Computer Issues

It has been awhile.  Not because I haven't had any thoughts, but because my computer is having issues.  If I get online it freezes up.  I think it is on its last leg.  I just don't know what I need to do to go about buying another one.  The current computer is about 3-4 years old.  I am not sure I did a good job buying the last one and I am worried about my ability.  I also hate to spend the time researching our needs in a computer.  This is when I try to get my son, Austin, involved. For now, and as long as I can I will be like Scarlett and think about it another day.
Friday at the end of the day, I was helping out a friend and I took her car rider kids down to the car area.  About 30ish kids.  On the way down there was a tripping and a head bumping which led to some mouth bleeding.  Now the 30ish kids I led to the car area were joining about 60ish other kids, so there were a lot of kids walking, sitting, laying, and in general everywhere and it is loud.  I took the child by the forearm and guided the child to the office for assistance. When I let go there was blood on my hand, which had an open wound.  Yikes!  I used Germ-X, I washed with soap and water, and used Germ-X again.  I filled out an incident report and I called my oncologist.  I spoke to the nurse.  She told me what to watch out for.  So far - okay.  Today the nurse told me I needed to fill out workman's comp forms.  Then I get to see the school's doctor.  Hmm!  At least I'll be covered if something comes up.  
Saturday, we surprised Ken's dad with a 85th birthday party.  A lot of family was with us to celebrate and friends joined us too.  We had a big cake, fruit, and punch.  He was pleased.
Mom and Bob came in Thursday night.  They are on their way back home.  They have been gone for 7 weeks.  We enjoyed a couple of days and they left on Sunday.  I talked to Mom on Monday and they were home without any problems.  She wanted to take Lucy home, but there really wasn't room in their car.
I have put a project on donor's choose.  I can go vote each day and Sonic will fund the projects with the most votes.  Just go to limeadesforlearning.com.  Scroll down and click on start voting on the right.  Click on keyword and type in pocket.  Projects will come up.  Scroll down to mine - Pocket Charts Can Be Centers Too! and vote.
My class is starting to gel a little.  I have a boy heavy class.  I have a lot of sweet children, but the class will be a challenge.  I have had the hand of God watching over my classes the last two years and was blessed with easier years.  I am hoping that this year I will be the blessing that these challenging children need.  I pray that I am up for the challenge daily!  I have started a new ritual called the safekeeper ritual this year and it is going nicely.

What Is Next?

Mom called Wednesday evening and said that she and Bob would be here on Thursday instead of Friday.  Yeah!  Ken went to turn down the air downstairs and discovered the air isn't working.  RutRoo.  So I called Mom this morning to let her know.  We went to leave and Ken had a flat tire.  That's two things.  Usually things happen in threes, I wonder what tomorrow will bring!  The air was fixed this evening before six.  Ken got his tire fixed during the day.
I had a better day yesterday after two of my kids went to the new class. Today continued to improve.  I changed the whole center procedure.  I opened up ten centers with only two people at each center.  I have never done centers this way.  I hope it will continue to make our room calmer.  Time will tell!
Mom and Bob are here!  It is good to see them.  We went out to eat.  They are tired from the drive.  They haven't been home for seven weeks and are looking forward to getting home.  I am happy they are here.
Tomorrow is Friday and I am ready for it!  This has been a better week and we were able to get most of our work completed.  In general my class has the potential to make large gains this year.  That is pretty exciting!  I just have to get their behaviors under control, I feel like I took a step in that direction today.

Chocolate Is Healing

The day before the first day of school I colored my hair.  I have decided that the color is to light.  The saving grace is that I don't see my mom every time I look in the mirror, but the downside is I now have old lady hair.  I look at myself and all I can see is old lady hair!  I think I will use a bit darker shade of brown next time.  I am not sure that will help, but I am willing to give it the old college try!  Bottom line is I have old lady hair because I am an old lady!  I am an Old Lady!  Hmm!  I am not sure what I think about that.  These are still kind of new thoughts.  I look around me and my friends at school don't seem old.  Then I look at the friends in sorority and I think they have all aged rather nicely so maybe it isn't so bad.  Hmm!  I think I will agree to just be thrilled I have hair even if it is old lady hair.  I will revisit this later!
I had an absolutely horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday.  It is the closest I have been to wanting to find something else to do.  I worked late because we had an open house last night and I had 2 parents show up.  Can this be an indication of what my class will be like this year?Today was better.  I hope to get the class in order and every one of us will be happier.  I sent notes home to many children today.  We will see how many will comment.  I would like several of the parents to come see how their children act.  I wonder if they would be surprised?
It is old man night tonight.  We had a very tender pork tenderloin, fruit salad, broccoli, and biscuits.  Filling dinner and it was good.  I worry about the heat and Ken's dad, but he said he stayed in today in the cool.
I rode the bike today.  I am glad I got over there and did it.  I know I did something good for myself.  I don't really think I feel physically better.  So, I am headed for brownies and ice cream.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love my husband, Ken?  I think he was hoping to soften my mood if it was anything like yesterdays!  The brownies are calling my name.  I hear them!

