Here I am, the last week of summer break before school starts back up, Gregory enters his freshman year of high school and life gets crazy again.
I feel this need to begin writing again. Something has been missing for a long time and I think this might be what it is. The daily venting of my crazy, wonderful life.
I was in bed and sleeping by 10 p.m. so I could get up early tomorrow morning and get some productive things done before it's time to go help Mary weed her gardens at the rental. Now it's nearly 3:00 a.m. and I'm sitting here, wide awake. I could be doing dishes but the guys downstairs sleep right below the kitchen so it's not the best idea to make a bunch of noise this time of night.
I'm feeling all antsy and anxious lately and I don't know why. I wish I did. Maybe I am just too bored and need to be crazy busy again to take this feeling away. I hate it.
I've been having this urge to start dating again and I have no idea where to begin. It isn't a natural process for me, but what I do naturally is push men far away from me that they don't walk, they run far away. Usually it's after they say something super inappropriate though. Maybe I need to change my style. I dunno.
Time for me to go to bed again after another drink of water. I'll see if I can get a little shut eye.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Last Fun Day of Summer
Our summer has been full of lots of visits with fun people. One of the more enjoyable things has been getting together with Gman's girlfriend's family. I never expected to make friends with such a great family but am so glad we are friends.
The first real time spent was a weekend of camping with just girls and their baby boy, age 3. What a fun time fishing, laughing and just all around relaxing at Louisville State Recreation Area.
The second time Gman went and camped with them the week it was over 100 degrees. I'm a weenie and declined on that one. This body can't take that kind of heat.
The last time was an afternoon and evening at the park swimming to beat the heat then showering and making dinner at one of the shelters. The crowning point of the night was when the (now) 4 year old caught a rather large bull frog when we were fishing. A fun time was had by all.
And so we take our last during the week summer trip on Wednesday. It's my turn to cook and I have the meal all planned out. It should be fun to work on the last part of that summer tan that is already beginning to fade away and spend some quality time with the kiddos. I'm looking forward to it.
The first real time spent was a weekend of camping with just girls and their baby boy, age 3. What a fun time fishing, laughing and just all around relaxing at Louisville State Recreation Area.
The second time Gman went and camped with them the week it was over 100 degrees. I'm a weenie and declined on that one. This body can't take that kind of heat.
The last time was an afternoon and evening at the park swimming to beat the heat then showering and making dinner at one of the shelters. The crowning point of the night was when the (now) 4 year old caught a rather large bull frog when we were fishing. A fun time was had by all.
And so we take our last during the week summer trip on Wednesday. It's my turn to cook and I have the meal all planned out. It should be fun to work on the last part of that summer tan that is already beginning to fade away and spend some quality time with the kiddos. I'm looking forward to it.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Insomnia
What's the deal with all the insomnia lately? Last night Gman was up most of the night saying he couldn't sleep. Tagging along with his insomnia would be my "non-self-imposed" insomnia because I kept chasing him back to bed. I went as far as to crawl in to bed with him and sleep there so I could feel him when he got up. Finally at 5:00 a.m. I gave up and just let him get up for the day so I could survive on the small amount of sleep I could get between 5:00 a.m. and 6:30 when I wake up for the day.
The day actually went quickly and smoothly for the most part. I enjoyed a little nap when I got home and now I'm tired but not tired enough to sleep. For some reason I'm anxious tonight. I'm feeling a little unrest and bored with life right now. Spring break is on the horizon and I'm sure that has something to do with it.
I firmly believe that in a past life I was a gypsy or some sort of wanderer. Even though I am rooted in one place, I often feel like I need to explore somewhere new. I've had this need since I was a child and have fulfilled this need within me since I took my first trip alone when I was 18 years old. Often times the place I migrate towards has some sort of significant source of water.
I often find myself browsing travel websites for affordable deals to destinations I've often thought I'd like to see. Last year I took Gman and traveled to San Francisco. We were there for 5 days and didn't see nearly enough of the city. I'd have taken him and gone to the ocean again this year but the need for a different car overshadowed funds for travel. So I sit here tonight, dreaming of a far away new and exotic place. As I close my eyes I will pray for some really affordable hotel\airfare combo as spring break approaches so I can satisfy this urge within me to travel.
I'm hoping with summer approaching that I will be able to find an appropriate summer job to perhaps fund an end of the summer vacation with my kiddo. Until that time, I will immerse myself in books with lavish scenes of faraway places.
The day actually went quickly and smoothly for the most part. I enjoyed a little nap when I got home and now I'm tired but not tired enough to sleep. For some reason I'm anxious tonight. I'm feeling a little unrest and bored with life right now. Spring break is on the horizon and I'm sure that has something to do with it.
I firmly believe that in a past life I was a gypsy or some sort of wanderer. Even though I am rooted in one place, I often feel like I need to explore somewhere new. I've had this need since I was a child and have fulfilled this need within me since I took my first trip alone when I was 18 years old. Often times the place I migrate towards has some sort of significant source of water.
I often find myself browsing travel websites for affordable deals to destinations I've often thought I'd like to see. Last year I took Gman and traveled to San Francisco. We were there for 5 days and didn't see nearly enough of the city. I'd have taken him and gone to the ocean again this year but the need for a different car overshadowed funds for travel. So I sit here tonight, dreaming of a far away new and exotic place. As I close my eyes I will pray for some really affordable hotel\airfare combo as spring break approaches so I can satisfy this urge within me to travel.
I'm hoping with summer approaching that I will be able to find an appropriate summer job to perhaps fund an end of the summer vacation with my kiddo. Until that time, I will immerse myself in books with lavish scenes of faraway places.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Wonderful Weekend
Last week was exhausting, mainly thanks to my son and some other things that I am highly suspicious that my ex-husband is behind. However I "think" those things are under control but I won't know for sure until later in the week.
After pretty much zero sleep on Thursday night I was exhausted on Friday. However there was excitement vibrating inside because I was getting together with several people I went to high school with. 2 of them are married and drove up from KC. Their daughter lives in Lincoln so she drove up to Omaha as well. The other one lives in Omaha now and manages a local coffee establishment.
Debbie, Daryl, Bekka and I met for dinner shortly after 6:00 p.m. and at the beginning of our snow storm. We went out for the best Greek food in town and chatted until they politely told us to get out by dimming the lights and starting to close up. We had the best waitress ever. She was friendly and gave great service. The food and company were both wonderful.
After dinner we decided to drive to the coffee establishment to see Jamie. There was music there that night and we tried to get there to catch it. We had a hard time finding it but eventually found the location and realized that it was closed. The good news is that Jamie was still there with an employee and they were closing up for the day. We drove right up to the drive thru and we could see she was giving us the stink eye and was getting ready to tell us "We're closed." However when Daryl rolled down the window she got this shocked look on her face. What I wouldn't have given to have a camera and her picture at just that very moment. I'm chuckling now as I write this and think of that look.
Jamie waved us in and we all sat and talked until the wee hours of 1:30 a.m. or so. Maybe a little earlier but not much. Lots of laughs were had. Minds were groggy and eyes were tired. We were all going on little or no sleep from the night before so the tired giddy feeling was high in there.
We had a lot of fun talking about old times and new times as well. I can honestly say it's one of the best times I've had in a long time and so many laughs.
The next time they are in town I'm grilling and having them all over here for dinner.
Thanks for the great evening Daryl, Debbie, Jamie and Bekka.
After pretty much zero sleep on Thursday night I was exhausted on Friday. However there was excitement vibrating inside because I was getting together with several people I went to high school with. 2 of them are married and drove up from KC. Their daughter lives in Lincoln so she drove up to Omaha as well. The other one lives in Omaha now and manages a local coffee establishment.
Debbie, Daryl, Bekka and I met for dinner shortly after 6:00 p.m. and at the beginning of our snow storm. We went out for the best Greek food in town and chatted until they politely told us to get out by dimming the lights and starting to close up. We had the best waitress ever. She was friendly and gave great service. The food and company were both wonderful.
After dinner we decided to drive to the coffee establishment to see Jamie. There was music there that night and we tried to get there to catch it. We had a hard time finding it but eventually found the location and realized that it was closed. The good news is that Jamie was still there with an employee and they were closing up for the day. We drove right up to the drive thru and we could see she was giving us the stink eye and was getting ready to tell us "We're closed." However when Daryl rolled down the window she got this shocked look on her face. What I wouldn't have given to have a camera and her picture at just that very moment. I'm chuckling now as I write this and think of that look.
Jamie waved us in and we all sat and talked until the wee hours of 1:30 a.m. or so. Maybe a little earlier but not much. Lots of laughs were had. Minds were groggy and eyes were tired. We were all going on little or no sleep from the night before so the tired giddy feeling was high in there.
We had a lot of fun talking about old times and new times as well. I can honestly say it's one of the best times I've had in a long time and so many laughs.
The next time they are in town I'm grilling and having them all over here for dinner.
Thanks for the great evening Daryl, Debbie, Jamie and Bekka.
Life with Contacts
Yesterday I went for my eye examination which I should have gotten a year ago, but was side-tracked by the need of a new alternator for the car. At that time I had planned to get contacts too but the cost of the alternator sucked up all of my eye exam and contact money.
I decided to get a contact exam so I could finally get said lenses for my eyes. The exam went well and then it was off to training for the contacts. They are lots harder to get in and out than I had expected but after a few tries I was able to do it in a reasonable amount of time.
I had some problems with one of them being pretty blurry so the eye doctor changed it out and gave me a different brand which not only felt better but that I could actually see out of without it feeling like that eye was full of tears. My eyes were pretty irritated with all of the activity by the end of it all that they were both watering but when I dried them, I could actually see.
I paid for the exam and went on my merry way with new contacts in my eyes and a bottle of solution for them. As I left the store I though, "My gosh these things are really blurry all of a sudden." At about the same time I realized that I had left my glasses in the contact boot camp training room.
I walked back in to the store and said, "I forgot my glasses, do you mind if I go back and get them?" The lady looked at me like I had two heads and said, "Honey they are on your face." I started laughing and said, "Well no wonder these contacts are so blurry!!" I took them off and was able to see just fine and left the store while guffawing along with the staff about my apparent flakiness.
Today the contacts still feel weird but I was able to wear them for several hours without having to take them out and rub my eyes. I will try wearing them to work tomorrow and bring my glasses along, "just in case." I think life with contacts will be good.
I decided to get a contact exam so I could finally get said lenses for my eyes. The exam went well and then it was off to training for the contacts. They are lots harder to get in and out than I had expected but after a few tries I was able to do it in a reasonable amount of time.
