No Such Luck

I’m sick.  I probably should have stayed home all day today, but I took some tylenol around 7:00 a.m. and forced myself to go to school.  After all, I was just going to be sitting in front of students taking a test today.  The tylenol started wearing off around 11:00.  I had the nurse take my temperature around noon, but it wasn’t really elevated – only 98.8.  But I was feeling terrible.  Finally the last student finished her test around 12:30 and I was supposed to go to the Library meeting this afternoon, but I decided to just come home. I took my temperature again and it was 100.2.  I took more tylenol, and ate a little lunch and then went to bed.  I got up around 4:30 and watched last night’s episode of American Idol.  Matt was going to be coming over for dinner tonight but I didn’t feel like cooking but still wanted his company.  He picked up Sonic for dinner including a shake for my throat, and brought me some chicken soup and tylenol.  He is an awesome boyfriend.  We watched about half of the Spurs game before he decided to head home since I’m sick.  I’m probably going to stay home tomorrow and perhaps go to an urgent care clinic since I have yet to find a doctor here.  My tonsils feel swollen, I’m achy, still feverish, and just worn out.  It’s probably strep throat which is what Matt had two weeks ago.  I’m going to call it a night and get some rest if I can. 

No Work this Week

With testing this week I’m not going to get any work done in my library.  I’ve had to test a small group for the last two days and tomorrow they will start sending make-up test students to me.  I have an LMS meeting tomorrow afternoon so they will have to find someone to replace me then.  I’ll probably deal with make-ups at least through Friday.  That means I won’t be able to get any actual library work done.  Oh well.  At least Matt has turned in his volunteer form and he will start helping me on Monday – his day off.  It will be nice to have him around.  Have I mentioned lately how amazing he is?  I enjoy spending time with him – even if all we’re doing is watching t.v. or strolling through the grocery store.  I miss him when we’re not together which is usually just Mondays and Tuesdays during the week.  He’s coming over tomorrow and we will cook dinner and then watch the basketball game on t.v.  Thursday is Scrabble practice and then Friday is the symphony. 

I think I might be getting sick though.  I’m starting feel a little bit of a scratchy throat.  I hope it is just one of those – “I think I’m getting sick and then I feel a little off for a day and then it goes away.”  It seems that I rarely get just really sick (knock on wood) but perhaps it’s my turn.  Matt is still not completely over whatever he had so perhaps he was kind enough to share it with me.

I’ve been asked to serve on the board for the community band I’m playing in.  I think they also want me to help with some of the music library stuff but we’ll see.  There’s someone already in place handling it, but they’re not very happy with the job she has been doing.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep playing in this band, but perhaps serving on the board will allow me to offer my suggestions.  Who knows. 

Well, I’m going to give Matt a call and the head to bed and hope that I’m not really coming down with something. 

Paying the price

Bowling was really fun on Thursday night, but my body is paying for it now.  I feel sore and moving is slow going.  But it was good for me.  I need to start getting more active but it is a matter of finding time.  The few moments that I’m home I’m playing catch up on dishes, laundry, and house cleaning.  I guess that can kind of be considered active.  I should put on some loud music and do a little dancing along with it. 

Tonight is my orchestra concert with the University of Incarnate Word.  My dad is coming to town to hear the concert.  I really need to get some cleaning done really soon and the guest bedroom made up.  I also need to get to the store.  Time is getting away from me already.  We’re going to meet Matt and a friend of his for dinner.  My dad is staying a short time as he’ll be heading back tomorrow morning.  Matt is coming over Sunday night to watch the Oscars.  He is going to cook steaks on the grill for dinner.

Next week is testing at the school which means once again I’m going to fall behind in my work.  I finally got through most of my shelves and got everything put in order. I still have a lot of textbooks to deal with.  Hopefully when Matt comes to help me on Mondays I will get caught up. 

I’m going to finish watching one of the American Idol episodes I missed and then get started on some house cleaning.

