March 31, 2008

Boy has it been raining like crazy today. It started this afternoon. We've had so much rain this month, it's unreal. They said on the news tonight we broke a record that was set back in 1897 for the wettest March on record.

I think we're in for a very soggy spring. We have more rain in the forecast for Thursday and Sunday. Opening Day for the Cardinal's was cut short because of the rain today. They only got three innings in before they had to postpone the game for a later time. Pity, because they were winning 5-1.

Tonight when I was at gymnastics with Michaela the sun came out just as it was going down. It was still sprinkling. There was this huge, bright double rainbow. It was so beautiful. I wish I'd had my camera with me. I love rainbows.

March 30, 2008

Tomorrow is the last day of March. This means that 2008 is 1/4 of the way over already. I have 51 days of work left. We have 108 days left until our vacation. I have 134 days left until my next school year begins. That's really not a lot of time. Before we know it, it'll be the end of the year, again.

Today I watched two movies. First I watched The Number 23. It is a psychological thriller with Jim Carrey in it. He did a great job in a role like that. There were parts where he did not have much clothes on and I did not realize he had such a good body. I actually watched it twice. The DVD had the theatrical version and the unrated version on it. I like to compare to see how different the versions are. I'd warn anyone who is offended by a lot of sex scenes to not watch the unrated version. I liked the movie, though. I think Jim Carrey should do more non-comedic roles. He could be as versatile as Robin Williams if he took the time to develop those talents.

I also watched Close Your Eyes. It's another psychological thriller. It's set in London. It was pretty good, but you could tell it's low budget. The story line was interesting. A hypnotist psychologist uses his talents to help the police solve a serial killer case in which one of the victims got away. It's a little on the weird side, but it was interesting.

Michaela, Caleb and I all played bowling on the Wii today. I beat them of course. I'm really good at that. Caleb is pretty good, too. Michaela would be better if she did not let herself get so frustrated about mistakes. I'm looking at getting the DDR game they've made for the Wii. It's kind of expensive, but I think we'd have a lot of fun with it. I've played DDR on PS3 at work before and really liked it although I was not very good at it.

March 29, 2008

Google is black today. It says on their home page that they've turned out the lights in honor of Earth Hour that is supposed to take place between 8 - 9 pm for each time zone. I thought that was cool. I think we're going to do that tonight. If we're home. I don't know if we'll be out or not.

It's been a pretty productive day so far. I've gotten about half the laundry done for the week so far. I usually don't get that much done on Saturday. Both the kids were finished with their chores before lunch time. They are getting a lot better at their chores. I'm really proud of them.

Caleb has had a little bit of a fever today. I hope he's not getting a sinus infection. I cannot take any more sick days this year and Michael's parents have both been sick off and on lately.

Caleb and Michael both got haircuts today. They both really needed them. Caleb looks so much better. His had not only gotten too long, but it was just growing in weird with longer parts here and there.

I also got bills paid and the books updated this morning. That always feels so much better once it's done. I don't know why that always feels like such an accomplishment. I mean lately I've been keeping up with it all really well, but it does feel like a major accomplishment every week.

Michaela is spending the night with Anikca tonight. The deal was she could go if she got her chores done before hand and she did, so she's going. We're going to drop her off around 5:00 pm. I'm really hoping most of the evening is low key.

We will be going to Wal-mart after we drop Michaela off. Michael needs fertilizer and I will not pick that out for him, so we've put off the Wal-mart shopping until this evening.

March 28, 2008

I've found a new author that I really like. It's Tracy Chevalier. I've been listening to audio books lately because I just could not take it anymore that I can't read for leisure during the school year. This way I can put the audio books on my iPod so I can listen to them in the car, during my lunch breaks and my planning periods because I can also do things for work while listening. It's not quite the same as holding a book in my hands and getting lost in the written word, but it's so much better than not getting to read at all.

Anyway, the first book of Tracy Chevalier I listened to was "The Virgin Blue." It was a historical fiction book about the migration of the Huguenots from France to Switzerland. I mean, yes there's a lot more to it than that. It jumps back and forth from the 16th century to present day. But, it was very interesting. It had much more French in it than I remember, but it wasn't enough for me to miss the meaning of anything.

Next, I listened to "Falling Angels" which was set in the beginning of the 20th century in England (outside London). It had a lot of woman's suffrage stuff in it, which was really cool to read about. This one did not jump back and forth between time periods, but it was told from the point of view of 12 characters. So, it did got from character to character and that made it really interesting.

Now, I'm listening to "The Girl With a Pearl Earring." It's set in 17th century Holland. It's about a girl who is forced to become a maid for the famous painter Jans Vermeer because her father lost his eyesight and can no longer work. It's prompted me to go looking for more information on this painter. He painted a lot less than most painters of his time, but his work is fascinating. I've also been looking online for more information about Dutch history. It seems this particular time in Holland is considered the Golden Age. I'm about half way through this book and really enjoying it.