I had some problems with one of them being pretty blurry so the eye doctor changed it out and gave me a different brand which not only felt better but that I could actually see out of without it feeling like that eye was full of tears. My eyes were pretty irritated with all of the activity by the end of it all that they were both watering but when I dried them, I could actually see.
I paid for the exam and went on my merry way with new contacts in my eyes and a bottle of solution for them. As I left the store I though, "My gosh these things are really blurry all of a sudden." At about the same time I realized that I had left my glasses in the contact boot camp training room.
I walked back in to the store and said, "I forgot my glasses, do you mind if I go back and get them?" The lady looked at me like I had two heads and said, "Honey they are on your face." I started laughing and said, "Well no wonder these contacts are so blurry!!" I took them off and was able to see just fine and left the store while guffawing along with the staff about my apparent flakiness.
Today the contacts still feel weird but I was able to wear them for several hours without having to take them out and rub my eyes. I will try wearing them to work tomorrow and bring my glasses along, "just in case." I think life with contacts will be good.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Stress
I remember the stress free time in my life. I remember when my shoulders didn't hurt from bearing the weight of the world on them. I remember being in a place where I didn't let it all bother me so much and made a conscious decision to be happy. Yes there was stress but I wasn't going to let it rule my life.
Today the world feels heavy. There's laundry to do, trash to take out, dishes to get washed, dusting vacuuming, errand running, car washing, apartment hunting and trying to find some quality weekend time with Gman.
With working 55 hours per week, there's not much time left over for myself. Lately I find myself feeling lonely and wanting companionship. Self-respect isn't enough for me to want to keep my apartment looking nice.
I'm feeling holed up and cramped in here. I feel like I need a place to spread out and be me. My apartment is beginning to feel like a prison.
This time of the year it always feels like this. It's depressing, it's not really nice enough to spend a lot of time outside and I have a serious case of the lonelies and cabin fever. I want to get out and go camping, take walks, ride my bike and spend time with friends in our back yards. I WANT a back yard.
One of the apartments I am going to look at today appears to have a huge back yard. That is exciting to me. I can't wait to get out of this dark, dank hole of an apartment with no space to put ANYTHING! There's overflow all over the place. I know I shouldn't complain because there are people out there with less. But I feel like a snake ready to break from the old skin and stretch in to the new.
Last weekend I spent some time with family and it was good to get out of town. It was even better to be able to do it in my own car. There's a sense of freedom in not having to rent a car and realize I can go anywhere I want to on my own 4 wheels that actually shift out of 1st gear and don't overheat after 2 miles.
Really, overall, life is good. In the past two weeks I've gotten better transportation and forgiven a 9 year wrong.
Forgiveness....what a divine thing. To withhold forgiveness from someone who has done you wrong is to use precious energy that could be going to so many good things.
It felt good to put this behind us. I hope this can be the beginning of the rest of the healing process for us all.
So there are many, many good things in my life. I need to focus on them and pray that the things I'm unsettled with will work themselves out soon. I'm ready for the good for awhile.
Today the world feels heavy. There's laundry to do, trash to take out, dishes to get washed, dusting vacuuming, errand running, car washing, apartment hunting and trying to find some quality weekend time with Gman.
With working 55 hours per week, there's not much time left over for myself. Lately I find myself feeling lonely and wanting companionship. Self-respect isn't enough for me to want to keep my apartment looking nice.
I'm feeling holed up and cramped in here. I feel like I need a place to spread out and be me. My apartment is beginning to feel like a prison.
This time of the year it always feels like this. It's depressing, it's not really nice enough to spend a lot of time outside and I have a serious case of the lonelies and cabin fever. I want to get out and go camping, take walks, ride my bike and spend time with friends in our back yards. I WANT a back yard.
One of the apartments I am going to look at today appears to have a huge back yard. That is exciting to me. I can't wait to get out of this dark, dank hole of an apartment with no space to put ANYTHING! There's overflow all over the place. I know I shouldn't complain because there are people out there with less. But I feel like a snake ready to break from the old skin and stretch in to the new.
Last weekend I spent some time with family and it was good to get out of town. It was even better to be able to do it in my own car. There's a sense of freedom in not having to rent a car and realize I can go anywhere I want to on my own 4 wheels that actually shift out of 1st gear and don't overheat after 2 miles.
Really, overall, life is good. In the past two weeks I've gotten better transportation and forgiven a 9 year wrong.
Forgiveness....what a divine thing. To withhold forgiveness from someone who has done you wrong is to use precious energy that could be going to so many good things.
It felt good to put this behind us. I hope this can be the beginning of the rest of the healing process for us all.
So there are many, many good things in my life. I need to focus on them and pray that the things I'm unsettled with will work themselves out soon. I'm ready for the good for awhile.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Laundry Room Guy cont.
I'm so terrible about blogging lately. Please forgive me for falling off the blog wagon for so long. Eventually I will get back to it or make time for it again. Working hard and playing hard doesn't leave much time for me to blog.
If you need to know more about the laundry room guy, read the blog right before this one and you will get the full story.
I contemplated for nearly a week before deciding what to do with the note the laundry room guy left me. I liked his look, from the back at least. He's a big guy....bonus because then maybe I can feel a little petite...a rare feeling for me.
I deliberated with several friends over what to do about the note. Should I call or shouldn't I? Having been divorced and in a few failed relationships since the divorce I'm admittedly gun shy when it comes to dating and the possibility of a relationship.
I finally decided that I had nothing to lose and that I would call him.
I took a deep breath and dialed *67 to block my number; along with his phone number. I've had a stalker before and I don't want one again so I take precautions to prevent that from happening.
Thankfully his voice mail came on because his phone message sounded just as garbled as when he was talking to me in the laundry room. At that point I decided that my hearing is just fine and that he talks like he has a mouth full of garbage all the time.
I don't mean to sound judgemental but I really need someone who is intellectually stimulating and he didn't sound like the intellectually stimulating type. I decided not to leave a message and to keep the note on my desk to remind me during the dry spell that I'm still attractive to at least some people.
My whole school of thought on this is that if it's meant to be, we will run in to each other again. If it's not meant to be then we won't. I'm putting it all in the hands of the powers that be to decide my fate.
Until then, I'm still status quo at between relationships.
If you need to know more about the laundry room guy, read the blog right before this one and you will get the full story.
I contemplated for nearly a week before deciding what to do with the note the laundry room guy left me. I liked his look, from the back at least. He's a big guy....bonus because then maybe I can feel a little petite...a rare feeling for me.
I deliberated with several friends over what to do about the note. Should I call or shouldn't I? Having been divorced and in a few failed relationships since the divorce I'm admittedly gun shy when it comes to dating and the possibility of a relationship.
I finally decided that I had nothing to lose and that I would call him.
I took a deep breath and dialed *67 to block my number; along with his phone number. I've had a stalker before and I don't want one again so I take precautions to prevent that from happening.
Thankfully his voice mail came on because his phone message sounded just as garbled as when he was talking to me in the laundry room. At that point I decided that my hearing is just fine and that he talks like he has a mouth full of garbage all the time.
I don't mean to sound judgemental but I really need someone who is intellectually stimulating and he didn't sound like the intellectually stimulating type. I decided not to leave a message and to keep the note on my desk to remind me during the dry spell that I'm still attractive to at least some people.
My whole school of thought on this is that if it's meant to be, we will run in to each other again. If it's not meant to be then we won't. I'm putting it all in the hands of the powers that be to decide my fate.
Until then, I'm still status quo at between relationships.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
When I Least Expected It....
With it being the new year, I have several resolutions that I have made for myself. I will not bore you with the list of things I have planned for myself but I will tell you that part of the list is very challenging and there's a possibility that even though I'm working towards my goals, I may not accomplish all of my resolutions this year.
I recently read an article that if you make New Year's Resolutions that you'll be happier even if you are not successful in reaching those goals. Why? Because you are working towards bettering yourself and that makes for more happiness as you are working towards a goal of self improvement.
I wouldn't call it a goal or resolution but I have decided that this is the year I need to stop being a chicken shit and get serious about dating and falling in love again. Yes, you heard it right. Those of you who think I've gone to play for the lesbian side can relax. I'm going to get serious about finding a man for the first time in very close to 4 years. Yes, it's been a long time and a wonderful journey but I feel that I've done enough self-improvement and self-enlightenment that I might actually be emotionally healthy enough to find a healthy relationship. SCORE!
Usually when I feel like I'm ready then the whole task seems daunting and I give up. Frankly, dating isn't really that fun when you're in your 30's.....or maybe it's just your attitude towards it.
They say you meet the right one for you when you're least expecting it. Can that even mean in the laundry room of an apartment building? Perhaps.
Tonight I was switching laundry out and trying to get my laundry finished before going out with friends tonight. Let me tell you that I wasn't looking my best. I had at least fixed and straightened my hair and showered but I had on my running pants and a Dave Matthews concert t-shirt and no make-up. It's not uncommon when I'm doing laundry for someone to come through the laundry area, as it's a throughway for the building to get outside. I almost always greet whomever comes through there. Not only because I try to be friendly but also because I want them to know that I know they are there behind me and I like to get a look at who it is. It just makes me feel safer.
To continue my story, a very large (tall and stocky) man came through there tonight. I said my usual "Hello" and he started talking to me. Well my hearing isn't that great anymore and he had his back to me while walking outside and talking the entire time. Since I didn't understand anything he said I didn't reply. I also didn't have my glasses on so I didn't get a good look at his face. I can tell you his stature, his build, what he had on, what his back looked like and his voice sounded like but other than that he was a complete mystery to me.
Fast forward 30 minutes. I'm getting ready to pull the loads out of the dryer and put more in the washer. In my basket I found a note, from this guy sitting on top of my bucket of OxyClean. On the outside it said, "Read This". On the inside was a very nice note from him and his phone number asking me to call him.
Now I've been around the block a few times but this is the most interesting pick-up I'd have to say I've ever had done to me. It's flattering and anxiety producing all at the same time. I want to call him because I'm curious, but that aire of mystery is kind of fun. My other reservation is that I "think" that perhaps he was visiting a neighbor of mine who has always been very nice to me but is a bit shady and just came back from a nice 2 month vacation in the county jail for burglary. Now if they are friends, I'm not very inclined to want to give him a chance just because of the "guilty by association" clause of my life.
I haven't decided yet if I'll call him. I kind of feel like I should because he took the time to write the note and if I had done something like that I think I'd like the person to call me too. I could always use the "I'm not available" clause and let him believe that I'm seeing someone even though I never really said I did.
