An inauspicious beginning

Sabrina wakes me up at about 3am to go out. For the visual, she wacks me on the head with her paw. It is a fairly surefire way to make sure I get up. Hard to ignore a dog doing that.

Get up, sigh. 6:50 I get a call from the Lifetouch photography guy. (Background, Friday afternoon I call him because everything was supposed to be set up on the yearbook ID computer to make ID's for students that didn't get them made before school started. That was not done. He tells me that he had to leave early, but he would send me the templates, and if I had a problem to call. "Ok" I said in a calm voice, " but please know if it doesn't work Monday morning I will go postal."

My guess is he took me to heart, a good thing, but failed to let me know the change of plans, a bad thing. 6:50 Lifetouch guy. "Are you at school yet?" "nooooooo" "OK, well, I'm here whenever you get here to make sure your computer is up and working properly." Grrrr. So I haul to school. (No breakfast grrr)

I get to school, he does his thing on the computer. While he is doing that, I'm trying to get a video I downloaded off the internet to work. Does great on the computer at my desk, needs to download an update to Quicktime to work on the projection system. Of course. So I have to call the computer tech guys to work on that since I need it first period. Why did I think using technology of the first day of school was a good idea??? What was I thinking??

Long about 7:30 the students start rolling in. Not my students, the students that need their IDs made so that they can get their schedules (that I am also in charge of as it turns out). I have 20-30 kids getting pictures taken etc. In the meantime, my first period English students show up. So, I finally clear out the room (they haven't gotten their IDs I've just written names down and passed out schedules) a little after 8:10 (when first period starts).

Roll through first, a parade of people visit my room. Seriously. During the year, it is as if no one knows where my room is, not today. Lisa comes by (she knows where it is, but she has first period off and she doesn't know what to do with herself). Susan Rhoads, the librarian, comes by, just wants to see how Pam is doing and if she will be subbing this year. Hey Pam, look for a shout out from Susan some time this week. At the rate I'm going, I'll be calling in sick too . . . soon. Mr Cates, the principal, comes by. Total weirds me out. He's awesome and I'm thrilled he came by, but he doesn't usually unless I'm in trouble.

Second period goes fine, third goes fine. I'm off fourth and fifth, but again, parade of people is now mostly students needing IDs, couple of parents about ads, little this, little that. But I'm starting to not feel so hot. I have a headache (take the only migraine pill I have), drink some water . . . Mom, is already shaking her head, she knows what's coming.

I start sixth period vertical, but I start fading fast. I'm talking slowly, get an icepack out of the freezer (yes, I have an icepack ready for just this type of thing.) by the end of the period I'm on the couch. Seventh starts - lights out, don't even try to get up or open eyes. Talk to them for a minute or two, but basicially sixth and seventh my editors run the class, go through stuff that I talked about 2nd and 3rd and cover for me.

Another side note, I started the day with my hair in a cute ponytail, make-up looking fabulous, cute skirt, top, heels. By seventh, shoes are off, hair is down (and not looking great I might add, there was a reason I choose a ponytail for the first day), icepack has messed the make-up up. I am not a pretty sight.

Mr. Williams, asst principal, comes by to check on me. About 5 minutes later, hurling in the trashcan outside of the room. Very professionally.

I call Susan, principal's asst, to radio assts.
"Hi Susan, I've started the year with a bang."
"Great"
"Could you call the janitors to come empty the trashcan outside my room."
"Oh, no you didn't"

(Again, how sad that all I had to say was empty the trash and we've been through this enough she knew what had happened.)

I leave school as soon as the bell rings for 8th. As I'm pulling out of the parking garage telling MB, "wow I still don't feel that great, my stomach is still upset" I have to hang up on her so that I can throw the door open and throw up in front of God and everyone TWO MORE TIMES.

Got home, went to bed. I'm awake now, so I guess there is a pretty good chance I will survive both the headache and the humiliation.

Still haven't finished the syllabus for yearbook. That was to be done this afternoon.

4 days down . . .

