Still Kicking

As expected, posting for me has dropped. I will try to post when I can, but school is going to be taking up most of my time. They are supposed to finish my room this weekend... mostly. I'm going up tomorrow to work in there and hopefully I'll have everything set up for classes to be in there on Tuesday. I'd like to get it done tomorrow so that I don't have to go up on our break on Monday.
I got my textbooks in the mail so I can start working on my many journals that I have to write. I've read the first chapter and started making notes. I emailed the librarians at the elementary schools in the district asking for their help and almost all of them responded saying that they would be glad to help me. That is a relief. So now I have to start tracking down the books I need and start reading. I got a notebook and dividers to start organizing everything. Right now I have stuff printed but it's just in a stack in my calendar. Today I need to go to Amarillo and get yet more ink cartridge so I'll be able to print more stuff.
I went to the football game last night to watch the band. They have a larger group this year of about 150 students. I thought they did well, but I thought the sound was a bit weak for their size. But they still did great. Josh gets to conduct in the center which is great. He has a great presence as a drum major. Well, enough blogging... I've got work to do.

A Reprieve

No jury duty tomorrow. That is a relief. I got the paperwork started for having a sub but I called to see if the trial was still scheduled and thankfully it was canceled. I was panicking about what I was going to have my classes do, but thankfully I didn't have to go that far. Now I've got to go back to my original plans for tomorrow, but I should be able to manage.
My room is supposed to be finished sometime this weekend. I was assured that I could work on Sunday without issues so I'll probably go up after church and try to get it set up. Monday is a school holiday but I think I'd rather stay home and try to do some of my college coursework.
I still feel behind, but I'm starting to make lists that I hope to prioritize soon. I am going to work on a schedule for my college work and try to stick to it. I'm going to try to get ahead in my classes and get printing and such done so I don't have to worry about it as much. I need to start locating the books I need to read. The reading list is frustrating as it is in no particular order. I have to compare the list to the the due dates for the journals so I know what to read when. I'm going to create a calendar for all of that and see if that helps. There's not much I can do until my textbooks arrive which should be tomorrow and probably Friday. So I'm going to focus on the things that I can get done first. I will put much more effort into my courses this weekend. I think I'm going to try to read during the week and write papers on weekends. We'll see how that goes.
Well, I've got to get my plans for tomorrow done and then go through the first lesson for one of my college classes so that's all for tonight. Posting will probably get very sporadic very soon.

Adding more to the fire...

It just keeps getting better. Not only am I still at a disadvantage because I'm not in my room, but today I got a jury summons in the mail for jury duty on Thursday. It is for a municipal court trial. So I have ONE day's notice to prepare substitute instructions for classes I have barely met with.
Although I still feel completely overwhelmed, I do appreciate all the well-wishes in my comments section. It's great that you all have faith in me when I have very little in myself at the moment.
I would write more, but I'm really tired and I can't focus. I can't even finish my work for school tomorrow. I guess I'll just get there early.

What have I gotten myself into?

I must be totally insane. O.k. I know I am. I'm very tired after an exhausting day. The first day is always tiring. My classes are o.k. Nothing exciting right now. I'm trying to manage without being in my classroom. I really hate having an 8 period day. 45 minutes for classes is too short when it comes to conference periods. I feel perpetually behind and like I'll never get caught up. Add to that my graduate courses. I logged on today it is overwhelming. For one of my classes, I'll be reading well over 100 books plus two textbooks. Granted they are children/youth books, but the sheer volume and having to collect them and read them will be daunting. In addition I have to write 28 journal entries plus do three major projects. And this is just one course. The other will have five papers, some quizzes and discussions. I'm going to get my calendar situated and try to set myself up a clear schedule to work from.
But that's all I can share for now.... as I'm totally exhausted and need to head to bed!

