Maybe I can get to school early to get a head start. I won't have much time to work in class tomorrow as I'm either teaching or watching performances. I'm going to have to stay until it is all done. I have to get my sub plans ready and get everything ready for the tournament. I have to take a crock pot of something for the coaches lounge. I have no idea what to take since I have to drive 2 hours to Lubbock that morning, then go to lunch, then go to the tournament. Any ideas? Maybe I can go to Sam's tomorrow and get a large can of chili or soup or something. Or I could do queso.
I made spaghetti for dinner tonight. Tomorrow will be steaks. Then I'll be out of town once again. And now it's already bed time again. Where does the time go? (Shhh... I only played one game of Rollercoaster Tycoon tonight.)

Do I have to go back to work?

At least it will be two short weeks for me. I'm taking kids to the NFL district tournament in Lubbock on Thursday. We'll be there until some time on Saturday. I'm going to try to rush my kids in comm. app. and have them present their speeches on Wednesday. That means they have to get it written by Tuesday in order to practice. That might be a bit much for them. I just am not sure what to have them do for two days while I'm gone. Next week is TAKS testing which messes up our schedule completely. I still have to cover interviewing which is going to be horrible. When kids can barely speak English, how are they supposed to get through a job interview?

I'm so ready for school to be out. I'm not ready to clean out the garage (thanks for the reminder Summer!) but I am ready to just be done with school for the year. I still have a bad case of spring fever. It doesn't help being gone so much from school.

Church was very nice today. I really think having gone to confession helped. It kind of gave me a sense of renewal and excitement and I was really glad to be there. Maybe it also had to do with missing it last weekend. After church I didn't do anything except play on the computer. I watched some t.v. and was pretty much a bum most of the day. I did load the dishwasher and I'll start some clothes in the washer before I go to bed... which I need to do fairly soon. It is already past my bed time.

A do nothing day

Mostly. I enjoyed not hearing the alarm go off this morning. If only I could train my cats to not want out until I feel like getting up. I sat in front of the t.v. with my laptop on my lap this morning. Around 12:30 I took a shower and made myself somewhat presentable. Josh and I went to Amarillo to get him a vest and tie for his upcoming prom. I spent a lot more than I wanted, but I know how much a big deal prom is. It could be worse; he could want to rent a whole tux. Thankfully he is using his band tuxedo. I went and ahead and bought the vest and tie thinking that he could wear it when in college. I'll have to get him his own tux for band concerts. I think I'll wait until prom is over and then see what they might have on sale. So we got the vest and tie and then went to JC Penny's so Josh could find dress shoes. He had a $50 gift card from Christmas so he used it to by the shoes. Then we were going to go to Taco Villa for lunch but it was closed today due to a funeral. So we picked up Wendy's when we got back to Canyon. I was good and got the grilled chicken sandwich. My weight is still dropping I think.

I made myself go to confession this afternoon. I've had a block about going because I figure it would be difficult and potentially embarrassing and a little scary. It really wasn't very bad at all. It didn't take much time and the priest just gave basic counseling and told me he thought I was on the right track with my spirituality and that was a gift from God. My penance was to say an "Our Father" and to pray for those in the Church and especially those who have left the Church. I sent up a lot of prayers for Marty in hopes that he might make it back some day. The last time I talked to him online he said it has been in his thoughts lately.

After confession, I came home and have been in my recliner most of the evening. I started playing rollercoaster tycoon again. I'm playing the second version because I lost my RCT3 CD. I probably shouldn't be doing it, but it is mindless fun and I really didn't want to do anything today. I made a frozen pizza for supper and only ate one slice. Now it's almost midnight and I better get to bed so I can go to church in the morning. I could have just stayed after confession but I decided that I would rather go on Sunday.

TGIF with a free weekend

I'm glad it's Friday and I don't have to go out of town. I was so ready to leave school today. I left the parking lot by 4:00 p.m. and was home by 4:30. I order Thai Kitchen (chicken fried rice) for dinner since Josh had plans to go out with one of his friends. So much for my diet. I need to watch myself this weekend. I haven't lost any additional weight, but haven't gained any either. That is probably good since I ate horribly last weekend during the trip. I'm going to play some scrabble tonight and watch t.v. Tomorrow I think I'm going to go to confession. I've never actually done confession on a weekend... I've always just done the yearly communal service. But I didn't get to do that this year. I missed Mass last weekend and although it is probably not a mortal sin since I was on a school trip, I really just need to go regardless. I need to get over the fear I have of it and just deal with it.

