What do you do all day?

[mommax3]

Wow, what an exhausting weekend!

I had a music educators' conference all day on Friday and Saturday. I had to be downtown both days by 8:00. On Friday, it was no problem since it was no different from normal. Saturday, though, was *painful*. I really do rely on Saturday mornings to get caught up on sleep! The convention center where my conference was held was also holding a cheerleader competition (kill me now) and there was the small matter of the upcoming Colts game, as well. (The convention center connects to the RCA Dome). DH was on call last weekend, which raised the stress level of everything just a little more. Luckily, he didn't have to go in during the time I was gone on Saturday, but just in case, my mom (who was in town anyway for something else) planned to come over in the afternoon to spend time with the boys......which turned into dinner once I got home......and then another hour or so while she charged her cell phone before driving back home. The next day, I had to get up fairly early because it was my week to plan/lead worship at church (which involves choosing the music, making ppt. slides of the lyrics, and rehearsing ~10 songs with the singers and band before church starts at 9:15). I had stayed up late doing the planning and ppt. after my mom left, so I was tired to start with. DH went in to round and admit a patient around 6:00 and got home at 7:30 expecting us to all be nearing readiness.....but the boys had all come to my room when they woke up saying that they didn't feel good. So, DH changed back into jammies and everybody but me went back to bed. And I headed out into the winter wonderland. Did I mention we had our first snow early Sunday morning? The roads were NOT in good shape as I drove to church, and everyone else was late, the rehearsal got started late, blah blah blah. By the time I got home from church, DH had gone back into the hospital, and didn't come home until about 5:30. By then, my Dad (who was up from FL to play some gigs here) had arrived to watch the Colts game. Great game.....but stressful!

All in all, a good weekend, I guess, but NOT restful. DH has this weekend off (and the next one, too....WOO-HOO!) and I am hoping for more sleep, no snow, and no visitors!

I hate how my blog entries end up as a laundry list of mundane crap, but that is so totally my life! There is very little time in it for reflection or creativity or anything that is just for me. I have been wanting to take a bath in our whirlpool tub (as opposed to the quick showers I take every morning.....don't want anyone to think I don't bathe! ) for about 4 months, and somehow, I can never find the time to take one. Such a stupid thing! I guess I could be taking one now, though......

Sally

[mommax3]

Well, you all will be happy to read that I *finally* took a bath! DH was gone all night shortly after I last posted, and I took the opportunity to have a nice long soak in a hot tub with the jets on after I put the boys to bed. I think complaining about it here put it at the front of my mind! It was very relaxing......I should do it more often!

Luke (DS #1) played his last basketball game of the year last night. It was the most exciting game in a season that seemed never-ending (it started in November). They lost by two points, but Luke had a great game and kept a great attitude, even when the refs were CLEARLY favoring the other team. I am pretty ignorant about the finer points of the game, but even I could tell that the other team was getting the calls and our team was getting the shaft.

With basketball over, I will be able to pick up my kids from school, bring them home, and then STAY HOME. This will be the first time this has happened since school started, since Luke has been in a sport this whole time. I am really looking forward to this!

Some of my students are participating in Solo & Ensemble Contest this Saturday. I have mostly 7th grade girls (a few eighth graders, and one boy) singing solos, and they are so cute! I hope they all do well. The contest is at the high school in my town, and I will be there from 8 to 3:30 on Saturday. I think it is a valuable experience for the kids, but I will be glad when it is over!

We have continued to talk with our realtor about buying a lot, and we have a couple of lots picked out. We need to interview some builders, pick one, and then have them help us choose the best lot for the house we want to build. I am trying to research different builders, but an essential element is missing.......TIME. It takes time to talk with them, see houses they have built, look at plans......I am glad we have 2.5 years before we actually want to move!

Sally

[mommax3]

Two funnies: (and I think we need them today!)

