March 31, 2010

It was a really long day for me today. We had a regular school day today at work. Then, just 15 minutes after the kids left, we started Parent Teacher Conferences. We were there until 8:00 p.m. I am really tired. I had 5 parents show up tonight. Not too bad for spring conferences.

March 30, 2010

I went back to work today. I slept better last night, but I'm still really tired. It's been hard to have any stamina at all today. But, my students were really great. That helped a lot.

I was really tired when I got home tonight. I made taco salad for supper, wrote out the grocery list, surfed the Net for a while then lazed around on the bed. Now, it's time to go to sleep.

March 29, 2010

I was awake a lot last night with a fever. I stayed home from work today. My plan was to email my report cards, finish up my assignments for this week's session of my class and then rest/nap the rest of the day. So much for plans. My assignments took way longer than I anticipated. But, I took a few breaks.

I also did not do anything this evening but lay around. I am so tired. I hope I sleep better tonight. I have to go back to work tomorrow.

March 28, 2010

We went to church today, but I really did not feel like it. The sinus pressure in my face has been almost unbearable today. We went to Pantera's after church.

Then, we had to get home. Michaela and I had to be at Vicky's by 2:00. We went out to Camp Cedarledge today. There were 17 of us that went out to look around. It's huge and it's beautiful out there. I really enjoyed wandering around out there. The senior lodge is incredible. Too bad our girls are not seniors yet.

After we finished looking around camp, we went to the next town over to have supper. We went to Cracker Barrel. There were 14 of us that ended up going to eat. It was fun. The conversation was great. I really enjoy the women who are involved in girl scouts as well as the girls.

It was funny, but when I was outside walking around I could breath. When we were sitting in the car or in the restaurant I felt like my face was going to split open. I hope I feel better tomorrow. I am going to take Michael's allergy/sinus medicine tonight so hopefully that will help.

March 27, 2010

I am sick. I'm sneezing, coughing, have a runny nose and tons of sinus pressure with a stuffed up nose. I am just so frustrated at getting sick again. I am pretty sure it's just a cold. I seriously do not think it is a sinus infection, but I feel like crap.

Michael spent most of the day outside working in the yard. I worked on laundry and cleaned up the kitchen some. That's about all I could manage feeling like I do. Caleb and Michaela did their jobs and then went outside to play.

Tonight we went to Pasta House for supper. We used a coupon off a coupon card we bought from a friend. It tasted really good. I'm surprised I could taste anything considering how stuffed up my nose is.

March 26, 2010

We went to Trailhead tonight to have nachos. They were kind of skimpy. Maybe it was because we got there before happy hour prices were over, but they definately were not what we usually get. I was a little disappointed, but they still tasted SO GOOD! I just love their nachos.

I've been coughing a lot this week. I really hope it goes away and doesn't turn into anything else. I've been able to control it some with Mucinex. I just really do not want to get sick again.

March 25, 2010

It was swimming night. The swim team was back. But it was still a good work out for me. Michaela and I both had a good swim.

Sometimes it is very hard for me to make myself go. But, once I get there, I'm glad I made myself go. However, by the time it's over I'm exhausted.

March 24, 2010

Today one of my students came to me to tell me it would be her last day with me. She was so upset. She started crying and told me she didn't want to go. I felt so badly. I don't want her to go either. She's a great kid and so much fun to have in class. I'm going to miss her very much. I felt badly that I couldn't make it better for her either. All I could do was tell her I wish she didn't have to go and that I was sure things would be fine where ever she was going.

March 23, 2010

Nickelback is only 31 days away!!!

Today was my students' first day back after spring break. It was really good to see them. I did miss them. They all seemed happy to be back and were really good today.

Tonight Michael and I had our tax appointment. Of course we forgot something. So, Michael is going to have to call him back on Thursday with the missing information. It is nothing that is going to keep us from filing on time. It will probably be filed by the end of the week.

I'm just really glad that it's almost over for another year. I hate the whole tax thing. I guess it's a necessary evil.

March 22, 2010

It was back to work for me today. We did not have students today, though. It was a PD day. I usually DREAD these. They can be so tedious and pointless. Today's was pretty good though. I feel like we got a lot accomplished and were able to really have some valuable dialogue. It was a pretty good day and low stress, which is always a plus. We also got over an hour for lunch! Woo Hoo!!! That is such a treat for us.

