Some Days I Feel Happy

I haven't posted to this blog in more than a week.  I've been busy.  School began.  The days are busy.  Home is busy.  And then the hurricane.

All is well.

Schools are closed for the rest of the week and Monday.  I have so much that needs to be done here, I need to take advantage of the time off.  But so far today all I've done is bake and print more recipes.  Bad weather makes me want to hibernate in the kitchen.

I will take photos.  I will post them tomorrow.

I needed this unexpected long weekend.  Toodles

Quick question

How long do you wait before replying to a friend's email?

Maybe I should ask it another one.

Do you reply to emails?   

Do you even check your email?

I guess if you are a blogger you designate computer time. 

How do you feel when you email a friend and then you hear crickets?

Oh sure, we are all busy.  Busy, busy, busy.  So I'm not suggesting you reply immediately.  But within a week...... is that unreasonable?  How quickly would you return a phone call?  I know we all screen calls nowadays.  With me it's so much easier to text.  I even text my hair dresser for appointments!

It's frustrating when you reach out to someone through a phone call, email or text and there is no response.  Are you really that busy? 

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In other news, yesterday was a busy day.  I worked until noon, made several phone calls to schedule appointments, ran some errands (more about that later), picked up Dancer Girl at school and delivered her safely to our doorstep.  I then zipped up to the high school for I.T. girl's dual enrollment parent registration meeting with the principal and senior guidance counselor.  If things go well, she will graduate with 15 college credits.  Wow!  Amazing what you can do in high school.

I have to tell you about the errands.  I took several college dorm furniture items to Goodwill.  The men who helped me were so appreciative and even offered me a bottled water.  I was happy to get the futon and other things out of my garage!  It was a win for all of us.

Then I had to go to WalMart.  I have not been to WallyWorld for years.  YEARS!  But I.T.'s math teacher insisted that students have an ORANGE composition book.

It must be orange.  No other color will do.  I.T. girl had already checked around town.  No orange to be found.  So I offered to venture into the wild world of craziness.  Do you dread walking into that place?  Oh gosh I dreaded it.  I think it's the junki-ness of the store.  I guess it's hard to keep things orderly when you have so many shoppers in a day.  (still, Target manages)  I did not even know which way to turn when I entered. 

 In the end:  success. 

 I found 2 orange composition books.  Bought them both.  The lady at the checkout said, "Is this all?"  Yes, I'm only buying 2 small items.  I appreciate your concern and interest.

By the way, why do checkers ask you, "Did you find everything you need?"  

"Are you ready to check out?"

"Is this all?"

I mean if I wasn't ready to check out because I was still looking for something I needed then why in the world would I be standing in front of you with all my items piled on your conveyor belt?

After the long day of work I was happy to have accomplished so much.
 So I treated us all to Chick Fil A.

That is all.  Toodles

Weekend Summary

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
Fried Catfish
French Fries
Chips and Salsa
Pizza
Chicken Salad
Banana and peanut butter on Whole Grain Waffle (the only thing that is slightly healthy.  But only slightly)
Crackers and Cheese
Water
Ice Tea
One Diet Coke

Oh yes, I'm cutting back on artificial sweeteners.

Tomorrow I'm  back on the healthy bandwagon.  I don't know what happened to me this weekend.  I have a scratchy throat and a mild headache.  Enough with the headaches, people.  I just foraged for something to cure my aches and pains all weekend.

I forgot to mention Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.  Good for a scratchy throat.  Bad news:  I had the Healthy Choice edition.  And it's not as good.  Turns out you need all that sodium for the taste.

I'm doing laundry.  So much laundry.

How many calories does that burn off?  Gathering, sorting, adding detergent, transferring to the dryer.  Oh and the folding.  Yes, it's gotta burn off maybe 25 calories?

I'm baaack!

I've been absent from this blog for one whole week.  And what a week it has been.  The first week back at school is just plain exhausting.  It's like  going from zero to 100 in a nano second.