It is really very cold here (single digits with a mean wind) and I teach in an *old* building. The heating system is not too bad, but the recent temps are giving it a workout, and today it was pretty cold in my room. One of my 8th grade girls (who was dressed in jeans and a TINY t-shirt) decided she would wear my coat and gloves during class, and since we had a convocation in the gym (good touch, bad touch) that took up most of the period, I let her wear them during the ten minutes we had left in class. So my coat.....it is sky blue, with (fake) fur around the hood. I have had it about five years, but it got very little wear until we moved here. We were singing along in class, when all of the sudden this girl (who had added sunglasses to her ensemble by this time ) says loudly "Mrs. Richardson, this coat is gangsta!" and several of the other girls said "Yeah!" and nodded admiringly. This cracked me up on so many levels, but the main two things were a) I am so NOT gangsta; and b) my students are rural white kids from central Indiana, also NOT gangsta. But it is nice to be a fashion icon.

When DH is tired, his phrasing becomes very formal and it cracks me up. Tonight, he was herding our oldest to bed when he realized that the child had apparently *forgotten* to use deoderant this morning, with a very unpleasant result. (This is what happens NEXT, after they stop peeing on the floor and learn to wipe themselves.) This "forgetting" is happening a little too often, and DH wanted to make a point about it, so he starts in, "You will find yourself marginalized by society if you do not begin cultivating the habit of wearing deoderant." I was just outside the room (on the computer, of course) and this just cracked me up. I started snickering and DH "heard himself" after the fact and all three of us cracked up. Hopefully, DS #1 got the point, despite all the laughter!

[mommax3]

I called my Dad about an hour ago to wish him a happy 75th bday. He was on a break......playing a gig with none other than Mr. Lucky.

When I picked up Nathan today from daycare, I asked about his day. He replied that it was good, and then said "Jake was there, but he didn't mess with me." As a gangsta-mom, I was very proud of his bad self.
Seriously, I just thought it was cute because I have never heard him use that expression before.

Sally

[mommax3]

DH has been through one "cycle" of his new schedule of being on call every third weekend rather than every other, and I have to say that already, life is MUCH better. Part of the new template is that on the Monday following their call weekend, they get to go home after morning clinic. I am so glad for DH to have some much needed downtime! He was at the hospital most of the night last night, and before, he would have worked a (minimum) ten hour day today, just like any other day. Instead, today we had lunch and then he went home and took a nap while I ran errands, did the enrichment program at the boys' school, and then came home. We had a really nice evening, and I was able to finish my assignment for the "class" I am taking. I had to write summaries for 10 of the sessions I went to at the music educators' conference last month. I am SO GLAD to be done with that! Another hour of credit out of the way....2 hours down and 4 to go by this August. I will end up spending about 2K in order to renew my license for a job where I don't even make 20K a year.

Hoping hard for a snow day tomorrow!

Sally

[mommax3]

Well, I got my wish! I still had to wake up at the regular time, wondering if I would get "the call" saying that school was cancelled, and actually, I saw that we were closed on tv before the phone rang, but after it did, I fell back asleep and it felt wonderful! I haven't been able to sleep in past 7 even on the weekends for the past couple of weeks.

Now I have to face the day with my kids. :thud: Two of them are supposed to have dentist appts. this afternoon.....we'll see. This is quite an impressive storm. We had snow overnight and are now getting ice, with more snow on the way this afternoon. DH had surgeries scheduled this morning, but thinks most of his afternoon appts. called in yesterday and cancelled. So either he will be home early, or not at all, since he is on call tonight.

I am thinking about baking some cookies.....seems like a snow day thing to do.

Sally

[mommax3]

Weird week!

Monday was normal, Tuesday -- no school, Wednesday -- no school AND no work for DH (since he wasn't on call and our county was under a snow emergency ) Thursday -- normal day for the kids and DH, 2 hour delay at my school (which means I only teach for 45 minutes) Friday -- kids and DH are off, and after I get home from work, we are heading to a "Great Wolf Lodge" hotel w/an indoor waterpark outside Cincinnati! I am looking forward to some serious time in a hot tub, but have to admit I hope there is a mall nearby, too. We are all off on Monday, as well.