March 21, 2010

We went to the hockey game tonight. It was an early game that started at 5:00 p.m. So, we left the house a little after 3:00. It's rainy and cold, so we parked in the parking garage this time. We usually do not do that. It was kind of nice.

The game was fun. Caleb just loves going to the hockey game and he's so much fun to watch. Michaela likes it too, but she does not get into it like Caleb does. He was sitting next to another boy close to his age and was telling the boy all about hockey. It was funny.

Of course The Blues blew a lead. They really could have won the game had they played like the started the game during the whole game. It gets so discouraging watching them blow it time and again, but hey... I bleed blue!!!!

March 20, 2010

It's been cold and cloudy and drizzly and icky here today. Not real uplifting after the beautiful day we had yesterday.

We pretty much stayed at home today. We just did stuff around the house. Nothing interesting at all to report, really.

March 19, 2010

The weather was WONDERFUL here today. It got up into the 60's and was sunny. It was just a beautiful day. The kids had a half day of school today, so I only had 3 hours of free time before I had to pick them up today.

After I dropped Michaela off (Caleb gets dropped off first) I headed to a couple different out door places around town that I knew would be good to play around with taking pictures. I had my camera and Michael's camera with me. I got some really good shots. I got some of ducks flying over a lake and some of squirrels playing in trees. I got some other shots as well and will be posting them sometime.

In honor of getting some photography in that was not of the kids' activities, I'm going to reactivate my photo blog. I started it last summer when I was part of a photography Yahoo group. It was supposed to be a picture a day, but with school starting it just got a bit overwhelming to try and keep up with it, so I just stopped. I am not going to put that kind of pressure on myself now. I am going to just post when I can/feel like it. Hopefully, this weekend I'll get at least a couple new ones on there.

http://cricklepad.blogspot.com/

I need to go through them all and do a little editing here and there.

After I picked the kids up from school we went to the park. The same park I took pictures of squirrel at. They have a new playground there and the kids had not had the chance to try it out yet. So, we went and they played for an hour or so.

A funny thing happened today. When Caleb and I were sitting in the van in the parking lot at Michaela's school waiting for her to come out we started hearing a voice over the radio. Turns out the guy behind me was on a CB. It was really kind of annoying. Even when I switched the station we could still hear him. I sat and debated getting out to tell him. Then, we hear him say, "Yeah, it's great, I can drive around town talking and no one can hear me." At that point I got out and tapped on his windshield. When he rolled it down I said, "Just so you know, we can hear your whole conversation over the radio in the car." LOL

I suggested he try another band and we didn't hear him after that.

March 18, 2010

I was home most of the day today. I had to wait on the heating/cooling guys to come clean the furnace/ac. They got here right at lunch time and were here until after 1:00 pm. So, I did not get to eat lunch until almost 2:00 p.m. They also tried to sell me all kinds of things. Yeah, .... uh, no. Just do what you came to do, please.

I managed to get the kitchen cleaned while they were here. I also did A LOT of laundry. I could still do another load or two, but I'm waiting because I'll have to do some this weekend so we can start the work week out fresh.

Tonight was swimming night. My water aerobics instructor kicked our butts tonight. She really worked us hard, but it felt good. We did not have to share the pool with the swim team tonight. I hope that means swim season is over. It would be nice to have that much room for a class every week.

March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today was a fun day. I stopped at Stacey's and got to talk to her for a while. It's been a long time since we got to really talk like that. I saw Melissa when she dropped off Emma and it was great to see her even if it was just for a few moments. I really enjoyed my time with Stacey.

Then, I met up with Susan for lunch. That was a lot of fun, too. I am really enjoying re-connecting with her. Talking with her is great. We went to Red Robin, YUM! I'm very happy I got to have lunch with her.

Tonight was Girl Scout meeting night so I got to see Angie, Vicky and Ginger. The girls did a great job tonight working on their theater badge. I was really proud of how they worked. It was great to see my friends, too.

So, I got to see most of my favorite friends today. I feel pretty lucky about that.

