Yeah yeah yeah...

I know. I haven't really blogged since my birthday. Sorry about that. As usual, time has been whizzing by my head and all I can do is whip my head around and blink twice and say, "What the heck was that that just flew by?" Plus, I'm 9 1/2 weeks pregnant, people!! I'm busy making a baby! I NEED MY REST!!

Anyways, school is definitely keeping me busy. The team leader thing is very time consuming, as most of my after school time is spent making the list of detention attendees and preparing reminders for the following day. My kids aren't too bad this year (as of yet), but once again, my last block of the day seems to be my most challenging. It goes in order this year, actually. My first block is really sweet and participatory. My second block is mostly good but a little talkative. And the last block, well there's a lot of blurters in that class. Yet, they don't have anything to say, when it comes time for volunteers to share answers. That's a little frustrating. We're working on that.

I'm feeling okay by the way. Fatigue is by far my worst symptom at this point. Yeah, I wake up feeling icky and again before mealtime, but it's not too bad. No throwing up, so that's a blessing. I just feel whooped at the end of each day. And on the weekends, my energy level is that of a paralyzed snail. I want to get more done, but my body wants to just let the couch suck me in until Monday morning. I really hope my stamina picks back up or I'll never get essays graded over a weekend! But hey, at least I'm prodcutive at work. Although, I do feel a little forgetful and ditzy lately. The baby is sucking my brain!

Well, hubby will be home and Mason's watching Elmo. Ta ta for now.

Found 'em

Here are the other shoes I got yesterday. And these were only $4.50 (because of BOGO at Payless) Yeah for more shoes I won't have to tie when I can't see my feet anymore!!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Today was a pretty good day. Most of my kids remembered to tell me "Happy Birthday" (since I mentioned it yesterday) and one even gave me a book. My hubby bought me a laser printer for my classroom (so I don't have to use the communal one like everyone else), Ms. Cindy gave me a Target giftcard (worth $29!) and my in-laws sent me a check. Which I took and bought these shoes.
And another pair of Airwalks, which I couldn't find a picture of. They're cream with brown and pink plaid stripes. Fun.


Happy Birthday to me!

Stucco, Doors and Shelves!!

Our new house is on its way! We went by there today, and they've stucco'd the outside and put interior and exterior doors on. And there are shelves in the closets! It's exciting. It's one step closer to being ours. :)

Week Two: Almost Done. Really?

Wow. It's been a crazy week. I'm just getting into the swing of things with being one of the two Team Leaders for the 7th grade, so it's taking some practice (things would go smoother if I had an aide, but that's another story!). I've started actually teaching some (mostly still review though) and it's gone okay. Most kids are being receptive and are well behaved, but there are already a few that are trying to make themselves known. I'm enjoying Mrs. Principal's son, which is a lot of fun. I have a handful of kids that are really, really a lot of fun to have in class and they've already begun to share things with me and it seems that their comfort zone is real relaxed with me. That's good. We'll see how the year progresses.

Well, I'm off to watch a little mind-numbing tv and then beddy-bye time. Goodnight and tomorrow's Friday!!

P.S. My birthday's in 5 days!! :)

The greatest day of Mason's life. Ever.

Yesterday was the ultimately perfect day for Mason. The best part was when we went by our local Christian store and Bob and Larry from Veggietales were there! We weren't real sure how he was gonna react (I really predicted he'd stand off and look at them from a distance), but he ran right up to them and hugged them and gave them high-5's and wouldn't leave them alone!! It was really cute!!

Later, we went to Ms. Cindy's littlest daughter's 4th birthday party. Mason had fun there too, as he knew most of the kids and they played with Play Doh and Potatoheads and he got to help her open her presents. Later, we had cake.

I'm sure Mason won't remember yesterday as years pass, but as of right now, it was the best day of Mason's life, by far.

Week One: Done!!

I can't believe it's Friday. Really. The week went by really fast. I guess with the first 3 days of school being a weird schedule and doing the Boot Camp thing, the days just zoomed by. I was really happy when yesterday arrived and we were on regular schedule. It was nice to start the real routine. I'm still not exactly in the real swing of things (as I feel it would have been wasted to delve headfirst into the curriculum too soon as a lot of kids move around and leave and whatever for the first couple of weeks), so I had some down time at the end of each block. Luckily I have Mad Libs which keep them entertained, and they love reading my Guiness Book of World Records or Ripley's Believe It Or Not books. Next week we will do some real work.