New Things At School

Yesterday was like a mini family reunion.  Ken's Aunt Nadine was loved and there were many people at her funeral yesterday.  We gathered to celebrate her life and give support to family.  Nadine's church had a delicious lunch for the family, followed by a service at the funeral home, and then a drive to Little, OK where the graveside service was blessedly short out in the heat.  She was beautiful!  She will be missed.
I worked at school this afternoon.  I was hoping to get some organizing done on centers, but unfortunately I didn't get to it.  I needed about another hour.  We will be adding a few more things at school this week.  We will add sight words.  The sight words will be this and is.  We will use them in a book the children will make this week titled "This letter is".  It is an 8 page book that they will make and it is so repetitive that they will think they are reading by Friday.  It will be a great week.  In our neighborhood specials (all four teachers in my neighborhood each teach each others class once each week for one period)  I will do a sight word wheel with the word is.  Another teacher does arts and crafts, one does science, and the other does social studies.  That is really fun.
We went to a church dinner tonight.  It was a lovely mix of people.  Some Ken and I knew, a few were OBU people that I had met or were familiar with their name.  It was fun.
Tomorrow is our Back to School night.  I hope that I have a good turnout.  We will see.  You never know what kind of parental support (if any) you will have. 
I am about back to normal.  I was still tired Saturday and spending the time out at the graveside wore me out. 
I have not had time to sew this weekend.  I had planned to spend quite a bit of time in the sewing room, but it didn't work out.  I might get back in the sewing room a couple of evenings this week.  Mom and Bob should be here on Friday.  I can't wait to see them!

Hot, Cold, Hot, Cold, etc.

I exercised on Monday and Tuesday, but didn't get back the rest of the week.  Exercise is suppose to help you with stress.  I am still stressed.  If exercise helped I didn't notice.  Hmm!  I would hate to think it would have been worse.  Exercise is suppose to help give you more energy.   I didn't notice I had any more. Hmm!  I would hate to think I could have been less energetic. 
I am getting use to my new schedule.  I have morning duty four days a week.  I don't mind morning duty like my friends in the neighborhood.  We are all very happy with the way we worked out our duty schedule.  I have such good friends willing to let me do morning duty so I don't have to do recess.  I work with some great gals who I am proud to call friends.  I really feel fortunate and blessed that I like what I do.
I had a treatment today.  I came home and slept.  I was cold so I was all covered up when Ken got here.  Ken came home and laid back in his recliner and rested for a bit.  Then he got up and started cooking.  He brought me the best stuffed mushroom caps followed by delicious homemade pizza.  Now I am very hot!  This is so hard not to be able to regulate my temp.  I would like some ice cream, but we are out.  Maybe if I ask Ken....

School Is Fun

It was another good day.  We were busy working on how to sit, line up, walk in line, write our names, and being nice to our friends!  We were BUSY!  I think it is getting a smidge better each day.  It is so crazy how much the kids will learn during this year.  It is hard to think back to the beginning of the year, such a change in mindset.
Tomorrow I have another herceptin treatment.  I am not looking forward to it.  I am almost done with the treatments!  I can do this.  I CAN.  I don't like how tired I will be tomorrow.  I feel so good and I want to do more, but the heat has really curtailed what I feel like doing.  I want my energy back!  Patience.
Ken's aunt passed away early this morning.  She has wonderful children who will really miss her.  Her wonderful children are a testament to the kind of women she was.  She will be missed.  We will gather on Saturday to give each other comfort. I hope the support we offer each other helps bring peace to the ones we love.

