Details of life as I find myself changing my life for the better. Sure I could be mature and even tempered, but slightly crazy and an emotional car wreck are more fun.
So we have ad sales for the back of the yearbook for 4 weeks in the spring - 7am -5pm. Then in the fall we do it for 3 more weeks during the school day. Ad sales ended Friday.
Today is Tuesday.
"Hi, I need to know when I can bring in photos to do my ad."
I reply, "I'm sorry. Ad sales ended Friday."
"I know that, but I have cancer and I wasn't able to leave the house."
I reply, "I am so sorry, but we did ad sales last spring for over a month and then the last 3 weeks."
"I've had cancer for two years."
I reply, "I am so sorry but I can put you on the waiting list."
"I would have thought I'd get some special consideration because of my situation."
I reply, "I understand your situation, but everyone who misses the deadline has a reason. I can put you on the wait list."
"humph"
And if you had dealt with the number of people that have cancer, brain tumors and dead husbands 3 days after the deadline, you'd be heartless too.
I am not doing very well, now am I? Yikes. Well, obviously back from Africa. It was good. Not sure how a relationship is going to work since they don't even really have internet, but it was an interesting trip and I'm glad I went. My basic summary is that it was hot (about like Texas in the summer, the bathrooms are GODAWFUL, literally I have never walked into so many restrooms and just not known what to do, and the people are incredibly nice. Yup. That sums it up.
The end of school was fine. Not too many complaints, just a little bit of crazy, not too much. We set up and passed out from the small auditorium which was awesome. We had room, they were organized, definitely want to try to do that again!! The yearbook looks amazing, and we got almost all of them passed out, so that is awesome. It was a weird end of school, but that is for a different post.
Buddy is happily staying with his grandparents. Not sure his grandparents are as happy, but what the heck.
I am now on a plane with 28 graduated seniors headed to Italy for two weeks. Other than the fact that I already seemed to have pulled my fleece out of my backpack and left it somewhere in DFW airport, and the plane was totally delayed due to some malfunction, and we are traveling for about 18 hours today, all is well. It should be a great trip, and I am hoping to keep up with the blogging either here or on skips blog. I'll paste the address at some point.
"Let's go on an adventure," said Christopher Robin.
"What shall we do," asked Pooh.
"We should go to Topeka, Kansas," replied Christopher Robin.
After a moment of thought Pooh said, "OK" because, after all, who doesn't like an adventure?
the last time I took editors to the Jostens Printing Plant in Topeka, Kansas, it was 2009. There was heavy snowfall (although it had been quite warm in Dallas when we boarded the plane.) We arrived at the Kansas City airport, got our luggage and then opened suitcases and started piling on clothes.
I have no idea of why I thought this trip would be less of an adventure.
Our flight was scheduled for 1:20pm on Southwest airlines on Sunday.
As it turns out, Southwest had hit the news cycle on Friday for problems. Sunday morning our yearbook rep (who was accompanying us on this jaunt) received an email from Southwest declaring our flight canceled.
I headed to the airport to try to determine options (canceling almost 50 flights seriously increases phone hold time when calling.)
I had my 6 2012 senior staffers with me as we tried to find another flight...another airport...anything. There was nothing on any airline.
But me? I'm no quitter. So, we kept trying to find new ways out there. In the end? Well, I got a hold of "Buses by Bill" And Bill? He's a miracle worker. By 5pm we were boarding a full size "executive coach" headed to Topeka...
Only 7 of us at this point because one of the moms was worried about the long bus trip, and it WAS a long, long bus trip. We arrived at the hotel by 1:30am The front desk clerk almost had a heart attack thinking a bus full of people was arriving, but no just us 7.
We got up, ate and were at the plant by 9am. It was a great day. They learned a lot, got some ideas, saw how the book is actually put together. They spent time learning more about the computer program and what it can do.
Back on the bus by 3pm and headed home, mission accomplished!
During the snow storm, I discovered that I had trolls. Sounds like some sort of disease, I know. I was talking with my big sister about her blogs (actually she has two blogs, but only one was under attack so to speak.) She had trolls. Someone had come to her site and started going back through the posts writing basically mean stuff. My sister is a researcher at heart. So, she began trying to figure out from where the trolls came. Lo and behold, they came from the last blog post on my old blog that said "Gone."
Four women (I swear they might have made up names) posted. ALL posted mean stuff about me. In fact, one had started her own blog and the only post was a picture of me saying how I tried to steal her husband away...Yeah, cause in addition to every OTHER reason that would never happen, some time during the crapfest 2010 of Sabrina's life, I was out looking for a MAN. sigh.
At any rate, I deleted my one post. My sister then did a post on "Trolls." It was awesome. Part of the awesomeness was due to the fact that the troll is really an idiot. Sis's blog is clearly about developing self awareness and thinking about how she has messed up parenting in the past, and she's learning from it. Perhaps she uses too many big words cause it is obvious the troll, she didn't understand a bit.
Under comments, my sister had given me a shout out because some newspaper had done a poll, and I was runner-up for best teacher in the district. Sure it is a really small district, and sure, I was runner-up to a 1st year 4th grade teacher at one of 5 elementary schools in the district, and yes, it is very likely only 5 people voted. But it was sweet of my sister. The troll wrote a mean comment to the effect, I shouldn't be allowed to teach. That is A LOT of venom to have inside.
A week ago, one of the women sent me a facebook message "Hi." That's it. Nothing else. I ignored it, but it seems like a lot of energy to put into someone when I don't recognize ANY of their names or anything. Who are they???? I was starting to feel a little down. But THEN, one of my editors-in-chief let me see her college essay. It made me cry. She let me attach it. (Mostly because she knows only 5 people read the blog. Hooray for censorship and fear of the machine.) Any way - here you go.
An Unforgettable Character
Perkins: Like you’re mom but worse. She stands 5’4” in her pink sparkly designer Christian Louboutin stiletto heels—a gift from our journalism class last year as a token of our appreciation. Everything about her is asymmetrical; it is no surprise when she stands with her left hand extended, her right hip cocked, with a semi-fisted hand saying, “This is Perkins,” circling that fist with her right hand through at least three revolutions, she continues, “and this is the world…!” All the things my mom tried to teach me are acted out on the journalism stage every day of high school. The starring role is played by Ms. Elizabeth Perkins, my journalism advisor.