And I'll be glad when next week comes, then I will only have after school duty. The first week, everyone is on morning and afternoon duty, as kids get used to maneuvering around the building and finding their classes and getting into their lockers (oh, how the 6th graders look to be on the verge of tears the first few days over those darn lockers!!) and all that jazz.

Now I just need to get a T.A. I had my pal Hockey Boy (one of my 7th graders from last year) as my 1st period T.A., but the P.E. department stole him from me! So, because I am one of the 7th grade team leaders, I am scrambling to find another former student to be my T.A. There's a lot to get passed to other teachers and stuff 1st period every day. We'll see if I can snag one up on Monday.

Now, it's Friday night, I feel whooped and I have 2 days of rest!! Ms. Cindy's littlest girl is having her 4th birthday party tomorrow, so that should be fun. No other plans. Just resting. And getting ready for Week Two.

Day one: DONE!!!

I survived the First Day of School and I can say it wasn't THAT bad. I was really stressed and even felt the anxiety on the inside, just because I didn't feel like I was as prepared this year as I was last year. I ran around this morning before school, trying to get some things done and I didn't get much of it done, as they asked teachers to go to their duty stations 10 minutes earlier than planned. Apparently since school starts an hour and 15 minutes earlier than last year (last year: 8:45, this year: 7:30), there was some confusion on when we would open the doors in the morning and let them in for breakfast. I sure hope they get it figured out, because if I don't get to school until 7, 7:05 is gonna be unreasonable to start duty. We'll see.

Meeting my kids was interesting today. I have 4 students this year that are siblings of students I had last year. That's kinda weird. I am going to try not to compare them. I also have Mrs. Principal's son this year and I think he's gonna be a firecracker (and if you knew Mrs. Principal, you'd know why. She's admittedly ADHD and very high spirited!)! I predict he's smart but a little quirky. I can deal with smart but quirky...

Didn't tell them I won't be there the last quarter of school, as I wanted to ease them into that. I'll probably tell them soon though, because I don't want it to be a secret and they're gonna start asking pretty soon, since a lot of my regular clothes don't really fit me anymore! And perhaps if they know, they will be sensitive to the fact that I will need to eat in class and run to the potty while the neighboring teacher watches the class.

This year I'm helping with Boot Camp. Not military Boot Camp (yeah, could you really see me doing sit-ups or running or anything resembling an excercise?!?), a kind of training we give all of the students on the rules and regulations and procedures for our school. Basically, the first 3 days of school are Early Release Schedule for regular classes, and then they spend the last 2 hours of school in Boot Camp. It's mini classes on all the stuff we want them to know. I am getting to teach Drills (Fire Drills, Lockdown Drills, etc.). We teach the class 8 times a day. That's saying the same thing 24 times over 3 days! I don't mind being a part of it, but I really wish I had recorded my shpeel and could just press play for each class...

Well, I would really like to spend time with my son and hubby now. I shall get back to you soon!!

A lot to say and not a lot of time to tell it

We are heading out here soon to celebrate our 7th Anniversary (the real day is tomorrow), by going to see "The Simpsons Movie" (Hubby's choice, of course) and eat at Red Lobster (my choice!). But I wanted to stop by and say I didn't drop off the planet or have my baby yet (we've got another 7 1/2 months to go, people, so calm down!). Just been REAL busy. School starts Monday and I guess I'm ready. Eeek! Can you ever be ready? We handed out schedules for 7th and 8th graders last night and that was interesting but tiring. I saw some of my students from last year and they were bummed to hear I wasn't going to be teaching them for 8th grade. Oh well. At least I get to see them every once in awhile when they pop in to say hello. I even saw a few of my 8th graders from last year, as their parents were getting their siblings' schedules. That was fun. We've also been doing a lot of house paperwork stuff and tomorrow we go to pick out countertops and flooring! Yippee!! Lastly, I've had little to no energy a lot of the time, being that I'm about 6 weeks pregnant now. The morning sickness kicked in the day teachers had to return to work (of course!). It hasn't been too bad, I just feel icky and my stomach churns. No blowing chunks. Yet. Yeah, and I've been trying to enjoy the last few moments of summer with Mason and my hubby before school starts.