My migraine that lasted 2 days melted into a rebound headache and then turned to that kind of headache that is in the back of your head.  That is the only way I can describe it.  It's a dull ache in the distance.  You really only notice it when you finally sit still.

I survived the first week back at school.  I have a new schedule this year that I know is going to make time fly.

The Engineer is returning to campus today.  Let me just tell you - that guy has absolutely had a vacation this week.  He has done n.o.t.h.i.n.g.  This will be his senior year in college so I guess this summer was his last official "no responsibility" summer.  He did work as an intern all June and July.  So these months have been productive.  But the last couple of weeks?  He was off duty for sure.

I.T. girl is also a senior.  Last week began her last year of high school.  She did not get the schedule of her choice but like she said, "I just want to get out of high school."

I finally took a deep breath and looked up graduation ceremony dates.  Are you ready for this?

I.T. girl's high school graduation and The Engineer's college graduation =  SAME DATE


I guess I"ll need to cut myself in half.  I need to google the instructions

The Very Worst Thing

Is there anything worse than witnessing your child being slighted by an adult?

Maybe there is.  I'm sure there are worse things.

Still, it breaks your heart.  The Momma Bear comes roaring out.  And the adult involved better watch out because she is now on your SH** list.

It happened yesterday.

Friday was 8th grade Open House/Meet your Teacher day.  Dancer Girl and I arrived right at 12:30.  One of her friends, Maria, joins us with that new school year excitement.

How was your Summer?

Ready for school?

Who did you get for Math?

All those kind of exciting questions.  They were catching up as we walked down the hall.

Let me set the stage:

Locker lined hallway.  Because Open House ended at 1:00 we were there the last half hour.  So the crowd was sparse.  In fact, we were the only humans at the end of the hall.

The door opens.  A teacher steps out into the hall.

There's Mrs World Map, I say to Dancer Girl.

Both girls turn to see.

"Oh Maria!  My sweet girl." says an enthusiastic Mrs Geography/history teacher.  "How was your summer?  I want to hear all about your trip.  We're going to have a great 8th grade year."

Finishes all that with a big Maria Hug.

I stood quietly not interrupting the greeting.  I look at Dancer Girl's face and she's all smiles.  I can feel her anticipation that she will be next and she's happy about it.

But then.......................  Mrs World Map walks away.

 Walks right past us. 

 Not a word. 

 Not a hello. 

 Not a "get out of my way" 

 Nothing. 

 Like Dancer Girl is invisible.

Oh, the shock.  The anger.  The humiliation.  I can feel it all.  How dare an ADULT treat a child that way.  How dare a TEACHER treat a student that way.

I was gobsmacked.

Later, when we got in the car, I apologized to Dancer Girl for all the idiots in the world.  I made sure she knew that Mrs. World Map's behavior was a reflection on Mrs World Map's character, and had nothing to do with my daughter's.   And those kind of things come back to bite you in the butt.

Later I was discussing the day with a friend of mine.  I didn't name names but I had to get it off my chest.  I told her it was going to take me weeks to get over it.  It was rude and the behavior of a stupidhead.

That's my word for the year:  Stupid head

Dancer Girl knows that I'm on her side.

I will always tell her the truth

She can always tell me the WHOLE truth 

She is safe with me. 

And together we are going to survive this school year.

Gratitude Journal

A teacher with whom I work every day has a birthday tomorrow.  I was stopped several times today and the question was some form of, "What can I get Susan?"

I know Susan well.

She'll be sweet and lovely toward any gift given.

Candles, lotion, baked goods and stationary.  

But I wanted to give her something simple yet meaningful.  So I bought her a journal and a pen that is just a little special treat.

Susan goes 90 miles an hour 24 hours a day.  

Her mind is thinking of a zillion things at once. 

She has a dozen projects and ideas going at the same time.

Yet she gets nothing done.  

This year I'm going to start a gratitude journal.   I want her to slow down and appreciate those little things in life.

So we're going to do it together. 