March 16, 2010

Today was grocery shopping day. I really hate that chore. I went after I dropped Abby off at the groomer. Boy she was not thrilled to go there today. I guess since I took her to the vet yesterday she thought she was going to the vet again today. She wanted nothing to do with putting on her harness. I almost had to carry her down to the car. She usually gets excited about going to the vet when she sees Schnuck's. Today she didn't get excited until right before we turned into the parking lot at the vet's office. I even told her we were going to the groomer, but she didn't believe me.

March 15, 2010

It was my first day of Spring Break home by myself today. I dropped both kids off at school. Michaela decided she wanted me to take her to school and pick her up this week instead of taking the bus. I took her a little early so I could talk to her principal about a couple things. I really like the principal at her school. She is very good at listening and working to solve problems.

I spent most of the day working on reconciling bank statements. It feels good to have that done.

I also took Abby to the vet again. We spent almost an hour up with her in the middle of the night. Her ear was bothering her pretty bad last night. She scared us. She was almost hyper-ventilating. She was shaking her head so much that she almost fell down the steps. I had the appointment set for her anyway, today. Glad I did.

They gave her some allergy medicine she can be on long term. We are to give her her fish oil pills with that. She also has to have the anti-biotic cream put in her ear twice a day for about a week, or longer if needed. She does have an infection in her ear again. Poor thing. Hopefully now that it's cleaned out and she's getting medicine all the way down in the ear we'll all be able to sleep tonight.

March 14, 2010

We did not go to church today. Michael has had a pretty bad headache since yesterday. So, we stayed home to do some things around the house.

I started to get some things off the hard drive on my laptop. I had to set it on the dining room table and prop it up with a Lego box. It is just in really sad shape. I also have to use a little hand fan to keep it cool because the fan on my laptop is working over time and it's already been replaced once.

Yesterday when we were out running errands we stopped at Best Buy and looked at lap tops there. The guy that was helping us was trying to push me to buy a very large and very expensive laptop. I don't one a huge laptop and I don't want to spend that much money. For what that one cost Michael and I could both get one. That, to me, sounds like a better idea. I don't need something horribly expensive and elaborate. I just need it to do the basic Office stuff, edit photos and surf the Web. Plus, Michael really needs to NOT have to share with the kids.

I'm still wanting another Toshiba, though. I have loved my Toshiba and they are still getting good consumer ratings. But, it'll be a while before we get anything for either of us.

We also turned in Girl Scout Cookie money tonight. I have to send my aunt's cookies to her and my brother needs to come get and pay for his cookies, but we're basically done. We do have extras of Thin Mints, Samoas, and Trefoils in case anyone wants any.

March 13, 2010

Today was Caleb's last basketball game of the season. He got 6 points today. He did really well for his first season. I'm so proud of him.

The rest of the day was spent with all of us cleaning, doing laundry and doing errands. We tried a new restaurant tonight. It's called Alexander's. It was ok. The kids liked it better than we did and I liked it better than Michael did.

March 12, 2010

Well, my Spring Break began at 3:30 today. I am not as excited about it as I usually am because it's just to danged early for it. We are going to have 11 weeks left of school after Spring Break this year. Hopefully, next year it'll be at least a week later. But, I'm not complaining about the week off either. It'll be nice to have a break.

Michaela and Caleb do not have Spring Break until next week. I have conflicting emotions about us not having the same spring break. On one hand, it's going to be nice to have some time alone, a lot of time a lone. On the other hand I still have to get up so I can get the kids to school. Plus, I like it when we are off school together. Oh well, maybe next year.

March 11, 2010

It's been one of those days that I just want to crawl in a hole and be by myself. I hate feeling like this, but I know it will pass. It already is better after having gone to my water aerobics class tonight. I also took some time to write when I did not have students earlier today. I needed to purge a few things and that helped some too.

Water aerobics was fun tonight. Our instructor had a few new things for us to try tonight and we all got a little silly. But, I think it's the best work out I've had in several weeks.