After that there are only two more books she's written that I've not read. "The Lady and the Unicorn" and "Burning Bright." I'm not sure which one I'll get next. I might just go ahead and buy them both from iTunes or Audible so I can listen to one right after the other.

After that I'm going to go back to Barbara Kingsolver. She's got several I've not read yet that I want to read. I'm also doing my best to collect all the paper backs by Daniel Preston and Lincoln Fairchild because it's my goal this summer to make my way through at least most of their novels. I've read three of theirs so far. I also want to read all the books in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series.

March 27, 2008

I'm in a pissy mood for no other reason than I just want to be in a pissy mood. I work with some of the most incredibly immature, sophomoric, catty women in the world. Not all of them are, just some of them.

Lost is not on tonight. Survivor is not on tonight. Hell, not even Supernatural is on tonight. I've not seen a new episode of Grey's Anatomy in I don't know how long. They move all the good shows to Thursday night and here it is Thursday night and NOTHING is on. Freaking basketball has CBS all tied up.

I hate basketball to begin with and every March it just takes over the television. I have a headache. I'm tired of rain and cold and crap weather and am so ready for summer, not only for the warmer weather but so this school year will be over.

I haven't eaten supper because nothing in the house sounds good. But, I know if I don't eat I'll be starving by breakfast.

It's raining again. But, that I don't mind so much. I like rain. I guess I'll watch the enhanced version of the season premier of LOST and then go to bed.

March 26, 2008

It's storming here. I love thunder storms. I love the feeling of electricity in the air. I always have. I've never been afraid of them. I especially love it when it storms at night and during sleep time. Michael likes storms, too.

So, why do we have two children who are so afraid of thunder and lightening? It's very confusing to me. I could listen to the thunder and watch the lightening all night, but my kids will have trouble going to sleep because the thunder and lightening makes them so nervous.

March 25, 2008

It was back to work today. It was not too bad getting up, but then again it's usually the second day back that's the hardest for me. I'm glad it's a short week.

It was Jericho's series finale tonight. I'm not happy about it, but not surprised either. I don't really think CBS had any intention of a third season.

March 24, 2008

Today was my last day off for my spring break. Michaela and Caleb had to go back to school so this was a day to myself. It was productive, but not stressful.

I did get the checkbook stuff taken care of as well as straightening up the kitchen. I also did some laundry.

But, the best part of the day was my massage. I got my first ever massage today at Salon de Christie. It was incredible and was just way too short. I can't wait until I can go back and have another one. They gave me a $10 coupon for my next visit. I'm thinking about saving my nickles and pennies over the next several months to save up for one of the spa packages.

Tonight was basically just taking Michaela to gymnastics. Although, my aunt in Illinois called me so I talked to her for a while during Michaela's gymnastic time. It was great to talk to her.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter everyone. It's been a very strange day here weather wise. We woke up to it snowing. Yes, it was snowing. It has snowed off and on most of the day. Nothing has stuck because of the week of warmer weather we've had that thawed out the ground. Plus, it really wasn't cold enough for it to stick around. I'm so ready for warm temperatures to be here EVERY day.

It was a good Easter mostly. They had us sing all my favorite Easter hymns in church. Honestly, I tend to really enjoy Easter hymns even more than Christmas hymns. They just seem to really uplift me a lot.

We went to Michael's parents' house after church for dinner. Jeremy was there with the kids. Kelly did not come because she just had surgery on her foot on Friday. It was a nice visit. I just love seeing my niece and nephew. They are both great kids. Jeremy Sr. seemed very relaxed today and that was cool.

My mom came over this afternoon. She just really pissed me off this weekend. Some how she seems to be able to put a damper on almost all holidays. Sometimes I wonder how it is I don't hate holidays anymore. But, I won't really get into that. Let's just suffice to say I'm so tired of feeling like the "adult" in that relationship. I really get very jealous of people who have a real mother/daughter relationship with their moms.

My mom and her SO ate supper with us. We just got pizza. It was nothing fancy. We also watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition together. Actually, they left half way through because my mom needed to get home and take some medication.

Now, the kids are in bed. They have to go back to school tomorrow. I have one more day off. I hate that breaks seem to go by so fast. But, I'll be on the "home stretch" towards Summer Break now. However, this "home stretch" is 11 weeks long. I will have a total of 56 days of work left. I think. I'm not sure how they're going to work out making up those two snow days.

March 22, 2008

Today was the egg hunt at church. We had A LOT of kids show up. It was great to see that many people there. The kids had a blast. We ate hot dogs there for lunch.

This afternoon Michael worked on power raking the lawn while I worked on pictures from the egg hunt. I did not get them all done because I could not keep my eyes open. I don't know what the problem was, but I was just so tired. So, I laid down and took about an hour nap. It helped some, but not a lot.

We went to The Old Spaghetti Factory for supper. I love that place. Then, we came home and just hung out. Actually, Michael fell asleep. The kids watched cartoons and I was watching stuff on National Geographic about things that happen in the Bible.