So that's what I've been doing. And it's only gonna get busier. I will try to write again, probably Sunday about the house stuff or after the First Day of School. Ta ta.

6 days until school!!

That's crazy. I can't believe the summer's over. It was so wonderful being home for the summer (since I've never been at least not with Mason) and we did so many great things (lots of art, Summer Movie Fun, waterplay, working on potty training, Family Camp, etc.) that I don't want it to end. But, I'm also ready to go back to work (and now, my state of mind is the sooner I go back to work, the sooner we move and the sooner we'll have a baby!!).

I went today and moved some things around, put some posters up, unpacked the rest of the boxes and tried to arrange my room just the way I want it (for now). And then I got visitors. Two of my 8th grade boys from last year popped their heads into my room. It was Hormone Boy and Jock Boy (d0n't know if I mentioned him last year--HUGE kid, all about football and a bit chauvanistic, but very smart). I inquire why they're at the school, and they proceed to tell me why they were suspended the last 3 days of last school year, AND currently suspended for the first 4 days of high school. Apparently another kids had a Swiss Army knife (or something like it) in his backpack on the school bus and Jock Boy wanted to see it. He started playing with it, and then Hormone Boy wanted to see it. Needless to say, the bus driver saw it as "three kids were holding a knife" and the 3 boys got 10 days of Out of School Suspension. And since there were only 3 days left of school, their suspension carried over to this coming school year. To total 10 days of suspension, they are serving 2 of them helping around our school--taking out boxes, moving things up and downstairs, etc. I even saw Jock Boy with a mop and bucket when I was leaving. It's good for them. It's humbling. But I will admit it does suck to already have a suspension hanging over your head before school even starts.

I don't plan on going to the school tomorrow, as it is my last opportunity to spend time with Mason before I really start working. Wednesday is my real return date anyways, and I can finish up odds and ends in my classroom the rest of the week.

Well, Mason just fell asleep and I have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows waiting for me!

Wow. Today was surreal.

We are buying a house. Our first day out. What a crazy day.


What? You want more details? Fine.

We went out with our realtor friend and he showed us a bunch of so-so houses, some pretty good ones and 1 REALLY CRAPPY ONE. Let me just pause here to tell you about the Craptastic one. Let's just say that we learned the owner was a cat lover with no peeing boundaries for her feline friend! We barely got through the threshold and we all covered our noses. Oh my Lordy, it was soooo bad! The smell of cat urine is no aromatic, if you've never taken a whiff. Especially with the carpet is saturated with it. So gross. It didn't matter that it had walk-in closets and a spacious kitchen--IT SMELLED LIKE AMMONIA!! That was a "no" before we even got inside.

Our last stop today was in a subdivision where Ms. Cindy and her family are moving. We went with our realtor into the sales office and chatted a bit. They are having incentives for buying immediately, PLUS, if you could make a committment before the weekend was over, they'd knock another $10,000 off the price! The salesman showed us a model home and it was real nice (as they always are), and then showed us a spec home that was in the framing stage. Oh so pretty. And just what we wanted. And we could get it for over $30,000 under the value! We hemmed and hawed and went home and talked about it. But it didn't take long to feel that this was the house for us. We were getting a brand new house right off the bat!! It was (and still is) really scary, but so very exciting too. My hubby made some calls (including my dad that's helping us with the down payment) and went back to the sales office during Mason's nap to sign papers. Yes, sign papers. And give Earnest money!! Tomorrow we take some more paperwork back to them and get the ball rolling! Yikes! We are both elated (and so is Ms. Cindy, as we will be about 2 blocks away!!) and scared out of our minds. A lot to think about. Oh, and we will be moving in either November or December.

Then 3 or 4 months later, we'll have a baby. We must like change.

Good things

My class is over. Hallelujah. I came away from it with some fresh, new ideas on how to approach my entire class, but especially those who are usually lost in the shuffle. But I am glad it's over, because I'm not one for sitting in a classroom for hours and hours at a time, listening to one person speak. And I'm expected to pay attention!! I'm good for retaining information for the first hour or so, but after that, it's questionable.