*shrug*
If nothing else it was a nice ego boost to see that someone would find me attractive in my Saturday's worst!!
What do you think? Should I or shouldn't I call?
I recently read an article that if you make New Year's Resolutions that you'll be happier even if you are not successful in reaching those goals. Why? Because you are working towards bettering yourself and that makes for more happiness as you are working towards a goal of self improvement.
I wouldn't call it a goal or resolution but I have decided that this is the year I need to stop being a chicken shit and get serious about dating and falling in love again. Yes, you heard it right. Those of you who think I've gone to play for the lesbian side can relax. I'm going to get serious about finding a man for the first time in very close to 4 years. Yes, it's been a long time and a wonderful journey but I feel that I've done enough self-improvement and self-enlightenment that I might actually be emotionally healthy enough to find a healthy relationship. SCORE!
Usually when I feel like I'm ready then the whole task seems daunting and I give up. Frankly, dating isn't really that fun when you're in your 30's.....or maybe it's just your attitude towards it.
They say you meet the right one for you when you're least expecting it. Can that even mean in the laundry room of an apartment building? Perhaps.
Tonight I was switching laundry out and trying to get my laundry finished before going out with friends tonight. Let me tell you that I wasn't looking my best. I had at least fixed and straightened my hair and showered but I had on my running pants and a Dave Matthews concert t-shirt and no make-up. It's not uncommon when I'm doing laundry for someone to come through the laundry area, as it's a throughway for the building to get outside. I almost always greet whomever comes through there. Not only because I try to be friendly but also because I want them to know that I know they are there behind me and I like to get a look at who it is. It just makes me feel safer.
To continue my story, a very large (tall and stocky) man came through there tonight. I said my usual "Hello" and he started talking to me. Well my hearing isn't that great anymore and he had his back to me while walking outside and talking the entire time. Since I didn't understand anything he said I didn't reply. I also didn't have my glasses on so I didn't get a good look at his face. I can tell you his stature, his build, what he had on, what his back looked like and his voice sounded like but other than that he was a complete mystery to me.
Fast forward 30 minutes. I'm getting ready to pull the loads out of the dryer and put more in the washer. In my basket I found a note, from this guy sitting on top of my bucket of OxyClean. On the outside it said, "Read This". On the inside was a very nice note from him and his phone number asking me to call him.
Now I've been around the block a few times but this is the most interesting pick-up I'd have to say I've ever had done to me. It's flattering and anxiety producing all at the same time. I want to call him because I'm curious, but that aire of mystery is kind of fun. My other reservation is that I "think" that perhaps he was visiting a neighbor of mine who has always been very nice to me but is a bit shady and just came back from a nice 2 month vacation in the county jail for burglary. Now if they are friends, I'm not very inclined to want to give him a chance just because of the "guilty by association" clause of my life.
I haven't decided yet if I'll call him. I kind of feel like I should because he took the time to write the note and if I had done something like that I think I'd like the person to call me too. I could always use the "I'm not available" clause and let him believe that I'm seeing someone even though I never really said I did.
*shrug*
If nothing else it was a nice ego boost to see that someone would find me attractive in my Saturday's worst!!
What do you think? Should I or shouldn't I call?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Kids are a Trip!!
Ah how I've missed my students over break. And the teachers too. This morning before writing, the 3rd grade students were allowed to talk about their holiday break. They all went around the room and talked about the loot that Santa had brought.
One of the teachers in the room told us she watched more football than she ever has in her life. I told a little about what I did. And then another of the teachers that is in there during that time told us how he had a contest with himself to see how much he could eat and he won every time. He said the other contest he had with himself was to see how long he could stay on the couch and watch TV.
To that one of the third graders oh-so-seriously exclaimed in a surprised voice, "Mr. K. how can you live with yourself?!?!?!?!"
You can probably figure out the reaction of the teachers. We all had smiles on our faces the rest of the morning.
One of the teachers in the room told us she watched more football than she ever has in her life. I told a little about what I did. And then another of the teachers that is in there during that time told us how he had a contest with himself to see how much he could eat and he won every time. He said the other contest he had with himself was to see how long he could stay on the couch and watch TV.
To that one of the third graders oh-so-seriously exclaimed in a surprised voice, "Mr. K. how can you live with yourself?!?!?!?!"
You can probably figure out the reaction of the teachers. We all had smiles on our faces the rest of the morning.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Attitude Adjustments and the Holidays
The holiday season was such a nice one this year. It was the first time in 5 years that I've been home for Christmas. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am unable to be with my entire family for the holidays. Because of that, most years I just stay in Omaha and celebrate each holiday with the "family" I've adopted down here. It's fun but it's just not the same as blood relatives, however it's better than spending holidays alone.
This year my uncle and aunt from Arkansas also made it home. It was such a pleasure seeing them. My plan was to rent a car and come home for Christmas but I ended up taking the bus because of some complications with the car rental company. Since it was Christmas the prices of rentals had trippled so the bus was really the only option left.
I was pleasantly surprised that the bus trip wasn't bad at all. The bus leaving Omaha was 30 minutes late, however it ended up being a blessing in disguise. We were to have an hour layover in Sioux Falls but the layover ended up being only about 10 minutes. I thought a 10 minute layover was VERY doable. We arrived at our destination 20 minutes earlier than scheduled and that made me very happy. It was nice to be able to just relax and take a nap on the trip instead of stressing out with the drive. I may just invest in taking the bus again when I have an extended weekend.
Once we got home there was a great welcome of family. During the course of the day all of my siblings had come to visit mom. I got to see all of my nieces and my 2 nephews. Cuddle with the newest nephew who is absolutely adorable and talk with everyone. It was so nice to see everybody. Every time we all get together, I realize just how big the family is starting to get.
My nieces and nephew are a trip. Gregory doesn't get to see them often and they all had a great game of hide and seek going. One of my nieces, who is especially cunning found a hiding spot in one of my suitcases. We were all giggling out loud that the older boys couldn't find her. We were all giggling at her as she was giggling out loud when they cried, "We give up Desi, come out!!" She knew she had them beat. Of course others tried the suitcase trick but that can only work once. lol It was so great to see them all playing together and having a good time. It was nice to see that Brady wasn't getting on Gregory's nerves and I think Gregory actually enjoyed his younger cousin this time.
On Monday we all went sledding. My sister, sister-in-law and I went out to supervise. It felt so good to be out there and it brought back so many awesome childhood memories. All of a sudden I felt like I was 15 again and out there with my siblings and cousins having a good time. As most of you know, I ended up in a pretty nasty crash with my niece and we both got hurt. However my shoulder is feeling like it's on the mend now and hopefully Desi's goose egg is starting to subside.
I spent the rest of my vacation trying to cook some meals ahead for my mom and Carl, and by doing their laundry. I feel bad that I live so far away and can never help out. This was my opportunity to contribute so I made the most of it by cooking and freezing 4 or 5 different pans of stuff so they hopefully don't have to cook for a couple of weeks. I think I did about 10 loads of dishes but it was fair because I dirtied most of them. Gregory was a big help too with helping to clean the kitchen since my arm was feeling so bad.
Before we knew it, it was time to come back to Omaha. My brother Mike was kind enough to offer up a ride home as long as I paid for the gas. 4 hours, a great lunch and a gas tank fill later, he was on the road on his way back to South Dakota. He saved me a ton of money by doing that and I am very appreciative that he was off work and willing to help me out. Money was pretty scarce at that moment.
So here I am at the end of Christmas vacation and it's back to school tomorrow. I'm sad vacation is ending but happy to be getting back to a schedule again. Now we have spring break to look forward to! :o)
There's more to write about because my mom gave the coolest Christmas gift known to man this Christmas. She gave us kids each a piece of our childhood, but that's another blog that will include photos and an explanation.
Goodnight and sweet dreams!!
This year my uncle and aunt from Arkansas also made it home. It was such a pleasure seeing them. My plan was to rent a car and come home for Christmas but I ended up taking the bus because of some complications with the car rental company. Since it was Christmas the prices of rentals had trippled so the bus was really the only option left.
I was pleasantly surprised that the bus trip wasn't bad at all. The bus leaving Omaha was 30 minutes late, however it ended up being a blessing in disguise. We were to have an hour layover in Sioux Falls but the layover ended up being only about 10 minutes. I thought a 10 minute layover was VERY doable. We arrived at our destination 20 minutes earlier than scheduled and that made me very happy. It was nice to be able to just relax and take a nap on the trip instead of stressing out with the drive. I may just invest in taking the bus again when I have an extended weekend.
Once we got home there was a great welcome of family. During the course of the day all of my siblings had come to visit mom. I got to see all of my nieces and my 2 nephews. Cuddle with the newest nephew who is absolutely adorable and talk with everyone. It was so nice to see everybody. Every time we all get together, I realize just how big the family is starting to get.
My nieces and nephew are a trip. Gregory doesn't get to see them often and they all had a great game of hide and seek going. One of my nieces, who is especially cunning found a hiding spot in one of my suitcases. We were all giggling out loud that the older boys couldn't find her. We were all giggling at her as she was giggling out loud when they cried, "We give up Desi, come out!!" She knew she had them beat. Of course others tried the suitcase trick but that can only work once. lol It was so great to see them all playing together and having a good time. It was nice to see that Brady wasn't getting on Gregory's nerves and I think Gregory actually enjoyed his younger cousin this time.
On Monday we all went sledding. My sister, sister-in-law and I went out to supervise. It felt so good to be out there and it brought back so many awesome childhood memories. All of a sudden I felt like I was 15 again and out there with my siblings and cousins having a good time. As most of you know, I ended up in a pretty nasty crash with my niece and we both got hurt. However my shoulder is feeling like it's on the mend now and hopefully Desi's goose egg is starting to subside.
I spent the rest of my vacation trying to cook some meals ahead for my mom and Carl, and by doing their laundry. I feel bad that I live so far away and can never help out. This was my opportunity to contribute so I made the most of it by cooking and freezing 4 or 5 different pans of stuff so they hopefully don't have to cook for a couple of weeks. I think I did about 10 loads of dishes but it was fair because I dirtied most of them. Gregory was a big help too with helping to clean the kitchen since my arm was feeling so bad.
Before we knew it, it was time to come back to Omaha. My brother Mike was kind enough to offer up a ride home as long as I paid for the gas. 4 hours, a great lunch and a gas tank fill later, he was on the road on his way back to South Dakota. He saved me a ton of money by doing that and I am very appreciative that he was off work and willing to help me out. Money was pretty scarce at that moment.