Tomorrow Josh and I are going to go shopping for a vest and tie for prom. He's going to wear his band tuxedo again to save money. I need to pay bills and see how much money I have this month. I need to pay his band camp deposit. He didn't get the scholarship we were hoping for. Well, I should be getting the tax credit some time in May. That will help.

I got my review from my evaluator today. It was all good stuff. I wasn't worried about it. I'm certain that they're not going to fire me. I really need to focus on getting my masters degree though. I hate all this stuff that they're putting on teachers. Today I had to fill out a "Teacher Self Report" full of justification for everything I do as a teacher. Next year we are going to an 8 period day which means more classes and more time at school... but no more pay of course.

Well, I guess I've rambled on enough for tonight. I'm going to start my scrabble game and take it easy this evening.

Down the home stretch

Just six more weeks to go. Woo hoo! Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I didn't really have anything to say. School was typical. I did get a bad report about my sub and she has since been banned from subbing at the high school. I talked with Marty online for a while last night. It was great to talk to him - I've missed some of our conversations.

I'm still perpetually behind at school. I really need to get a lot of things done tomorrow or stay late doing them. I had to fax our entry for our competition next week by 4:00 today. I think I made it with 5 minutes to spare. Then I had to go to the Admin. building to turn in stuff from our trip this weekend. I then came home and cooked hamburger helper for dinner.

I think I'll play a game of scrabble this evening and watch some t.v. I knew better than to bring papers home to avoid grading. The weather turned cold today. I think it only got into the 40's and it was raining on the way home. I was hoping to finally turn the heat off, but no such luck.

Home again home again

It was a quiet and long drive today. Thankfully, I did it in 8 1/2 hours instead of 9. I did get pulled over by a DPS officer today, but not for speeding. He pulled me over because he thought the tinted windows on the car was too dark. He checked them and said that they were o.k. We left Austin at 8:30 this morning and got back to Hereford shortly after 5:00. I got home by 5:45 and relaxed for a few minutes before leaving to pick up dinner. No way was I going to cook tonight. I picked up Sonic and got a grilled chicken wrap and small tator tots. I really don't want to go to work tomorrow. It is so hard to get caught up after having a sub. But on the bright side, there's only 6 more weeks left. Also, I won't have to be here for three days of TAKS testing. Of course that means I'll be driving BACK to Austin. Ugh. I'm tired of driving already.

Bus Safety State Report

The picture is for Mago. This is Marvin the Martian. He is my favorite cartoon character and I have a huge shrine of objects at home. This particular image is also the tattoo that I have on my right shoulder blade on my back - without the "Greetings Earthlings." I starting collecting Marvin items in 1994. My first object was a watch that played the Loony Tunes theme song with Marvin on it. It has now grown to several hundred objects as you can see in the shrine link. My new laser gun will go into the collection.

Well, one of my students did pretty well at the competition today. My junior student placed 3rd in his grade level and will receive a $250 savings bond. I don't know how the other two students did, but I'll try to find out their final rankings. I know they didn't place in the top three. Regardless, each of them also received a $100 savings bond for making it to state.

This evening I met a friend from high school for dinner. I was able to park in his garage at work which is in downtown Austin and then we walked to dinner and ate Mongolian Barbecue. (If you have never heard of it... it's like a buffet of raw vegetables and meat that you pile together and then you add sauces and they cook in for you on a big grill.) It was very good and my friend even paid for dinner for myself and all three of my students. We then walked down to the state capital and back to the bridge where all the bats are supposed to fly out at dusk. I guess it isn't the right season as only a few of them came out. At the right time of year, they come out by the masses and it is an amazing site.

We then walked back to the garage where my car was parked and we came back to the hotel with a little extra sight-seeing (i.e. I took the wrong exit and had to double back.) I think we'll sleep in a little in the morning and leave around 8:30. I don't want to get back too late, but I also wouldn't mind sleeping past 7:00 for once - especially with a 9 hour drive ahead of me. Ugh. I'm getting tired of driving!

Well, I guess I'm going to read a few blogs and call it a night shortly.