The kids went to bed around 8:00 pm. Then, I moved out to the living room to watch more stuff on National Geographic to wait for the Easter Bunny. I was also waiting for 9:00 pm so I could watch a show about Protestant reformation on The History Channel.

The Easter Bunny did "his" thing while that show was on. I was the only one awake to make sure the Easter Bunny came. I managed to make it through the first hour of the show (it was a two hour show) and about 10 minutes into the second hour before I could no longer stay awake.

March 21, 2008

Can it really be Friday already? I didn't do much today. We took a package to the post office and got some lunch. That's all the productivity I've shown today.

I did watch a movie that my Jericho group was talking about and it was pretty good. It's a low budget film, but I enjoyed it. It's called "Right at Your Door" and it's about dirty bombs going off in Los Angeles. It really kind of made you think.

The kids and I also watched "Transformers" today. I was a little hesitant about this because of it's rating, but it wasn't too bad. Caleb had been wanting to see it so badly. It was a pretty good movie. A little sappy at the end, but that's ok once in a while. Caleb thinks Bumble Bee is just the coolest thing. I'm kind of partial to Optimus Prime. Even Michaela enjoyed it. It's a long movie, though. It's 2 1/2 hours long.

Tonight we hung around the house because Michael had a guy coming by to look at our oak tree over our driveway. He wants it trimmed. I did go do Wal-Mart shopping so we wouldn't have to do it tomorrow. But, that was it for the whole day.

March 20, 2008

Welcome Spring! It is the first day of spring here and the temperature got into the lower 60's today. It was sunny and beautiful outside. It was another busy day for us.

The kids and I spent the first part of the day shopping. We started at Target. Caleb and I both had gift cards to spend there. Michaela had a few dollars burning a hole in her pocket so she took that with her. Caleb spent his gift card on five Monster Trucks. Michaela got a jump rope thing. I got a top. We also found khaki pants for Caleb and new tennis shoes for him.

Then, it was off to the mall. We entered the mall through JC Penney. I did not see anything there that fit what we were looking for. So, we went to The Children's Place. Michaela found her Easter Dress there. It's so cute. It's white with green trim and polka dots. She also got a little sweater since the dress is sleeveless and a headband and tights.

Next we went to Payless and got white shoes to go with Michaela's dress. Then, it was time to eat. We all got sandwiches at Subway.

Our last stop in the mall was Sears. I needed something new to wear to church on Easter. I've not gotten anything new for church in a few years. So, I found a dress and some inexpensive shoes. And, finally we found some new tennis shoes for Michaela. Both kids were in desperate need of new tennis shoes. This also meant we did not have to make another stop anywhere else which was a good thing because I was tired.

When we came home the kids played outside for a while and then came inside and proceeded to drive me crazy. I had to practically BEG them to go back outside. Of course come supper time they didn't want to come back inside.

After supper I went to the church I grew up in for Maundy Thursday service. I love this service. It's so cool to watch the Living Last Supper. Communion always feels more significant on this night, too. It was just a wonderful way to spend the evening.

I came home and had about half an hour to spend with my kids. I played with Caleb with his Monster Trucks. Michaela was busy reading.

Now, I'm just kind of winding down by watching House Hunters on HGTV. Tomorrow is the last day that the kids and I have together until Summer Vacation. As much as I love being a teacher, I'll be glad when this school year is over. I'm ready for my summer with my kids.

March 19, 2008

It's been a busy day around here. I've worked really hard around the house today. This is what I've accomplished so far today:

• Cleaned my bedroom, including moving furniture to vacuum behind
• Cleaned, swept and mopped the master bathroom
• Cleaned up the dirty dishes
• Cleaned, swept and mopped the kitchen
• Swept and mopped the front bathroom and the landing by the front door
• Folded two loads of laundry (left from Sunday)
• Started more laundry (second load is in dryer)
• Dusted up high where Caleb cannot reach

I still have to put the things back in the kitchen. The floor is almost dry. I just finished putting the things back in the front bathroom. I have two more loads of laundry I want to get done. Michaela and Caleb have both done all of their chores, too. My house looks and smells clean. There is more I could do, but I'm tired.

Tonight will be an easy supper. I have one of those meat entrees things that only take about 5 minutes in the microwave. I'll make mashed potatoes (from instant) and open a can of green beans. I've got some raw carrots and applesauce I can put out, too.

I do need to take the filled Easter eggs that Michael bought to church at some point tonight. He left the key for me to go do that today, but I think I'll wait until JAMS tonight when there will be people there and take them up there then.

I'm trying to decide if I want to take a shower right now (I feel gross after all that cleaning) or take a nap. I'm thinking a shower will be less interrupted than a nap will be. At any rate I need to get up off my butt and check on the floor in the kitchen and get the load of laundry out of the dryer.