Wasted trip

I could have gone to Mass at 8:30 but I chose to sleep in and go to the 11:15. I came home, changed clothes, ate lunch and then headed to Hereford to work in my room. Well, of course they weren't finished with the ceiling. I couldn't do anything to get my room ready. There was still most of the furniture in there including stuff I just need to get rid of. So I just did some work on the computer and got some stuff printed for the first couple of days. My classes are just going to meet in the library until everything is done. Of course I'm not sure when I'm going to have time to do anything since I start my grad school classes tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too much work the first week... well, I can dream, can't I?
I came home around 5:30, picked up Josh and we went to the grocery store. We spent way too much money (it seems groceries are getting far more expensive these days). I came home and had to defrost the freezer so the refrigerator would work again. I then put groceries up and made dinner. (Philly cheesesteak sandwiches) I chatted with Marty briefly and now I'm waiting for the 1/2 tylenol p.m. that I took to kick in. I knew that I wouldn't sleep the day before school starts without help. I just hope I don't have one of my typical teacher nightmares that often happen just before school starts. (Where you have a class that is out of control and you can't get them under control.)
Well, I think I'll go iron my clothes for tomorrow and then head for bed shortly thereafter.

I really have to learn to say "no"

Maybe one of these days I'll learn that word... but it doesn't seem like it will be any time soon. This morning/afternoon I went to a local speech meeting. We had a couple of presentations this morning and then went to a restaurant in Amarillo for our business meeting. At the end of the business meeting we had elections and I found myself nominated and elected as the 2nd vice president of the group. That means I will be serving for the next three years... moving up to 1st VP and president consecutively. I'm indeed flattered by the fact that I was nominated and I won by acclimation as nobody else wanted the job. I just hope I can manage the responsibilities. I should have paid closer attention to the by-laws we went over today as the 2nd VP is a new position that was created.
After the meeting/lunch I went to the mall and got my haircut which has been long overdue. I tried to find new pair of pants for school but didn't have any luck. I then went to the teacher book store and got some posters and such for school. I then went to Hobby Lobby to get some beads for a new rosary. By then it was time for supper so I headed home and picked up McDonald's for Josh getting a small cheeseburger and salad for myself. Now I'm sitting in my recliner watching t.v. and thinking about going to bed early. Of course I always say that, but then I don't go to bed until several hours later.
Tomorrow will be church but I probably won't go until 11:15. I should go to the 8:30 service and then get to the school early to work in my room... we'll see if I can get up early enough. I have a lot of things I need to get ready and print for Monday in addition to setting up my room.
Well... I started this post a little after 7:00 tonight and now it's 9:43. I started chatting with Marty and then we watched a movie together. I know it seems corny but I like it when we're chatting online and we're watching the same thing. I know we're not officially in a relationship, but it's nice that we're making an effort to build something despite the distance.
Well, I'm really going to bed now.

So much to do and so little time left

The past two days we had inservice and for once it was actually useful. I hope to incorporate some ideas, but the problem is that it will take some time to think and plan the lessons and right now I don't have much of that. They are still working on my room and won't be finished with the roof until Saturday (hopefully). I'm going up Sunday afternoon after church to get unpacked and set up. Tonight I'm taking Josh to Amarillo to get him new shoes for school. Tomorrow I'm going to a local speech meeting and then I'm going to try to get a haircut and a few things for school. I started on my lesson plans but need to get busy on some other stuff I'll be doing in my classes. I hate that I'm starting the year in this state... but I think this will be the norm for a while. My graduate school classes also start Monday. I'm registered for two classes and I just paid the final payment with my credit card. I hope the rest of my financial aid comes through soon so I can cover that cost.
My house is at least tidy-ish. I cleaned it somewhat before the Dell guy came to fix my laptop (which is thankfully fixed now). I need to get some laundry done this weekend. I didn't quite finish the garage, but it is in a much better state than it started out. Mostly I just need to finish the laundry area.
Well, Josh is here so gotta go!

Time for Meme

I don't have much to say... it's back to work... involved in inservice and still can't do anything in my room. So today you get a meme thanks to Mama Llama.

A. Attached or single?
Hmmm. how to answer this... technically I'm single and a "free agent" of sorts, but I am interested in only one person right now and we all know who that is - but we're not "officially" dating so I call him my not-quite-boyfriend.

B. Best friend?
That's a hard one to answer. Marty is probably still considered my best friend. My longest friend is Kirsten and my closest female in this area is my friend Pam.