 (She doesn't know that yet, but we are!)

I also got her an extra large bag of M&Ms.  

My migraine was manageable today.  I made sure I did not sit in a meeting facing a window or small stripes or chevron designs.  Several ladies and I were discussing our migraine struggles.  Two of them mentioned that they take zyrtec daily even though they do not suffer from allergies.  Their doctors told them it's been found that something in zyrtec helps the blood vessels in your head remain open and not constrict.  Interesting.  

Ironman is working.  The Engineer had a presentation today in front of Halliburton executives.  He called relieved that it was over and proud that it went well.  I.T. girl has a hair appointment tomorrow so I reminded her she needs to BE THERE at 2pm.  Which will require her to get out of bed BEFORE 2pm.  Dancer Girl has decided she's going to get up for school an hour earlier than usual every day to curl her hair.  Hmmmmm  Wanna start a betting pool on this one???

Hugs,  

Patti

First Day Back At School

"Why are you so nervous?"  I asked myself as I drove to school.
This is crazy!

You are not the new girl.

You know where to go and what to expect.

You know everybody who will be in that room by their first name.  And the few new people will be thankful that you introduce yourself. 

You are dressed appropriately.

What is the big deal?

I get nervous like this every single year!  

And - just like all the other years - everything was fine.  There was no awkwardness.  Preschool Faculty Members always save seats for each other and sure enough, there was a seat saved for me.

I felt like I just left.  And, in fact, I HAD JUST LEFT!!

What do teachers do that first day back?

Well, there's the full faculty meeting.  Then there's the insurance provider/benefit meeting.  Then there's the grade level meetings.  Then there's the full faculty inservice/training session.

Lunch.

Division Meetings.  Intragrade meetings.  Bathroom Break.  (ha)
Planning Meetings.

Dismiss.

Today I had unexpected inconvenience of a migraine.  I haven't had a migraine since the spring.  I had gone all summer without an episode.  I could tell it was coming on.  Fifteen of us went to lunch together.  It's a tiny restaurant, you could describe it more as a tea room.  We took up more than half the restaurant.  So it was cramped.  But that wasn't the trigger.

The window.  I'm usually very careful to NOT sit directly facing a window.  Today I was thoughtless.  I just sat the first place I saw next to my buddy Melissa.  The window did have a shade but that was part of the problem.  The shade was a roller type and made out of some kind of weave.  So the sun shining through made quite a glare that hit my eyeballs like a laser.  Stripes, zigzags, tiny dots, twinkle lights - I shy away from them.  They are migraine in a bottle!

I felt the tingling in my tongue

I felt my fingertips tingle.

I had the sparkly aura in my peripheral vision.

I tried to ignore it.

I changed seats with the teacher across from me so I wasn't facing the window any longer.  I guess it was too late.

The smell of food being delivered only intensified the pre-pain symptoms.

By the time we returned to school I wasn't sure I could make it the rest of the day.  I managed to remain upright and attentive during the meetings until 2:30.  That's when they brought out a surprise birthday cake for a surprised birthday girl. The cake looked beautiful and I'm sure it was tasty but I had to make a quick exit.  I didn't even tell anybody I was leaving.  There was no time for chit chat.

When I got home I texted the Headmaster.

I feel much better now.  I take Feverfew and I'm always surprised how quickly I get relief.  Why didn't I have one with me for emergencies?   I sure have 3 of them stashed away now.

Tomorrow we will get our class lists.  I'm excited to see who will be with me this year.  Even with the anxiety and the migraine, I'm happy to be back.

In other news:  Ironman called.  He is homesick
The Engineer Called:  Tomorrow is his last day of internship and he's excited about that.
I.T. Girl and I had a nice easy conversation about being a Christian in a group of friends who can't relate.
And Dancer Girl cleaned up the kitchen for me.  And got the mail.

Now if I could just find something interesting to watch on T.V. my day would be complete!

Tell me your migraine remedy.  I need all the advice you have to give.