March 18, 2008

Ok, so it was another lazy day mostly for me. I did do the grocery shopping, changed the sheets on my bed and cleaned up the dirty dishes in the kitchen. Other than that I did not do anything. I even did a lazy supper by throwing frozen pizzas in the oven and putting out raw veggies and cut up fruit to go with it. I just have not been able to motivate myself to move away from the bed for much time.

Maybe it's the weather. It's been raining and dark and dreary all day. I just want to sleep. I attempted to take a nap but of course Caleb cannot leave me alone long enough for it to do any good.

I did manage to finish working on pictures from the night at the museum we had on Sunday night. I also went through the pictures I took the last day that Jill was here last month. Not many of those turned out very good, though. I'm disappointed in those. I have pictures from parent night at Michaela's gymnastics lessons to go through yet. There's only about a dozen of those.

I watched a few things on The History Channel today. They were all about the Dark Ages. I love stuff about that time in history. It just fascinates me. It was a huge transitional time in history.

Michael took Michaela to get a new light bulb for her flash light tonight. They also went to Walmart and got some filled Easter eggs for us to donate to the egg hunt at church. I guess I'll have to take them to church tomorrow.

It was also Jericho night. There's only one episode left after tonight. They only did 7 episodes for the second season. I'm not sure it's looking too good for a season 3. Tonight was a really good episode, though.

March 17, 2008

I'm so tired. I tried to nap today, but it just doesn't happen when there are other people awake in the house. Michaela did sleep, though. She fell asleep not long after we got home this morning and slept until lunch time.

At one point I called Michael to let him know that we got home ok. He didn't answer his phone because he was in a meeting. So, he called back a little later. I asked him if Caleb got up for him ok this morning and he said yes. He also said that Caleb was insistent about wearing green for St. Patrick's Day. He must've gotten that from school because we don't make a big deal about that here at home.

Caleb picked out a green and blue striped shirt to wear and put it on with some sweat pants. Michael said that after that he went over to his bed where all his stuffed animals are and pinched them all because none of them were wearing green. What a silly boy.

I did nothing today, though. I just laid around like a bum. My back, neck and hips still hurt from last night. I am so looking forward to bedtime tonight.

So far this evening has consisted of supper, gymnastics and going to Walgreen's for Michaela's prescription. Michaela is in the shower right now and in a half hour she and Caleb are going to bed. I won't be far behind them.

Sleep Over at The City Museum

Boy, last night was busy. We all met at the girl scout leader's house at 5:00 pm. Michaela and I rode in a van with another mom. There were four girls with us. Michaela, her best friend, the daughter of the mom who drove that van and another girl. I think we had 8 vehicles driving down there. I was amazed, all the girls from the troop went and only three of them did not have a parent with them. We were registered with the younger troop and the older troop that we do things with, so in all our group (once we got there) had probably over 50 people with all the girls and parents. We even had a dad with us.

We got checked in and then the girls went into the room that is called the Skateless Park. It's ramps and stuff like a skate park has, but no skateboards or skates allowed. It's the one place in the museum where they are allowed to just run and be wild. They also got to make a flower pot out of a paper cup and plant flower seeds in it. They climbed on the wire tunnels inside and then the outside (called MonstroCity) was opened up. Michaela did not want to do this. She was afraid. It's all climbing stuff at least three stories high and you can see through it all.

We also watched a performance by The Everyday Circus. It was really good. This is mainly kids that take circus classes at the museum. Those kids get to travel with it too. Last summer they went to Israel to perform. They have camps for this in the summer and I had thought that I might give it consideration if Michaela showed interest. She asked if she could as they were handing out the fliers. Then, I showed her how much it cost. It's $450 for two weeks. Plus, this is about a 35 minute drive just to get down there. I don't think that one is going to happen.

They got to play around in the Enchanted Caves too. This was really cool. All kinds of nooks and crannies to climb into and onto and through. Tunnels everywhere. I wish I was a kid and not so big. It would be so much fun. But, most of those tunnels and things are not made adult size.

They served us thin crust pizza, Cesar salad, and a big cookie for supper. There was a choice of soda, juice or water to drink. For breakfast they had cold cereal, sausages, french toast, biscuits and gravy, bagels and cream cheese, milk, juice, coffee, soda and water. The biscuits and gravy were REALLY good. They also had marshmallows to toast outside when the kids were allowed to go out there to climb. We did not go hungry, that's for sure.

They did show some movie last night, too but I don't think many went to it. It didn't start until midnight. They served popcorn at that. I didn't go to it. The girls that were with me were getting cranky and I was tired so we went into the sleeping area with the other mom we hung out with. The floor was VERY HARD. I thought the sleeping bag I took would be padded enough, but the floor was a lot harder than I had anticipated. If we ever do this again we're taking something else to sleep on. My hips, back and neck really hurt today. It was after 1:00 am before we laid down and I think I slept a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I also told the leader that maybe next time we should plan shifts to watch the girls so we each could have a little bit of a break. It's not the type of place you want to just let the girls run around where ever they want because there are too many floors, rooms, etc.

