Stuff

It turns I do have to show for jury duty. That means I have to go to school tomorrow to leave sub instructions. I will only be at school one day next week which is TAKS testing so I'll only actually see two of my classes. I've got to figure out what to leave for my students for a week now. What a mess!

Speaking of mess... I'm going to need a new refrigerator. It is still having the same problem where I have to defrost the freezer every month or so because the refrigerator part no longer cools. I'm really tired of getting out the hair dryer every time that happens... especially when I have a freezer full of food. I'm going to go to Lowe's and see if I can find something at a reasonable price.

I also need to get some laundry done and some house cleaning. Well, I better get moving if I'm going to accomplish anything today.

Glad it is Friday

I have a rare free weekend which will be lovely. I do have a lot of paperwork I need to do this weekend but I'm looking forward to just sleeping in tomorrow. I really don't have much to report. It's been fairly dull at school (which is probably good). I'm going to spend the evening relaxing. So far I'm managing without my cokes but I did get a headache the first day. Since then I've been drinking some tea with sweetner. I might end up losing some weight which wouldn't be a bad thing. I'm heading to Houston next week for TFA state. And it's just a little over two weeks before I leave for Key West. I'm so ready for spring break.

I made my next appointment for another mammogram or whatever they're going to do to take a closer look. I thought I'd be lucky enough to have just another quick visit but was told it could take two hours because the doctor is actually going to read the results. I thought I'd get it done before I headed to Houston but it will have to wait until the following Friday.

Well, I'm going to watch some t.v., check facebook, and take it easy until I can go to bed.

Disconcerting News

I got a letter from the place where I had my mammogram done and I have to schedule another appointment due to the fact that it showed an abnormality that requires further evaluation. It does go on to say that 1 in 12 women require this evaluation and that 95% of those show nothing to worry about. I just hope I'm not in the 5% where it's something bad. I tried calling today for another appointment but got them a minute after they closed so I have to call back tomorrow.

I also got yet another jury duty notice in the mail. I don't know why my name keeps coming up but once again I'll make plans to go to jury duty and then it will be canceled. I may submit my absence request but not put in for a sub until the day before.

I went to the Ash Wednesday service this evening and played my clarinet. It was a nice service and the priest gave several ideas of things to give up during Lent. I'm already feeling the effects of not having a coke today. I did fast and abstain. I had to eat some cereal this morning so that I could take my antibiotic without getting sick. I skipped lunch and had shrimp scampi and linguini for dinner.

I'm going to call it an early night again. I'm already tired. I'm just glad there's not a speech tournament this weekend.

Time for Lent

I can't believe that it's that time of year again. Another year has just flown by. I have had a hard time deciding what I should give up for this season of Lent. Perhaps I should focus more on something truly sinful, but I think I need something that will be more of a sacrifice. I have decided to give up sugared drinks. That means no cokes or other drinks that have sugar in them. I will allow myself tea that I can sweeten myself, but other than that, everything is out other than water. In addition, I'm going try to do more things that bring me closer to God like more prayer, participating in Stations of the Cross and charitable works.

School is busy again. I may have my observation tomorrow. I'm doing an activity with legos. Right now I'm working on the plans for class just in case my principal can stop by. I'd like to go ahead and get the observation over with. I'm trying to catch up from being gone so much last week. As soon as I catch up, I'll be gone again for another 4 days.

Well, I better get some work done so I can go to bed early tonight. I still have a cough but it's getting better. I almost got sick again today. I don't think that taking my medicine on an empty stomach is a good idea. Well, gotta get busy.

Some excitement this afternoon

I'm still sick. I couldn't sing at all at church and I barely have a voice. Breathing is still strained and I'm still coughing but in general I'm feeling better. So after church today I came home and had some lunch, watched a little t.v., played on the computer and then decided to lay down and get some rest. I was napping fairly well when I heard the dogs barking like crazy. That's not very unusual so I ignored it for a bit but when I turned over I suddenly smelled smoke. I panicked thinking that the house was on fire. I jumped out of bed and opened my door but didn't see any smoke though I could still smell it. I thought that perhaps someone was cooking outside or something so I went to the back door and then I saw smoke coming from the alley immediately behind my house. I went into the back yard and saw that it was directly behind my fence and the fence itself was on fire and the flames were starting to come up underneath. I immediately got the hose and started spraying the flames. I was in my pajamas and heard people in the alley so I ran inside to put clothes and then came back out. It was a police officer that had a fire extinguisher that was putting out the flames. By that time the fire truck was on its way. The officer took my name and information and asked what had happened. I told him that I had no idea that I came out because I smelled smoke, saw the fire and grabbed the hose. Although the fire was out, the fireman doused the area with water to make sure there were no hotspots left. From what I gathered from the officer, some kids were playing in the alley but ran off so I'm guessing they started the fire. I'm just glad it was caught in time! But now all I smell is smoke. Here are some pics.

