Ready to catch up on my sleep...

So we headed to Houston on Saturday evening as soon as Matt got home from work.  We actually made good time and got to the hotel by 8:30.  I'd been getting emails from the concert officials telling us that we really needed to get there a couple of hours early.  We checked into the hotel and then drove over to a park and ride area and took the train into downtown.  We got to the Toyota Center about 30 minutes before the doors were supposed to open at 10:00.  When we got there, they had a guy announcing that they weren't going to open the doors until 10:30.  I stood in line to get a t-shirt outside and then we left to go get something to drink since we still had an hour to kill.  We got back around 10:15 and joined the crowd waiting to get inside.  They finally opened the doors but it still took about 15 minutes to get inside.  We then got drinks and found our seats on the floor.  These were the best seats I've had I think - center on the end about 25 rows back from the stage.  The show didn't start until 11:30 but it was worth the wait.  Garth Brooks puts on a great show.  The show didn't end until just before 2:00 a.m.  We headed out and took the train back to the park and ride and got back to the hotel a little after 3:00.  I had to get up by 8:15 the next morning so we could go meet Josh for breakfast.  We did that and then went to church before heading back to San Antonio.  Matt took a shot of 5 hour energy so he was able to do the drive.  We arrived home around 3:45 p.m.

I wanted to take a nap, but I knew if I did, I wouldn't be able to get up to go to my band concert in Seguin.  We left around 5:00 but stopped at the pet store to get a new harness for Angie.  We took the dogs with us to the concert since it was outdoors on the town square.  We were very lucky that we didn't get rained out since we had a 60% chance of rain.  The concert went fine though the clarinet player that sits next to me was late.  She missed the first song, but that's because we started early.  The dogs seemed to enjoy the excursion.  They were oohed and ahhed by the people that walked by.  They got a lot of attention and Mollie had explain who was boss to a few dogs that were nearby.  I was so exhausted when we got home that I couldn't even finish watching The Big Bang Theory at 9:30.

My cousin and family was supposed to get in that night, but since they had a key, I figured they could fend for themselves.  I got up at 2:30 for water but they hadn't made it by then.  I made sure the porch light was on and then went back to bed.  I heard them come in around 4:30 in the morning.  I would normally have slept in, but I got up at 8:00 and saw that my uncle (my cousin's dad) had come with them.  I made him some coffee and visited with him until the rest of the crew woke up.  I hadn't expected them to bring their kids back, but they brought the two girls.  So now I've been babysitting the last two days.  At least they're old enough to fend for themselves and since we have The Disney Channel, they are staying entertained.  I did let them make bracelets with some of my beads today.  Matt is good about entertaining them, but he's gone to work now.

I'm still tired.  I spent most of yesterday cleaning the kitchen, then went to the grocery store so I could get stuff to make chicken tortilla soup for supper.  I got up by 8:00 this morning and went to Krispy Kreme to get donuts.  Once Matt was up I let him watch the girls while I went back to bed to nap for a bit.  I got up in time to take a shower before he had to leave for work.  I should be studying Scrabble stuff, but I don't think I can concentrate here.  I know I originally said I wanted a big house so company can come visit, but I'm ready to have it back to just the two of us and the animals for a while.  Entertaining is simply exhausting.

Summer so far...

I haven't been completely lazy so I guess that's a good thing.  My cousin's wife is here staying with us because she started her new job this week, but they haven't closed on the house they bought yet.  I had to get ready for her visit so I did laundry this weekend and continued most of it on Monday.  I also designed a thank you card for the band in the afternoon.  I planned to get out and get my car inspected and get my new registration tags yesterday but I didn't make it.  I stayed home and watched tv most of the day, but I did do some school stuff in the afternoon.  I also had band practice last night.  Today I finally got my car inspected and got the registration tag.  I then came home and took a nap.  Life is rough in the summer, huh?  Tomorrow I plan to work at the school for a few hours and then go work on some Scrabble study materials again.  We have Scrabble practice tomorrow night.  On Saturday we are driving to Houston to go to the Garth Brooks concert.  I booked a hotel through hotwire and we've decided to park and ride taking the train into downtown.  Turns out there is going to be a LGBT pride parade downtown that evening so it's going to be very crowded.  We will head back Sunday mid-morning and then I have a band concert in Seguin that evening.  It's going to be a busy weekend.