The other piece of good news is that my hubby got somewhat of a promotion. Well, it increases the consistency and stability of his hours and gives him some extra responsibility, which is good. He wasn't sure that he would get the position, since others were also applying, but he found out today that he got it. Yeah for him! Yeah for us! Yeah for more money!!

Last little tidbit: we're going to meet with a realtor (friend of a friend) tomorrow to look at houses. It's exciting but a little scary too. I hope we make some progress. It would be fun to start the process of buying our own house and not paying someone else's mortgage for a change.

And that's it. That's all. Ta ta.

Nighty night

I know some of you (mostly one of you) can't stand it when I don't blog for a few days. Heaven forbid, if I have other things more taxing to do than to keep you afloat on my every move!! JK

Anyways, not much new to report. Still pregnant. Real tired all the time. No other symptoms yet. I'm probably about 4 weeks by now. I don't see my doctor until September 6. That's over a month away.

I've been in this SEI (Structured English Immersion) class for the last 4 days and I'm about SEI'd out. It's all about how to reach the students in your class that speak little to no English. They are trying not to let those kids fall through the cracks. And as much as I appreciate the effort and training, I'm done. Well, I'm not done, I'll be done tomorrow. But I'm mentally done. There's been a lot of lecture, PowerPoint, videos, notes and worksheets. For 6-7 hours a day. Blah.

Maybe I'll have more time to blog when this class is over. Ha!

Goodnight.

A few minor things to report

I just read an email from a cranky, pregnant friend of mine that pointed out that I hadn't blogged since last Wednesday, and apparently she needs reading material and explained that I had information to share. ;) I suppose she's right.

Let's see...Well, for those of you in the know, my brother is doing well and is back at home, after two trips to the hospital. There was a very good chance he was going to lose his leg to an infection he had ignored for years, but it looks they caught it and now he's on a plethora of prescription drugs for the infection, the pain and his heart. Thank you to those who had him and our family in your prayers.

Two weekends ago, we almost bought a house through an auction, but the owner decided not to sell it to anybody. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'll admit, we were a little frustrated and disappointed, but we're okay with it. There's a house that's meant for us, and we plan to find it real soon!! In fact, we are meeting with a realtor that our friends know this evening, and hopefully he can help us get down the right path.

Hmmm...was that all? Was there anything else exciting or worth telling anyone? Thinking...thinking...Oh yeah, one last tidbit: I'M PREGNANT!!!! We just found out early Friday morning (and took another test Sunday, to be sure), so I'm probably only about 3 or 4 weeks. I know it's new and some people would say to wait to tell people just in case something goes wrong, but oh well. We told everyone who would listen as soon as we found out we were pregnant with Mason, so I don't see anything wrong with it. And if you know me at all, you know I can't wait for anything!! If we're doing our math right, Baby #2 is due around late March or early April. And since I intend on having a scheduled C-section, Baby #2 will most likely be born around mid March or so. (Maybe St. Patrick's Day??) I guess we'll know more accurate information when I actually go to the doctor.

It's been fun trying to get people to figure it out on their own, as we had things planned to do when we found out: my hubby was growing a goatee until we got pregnant and I wanted to donate my hair for Locks of Love (for cancer and Alopecia patients). My hubby shaved Sunday morning, and it took my parents an hour to notice, and later, Ms. Cindy a half an hour!! I guess people aren't as observant as we'd like to think sometimes.

Anyways, that's my news. Hope this satisfies you, PBAF! :) Feel free to send congrats and love my way!

No more Summer Movie Fun

Well, at least not after today. And at least not for me. The movies keep going for another 4 weeks I think, but today is my last one. Next week, I'll be in a training (for highly qualified stuff), the following Wednesday is my first official day back to work (Inservices), and the Wednesday after that, school will have started. So sad. I've enjoyed the weekly visits to see movies I've already seen, just to get out and give Mason and I something to do. Ms. Cindy will probably still take Mason with her next week, which is good. I'll be sitting in a classroom at the high school, listening to someone drone on and on about God knows what, and Mason will be stuffing his face with popcorn and sitting in front of a big movie screen. Not fair.