Bowling

I’m going to be hurting tomorrow, but had fun tonight.   A group of teachers from the school got together tonight and we went bowling.  We’re forming a league of sorts but the problem is that they are doing it on Thrusday nights which is usually Scrabble practice.  I went ahead and bowled tonight but told them that I couldn’t come every week since I still wanted to also go to my Scrabble practices. 

I’ve also decided to start a Scrabble club at the school.  My generous uncle is going to provide a “scholarship” so that I can get a kit of six games to start out with.  I have a lot of kids that like to come into the library in the mornings and play checkers and such and I’ve been playing a game of Scrabble with one 6th grader over the past several days.  My principal gave me the go ahead so we’ll see how it goes.

I did get to Skype with Josh the other night and things are going well for him in Tasmania so far.  He got a phone but hasn’t been able to call out yet, but I can call him.  He also had an issue with his credit card, but it is working at the ATM so he is not strapped for cash at least.  He has a place to live and has figured out transportation as he has to take a bus into town, then another over to the university. 

I filled out a survey about my experience at the San Antonio  symphony today and as a thank-you, I got four free tickets to an upcoming concert.  That is pretty exciting. 

My dad is coming here this weekend.  I have my concert with the University of Incarnate Word orchestra so he is going to come down for that.  I’m excited that he will get to meet Matt.

I think I’m going to take some tylenol to ward off the on-coming aches and pains and call it a night.  I’m pretty exhausted.

Ash Wednesday

Well, I officially decided to give up cokes and chocolate for Lent.  That means of course that I was craving some chocolate just now.  I’m having applesauce instead.  Though Matt does a hard fast today where he doesn’t eat anything all day, I’m abstaining from meat and only had one meal – dinner from Long John Silver’s.  Last night I went over to Matt’s place and we had his last pizza until Easter.  He is giving up pizza and cokes.  I’m meeting him at his place at 7:00 tonight and then we are going to the Ash Wednesday service. 

I spent all day working on my non-fiction shelves getting everything straightened and in order.  It is kind of back-breaking work because the shelves are all low, but it looks really good and I’m finding several books that have been missing.  Tomorrow I’ll start in on the fiction and then I should be ready to start doing inventory in a few weeks.  I got a call from my dad today and he is coming to San Antonio this weekend.  I invited him to come to my concert on Saturday so he is going to drive up and go to the concert and stay the night here before heading back on Sunday morning.  I’m excited that he is going to get to meet Matt. 

I’m tired this evening.  I didn’t get to bed very early since I hung out at Matt’s place until 11:00.  Plus bending over bookshelves and working all day is just exhausting.  Tomorrow I’m going bowling with fellow teachers from school.  That should be a lot of fun.  Friday I have orchestra rehearsal, then a concert on Saturday.  Sunday Matt will come over and we will cook some steaks and watch the Academy awards. 

Back to being a librarian

Well the testing wrapped up last week and I turned in my final book order this morning so now I’m back to doing actual work in my library.  Today I started going through my non-fiction shelves getting all books in order and lined up.  I made it through the 400’s today.  I’m hoping to find random missing books and be ready to start inventory soon.  Matt has volunteered to come up and help me on his days off so I’m sure I’ll have plenty of stuff for him to do.  He has to fill out a form and get approved as a volunteer first.  He won’t be able to come until March because we have yet more testing going on next week.  I’m really tired of testing and I’m sure the kids are fed up as well.

The band concert on Sunday was ok, but I still think we played too much music.  Matt was late to the concert though it wasn’t his fault.  He was expecting friends from Austin to come pick him up and one of the friends canceled and one other came, but she got turned around and lost so they only heard the last two pieces.  I was disappointed and it took me a little time to let it go, but by the time I got my margarita at dinner, I let it go. 

Josh is getting settled in Tasmania but I haven’t had the chance to actually talk to him.  I downloaded Skype last night but he wasn’t online.  He finally got a cell phone down there and I tried calling him today, but didn’t get a hold of him yet.  He’s having issues with calling the U.S. that he has to get worked out.  Thankfully he has internet and he has been emailing me and posting on Facebook.