C. Cake or pie?
Cake usually, but I also love a good apple pie.

D. Day of choice?
Saturday if I'm not at a speech tournament.

E. Essential item?
Internet access/computer

F. Favorite color?
Purple right now... it tends to change from time to time.

G. Gummy bears or worm?
Doesn't matter really... tastes the same.

H. Hometown?
Canyon

I. Indulgence?
Yeah right... who has time or the money? I guess it would be Taco Villa when I go to Amarillo.

J. January or July?
July - no school.

K. Kids?
Josh - 18 and a senior.

L. Life isn’t complete without?
Love

M. Marriage date?
First marriage: Dec. 19, 1998. Future marriage... TBA. (on an aside - one of the assistant principals at the school said to me yesterday - "I heard you were getting married." I told him it was news to me.)

N. Number of brothers & sisters?
One of each - both older.

O. Oranges or apples?
Either - both - as long as it isn't a banana.

P. Phobias?
Getting stung by a flying insect - have never been stung and I don't want to be.

Q. Quotes?

"We shall steer safely through every storm,
so long as our heart is right,
our intention fervent, our courage steadfast,
and our trust fixed firmly on God."
Saint Francis de Sales

R. Reasons to smile?
Josh, Marty, flowers, music, love, good food, good joke, finding money, going on vacation, sleeping in.

S. Season of choice?
Summer

T. Tag seven peeps!
If you read this, consider yourself tagged.

U. Unknown fact about me?
I think I've told you everything - so if there's something you don't know but want to know... ask it in the comments and I'll answer.

V. Vegetable?
I hate most vegetables. I will eat corn, potatoes, and salad, however.

W. Worst habits?
Procrastinating, making assumptions.

X. X-ray or ultrasound?
hmmm... neither... the last ultrasound I had was very uncomfortable due to the excessive strain on my bladder after drinking a 1000 gallons of water. I guess maybe x-rays... but I don't remember the last one I had which was when I was four.

Y. Your favorite food?
Spaghetti

Z. Zodiac sign?
Scorpio - and very typical one if you believe in that stuff.

Just for Fun

Thanks to Terri for pointing this site out. I was in the middle of cleaning (sort of) and I stopped to catch up on the many blogs I hadn't read all day because like... you know... I have to actually work now. So I sit and play with it for an hour instead of cleaning and the Dell guy is coming tomorrow to fix my laptop and my office is a mess... but oh well, it was fun. It was actually kind of scary because in some of the poses I realize how much I really do look my mom. (When I get my Dell working again, I'll try to post a side-by-side with her.) So check it out for yourself, post your favorite picture and comment here so we can all laugh see. Here are my poses from 1952, 1960, 1968, 1974, 1988, 1990, and 1996 respectively.

Not much in terms of progress

Of course the rain continues. I shouldn't complain because we need the rain, but it's making things difficult for me. I will have perhaps Sunday afternoon to get my room ready. I finally got Windows to work on my Macbook so today I installed the software that I needed. This morning the freshmen students came to the school and went through several sessions learning about school policies and such. I was supposed to go with a group of them, but not enough showed up so my group didn't make. I went around and took pictures instead. I went up to my room to get a yearbook for a former student and while I was up there they tech crew came to see if they could set up my computers. I had to laugh... but told them to give me a little time and I would get the tables cleared. I did that and then did some more waiting around. They served hamburgers to the staff and students at lunch time so I ate and then went back to my room to work. I did the software installations and did some planning for the first week of school. I talked with my principal and reported a missing data projector that seemed to disappear from the storage room over the summer. I asked him if he had the funds to buy one that I could use in my room since I will be using the computers actively this year. I'm going to try to avoid a lot of printing this year and have the students work from files on the computer.
I'm trying to register for my grad school classes this evening, but it's not going well. First I couldn't access the pages I needed... probably due to traffic. I finally got on the page I needed and figured out how to add my classes. I then tried to finish and discovered a "hold" on my registration. Turns out that I have to read a statement that states that I understand that I have to pay for my classes when I register and on time... blah, blah, blah. I hit o.k. and try again and now I can't get one class because I need department approval. So I tried emailing to get the approval and then got the email returned as unable to send. So I sent it again to an actual person and I guess we'll see if I can get the approval and finalize my registration.
I haven't been able to talk to Marty tonight. He was supposed to be at the station riding out the hurricane so he doesn't have access to instant messenger. I'm relieved that Fay remained a tropical storm as it hit Key West instead of a hurricane. Hopefully I'll hear from him by tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be an oh so exciting day learning about bullying. I won't be able to get much done, but hopefully I can do some planning while the lecturing is going on. I hope I get better sleep tonight. Storms have come through the past few nights waking me up briefly.