Considering how much I dislike inservice week, I thought it would be appropriate to begin with a photo of cat at the vet. I feel the way he looks. Pissed off. Pained to have to suffer through the indignities. Generally unhappy. I've come home each night this week ready to pass out. Please see Sabrina as my visual aid. She is asleep and falling off the sofa. I'm suppposed to meet with scooby tomorrow morning. That makes me want to bat my head into a wall. (Sorry, no visual for that, well, except for Buddy . . . doesn't he look pained to be at the vet? That is how I feel when I have to talk to Scooby.) I won't even say how much I spent at the vet. Holy Cow. I'd like to say that I've done something interesting this week. Not so. The girls have been working really hard on templates. They are being very patient as they try to catch me in between meetings to ok spreads. Still a lot to do and only one day left to do it.

Kristen and I had scheduled a meeting for the Europe trip. Only 2 parents came!! I am sooo bummed. We are going to try to have another meeting and see what happens. My final visual. The close up of Cat .

First Day of School

Always a beating. First we have the cheer parade in the morning when they talk about how great we all are yada yada yada, then they tell us some choked up story about how years later students still remember who we are (as if there isn't enough pressure on us not to mess the kids up any more than their parents have), then they tell us how we are all committed to greatness, we should be committed alright . . .

So I have my new schedule for life which already had some pressure put on it since I left late. I got home walked the dogs and now I have 14 minutes left of dinner time, so I'm eating and writing. Then two hours of working on the book and then an hour of cleaning up, getting ready for tomorrow etc.

Getting yearbook pictures taken starts tomorrow so I have to be at school early to make sure that all goes according to plan, then it is a curriculum day. Blecky! That should suck me dry.

Last Saturday

For the last Saturday of freedom before school starts, I have failed to use it properly. I worked from 8-12:30. I'm impressed that most of the girls did show up and they worked hard. I left early, but they had to leave by 3. The janitors get really cranky if we don't leave in a timely fashion.

I finally used the Spa pass my editors got me at the banquet in the spring. I went to Red Door and got a massage, facial, manicure, pedicure and make-up. Probably could have done without the make-up, but it was all super nice. Diane and I made plans to do something this evening, but she ended up going to dinner with her daughters and doing stuff with them. Oh well, so much for a final hoorah.

I am now committed for the next four months to staying on a schedule and working on the book. I have to be dedicated and focused. No accepting invitations to do stuff. Hard core. If I have friends at the end of the four months, it will be a miracle. But there will be a book at the end of four months, there will be a book.

I walked the dogs as sweat poured off of me. Yikes. Emily is out of town, so I have been grabbing her papers for her. I threw yesterday's in the house after walking the dogs. Looks like I should have walked them farther. As you can see they had some energy left to destroy the paper. How sweet. They aren't always naughty. They play like mad things in the yard. You can see the pool in the top left corner, Sabrina is really too big for the pool. They also get the pool dirty and nasty because they get in and out so much. They fight to see who gets to stay in the pool. Silly doggies. I looked out the kitchen window at one point, and they were actually sitting quietly! I'm not sure if you can see how much bigger Sabrina is than Buddy, but she is about twice his size. I have to be careful coming out of the bedrooms. When they start chasing each other circling the house, they are as likely to knock me down as not. Of course, if Buddy stops suddenly and Sabrina is too close then she skids over him because she is so much taller. If I could catch that on film, I would post it in a heartbeat. And then there are the moments I live for . . . they wear themselves out and sleep! I tried to get video of it because Sabrina makes a lot of noise when she sleeps. Snores, snorts, barks etc., but as soon as I started to try she got quiet. Rats. Time for me to go to bed. I have a schedule to keep!

Notable moments of the week

Tues: I met with the boys. Have I mentioned what a beating they can be? At least I got them to agree to create a ladder. That will help me immensely.

Tues pm: Met with most of the editors. I think they are on board. So we will have one group working from 10-1 and another from 4-7. Sucks for me, but at least they are ready to work.

Wed: up at 5:30 to walk the dogs. Wanted to yak the whole time. Crack of dawn and so hot and humid, it was disgusting!