Kid funny.....last Sunday, I was doing a bizarre song/dance routine about being excited for our upcoming trip. I was basically acting like an idiot, hoping to get some kind of reaction out of our five year old, who sat eating his breakfast, watching me with a blank stare despite my best efforts. So, after my performance, he puts down his spoon and says "this waterpark....it's indoors, right?"

[mommax3]

The waterpark last weekend was fun, except for the fire alarm that went off at 5:00 Sunday morning. It was really, really cold, so no one would actually go outside. There were just hundreds of people gathered in the stairwell.....imagine, if you will, the sobbing toddlers and preschoolers who had been woken from a deep sleep, along with the grumpy, bad-breathed, greasy looking parents (us included). All of the adults avoided eye contact. We were only in the stairwell for about 10 minutes before they cancelled the alarm, and thankfully, the kids all went back to bed. I did end up finding a mall and scored some bargains from J.Jill and Dillards, so all in all, it was a good trip!

This past Tuesday night, my sister's Very Serious boyfriend came to our house for dinner in the midst of driving between Indiana and Michigan for grad school interviews. My mom came down, too. None of us had met this guy yet, and my sister is talking about getting married this summer, so when his travel plans put him in the right place at the right time, dinner plans quickly ensued. He seems like a really nice guy.

DH's brother and wife recently added a daughter to their family. They are unable to have children, and adopted a daughter through a crisis pregnancy center a little over five years ago. They heard about a baby last fall through an adoption agency they were working with, and ended up paying about 30K in order to support the mother throughout the pregnancy. Monday, the agency received a call from the (jailed) birth father, in which he stated that the adoption wasn't going to happen. They have not been able to reach the birth mother, and the assumption now is that she was just playing them from the beginning. But, the agency knew of a six day old baby girl that had been born in prison to a woman who has had seven babies and has given all of them up. BIL & SIL had to decide in one evening if they wanted this baby. They emailed DH the medical records that they had, and DH looked through them and thought everything looked good. They met their new little girl on Wednesday. They will have to reimburse the state for the birth mom's medical expenses, but won't have to come up with another huge amount of $$$. I am very happy for them.

We made an offer on a lot today! The plan is to get the lot secured and then search for a builder and a houseplan. We hope to break ground in October 2008 and move in spring 2009. Baby steps.....that's all we have time for, anyway! I am taking 18 students to a choir festival tomorrow.....could be a LOOONG day, but hopefully a good experience for them. I will sure miss sleeping in, though.

[mommax3]

Well, our offer was accepted! Now, of course, DH and I are both thinking we should have offered less, just to see if they would have taken it. We did offer less than they were asking, but you know how it is.....you always wonder if you could have done better. We did make the offer contingent upon a builder declaring the lot suitable for a walkout basement, so we will have to get that checked out before the end of April, when we are supposed to close.

My choir festival went well today, but spending the day with 300 middle school kids, 18 of whom I see every day, got a little tedious. When it was over, I left the school where the festival was being held and had to walk through some weird ice-rain that was falling. We are right on the line between ice/snow and rain, and we are supposed to go back and forth between those two conditions for the next couple of days. I hate winter!

This evening, DS #2 sliced his scalp open while playing around with his brothers. It wasn't anyone's fault, he just fell and hit his head on the corner of the thing we store videos/dvds in, and got a 2 inch long gash in his head. DH was messing around, trying to close it with band-aids, then deciding they weren't working, and taking them out, which was pulling Joel's hair and making him cry worse than when he got the cut. I finally told DH to either take him to the office or the ER, but stop with the band-aids, so he took him in to the office, numbed him up, and put in three stitches. Apparently, Joel didn't even feel any of it. I am so thankful that he didn't hit his eye or face instead!

So, now it's 10:00 and I am more than ready for bed....I am hoping for a calm day tomorrow, but we are going to my mom's after church for lunch, so we'll see.....