Rollercoaster Joy

We got to the park around 10:30 this morning right about the time it opened. I thought I was smart by using sun screen today, but I missed the area on my chest just below my neck so it is pretty red right now. It was a wonderful day of riding rides. One of the kids wasn't sure if he liked rollercoasters so we started slow with a basic mine train coaster. He liked it pretty well so we took it up a large notch and rode Superman (a floorless coaster) after that. By then he was hooked. We rode all the coasters in the park including a new one I have never ridden which brings my number up to 126 I think. We stayed until 4:15 and then we had to leave in order to get to Austin and check into our hotel. I did get a souvenir - a Marvin the Martian laser gun that I didn't have. It was a fun, but exhausting day. I did get to ride my two favorite coasters twice.

We checked into the hotel around 6:00 and then headed to dinner at 6:30. We ate at I-Hop which was just around the corner. I had the chicken fajita salad which was o.k. but not amazing. (And Andrew - at Cheddars I had the lemon pepper chicken with corn and rice.) When we got back to the hotel I took a nice long shower and now it's about time for bed. We have an early morning tomorrow and a very long day. Tomorrow evening I may get to meet a friend from high school for dinner.

Well, I have some blogs to read before going to bed... I don't know if I'll get through all of them yet, but hopefully soon.

UIL trip report

We made it to San Angelo yesterday around 2:30 and we watched a few one act plays. We went to supper at Cheddars and then came back to the hotel where I took a shower and went to bed. I thought I had forgotten my ear plugs so I didn't sleep very well. This morning when I was going through my computer bag I found a pair so hopefully I'll sleep better tonight. (I can't sleep with certain sounds going on around me.) Today was a fairly disappointing day. None of my interp kids broke to finals. I think a couple of them (pardon my french) got screwed with by poor judges. One my students was ranked 5th at TFA state and received ranks of 5, 5, 1 by three judges. One of my debaters missed quarter finals after a tie where they had to examine her opponents records. I was losing all hope until extemp. One of my students made it finals in informative extemporaneous speaking and she ultimately placed 3rd. I was thinking that I might end up with a free weekend if I didn't have any kids make it to state. I'm glad to go, however. The student that made it hasn't had a lot of success and she is now realizing how talented she is. We have another student going in journalism so we'll be taking two girls down.

This evening we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I was very bad and ordered boneless fried chicken with gravy. It was o.k., but not the greatest. Then this evening we had our annual ice cream orgy. Let me explain... We buy about a dozen pints of Blue Bell ice cream in assorted flavors. Everyone gets a spoon and we open the ice cream and pass them around in a large circle with everyone taking a bite and then passing it on until it's gone. Some people might find that disgusting, but it doesn't bother me. Now I've taken my shower again and we'll be hitting the road around 7:30 tomorrow morning. I can't wait to ride my favorite coasters!

Well, I wanted to give you a brief trip update since I haven't had time to post anything. I haven't caught up on blogs either, but hopefully by tomorrow evening I'll be caught up in reading all of them. It's amazing how fast they pile up when you can't check them several times a day!

Progress

I guess I got a cleaning bug in me tonight. I decided that I really needed to clean Josh's bathroom since my dad is coming to stay for a few days. I can't tell you how disgusting a teenage boy's bathroom can get. I've also swept, picked up things around the house and did some laundry. I have forgotten to eat, however. I should probably fix myself a little something. By the way, I've lost about 6 pounds now. Hopefully slow and steady will do the trick. I still haven't added exercise, but hopefully cleaning tonight will count for that. I haven't started packing so I need to do that soon. Oh! Good news! We are going to get to Six Flags and ride rollercoasters! Woooooo Hooooo! I am so excited. It's been a year since I've ridden coasters and a few years since I've been to Fiesta Texas.

I managed to get just about everything done at school including grades and make up grades and even more grades. I just have one class that I need to grade a few things for and I'll be done. Last night as I went to bed I came up with an idea for my lesson for my comm. app. classes. I'm going to have them memorize a brief anecdote to present to the class. Since we're doing speeches soon I figured this is another step to getting them ready. It may be too much for them... memorizing a 15-30 second story, but we'll see how it goes.

Well, I've got a lot to do in the next hour so I better get busy. I will be taking my laptop with me so I should be able to blog from the road.

Briefing

Not even close to being ready for this weekend. My kids are closer now that they have been able to work with some college kids. I stayed after school so they could work with them this afternoon and didn't get home until 7:30. I spent the evening getting the registration information for our reunion online. Now it's about time for me to start thinking about bed. I have so much that I need to get done by tomorrow. I just don't know if it is going to happen. I still have no idea what I'm going to have my comm. app. classes do. I've got to figure that out by tomorrow. Maybe inspiration will come to me in my dreams. Well, one can wish, huh?