Lesson #1: Dress to impress. “Don’t dress like you are going to work on a street corner.” When dealing with inappropriate dress choices, most teachers avoid confrontation by passing the student on to the administration. Not Perkins. She deals directly with each of us, and we are quick to learn what is and is not appropriate attire for school. Because of Perkins, I am increasingly aware of the small range of appropriate clothing in dress—especially when I am relating to teachers or students as yearbook editor-in-chief. She takes her position seriously and demonstrates her self-respect with a flair for fashion by playing the “Diva” role with confidence and aplomb.
Lesson #2: “Do as I say, not as I do.” Perkins never sets herself up as a perfect example—quite the opposite. She always admits when she is at fault and actually wants us to do a better job in respecting authority. Last week, during the school mandatory lockdown drill, Perkins opted to send students out to take pictures of the event. Once again yearbook “is more important than pseudo student safety.” Unfortunately our school resource officer did not agree. He captured Perkins and Company and officiated at our in-class criminal lockdown lasting three days. By letting us in on her escapades, we become comrades in crime with a worthy cause of surviving the school day and publishing our annual yearbook, The Highlander.
Lesson #3: Be good humans. “If there is one thing I want to teach you in this class, it’s how to be good humans.” Last month we had an incident with stolen money from the yearbook fund. Perkins appealed to our sense of humanity and justice by asking for our help. Because she believed and trusted in us, we were successful to use our student web of contacts to find the thief. As she teaches us to be good humans, she models it by standing up for the staff. Recently, an anonymous group of girls created a Twitter account to slander several of us on the staff. Not only was she determined to find these “mean girls”, she was “out for blood.” Her lasting advice about our emerging humanity always mentions the necessity to, “bring each other up with your words, not tear each other down.”
Whether Perkins is delivering a light message on fashion, or a serious message on what it means to be human, the thing that I’m going to remember forever is the delivery itself. She preaches her message with the humorous characterization of a Diva mixed with the high drama of a philosopher. Her obvious lessons are represented by the quotations above, but it is the subliminal undercurrents that I will take with me to college. I want to define my own character by taking risks for the people I lead; laugh not only at others but myself; and most importantly, create a character for my life story who makes people want to be better. Underneath all the bravado, Perkins lets herself be vulnerable so that her students rise up and help her. Her leadership style allows us to feel valuable and needed as we develop mutual empathy. Whether it’s dealing with my college roommate, my professors, or future boyfriends, I know on some level, I will be modeling Perkins, or as she is otherwise known, “The Dallas Diva.”
Interesting how the universe can conspire to teach you the lessons that God wants you to learn. I think God has been talking to me for several weeks now, but I haven't been listening very carefully. Today, he wacked me on the head. Fine. You have my attention.
Recently my sis posted about having to learn humility lessons for herself. I thought at the time, yes, those are hard. I have gotten full of myself from time to time too.
Recently a jogger was killed on the Katy Trail by a bicyclist traveling past her. She turned to go back, and he/she was going too fast? too close? whatever and hit her. A lot of the news stories talked about how she had headphones on. All I could think was what if she didn't, but tripped, would it have been more of the bicyclist's responsibility? And then I thought about how self-righteous so many of our neighborly bicyclists are and that being self-righteous only leads to trouble. Hard to reason with the self-righteous.
Recently, you might remember I started having trouble with my dog hating neighbor again. I have been feeling pretty indignant about the whole thing. In the meantime, some stuff happened at school. I realized a parallel for me is that the morning I let the dogs out at 10:30 because Sabrina had made a mess in the kitchen; I had a choice. I could have left her in the kitchen. Sure it would have been a mess, and I would have been cleaning both dogs, but they wouldn't have been outside to bark. I knew I was being naughty (taking a chance etc), but I did it anyway. I need to accept the part I played in everything that has happened since. I can be self-righteous about the why I let them out or the how infrequently I let them out early or my rights as a citizen, but in the end, I took a chance that they would behave and there wouldn't be a problem, and, well, I crapped out (no pun intended. Oh, who am I kidding? Pun totally intended)
Recently, there were some issues with twitter and students starting anonymous accounts to post mean stuff about other people. There was a comment in a post that indicated a student was on the yearbook staff. I told my students that the yearbook person needed to come forth and speak to me about it. No one did. So much for my influence and teaching them the importance of being honest about having made mistakes.
Oh, and the school issue? A little confusing, but let me see if I can sum it up. DELETED COURTESY OF CENSORSHIP I SUPPOSE. (OK, to put back- an organization at the school wanted to participate in a "senior only" thing at school that their sponsor told them not to do. They started to do it anyway, she told them again, then again. the long and the short of it is that they disobeyed their sponsor. I think they knew they were being naughty, and they didn't think they would get in trouble. But they did, and they were PISSED about having the book thrown at them by their sponsor. And, that again the lesson of taking responsibility for oneself has been lost.
So, I'm in a funk. I am not loving my job right now. I am disappointed in myself for getting such a big head when I very clearly shouldn't, and I am trying to focus on my new behavior plan.
I made a list of Rules to Work by to remind myself of my place in this little world. It might be overkill, but I think I need to keep my mouth shut and lay low for a good long while. I'm tired of finding myself looking like an idiot in front of the principal.
1. Keep your opinions to yourself.
2. "You might be right" is a magical phrase. (Learned this one from BFF. Great way to end a conversation that is going nowhere quickly.)
3. Document, document, document. I happen to be dealing with a highly litigious portion of society. Probably a good idea to keep good records.
4. It's not your business, so don't ask questions. (Maybe if I wouldn't be such a nosy Nelly I wouldn't feel a need to then share my opinions.)
5. Tell the truth, but remember everyone lies. Got this one from House. It's true.
6. If you make a mistake, admit it. Immediately. I already do this one, but it is a good one to remember anyway.
7. Be mindful of whom you trust. Goes along with the others. I need to keep my mouth shut. Everyone doesn't have my best interests at heart. Most have their own.
8. Be calm. Make your point; then shut up. I talk too much and I know it. I don't need to beat a point in the ground or raise my voice to make a point. State what my expectation is and end the discussion.
9. Keep your head down and get your work done. It's called flying under the radar. Try it.
10. Remember there is always someone looking for an opportunity to get you in trouble. Do NOT give it to them. (Got this one just yesterday from another teacher. She said that she always tries to remember that no matter how much she thinks her kids love her, there is always one that doesn't and will tell their parents if she does something she shouldn't.)
Be grateful you h ave a job. Lots of people don't.
OK, so there they are. I'm going to put them in front of me. I don't think my job is going to be as much fun for a while, and it is really going to be hard to be the professional that could be filmed in the classroom all day, but that is my new goal. I'm on a reality show 24/7 and how will what I do look on TV. YIKES.