It was fun, but it was exhausting. I wish I could lay down and sleep, but for some reason I'm a little wired. It's thundering here now and getting ready to storm. I'm giving myself the day off today. I may get the pictures of last night off my camera, but other than that I'm doing nothing. Michaela is asleep and I did take a shower when I got home. But, I think I'm going to spend the day laying on my soft bed and watching television and/or movies.

March 16, 2008

It's been a relatively quiet day. We went to church and then out to eat at Pizza Street. We saw a couple moms we know from Guppy there. One of them has a daughter in Caleb's KG class. We saw them there the last time we went there, too. It was nice to see them.

When we came home I worked on laundry as much as I could. Tonight is the sleep over at The City Museum with girl scouts. We'll be leaving soon. I think I have everything packed. Michaela and I are just wearing sweats so we can sleep in those and not have to worry about changing clothes until we get home tomorrow. I'm looking forward to this, but I'm also looking forward to it being over because I know I'm going to be very tired tomorrow.

March 15, 2008

Today was a normal Saturday for us. I did get to sleep until a little past 7:00 this morning. Caleb actually slept past 7:30 this morning, maybe later, I'm not sure. But, he did sleep longer than anyone else. That almost NEVER happens.

I did the checkbook and paid bills first thing. We hung out for a little while and did not go to Walmart until late morning because Abby's groomer appointment was at 9:45 and it just made sense to drop her off and go to Walmart from there especially since Walmart is just across the road from the groomer's, so to speak.

We did Walmart, went to the bank and to the post office. I had to make sure and get the one piece of mail in the mail today. It was the registration for Michaela and Caleb to go to Camp Read A Lot. We just got the brochure in the mail (I was beginning to wonder if it was coming) this week. If you don't get your registration in ASAP you don't get a spot. And, since I'm trying to get two spots this year I knew I'd better send it in NOW. The fee for it has gone up $15 per child this year. That was a little bit of a shock, but it's still worth the price.

I did Easter Basket shopping after lunch. The baskets are going to be a bit more empty this year, but seriously my kids don't need a lot. They already have too much as it is. I don't think they're going to be disappointed, though. They are pretty good at being happy with what they get.

We had our appointment with our tax guy this afternoon. I was a little nervous because our income went up a bit more than I'd realized it had. But, we still had just the right amount of a loss on our rental property so we're getting a nice refund from federal and a few dollars from state. We also managed to still qualify for the rebates that are being sent out later this year. So, it was good news all around.

Michael's parents watched the kids while we were there so we took them out for dinner. We went to RT Weiler's. It was a nice supper. We enjoyed each other's company a lot. We even sat and talked a little while after the bill was paid. It was a very nice evening. We even talked about our vacation this summer a little.

Tonight I made sure both kids got shower/baths so we don't have to do that in the morning. I also did a couple loads of laundry and watched "The Cutting Edge 2." I'd seen it before, but I enjoyed it again.

March 14, 2008

It's FRIDAY! Gosh, this has been a long week. But, now it's over and I'm off work for 10 days! We all wore black today in mourning of our "lost" principal. He got a kick out of that. He's got a really good sense of humor. It was a good day at work, though. The kids were well behaved and worked hard and I'm really starting to feel less depressed.

Tonight we brought supper home and just hung out at home. I like quiet evenings like that. I watched "The Cutting Edge." I've seen this movie several times. A friend I had during high school and college used to insist on watching it ever chance we got. It's a good movie, but I probably had not seen it since this friend and I stopped being friends.

I had an 'AH HA' moment while I was watching it. Terry O'Quinn is in it. I KNEW there was some movie he'd been in that I should remember, but didn't until last night. He plays the girl's father in this movie and is somewhat of a jerk. He also has hair in the movie. Not much, but some.

Another, LOST moment happened for me when I was listening to the latest audio book I bought on iTunes. It's called "Falling Angels" and is by Tracy Chevalier. In it the scientist Michael Faraday is mentioned. This is the man that the character Dan Faraday in LOST is named after. I swear the creators and writers of LOST know absolutely EVERYTHING there is to know.

March 13, 2008

I'm sad today. My principal announced he will be leaving us after this year. I'm not surprised. I've actually been expecting it. He has just been different this year. Not bad different, just different. He's going to be missed very much.

Our reading coach has confirmed she's moving to a different building next year, too. She's one of my favorite co-workers. It's just not going to be the same place next year. I really wish I could get a position in the school district I live in, but for some reason it just isn't happening. I guess working in the inner city has tainted me. Whatever. Their loss, I'm a DAMNED good teacher.

Tonight was Survivor and LOST night. The kids watched Survivor with us again. And, I watched LOST with my online friend. Michael worked on getting our tax stuff together because he does not like LOST. We have an appointment with our tax guy on Saturday.

March 12, 2008

I managed to get a whole lot accomplished at work again today. This was our DIBELS week and I got them finished first thing this morning. I always try to get those done the first half of a week when we have to do them. I even had three new students that I had to give all the assessments to. It's a review week so we're spending a lot of extra time in work stations, too. Plus, it's my double day. Our grade level meeting was on the short side so I had plenty of plan time to work.