So here I am at the end of Christmas vacation and it's back to school tomorrow. I'm sad vacation is ending but happy to be getting back to a schedule again. Now we have spring break to look forward to! :o)
There's more to write about because my mom gave the coolest Christmas gift known to man this Christmas. She gave us kids each a piece of our childhood, but that's another blog that will include photos and an explanation.
Goodnight and sweet dreams!!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Sunday Emotional Vommit
I'm going to write some good blogs, I promise. But right now I need to emotionally vommit on being single and Sundays. I hate them. I've always hated them and as long as I'm single I will probably always hate them.
Sunday has traditionally been a "family" day in my life. As long as I am single, I will never get used to being alone on Sundays. I will probably always get just a little depressed, feel sorry for myself and make bad choices like eating too much to make me feel better about my loneliness or seriously thinking of inviting guys over that I know are bad for me. Just so I don't have to be alone.
About the time I can't stand being alone in the house anymore, I get out of my pajamas, take a shower, fix my hair and decide to go out. By the time I get out and get ready to go to the bookstore, which is often my solace when I'm really lonely, the darn bookstore is closed because I waited too long to go.
So here I sit. I contacted my favorite bad habit for some company tonight. It seemed like hours and he hadn't responded when in reality it was only about 45 minutes. I decided to go to the movies instead and told my bad habit I made other plans. But here I sit and now I don't want to go. *sigh* This really sucks.
The grocery store is a great way to break up boredom but with my boredom comes bad food choices like ice cream and chips which I tend to drown my sorrows in. I am determined to make better food choices this year and I know I am having a weak moment right now so I think I will wait to go grocery shopping until tomorrow when I'm in a better place.
Sometimes I really despise Sundays...especially Sunday nights. I need to make a resolution to find myself a good man this year and stop pushing everyone away because I'm scared of getting in to a bad relationship again.
Sunday has traditionally been a "family" day in my life. As long as I am single, I will never get used to being alone on Sundays. I will probably always get just a little depressed, feel sorry for myself and make bad choices like eating too much to make me feel better about my loneliness or seriously thinking of inviting guys over that I know are bad for me. Just so I don't have to be alone.
About the time I can't stand being alone in the house anymore, I get out of my pajamas, take a shower, fix my hair and decide to go out. By the time I get out and get ready to go to the bookstore, which is often my solace when I'm really lonely, the darn bookstore is closed because I waited too long to go.
So here I sit. I contacted my favorite bad habit for some company tonight. It seemed like hours and he hadn't responded when in reality it was only about 45 minutes. I decided to go to the movies instead and told my bad habit I made other plans. But here I sit and now I don't want to go. *sigh* This really sucks.
The grocery store is a great way to break up boredom but with my boredom comes bad food choices like ice cream and chips which I tend to drown my sorrows in. I am determined to make better food choices this year and I know I am having a weak moment right now so I think I will wait to go grocery shopping until tomorrow when I'm in a better place.
Sometimes I really despise Sundays...especially Sunday nights. I need to make a resolution to find myself a good man this year and stop pushing everyone away because I'm scared of getting in to a bad relationship again.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tis the Season
Here we are, 2 days after Thanksgiving. My thoughts have been leading to my budget quite honestly. I always like to say how I'm planning ahead and almost finished shopping before Thanksgiving is here. I have to do this because I do not own a credit card. It's a plus and a minus. It's a comfort knowing on Christmas day that every gift is bought and paid for. However it takes lots of budgeting and planning. On my slim budget, I have to start about 4 months before Christmas Season.
I am proud to say that I've spoken to Santa and Santa has assured me that Gman's Christmas will go off without a hitch. Santa's only thought on Christmas at our house is how to present the Santa gifts. He'll get it figured out. He always does. Gman is so sure he's going to get a PS2 complete with Guitar Hero guitars and games that there is no guess work. I'm going to talk to Santa about leaving only practical things under the tree this year and then hiding the "goodies" until later. *snickering*
I've bought the customary books for all of the nieces and my nephew. But this year I want to give them each a canvas book bag to take with them when they go to the library. I will personalize each one in some way and I can't wait to go shopping for those things.
I know what I'm going to be giving everyone else and I'm hoping that it will all fit in to the budget along with driving home for Christmas. I haven't been home for Christmas in 5 years or more so we are looking very forward to going there and spending time with family on an actual holiday. We are also looking forward to meeting the newest addition to the family. My brother Dan and his wife and two kids are expecting the third child in the family. We don't know what the baby is going to be, so I will probably wait with Christmas shopping until I get home and know the sex of the baby.
On to teachers. It's crazy. You'd think teachers would be the easiest to shop for, however I think they are the most difficult. Most people give teachers an ornament or some other trinket. Teachers get millions of those things in their years of teaching, so I always like to give them something unique as well as useful. One year I decided to make these fizzy bath salts. I made these beautiful bags for each one to go in to and tied them with beautiful ribbon. There was a small hitch. The mix of chemicals that went in to the bath salts solidified in the huge Tupperware bowl I mixed them in. It took me 4 nights of non-stop scraping that shit in to crystals again. OH MY GOSH! Ixnay on the oapsay from now on.
So tonight I was browsing around on the computer and even though I've found some cute stuff, nothing seems just right. Plus this is the first year Gman has had a male teacher for any of his classes. So I have to take that in to consideration as well. I will think and think and eventually come up with something and if all else fails, each teacher will get the grande bottle of hand sanitizer and a jug of disinfecting wipes for their classrooms.
I finally got a different car. I'm so excited about it....kind of. It's older than the car I have now but it seems to be much more mechanically sound in comparison to the car I own now, which is blowing blue smoke thanks to the oil the engine is burning. The "new to me" car needs a new catalytic converter on it. That's an expensive repair. However, the good news is that if I take my car to U Pull It, my mechanic told me how much I should be able to get out of the car and that will almost pay for the catalytic converter. YAHOOOOOOO!!!!!! I'll still have to put out a little bit of money but not nearly what I was expecting. The seats are worn in the car but I think that some seat covers will do just fine in there when the time comes and I have some extra cash. I just hope this car holds up for a couple of years.
It's kind of crazy. The car doesn't have electric windows, seats or locks. That's going to be a big change. It also has two keys...remember when cars had 2 keys? One for the ignition and then another one for the doors and trunk? Well that's this car. haha
My mechanic asked what I was doing with the old car. I said I was going to try to just sell it for its body. No I don't think it's a prostitute. I told him that the car is seriously on its last leg, needs a new transmission, probably an overhaul, new tires and the list goes on and on. He said he'd pass on that since he doesn't want to do that much work on a used car to give to his daughter.
Anyway, so things are looking up for now. I'm looking forward to going out Christmas shopping here in the next couple of days. It should be fun. The tree is going up tomorrow and with any luck we will be able to go downtown and look at the million lights there.
For Gman's birthday I want to take him out for a nice dinner in the nice part of town and then as a 12th birthday surprise I am going to take him on a horse and buggy ride through the Old Market of Omaha. I think he will really enjoy it.
That's all for now. Signing out fat and happy after Thanksgiving leftovers.
I am proud to say that I've spoken to Santa and Santa has assured me that Gman's Christmas will go off without a hitch. Santa's only thought on Christmas at our house is how to present the Santa gifts. He'll get it figured out. He always does. Gman is so sure he's going to get a PS2 complete with Guitar Hero guitars and games that there is no guess work. I'm going to talk to Santa about leaving only practical things under the tree this year and then hiding the "goodies" until later. *snickering*
I've bought the customary books for all of the nieces and my nephew. But this year I want to give them each a canvas book bag to take with them when they go to the library. I will personalize each one in some way and I can't wait to go shopping for those things.
I know what I'm going to be giving everyone else and I'm hoping that it will all fit in to the budget along with driving home for Christmas. I haven't been home for Christmas in 5 years or more so we are looking very forward to going there and spending time with family on an actual holiday. We are also looking forward to meeting the newest addition to the family. My brother Dan and his wife and two kids are expecting the third child in the family. We don't know what the baby is going to be, so I will probably wait with Christmas shopping until I get home and know the sex of the baby.
On to teachers. It's crazy. You'd think teachers would be the easiest to shop for, however I think they are the most difficult. Most people give teachers an ornament or some other trinket. Teachers get millions of those things in their years of teaching, so I always like to give them something unique as well as useful. One year I decided to make these fizzy bath salts. I made these beautiful bags for each one to go in to and tied them with beautiful ribbon. There was a small hitch. The mix of chemicals that went in to the bath salts solidified in the huge Tupperware bowl I mixed them in. It took me 4 nights of non-stop scraping that shit in to crystals again. OH MY GOSH! Ixnay on the oapsay from now on.
So tonight I was browsing around on the computer and even though I've found some cute stuff, nothing seems just right. Plus this is the first year Gman has had a male teacher for any of his classes. So I have to take that in to consideration as well. I will think and think and eventually come up with something and if all else fails, each teacher will get the grande bottle of hand sanitizer and a jug of disinfecting wipes for their classrooms.
I finally got a different car. I'm so excited about it....kind of. It's older than the car I have now but it seems to be much more mechanically sound in comparison to the car I own now, which is blowing blue smoke thanks to the oil the engine is burning. The "new to me" car needs a new catalytic converter on it. That's an expensive repair. However, the good news is that if I take my car to U Pull It, my mechanic told me how much I should be able to get out of the car and that will almost pay for the catalytic converter. YAHOOOOOOO!!!!!! I'll still have to put out a little bit of money but not nearly what I was expecting. The seats are worn in the car but I think that some seat covers will do just fine in there when the time comes and I have some extra cash. I just hope this car holds up for a couple of years.
It's kind of crazy. The car doesn't have electric windows, seats or locks. That's going to be a big change. It also has two keys...remember when cars had 2 keys? One for the ignition and then another one for the doors and trunk? Well that's this car. haha
My mechanic asked what I was doing with the old car. I said I was going to try to just sell it for its body. No I don't think it's a prostitute. I told him that the car is seriously on its last leg, needs a new transmission, probably an overhaul, new tires and the list goes on and on. He said he'd pass on that since he doesn't want to do that much work on a used car to give to his daughter.
Anyway, so things are looking up for now. I'm looking forward to going out Christmas shopping here in the next couple of days. It should be fun. The tree is going up tomorrow and with any luck we will be able to go downtown and look at the million lights there.
For Gman's birthday I want to take him out for a nice dinner in the nice part of town and then as a 12th birthday surprise I am going to take him on a horse and buggy ride through the Old Market of Omaha. I think he will really enjoy it.