[mommax3]

11 weeks of school left! We started our third trimester this past Monday. I have gotten to the place where I am just worn out. February was very busy for me, work-wise, and I have one more work committment on Saturday, March 17th....a music contest for my three choirs. The kids at school have been complete wild cards, due in large part to the fact that between the weather and President's Day and teacher in-service days, we haven't had a "normal" week in I don't know how long.
I have HAD IT with the stuff we as teachers have to do to prove that we are doing our jobs. I know that most schools are adopting initiatives like ours in this age of NCLB, but it just drives me NUTS. Ours is called Continuous Quality Improvment, or CQI, or Baldridge. It involves a lot of charting and graphing and collection of data in order to prove that objectives are being met and that we are learning from our outcomes and improving things based on what we learn. All good in theory. But much of the charts involve student input, and guess what? They don't give a d*&% about it. I had to do one with my boys' choir this past week, and when I asked them what they need from me to achieve the objective we had stated, they repeatedly said "Get a class pet." Ha ha very funny......never mind that I have to type the thing up and turn it in as part of my evaluation. Honestly, I can see that much of this can work well, especially in self-contained elementary classrooms, but all it meant for me on Friday was that we wasted 20 minutes of a 50 minute class on a bunch of BS. Additionally, as a teacher new to the corporation, I am required to attend in-service days (and yes, I have to stay the full day when it is an in-service ) for THREE years in order to be trained in all of this baloney. It is such a negative cycle......I am out of the classroom, so I have to leave something for a non-music sub. I leave a lengthy worksheet packet......then I have to grade 106 of them in my "free time". OR I have the kids begin watching a video, and then give up two MORE days, even when I am back, so they can finish it. So far I have spent 5 days in in-services about this (which doesn't include the regular in-service days that ALL teachers have, btw) and I have yet to see an example of CQI in a music classroom.

I cleaned out DS #3's room/closet yesterday, which I had been needing to do since Christmas. Slowly but surely, the little kid toys are disappearing from my house. I do have a stash of them in the attic, though! ) Bittersweet though it is, it felt good to get the clutter out of there.

We went to a surprise bday party Thursday night for a friend that is turning 40. There were a bunch of people there, including a little boy that DS #3 is good friends with. We sat with that family so the boys could sit together, and at one point, I noticed that the boys were drinking out of each other's cups. I told them not to do that and didn't think any more about it. This morning at church, I noticed that particular boy wasn't there. I asked his mom what was up and she said that on Friday, all three of her kids were diagnosed with strep and put on antibiotics. Grrrreat. So after church, we went to DH's office so he could swab Nathan's throat. Sure enough, positive for strep. I had noticed that he didn't look quite right this morning, but chalked it up to the fact that he needs a haircut. I came down with a cold Thursday, and haven't been feeling well, but now (probably my imagination) I am starting to feel like there is something more going on with me, too. Hopefully it is just the power of suggestion.

DH is on call this weekend. He didn't get home until midnight Friday, and was gone all night last night. Good thing he has tomorrow afternoon off! We were supposed to go to an 80s party next weekend, but it has been postponed, so we are keeping the already-scheduled sitter and are planning a nice night out......it has been a while.

Our lot......is NOT suitable for a walk-out basement, but I think we are going to keep it anyway and just have a daylight basement instead. The builder we had check it out attached pictures of egress windows to his report that looked really nice. They seemed like they would still let in plenty of light, although we will have to see the inside of a basement with those to know for sure. We haven't chosen a builder yet, but the builder we had look at the lot is on our short list based on word of mouth.

DH made blueberry pancakes last night with the blueberries I picked last summer. They were the BEST things I had tasted in quite a while. I hope I will be able to find a place to pick some more this year.

We are heading to San Antonio for Spring Break (first week of April) and I can hardly wait. We still have quite a few friends there and probably will not get to see them all. I have told DH that he may have trouble getting me back in the car for the ride home.