Tonight was quiet. I'm still very tired and just sat and vegged. Nothing in on television on Wednesday nights (why'd they have to move Jericho and LOST to different nights?) so I ended up watching Wife Swap (ok, so honestly I do like watching the idiots on that show) and Supernanny.

March 11, 2008

It was a good day at work today. Today was one of our 1/2 day/ PD days. This means the kids leave at 12:15 and we're supposed to have professional development until around 4:30 p.m. We do get an hour lunch on those days. I usually hate these days because they are so boring once the kids leave. But, today we were allowed to work in our rooms instead of sit in meetings.

I got so much done. I was able to get four weeks worth of lesson plans written. Then, I wrote a pre-test and a post-test for the next theme that we won't be starting until the middle of April. Finally, I got started on recording test data. I'm really behind on that, so it's going to take me a while, but at least I've started on it.

Our new superintendent came by our building to introduce himself this afternoon. He gave a good first impression. He definitely emitted a much saner atmosphere than our last superintendent gave off. I really hope the first impression is at least close to being accurate. I really don't want to see another major head case running our district.

My depression lifted some today, too. It was very sunny outside and it got fairly warm today. By the time I left work I was taking off my coat. The kids played outside when we got home without jackets. They still had on long sleeved sweatshirts, but no jackets. It was nice. I just feel like I'm starting to "wake up."

I managed to get my new audio book synced to my iPod tonight, too. I can start listening to it tomorrow. I hope it's as good or better than the book I just finished. They are by the same author.

Now, it's time to watch Jericho.

March 10, 2008

Busy day at work.

Parent week at Michaela's gymnastics class.

Headache so bad it's making my stomach ache.

Finished listening to audio book "The Virgin Blue" by Tracy Chevalier. Really liked the book. Bought another book by her from iTunes called "Falling Angels." Will sync it to my iPod tomorrow.

March 9, 2008

Tomorrow is the beginning of another work week. Hopefully, we'll be in school all week with no unexpected days off. We should be because the temperatures are supposed to be spring like starting on Tuesday. It's 51 here right now. Tomorrow is supposed to be in th 40's and then it's supposed to be upper 50's to mid 60's the rest of the week.

Next Sunday, Michaela and I will be preparing for the sleep over in The City Museum. We will also be on Spring Break. Caleb will have to go to my mom's next Monday morning until Michaela and I get home from The City Museum.

We went to church this morning. Michaela was already there with Lauren and her family because she spent the night over there last night. After church we went to Pasta House with Michael's parents. It was a good lunch and I enjoyed talking with my MIL and FIL, but the service was HORRIBLE today. It was so weird. We've never had bad service there before.

Now, I'm waiting for the next load of laundry to finish drying and watching last Thursday's airing of LOST. Michael and his dad went out to Michael's work to build something. My brother and his wife have not called or come by yet. I need to take the cookie money to Michaela's leader sometime soon and go pick up a prescription from Walgreen's. I wish I could take a nap.

I pretty much am only going to worry about getting laundry done and getting lesson plans done for the rest of this month. That won't take long, though. I basically am only going to have to change dates and make some minor adjustments from last year's plans for the theme we're starting tomorrow.

On a positive note, I am feeling better. I *think* my seasonal depression is getting better. The real test will be this week, though. Since the time change is so much earlier this year, I'll be back to driving to work before the sun is up again. That seems to irritate my depression more than anything else. Anyway, even if it does make me feel not great again, it'll be short lived.

March 8, 2008

This morning was a normal Saturday for us. Michael had to work. He gave me a wonderful goodbye kiss this morning though. I was able to go back to sleep for about 20 minutes, but was up by 6:20 this morning.

I took care of the bills and checkbook. I'm so proud of myself because for the past three weeks, I've kept it up to date on a weekly basis. It's so much easier when I update everything weekly. Especially lately because we've not been spending much money during the week at all.

Then, the kids and I went to the bank and deposited all the cookie money. When I was finished there, we went to the post office. Michaela dropped a couple envelopes in the slots for me and I bought a bunch of stamps. I'm trying to stock up before the price of postage goes up. Next, we headed for Walmart. It was a mad house and most people there were wandering around with their heads stuck up their butts. I was so glad to get out of there and come home.

My brother and SIL were supposed to come over this afternoon to get their cookies, but by 4:20 I'd not heard from them and Stacey had called. She invited us over to play games with them and the Gravemans. And, Lauren invited Michaela to spend the night. So, I called my SIL again and they were getting ready to go to a benefit so we decided they would come over tomorrow.

We had a lot of fun tonight. It was great to get to play with other adults. Stacey, Steve, Marlene and Keith all have such great senses of humor. We laughed so much and just really enjoyed each other's company. We played a card game called Hand and Foot. I've not played that is a very long time. I'd forgotten most of the rules. But, I also think that they play with rules that are different from what I'd learned growing up.