That's all for now. Signing out fat and happy after Thanksgiving leftovers.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
A Request for Ideas
Last year for Christmas I wrote a book for my mother. The book consisted of happy memories from childhood. She told me she loved the book and recently I found out that she reads it about once a week. I had no idea it would mean so much.
The point behind the book was to let her know when she's alive all the cool things I remember about her. The one thing she mentioned from the book that she loves and was surprised to see in there is the 10 things I admire about her.
I want to do another book this Christmas, but I'm kind of having writer's block for things to write in there.
So here's my question to the people who read my blog.
What sort of things would you like to hear from your loved ones while you are still alive? What would mean the most to you?
I'm looking for ideas of things to write about. I'm going to really try hard to remember what I wrote in the book last Christmas and try even harder not to repeat anything I wrote in there.
Parents, what would you want to hear from your children?
Children, what would you want your parents to know before they die? What would you want to say to them?
Any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated.
The point behind the book was to let her know when she's alive all the cool things I remember about her. The one thing she mentioned from the book that she loves and was surprised to see in there is the 10 things I admire about her.
I want to do another book this Christmas, but I'm kind of having writer's block for things to write in there.
So here's my question to the people who read my blog.
What sort of things would you like to hear from your loved ones while you are still alive? What would mean the most to you?
I'm looking for ideas of things to write about. I'm going to really try hard to remember what I wrote in the book last Christmas and try even harder not to repeat anything I wrote in there.
Parents, what would you want to hear from your children?
Children, what would you want your parents to know before they die? What would you want to say to them?
Any ideas and help would be greatly appreciated.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Damn, my plan failed miserably.....
So I did the Buffalo Wild Wings trivia event tonight. I got there before anyone else and I was so cold from the weather I decided I wanted coffee.....with Irish Cream!! YUMMMMMMMMMMM. I waited for about 15 minutes for people to start showing up and I could feel my blood sugar getting low so I ordered an appetizer to nibble on and share when others got there.
So tomorrow is Friday, the last day of the week and a short week next week. YAY!!
I'm looking forward to having a 5 day weekend. I think perhaps I'll take the big G Christmas shopping for his dad and order my mom's Christmas gift online so it's here and ready to go. After that I'll pretty much be all done shopping. How about that?!?!?!?!?! That's what happens when you choose not to own a credit card and pay for things along the way. It takes a little extra planning but the great thing is that I can relax on Christmas Day knowing that every gift has been bought and paid for with no big credit card bills to have to pay for many months to come.
So I'm off to bed. I have a book that I'm getting ready to finish. It's called Three Cups of Tea. If you are interested in the Middle East at all, it's a great book to read about the culture in Pakistan and Afghanistan, along with learning about the rise of the Taliban and about the determination of one man to build schools and allow for the education of impoverished children, mostly girls. I just wish the book could have also included the fall of the Taliban.
Anyway, bedtime here. Time to close for now.
So tomorrow is Friday, the last day of the week and a short week next week. YAY!!
I'm looking forward to having a 5 day weekend. I think perhaps I'll take the big G Christmas shopping for his dad and order my mom's Christmas gift online so it's here and ready to go. After that I'll pretty much be all done shopping. How about that?!?!?!?!?! That's what happens when you choose not to own a credit card and pay for things along the way. It takes a little extra planning but the great thing is that I can relax on Christmas Day knowing that every gift has been bought and paid for with no big credit card bills to have to pay for many months to come.
So I'm off to bed. I have a book that I'm getting ready to finish. It's called Three Cups of Tea. If you are interested in the Middle East at all, it's a great book to read about the culture in Pakistan and Afghanistan, along with learning about the rise of the Taliban and about the determination of one man to build schools and allow for the education of impoverished children, mostly girls. I just wish the book could have also included the fall of the Taliban.
Anyway, bedtime here. Time to close for now.
Special Needs Skills Always Needed
Ok....it's been awhile since I've blogged. I've been busier than a squirrel gathering nuts for winter. Lots of stuff going on.
I do believe that when my son is raised that I should have an honorary law degree at the most prestigious university in the world. My son can seriously find any loophole in any possible rule there is to be had. He's done it in school, at home, with his dad, and with countless others. Lucky for him he's so dang cute because there are days when I'd like to give him to the nearest band of gypsies taking new members.
This week he's taken 3 times the time it would take to do his homework and used that time to try to get out of his homework. Tuesday his resource teacher came and got me to tell me that he had stuffed himself in to his locker because he didn't want to take notes for science. Apparently he was mad in there but wasn't causing problems so they decided to let him stay for the remaining 40 minutes of the day. When I finished with my last class I walked up to his classroom and looked inside the locker. I approached with my most caring self to see what was bothering him. He had refused to do his work in class and refused to go to chorus; which is totally unlike him. I found out he was having girl problems! GIRL PROBLEMS....IN THE 6th GRADE FOR PETE'S SAKE!!! I talked to him until school was out and he seemed to be calmed down.
I asked his science teacher for her notes so we could make a copy of them and he could copy them. When he is in one of his moods I have to be careful about how to approach things. I allowed him to still go to the library but for a shortened amount of time after school. He loves to go to the library after school and hang with his friends along with gaining some independence. I like having time to unwind after work too so it's cool that he goes there.
Before letting him go to the library I told him I'd let him go but he had to do all of his homework plus copy the notes with no complaint before I'd agree he could walk to the library. He agreed, even though he didn't want to. He'd agree to anything as long as he could go to the library.
When he got back he did all of his homework without complaint........until I brought up the notes. His response to me telling him he needs to copy the notes he didn't do in class is that I made a copy of them so he really doesn't need to copy them because there is already a copy there. My simple reply was, "Nice try. Now go to your room and copy those notes."
Seriously, 5 hours later he was finally finished copying down 2 pages, front only, of notes for science. EGADS!!! At the end of the night he was whining and crying that he was sooooooooooooooooooooooo lonely and needed company and a shower and a snack and a hug and all the things he usually enjoys. However I told him that when his homework was finished he could have all those things as long as he was done at a reasonable time.
So he brought me his notes, and he's a smart one. He had copied every other fact down, thinking I wouldn't check them. When I noticed and stated that he missed some very important stuff, his shoulders slumped because he knew he'd been busted. He was sent back to his room to finish the notes and began wailing in utter agony. Finally at 11:00 p.m. the notes were completed to my satisfaction and he was allowed to go to bed. He wasn't even hungry by that time, just exhausted. I snuggled with him for a little bit then left him to sleep.
Today his teacher caught me and told me that it must have worked because there was more of the same to do. I had told her the other day he was up until 11:00 P.M. getting them done. She told me he copied every note perfectly and with no mistakes and no complaints. We both smiled at each other knowingly and agreed that it must have worked, at least for the time being. Hahaha. That kid is something else. He constantly keeps me on my toes.
Then we got to school and I joined my 3rd graders for reading\spelling class. They had been writing story leads all week (like the first sentence of a story and that sentence is supposed to catch the reader's attention). It's been a blast. I love writing and I love helping teach writing. I try to make it fun for the kids and so does their teacher and the other helper besides me. So the leads were finished yesterday and today they were all on 3 sheets of paper. The kids were told they had to pick out their very favorite story lead and circle that one so they can start on a story with that lead tomorrow. One of the boys said, "What if I don't like any of them?" I piped up and said, "Well Caden, if that happens then I'll pick one for you and I already know which one it is!!" He was being a brat so I decided to be a brat too. haha. So of course he asked which one and I said, "It's the one that says, I love my best friend _________________ because she is sweet and kind." Well everyone erupted in to giggles including him, but then he decided that's the one he wants to use about his "girlfriend". We all cracked up laughing at him and the entire class chuckled about his reaction for at least 2 minutes.
I really think all the kids really enjoy writing class even though they would never admit it. It's a very creative class and I love to read their stories. They know that so they show me a lot of the stories they write.
Also, in my school they do a Christmas and winter craft night. Several staff members, including myself, are on a committee to plan this night. I have one craft I made up and there's one craft that was kind of forced upon me. Both are going to be just fine. I was figuring out how much ribbon I was going to need for these necklaces that the kids will be making. Well I have 112 plastic M&M's (this is the project I did not pick), all the beads I will need but I was figuring out the other day how much ribbon I was going to need. So I figured, 112 M&M's and each necklace will need about 21 inches of ribbon to complete the necklace. 112x21=2352. So I wrote down 2352 feet instead of inches! OOOOOPS!!! Can you see where I'm going with this? So the head of the committee went out shopping for stuff last night and asked me this morning about this number. I said, "OH MY!! You're right, I don't know what I was thinking!!!" She chuckled and said, "I think you gave me inches instead of feet." Of course I felt really stupid and then started laughing...we laughed and laughed and then when I caught my breath I said, "Now do you see why I teach special ed? I'd never make it as a regular ed math teacher!" We laughed even harder and both had smiles on our faces to start the day. Now the mistake has been fixed and I am officially ready for craft night on December 5. It's a ton of people that come for crafts but it's so fun!! I can't wait.
I hope all have a good night.
I do believe that when my son is raised that I should have an honorary law degree at the most prestigious university in the world. My son can seriously find any loophole in any possible rule there is to be had. He's done it in school, at home, with his dad, and with countless others. Lucky for him he's so dang cute because there are days when I'd like to give him to the nearest band of gypsies taking new members.
This week he's taken 3 times the time it would take to do his homework and used that time to try to get out of his homework. Tuesday his resource teacher came and got me to tell me that he had stuffed himself in to his locker because he didn't want to take notes for science. Apparently he was mad in there but wasn't causing problems so they decided to let him stay for the remaining 40 minutes of the day. When I finished with my last class I walked up to his classroom and looked inside the locker. I approached with my most caring self to see what was bothering him. He had refused to do his work in class and refused to go to chorus; which is totally unlike him. I found out he was having girl problems! GIRL PROBLEMS....IN THE 6th GRADE FOR PETE'S SAKE!!! I talked to him until school was out and he seemed to be calmed down.
I asked his science teacher for her notes so we could make a copy of them and he could copy them. When he is in one of his moods I have to be careful about how to approach things. I allowed him to still go to the library but for a shortened amount of time after school. He loves to go to the library after school and hang with his friends along with gaining some independence. I like having time to unwind after work too so it's cool that he goes there.
Before letting him go to the library I told him I'd let him go but he had to do all of his homework plus copy the notes with no complaint before I'd agree he could walk to the library. He agreed, even though he didn't want to. He'd agree to anything as long as he could go to the library.