Summer vacation is finally here

So I've already gotten into a routine of being mostly lazy.  It doesn't take long for that to happen in the summer.  I'm going to try to talk myself into doing small projects over the course of the break.

On Wednesday Matt and I went to the Juneteenth dinner where he was getting an award.  We were foolish in that we left the house without an umbrella.  Sure enough, it was pouring by the time we got to the location.  Matt dropped me off in front and I was able to take cover quickly.  Matt, however, got drenched in his suit after walking from where he parked the car.  He was a mess.  Turns out that we weren't the only ones who didn't bring umbrellas though.  The dinner was nice though they served collard greens and sweet mashed potatoes which I don't care for.  The brisket and mac and cheese was good though.  I didn't get a picture of me in the dress, but I did get a picture of Matt getting his award.  It was the Sojourner Truth award and it was for his work on putting together a large collection of African American funeral programs.

I didn't do much on Thursday other than goofing off in front of the computer, reading, and watching tv.  I did go to Scrabble club though.  I lost one game by just 3 points and won the other two games handily scoring over 400 points in each game.  I decided that on Friday I would get out to the local library and spend time studying Scrabble stuff in preparation for Nationals.  I stopped at Subway for a sandwich and then spent a couple of hours at the library working on new study cards.  Matt and I went out to dinner that evening.  We went to Zio's which is one of our favorite local Italian chain restaurant but I wasn't too thrilled with my dinner.

Saturday was pretty much completely lazy.  I don't think I ever got dressed all day.  I did make a pot roast for dinner though.  Today we are headed to church shortly.  We usually go to the 1:00 service since we like to sleep in.  I also have to do some laundry.  My cousin's wife is coming to stay with us for a few days as she starts her job tomorrow but won't be closing on the house until later in the week.  Since we've had guests every weekend for a month now, I'm ready to have some down time.

Well, I better get Matt roused so he can get his shoes on and ready to go.  He is terrible about being on time to things.  If it weren't for me he would still be perpetually late to things.  A friend of ours commented on how nice it has been since I came into his life and now he isn't as late as he usually is.

Back to Short Hair

I'd been thinking about getting my hair cut again for a while now.  I went fairly short not long after the wedding, but I never got to a point where I liked it much.  If I straightened my hair it was ok, but lately it's been more of a pain than something I like.  All I do is throw some mousse in it and go most of the time.  I figured with summer being here and temperatures already up in the 90's, I would go short again.  So while I was out shoe shopping today I decided to stop by a salon in the mall and get it cut.  I took a couple of pictures with me to show what I wanted and I think I got it.  Of course the natural bit of wave sometimes makes it not fall exactly the way I want, but I can use the curling iron to tame most of it.  So I'm happy with my decision even if there are those few naysayers that just love long hair.  For me long hair is a pain.  Sure, you can be creative and style it and make it pretty, but I'm rather lazy when it comes to hair so I need something that is easy to manage.  So there's that.

Of course I didn't find shoes.  I don't know why almost all dress shoes seem to mandate a heel that is 2-4 inches.  I was looking for something in a low heel in white or hot pink.  Everything was the wrong color, the wrong heel, or more of a sandal.  I already have white sandals but was hoping to wear control top pantyhose to help a bit.  I guess I'll go for some control top underwear and forgo the hose.  I did pick out some nice bright nail polish for my toes.  I think it will match both my dress and Matt's shirt.  Of course we will probably get soaked when we head out to the dinner tomorrow night.  We are starting to get bits and pieces of tropical storm Bill.

Finally Got an Answer

Got the long awaited email at 6:17 tonight.  It said that I would be assigned to my same school "in a position for which I am certified" next school year.  I hope that means that I'm returning as the librarian and not in a teaching position.  I would have to just quit at that point.  I have to sign a memo and return it by Friday.

I went into the school today to finish up what I didn't get to do on Friday.  I had to finish setting up the summer school principal's computer and printer, finalize my discarded book list, and store my library computers.  Matt came up and helped me by covering some of the equipment with sheets and then shredded papers for me until he broke my shredder.  I kept telling him that he was putting too much in it but he didn't listen to me.