So, it is completely obvious that I am at full capacity a la stress level and any more than the current level turns into the tipping point of insanity.
I knew the PSAT was coming up and as always I would be administering it, but I managed to put it in the back of my mind until late Tuesday night.
I got to school yesterday morning right at 7 so that I could try to make an arrangement for someone to take my place for an hour at 10 so I could run home and take care of Sabrina.
I approach the lady in charge of testing and an AP and she tells me everyone is in use...AP suggests one of the other APs because he has to do the AV for senior presentations.
Then I can't find the other APs. I go back and ask how is EVERYONE in use if we are only giving the PSAT to 10th graders... The other grades were in groups for other types of presentation.
I call one of the "extras" in the other groups that the AP tells me could help me out. She says I don't think I can because we are doing group work or something." Stress level rising.
I find another AP who says its not that I don't want to help you but why can't one of the other APs help you? At which point... in the front of the building...with large numbers of people milling about...I started sobbing as I crossed the hall.
The new principal, thank you very much, sees me trying to get into an office so he comes to unlock the door. I call the BFF..still sobbing...hysterical sobbing. God bless her, I know she thinks I'm nuts and precariously close to jumping off a cliff. She then works to calm me down.
The front receptionist comes in. (Luckily she knows what's going on and is an absolute animal lover. She gets me tissue, a bottle of water and tlc.
Principal walks in. She tells him the deal since I start crying again. Yes, I have no doubt he thinks I am a total nut job. I told him (while sobbing, of course) that I didn't realize how much stress i'm under until something happens. I know it's not life or death but I don't understand why if everyone is in groups no one can even check in on my kids since there is another monitor in the room anyway...It seemed like such a little thing but it was a wall of "I can't help."
So, that is how I got confirmation that I am really, really stressed out.
the last 7 days have been a total beating. So, it all began last Thursday. Wait. Back up. Actually, to a certain extent, it all began last Monday. Because that was the day of convocation.
Sunday night my friend PR spent the night. She lives out in Keller and since she is in charge of the big first day of return to school she frets that traffic will be all messed up and cause her to be late, so we have a slumber party. It's a tradition cause we've done it 3 times now. At any rate, we went to a cool restaurant in South Oak Cliff where some slutty girl at the bar in a tight pink dress turned away from the bar to pick up something that fell, spread her legs as she leaned down and flashed me. Happy town. Yes. I am totally and completely scarred.
After that we looked at houses in South Oak Cliff because they are cool and it's what we like to do.
First day of school was fine. New principal seems nice enough. My room still wasn't cleaned up from construction, and as it turns out, they hadn't actually finished working in my room, so I'd clean, and they'd mess up. It was a really good time the first three days.
At any rate, I had the editors coming to work while I was in meetings. It really wasn't too horrible.
Thursday I got home after school and Buddy greeted me at the door, but Sabrina was no where in sight. So I started up the stairs looking for her. I heard something in the bathroom. At first, I thought that she was hooked on something or had gotten a paw stuck, but then I realized that she was sitting straight up with her back paws sticking straight out. She was shaking but not moving. FREAK OUT.
I managed to get her downstairs and out the door. It was almost 5 when we got to the vet who basically said whatever was wrong was beyond what he could do but he called the Surgery Center of Dallas (just go ahead and imagine a BIG OLE Chi ching here.) Yes, they could have someone there by 7pm to meet us, so Sabrina and I set off up the tollroad.
The Surgery Center began the conversation saying that it was either a stroke or a herniated disk - was I prepared to spend thousands of dollars. I'm sitting in front of my dog who is looking at me scared and shaking totally cognizant with eyes begging me to make her better. So, I handed over the credit card.
As it turns out she had a stroke. They called later that night to say that there was no point of pain and the scans showed nothing ergo it was a stroke. In the meantime, my throat hurt and I didn't feel that great. By Friday I felt worse. I went to see Sabrina on Friday and sat in the kennel (full size, so room for both of us) with her for about an hour just loving on her. Lots of dogs, lots of noise.
Saturday she was able to get up (with help) and walk (with help) to a room where we sat for about 2 hours. While I was with her she peed about 4 different times all over the blanket. Not a good sign. Sunday, the vet called and said the good news was she is moving better and regaining strength but that she had lost control of her bladder and she could feel no pain in her tail.
Oh, and Saturday and Sunday I spent in bed. Sleeping. And feeling like crap. That's right, once again, I've caught the plague.
Monday morning, first day of school. All I want to do is curl in the fetal position. Not to be. So, I throw on clothes and head off. The day goes ok. Most of the kids I know. The yearbook staff should be good. I have photojournalism 7th period and Journalism 1 8th which totally sucks, but it turns out my J1 class is 10 girls ....we'll do just fine.
At any rate, Monday's phone call from the vet is to ask me if I want to do an MR, he had mentioned it the day before too, but what I basically kept hearing is that it probably won't tell us anything, but it might tell us if she has cancer???what??? but it is really academic. OK, how much is this academic MR? $2,000. Uh, that's a no ghostrider. Holy cow.
Monday after school I went straight away to visit Sabrina. We spent about an hour and half together. Bless her heart, I'm sure she isn't sleeping well among the noise of all of dogs. She slept part of the time snuggled against my leg. First the first time since Thursday, when I left she literally struggled to get away from the technician to go with me. Nearly. Killed. Me.
So, today is Wednesday. I am still having trouble breathing. My throat hurts. I'm full of phlem, and my precious dog is about to come home. Scratch that. Actually she is about to come to my parents house. Where I am. Because once again they are determined to prove when it really comes down to it, they will be there for me. Because we don't know what Sabrina needs. I know she can't stand up on her own yet, which means if she pees, she is stuck laying in it until someone comes and helps her. I know she can walk, but she is wobbly.
So, this morning I packed up every blanket and soft thing I could find so we would have plenty of blankets. I gathered up my clothes and Buddy so that we could all join Sabrina at M and D's. They will have Sabrina duty during the day, and I'll have it at night.
I don't know how long until she can get herself up without help. I don't know how long she is going to have bladder control issues. I don't what it will take to get her back to her old self. I don't know anything.
And that is why the last 7 days have been a beating.
So, inevitably each year, some wacked out parent gets a bee in the bonnet and sends a letter of complaint. Last year it was the mom upset that her son and his girlfriend weren't listed in the senior specialty section as "Wedding Bells" Oh, how they make me tired.