When he got back he did all of his homework without complaint........until I brought up the notes. His response to me telling him he needs to copy the notes he didn't do in class is that I made a copy of them so he really doesn't need to copy them because there is already a copy there. My simple reply was, "Nice try. Now go to your room and copy those notes."
Seriously, 5 hours later he was finally finished copying down 2 pages, front only, of notes for science. EGADS!!! At the end of the night he was whining and crying that he was sooooooooooooooooooooooo lonely and needed company and a shower and a snack and a hug and all the things he usually enjoys. However I told him that when his homework was finished he could have all those things as long as he was done at a reasonable time.
So he brought me his notes, and he's a smart one. He had copied every other fact down, thinking I wouldn't check them. When I noticed and stated that he missed some very important stuff, his shoulders slumped because he knew he'd been busted. He was sent back to his room to finish the notes and began wailing in utter agony. Finally at 11:00 p.m. the notes were completed to my satisfaction and he was allowed to go to bed. He wasn't even hungry by that time, just exhausted. I snuggled with him for a little bit then left him to sleep.
Today his teacher caught me and told me that it must have worked because there was more of the same to do. I had told her the other day he was up until 11:00 P.M. getting them done. She told me he copied every note perfectly and with no mistakes and no complaints. We both smiled at each other knowingly and agreed that it must have worked, at least for the time being. Hahaha. That kid is something else. He constantly keeps me on my toes.
Then we got to school and I joined my 3rd graders for reading\spelling class. They had been writing story leads all week (like the first sentence of a story and that sentence is supposed to catch the reader's attention). It's been a blast. I love writing and I love helping teach writing. I try to make it fun for the kids and so does their teacher and the other helper besides me. So the leads were finished yesterday and today they were all on 3 sheets of paper. The kids were told they had to pick out their very favorite story lead and circle that one so they can start on a story with that lead tomorrow. One of the boys said, "What if I don't like any of them?" I piped up and said, "Well Caden, if that happens then I'll pick one for you and I already know which one it is!!" He was being a brat so I decided to be a brat too. haha. So of course he asked which one and I said, "It's the one that says, I love my best friend _________________ because she is sweet and kind." Well everyone erupted in to giggles including him, but then he decided that's the one he wants to use about his "girlfriend". We all cracked up laughing at him and the entire class chuckled about his reaction for at least 2 minutes.
I really think all the kids really enjoy writing class even though they would never admit it. It's a very creative class and I love to read their stories. They know that so they show me a lot of the stories they write.
Also, in my school they do a Christmas and winter craft night. Several staff members, including myself, are on a committee to plan this night. I have one craft I made up and there's one craft that was kind of forced upon me. Both are going to be just fine. I was figuring out how much ribbon I was going to need for these necklaces that the kids will be making. Well I have 112 plastic M&M's (this is the project I did not pick), all the beads I will need but I was figuring out the other day how much ribbon I was going to need. So I figured, 112 M&M's and each necklace will need about 21 inches of ribbon to complete the necklace. 112x21=2352. So I wrote down 2352 feet instead of inches! OOOOOPS!!! Can you see where I'm going with this? So the head of the committee went out shopping for stuff last night and asked me this morning about this number. I said, "OH MY!! You're right, I don't know what I was thinking!!!" She chuckled and said, "I think you gave me inches instead of feet." Of course I felt really stupid and then started laughing...we laughed and laughed and then when I caught my breath I said, "Now do you see why I teach special ed? I'd never make it as a regular ed math teacher!" We laughed even harder and both had smiles on our faces to start the day. Now the mistake has been fixed and I am officially ready for craft night on December 5. It's a ton of people that come for crafts but it's so fun!! I can't wait.
I hope all have a good night.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Dipping My Toes In
Having been out of the dating world for such a long time, I find that dipping my toes back in the dating pool and getting serious about perhaps finding a new relationship after so many years has proven to be an interesting experience.
After the end of my latest relationship, which was nearly 4 years ago, I made the decision to do lots and lots of work on myself. I discovered that the only commonality between all of my breakups was me. I needed to figure out why I chose the men I did for myself.
At first I wanted to get right back on the dating wagon, mostly so I could have some affirmations that I was still attractive and loveable. However, at some point I realized that the only way I would be attractive and loveable was to find a way to find myself attractive and loveable. That step in my life has been the most important and biggest turning point since becoming an adult.
Once the commitment was made that self-discovery was not only wanted but imperative for my happiness, the steps to improving the life journey for myself became a winding, fascinating path of so many different branches of what humanity means.
At some point in this journey I became disinterested in dating or any kind of romantic or sexual contact with men outside of platonic friendship. I paid attention to friends in happy marriages and noted some of the similarities they had, the traits their husbands possessed, and the things I found I might want for myself when I decided I was ready to start dating again.
Here I am, just about 4 years later and I find myself longing for companionship now. The nice thing is that since I am confident in myself and tell myself that I deserve nothing less than what I want, it's so much more difficult to settle for the bullshit that so many men deal to women. It's funny, because all too late the man will realize what he's lost and come groveling. What an enlightening experience to look at a man you once really cared about and wonder why you settled. I'm sure men do the same.
In the past year of dating experiences I've met several men. Some were good men, some were turds, some were clueless, some were over-aware. However, none of them were right for me.
I've pretty much given up on the process of online dating simply because it's a process that I have begun to despise. I've found that it's really difficult to maintain any kind of healthy boundaries, open up to each other far too fast and create a false sense of intimacy. In online dating I also believe there is the "Kid in the Candy Store" syndrome. People are judged solely on their picture about 90% of the time. I'm just as guilty of that as any man is of this phenomenon.
Lately I've gone back to the "traditional" way of meeting people. Out on walks, or bike rides, or the grocery store, or through friends of my son. My dating life has slowed way down from what it would be if I were online. However, I find it's so much more satisfying to have a real-life conversation where you don't lose so much in the translation of the written word.
Recently a dear friend of mine broke off a 5 year relationship and she decided she wanted to start up a group of people who could just hang out and do fun things together without the stigma of it being a "singles" group yet you don't have to go it alone out there. Several of us have known each other for many years, but several new people joined the group and it has been such a great experience. The women are outstanding women and the men from what I've seen are all pretty good eggs.
Anyway, I really look forward to getting to know the new people even better. It has been an enlightening experience finally getting to know some guys I would probably never talk to otherwise for various reasons, mostly my own insecurities.
We all get together every few weeks for board games and what a great way it is to get to know other people.
After the end of my latest relationship, which was nearly 4 years ago, I made the decision to do lots and lots of work on myself. I discovered that the only commonality between all of my breakups was me. I needed to figure out why I chose the men I did for myself.
At first I wanted to get right back on the dating wagon, mostly so I could have some affirmations that I was still attractive and loveable. However, at some point I realized that the only way I would be attractive and loveable was to find a way to find myself attractive and loveable. That step in my life has been the most important and biggest turning point since becoming an adult.
Once the commitment was made that self-discovery was not only wanted but imperative for my happiness, the steps to improving the life journey for myself became a winding, fascinating path of so many different branches of what humanity means.
At some point in this journey I became disinterested in dating or any kind of romantic or sexual contact with men outside of platonic friendship. I paid attention to friends in happy marriages and noted some of the similarities they had, the traits their husbands possessed, and the things I found I might want for myself when I decided I was ready to start dating again.
Here I am, just about 4 years later and I find myself longing for companionship now. The nice thing is that since I am confident in myself and tell myself that I deserve nothing less than what I want, it's so much more difficult to settle for the bullshit that so many men deal to women. It's funny, because all too late the man will realize what he's lost and come groveling. What an enlightening experience to look at a man you once really cared about and wonder why you settled. I'm sure men do the same.
In the past year of dating experiences I've met several men. Some were good men, some were turds, some were clueless, some were over-aware. However, none of them were right for me.
I've pretty much given up on the process of online dating simply because it's a process that I have begun to despise. I've found that it's really difficult to maintain any kind of healthy boundaries, open up to each other far too fast and create a false sense of intimacy. In online dating I also believe there is the "Kid in the Candy Store" syndrome. People are judged solely on their picture about 90% of the time. I'm just as guilty of that as any man is of this phenomenon.
Lately I've gone back to the "traditional" way of meeting people. Out on walks, or bike rides, or the grocery store, or through friends of my son. My dating life has slowed way down from what it would be if I were online. However, I find it's so much more satisfying to have a real-life conversation where you don't lose so much in the translation of the written word.
Recently a dear friend of mine broke off a 5 year relationship and she decided she wanted to start up a group of people who could just hang out and do fun things together without the stigma of it being a "singles" group yet you don't have to go it alone out there. Several of us have known each other for many years, but several new people joined the group and it has been such a great experience. The women are outstanding women and the men from what I've seen are all pretty good eggs.
Anyway, I really look forward to getting to know the new people even better. It has been an enlightening experience finally getting to know some guys I would probably never talk to otherwise for various reasons, mostly my own insecurities.
We all get together every few weeks for board games and what a great way it is to get to know other people.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Ahhh an extra hour
I love when the time goes back to standard time in the fall. It just doesn't seem to be as difficult to get used to as when the time jumps ahead. I feel refreshed and ready to face the day right now.
Gregory came in this morning and wanted to wrestle. I don't know why his dad won't wrestle with him to get some of that out of him but he won't so I get to. The only thing is that he's just about matched me in strength at the age of 11. I think I've taught him to fight all too well. He took one whack at me and put me out of commission for about 5 minutes this morning. He felt horrible and I lamented that next time I won't teach him how to slap so well. I've taught him some pressure points, how to slap and where to punch so it will count. Punching is strictly off limits though.
Most of the time wrestling matches become fits of tickling and giggling so we both just sit there and laugh afterward. Today we played bloody knuckles and slaps. I taught him some new strategies. When that was done I was in the supine position and he wanted to arm wrestle. An old canoeing injury in my right arm got my instant, direct and undivided attention as soon as I braced to wrestle him. I didn't break that arm when I injured it but I did major damage to it considering it was the color of red grapes from my elbow almost to my wrist for about a month and then varying rainbow colors as it healed. I don't know what's going on in there now but it's not good. I guess I'll have to break down and go see the doctor about it if the pain persists. I'm surprised that it's back. Thankfully it's not as bad as it was when the canoe accident first happened.
Today I am going for another walk with a friend, then G and I will be going to the grocery store to plan out meals for an upcoming Boyscouts camping trip where he has to be the cook, make dinner and make sure he gets his homework done. I also need to get my room cleaned. It's hideous.
I bought a new scale last night and I hate it. I liked the weight the other scale showed me much better. It must surely be wrong. LOL. That's what I'll tell myself.