I think sometime soon we're going to have to invite them over here and do games over here. Maybe Uno Attack or Mexican Train, or something like that. It feels good to have couple friends that seem to really enjoy being around us.

March 7, 2008

It's Friday and boy am I glad. Those two days off in the middle of the week sure threw off the students this week. My goodness but their behavior was just so off the past two days. I'm hoping we'll get back on track next week. But, then we'll have Spring Break and usually behavior is down hill from there for the rest of the year. The last part of the year is more stressful than any other part of the year. But, it's also exciting because this is when they are really becoming independent learners and it's so much fun to watch.

Michael said something that I laughed at earlier this week. He said something about looking forward to the weekend. He doesn't really say things like this so I was a little puzzled. So, I asked him why. He said it was going to be daylight savings time and he was going to enjoy every minute of that extra hour. Ha ha ha! I had to remind him this is the spring "forward" part of day light savings time and that we are going to LOSE an hour, not gain one. He wasn't real happy about that reminder.

Not much went on here tonight. We went to get BK for supper because Caleb has been wanting one of the Monster Truck things they've been advertising that comes in their kids' meals. Of course, again we got there too late and they are out of them again. Burger King is really getting on my nerves lately. My kids get Snoopy toys from there all the time. How it is they can never run out of Snoopy but run out of all the other stuff is beyond me.

Michael and I actually watched "Bring it On" on The Family Channel tonight. *LOL* I've seen it a few times already and I think he's seen it. But, that's about how much energy we had and NOTHING else was on.

March 6, 2008

It was back to work for me today. I was actually glad. I don't want any more snow days. Next week is our last week before Spring Break. Then, we'll have about 10 1/2 weeks of school left for the year. That is we'll have 55 days of school left. Since we have to make up a couple days we'll not get out until June 11 or 12. Then, I have to be back at work on August 12. It will be a lot shorter summer this summer than last.

Tonight was basically just spent watching Survivor and LOST. The kids have started watching Survivor with us on Thursday nights. It's cool to have something we all enjoy watching.

March 5, 2008

My school district did not have school again today. Michaela and Caleb did have school, so I was home by myself today. It was nice to be in a quiet house by myself for a while. But, I really was not thrilled about yet another snow day. That's two now that we HAVE to make up.

The really nice part was that we didn't have to leave the house so early. I made sure Caleb was in his class by 8:30 and then took Michaela to school. Then, I picked Caleb up by 3:30 and went and got Michaela. So, they both were only away from home for actual school hours today.

I got the laundry that I started yesterday done, but that was basically all I did. Well, I did clean up the kitchen, too. But, I really just enjoyed the quiet and not having to do anything.

It got into the lower 50's today and most of the snow that we got yesterday is already gone. It's been a wild and crazy weather week. Tomorrow is supposed to be colder again and on Friday there's another chance for snow. But, they are not predicting a lot of snow and it's not a high chance. I don't think it's going to be anything major.

Tonight I took Michaela to girl scouts. Then, I went to church. They have JAMS on Wednesday nights. I went to deliver cookies. It was cool. I walked into church and people just started handing me money. Ok, so I don't get to keep the money, but still it was kinda cool.

I also got to talk with a few of the other moms from church for a while. I enjoy talking with them and spending time around them. It always makes me feel so much more connected with the world when I get to talk to people I really enjoy being around.

I stayed until it was time to pick Michaela up from girl scouts. She was the last one there because I was running behind. But, it was only about 5 minutes or so behind. Then, we went to my mom's to get her share of the money from the cookies she sold. We will be turning in cookie money on Sunday.

I still have three people from work to collect from. Brandon needs to come get his cookies and pay for them. And, we have two people from church that we still have to give cookies to and get money from. As of Sunday, our cookie ordeal from this year will be over. Yeah!

March 4, 2008

It was ANOTHER snow day for me and the kids. The snow did not actually start until late morning. We ended up with somewhere around 5 inches of snow here at home. There was more on the other side of the river, where I work. I'm not sure how much they got there, but I do know that the St. Louis side of the Missouri River got more snow than we did.

At first I was a little annoyed that they called off school because by 10 a.m. there still was nothing substantial happening. Then, by 10:30 it was snowing like crazy. The kids and I had taken Stacey's cookies to her. When we went over there, the street was just wet. By the time we left, I could not tell where the street I needed to turn onto was to get home. It took us about 15 minutes to drive the two miles between Stacey's house and our house.

I did shovel the driveway today and I'm exhausted. I think I pulled a muscle in my side or something. I'm sore from my rib cage around to the middle of my back. But, it felt good to get that accomplished.

I actually did get a lot accomplished today. The kids and I went and did the grocery shopping before the snow came. We took the cookies to Stacey and I got to visit with her some. I cleaned up the rest of the stuff that needed to be put away from last night's mess. I did three loads of laundry (and still have another I'm going to have to do). And, of course there was making supper and cleaning up the kitchen. It was a good day off.