This year, wackadoodle #1 sent a letter to the superintendent of the district, the principal and the business manager of the district (I have no idea of why that poor woman got included in the line up). As an after thought, she copied me.
Dear Administration of XXXX,
I am looking at the High School yearbook and am very disappointed that there were no pages designated to the Arts. No pages designated to Choir, with pictures of the several different Choirs. No pages designated to the Band, with pictures of the two bands. Nothing for Orchestra, Belles or Cheerleaders either. Yet, I see several pages for every sport, with a picture of each team for that sport. I find this very sad, especially for all the kids that worked so hard this year to represent the High School with the talents they have.
I just can not believe that this was allowed to go to print! The editor has apparently never worked on a yearbook before. I myself have been the editor of several yearbooks, so I do know what I am talking about. The yearbook was also way too wordy. We want to see pictures and not read stuff that people didn't even really say. Both of my daughter's have quotes that they never said. One even was about her going to the Homecoming Dance, which she didn't do! The other was about herasking a girl to a dance! I'm sure someone was trying to be creative with the quotes and the seasons, but in my opinion it did not work.
I only hope that next year's yearbook will focus on all the kids at the school and not just the ones that play sports, or pay for an ad. Do you realize that nationally kids in band and choir score higher on the SAT and ACT, yet they don't even get recognized at your school. How sad is that.
Thank you for your time.
Mrs. Crazy Head
I can't even describe the many ways this woman shows she is crazy. Of course, I am forced to respond in a grown up manner. It hurts me people it really does, cause this is the letter that I wanted to send:
Dear Mrs. Nutjob,
First and foremost, when sending a letter condemning something, it is usually best to take a moment and proofread. Honesty, you sound like an idiot.
Second, give me all of your daughters homework from the last year, let me slap it together and print it for the world to see and then get back to me. Cause really, this is just one big ass class project with a lot of homework assignments. Done by teenagers for teenagers.
I'm not sure of what to think that you got so wound up over the yearbook you felt a need to send a letter to the superintendent. It is just a yearbook, lady.
You are correct the yearbook staff made the decision to keep the traditional sports spreads, and each sport has 1 spread. They chose to do a chronological book which did rearrange most of the spreads. Ironically, it actually meant that activities such as choir and band had better coverage than they did before. But I totally understand your desire to bitch than to be appreciative that these organizations got increased coverage.
Sure, if the index editors had done their job right and actually indexed all the effin activities like I told them to do, you would have been able to see the long row of pages following these organizations, but again, as long as the book is being created by 15 year olds doing class work, I'm pretty much screwed out of the perfect book.
I have no idea of why you think there are no group pictures in the book. If I get it, it is in the book. Have you considered having your eyes checked?
I don't know what to tell you about your daughter's quotes. They gave quotes, they signed the quote sheets, not sure where I can go with that. Although I think the one daughter went to a Halloween party with another girl, not homecoming. But again, let's not be bothered with facts if possible.
Best part, my friend PR got a hold of my letter and shall we say "Massaged" it. Very polite and all. The mom responded - just to me of course that really I didn't need to respond, her daughters thought it was funny that they were misquoted and oh by the way no one likes to see the vacation pictures either.
NUT JOB. Honestly, the parents of the 120 kids I teach are fine, no problem, if we could only get the other 1700 kids parents under control that would be really swell.
This week has been a total beating, and it has driven me to Kirby's for another round of filet (yum for steak) and cosmos. (By the way, if Tony, my favorite bartender didn't make them so effin' good, I would not be losing feeling in my cheeks and contemplating the odds of turning into a raging alcoholic.) Of course, if Kirby's didn't provide me with a kickin' kids steak for $10.00 I might not be here so much either.
I really shouldn't complain. Although I have received one email (copied to me but sent to the superintendent and the principal of the high school) that is certifiably crazy, there really have been no complaints.
I responded to the complaint, but I sent it to my friend PR first to approve, yeah,
And although I have to completely empty the yearbook room by Friday, the kids have been great about helping. Today we put the two computers at my desk away. Cool except that it turns out the phone is attached to the computers so now I have no phone in my classroom. Probably a good thing cause it seriously reduces the crazies abilities to harass my ass.
Ok, so we also are having fun and games with co-workers and the remodeling of the TV studio and stuff. One of my favorite people is leaving the school, and, I might add, leaving a vacuum in his place. Blondie is so excited at the idea of teaching video though it's hard for her to control her enthusiasm (She is controlling, but barely, her intense desire to dump the newpaper and just do the video/TV.
In the meantime, we are having a little trouble with the mayor of meantown. It's weird cause it is almost like she wants to jump in and be in charge because she some how fears my being in charge, but I can't really be in charge because I know diddley about video. So, Blondie is in charge, I follow her like a puppy in love. My only contribution is really that I know lots of people and the yearbook has money.
AND what is even better, Blondie and I realized that between all of the accounts, we think we have enough money to get the stuff we want to get before school starts to make sure that all of our programs are ready to go. BAM.
Weird things are also going on with the Europe trip, but I don't dare discuss before the trip for fear of jinxing the whole damn thing.
P.S. So Mike one of the waiters commented on the fact I am blogging. So, Mike, if you really did note the site, I say "hello to you. Welcome to the gawdawfully boring world of your friend the Diva. "
Ok, actually I've been having one of those weeks. Between the time change and the whole "I did absolutely nothing over spring break" thing, I am exhausted to be back at work. Getting up at the crack of dawn. Working all day long. Meeting after meeting. It's killing me. And I'm not alone. I'm telling you this building is full of zombie teachers. We are all wandering around lifeless, cursing the 64 days until the end of the school year.
This week has been particularly onerous because I've had soooo many meetings. Literally, every time I turn around, another meeting. AND, I've had stuff after school almost every day. AND Mr. Potential had his boss in town, so I haven't seen him all week, and I'm CRANKY about it.
Really cranky. If I'm lucky, I'll see him tomorrow, but then not Saturday or Sunday. Aaannnddddd
he texted me that he has to be out of town most of next week. GRRRRRRRRR. I know that I don't actually get to be cranky about him having to do his job, but I don't care. I'm annoyed. And displeased.
Oh, and when I went googling for pictures, these are what I found AND they were all snagged from other places too, so I can't even give legit credit to the original takers of said photos. Sorry.