After I finished at the school, I headed over to another school to help another librarian with her inventory paperwork.  The other librarians in the district tend to call on me for help rather than the library facilitator as she is almost always too busy to help.

Matt and I then headed to Schlotzkey's for lunch and then had to go shopping to get him a dress shirt, tie, and shoes for an upcoming awards banquet that he is being honored at.  It is a Juneteenth celebration and he is being recognized with a Sojourner Truth award for his work on the library's African American funeral program collection.  We found his shirt and tie, but then I had to find a dress.  We headed to Dillards and I found one that I liked though it was a bit tight.  I went ahead and got it and plan to wear control top pantyhose.  I really need to work on losing some weight.  I'm sure that is one of the main causes for my acid reflux issues I'm having.  I'm investigating the possibility of swimming at a local community college pool.  Although we have a community pool, it hasn't been open yet this summer and it's not been taken care of by our HOA group.

I am seriously thinking about getting my hair cut yet again.  I think I want to go back to short hair.  It's still pretty short in a bob, but I want something different.  I've always liked having short hair so I think it's time again.  It will make the hot summer more bearable.

Stomach Flu Sucks

I spent Thursday evening doing laundry and making beds in preparation for my brother's visit.  I intended to finish cleaning like vacuuming and sweeping and stuff on Friday evening after work since he wouldn't be getting in until after 9.  My stomach had other plans, however.  Around 3 in the morning I had acid reflux so I got up and took an acid reducer tablet and waited for it to start working.  I tried going back to bed, but lying down didn't help.  I got up and got online hoping to wait it out.  Around 3:30 a.m. I realized it wasn't going to work when I threw up my dinner from the night before.  I threw up again at 6 a.m.  Around 7 a.m. I texted the school secretary telling her I'd come in later that morning since I hadn't gotten much sleep.  After throwing up again at 7:30, I threw in the towel and called to tell her I wouldn't be coming in at all.  I threw up twice more on Friday before I was done.  My brother got in around 9:30 and I managed to get out of bed and welcome them.  I told them I was sick, but to make themselves at home, and that hopefully I would feel better in the morning.  I finally started feeling somewhat human on Saturday, but not 100%.  I was able to keep breakfast down.  I went with my brother and his kids to the new children's museum that just opened.  It was cool, but too crowded for me.  Kids are better in moderation.  We went out for lunch and I was able to eat normal food, but could only eat about half of it.  Matt had signed us up to work the Folklife Festival so after lunch, my brother brought me home so I could rest until I had to go out again in the evening.  Usually I really enjoy the festival because it's a bunch of different kinds of ethnic foods, but I could only eat half a beef kabob and drink a sprite.  Today has been better, but still not quite 100% yet.  We went to church and came back in the pouring rain.  Thankfully our roof was fixed on Friday, so hopefully no leaks!  Now I'm home in my Marvin the Martian pajamas and I'm staying put until about 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.  Matt has to go back to the festival this afternoon.  I hope the rain lets up.  It has poured for about 2 hours now.

And to answer the burning question about my job status... nope, still haven't heard.  The email earlier this week said that I'd hear by Friday but I never got an email about it.  I'm going to email a final time  on Monday and if I don't get an answer one way or the other, I'm sending in the other application.

The end is in sight!

Tomorrow is my last day of work for the school year.  I saved just enough stuff to finish tomorrow, I think.  I will probably be done early.  Today I scanned about 500 books to be discarded.  Tomorrow I have to save some lists so I can include the information on next year's inventory reports... assuming I'm even there next year.  I still haven't heard anything yet.  I can't believe they are going to wait until Friday - if they even tell me then.

It has been grand central station around here for about a month.  Two weeks ago, we hosted my cousin Rob and his family while they were down here house hunting.  Josh was also here that weekend when we went to Fiesta Fest and it stormed really, really bad.  The park closed early and we had to wait most of the storm out at Matt's coworker's house.

The following weekend, we had our small district school Scrabble tournament.  My students did very well, though they were only competing against one other school.  There were 13 teams and we took 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th places.