Going to NATS again

It was a pretty good day for tournament results. Josh qualified for Nationals again in oratory. One of my students qualified in Humorous AND he received the district student of the year award based on a recommendation letter that I wrote for him. We'll be heading to Birmingham, Alabama this summer for a week. I have a few students that made it to finals rounds but didn't place high enough to qualify but it's still a pretty good turnout.

I'm still sick, but slowly getting better. Still coughing but the fever and general ill feeling are gone. Breathing isn't 100% but getting better. I was supposed to sing for choir tomorrow but that's not going to happen. I'm going to try to just take it easy this weekend.

Worse before better?

I hate being sick. Have I said this before? I did as my doctor suggested and stayed home on Wednesday. I stayed in bed most of the day and did a little bit of work for my grad school class. I went to bed last night around 10 but continued to cough up my lungs until around 3:00 a.m. I finally slept intermittently from 3:00 to 6:00 and then realized I was getting a fever when I got the chills. I took my temperature at 6:00 and it was 100.5. I needed to go to school since we were heading out for our district tournament today. So I took a shower and took 3 tylenol to get the fever down. It started working but I didn't really feel better when I got to school. I took my antibiotic and used my inhaler and in the middle of first period I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up. I left my class working and headed to bathroom and vomited. I realized that I wasn't going to make it through the day so I contacted the secretary to see if I could go ahead and get a sub for the rest of the day. We worked it out and I left emergency plans and headed home. I fell into bed around 10 and slept until close to 1:00. I finally got up and had some lunch and then got ready to go to the tournament. I got there about 3:00 and stayed until 6:30. I came home and have been working on my grad paper that is due tonight. I now need to type it up and submit it before 11:55. I just took 1/2 a tylenol pm so I better get going on it before I'm knocked out. I really hope that I start feeling better tomorrow. I can't take any more sick days or I'll lose out on part of the grant money I'll get this summer. Luckily I already have a sub for tomorrow since the tournament is still going on. My assistant is also meeting the students at the school tomorrow so I don't have to drive over. Now I just need to get this assignment done.

Sick again

This sucks. I hardly ever get sick but it's kicking my butt right now. I started feeling "something" in my chest yesterday. It didn't get better and I developed a cough. Sometime last night I had an issue with my right eye. All of sudden it felt like I had an eyelash or something in it. It started turning red and was irritated all day. I went ahead and went to school thinking all of this would just pass. Finally this afternoon I called my doctor to see if I could get in for an appointment. It turned out that he was leaving at 4:00 so I had to get there by 3:00. I rushed to see if another teacher could take my 8th period students, then caught my principal and asked if I could go. I got there right at 3:00. I have bronchitis and an eye infection. I got three prescriptions which consist of eye drops, an antibiotic and an inhaler. My doctor recommended that I take tomorrow off from school so after my appointment I headed back over there so I could leave stuff out for a sub. I still need to send in some plans to another teacher to print but I'm definitely staying home tomorrow. I absolutely have to get some grad school work done so it's probably a good thing that I'll have the day tomorrow. Well, I'm going to relax for a bit and let my food settle so that I can take my antibiotic.

Some progress but still behind.

Today was a work day at school and I can honestly say that I did work. I spent all day cleaning the storage rooms I have. I should have graded papers and done a million other things but it's just been driving me crazy and I think I will be able to accomplish more having those areas clean. I almost finished today but I can feel a cold or something coming on so I left right at 4:00, came home and laid down for a bit. Tonight was the first band rehearsal for our next concert so I wanted to go to that. I'm glad I did but I'm not really feeling better.

I had lunch with my ex-husband today. I know it's probably strange to those who have been divorced, but I've actually stayed on good terms with him. I absolutely do not want to rekindle anything but it's nice to visit and catch up. It's the first time I've actually seen him in about four years but we have talked on the phone.

I have to make a decision about my cell phone service. I really need a new phone as mine is almost four years old. I'm not sure if I want to get another one with my current company because I've been using a LOT more minutes talking to Marty and I'm going run out of my roll-over minutes soon. I'll either need to upgrade plans and get more minutes or I could switch to another provider where my calls to him would be "free." But I have to wait until the contract on Josh's phone is up this summer. So that means I have to hang on to my "old" phone until then. Not sure what I'm going to do.