My Room in its current state

Pictures as promised. The first picture is of the storage area. The area in the bottom left corner used to be a huge air conditioning unit that was torn out over the summer. They are replacing the rotted out roof above this area. The open door leads to the classroom. This area is above the backstage area of the auditorium below. There's a ladder (that you can't see) on the right that goes up above the stage area so the stage lights can be changed.


This is what used to be the dark room. The shelves are covered in plastic as they are replacing the roof above this area as well. It will be great storage space once it's finished.


This is the view towards the back of the room. Stacked on the tables are the copies of the yearbooks that belong to the staff.


Another view towards the back of the room. The boxes in the back were from my other room and can't be unpacked yet. The previous teacher had the desks facing this way, but that didn't work for me since I need space at the front for presentations. My editor and I had to turn all the tables around.


This is the view towards the front of the room. I have a bunch of tables and desks and other furniture to sort through. I'm not sure what I want to keep at this point but I can't really decide and move anything around until I have the storage space and office area to use. The open area in the upper right is the office area where my desk will go and the open door beyond that goes to the large storage area from the first photo.


This view is outside my door to the hallway. There's a hallway leading to the main hallway. My room once upon a time many years ago was the school's library. It included this hallway and another classroom that is to the left of the hallway.

Continual computer woes

Well, I still can't unpack in my room. They're not going to work on the roof until Monday (or so they say). That is if there's no rain forecast. Today my editor and I sorted through boxes of old yearbooks. We have three boxes of books that are marked for students to pick up and we have books dating back to 1988. Then we have another 9 or 10 boxes of extra yearbooks that were never sold. We're going to post them online and see if we can sell the extras. I still didn't get much accomplished today. I'll have to get some work done on the computer this weekend... hopefully. I took pictures in my room today so you can see some "before" photos. I'll post those sometime tomorrow... I'm tired and going to go to bed.

Blogging Hiatus

Well, several things have been going on that hasn't allowed me to post. First of all, the LCD screen on my laptop has gone kaput so I can't use my laptop at home. Second, I didn't get my Macbook until TODAY and I still can't access Windows that was installed because of a password issue that still hasn't been resolved. So if that weren't enough, I've just been too tired to post. There's major issues with my room at school and I won't be able to unpack things until MAYBE next week... at the end of the week... when I have to been in training sessions. So it's been difficult to really work the past two days, but somehow I'm managing and I'll try to post more details later.

