Thursday, November 30, 2006

Amazed

I am amazed at students today. Sometimes it is a good amazement, sometimes it's more appauling. I have had both situations today. I have a student for 5 days. He was suspended from the local middle school and they did not want him to get behind since he does have an IEP. I agreed to work with him, afterall, it's only five days. The problem this kid has is not his learning disabilities, it's his last night. He is the youngest of three boys. Since the older boys have been in and out of trouble (I've had one in the night program and one successfully complete the day program) he is automatically labeled as a cruddy kid. He is a great kid! He is eager to please and loves to work. He just needs someone to give him the time of day. I'll admit, when I heard his last night, I was hesitant because of the actions of one of the other brothers, but he has proven to have a hard work ethic and he is very smart! He has completed five days of Math work in less than an hour today, he took a Math quiz. He has finished about 3/4 of his English work, 1/4 of Social Studies, and 1/3 of Science. If he works at this pace tomorrow, he could very easily have his five days worth of work done in 2! It is our goal to have all of the work done by tomorrow so that he can call the principal (with my permission) and tell her that he has all of his work done. That will knock her socks off!

But I've also had the extreme today. The guy that drives the van, picked up our youngest student today (he's 13) and commented by saying, "You smell like smoke, and not tobacco." The student claimed he had been home all morning, then later he changed his story to say he was in a car with someone who was smoking pot...anyways, long story short. I had him tested. He admitted to the officer before even filling the cup that it would come back positive for THC. They did a rapid test, and sure enough, he wasn't lying! The sad thing was, this all happened right before he left for a hearing with the school. This will defiantly cause some trouble in his life, but legally, I had to have him checked. He came to school high.

It amazes me how the kids who come from the messed up homes can be so stable, and the kids that come from stable homes can be so messed up!

Homer as Santa?

While on my morning commute I discovered that a house on CR 39 had an interesting Christmas display. Homer Simpson dressed as Santa. Now, here is why I find that repulsive. I was not allowed to watch the Simpsons growing up, and frankly, I don't feel like I missed anything by not being able to watch it. I did watch an episode in high school, but only because my psych teacher found out I had never watched it, so he made us watch the episode where the president moves in next door. To tell you the truth, I think I slept through it. I know that Christmas has become a secular holiday, but isn't dressing Homer up like Santa a bit disturbing to anyone else? Has society forgotten that much about the real reason of Christmas? I hope not.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Pray for Me

I am asking for prayer and sanity today. I have been at work for two hours and the phone has rang at least once every five minutes. You may think I'm kidding, I'M NOT! In about ten minutes I will be enrolling two new students from the high school. Tomorrow I will be enrolling another student from the alternative school and one middle schooler who is out on a five day suspension. Pray for my patience and sanity oh, and wisdom because I have no clue how I'm going to do all of this and still get my other daily work done!

Dogs

So we have decided to get a dog. Wait, let me rephrase that, a puppy. Now, I am all about rescuing dogs from the shelter, but last time we did that, it turned into a nightmare. I have been watching the paper and talking to fellow dog lovers/owners. We have decided that we want a small dog. By small, I'm not talking tiny weiny, we are not tiny weiny people. I am thinking about a cocker spaniel. But I also have my mind open to other possibilities. Does anyone know about cocker spaniels? Here is a list of questions we are researching about dog breeds:

How big will they get?

How bad to they shed?

Are they easy to train?

Do they have a laid back temperament?

How much maintenance? (grooming wise)

Are they good with kids?

Will they travel well? (I'd like to make it a classroom dog)

If anyone can offer some cocker spaniel advice, that would be cool. Or if you've got a breed suggestion, that would be cool too.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Why?

Why is it that the parents that give up on their child and abandon them are the first people to scream and throw a fit when someone else tries to help their child? Why do they suddenly think they can come back into their child's life and pick up where they left off? They have already severed those ties. Their child doesn't like them, doesn't trust them, doesn't want anything to do with them, so why do they suddenly decide to try? I know why a majority of them try, to look better in the eyes of everyone else. Why do they think that the people they are trying to impress won't realize the truth? Why do they make such a big deal about having to help their child one minute, then scream and whine when someone else tries to help their child?