Last weekend one of Matt's college friends came to stay with us.  He is a very low key, quiet guy.  Having conversations with him was difficult, but he was very nice.  We took him to Fiesta Texas but I think the coasters were a bit much for him.  Matt still hasn't had a chance to ride Batman yet - the line was too long by the time we decided to ride it.

So just when we think we are getting a break, my brother calls me and says he and the family are coming to town this weekend.  Of course being the good sister that I am, I told him they could stay here.  So tonight instead of playing at Scrabble club, I'm home washing sheets and stuff.  Actually, I've been napping and goofing off on the computer while the sheets are washing and drying.  I do have some dry sheets up here to put on the beds, but haven't gotten to it yet.  I'll get it done by the time Matt gets home though.

Tonight I've got to figure out when we are going to fly to Reno for nationals and make a decision on going to San Francisco or not.  I'm discovering that San Francisco is a very expensive city.  I'm looking into doing airbnb instead of a hotel so that we can stay somewhere within the city and not pay $300 a night.  But I've never been there and I think it would be a fun trip.  It looks like we might not get to ride roller coasters while there.  The best flight times cuts a potential day that we would be staying there which also saves money as well.

Well, I'm off to figure out why iTunes is not able to copy my music to my phone after updating.  I am really regretting doing the latest update.  Now my Scrabble anagram program doesn't work and I've lost all the music that I had recorded from CDs.  I've had an iPhone since 2009 but I'm seriously considering going to another phone when my contract is up in November.  When I'm in a crowded place like a concert or theme park, I can never get connected to facebook or the internet.  I thought it might be the service provider, but Josh never had a problem with his phone and he uses the same company.  He has a Galaxy I think.

Blog Comments

 Billy said...

I should hope they would talk to you in person regardless. I hate how impersonal places have become. Keeping my fingers crossed that you get what you want!

11:15 PM

Billy - When I "re-interviewed" to keep my job I was told that I would find out in person either the day before everyone else or at the end of the day since they knew I'd be busy with all the end of year procedures.  That day came and went and it's irritating that I had to email someone to find out what was going on.  Even then, the answer was fairly vague though they said I'd know by the end of the week.  

At this point I'm not sure what I want.  If I was offered the job with the other district that I interviewed with, I'd take it.  Since our campus is getting a new principal it could be good or bad.  I don't know what kind of leader she'll be and if she will give me the freedom to do my job like the previous principal did.  There is another opening in a different district which is on a military base.  If my current district decides I'm not staying at my current school, I'm definitely applying, but I'm not certain about it before I know whether my current job is secure. The other district doesn't pay into the Teacher Retirement System but only Social Security.  My current district is unique in that it pays into both.  I'd also hate to leave my Scrabble students that I've been working with.  Ultimately I guess things will work out.  I've decided that if they haven't told me by Friday, I'll put in my application and see what happens. 

 Andrew Q. said...

http://andrewsminddelvings.blogspot.com/ I don't know if you are interested after that shenanigan I pulled, but I at least wanted to invite you to read my new blog. I hope you are well and I miss you.

Andrew - I'll still read but with a sense of wariness.  I haven't decided how I feel about the whole made up girlfriend thing.  My advice to you is to just keep it real.  You've always told me that you like my blog because I talk about the mundane stuff - that's why I've read yours all these years.  You didn't need to spice things up.  Don't worry about your readership - people will read or they won't.  They'll come and go.  You just have to write for the sake of writing.  

I know I haven't been a very good blogger lately.  I do miss it.  I frustrate myself because I used to use my blog to go back and remember things that happened in previous years and when it's been as scarce as it has been, it's hard to do.  

7:02 AM

 dkzody said...

Thanks for filling in the blanks. I am not too surprised, having seen what education is like, at how they are dragging out the decision-making. They don't seem to realize that teachers have a life.

I am surprised at the lack of training, though. Fresno Unified has had many problems and there is always hours and hours of training. Especially during the summer. Keeping half the staff does not sound like a good idea if they are not going to do some major changes in the way things are done. That will take lots of training.