TIRED!

Wow! What a whirlwind it has been. It seems like it has been non-stop. Last week was filled with meetings and trying to have everything ready to meet parents and then two days of school. That was a pretty nerve racking week. My class is boy heavy which is usually a bit harder than a more even or girl heavy class. Boy heavy classes tend to be louder, less empathetic, and more physical. In just four days guns,swords,and bombs with their corresponding noises have been very noticeable. One of my boys told one of the more timid girls she was bad and it sent her to Boo Hoo land. I scheduled a guest reader to come tomorrow! Agh! What was I thinking? It sounded good at the time.
This week I am trying to keep them busy and get a routine going. A few moments in the day I feel like things are under control. It is a shame that those moments all happen before 7:45! I am so tired tonight. I left work and went to workout. I started back after a two week break yesterday. I don't enjoy it, but I know I feel better about myself when I do. It helps my body fight off cancer, it makes my bones stronger, and it adds years to my life. I am trying to convince myself.
I have had my shower and I am going to bed at 7:30!

22 Students

Lots of work in the classroom to get ready for the year.  Lots of strife at the beginning.  On Monday I started out with 17 students, by the end of today I have 22 students.  As soon as I would make changes to my class list and transportation and about five other things that involve student's names along came another new student.  How frustrating!
I made the decision to color my hair!  I used a light brown because I was worried about the gray taking or actually not taking the color.  I am not sure what I think or feel about it because I have been at school late each night and I haven't had time to think much about it.
Today I had an oncologist appointment.  It went well.  I have two more herceptin treatments and I will be done with that. Woohoo!   I forgot to ask if I have to take another NVG (heart) test.  Then I will have to have surgery to remove the port.  I will see the oncologist again in 3 months.
Tomorrow is the first day with students and I am very excited!  I have an eclectic group of students and I think we will have a wonderful school community.  I am very very tired.  I have been working way too many hours. 

Road Trip 2011 Is Over

It has been a busy few days.  Janet and I got up on Friday started packing up and hit the road by 9:00.  It was hard to say good-bye to Mom and Bob.  They showed us a good time, fed us well, and loved us.  They are enjoying their summer in Minnesota and we could see why.  Next year we want them to summer in Vermont.  Hmm!  We will see if that is a possibility.  We maybe taking another Road Trip!  WooHoo!  We got as far as the Mall of America.  It took us close to 30 minutes to find a parking place.  Some of it was finding where to park, there are numerous opportunities.  We finally went into one of the garages.  Then we walked.  This place is huge!  Gigantic even!  We walked in and immediately our senses were on overload.  I spotted an American Girl store so that is where we were off to.  Macie Jane and Madison have American Girl Dolls.  Macie Jane is very in to hers and is having an American Girl Birthday Party, so I wanted to visit the store.  Oh my goodness two floors of outfit setups in glass cases.  Janet and I walked around and just ohhed and ahhed at the outfits, accessories, and furniture.  Everything is so cute.  I was close to getting one for myself!  (maybe not)  It didn't take long and we figured out most outfits were $28.00.  Good deal when you consider it was more than the clothes, it also included shoes, socks or stockings, and usually a hair dodad.  So many cute things to play with.  Her poor doll will have to make do with home made clothes again!  Bummer.
We drove until we reached Peculiar, MO.  That was funny in itself, but then Janet started acting peculiar and we were so tired everything was funny!  We slept late, almost 7:00 and we were on the road again!  Just a short day driving.  We arrived in Shawnee about 12:30 and met Ken for lunch.  He had been fixing plumbing on the rent house.  He was hot and sweaty, but he looked good to me!  By the time we transferred things to Janet's car and I got my car unloaded, I was exhausted!  Oh it is so hot here!
I did some sewing for Macie Jane's doll.  Put a load in the washer and just tried to manage the heat.  Sunday, we spent thinking ahead trying to get things ready for the next week and checking out the house after I had been gone for a week.  I did get up to school for about four hours.  I made a little headway, but not much. 
The new school year begins today!  I am so excited.  I am using a new room arrangement and I have been so busy working on things this summer that I think I am close to ready.  Tomorrow I will step it up and finish my room.  I pulled everything out of my cabinets and organized things.  It is kind of like when my dad/husband/brother-in-law works on cars and they are done, but there are parts left over!  Yikes!  Anyway, I had a great Road Trip 2011 with my sister, but I am also very thankful that we are home safe and I am home with my husband, (and school is starting)!!!