I can't believe that technically today is my last day of actual summer. Tomorrow and Friday I will be doing Team Leader stuff at the school, and like I said, I have that training all next week and then the next Monday and Tuesday I plan on working on my classroom (right now it's in shambles, since all I've done is move everything upstairs), and it's Inservices after that until school starts. But you know what gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling? I am so excited that when we go to that first teacher meeting, I won't be the Newbie! I know people and know stuff about the school!! I remember last year (and every year before that), the first meeting day was so nervewracking. I'd sit nervously at a table and try my hardest to remember everyone's names and act as casual and as comfortable as I could. This year is different. I know my way around the school and I can introduce myself to the Newbies. What a comforting feeling...

I'm of course a little sad that my one-on-one time with Mason will be diminishing significantly after today. Although it's been an adjustment for both of us, I have honestly treasured my time with my son. I have watched him grow and change and do new things everyday this summer. And I wouldn't trade it for any summer job out there. But I know it must come to an end, and I'm more at ease by the fact that he's returning to Ms. Cindy, at least for now. He's nowhere near fully potty trained (he's peeing a couple of times a day on it, but no poopy and he doesn't tell us when he needs to go), and she offered to take him as long as we needed. Well, I'm sure she'd probably step in and say something if he's getting his driver's license and still wearing diapers. Pretty sure we'll have it conquered long before that. At least by Kindergarten. ;)

So, instead of spending any more time on here while Mason's in the living room, I'm going to watch the rest of Veggietales, "Duke and the Great Pie War" with my son. Time is precious and getting away from me as I write this...

Rain, glorious rain!!

I live in the desert. Well, the entire state is considered the desert, and I live in what is more like a flat forest: some trees and mountains and cooler temperatures than a desert, but it's a desert still the same. And this desert is always in danger of droughts and fires. That's why we rejoice in rain. We haven't had much to speak for in a very long time. Today it rained. And it's still raining. It's such a lovely sound. I love sleeping at night, hearing the distant thunder and the raindrops dancing on the roof and windows. It makes for such a restful night. Ahhh...

My Bad

Sorry I haven't written since Sunday. I guess I've just been enjoying my week at home. I don't have many of those left, ya know. I recently started playing Sims 2 again, and as before, I've become addicted. I pride myself on not playing it when Mason's awake, as I get so into the game that I might miss my 2 year old starting fires or shaving the cat or finding the keys to the car and heading for Wendy's for chicken and ranch. And we can all agree to that being bad.

Anyways, I don't remember all that much from the past 5 days, but I do remember a few snippets: Monday night we went with Ms. Cindy's family to see "Ratatouille". Very cute. But it was Mason's first REAL movie (since I don't count the Summer Movie Fun) and he got a little restless about halfway through. Daddy graciously ended up taking Mason into the lobby and entertaining him until the movie was over. Tuesday, I talked to my dear friend PBAF for awhile, which was nice. I got to be the "experienced mom" in the conversation, which is still a new concept to me. Wednesday was the Summer Movie Fun, which was "Happy Feet". We'd seen it before. Cute movie, but a little too long for the attention span of a toddler. Thursday was yesterday. (Duh!) I went to the grocery store and then on over to Ms. Cindy's for most of the day. I helped make Rice Krispy Treats that Ms. Cindy's sister will send to her friend that's an Air Force Colonel in Iraq. Today I went to Walmart and afterwards, Mason napped for almost 3 hours (of course I was hypnotized by Sims 2 the whole time!!)!! Now, we're just hanging out until Daddy gets home and then we'll be back at Ms. Cindy's for dinner.

Tomorrow we're going to look at a house that's for sale. It's highly unlikely that it's meant for us, but it's worth looking into. If we have a chance, I'll tell you more about it.

Sorry for the lack of humor in this blog (and most of the ones in recent past). Didn't really feel inspired I guess. At least I filled you in on my week, right? Can't you just be happy with that?!?

That was Zoo-tastic!!

Yesterday was Mason's first visit to the zoo. Around here, we don't really have a full-fledged zoo per se, but it is an animal rescue sanctuary. We thought Mason would enjoy it anyways, since he loves animals. And he did. He kept running from one exhibit to the next, and climbing on the split rail fence and calling to the animal. We saw all sorts of animals (mostly native to this area): a black bear, lemur, badger, deer, jaguar, mountain lion, javelina, among others. It was already toasty out at 9 am when we went, but that's okay. Mason had a good time and that's all that matters.

This is a coati. Isn't it cute? We're

convinced that it's Max's distant cousin!! They sure have the same nose and dig dig dig the same!!