9:29 AM

The district does offer other training over the summer, but it isn't required.  They create a catch-22 situation when it comes to training.  They've mandated that teachers (and librarians) cannot go to any district training during the school day in order to keep everyone in the classroom.  The problem is that they cannot mandate that we go to training in the evenings beyond our scheduled work day either.  So teachers must voluntarily go on their own time or it doesn't happen - unless it's on campus during a monthly faculty meeting.  

Reconstitution

To answer dkzody's questions:

How did the reconstitution go at your school? 

I thought my portfolio was excellent and that my interview went well.  This was back in May that we had interviews.  I even got a high five from the assistant superintendent and the other lady that interviewed my has seen me in action this year and knows of the work I've done.  It has been a tedious process, however.  I was disappointed that I didn't find out my fate when all the other teachers found out on the last day of school.

Did any of the staff get to stay?

Yes, about half the staff is staying.  I was surprised by some of the people they "let go" though that just means they will get a job elsewhere in the district.  I was more surprised by some of the people that they chose to stay, however.  I guess some of them is because they are fairly new and therefore they think they may be trainable, but I would not have chosen some that they did decide to keep on campus.  We lost our band director, choir director, art teacher, two ELA teachers, two science teachers, two math teachers, and maybe a social studies teacher.  One of the SS teachers retired which is probably good because although he is a nice guy, they would most definitely have let him go.  

They announced the replacement of our principal several weeks ago and she has no idea if she will get another principal job or be demoted to a VP position.  

One of the counselors is choosing to go back to elementary.  The other counselor, the assistant principal, the campus instructional specialist and myself still haven't heard whether we are staying or not.  I did get a response from my email which stated that I would find out via email by Friday.  If they decide to let me go, they better do it in person as I will want to know why.  I got a perfect score on my evaluation. My overall "score" was to be tied with the reading scores for the school and since they kept all the reading teachers, I assume that they are happy with those scores.  I thought the interview went well.  My concern is that perhaps the new principal coming in might want to bring her own staff in - if so, I don't think it would be fair to let me go when I've done a pretty good job.  

 Where will the new staff be coming from for the fall?

It will be a mix of people newly applying to the district (which sad to say is mostly new teachers and Teach for America candidates).  There may be some people within the district looking to transfer, but I would think that many might not want to work in a school that has so many problems.  

 Will there be summer training to bring the school up to speed to be ready when the students return?

We have a professional learning conference that starts the week before school starts for about three days.  Sometimes its beneficial - sometimes it's not.  Most teachers would prefer more time in their rooms to get ready for the year.  My job starts two days before all the teachers, but I'll be spending it getting ready for hosting part of the conference at our campus.  That will mean multiple projectors and equipment set up in all the rooms being used.  

School is Almost Out

The last day for students was last week on Thursday.  The last day for teachers and most of the staff was Friday.  That was the day everyone (except me) found out whether they were going to stay at Rogers or be "reconstituted".  I was told by my principal that I would find out my status at a "later date."  Since I hadn't heard by today, I emailed the assistant superintendent to find out when I might be told.  I only work through Friday this week.  If I don't get an answer by the end of the week, I'll start applying to other districts.  I haven't heard from the one district I interviewed with, but the principal said that he would be making his decision this week so I should find out one way or the other.

I worked all day and I don't feel as though I accomplished much.  I found out this weekend that I had to clear the lab where I had stored a bunch of equipment.  I had to pull it all out and put it in the stacks of the library.  Luckily most of it was already on rolling carts.  Tomorrow my goal is to finish with the general sorting, cleaning, and such.  I still have to fill out forms to have 77 boxes of textbooks to be picked up.  I also have to complete forms to have a whole bunch of broken and outdated equipment to be picked up as well.

Matt has a friend from St. Louis visiting.  He got in on Friday and will be heading back tomorrow morning.  We went to Six Flags on Saturday and then did an San Antonio bus tour on Sunday.  It was really hot both days.  I was exhausted at the end of each day and just fell asleep quickly.  This morning came too early though.  I'll be glad when I'm not working next week and can sleep in.  I need to try to focus this summer and get several things done.  I really need to study for the National Scrabble tournament.  I want to do a better job that I've been doing.  I need to start adding a lot of 4 letter words to my vocabulary.  I think I'll try to work out a schedule and study for a certain amount of time each day.