Wed: Interviewed Angus Wynne. I had down that we were to meet at the Stoneleigh Hotel which it turns out is under renovation. I was quite flummoxed, so I went across the street to the Stoneleigh P which is a restaurant. He shows up about ten minutes later. Turns out that is where we were supposed to meet, but he had it down as four and I had it as three. I can't believe that it actually worked out! He was really nice and I enjoyed getting to talk with him.

Thurs: Up at 5:30, but back to bed for an hour. I'm not fond of 5:30. I finally started cleaning out my office at school. Yikes what a mess.

Fri: Tried for the 3rd and final time to be up at 5:30. There is no getting around it. 5:30 is the crack of dawn, and I don't want to be up that early. Went back to sleep until 6:30. A much more dignified and respectable hour. I can do 6:30.

I had lunch with Pam! She is really skinny but doing soooooo much better. Her doctor told her last Friday that not only had the tumors shrunk. . . they were gone!! Holy Cow. She is still doing chemo just to be sure, but how cool is that?! She too has read Eat, Pray, Love. Such a great book. When I get it back from MB, I will pass it along to whomever wants it next . . . speak up if you want it next.

It is 8:07 and both puppies are laying at my feet. My eyes are burning, and I'm ready for bed. (It's all those attempts at being up at 5:30 that have messed me up.) I had planned to mow in the morning, but it has been raining all evening, so I'm not sure that is going to work out for me. Rats. I have to be at school by 10, maybe I'll do a little house cleaning or I could be really edgy and work on the book!!

Getting back in the Swing of things

Yesterday I got up bright and early and went to the 7:30 service. Then I walked Sabrina, mowed the lawn and worked on The Book.

Met Kimberly and then Laura and Buddy came over.

That is an exciting Sunday.

I tried to get up bright and early this morning, but I was having difficulties. I did drag my butt out of bed and eventually managed to walk the dogs. They did great except for one small incident when Sabrina was so excited about visiting Hank, and Buddy was excited because Sabrina was excited. They pulled so hard I fell down and went boom. Small gash in the knee. I wasn't going to include a visual aid, but it looks so disgusting I had to. ewwww yucky.

After that I headed over to Childress Fabrics to take the material I'm using to have Grandmama's sofa reupholstered. I was able to go back and see the repair job on the back leg. It is amazing. You can't tell that the leg had been broken at all.

At any rate, they said it would take about four weeks to get it all fixed up. It is going require extensive repairs, so I'm not surprised. Another fun note is that the guy at the fabric store said that this type of sofa is a Duncan Phyfe. (They are named after the guy that originally made them and quite valuable these days!) Not that I would sell it, but still nice to know. I found an old picture that has the sofa in the corner.

I also went up to school to start working on getting all of my kids in the right periods. That is always a pain. I did find out that I have English I 1st period and yearbook 2, 3, 6 and 7.

Now I am back home getting organized for tomorrow. School may not officially start until next Monday, but if the number of emails I'm dealing with regarding school are anything to go by, I'm already behind!!

Sabrina has a Buddy

Well, much to Mom and Dad's horror I got Sabrina a little buddy, and his name is Buddy. Isn't that an adorable face? He is about 1/2 the size of Sabrina. He has the webbed toes of a lab, but I have no idea of what else is in him. He is about 10 months old, so he is basically the same age as Sabrina (she is 9 months). Sabrina and I met him about two weeks ago when he was at an adoption fair in front of a shop on Henderson Ave. I got him through Paws in the City. They are serious about their process. Yesterday, Kimberly came and did a "Home visit". Checked the place out, asked a bunch of questions. Then I had to go to the Pet Store with her as she discussed food and what makes a good food vs a bad food and what toys were good vs bad etc . I was exhausted at the end of it. Can you imagine if people had to go through this before they were allowed to have children??
After all of that Laura, the girl that had fostered Buddy, came over with Buddy. In the photo below she is trying to keep them calm for a minute so that we could get a photo. I even got video! They played so much last night (even after I had turned the lights out and told them goodnight!) that I finally had to put Buddy in the utility room. He only cried for a couple of minutes . Today I left them both outside in the morning since only Sabrina has a doggy door opener. I ordered a second, so hopefully it will come in some time this week. This afternoon I am working, and happy, happy, joy, joy they are both sleeping. Mostly.