A few years ago someone gave me a Winnie-the-Pooh calendar. It came with stickers, such as "a Busy Day" and "a Lazy Day", "a Cleaning Day" and "a Hummy Day." Then there are the times when you need a smackeral of something, and times when you are feeling like a bear of very little brain. I'm thinking of making my twitter updates a la Pooh Bear.
He likes to keep things under 140 characters. For instance,"It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"
I've also contemplated having a sign at the front of the classroom. A warning, of sorts, to the children. "A Cranky Day" or "Pls don't ask stupid questions" day (Oh, please, yes, there are stupid questions.) I'm not sure if my precious darlings would choose to pay attention to the sign though. They have a tendency to just push onward ignoring all signs of warning.
I thought today would be a So-So day, but I looked at my calendar and realized, no, it will be a Busy Day. Sigh. Busy days are tricky. Because not only do I have a lot on MY list to do, but they usually come with the children asking many, many questions and having many needs to be met. By the end of Busy Days I am usually quite exhausted and ready for a Sleepy Night. I already looked around the room and realized today is also going to be a Cleaning Day. The place is a mess, and I usually have to stand over them all day barking commands to get them to clean properly. This is where I add the snide remark about children raised with maids comes in 'cause I'm telling you, some of these kids do NOT know how to clean.
In addition, I am trying to get things done around the room that require others. So my friend, Daisy is going to come by to help with the computers (I hope) and my Building Engineer friend is going to send some one to help me rearrange stuff on the walls so that the big window between Blondie and I is visible. (This is a very long story in and of itself, and it is worth of its own post which it shall get, just not today.)
Tomorrow Mr. Potential comes back, so I feel confident it will be a Hummy Day with Excitement on the side. I will try to not let it become a so busy that the Diva is very Cranky Day. Of course, if I am feeling out of sorts it might just be that I am feeling a little Eleven O'Clockish and it is time for a some honey . . . and afterwards I will feel much better and happy Diva like.
So, today will be a Busy Day, not a Doing Nothing day. And tomorrow is sure to be a Hummy Day and so is Friday now that I think about it. How is your day looking?
I almost don't dare write this post because we KNOW what happened when I twittered something I wasn't supposed to twitter, but I haven't historically learned my lessons quickly, no need to rush into it here either.
So, there are a gazillion cameras going up in the building. None of them are connected yet, and quite honestly, some of them are in weird places (like two cameras facing the same direction and no camera at one of the entrances.) Our StuCo pres was reading announcements Monday when he threw in an impromptu "Get those senior pranks out of the way before the cameras go live." Yeah, bit of a rocket scientist that boy.
So, today while the pep rally was going on, someone set 3 pot belly pigs loose in the building. Poor little critters were scared to death. Pooping everywhere. The administrators were NOT pleased.
On one hand, why do these kids have to come up with pranks that are mean to animals? On the other hand, the admin probably over reacted. By the end of the day the kids had spread a rumor that one of the assistant principals had beaten a piglet to death. Seriously. Are they kidding? As if the piglet did anything. More likely a child was in danger of a fatal beating.
I texted Mr. Potential during the day.
Me: Someone let 3 pot belly pigs out in the school. Gonna be a long day.
Mr. P: Are they greased up?
Yeah, I've got it bad for a hillbilly.
Back to the prank. There are rules of pranks and I don't understand why our dingbat kids can't understand them. Pranks shouldn't cost the school money or damage property. Pranks shouldn't require the janitors to clean up gross stuff (ie pig poop). And they shouldn't involve abusing animals or people.
The prank when they glued all of the door locks? Bad. Cost money. Total pain.
Prank that involved signs on EVERY CLASSROOM door saying go to the library. Funny.
Prank that involved stealing the "Read" posters from the library with a ransom note? Totally funny. Still haven't figured out how they got them down. Posters reappeared a week later, no damage. Totally classic.
Prank where they put fish on the roof of the building to rot stinking up the place and forcing the janitors to get up there and try to clean it up? Totally crappy.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Please note: this was actually written on Wednesday. I've just been a little busy and possibly distracted.
What is it about New Year's Eve that makes us so reflective? Why aren't we more reflective on our birthdays? (with an ugly one approaching, I'm certain to be more reflective this year than most.)
What about Easter? For those that go to church, this should be a biggie. The Easter resolution has to be one worthy of someone dying for our sins. Those would be serious resolutions, none of these wimpy, gonna lose weight and find a man bullshit.
As a teacher, August is always a good time to reflect on how I want this school year to be different from any other. I will be calmer, more organized, etc, etc, etc. I will stretch the kids more. I will use technology more.
But here I sit, New Year's Eve watching my comforter circle about as I hang at Soapy's, my local Laundromat, thinking about what I want for 2010. Obviously this list includes bedding that doesn't smell like dog. I'd probably be closer to achieving this one if I actually kept the dogs off the bed, but then what fun is that??
I look back, and I think I have to ask myself if I am getting closer to enlightenment and becoming the person I want to be or not? Hard to tell sometimes.
If I were to be succinct, I would say I resolve to be the person God wants me to be in every area of my life, but I think we all know I'm more verbal than that.
I think I have been amazingly lucky in my lifetime in friendships. Friends are the family we choose. I am surrounded by people that support me and help me be a better person. My goal is to be the friend that all of these people have been to me.
Family. Oh, what can I say? The beginning and end of so many insecurities, fears, pain and hurt. They can raise me up and bring me crashing down. We each have our own M.O. for handling the family dynamics and entangling webs. Refusal to engage in the family dynamic but throwing oneself into the woes and lives of people never met? We've got that. A true Scarlett O'Hara, refusing to acknowledge and face problems? Forcing others to swallow whole whatever is eating them up? We've got that too. Total indifference and minimal communication with the family? check, check. This is an area I could make several resolutions, but it is a dangerous minefield. Perhaps turning 40 and dealing with family dynamics is a mistake. This one might hold.
Romance. Well, hmmm. It's been quite a year in that category. Who knew that I'd hit my stride this late in the game? I've gotten to meet all types. I've gotten to face the truth that "never married" doesn't mean "no luggage." I let one man screw me up and leave me with way more baggage than I should have. But, I've also gotten closer to knowing I'm OK with me. By myself or with someone else, I'm OK.