a bit out of sorts

I haven't been feeling very great the past two days. I've had some stomach issues and I just laid around almost all day yesterday. I wanted to do the same today, but I needed to go up to school. I stayed up late watching the Olympics last night and then was awakened by storms in the middle of the night. I still got up around 7:45 and got ready to head to Hereford. I made it there by 9:00 and got up to my room where I was completely overwhelmed. My stuff from the other room had been moved up and the room is jam packed with stuff. I should have taken a picture of it. Then I found out that they are still working on the roof over my storage and office area so I can't do anything in those areas. That means I can't really start unpacking and sorting things because my desk is currently buried under other furniture that has no place to go at this point. Potentially the roof work could be done by Friday (if it doesn't rain tomorrow) but it may be next week before it's done. Given the fact that our work days are tomorrow and Friday - that means I can't really get much done except working on my computer... if I can get hooked up to a printer somewhere. I'm going to have to spend a lot of extra time after school and on the weekend just to get ready. I also can't get computers moved into my room until everything in there is cleared off. It's very frustrating.
So today my editor and I turned tables and desks (which was difficult given the space issues) so that the front of the room is facing the other direction. We then moved a million business books to another storage area in the school. The teacher before me also taught business and she left a lot of materials in there taking up space that I could use. It was exhausting work. I went to the admin building to see if my laptop was ready and of course it still didn't have Windows installed. He assured me that he would get it done this afternoon. I told him I really needed it by tomorrow so I could get work done. I'll go by in the morning before school to pick it up. Around 2:00 I decided that there wasn't more I could do so I headed home very tired. I took a nap from 2:45 until almost 5:00. I finally got up and then went to the store since we were out of almost everything. $100 later, I came home and started dinner. I made the San Francisco chops recipe that Josh likes. It turned out more spicy than usual. I wasn't very hungry so I at 1/2 of one and then shared it with the animals.
Now I'm watching the Olympics and planning to retire early tonight... even though I do want to watch men's gymnastics. I'll watch part of it, but I have to go to bed early since tomorrow is an official day of work. So with that, I'll sign off and do some vegging here in my recliner.

just.tired

It's been a long day. I got up at 5:45 and left at 6:45 to drive to Hereford. Picked up two students at 7:30 and then drove to Amarillo. Did my workshop from 9:00 until 3:30 with a break for lunch. I talked and stood all day so I'm tired.. not quite used to that. But it's good practice for school and I got paid well for it. I took my students back to Hereford and then drove home. I deposited my check and then went to the store to get some hamburger for spaghetti. I made dinner and now I'm watching the Olympics.
I will definitely be going to bed early tonight.
Tomorrow I'm taking the day off... mostly. I am going to do some cleaning and prepare myself for the upcoming work schedule. I don't have to officially be at school until Thursday, but I'm going to go in on Wednesday to get a head start since I have to arrange yet another new room and unpack all my stuff... again.
Well, it's not much to share today, but I'm too tired to write anything more.

Perhaps my last day of rest

I feel guilty that I didn't do anything today, but it was nice and relaxing. Tomorrow I've got to get ready for for the workshop I'm teaching on Monday. I think I have my powerpoints ready, but I need to get some stuff printed. I'll go to Kinko's after church tomorrow and have that done. I've been selling several rosaries lately. In the past week, I've had three orders and I just got a request for a custom rosary. Perhaps my site is coming up on more search engines or something. Tonight I cooked steak for dinner along with a baked potato and mac and cheese. I only ate 1/2 the potato and will save the other for tomorrow.
So workshop on Monday and then Tuesday will be my last day off before I go back to school. Inservice doesn't officially start until Thursday, but I'm going to go up on Wednesday to start working in my room. There's a lot to get done in the week before the students return. I think I'm going to take a different tack with my interp and debate classes this year. I'm not going to do as much teaching and lecturing and just let the students do more work. It seems that the classes are going to be pretty split with students that want to do debate in interp class and vice versa. I may have few new students so I'll just coach them as best as I can, but I'm going to try to let the students work more on their own.
I haven't decided how I'm going to structure yearbook yet, but I know what I need to do to get through the first week of school. We need to decide and finalize a theme and figure out what exactly we're going to do with the book. We also need to get our ad sales finished and plan for the first sale of the book.
Well, it's getting close to bed time so I'm going to try to wind down and head that way soon.