Tuesday evening

Sorry... I can't be creative with a title today. I left school fairly early and came home and made dinner (spaghetti). I need to get the extra room cleaned tonight since my dad is coming this weekend. I caught up on my grading. I only have a few adjustments to make and will have a couple of assignments that I need to grade this week. I still need to come up with plans for my classes while I'm gone. I talked to another speech teacher today and got an idea from him that I might use. I think on Friday I'm just going to let them watch Fantasia. I used to show it as part of the listening process so I might as well. We're going to start speeches next so I think I will have the students listen to famous speeches and analyze them on Monday and Tuesday.

It's not a very exciting update, but it's not a very exciting time right now. I talked to my aunt today and she and my uncle are going to pay for Josh's class ring. I don't think he's very excited about it, but I think he should have one. Maybe it's not a big deal right now, but you never know... he might appreciate it later. I lost my ring a few years ago. The last time I remember having it was when I was married, but I haven't seen it in a few years. Well, I better start working on the bedroom.

Another fast moving week

Mondays seem hopeless. I have a ton of things that seem to hit me all of a sudden and then more on top of that. I had a visitor from another school today that came to debate a couple of my kids for practice. I completely forgot about it until she showed up. Then I had to get an ISS (in school suspension) assignment done and that took me a whole conference period to do. I did make some progress on grading, but I'm still not caught up. I intend to have it all done by the end of my conference periods tomorrow. I had to make reservations for our upcoming state trip and was worried about finding a hotel in Austin with available rooms. Thankfully, I was able to reserve rooms at the hotel that we are staying at next week. I thought it was a pretty decent hotel and the breakfast was excellent. I need to find time to pick up my checks for for the upcoming tournament this weekend. I'll be going to San Angelo on Friday and then to Austin (via San Antonio) on Sunday. I'll get back on Tuesday. Oh... that reminds me, I have to figure out something for my students to do for the three days that I'll be gone. What a mess!

I almost decided to not go to band tonight, but I went anyway. I'm glad I did even though I won't be able to play at the concert next week. Now it's bed time so I didn't get much accomplished this evening. Hopefully tomorrow I'll the get extra bedroom cleaned. I'm caught up on laundry in terms of clothing. I still have some towels, blankets and sheets to wash, however. Well, I need to start the dishwasher and a load of laundry.

Unpleasant tasks

There's nothing like doing one unpleasant task in order to avoid another one. I've been doing laundry all day. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the morning having a lot of clothing choices. The unpleasant task that I have been avoiding is grading papers. I've been doing that very well. I have to get them done by Thursday this week. I also have to get the spare room clean. I was going to start on that earlier, but I wasn't feeling very well. I decided to take it easy for a bit.

I didn't make it to the 8:30 service. I got up a little after 9:00. I had to spend 15 minutes defrosting the freezer with the hair dryer again. I really need a new fridge, but that's not going to happen any time soon. I went to the 11:15 service then went to Walmart to get my money back on curtains that I bought. Well, I thought they were curtains. The package was not labeled correctly, and it was just a valance. I decided that I'm just going to try to finish making the ones I originally planned for my bedroom last year. I still have the material, I just need the space to finish them. Hopefully I'll have that by the end of the week.

I went to Josh's concert this afternoon. I thought he did a great job writing the wind parts. Afterwards we went to the banquet. They served chicken parmesan which was o.k. but they should have served it with some pasta. Josh didn't get the band camp scholarship. I realized that he should have played more of the emotional card in his essay. Well, live and learn. He's not going to want to do that and write personal stuff, but when it comes to scholarships for college, he may have to bit the bullet and put it all out there.

Well, it's going to be a busy week. I've got a lot to get done before I leave to go out of town. I may get to take my kids to Six Flags on the way to Austin. I could really use a roller coaster rush. Well, I'm going to get back to laundry. I'm getting close to being done with my clothes. Then I have some blankets, sheets and towels to wash. Laundry is my life.

Cleaning - Believe it or not

I decided that I had to do something. I got a later start than I originally intended, but I've been working on my bedroom this afternoon. I've put up a couple of baskets worth of clothes and I won't even mention how much I've thrown into the laundry pile. I'd take a picture, but I would be too embarrassed to post it. Let's just say it's a small mountain. But there is a path all around my bed now. I cleaned off my dresser and other surfaces in my room. My shoes are in the closet (not sorted yet) but at least they are not all over the floor. If I ever get married again, my new husband will have to simply accept the fact that generally my shoes come off wherever I happen to be and there will be numerous pairs scattered throughout the house at any given time. Only when I get in a cleaning fix do they make it into the closet.