My good friend Summer said some very kind things about me today. I am very humbled. Though I'm not sure all of it is true... I do have quite a lazy streak.... I do love the fact that our garages tend to be the bane of our existence! We have been reading each other's blogs for quite some time now... and I can't remember if it was Andrew that brought us together or Prison Pete. I'm just glad that I have such great blogging buddies. I hope one day to meet her in person.

Back to work

Tomorrow is a work day for us. Usually we have to do technology training but since the high school missed out on a work day at the beginning of the year, we get it tomorrow. I really need it to catch up on work in my room. I need to clean, organize and get a lot of assignments graded. I probably won't finish, but I hope to make progress. It's going to be a busy few weeks. Our district tournament where students qualify for Nationals is this week so I have to plan for a sub on Friday. The following week and weekend will be normal. After that, we head to Houston for TFA state on a Wednesday. I won't get back until the following Tuesday. Then one month from today I'll be headed to Key West to see Marty for almost a week.
I talked to Marty tonight. Last night he told me happy V-Day and said he was sorry for being such a crappy boyfriend and that's it. Didn't get a card or flowers or anything. I'm still disappointed but I guess there's nothing I can do. I'm still not sure where I stand with him but I guess I'll see how my visit in March goes.
I played at church today. It's been a long while since I've done that. It's good to be involved again. I'll be going back to band rehearsals tomorrow as well. I need to put that enjoyment back into my life. I went out to lunch with my friend Carol today. It was nice to spend time visiting with her.
Well, it's past my bed time so I better head that way.

One free Saturday

It's already been a full day but I'm thankful that it didn't have start out with an early morning. I slept in until 8:00 this morning. I then got up and showered and headed out to my mammogram appointment. I was pleasantly surprised that it was as big as a deal as I thought it would be. It was over very quickly. I got there about 30 minutes early and I was out of there within 20 minutes. I really had no waiting time which was great. It didn't hurt like I thought it would so that was a plus as well.
Afterwards I went to Target and shopped a bit. I got my friend Pam a Valentine's gift and then picked her up to go to lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant called Abuelo's and I ate my weight in food. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating but I ate a lot. We then went to the mall so she could get some make up and I looked at jewelry. I bought myself two cross necklaces. I figured that I might as well get myself something for Valentine's day since it's doubtful that Marty will do anything.

I can't decide if I want to take a nap right now or just go to bed early tonight. I do need to get some housework done, but I'm not going to do it right now. I guess I'll see what's on t.v. and take it easy for a bit. I've forgotten what it's like to be at home on a Saturday afternoon.

Still Alive and Kicking

That's my response to most people that ask how I am these days. I'm still overwhelmed at school. As soon as I get something done, 15 more things pop up. I spent all of Monday figuring travel plans and costs for our trip to TFA state. I have seven students qualified. I had to determine whether it is cheaper to fly or take a bus to Houston. Thankfully it came out that it is cheaper to fly. I'm also planning on staying an extra day and taking Josh to auditions in Nacogdoches which is three hours away.

I'm a little irritated with Marty right now. I now he's not a romantic person and to expect something for Valentine's day is laughable almost, but I guess I have the expectation that he would have common courtesy. I sent him two gifts for Valentine's day. I had them shipped directly from where I ordered them and I know that he has since received them. He has not acknowledged them at all. Even if he doesn't like them or appreciate them, I would think that most normal people would at least say thank you for thinking of me. But then again, I know he's like this and so I guess I shouldn't complain. What's the definition of insane? Doing the same thing over and over the same way and expecting a different result. It is just something to consider whether I can or am willing to live with this fact about him.

My ex-husband is in town. I won't hold my breath that we'll meet for dinner or something but we'll see. I have stayed in touch with him but haven't seen him in four years since the break up with Marty.

I'm realizing that I just need to get to bed early to feel fully rested. I've been going to bed by 9:30 most nights and getting up at 6:00 hasn't been a problem. I finally have a free weekend. The only thing on the agenda right now is a mammogram on Saturday (what fun!), lunch with my friend Pam, and then confession. I've been needing to go since I've missed Mass a few times and I really want to be able to participate in communion again.

It's getting close to my bed time so I guess I'll wind down and head that way soon. I have some clothes in the dryer that I need to wait for. Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. I guess I just haven't had that much to say.

Feeling tired

I did not want to get up this morning. I don't know why I felt so tired. I was in bed by ten. But I'm still tired tonight and I'm avoiding doing any kind of work. I brought home papers to grade but I don't think I can concentrate on them. I have some grad school work I should do as well, but I don't think I can focus on it either. Maybe my body is finally telling me to slow down and just get some rest. I am going to go to bed early tonight.

I had a good conversation with a friend of mine online last night. We went to high school together and he was good friends with Marty back then. He understands many of my frustrations with Marty's wishy-washy-ness but he gave me a new perspective to think about.