Weekend relief

I can't remember since when I have been this tired. Let's recap: Tuesday - about 3 hours of intermittent sleep while babysitting my brother's kids. Wednesday - Had a rum and coke while talking to Marty and went to bed at 9:30 but I guess the caffeine in the coke kept me up until after 1:00 even though I felt tired. I had to get up by 6:00 a.m. so I got maybe 5 hours of sleep. Thursday - spent a VERY long day at the administration building and didn't get home until 6:30. I knew that I couldn't cook, so I picked up Thai kitchen for dinner. I had to fix a letter for my principal to send out so I did that and watched a little t.v. I chatted with Marty for about 45 minutes until I couldn't keep my eyes open further and went to bed. I actually fell asleep fairly well... by 10:30 or so and slept until Thunderstorms came through around midnight. My dogs were whining outside my door so I put in earplugs and went back to sleep. I got up at 6:45 this morning and spent another long day at the admin building. I left around 10:45 and checked on getting a vehicle on Monday for the workshop which is good, because they hadn't received the paperwork on it. Then I went by the school to fix something on the letter for my principal. He wanted to send it as a pdf file so I had to install the plug-in for Word so he could edit and then save the files. After that I went to McDonald's for lunch and then back to the admin building. I stayed there until 4:15 and then headed home since my dad's in town and he wanted to go to dinner. We went to Feldman's and I got to meet his new girlfriend. She seems nice but was fairly quiet. I had the chicken fettucine alfredo and brought half of it home. Now I have leftovers for the weekend.
So with all that... I'm still tired. Tomorrow I'm going to sleep in VERY late. I don't care what I need to do... sleep is first and foremost. Then I need to work on my workshop stuff and go to Kinko's to have copies made for it. Sunday I am playing at church and my dad said that they would come. I won't hold my breath, but it would be nice if he did.
Well, I'm going to go be a vegetable sitting in front of the tv with the computer on my lap the rest of the evening.

Completely exhausted

I don't have the energy for small children. I went over to my brother's house around 3:00 p.m. yesterday. My sister was there and she and her husband decided to go out and go see the show TEXAS so I took over the babysitting officially around 6:00 p.m. that evening. I left around 5:15 to pick something up for dinner before they had to leave and then I called Marty to talk to him since I wouldn't be able to get online. We had a nice visit and then I picked up Taco Villa for dinner. (Yes, it is my weakness) I came back and took care of the kids which amounted to holding the baby, putting the baby in the non-walker type thing, chasing after the 18 month old, feeding the baby, more chasing, playing with the 18 month old, and on and on. The baby fell asleep around 10 but the 18 mo. old was up until 11:30 which was really late for him. I was up until 1:00 watching t.v. and then I tried going to bed. I might have gotten about 3 hours of intermittent sleep. The baby was up by 8:00 this morning and the other one was up by 8:30 and in a very cranky mood. My sister and her husband left around 11:00 and then I was on my own again. I fed the 18 mo. old lunch around 11:30 and got him down for a much needed nap by 12:30 or so. The baby went down for a nap around 12:00 but got up at 1:00 and then down again at 2:15 after another bottle. I was able to take a 30 minute doze on the couch before Timmy (18 mo) got up again around 3:00. I was anxiously awaiting my brother's sister-in-law's arrival which was around 5:00 this evening. I don't know how I survived as a single parent with a toddler. Josh wasn't as hyper and rambunctious as Timmy is, but geez... it wears you out!
There's no way I was going to make dinner after all that, so I picked up Wendy's for dinner. I came home a plopped in the recliner and ate my dinner, watched t.v. and talked with Marty online. So at least it was a very pleasant end to a very long day. We had a very good conversation tonight. It seems we're both in the same place as to where we might be headed, but the biggest concern is the distance right now... which is understandable. And that is a big issue that we really can't get around right now. So we're working on being friends (even there's really more there already) and see what happens. But there's a lot of people batting for us which is nice. I think deep down, he ultimately wants to be with me, but it's really just dealing with the distance and the next two years (or possibly four).
I have a very early day tomorrow and I'm already totally exhausted, so I'm headed to bed as soon as I hit "publish."