March 10, 2010

President Obama was at my alma mater today. It was really cool seeing my old high school get televised attention. He wasn't there for very long, but the highways were still congested from his journey from the airport to town when I left work. It took me a little longer than usual to get home, but it could have been a lot worse. It was really eerie, though seeing all the cops and such lining First Capital when I got off the highway coming into town. However, it is really cool that the President of the United States was here in St. Charles at my high school.

March 9, 2010

So much went on today I don't even know where to start. I'm really tired, too.

• Work went well, students were good and worked hard
• Still feeling frustrated with Caleb's teacher, but trying to be patient
• Completed my assignments for my classes tonight, one class I am struggling with, but enjoying both of them
• I am not looking forward to Spring Break as much as I usually do because it's just too early and we're going to have way too much school year left after it
• Did not sleep great last night, but have had worse nights, hopefully tonight will be better
• It is time to get grades caught up so I can get report cards filled out
  

March 8, 2010

Today was a pretty good day at work. I got a new student and was very happy about that. She seems like a great kid, so far, too. I think I'm going to enjoy having her in class.

My students really behaved well today, better than usual even. I was proud of them. They also worked really hard. I'm just very proud of them today.

Hopefully, if Caleb is remembering everything that was on his spelling test today, he got at least a B on it. I hope so. He's been working really hard and learning his words. This is something that is not easy for him and we've been trying to help him for most of the year. Maybe, we're finally getting somewhere. We'll see. I hope that his teacher sends the test home tomorrow.

It's been a really good night at home, too. I just am a very lucky, loved person. I am so thankful to God for all he has given me.

I did have a few moments of aggravation today. One of which really kind of upset me. I am taking this class on backward's design. I've been doing as much reading for that class as I can today. I have to have this week's assignments turned in by Wednesday, and then get started on next week's assignments. I'm having to read and re-read a lot because I'm trying to apply what I'm learning to what I'm teaching as I go.

Anyway, last year I had a conversation with my principal that really ended up making me feel like crap. I had questions about the Essential Question practice going on in our building. I knew what they wanted did not make sense. But, he managed to shut me up and make me feel like crap. Now, as I'm reading I realize that my confusion and my reasoning were not off at all. We are not being taught to use Essential Questions in the correct manner. It just makes me really hurt to know that my feelings were disregarded so easily when my questions had validity.

March 7, 2010

I found out tonight that something exciting is going to happen at my old high school. President Obama is coming to give a speech on his health care reform ideas. He will be there on Wednesday, this week. I think it is so cool to have the president come to the high school I attended. I wish I could be there, but it's by invitation only.

Right now is a really busy time for me. I'm taking two graduate classes. One of them is not too difficult, but it's a lot of work. This is the first one of these classes I've taken that has an extra assignment for the graduate credit component every week. There are also a lot of people taking the class so there are tons of forum posts to keep up on.

It's Teaching Writing in the Elementary Classroom. I think I'm learning some really helpful things. And, I'm really enjoying the class. One of my team mates is taking the class, too. It's always fun to have someone you know in the class.

The other course is a bit more difficult. It's on Backward Design. This is something we've "played" with in our building and been expected to do, but no one has really explained to us what it really is. It's got parts to it that take some thought and reasoning out.

I don't necessarily think it's hard per se, but it's a different way of thinking so it takes some getting used to and some deep thought at times. There is A LOT of reading with both this course and the other one. And, again, there are several people taking it so, there are a lot of forum posts to read and respond to. This week my first graduate assignment is due with the rest of the assignments for this course. I have a feeling I'll be working on it all up to the deadline and then have to jump right into the work for next week.

It is also the end of the quarter, which means extra paper work on top of what we do on a weekly, daily basis. I'm trying to keep up with it all so I won't have to spend my entire Spring Break working on things for work.

March 6, 2010

Michael and I finally got to have our Valentine's Day tonight. We went to a new restaurant. It's called Llyewlyn's. It's an Irish Pub.

http://www.llywelynspub.com/

It's really cool inside. They transformed an old bank building into the restaurant. The vault is a room for big parties and so is the safe deposit box room. They really have it set up nice, too. The tables and chairs are nice and the decor is nice. I enjoyed my stew that had lamb meat in it. It's the first time I've ever eaten lamb and it wasn't too bad. It came in a bread bowl.