Tonight I’m going to Matt’s place to have pizza with him.  He is giving up pizza for Lent so it will be the last for a long while.  I think I’m going to give up cokes and chocolate.  I guess it is a good thing that I’ve become a coffee drinker.  I still need a caffeine kick each day.  I think I’m going to take a nap before going to Matt’s.  I meant to go to bed early last night, but ended up reading and finished the Sue Grafton book (T) that I was reading.  I have to read just one more before I get to her latest one. 

An emotional day

Work was busy yesterday as always.  I’m furiously trying to spend another $5000 on library books, but it takes time.  I had classes in the library so I couldn’t always concentrate on my task.  I also had to take care of other things during the day as well.  But I’m getting closer.  I left about 5 minutes early to hurry home and pick up Josh to take him to the airport.  He wasn’t ready though.  He still hadn’t printed his boarding pass information and was backing up stuff on his computer.  Then my computer was having issues and couldn’t pull up the page he needed to print.  Instead of leaving at 4:45 as planned, we didn’t leave until 5:00.  Traffic at 5:00 on US 281 is very slow going.  But we made it to the airport an hour and a half before take-off.  We said a hasty good-bye and then he was off.  I had a bit of a cry once I pulled away from the airport.  I didn’t think I would get so emotional, but I realized that Josh is going halfway across the world and I wouldn’t see him again for 4 months.  I won’t even hear that he made it until sometime Sunday.  I’m still excited for him, but I will continue to worry until I hear from him.  Luckily I have Matt to keep me distracted. 

After I dropped Josh off at the airport, I headed home to let the animals out and then went to see Matt.  He told me that he read my blog and that I worry too much.  I already know this, but I assured him that I’m not really feeling insecure about him – it is just a matter of shaking past experiences.  He reiterated that I haven’t scared him away and that he’s not going anywhere.  He took me to dinner at Outback steakhouse (how fitting) and then we headed back to his place.  He was still feeling a little sick, but said he wanted my company so I stayed with him.  We listened to the music I gave him on his player and he told me how much he liked it.  And last night he told me he loved me for the first time.  I told him that I loved him as well.  He said he’s known for some time now.  I had the feeling he did, but he was holding back.

I hoped that someday I might find someone that loves me for me but didn’t know if it would happen.  But now I’m in San Antonio and found an amazing man who does. 

My baby is leaving the nest…

He is flying to Tasmania, Australia tomorrow evening.  It will take him two days to get there.  I will be a nervous wreck until I hear from him to know that he made it safely.  He seems to have everything worked out – a place to live, his passport, visa, all the essentials though he still isn’t packed.  I skipped Scrabble practice tonight so that we could have dinner.  Josh chose Mexican food since he knew that he wouldn’t get anything like it down under.  We went to a restaurant called La Margarita which actually had really good margaritas.  We stopped at Best Buy on the way home so he could get a new camera to take with him.  It will be exciting to see all the pictures.  I think this is a wonderful experience for him, but I’m really going to miss him.  It will be hard to not hear from him a few times a week like I usually do when he is away at college.  I have to take him to the airport as soon as I get home from school tomorrow.  After I drop him off I’m going to Matt’s place and he is taking me out to dinner.  He thinks I’ll be upset, but I’ll really just be worried.  I’m a worrier.  Can’t help it. 

Turns out that Matt has strep throat.  He was supposed to come over for dinner last night but he called and canceled since he still wasn’t feeling well.  He went to the clinic this morning and he now has medicine so hopefully he will get to feeling better soon.  I ended up making way too many pork chops so I took some to school today and another teacher was kind enough to eat them. 

Today was another crazy day with this horrible testing that I’ve had to deal with.  Thankfully it was the last day of it – at least until the end of the year.  Hopefully tomorrow I can finish spending the money I have for new books and get those orders placed.  I’m ready to get back to being a librarian rather than a test administrator. 