Funny story to end......every year at the boys' school, there is a science fair competition. Every student has to build some kind of contraption, not using a kit, and they compete against each other at school. The top finishers then move on to a competition at the Lutheran high school, which is 45 minutes away from here. DS #1 was required to participate, and it was optional for DS #2, but of course he wanted to do it, too. The "instructions" for this thing are never very clear, but basically, they were supposed to build a landrover that would roll down a ramp. Things like this tend to make DH and I feel like bad parents because we have neither the time nor the expertise to get all involved in these projects. So Wednesday, I told the boys to get busy on their landrovers. They each came up with interesting designs, using a couple of empty boxes we had around, and sandbox sand, (which got all over the kitchen) coins, and boxes of instant pudding (??) inside those boxes to give the car forward weight and momentum. They used wheels/axles from their K'Nex sets to finish off their vehicles. I knew some kids' parents were using wood and drilling holes, etc., and I felt bad, but that is just not what was going to happen. Anyway, long story short, they both did well enough in the school competition (DS #1 won for his grade level) to advance to the next competition. :huh: So although DH and I are proud of them, we are about having to spend a Friday night at the regional thing. I am sure if DH and I had helped the boys, they wouldn't have done as well......something to keep in mind for next year!

[mommax3]

My husband is such a smart guy! That, or I am seriously mentally impaired, so I am going with the former. Here's why:

Since I have gone back to work, the hardest thing BY FAR for me and for the kids has been getting up so early. In order to have time to take them to school and get myself to school in a timely manner, I have been getting up at 5:15 (the boys get up at 6:00) and we try to leave the house around 7:00, which means the boys spend an hour in daycare before school starts. It has sucked, sucked, sucked, and if you haven't figured it out by now, I am NOT a morning person.....neither is my oldest. :alarmclock: Since the kids have to get up so early, it shortens our evenings considerably because they need to get to bed, and obviously, their face time with DH is affected, too. Another issue that has come up is that even though I am working, I have been surprised that I am still pretty lonely. Since I just teach the first three periods, I don't have lunch at school and so I don't have much interaction with the other teachers, but I don't get out of the school in time to have lunch with any of my SAHM friends, either.

So a couple of nights ago, DH and I were taking a walk and re-evaluating if I should keep working, and he said "Why don't you ask them if you could teach 2nd, 3rd, and 4th periods next year instead of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd?" That idea had never even crossed my mind. Yesterday morning, I mentioned it to my principal and he said "Sure, do whatever you want."
:stars: I can't tell you how psyched I am about this. We will all be able to get up at a more civilized time, our evenings won't be so rushed, my kids will only have to be in early care for 15 minutes or so, and since 4th period is when everyone eats lunch, I will get a little social time/camraderie with other teachers, too.

See why I think DH is a genius?

[mommax3]

We bought a new washing machine Saturday and it was delivered today.

We got a Kenmore Elite Oasis Canyon Capacity. It is a top-loader, without an agitator in the middle, so it holds TONS of clothes. We knew our old one was done when we could hear pieces clinking in it during the spin cycle. (That, and the water on the floor after each load. ) I have already done two loads, and I am really impressed so far. It spins *really* fast, (the lid is clear glass and I am embarrassed to say how long I stood there and watched my clothes get washed) and the clothes are pretty dry when they come out.....much drier than they were coming out of our old washer. This machine is much quieter, too. We are thinking about getting the matching dryer next month, because this washer holds more than our current dryer can handle in one load.

It is sad, sad, sad how excited DH and I are about this new *toy*.

[mommax3]

Ahhhh, Contest for this school year is over. My boys' choir got a silver rating, my 7th grade girls got a gold, and my 8th grade sass queens got a gold as well. My feet hurt!

I have been so stressed about this Contest, even though DH has reminded me that it is the students who are being judged and not me. I just needed some validation that I still know what I am doing after all of these years away. Nine more weeks of school!

DH has been very supportive this week, knowing that I was nervous and totally stressed out about today. He was off yesterday, and after I finished at school, he took me out to lunch. There was a Barnes and Noble close to where we ate, so I thought we would probably hang out there until time to go get the kids. Instead, he said to me "So, don't you *need* to go to J.Jill? I saw an email that they are having a sale." Well, OF COURSE I needed to go to J.Jill! I got some new cute clothes......no capris, btw, although I still maintain that what I get are more like crops. DH actually left me there and went to pick up the boys from school while I finished up. He picked me back up and we went down to the south side of Indy for the older two boys' regional science competition. That was pretty fun.....DS #1 and his partner came in second in their age group.