And on the flip side...

Why are there parents who want to do EVERYTHING for there children? Do they not want them to make mistakes? I know some mistakes can be fairly large and cause damage, but small mistakes only teach us. A child has to learn how to become an adult at some point, why not use the teenage years as a teaching experience?

How do I...

leave work at work? I am discovering, well I guess I always knew, how hard it is to leave work at work. I work with troubled kids, I also teach, I also coordinate for the after school program. These students have such complicated and horrible home lives that it tends to haunt me. They bring these problems with them, who can blame them, to school and then they struggle to stay on task. I try to do everything possible to give these kids the help they need. I am finding that I wear many hats. I'm a mother, sister, counselor, teacher, coordinator, friend, cook, and boss all at work. It's very hard to leave those things at the door when I leave every afternoon. I know that it's not healthy to carry them home with me. It's not healthy physically, emotionally, or socially. I know that my husband is sick of hearing about everything that happened, but I guess I hope that by telling someone everything that I hear (minus names, confidentiality is key) I can get some insight that I didn't have while at work. My heart aches for these kids! Hopefully I can learn how to balance work with home. Is this a normal dichotomy that people face? Is it something that I should get used to? I sure hope not, because I know all of the worrying I do for these students is causing my constant slight cold and migraines. I guess any wisdom or previous experiences people could share would be helpful to me right now.

Monday, November 27, 2006

My ABC'S

My ABC's
A - Age: 23 (I'm old!)
B - Birthday: July 23
C - Car: Ford Taurus
D - Dogs or Cats: dogs
E - Eggnog: Um...YUCK!
F - Favorite color: Blue
G - Gummy Bears or Worm: worms
H - Happy: Heck yeah! We get to move soon!!
I - Ice Cream: I like to many different kinds to narrow it down to just one
J - Job: Stressful but well worth it
K - Kindergarten: The best 5 years of my life!
L - Longest Car Ride: I can remember?? Oklahoma.
M - Most missed memory: The excitement of getting ready for a date
N - Number of Siblings: 1, and her name starts with a "N" what a coinkidink!
O - One wish: No child should lack the love of a parent
P - Piercings: Yes, but I'm not telling... Oh come on, get your head out of the gutter, it's my ears!
Q - Question: Why did/does God allow stupid people to breed?
R - Reason to smile: My hubby and success of my students
S - Song: There's a Hippo in my Bathtub
T - Time you woke up: 6:00, but the time I actually got out of bed was 6:45
U - Underwear: wearing them thank you very much!
V - Vegetable you hate: brussel sprouts
W- Where are you going to travel next: Home to my OWN home
X - mas- a pitiful slang term for CHRISTmas
Y - Year it is now: 2006
Z - Zoo Animal: Zebra

Help!!

Ok, so if you're an avid reader of my blog (well first, you should probably get a life, because I'm not sure that I'm all that interesting) you know that I was promoted and I am now the coordinator/head of a non profit youth improvement program. Our goal is to not only help these kids get the guidance and instruction they are missing at home, but teach them how to interact with the public. I would like to bring the public into the program, but also get the kids out into the public. We are arranging for the local ATA to come in and give lessons, and we are also arranging for them to be able to use the local college's weight room and learn how to properly lift weights. We would like to have them do a service project, but I am not sure what. If you can think of an easy service project that my students could do, that would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you know of anyone who is willing to come into our program and teach them a skill or anyone who has lead an interesting life and could be considered a healthy role model, could you please let me know. I have a character artist coming in this week because the students I have know are extremely interested in art.

Blog Title

As I was reading my own blog today, yeah I know I'm pathetic, we all know, so let's move on. Anyway! I realized that my title could be confusing to most people. Here is the reader's digest version of how that nickname came to be.