Sister Shirts!

Janet and I in our sister shirts!

Here we are in our sister shirts.  We got a lot of comments on our shirts today.  We had a great day shopping again.  Some of the things we got were shoes, sheets, clothes, and peace signs.
We have had a relaxing evening.  We ate in tonight.  It maybe about ice cream time.  That is the advantage to being around the older set.  They eat early and get in another eating time before bed!  Hmm!  Maybe I have misjudged the whole bit about the older you get the earlier you eat.  Another thing I have learned is the older you are the louder you want the TV to be!  It is kind of loud with the fans and the TV going at the same time.  There is no air conditioning here.  It was 82 during in the day and 50's at night.  Summer in Duluth is good!
We are going to leave for home tomorrow.  I have no clue how what time or how far we will go.  I just know it will be two long days driving.  Thankfully, I will have my sister there to keep me company.  She stays awake and we talk and laugh.  It is nice to get this time with her since we don't live close. 
I have tried to manually move the fluid around, but I haven't been able to work it in daily.  I will get into a routine when I get back.  I have to adjust my life.  I need to work in about an hour for exercise, a half hour for fluid movement, and I have to start doing housework.  Our housekeeper quit.  Hmm!  I think it has been since 2008 that I have cleaned house other than picking up.  We will see how long this will last.  I can't seem to loose weight either.  Ken is a wonderful cook and I eat to much.  Hmm!  I guess it is time to overhaul my life.  In the meantime I need to cut out diet coke.  Not that this is a very stressful time, so all that should be easy!  It is what it is!

Coconut Joy

We ate dinner at an ice cream parlor.  Yummy.  I really like ice cream.  Janet and I decided to split dinner so we would be able to have desert.  Good thinking on our part!  Thinking ahead, that is us!  After dinner was finally over we got to have ice cream.  I had a snowflake sundae.  This consisted of coconut joy ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, a cherry, and additional coconut.  Oh!  It was the perfect ending to a great day.  It tasted like an almond joy.

Bob, me, Janet, and Mom

Dinner at Bridgemans

This was a fun place to eat and everything was good.

Today Bob didn't play golf so he was with us on our adventures.  We went for a drive up the north shore of Lake Superior.  It is a scenic route that follows the lake shore and there are several shops along the way.  We stopped at a few.  Mom and Bob got some smoked salmon and some kind of cheese.  At that shop we had some lunch.  The sandwiches were very good. 

We caught the chicken!

Janet and I found sister t-shirts.  They are cute and purple! 

We are resting now, we will be going out to eat soon.  The older you are has a direct relation with the time you eat!  Saying that, let me tell you 4:30 gets here fast!  Ha Ha!

I hope the number of people who needed to enroll their children in kindergarten is close to zero.  Tomorrow is the last day to enroll.  I am getting so excited about the upcoming year!  I still have quite a bit to do to get ready, but I am willing to get it done!  This will be a great year, I just feel it!

New Dresses

Duluth, Minnesota is a nice place to summer.  This morning we got a rain downpour, which turned into very thick fog, and then as the fog lifted the temp got up to 80ish while we shopped.  My sister had quite a few things to shop for, I didn't, but I walked out of the first store with 2 dresses and 3 cards, she had nothing.  The next two stores I had nothing and she had a few things off her list.  Shopping was fun and lunch at Applebee's was good.  Thank you Mom!

Yesterday, we went to the Rose Garden.  It is a gorgeous collection of roses, bushes, benches, green grass, and beautiful smells. 



The Rose Garden



Mom and I, Duluth, MN



Mom and Janet, Duluth, MN



The big excitement last night was bingo.  Sad to say no one at our table won.  We were close on several games, but close didn't count!

Today in Duluth!

This is the place to eat!



Janet enjoying her Maid Rite!



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So good it melts in our mouth!

Here are the pictures we took in Quincy yesterday.  Oh were they good.  I like mine with ketchup only and Janet likes them with everythng, which means mustard and pickles.  This sandwich shop offers a wide variety of sandwiches, but I don't have a clue why.  Janet tried to tip our waiter, but he said they were not allowed to take tips because they make minimum wage.  Go figure.