To be honest, I'm still excited that a week before New Year's Eve, I met a guy, with Potential. Smart, funny, thinks I'm sexy, makes me feel special, cooks for me and a really good guy. Will it go somewhere? I hope so. I also hope my super freaky, don't want to lose control insecure self doesn't jump ship and run. Cause I think that side is at war with the side that knows she deserves a really great guy. On the other hand, dating has provided much of the fodder for this blog. Not sure how entertaining I'll be if I get into a boring relationship...screw it, you people are on your own ; )
Reduction of inventory: (That's what my friend, Pam, used to call it when she got rid of stuff. I'd like to add that frequently involved bringing stuff to me to inherit.) Selling my house made me sad, no doubt about it. Mostly because it was a true home with neighbors I loved, and it just made me happy. But selling the house, well, it was also freeing. As I look around at the "stuff" I have collected through the years, I am realizing it is time to for me to start letting go. I am taking advantage of the wonders of the Internet and my friend, Craig to sell as much as I can. I'll have an old fashioned garage sale in the spring.
This place is small so I have to make hard choices about what is important in my life and what isn't (at least "stuff" wise) I'm starting to really dig letting go. I hope 2010 leaves me a leaner more streamlined Diva.
The Temple (aka the body people). As you might have surmised, I'm unable to look beyond the big bday especially as I begin to deal with doctors visits, and the pains and aches that seem to come with getting older. I made some big decisions a few years ago based on my desire to change my way of life as I approach middle age. I don't regret any of my choices. Losing the gall bladder did more to straighten up my eating choices than any decisions I made (something about not being able to eat FAT without suffering terribly does that), but even with the problems, that's worked out nicely. I suggest gall bladder removal for everyone, but word on the street is that it doesn't always work as a diet method. Lots of people have cooperatives livers that take over immediately and happily all gall bladder duties.
I began working out a month ago, and I'm pretty sure if it doesn't kill me, it will make me stronger and put me in better shape than I've been in my entire life. I'll have to have a special blog post on that. It's walking distance from house, so that should help tremendously on the stick with it front.
Finances. Damn them. They always make the list. Selling the house put me on the right path and took a huge amount of stress and pressure off of me. I've streamlined, made some changes and, if I can stay focused, I'll move much closer to being debt free.
Well, now I'm watching the comforter circle in the dryer. I hope 2010 brings good things for me and you. All five of you. . . hahahahahah
This is the day I'm supposed to sleep late and squander my time. Oh, sure, I knew I was going to need to unpack some more boxes and do some work on getting all of my crapola to fit in the house, but it would nice and lovely and no spazzing.
Today is the day my editors said that we needed to work if we were going to get everything done. Now, how can I possibly look into the eyes of my overachieving UNPAID editors and say, "Hell no, I'm not coming in on a Saturday. Are you nuts?"
I'd also like to add that by the end of the day Friday, I had a doc to proofread for counseling, a syllabus to write for a course that I may or may NOT be teaching next year, and a nice little stack of stuff to do that I have been avoiding.
Of course, the editors won, and I set the alarm to be at school. I started this post at 9am when I got there. I thought what the heck, while they are working, I can at least start working on my school to do list. That went to hell by about 9:30 when they started rolling in for me to proof read pages. And they kept coming, and coming, and coming. So I got ZERO done on my house Saturday.
I did, at least, manage to get the syllabus done with quite a bit of help from Blondie (Thank you, Lord, for Blondie if I haven't thanked you recently.)
So, the day ended and I took everything home. Haven't actually gotten any of it done.
I have to be at school at 6:30 am 'cause the newspaper staff is on deadline and (again Thank you, Lord) Blondie and I are a team - I take mornings, she takes afternoons. Maybe I can get some actual work done Monday morning.
Today, I did manage to unload two batches of storage stuff today, I got Cat and brought him to the new abode, I hit the grocery store, and I managed to do my laundry, although it isn't folded or ironed. Oh, and I walked the dogs and washed my hair. I need more hours in the day if I'm going to actually get real work done.
So, the meeting with MMT? Total car crash. Long and the short of it... She refused to accept any responsibility for, well, anything. In fact, a loose summary would be she feels that the only problem in the department is me, and that everything she has heard from everyone else is the exact opposite of what I said. Yeah, pretty much eradicates any need to continue conversing don't you think?
As horribly as I think she has been acting, as disappointed as I am in the person she is turning out to be, I am really sad that she is being this way. I really did think she would be a good department chair. I can't figure out why her "friend" in the department isn't trying to help her do a better job.
I'm not sure of what will happen, but I know that I'm pretty much tired of being treated like crap and of being spoken to in a condescending manner.
*** This story has caused me much angst. Do I make the blog private so that I can write what I want to write or do I leave it public and try to censor myself. A tough call. It's almost impossible to not write about something that is taking up a significant portion of your life. It seems wrong some how. On the other hand, I'm not interested in dealing with the bs drama that comes from someone getting pissed that I'm writing what I think about events in the past. Unfortunately, the person about whom the next two posts are written appears to be just crazy enough that there is no telling what she would do if she saw this. And, since at one point we were friends, she probably knows the blog address. At any rate, as you can tell, I went ahead and wrote. I've tried to go back and delete enough to make it manageable to read and not to horrifyingly full of details. Not sure how successful I was on either point. Feel free to let me know.
Let's just take a moment to laugh at the irony that I have been cursed with annoying team mates ever since I arrived at my current job, but I've been lucky as far as bosses go. So, of course, now that Blondie has arrived, I am in a new department with the Mayor of Meantown. (MMT)
Another irony is that people were concerned that since MMT and I were friends, it would be a problem for her leadership abilities. There are problems, but I assure you that they have nothing to do with our former friendship. In fact, the friendship has been smashed into the dirt.
Within 2 days of school starting, she had become MMT. I mean she is condescending and pissy at every turn. I can't describe it any other way. I was in a car accident before school started, she didn't make any comment. Not are you ok, nothing. She has become one of those people that brooks no discussion and thinks any question is a question of her authority not a question of point. There has been excessive finger snapping (in faces) Thank God, not mine. I might have bitten her finger off. She does have a nasty habit of pointing to each person in the department to force responses.
So let's just sum it up with comments from others. " Yeah, I don't know what it is but everything you say and do seems to upset her." "Wow, what just happened? I didn't hear you say anything, and she just attacked you." "Hey, I overheard the Mayor of Meantown talking to someone downstairs, she seemed to be bashing you without actually using your name."
Getting the picture? So, sure, I've talked to some people trying to figure out what the HELL is going on. At first, people would say, "Oh, just give her a couple of weeks, she'll settle in." They aren't saying that anymore. Now, it's just a lot of head shaking and references to staying low. I'm trying. I really am. Unfortunately she has a nasty habit of calling on each individual person in the department. I can keep my mouth shut, but I can't lie when spoken to directly. It makes it tricky.