I think I’m going to go sit in my bed with a book and take it easy tonight.  I felt exhausted by the end of school today.  I need a break.  I should take a day off from work at some point just to catch up on house cleaning and stuff.  At least I started the dishwasher tonight.  Maybe I’ll get caught up with dishes at least.  I have to make cashew chicken sometime soon.  I will probably make it on Saturday before Matt and I head to the rodeo and the Daughtry concert.  That should be awesome!

Love is in the air

It was a pretty good Valentine’s day.  Matt sent me a stuffed bear with a little stuffed puppy to me at school.  It was a nice surprise that was different from flowers.  He even signed the card “Love, Matt.” Of course we haven’t actually said the “L” word yet, so I wonder if he debated as I did how he should sign the card.  I had already written in his card the night before and decided to just go for it myself.  We didn’t get the chance to go out for dinner because he had to work late and I had band rehearsal last night.  I went over to his place after rehearsal so that I could give him his present – the mp3 player that I put music on.  I chose about an hours worth of music that pretty much summed up my feelings for him.  He had another gift for me when I got to his place.  He also gave me a hand made Scrabble tile bag with Marvin the Martian on it with new purple pro tiles inside.  Since he wasn’t feeling very well, we didn’t make out or anything, but we did go to Sonic and get some ice cream.  I dropped him off at his place and he said he would listen to the music in bed.  I came home and went to bed myself as it had been an exhausting day.  I woke up about 30 minutes ago and checked my email.  This is the message I got:

“Jennifer:

I listened to your music mix.  I’m not scared away.  You can trust your heart with me.  I’m yours.

Love,

Matt”

Wow.  I couldn’t have asked for a nicer response.  Sometimes I feel the need to pinch myself or something wondering if this relationship is simply real.  I wonder how I could be so lucky or deserving to find someone like him that seems to truly appreciate me.  Sure, I’ve heard people say things like “Your turn will come” or “When it’s right you’ll know.”  But I guess the cynic in me finds it difficult to fathom that I could actually find myself in a relationship with someone that is as sincere as Matt is.  I’m not saying he’s perfect, but he’s pretty close.  Have you noticed that in the few months that we’ve been dating, that I haven’t complained about him?  Since my blog is the place where I tend to vent, if I had something negative to say, I would have put it out here.  Now, I do admit that I was frustrated at his slow moving pace early on, but I think in the end it was better that we took our time. 

I think about past relationships and how there were always signs that I usually chose to ignore that were indicators that either my heart would be broken or that it simply wouldn’t work out.  It’s different with Matt.  Though I sometimes have the generic fear of “this is too good to be true”, I really feel like I can trust him with my heart.  I have bared just about everything to him and he still isn’t scared away.   So I’m jumping in.  I’ve gotten to the point where it would be painful to lose him.  That tells me that I’m feeling something far more than infatuation.  So I’m giving him my heart.  I think he’s worth the risk and I don’t think he’s going to break it. 

I’ve also decided to send him the link to my blog.  Since I don’t think he’s going anywhere, I feel it’s time he has the chance to read if he wants.  I don’t know if he will ever comment, but I’m sure he will at least read this post.  So everybody say “hi” to Matt. 

Here’s a picture of the bear & puppy he sent:

Still going…

The Scrabble tournament this weekend wasn’t a complete loss.  I ended up winning a few games.  I didn’t come in dead last at least.  I actually beat the top seeded player in my division the first game.  That was a surprise.  I had some decent draws and then I also got creamed by the same guy that beat me at the first tournament.  I didn’t go over time, but came close a few times.  Matt didn’t have a very successful tournament and he was feeling a bit dismayed.  On the upside, we had a very nice evening on Saturday when we met my friend Kim and her husband Sam in Temple for dinner.  Matt said that was the best part of the weekend and I have to agree.  Hopefully they will be coming down to San Antonio sometime and I think we’ll meet in Austin at some point as well.

Matt came down with a cold or something this weekend.  When we left on Sunday afternoon, he was sniffling and coughing a bit and I could tell while we were at church that he was just getting worse.  I told him after church that he needed to go home and go to bed after taking some Nyquil or something.  He actually listened to me.  Luckily today was his day off so he could stay in bed and get rest.  He didn’t go up to Austin for his Scrabble practice.  I called him this evening and he said that he was feeling better so I hope it passes soon.