After we ate we went to the movies. We saw Shutter Island. It was ok. I enjoyed it, but it was pretty predictable. It is one that is not a bad idea to wait until it's on DVD to watch. But, it was the first time in a long time that Michael agreed to go to the movies with me so I enjoyed that aspect of it more than anything.

March 5, 2010

The weather is so nice today. It's still a little cool, but it got up into the mid 50's and compared to what the temperatures have been most of the winter, that is warm. The sun is out, too which is so nice. After so much cloudiness, having the sun out makes me feel like my soul is getting a much needed, very thirsty drink.

I am SO READY for warmer weather. I will be glad when the spring has a firm grip on us. I will be even happier come June. I miss summer so much right now. I love the weather in the summer time. I like the heat and all the sun and the long daylight hours. I love it when the swimming pools are open and there are ball games going on at the parks.

The parks seem so desolate right now. It's sad. I hate the pools being empty and no one being there. It makes them look lonely.

I am very ready for all the outdoor stuff that spring and summer bring. And, I cannot wait to be off work with my kids at home so we can go do fun stuff during the week. I love taking them places and exploring the cool things we have to do around where we live. It's the best time of year!

March 4, 2010

I finally got to get back in the water for water aerobics tonight. It's been three weeks since I was in the water because of that stupid sinus/ear infection. It was nice to be able to work out again. A couple of my friends from class were back, too. They had been gone for a few weeks for various reasons. Our instructor is out right now. She had to have surgery. It sounds like she'll be back next week.

There were a lot of ladies that showed up tonight, though. I think there were 16 of us total. That's a lot of people to try and fit in that one corner of the pool. We kept bumping into each other.

The woman they had substituting for our instructor was not very good. We could not hear her. She was trying to use this little plastic mega phone to amplify her voice, but it did not work. And, since it was covering her mouth we couldn't even try to read her lips. It was a little frustrating. But, I kept moving anyway and that was better than not being in the water at all.

March 3, 2010

Tonight was Girl Scout meeting night. We met at Monroe instead of Null. We did this because the Brownie Troop at Monroe is getting ready to bridge to Juniors. They needed their night of working with a Junior troop on a Junior Badge. It was cool seeing our girls work with the younger girls.

The troop that we were meeting with is the troop that Lauren is in, so Stacey was there. I got to talk to her some. It was great to get to talk with her for a while. I've been missing her a lot lately. I hope we can get together some time soon without kids around.

March 2, 2010

I've been reading a couple books by Margaret Atwood lately. I downloaded her newest novel The Year of the Flood about a month or so ago. It was really good. I have enjoyed it a lot. It is speculative fiction. The coolest thing about it, is it is connected to another one of her novels I really liked called Oryx and Crake. I did not know this when I started listening to it (I have them both in audio format on my iPod). When I first heard the character names of Oryx and Crake while listening to The Year of the Flood, I got really excited.

The Year of the Flood is not a sequel or pre-qual for Oryx and Crake. It happens simultaneously with Oryx and Crake. I had not remembered some of the names of characters that had shown up in both books, so I'm listening to Oryx and Crake again. I am enjoying it even more the second time around since I have something else to reference it by now.

I may listen to The Year of the Flood again when I'm finished with Oryx and Crake. But, I am not sure. There are a couple audio books on my iPod I've not listened to yet, one I've only listened to partly, and a couple others I want to download. There are a few of Atwood's books that I have not yet read/listened to, so I may go looking for one of those.

March 1, 2010

Tonight I've been working on my homework for the week. I always seem to feel overwhelmed when I begin the week's assignment. I always feel like it's going to be more work and take more time than it actually does. Once I get started, it seems to always flow a lot easier than I think it is going to.

I managed to finish what I had not gotten to yet by 8:00 p.m. tonight.

My back has felt better today than it did yesterday. It's still sore, but not even close to being as bad as it was. I am very thankful for this. It sure made it easier to be at work.

I finally got to watch Nickelback on the closing party of the Olympics. They did my favorite song, but of course "cleaned it up." Ok, if ya gotta clean it up, pick a different song. Oh well, I'll get to hear them sing the real version in 53 days!

Hopefully, Michael will get his stuff for work done soon so we can watch last week's episode of Survivor.