Sometimes it's good to receive

Don't get me wrong. In general I'm a very giving person and I love to give to others... but sometimes it's really great to get stuff... especially when it's good stuff and it's unexpected. I came home from Hereford today and in the mail I received a gift certificate to Chili's for $25 and a Body Elegance spa certificate for $75. These were thank-you gifts from the Class of 88. It was such a nice surprise today. I'm not sure how to say thank you to everybody but perhaps I can send an email or post it on the forum. I'm not sure how or when I'll use the spa certificate, but it's nice to have. I may hold on to it until I get totally stressed this year and use it then. The only ever "real" (professional) massage I had I didn't enjoy much... but I guess I could give it another chance. But I also could just do a facial and pedicure etc.
Well, I got bad news about my schedule for next year. I'm headed for potential total insanity as I will have to teach 4 different classes. (Debate, Oral Interp, 2 Comm. App., and 2 Yearbook), be the UIL coordinator, Department head for Theatre/Speech, and still do speech team stuff... ON TOP OF starting grad school. Yes, I know I'm crazy, but I'll manage somehow. That's why I'm going to at least try to start the year with a clean house... it will make things easier for at least a little while. I understood my principal's reasoning and I think he'll be supportive if I get too stressed. I did ask if we can make certain that I do not have more students than computers so that I could actively use Moodle this year and he did assure me of that saying that either the classes will be small enough or I would get more computers.
Andrew commented about my garage cleaning being a legend in my blog... I had to laugh at that. I know that Summer always gets a kick when I mention it. It's going slowly... but going. I'm not deep cleaning (meaning sorting through everything on the shelves), but at least going to get the general mess on the one side cleaned up with a clean laundry area. It shouldn't take me much longer to get it done.. but I won't have a lot of time this week.
Andrew also mentioned Marty so I guess I should give an update of sorts in that regard. Things are going fine there... nothing significant to report. We talk almost daily online and he's called a couple of times. He just called today as a matter of fact while he was bored at work. It put a smile on my face because I think it indicates that he's still interested. There's other little signs here and there as we talk and flirt a bit. I'm not pushing anything but will let him take the time he needs to figure things out. I hope that he figures out that I'm the one, but if not, it will be o.k. I still have feelings for him and he knows I'm interested, but am trying to keep myself in check so that I don't start pushing or get in over my head emotionally. But I think about him a lot still and am really glad that we're communicating again.
In other news, I've sold two rosaries online in the past week. That is great timing as I need the money at the moment. I'm not totally broke, but it's getting tight right now after spending money on Josh's school clothes. I'll get more money next week after my workshop which will help. Then I can buy Josh's shoes and some shorts. I might even buy myself something.
Well, that's all the excitement here today. Tonight was a simple dinner of chicken nuggets and loaded mashed potatoes. Now I'm going to take it easy for a little bit and then hit the garage again.

It's about to start...

I've made a little progress with the house but I'm not moving very fast. The kitchen is clean other than all the folded towels on the counter and the floor that needs to be cleaned. The living room is just picked up but needs more attention. I haven't gotten to the craft room but maybe this week. My bedroom isn't terrible, but needs some work. I did some work in the garage today. I'm starting to do piles of laundry of stuff that's been sitting in there a while. There's a lot of stuff that I need to get rid of but I hate to just throw things away and I'm not ready for another garage sale. I guess I'll just find a place for it until I can decide what to do with it.
I played at church this morning. It was nice to play again. It has been a long while... but I did get tired and had to rest during some verses at the end. Josh went to a friend's house this afternoon and is still gone. I guess that means I should cook something for myself, but nothing seems appetizing right now.
I still haven't uploaded the pictures of the garage, but I'll try to at least post before and after pictures if I ever get it done. I'm tired now and I think I'm going to take a break for a while. I guess I'll figure out something to eat for dinner.

Vacation Ending

I don't know if you really call this vacation. I didn't go anywhere for personal fun this summer. Oh sure, Vegas was nice, but it was still mostly a working trip. San Antonio was the same thing... very disappointing that I didn't get to ride any roller coasters this summer. But it's also nice to just sit and do nothing. Goal for this weekend: Clean house completely, including garage. (I did take "before" pictures... will post later today)

Yesterday I took Josh to the photography studio to have his senior pictures made. They're supposed to have the proofs available online sometime today. I can't believe it, but he actually smiled for the pictures... he usually goes for the serious look.
I have a meeting on Monday with my yearbook staff. Tuesday I'm babysitting for my brother starting in the evening through the following evening on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday I have to be at registration in Hereford to hand out yearbooks. The next Monday I will be teaching the yearbook workshop and then I officially start back to school on the 14th for inservice days. I have to register for my grad school classes on the 18th and the first day of school is on the 25th for both the high school kids and myself for grad school. Things are going to get crazy really fast!!