Work has been completely insane.  I’m still dealing with a bunch of ridiculous testing that has pulled me from my library duties for the past week.  Actually I’m behind by a few weeks now.  I can’t seem to get caught up.  Matt said that he would come up at some point and help me with shelving and stuff that I’ve gotten behind on.  Before he can do that though, he has to fill out a form to be a volunteer. 

Tonight was orchestra rehearsal and tomorrow is band rehearsal.  After band, I’m going over to Matt’s so we can exchange gifts.  I have no idea what he got me.  I’m sure it will be wonderful.  I’m just ecstatic to have a boyfriend on Valentine’s day.  At least a boyfriend who is actually interested in me.  Surprisingly, Michael called me last week seeking advice for his new love interest.  Since we’re still friends, I gave him my suggestions and told him that I was happy for him. 

Well, I’m going to have to call it a night so I can get through another long day tomorrow. 

Giving it another try

I feel bad that I haven’t blogged this week, but it has been just absolutely crazy.  Monday I had orchestra rehearsal, Tuesday was band rehearsal.  Wednesday, my friend Kirsten came to stay with me and we went out to dinner that night.  Thursday night we had dinner again and then Matt and I had Scrabble practice.  Friday Josh, Matt, and I went to dinner and the symphony.  Immediately after the symphony, Matt and I headed up to Salado for the Scrabble tournament.  This is not to mention all the testing and other stuff going on at school.  I have not had time to really catch up with anything. 

So the Scrabble tournament this time is going a little better.  I’m winning a few games, and several of the games I’m losing aren’t by a large margin.  I’m at least staying in the 300’s this time for the most part.  Tonight for dinner, Matt and I headed up to Temple to meet my friends Kim and Sam for dinner.  We had a wonderful time and the food was really good. 

Now we are back at the hotel and I’m really tired, but wanted to give everyone a brief update.  The cold didn’t last too long, though I had some monster headaches this week.  Those have finally gone away.  Today we played 7 games of Scrabble and tomorrow we have another 6 games.  It’s a very busy weekend.  I’m going to take a sleeping pill and call it a night.

A little under the weather

I think I’m coming down with a cold.  It started yesterday.  I had a headache again and was sneezing off and on.  Today I woke up with a scratchy throat, am still sneezy.  My lungs are feeling a bit heavy as well.  We had testing at school today and I was supposed to be a hall monitor, but I ended up testing students.  It wasn’t too bad as I only had the late arrivals so it was a small group.  Not sure if I’ll have to do it again tomorrow.  I have to deal with testing this entire week so I’m not going to get any library work done.  Oh well, I guess I’ll do what I need to do.

I came home from school today and discovered that the power was out in my house.  Not sure what caused it, but I couldn’t make anything for dinner without power so I headed to Chipotle for dinner.  I discovered there is one close to the university where we have orchestra rehearsal.  Rehearsal wasn’t too bad.  The other 2nd clarinet player was gone so I had to play the music on my own tonight, but did ok.  Luckily the power was back on by the time I got home. 

It’s going to be a crazy week.  I hope that my cold stays mild and goes away quickly.  I think the I generally have a pretty good immune system having been an educator for so long, but you never know.  I don’t even have a doctor here yet.  I should probably look into finding one pretty soon.  I think I’m going to head to bed and try to get some sleep. 

Go Spurs!

Matt took me to the Spurs game last night.  We had a great time.  I had never been to a professional basketball game, but I enjoyed it.  It is much more interesting to watch it live than on t.v.  The Spurs won so everyone was happy.  We had hotdogs and nachos at the game for dinner.  This morning Matt and I went to church at the parish that is closest to me.  I’ve been there before.  It’s a nice church, but the choir is simply awful.  I think I need to keep looking and find a church that has a decent choir.  Most that I’ve attended so far have only had cantors, but then again, we mostly go either Saturday or Sunday evening masses. 