Michael took the kids sledding after we finished supper. They should be home soon. Michaela needs to take a shower before going to bed. I am going to have to put all their winter outer wear in the washing machine and make sure everything is dried before morning so they can wear their coats to school.

It's also Jericho night. I hope I can make it through tonight's episode without falling asleep. It doesn't come on until 9:00 pm, which I am happy about because it means the kids are already in bed. But, sometimes I have a hard time staying awake until 10:00 p.m. However, I do tape all the episodes so I can re-watch if I miss something due to any kind of interruption.

March 3, 2008

It's cold again. At present the temperature is 27 degrees with the wind chill at 16. It did sleet some this afternoon. It seemed to do more in the city than here in St. Charles. I had a coating of ice on my van when I left work, but the cars here didn't have anything on them.

They've reduced the amount of snow/sleet that we were supposed to get. Now, nothing else is supposed to happen until early morning. It'll probably just enough to mess up both rush hours.

The sink in the kitchen got clogged up tonight. It's a bad clog and seems to be something that has been building for a while. Michael is working on it now and is having problems with it. We cannot run the dishwasher until it's fixed. He managed to get drain clog chemicals on him. I hope it did not burn him too badly. I had to lock the dog in our room so she would not walk across the floor. We lost a rug in the process. There are towels that are going to need special attention. And, the floor will have to be mopped before I go to bed. I hope he's able to get it unclogged. He's using a plumbing snake he borrowed from his dad.

It's been a huge mess. When he took the joint off the pipes chemical laden gunky water went everywhere. We've had to throw away a bunch of stuff that was under the sink. That's how the chemicals got on him. At least we did not have to call a plumber. That would have sucked. I'm sure it would have been at least a couple hundred dollars just to unclog that damned thing.

March 2, 2008

It's official, I am never eating fried shrimp again. Last night my stomach started cramping around 8:30 and it did not stop all night. Every time I would just start to relax enough to drift off to sleep it would just cramp up again. This has happened the last few times I've eaten fried shrimp. I am ok eating shrimp fixed other ways, but just not fried. I've been pretty miserable all day, really.

I did do most of the laundry, cleaned up the dishes in the kitchen and took Michaela to a birthday party this afternoon. Other than that all I've done is lay in bed and watch Heroes online. I have finished watching both seasons of it now, just to find out there is no scheduled air date for the next episode. Alrighty then.

I've really enjoyed watching things on Netflix lately. It really makes the membership fees worth it. This month's membership fee has really paid for itself over and over again. But, then again, after the times we've not returned movies for over a month, it is all evening out at this point.

It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL here today. The temperature got up to 78 degrees here today. It's just been a great weekend weather wise. The kids had so much fun getting to go outside most of the weekend. They did not have to wear jackets at all today. Michael even took them to the park for a while.

But, it's supposed to drop into the 40's tonight. We may get thunderstorms overnight. They are predicting some winter stuff again tomorrow afternoon through Tuesday afternoon. They already have a winter storm watch in effect for then. I pretty much always just wait and see. Things can change so much between now and Monday afternoon. So, we'll see.

March 1, 2008

It was a calmer day around here today. Pretty much a normal Saturday. Michael did not have to go to work, though. It's the second Saturday in a row he did not have to work. So, that was cool.

Michaela and I went to her Girl Scout Troop Leader's house this morning. We needed to pick up some more boxes of cookies. Her leader looked up some numbers while we were there. Michaela has sold around 270 boxes now. She is top seller, still. What really amazed me is that the troop has done over $5000.00 in cookie sales. They get to keep about $1000.00. That is ridiculous. That's less than a dollar a box. Cookie sales are a lot of work, and they sure aren't going to make it easy for the troop to make money. On the other hand, it's $1000.00 they didn't have before.

After lunch I went and did Walmart shopping by myself. I'm very proud. I got out of there for less than $50.00 this week. Of course, we didn't really need a whole lot, so that helps. It wouldn't have even been that much if I hadn't had to get a present for the birthday party that Michaela is going to tomorrow. I got a Mushabelly cow. It snores and moos. It's very cute.

I ironed about 10 shirts for Michael today, too. And, of course did some laundry.

We went to Hatfield's and McCoy's for supper tonight. I think I made a mistake ordering the butterfly shrimp. My stomach started cramping around 8:30 tonight. I think it's going to be a long night. I don't think my stomach will do fried shrimp anymore.

I managed to watch the rest of the first season of Heroes today/ tonight. I started the first episode of the second season, too. I'm liking it, I think. It's just VERY dark and a little depressing. But, it's holding my interest. One thing that helps is the guy who plays Peter. He used to be on Gilmore Girls and I like his acting ability.

One really good thing about today is it got warm! It was up into the mid 60's. I went to Walmart without a jacket and came home with the window rolled down. It was so nice to have the fresh air circulating in the van. It's supposed to be warm tomorrow, too and then get cold again on Monday.