This, of course is a llama. Llamas are funny. They have squinty eyes and buck teeth. And they like to spit. They are really furry and tall. This was my report on llamas.

I also like peacocks. Peacocks are birds. They are pretty and have lots of colors. They have feathers that look like eyes.

So, although we were sweating like overweight pigs in a sauna, we still had fun and Mason got to see a tiger get fed chunks of raw meat. That's always a good time.

Holy Frijole!!

It was a hot one today!! I don't live On The Surface Of The Sun (that's about 2 hours away!!), but it's close enough. Mason and I tried to play outside a little today, and it was just too darn hot for a penguin to be walkin' around...

His little watering can that he got for a late Christmas present from a friend (you know who you are!) has long since faded in the blistering sun. It used to be a bright orange (you can kinda tell by the color of the spout) and now it's a dull peach color. Sad.

So, needless to say, Mason didn't have to be told more than once to skeedaddle back into the house.

With that event, we stayed inside the rest of the day. Which was a good thing, because our power went out around while Mason and I were at Costco, sometime after 3:30. Yuck. We came in long enough to unload the groceries and head back out to meet Ms. Cindy and her family at Del Taco (ahhh, glorious air conditioning!). When we returned home around 8, the air was back on and I was so relieved. That could have been ugly.

Oh yeah, on a different note, I don't think I mentioned that I will be teaching all 7th grade next year, not 8th grade like I had thought. Things have changed already this summer, and I'm basically taking over for a teacher that left for the high school. Which is fine, since then I will only have to plan for 1 grade level not 2. But today, the principal's secretary called to tell me that I will be moving rooms from last year. I was kinda bummed about that, as I was downstairs and centrally located. Now I will be upstairs and not near much of anything. Oh well. I plan on heading over there Thursday and taking a look at my old classroom and my new classroom and deciding what I need to move or change. Wasn't expecting to have to do too much when the summer ended, as I was FINALLY returning to the same school two years in a row, but oh well. At least I can take my time making changes and getting all settled in before school starts, as opposed to the mad rush I'm too familiar with. So that's good.

Tomorrow's the 4th. Plan to have a little girly time with Ms. Cindy as the Daddies take all the kids to the Summer Movie Fun. I'm looking forward to that. And later, we're having a barbeque with them. Have a great Independence Day, people!! And for goodness sake, stay cool!!

I knew it!

I knew I had a #5!! Sometimes it just takes my brain a little while to remember, process and then complete the thought. So here goes:

5. Saying a toddler thrives on repetition is an understatement. I know Mason is my husband and I's child because he loves predictability and consistency. I can deal with that and even take the blame. But sometimes the repetition just about brings me to the point of insanity!! I mentioned in #4 above that he chooses the same toys all the time, which in itself can make you question his thought process, but then there's the Elmo toy. After blogging yesterday, I decided to get out in the living room and rearrange some things. I kept his Potatoheads and farm animals out still, but I just put them in different places. I took some toys out and replaced them with others from his closet. And that's when the Elmo toy came out of hiding. Daddy and I don't like this Elmo toy too much. It was a Christmas present from my parents (and you'll know why, in just a sec), and he loves it. It plays all these different kids songs ("Wheels on the Bus", "If you're happy and you know it", etc.), but just the first 4 or so lines. And he has discovered he can press the buttons and switch up the songs (or make the same song repeat over and over and over and over!) faster than a speeding bullet. Oh, that's fun. Don't get me wrong, I usually bask in his happiness, but this toy can grate on your nerves.

Then there's this "Maaawwwwmmeeeee!!" thing. I've wracked my brain and I still can't figure out how to get him to stop yelling for me when he wakes up. HE CAN JUST ROLL OUT OF BED NOW! He doesn't need me to come get him. I would so rather hear him playing with a toy in the living room (maybe not the Elmo toy though), than listen to him holler for me like he's trying to go for some World Record. I'm serious, if I ignore him (which I've tried, trust me), the yelling gets louder, and "Mommy" turns into
"MAAAAWWMMEEEEEE!!"
and man, that can bring the hair on the back of my neck to attention. I love my Mason Monkey Mover, but my patience is more than tested with this shouting out thing.

I know he's a child that's world revolves around habits and routine, but this habit would be great to break. Any ideas out there??