At one particular department meeting (and Lord but there are a lot of them) the Mayor jumped down my throat like a deranged postal worker.
So, after THAT particular interaction I finally sent her an email.
Mayor,
I am sorry if I upset you today. I don't know what to say. I don't know what I did to upset you, but I feel like since the first week of school, you have been unhappy with me. I really am too stressed out to be able to have a conversation about this, but I want you to know I support you in being department chair, and our relationship is important to me. I am sorry if my stress comes off as a bad attitude or flippant towards you, it is not. I have too much to do. I understand the broadcasting idea is great for most of the department, it doesn't help me per se, it just adds to my work. I am happy to help Blondie to do whatever she wants to do and I will encourage her to do it. I want to be a team player, I am a team player, but I am having a hard time with people dumping things on me on a daily basis. I'm sure part of the problem is I'm starting to have the feeling that I've done something that causes you to doubt me or my ability to do my job.
Thanks,
The Diva
I would love to write her response, but let me just summerize. 1. She in no way acknowledged that she has been wretched to me. 2. She did however say that gosh, my stress does seem like a bad attitude. 3. She said how stressed she is. Did I mention that she has 4 of 8 periods off each day? 4. She offered to help. Now, multiple people have suggested I take her up on it.
Hmm, should I give her the 8 page form I was asked to re-create in Indesign because education organizations are bass akwards and there is no digital version of the form so that it can be completed on the computer. No, she doesn't know Indesign.
Should I give her the high school directory to do? Wait, no also in Indesign.
Should I get her to help the other schools in the district with their directories? No, she can't do that either.
How about the other requests I get on a daily basis from people needing help on this or that? Random little things that I can do, and I probably am the best person to ask, but I have no time for?
Should she meet with the vendors for me? The photography company? The yearbook company? The supply company?
The ID machine. I hate the ID machine. I should totally give that to her. Then she can make IDs for everybody and their freaking brother all ding dong day long.
Really, what she can do is GET OFF MY ASS. What I really want to do is send her an email : Dear Mayor, just to confirm, my email asked you to get off my ass and your email said ok for a little while, right?
I think you get the drift. Not to be condescending myself. But she doesn't know what busy is. And, sadly, as I try to figure out why she is so crazed, I realize there are a lot of reasons for her to be behaving badly, and odds are good things won't improve anytime soon.
At any rate, she has pretty much left me alone since that exchange. I've watched her treat other people horribly in the meantime.
I finally went to one of the assistant principals that I love. Oz. I know he likes her too. At any rate, I told him I was worried because she was just mean and she was alienating the department. That if I thought it was just me that she was being mean to, I would just suck it up. She is making multiple people miserable, so I felt like something needed to be said. She needs help. He told me I needed to talk to her. I told him I didn't want to talk to her. I felt guilty then agreed to do it. Crap.
In addition, we had a meeting last week about the academic planning guide and journalism courses. Suffice it to say that meeting didn't go very well. The whole conversation went around in circles and no one was listening to what I was saying. I was sick and tired and not in the mood.
I got a note from MMT Thursday evening asking to meet with me this week.I respond, that I actually wanted to meet with her and Oz, so we could do both at the same time.
Why is it that life can't work in such a way that only one freaking bad thing happens at a time? Why is it that it ALL hits at once? Like baseballs at a dunking booth, they keep flying at you till you are underwater head to toe.
Well, 300 pages of ad proofs arrived on Wednesday afternoon. For the uninitiated, that means that 8 ads managers have 72 hours to check all of the pages, work on all of the corrections that need to be made (and, yes, there are quite a few), and then print all of the pages (that takes forever because the files are huge because of the photos).
I've really been working towards getting my house sold. It has not gone as I had planned. (Translate that as house not sold. Grr) And that means my finances . . .they just get more and more dismal. I'm running out of things to give up. Why does money have to be such a monkey on my back?
I am, without a doubt, totally ready to get my life under control. I'm giving up credit cards. Let my screw ups be warning to everyone else. Credit cards are evil. The companies are even more evil. Credit cards are a sucking cesspool of trouble. I realize many might have thought I'd learn this particular lesson much earlier in my life, but hey, glad I am learning it now.
None the less, this is totally demoralizing. I wish I had never gotten myself in this position, I am still praying that I can sell the house which won't totally solve the problem, but it will absolutely help. I have made a budget (not pretty) and I am working like the devil to stay within it.
I'm moving back home next weekend. I am totally ready to be back home. I miss my little house, and my little existence in it. And, as it turns out, the dogs are not particularly good at behaving when left to their own devices for 10 hours at a time. I should have gotten photos but they only lasted two days before destruction began.
I came home Thursday to find they had eaten a book, done serious damage to a pillow and before the evening was out, Buddy sniffed around a plant, got the vine caught on his tail or paw or something and dragged it off the stand when he walked away . . . breaking the pot and getting dirt every where.
Came home the next day and they had killed an orchid and dragged dirt everywhere. Freaking fabulous. Every time I open the front door I hold my breath and pray whatever they have done I can fix.
I clean up, they destroy. Quite a symbiotic relationship.
Yesterday, my throat started hurting. I'm now taking Vitamin C like there is no tomorrow and gargling with salt water. Oh, and drinking lots of TheraFlu cause I believe, when in doubt, medicate.
Last night was the Hi-lites dance which I usually enjoy chaperoning. FYI Hi-lites is a girls' organization and the dance is a Sadie Hawkins. Last night? Not so much. The boys have begun this new thing where they dance by bouncing up and down like pogo sticks. And then they start running in to each other. It is really annoying. They bounced into me and now I have a lovely bruise on my right foot. I basically spent the night breaking up a mosh pit.
On the up side, once it was enough of a problem to cause us to tell the DJ to stop playing "bouncy" music, he played a song that got them going again, we said to stop, he changed the song, the kids got mad, they were all gone by 10:45 - woohoo!! (Dance didn't actually end until 11:30.
School in general has been beating me down. It is hard to describe, but basically I spend my days being beaten my ants. One by one small annoyances and itchy, but in masse horrifyingly painful. I have lots to do now, but I just had another cup o Theraflu so I'll be taking a wee nap very soon.
Good news: Things with the drummer are actually going well, but I don't want to jinx it, so that's all I'll say.
Ok, that sums up the greatest of my life. Back to your usual program.
A couple of things happened this week that made me realize I need to take a step back from my bad self and my whining.