My dad is supposed to be coming next week. He's not sure whether or not he'll be bringing his motor home so he may be staying with me. I need to spend some time getting the spare bedroom clean. The dogs have taken it over as their room and I need to clean it up a bit. I also want to get my craft space cleaned up again. I got the beads for Andrew's rosary, I just don't have a space to make it right now. It's weird. I'm great at organizing but I never stay very organized.

It was wonderful to sleep in this morning. I actually did get up before 10:00. I spent time working on the reunion website. Then I listened to and downloaded songs for my mp3 player. I think I'm going to try to go to the early service at church tomorrow so that I can spend some more time cleaning before going to the orchestra concert. I can't wait to hear Josh's music that he arranged for the orchestra. He wrote and arranged the wind parts to the two songs that they are playing. Oh, his play is going on to regionals next week. They might just make it to state again.

Well, I guess I should get back to cleaning. It's time to pull the vacuum cleaner out.

Mostly a nice evening

I didn't get to go to Olive Garden. When I got there, the parking lot was packed and people were spilling outside. I figured it might be prom or something. So I went to TGIFridays instead. It was o.k. but not what I really wanted. I had the chicken bruschetta pasta and a top shelf margarita. Then I went to showcase. It is a show where all the major and minor music ensembles from the local university perform. I thought I had chosen a good seat. Shortly after the show started some people came down the aisle and since there were empty seats next to me, I figured I would be kind and let them in. I was appalled by the behavior of this woman that sat next to me one seat over. First, she had her cell phone out and although she wasn't talking on it, she was holding it up and looking at it. I don't know if she was reading messages or texting, but I couldn't believe it. At one point her phone actually went off. This was about after 10 minutes of her playing with it and she finally put it in her purse. After intermission, she and the person she was with were talking. She was shushed by several people around her but she didn't really stop talking. I think if she wasn't interested in the piece, she would talk. Then she spent time trying to put on lipstick in the dark. She had a kleenex out to wipe around her lips and then she stuffed the used kleenex down the empty seat next to her. Finally she started rummaging through her purse for about 5 minutes and then she pulled out a mint or something and spent another minute loudly opening it. Then she smacked it in her mouth. What was most surprising to me is that this woman turns out the be a music alumni! At the end of the concert, they invite all music alumni to come down and sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic with the rest of the music people. I started to go down and I thought this lady wanted out to go to the bathroom or something, but she ended up coming down to the stage to sing. I couldn't believe that someone that was part of a music program could be such a rude audience member. I know I have to live with such behavior at most high school band concerts because some parents and students just don't know better. But I would think that someone who has participated in any kind of concert would know better!
Well, I'm going to head to bed and enjoy sleeping in tomorrow morning.

Going out tonight

I'm going to take myself out to dinner tonight and then go to Showcase. I almost thought about just staying home, but I am going to force myself to get out of the house. I know I won't regret it.

I don't have any exciting news to share. School is just school. I am still grading a million papers. I vow to get them all graded by Monday. The play last night was very entertaining and I thought Josh did a wonderful job. I talked to Marty a little bit online last night. He's going to be coming to the reunion and he is debating as to whether drive or fly. I suggested flying, but he's a glutton for punishment and will probably drive. That is a long way from Florida.

Well, I'm going to go get ready. I think I'm going to go to the Olive Garden for dinner. I've been pretty good this week. I don't know if Josh is going to get to get to go. He had one act today and he has to wait until the critique is over.

Busy as ever

No trip this weekend, but that doesn't mean I'll be sitting around doing nothing. Tomorrow I will be going to Josh's one act play performance. On Friday it is the Showcase of Music. On Saturday I have been invited to a barbecue. Josh's symphony concert is on Sunday followed by an end of year banquet.

Tomorrow I will have my observation. That's where the principal that is my evaluator comes to my class to watch me teach a lesson. Thankfully it is one of the relaxed and easy-going principals. I don't think I'll be nervous. I have a powerpoint lesson on listening. I have some activities planned. I'm sure it will go fine. I am putting a little bit of an effort, but it's a lesson I've taught several times before. Today in class we did music appreciation where we listen to 52 styles of music. I think they enjoyed it today. It's a break from the other work they have been doing.

I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight and get up early to get to school. I need to clean my room and my office a bit. I did start on it earlier this week. Our computers had to be shut off for a few hours so I had to find something productive to do.