Tonight, another family is having us over for dinner.....should be fun and relaxing. Tomorrow is church and then nothing! DH got the laundry done while I was at Contest today, so we won't even have that hanging over our heads. (Oh, he went and bought the dryer that matches our new washer yesterday morning while I was at work. It will be delivered Monday. Another new toy! )

Come on Spring Break! Two more weeks!

[mommax3]

FINALLY....Spring Break is upon us. We hit the road for San Antonio tomorrow morning. Spring has sprung here in Indiana, seemingly overnight. The flowering trees are blooming, the forsythia is gorgeous, and I am seeing crocuses and hyacinths everywhere. I am actually kind of sad to go away for a week, for fear of missing the peak of my favorite season! But, I got a pedi today, and I am ready for a week of warm weather and sunshine.....hopefully!

We are all in need of some time away from work, school, etc. DH and I have barely had a conversation in the past two weeks, and I can tell the boys are worn out, too. I think a week in one of my favorite cities will cure what ails us! (If we survive the road trip, that is. )

Nothing much new to report. There will be seven weeks of school remaining after spring break.....the students have already signed up for their classes next year. I will have approximately 25 more students/day next year than I have this year, so I guess that is a good thing. The all-boy/all-girl choirs will be a thing of the past, though, because the numbers were too lopsided. Honestly, I don't mind. I am glad I experienced it separately this year, but I didn't love it enough to want to repeat it.

I did get a little stressed out a couple of weeks ago about a lot of things, and started to feel "trapped" in my job. I had somehow convinced myself that we have to have my salary if we want to build in a couple of years. I had myself all worked up and was venting to DH as we took a walk. He informed me that he could sign up to do *TWO* overnight in-house shifts at the hospital and would make the same for those nights as I make in an entire month.

Oh.

So I don't feel trapped anymore! Honestly, I think I just flashed back to when I taught before, in a much worse situation, and I was responsible for our only income......in those days, I really was trapped. It is always interesting when something stops you long enough to realize the changes that have happened in your life.

Talk to you all when we get back!

[mommax3]

Spring Break in San Antonio was WONDERFUL!

Re-entry is hard.

It doesn't help that this week is an incredibly busy one, with DH on call MWFSaSu, soccer games for DS #3 tonight and Thursday, a trip to see my aunt tomorrow, and DS#1's bday on Friday.

My sister (who IS getting married this summer...7/7/07) flew home (she lives in NYC) Sunday for two days of whirlwind wedding planning. She and my mom were in Indianapolis looking at wedding dresses today, and I joined them after I got done working. Just before I had to leave to pick up my boys, she found THE dress. She looked beautiful! I am so glad I was able to be there.

We had a great week in San Antonio. I will post pictures later. Seeing Jenn again was a highlight, and we also were able to catch up with one of DH's residency classmates, who is now a staff OB/Gyn at the place where they trained. She and her husband have a daughter in first grade......I took care of this little girl for the first six months of her life, back in the residency days. She is very cute, and I can still see traces of the baby face I got to know so well 7 years ago! Our friend was talking about the changes in the residency program since the 80 hour rule......life is obviously much better for the residents now compared with when she and DH were in the program, and she thinks it is all for the best. She enjoys working with the residents and thinks highly of them, but she did say that during the holidays, when residents were Q2 in order to cover for those on leave, the whole vibe changed and they were much more bitter and angry. She said it made her realize even more how much the brutal schedule during her residency must have changed her and everyone around her. I thought it was an interesting perspective.

We had great weather during our time in TX, until the morning we left, when we drove through snow flurries from San Antonio to Dallas. In the four years we spent in San Antonio, it never snowed once, so it was very strange to see! When we got home, our house was FREEZING, since we had turned off our furnace the week before Spring Break because it was so warm. Neither of us thought to turn it back on before we left. It was so cold in the house that the thermostat thingie wasn't even showing, which means it was below 50 degrees. It took several hours for it to warm back up.

33 more days of school......

Sally