My friend Brent is coming over today to watch the Superbowl with Matt and I.  We are ordering some wings and I’m making some queso.  I’m glad that one of my friends is finally going to get to meet Matt.  Next weekend we will get to see my friend, Kim, from high school and her husband, Sam.  We’re meeting in Temple.  Another friend of mine is coming to stay with me this week.  I’m glad that I’m finally getting to see some people that I haven’t had the chance to see in a long time it seems. 

Exhausted Again

I had to be a substitute again today.  Overall it wasn’t too bad.  4 of the six classes were actually pretty good.  Two of them were not very good though so it was frustrating.  I forget how exhausting teaching is.  Even though I didn’t do a lot of instruction, I did have to reprimand a lot during the chaotic classes as I walked around and monitored and it just wore me out.  I also had to deliver dictionaries to a dozen classrooms after school for testing next week.  I didn’t even leave school until after 5:00.  Matt is coming over this evening and he mentioned going out to eat, but I think I’m going to cook some fish and plan to stay in.  I just feel really tired.  I feel like I slept pretty well, but I was up too late.  I woke up with a headache which is really unusual for me.  I rarely get headaches, but it was bad enough that I had to take something for it.  I took some tylenol and had a cup of coffee which probably helped as well.  It was gone by the time first period came in this morning which was a good thing. 

Once again I’m dealing with last minute district decisions.  I was told yesterday AFTER school that we had to figure out a way to test all ELA and Math classes in 9 days.  The caveat is that we can only use the computer lab because the netbooks won’t work and that the district has to do a remote install of some program for all the computers.  Oh, I also forgot to mention that I’m going to be out for testing Monday and Tuesday and then I’ll be doing make-up tests in the library after that.  So the teachers are on their own for this and I don’t think that it will go well.  But I’ll do what I can, but I’m limited in that I can’t do more than about 40 things at once. 

Well, I gotta go start dinner.  Matt will be here in about 30 minutes.  Not sure what we will do after dinner.  Maybe watch a movie at home.  I had wanted to go see One For the Money because I read all the books by Janet Evanovich, but it has gotten some really lousy reviews so I’m not sure about it.  Anyone else see it or read the books?

Breakfast Tacos

I don’t like eggs.  I never have.  This doesn’t include things made with eggs like cake, french toast, or mayonnaise.  I just don’t like cooked eggs of any kind.  I have discovered living in San Antonio that there are restaurants that make breakfast tacos without eggs.  You can pick and choose your toppings.  Matt likes to go out for breakfast so we’ve been going out quite a bit and it’s nice that I can order breakfast tacos the way I want them.  Of course all this eating out from dating is taking a toll.  I’ve gained about 5 or 6 pounds in just the last two months.  I’m going to have to get active and start losing the weight I’ve gained.  Matt has actually lost 6 pounds, but he works out almost every night.  I can’t wait for the pool to open so I can start swimming. 

So tonight I made breakfast tacos for dinner.  I thought they turned out pretty well.  I made some eggs just for Josh, but my tacos had potatoes, sausage, bacon, onion, peppers and cheese.  (Yeah, I know, eating like that isn’t helping the weight problem.)  Tomorrow will be our weekly dinner at Taco Cabana.  Matt and I meet there every Thursday before Scrabble practice.  Not sure what our plans for Friday are, but I think we’ll go see One for the Money.  Saturday we are going to a Spurs game.  That should be fun.  I’ve never been to a professional basketball game. 

I’ve been teaching dictionary skills to some of the ELA classes.  I thought that I had created lessons that were relatively interesting, but some of these students simply don’t care.  Many of them never really used the dictionary for more than looking up what a word means, but some can’t even use guide words.  Maybe it will get better with the 7th graders tomorrow.  I’ve invited my principal to come down to see me in action since I know she has to observe me doing lessons. 

Tonight I’m watching idol and then I think I’ll do some reading and maybe play a few games of Scrabble on my phone.