This is one of many quilts on barns that we saw.  The squares are 8 feet by 8 feet.  So cool to see these if you enjoy quilt patterns.  I wish we had been taking pictures when we started seeing them.  Janet was in charge of the picture taking.  I was driving.

Janet and Aunt Helen





Janet looks a lot like my aunt did at her age.  Both of them such beautiful women!  Now everyone is up and dressed and we are getting ready to start our Minnesota part of our Road Trip 2011!  Bring it on - we ARE ready!  Woo Hoo! 



Aunt Helen and I
(Just think if I was in OK I would be participating in enrollment!  Have fun girls, I am thinking of you!)



Road Trip 2011!

Wow!  What a whirlwind!  I got back Thursday, rented the rent house, went out to dinner with dear friends and Ken's dad because it was old man night.  Ken and I caught up, but he had to work Friday so we had to make it an early evening.  That was good because I was tired too.  Friday morning I had a list.  I had lots to accomplish.  Laundry, packing, paying bills, pedicure, lunch with my loving husband, and treatment.  I scurried around until it was treatment time.  Then I got hooked up and tried to look at a magazine, but it was no use.  I was out.  I went home and I was out some more.  Ken got home an I tried to stay awake and converse.  We ordered pizza and watched a bit of TV waiting on my sister.


Janet got in late and off to bed we went.  The plan was to get up about 5 am so Road Trip 2011 could begin!  Woo Hoo!  We got up, got ready, I finished packing, kissed my sleepy husband good-bye, and we were off.  Our ultimate goal is Duluth, MN.  Our today's goal is Quincy, IL.  Our aunt, on my father's side lives there.  We arrived around 4:45 ish.  Unpacked the car, pottied, sat some more, talked, then came the good part.  We went to Maid Rite.  Oh! How wonderful it was!  This is a eating place our folks took us to while we were growing up when we visited our grandparents.  A visit to Quincy was not complete without at least one stop to Maid Rite.



Yummy (operator issue, sorry)

Janet, Aunt Helen, and I each ordered one Maid Rite.  It was so good!  Janet and I made little piggies of ourselves and ordered another.  Aunt Helen restrained herself.  Then e went back to her house for the evening.  Aunt Helen's neighbor was out and offered a bottle of wine.  We accepted.  The man, who is two years younger than Mom said he remembered her.  Small world.  Well, we sat outside, her view off the deck over looks a golf course, drank, and talked.  Our aunt is a very interesting woman and has lots of stories to tell when she gets going.  Always enjoyable.  It got late and the bugs where getting a bit greedy, so we headed in.Talked some more and headed to bed.  I had driven the whole way because Janet's knee is not healed and she didn't need to be driving.  I was so ready to go to bed.  I couldn't go before my sister because there could still be good stories I would miss!  We were up at a fairly early time for as late as we were up.  We slept in the downstairs portion of the house, so we quietly got up, showered, dressed, packed, and carried stuff upstairs.  Aunt Helen was up already.  We ate some strawberries and talked of many more things.  Our aunt is an accomplished knitter and needlepointer.  We checked out her various works done and undone and each ended up with a lovely piece to take home.  We checked in with Maid Rite and they were open, so we went back.  This time we saved time and just ordered two from the get go!  It is always packed so we just save time and the hassle of waiting to be waited on!  Good thinking on our part!

It was time to start day 2 of Road Trip 2011!  We have a 9 and a half hour trip.  Now keep in mind we have to stop every 2 hours or so for Janet to exercise her knee (or eat, get something to drink, or to use the girl's room).  We are having a good time and Lola chimes in occaisionally with her recalculating!  Iowa is very lush and pretty and the Highway Patrol are very cute and nice.  Janet said it didn't hurt that she winked at him and I cried!  Long story short I didn't get the speeding ticket or one for no valid insurance card!  Whew!  I wasn't sure how that would go over with Ken.  I couldn't believe at my age I was going to get my first speeding ticket.  My sister didn't miss the opportunity to point out how old I am and that I had never had a speeding ticket to the good looking highway patrolman.  He was very nice and he chit chatted for a few about the barns and quilt squares we noticed.  We slowly left out resting spot and forged forward.  I have some pictures I will try to post next time.  We were not always sure which state we were in but the scenery was beautiful and I enjoyed the slow drive until it got dark.  We finally arrived about midnight!