Anyway, I need to go hang some clothes up. Happy Sunday!
Gregory came in this morning and wanted to wrestle. I don't know why his dad won't wrestle with him to get some of that out of him but he won't so I get to. The only thing is that he's just about matched me in strength at the age of 11. I think I've taught him to fight all too well. He took one whack at me and put me out of commission for about 5 minutes this morning. He felt horrible and I lamented that next time I won't teach him how to slap so well. I've taught him some pressure points, how to slap and where to punch so it will count. Punching is strictly off limits though.
Most of the time wrestling matches become fits of tickling and giggling so we both just sit there and laugh afterward. Today we played bloody knuckles and slaps. I taught him some new strategies. When that was done I was in the supine position and he wanted to arm wrestle. An old canoeing injury in my right arm got my instant, direct and undivided attention as soon as I braced to wrestle him. I didn't break that arm when I injured it but I did major damage to it considering it was the color of red grapes from my elbow almost to my wrist for about a month and then varying rainbow colors as it healed. I don't know what's going on in there now but it's not good. I guess I'll have to break down and go see the doctor about it if the pain persists. I'm surprised that it's back. Thankfully it's not as bad as it was when the canoe accident first happened.
Today I am going for another walk with a friend, then G and I will be going to the grocery store to plan out meals for an upcoming Boyscouts camping trip where he has to be the cook, make dinner and make sure he gets his homework done. I also need to get my room cleaned. It's hideous.
I bought a new scale last night and I hate it. I liked the weight the other scale showed me much better. It must surely be wrong. LOL. That's what I'll tell myself.
Anyway, I need to go hang some clothes up. Happy Sunday!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween Hangover
We made it through Halloween just fine. The celebrating kicked off with a Halloween parade at work\school. It's one of my favorite holidays because I love to see how creative the costumes are each year.
While in reading\writing class one of my students asked what I was dressing up as. I told him I was going to be a big, tall, mean, scary teacher that growls. The eyes of the collective group grew bigger for a split second then they all burst out laughing. I said, "Ok, fine I'm not dressing up NOW." They laughed more. I love third graders.
Anyway, the school saves costumes from year to year for students who either forget or don't have the money to buy a costume for Halloween. When the helper lady came in to our classroom to see if anyone in there needed a costume, Caden raises his hand and says, "Hey can you see what you can find in there for Ms. C? Being the quick witted woman she is, she said, "I'll see what I can throw together for her." That kid cracks me up.
One of my students didn't have a costume so I let him borrow one of Gman's old costumes, which happens to be an Elvis wig, sparkly cape and shirt that I spent hours and hours making a couple of years ago. It made me really happy to be able to let someone else borrow the costume because of all the work that was put in to it.
Here's a pic of Gman when he wore it.
The parade immediately went in to the end of the day Halloween parties for the kids. They all seemed to have a blast and I had fun getting pictures of the SPED kids.
After work I had a couple of hours of down time while Gman went trick or treating with his dad, step-mom and little brother. I took advantage of that time and took a little nap. Once he got home, we went out to start trick or treating. I started talking with the lady across the street and he asked if he could go down the block and start trick or treating. While he was out he ran in to one of his little friends who he doesn't get to see very often anymore since the friend is in middle school this year. They wanted to trick or treat together up and down the blocks close to here. *sigh* I wanted to take him but even more, I want him to have buddies he can do things with and he doesn't have many buddies so I let them go together with the stipulation that he needed to take his cell phone, answer it when I called to check in every 15 minutes and told him he needed to be home before 8:30 p.m. His friend said, "My mom said I can stay out until 9:00 p.m. can he stay out until that time?" Well the friend is pretty responsible so I said it would be fine. Strangely enough Gman was home shortly after 8:30 p.m. and that made me happy. We could go trick or treat for a half hour together. YAY! We went to a few houses and had a nice time doing that.
We came home, ordered pizza (which ended up taking nearly 3 hours to show up....but that's another blog) and then sunk happily in to bed. It was nice not to have to be anywhere this morning until 11.
This morning I dropped Gman off at ballroom lessons and met a friend at the nearby park for a walk. It was so amazingly beautiful that it almost felt like I was in heaven for a little while. The fall colors are amazing this year. I need to remember to take my camera on the walk tomorrow. On our way back, we found 2 checks made out to some lady who was obviously going to be missing a nice chunk of change when she got home. I did a little sleuth work, found a phone number through directory assistance and called them to let them know the checks were in good hands. I was really hoping for permission to sign them and use them but no such luck. haha. The happy lady came and claimed her checks less than an hour later and thanked me profusely. It feels good to do good. Use your powers for good, not evil...it's good karma.
Gman and I were going to go to a movie tonight but when I checked the listings for tonight, I realized the movie was only showing in the afternoons, so we had to put our plans on hold until tomorrow. However we did do some shopping and went out to dinner together.
I needed a new scale in the worst way. My old scale is not only analog but it's nearing 20 years old if it's not 20 years old. I don't remember exactly when I bought it for my hope chest. Remember hope chests girls? Mine was loaded when I moved out. I purchased a nice digital scale and about had a stroke when I weighed myself tonight. Damn I had no idea I weighed THAT much. Criminy! The store I went to was having some awesome sales. I found a much needed fall coat, a scarf, hat and mittens that I could wear in the fall and the winter while out at recess duty. I also found some nicer walking pants for the walks. Capris yoga pants aren't going to cut it much longer.
I looked for something sexy to wear out next Friday night to impress the hottie cop since he's only ever seen me in either my workout clothes and a ponytail, my old security guard uniform or my second job work clothes which are SO not flattering. If he likes me in that stuff he'll LOVE me when I'm dressed nicely. I didn't have any luck though. I thought all the clothes were ugly in there so I'll have to look somewhere else and see what I can find. I do have some nice standbys but it's nice to get something new once in awhile.
So here I sit, blogging when I should be cleaning and hoping the cleaning fairy comes to visit sometime soon. It wouldn't be so hard to clean everything, it's just a matter of getting started. *sigh*
I hope all are having a wonderful weekend so far. I know I am. Tomorrow is going to be a busy but fun-filled day. We will be out enjoying the weather to its fullest potential. I can't believe it's in the 70's in November!!
While in reading\writing class one of my students asked what I was dressing up as. I told him I was going to be a big, tall, mean, scary teacher that growls. The eyes of the collective group grew bigger for a split second then they all burst out laughing. I said, "Ok, fine I'm not dressing up NOW." They laughed more. I love third graders.
Anyway, the school saves costumes from year to year for students who either forget or don't have the money to buy a costume for Halloween. When the helper lady came in to our classroom to see if anyone in there needed a costume, Caden raises his hand and says, "Hey can you see what you can find in there for Ms. C? Being the quick witted woman she is, she said, "I'll see what I can throw together for her." That kid cracks me up.
One of my students didn't have a costume so I let him borrow one of Gman's old costumes, which happens to be an Elvis wig, sparkly cape and shirt that I spent hours and hours making a couple of years ago. It made me really happy to be able to let someone else borrow the costume because of all the work that was put in to it.
Here's a pic of Gman when he wore it.
The parade immediately went in to the end of the day Halloween parties for the kids. They all seemed to have a blast and I had fun getting pictures of the SPED kids.
After work I had a couple of hours of down time while Gman went trick or treating with his dad, step-mom and little brother. I took advantage of that time and took a little nap. Once he got home, we went out to start trick or treating. I started talking with the lady across the street and he asked if he could go down the block and start trick or treating. While he was out he ran in to one of his little friends who he doesn't get to see very often anymore since the friend is in middle school this year. They wanted to trick or treat together up and down the blocks close to here. *sigh* I wanted to take him but even more, I want him to have buddies he can do things with and he doesn't have many buddies so I let them go together with the stipulation that he needed to take his cell phone, answer it when I called to check in every 15 minutes and told him he needed to be home before 8:30 p.m. His friend said, "My mom said I can stay out until 9:00 p.m. can he stay out until that time?" Well the friend is pretty responsible so I said it would be fine. Strangely enough Gman was home shortly after 8:30 p.m. and that made me happy. We could go trick or treat for a half hour together. YAY! We went to a few houses and had a nice time doing that.
We came home, ordered pizza (which ended up taking nearly 3 hours to show up....but that's another blog) and then sunk happily in to bed. It was nice not to have to be anywhere this morning until 11.
This morning I dropped Gman off at ballroom lessons and met a friend at the nearby park for a walk. It was so amazingly beautiful that it almost felt like I was in heaven for a little while. The fall colors are amazing this year. I need to remember to take my camera on the walk tomorrow. On our way back, we found 2 checks made out to some lady who was obviously going to be missing a nice chunk of change when she got home. I did a little sleuth work, found a phone number through directory assistance and called them to let them know the checks were in good hands. I was really hoping for permission to sign them and use them but no such luck. haha. The happy lady came and claimed her checks less than an hour later and thanked me profusely. It feels good to do good. Use your powers for good, not evil...it's good karma.
Gman and I were going to go to a movie tonight but when I checked the listings for tonight, I realized the movie was only showing in the afternoons, so we had to put our plans on hold until tomorrow. However we did do some shopping and went out to dinner together.
I needed a new scale in the worst way. My old scale is not only analog but it's nearing 20 years old if it's not 20 years old. I don't remember exactly when I bought it for my hope chest. Remember hope chests girls? Mine was loaded when I moved out. I purchased a nice digital scale and about had a stroke when I weighed myself tonight. Damn I had no idea I weighed THAT much. Criminy! The store I went to was having some awesome sales. I found a much needed fall coat, a scarf, hat and mittens that I could wear in the fall and the winter while out at recess duty. I also found some nicer walking pants for the walks. Capris yoga pants aren't going to cut it much longer.
I looked for something sexy to wear out next Friday night to impress the hottie cop since he's only ever seen me in either my workout clothes and a ponytail, my old security guard uniform or my second job work clothes which are SO not flattering. If he likes me in that stuff he'll LOVE me when I'm dressed nicely. I didn't have any luck though. I thought all the clothes were ugly in there so I'll have to look somewhere else and see what I can find. I do have some nice standbys but it's nice to get something new once in awhile.