One, my friend PR (job, not initials) rode to work together Friday. She brought her devotional since she knew that I had the same one. The reading she was on had to do with prayers and learning to pray for God's guidance and not for specific things. That, in effect, he knows what the hell we need more than we do, and we should not fret and flail about, but trust that he is taking care of 'biness (as it were.) Seems particularly appropriate these days. In addition, PR was talking about a Bible study she did that started with praising God and really thinking about how many things we have to be grateful in this life.
The second thing actually happens fairly often and that is that I get all whiney and bratty and the BFF reminds me that I don't have things so bad. Man, do I love her.
Ok, so I'm going to take a moment to give a shout out to the world.
I am totally grateful for my family. Obviously I'm totally grateful for my parents, who much to their horror found themselves boarding a cat, two miscreant dogs and their youngest child for an indefinite amount of time. (It's ok, I've decided at the end of October, back to the house sold or not.) As crazy as they make me (and they do make me crazy, although I'm feeling confident I send them over the edge too), I know I am very, very lucky to have them. Siblings, same thing. Sure, I don't talk to two of them much, but I talk to You Gotta Wonder enough that it probably makes up for the lack of convo with the other two.
Ah, the animals. I know there are people out there who don't like animals (CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE), I know there are people content not having animals (Oh, how they are missing out) but I tell you there is no love and affection that compares to that of animals. Totally unconditional. They love with total abandon, and they think you are the bomb diggity. I know I am a happier being because of my pets. Even if the bad dogs are always doing stupid stuff (currently that would include eating pork chops off the counter - ah, oops, eating a spatula, running away . . . twice, and barking like idiots for no reason).
The BFF. Do I even need to say anything else? How in the HELL do people survive without a BFF? I can't even imagine. She keeps me grounded, is always there for me and makes me a better person. Yeah, can't do much better than that.
I am so grateful that I am healthy. Swine flu is out there, but it hasn't gotten to me yet. I am certainly feeling my age as time goes by, but I know that there are lots of people with lots of health conditions and I am very lucky that girls without gall bladders just have to eat healthy to stay healthy.
Friends, all those other people that keep me going (both real time and webtime). I do believe that people come and go in our lives for reasons, and I am very grateful for all of the people that have helped me learn and become a better person along the way.
And the job. Even when I am most hating my job, I still know how lucky I am to have a job that I totally love. Truly, one of the coolest jobs in the world. And, now that Blondie has arrived, it is back to being the kind of fun teaching was when I first started. Having a buddy definitely helps to make it even more of a great thing.
The house. I love the house. I am totally torn about selling, but how lucky that I even own a home and have a roof over my head. With everything going on in the news of job losses (even in education which I didn't even think was possible), home foreclosures etc, etc, I know that I am blessed.
The drummer. No idea of how long this relationship will last, but the fact that we are moving into month 3 is a miracle in and of itself. He is so straight-forward, honest, smart, funny, kind and cool that I can hardly stand it. Stepping back and just enjoying it rather than fretting and predicting and wanting to define the direction and speed is the hardest thing I am doing right now, but I think totally worth it. I am verging on being mad crazy for this one.
So, this post is a hats off to God. Thank you for all of the blessings you have given me, and thank you for putting people in my life that remind me of all of those blessings when I really need reminding.
And, now back to our regularing scheduled programing.
I am staring at a blank page. I'm not sure of what I want, should, could write about. Sometimes it is difficult to not only know what to write, but to be able to write what I want. It is an odd and some what perplexing problem.
I could write about my directory issues; especially the teenager that refused to ask for help and therefore caused me extra work. Nope, kind a thing that could get a person in lots of trouble.
I could write about my coworker issues, especially the one that is mean to me but some how refuses to acknowledge that she has been wretched to me. Nope, she might very well read the blog, and all I really want is to be left alone. I don't want to start any trouble.
I could write about the drummer, but, again, the blog although my personal little journal is read by people that who may love me but want to crush my heart by bashing any male that enters my life. So, I don't want to write about how utterly fabulous I think the drummer is.
And that is how you write a second post about nothing.
I would love to write about all sorts of exciting things happening in my world, but sadly, or more accurately strangely, there has been a pause in the action.
Car: I have it back. Hooray! (Did I mention that Blondie and I both have Ford Escapes. Her's is yellow, mine is blue. We have more school spirit than everyone : ) AND we have matching dents on our back left bumper. - we were meant to work together.)
Directories, although still not done, they have receded from the forefront of my troubles to being a slight bother waiting to torture me more but not at this moment. If that makes any sense at all. This probably deserves a post all of its own. I'm not even sure how I ended up in charge of all of the online student registration information getting from online to a format and design that worked for each of the 6 schools in the school district. I am eternally grateful that the Drummer, besides being a drummer happens to be one hellofa computer guy and could help me. I sucked him in by saying I thought I needed help with excel. Turned out to be a whole freaking lot more than that. He spent about 35 hours in one week on this stuff. Still shocked he didn't run like hell when he got the chance. Speaking of which . . .
The Drummer. Oh, he is confusing yours truly, that is for sure, but he is still around, still charming, still no action. I'd give details, but there are none to give at the moment. Technically I guess you could say we have only had 3 dates at this point. The last one being Saturday night, dinner and movie, but we spent a lot of time together working on the directories. I can't decide if that totally screwed the timetable up or what. Hard to tell.
The job. Ah, the job. Still adore Blondie cause she totally rocks, kids are doing great, but the adults still annoy and plague me. Same. As. Always. I do have my laptop back (finally) but we are having all sorts of problems with the computer lab which is annoying and might send one of my editors-in-chief into a total conniption fit if it doesn't get fixed soon.
The house. Well, still in my possession. It is getting showings, but no one has thrown a contact my way yet. It looks utterly fabulous and smells really good to boot. Pray, people. Pray. I would really, really like to move on. Not that my parents aren't lovely and doing an amazing job of tolerating the two dogs, the cat and me, but it is difficult none the less and I miss being surrounded by my own sheot.
Sabrina and Buddy are fabulous as always, although as mentioned the parentals aren't always totally convinced of that. They were boarded at Pappy's Pet Lodge last night to give M @ D a break (The non-stop rain combined with big dogs not getting exercise, not kind to anyone's nerves, I'll tell you that much.) At any rate, I pick them up and they got a little doggie report card. Behaved well, ate most of their food, were a blast : )
Cat is happiest when the dogs are gone, what else can I say.
My main goal this weekend is to find the keys to the storage unit. They have to be somewhere . . .now I just need to determine where somewhere is.