So here I sit, blogging when I should be cleaning and hoping the cleaning fairy comes to visit sometime soon. It wouldn't be so hard to clean everything, it's just a matter of getting started. *sigh*
I hope all are having a wonderful weekend so far. I know I am. Tomorrow is going to be a busy but fun-filled day. We will be out enjoying the weather to its fullest potential. I can't believe it's in the 70's in November!!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
It's So Good I Had To Check My Horoscope
What a great day it's been. It's been uplifting to say the least. This afternoon as I was on my way to lunch I ran in to a mom at school who has been fighting breast cancer. I spoke with her back in mid-September about her cancer and shared some of the things that my mother has been going through as well. I wanted to support her and let her know we are all on her side in her fight. Unfortunately, even though she's young, the prognosis for the kind of cancer she has isn't very good. However she's fighting the good fight, she looks strong and despite her illness she seems like she's doing pretty well. She underwent a double-mastectomy 3 weeks ago today.
We had a nice chat and she remembered about my mom. She asked how my mom is. I gave her the latest news I have and she asked me to tell my mom that she's in this lady's prayers as well. One of these days I want to cook a meal for their family and take it over there for them. I know when I had my surgery, that was a life saver for me.
Anyway, our conversation left me feeling highly emotional and missing my mom. I teared up and did a little crying with this mom and on my way home I just felt like crying instead of eating. As I approached the last intersection before home, there was a man and his manly dog approaching the street as well. I waved them through the intersection and like any polite person, he smiled and waved. I smiled and waved back....not before noticing he was pretty good looking. As they were crossing the street, I was admiring the scenery walking past my car. As I was getting ready to pull out, he did a full body turn, smiled a big dimply smile and waved again. I swear my heart stopped. I'm pretty used to going largely unnoticed, so I was shocked and oh so pleasantly surprised. As I drove in to the driveway at least a minute later my heart was still pumping hard. Unfortunately his dad was pooping down the block so I didn't get to take another gander at him. In just that one little moment, my day was made so much brighter. I think he was my happiness angel for the day. He was simply radiant...I can't really explain it.
Anyway, the rest of my day was pretty good. After school we went to the store and picked up pumpkins to carve tonight. We also picked up a few odds and ends groceries from the store as well. We went home, I started Gman on his homework and then a little later on I went for a walk with a friend of mine. I've been making a point to get out and work out at least 3 or 4 times a week. It's so much easier to walk for an hour with a friend and good conversation. Plus you can gauge your breath easier when you walk with a friend. We walked for a little over an hour and the endorphins were running high and increasing my happy mood.
On my way home I realized a couple of other things I needed to get at the store so I ran back, grabbed Gman, and headed to the grocery store just a couple of blocks away....also where my police officer crush works.
I haven't seen my crush since early September despite many failed attempts at going to that store to see if he was working. Tonight he was working!!!! Of course it's not the night I'm in a skirt and heels. Oh no, it's the night that I'm in my yoga pants, I haven't showered since yesterday morning and my hair is not only in a pony tail..not my most flattering style but also it's greasy and my back was damp with sweat from the brisk walk I had just taken.
I skirted around him because I was embarrassed about my appearance and probably smell. However as I came from an aisle, there he was, walking by. So I had to say hello. I was so happy to see his handsome smile and glittering eyes. He said hi and touched my elbow. Wow. That part of the store was incredibly congested so I said, "Let's move out of the way so we don't get run over." When we stopped he gave me the biggest hug. YUM! We chatted for just a bit and he was on his way to do something so he said he'd meet me at the checkout to chat more when he was done doing his errand.
I was done shopping so I picked the absolute longest grocery line I could..which at 6:15 at night isn't difficult. He came up shortly after I was finished paying and we chatted again, another hug and *sigh* I was a big ole puddle of melted butter.
We went about our merry way and went home. I fixed dinner and realized I hadn't gotten my students any Halloween treats for tomorrow. OOPS, darn I have to go back to the store where my crush works. Bummer.......ok just kidding. I was thrilled.
When I got there he was gone. How sad. I went and got treats then went to the zip loc bag aisle to get a box of bags to put treats in. Who should I run in to coming out of that aisle but the officer? It's my lucky day!
So I made some silly comment about not really being a stalker. He laughed, we chatted some more. More arm touching. *swoon* Then I decided before I lost my nerve to invite him to a singles gathering, which is really more of a friends gathering but we are all single and co-ed so I figured it was a low risk invite. He asked me when and where and immediately pulled out his Blackberry. Hehehehe. As I was telling him info he was typing it in and we were joking a little back and forth. He expressed concern about changes of plans and how disappointed he'd be if he showed up there and nobody was there. I assured him there would be no change of plans but I could give him my number...only if he wanted it. Well he didn't turn it down. He handed his phone to me, showed me how to type in the numbers and got my number that way.
It was kind of funny though. He asked if it was my real number. I couldn't resist saying, "No, it's my ex husband's phone number, I hope you don't mind." Then chuckled a little before saying it is my real number. He said it sounds like fun and he'd plan to be there. YAY!!!!
So I guess it's an unofficial date. I hope he uses my number before that night because I didn't ask for his number back. No need to feel tempted to call him if I don't have his number.
I came home, we ate dinner and carved pumpkins. It was a splendid day and tomorrow will be a fun day as well with Halloween.
I'm especially looking forward to the Halloween parade with the kids. I am lending Gman's old handmade Elvis Preseley costume from a couple of years ago to this little boy. He's hispanic and speaks very little English so for the last 2 days, we've been trying to teach him "Thank ya......thank ya verah much!!!" I think he almost has it down. :o) I can't wait until tomorrow.
Gman is going to be the spooky Grim Reaper and since he can't take his scythe to school(because it's a toy weapon) he has brilliantly thought of being the Guitar Hero Grim Reaper with a scythe shaped "guitar" that he has created. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love the creativity that little boy has!!
Well that's enough. I'm exhausted and still have greasy, grimy pumpkin guts to clean up.
Happy Halloween Everyone!!
We had a nice chat and she remembered about my mom. She asked how my mom is. I gave her the latest news I have and she asked me to tell my mom that she's in this lady's prayers as well. One of these days I want to cook a meal for their family and take it over there for them. I know when I had my surgery, that was a life saver for me.
Anyway, our conversation left me feeling highly emotional and missing my mom. I teared up and did a little crying with this mom and on my way home I just felt like crying instead of eating. As I approached the last intersection before home, there was a man and his manly dog approaching the street as well. I waved them through the intersection and like any polite person, he smiled and waved. I smiled and waved back....not before noticing he was pretty good looking. As they were crossing the street, I was admiring the scenery walking past my car. As I was getting ready to pull out, he did a full body turn, smiled a big dimply smile and waved again. I swear my heart stopped. I'm pretty used to going largely unnoticed, so I was shocked and oh so pleasantly surprised. As I drove in to the driveway at least a minute later my heart was still pumping hard. Unfortunately his dad was pooping down the block so I didn't get to take another gander at him. In just that one little moment, my day was made so much brighter. I think he was my happiness angel for the day. He was simply radiant...I can't really explain it.
Anyway, the rest of my day was pretty good. After school we went to the store and picked up pumpkins to carve tonight. We also picked up a few odds and ends groceries from the store as well. We went home, I started Gman on his homework and then a little later on I went for a walk with a friend of mine. I've been making a point to get out and work out at least 3 or 4 times a week. It's so much easier to walk for an hour with a friend and good conversation. Plus you can gauge your breath easier when you walk with a friend. We walked for a little over an hour and the endorphins were running high and increasing my happy mood.
On my way home I realized a couple of other things I needed to get at the store so I ran back, grabbed Gman, and headed to the grocery store just a couple of blocks away....also where my police officer crush works.
I haven't seen my crush since early September despite many failed attempts at going to that store to see if he was working. Tonight he was working!!!! Of course it's not the night I'm in a skirt and heels. Oh no, it's the night that I'm in my yoga pants, I haven't showered since yesterday morning and my hair is not only in a pony tail..not my most flattering style but also it's greasy and my back was damp with sweat from the brisk walk I had just taken.
I skirted around him because I was embarrassed about my appearance and probably smell. However as I came from an aisle, there he was, walking by. So I had to say hello. I was so happy to see his handsome smile and glittering eyes. He said hi and touched my elbow. Wow. That part of the store was incredibly congested so I said, "Let's move out of the way so we don't get run over." When we stopped he gave me the biggest hug. YUM! We chatted for just a bit and he was on his way to do something so he said he'd meet me at the checkout to chat more when he was done doing his errand.
I was done shopping so I picked the absolute longest grocery line I could..which at 6:15 at night isn't difficult. He came up shortly after I was finished paying and we chatted again, another hug and *sigh* I was a big ole puddle of melted butter.
We went about our merry way and went home. I fixed dinner and realized I hadn't gotten my students any Halloween treats for tomorrow. OOPS, darn I have to go back to the store where my crush works. Bummer.......ok just kidding. I was thrilled.
When I got there he was gone. How sad. I went and got treats then went to the zip loc bag aisle to get a box of bags to put treats in. Who should I run in to coming out of that aisle but the officer? It's my lucky day!
So I made some silly comment about not really being a stalker. He laughed, we chatted some more. More arm touching. *swoon* Then I decided before I lost my nerve to invite him to a singles gathering, which is really more of a friends gathering but we are all single and co-ed so I figured it was a low risk invite. He asked me when and where and immediately pulled out his Blackberry. Hehehehe. As I was telling him info he was typing it in and we were joking a little back and forth. He expressed concern about changes of plans and how disappointed he'd be if he showed up there and nobody was there. I assured him there would be no change of plans but I could give him my number...only if he wanted it. Well he didn't turn it down. He handed his phone to me, showed me how to type in the numbers and got my number that way.
It was kind of funny though. He asked if it was my real number. I couldn't resist saying, "No, it's my ex husband's phone number, I hope you don't mind." Then chuckled a little before saying it is my real number. He said it sounds like fun and he'd plan to be there. YAY!!!!
So I guess it's an unofficial date. I hope he uses my number before that night because I didn't ask for his number back. No need to feel tempted to call him if I don't have his number.
I came home, we ate dinner and carved pumpkins. It was a splendid day and tomorrow will be a fun day as well with Halloween.
I'm especially looking forward to the Halloween parade with the kids. I am lending Gman's old handmade Elvis Preseley costume from a couple of years ago to this little boy. He's hispanic and speaks very little English so for the last 2 days, we've been trying to teach him "Thank ya......thank ya verah much!!!" I think he almost has it down. :o) I can't wait until tomorrow.
Gman is going to be the spooky Grim Reaper and since he can't take his scythe to school(because it's a toy weapon) he has brilliantly thought of being the Guitar Hero Grim Reaper with a scythe shaped "guitar" that he has created. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love the creativity that little boy has!!
Well that's enough. I'm exhausted and still have greasy, grimy pumpkin guts to clean up.
Happy Halloween Everyone!!
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