I used to be a counselor at a camp for mental retarded adults, Camp Re-Yo-Ad. One year we had a backwards day. We all wore name tags with our new name. Mine is Amrac (hense the web address). A camper, who was learning to read, struggled all day to read my name tag. By the time dinner rolled around, he got it. He said, "Amrac, like Amtrack, like the Amtrack Train." Since then, I have been known as Amtrack by several close friends."

So there you have it, nothing big, no funny story on how it came to be. It's not exactly all that original, but it has stuck.

Friday Night Funnies Part II

If you haven't read "Friday Night Funnies" go back and read that post before reading this one.

My sister met Joe this weekend and she said, "You're the infamous Joe who wears women's jeans." We told her about the question revolving around men in women's jeans. If guy wears women's jeans, are they tighter in the front and baggy in the butt? Joe had finally decided to answer the question, and here is how he came to his conclusion (Joe, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong since I wasn't there)

Joe woke up one morning and decided to wear his women's jeans. Looking mighty fine, Joe continued about his daily activities. Later in the evening, Joe decided to imitate someone (I believe it was the extremely adorable Josiah) who wears their pants halfway up their torso. Without thinking, Joe grabbed the waistband of his women's jeans, and quickly jerked them up to the middle of his torso. In the middle of completing this action, Joe discovered that yes, women's jeans are tighter in the front and can cause serious pain when worn by a male!

I hope that Joe's hastiness in pulling up his pants does not prevent him from ever being able to create little Joes. Wait, do we really want little Joe's running around??

Christmas Music

I would like to know what idiot at the FCC decided that playing Christmas music before the month of December was ok. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas music, but come on, it's still like 60 degrees outside. Oh, and those stations that started playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving...they should lose their broadcasting license, if there is such a thing.

I did notice an odd phenomenon though. While my sister and I despise Christmas in the month of November (it's ok if it's played in December) we discovered the powerful effect it has on the human body. We had the radio on while we were painting and working on the house this weekend (BIG THANKS goes out to my sister for her help!) and while we immediately said "Blech" every time a Christmas song came on, we discovered that halfway through the song, both of us were singing it. Our mind screamed, "NO!!!" but our bodies did not obey. I think the government is using the music to control us? HeHeHe...wait, I work for the government.

House Update

This weekend we managed to get a lot done on the house! Our bedroom is painted, except for the trim, and the hallway/living room/one dining room wall was first coated. We are giving it a second coat tonight. I managed to wash out the cupboards and put some dishes away. It is nice to have a house, I just wish we could sleep there! Our goal is to move small things throughout the week and then move the big objects on Saturday. It's exciting!

Black Friday

So I decided to do what millions of other idiots do the day after turkey day. I shopped at Wal-Mart. Not once, oh no, that would be too typical. I went TWICE! Granted, Natalee and I didn't stand in line and beat anyone up over one of those silly 6-11am deals. Our first trip was around 9:30, and it wasn't bad! We got the one deal we went after, the vacuum. We came back about an hour and a half later to get some spirits for the weekend. I was given my Christmas present by my sister this weekend too! She bought Ayron and I our microwave from Home Depot. It will be delivered to our house either Tuesday or Wednesday. Yeah! Now I can cook food, yes I have a stove, but the stove needs to major cleaning!!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Christian Rap (?)

So I was sitting at my desk this morning, listening to "WOW Worship 2001" and I think I stumbled upon the funniest version of Christian rap. My cd started to skipping during the song "Shout to the North." This is what the corus sounded like.

Sh..shout to the north north north
and the Sou sout south
Sing sing sing to the East and the wes west
Je je jesus is saviour to all all all
Lord of heaven ven and earth earth

It was just the laugh I needed to wake up and get focused on my work!

Remodel Day #1

Well, last night was crazy! We spent the evening taping (so we can paint the ceilings) the entire house, patching some cracks, and hanging plastic. We took down the curtains in the big front window so the whole neighborhood could see my crazy family. They probably are dreading the day we actually move in! There were 7 adults and 3 kids there. The sheriff came over. No, not because of the 10 people, just to introduce himself. We live right across the street from him. Which makes me feel secure. We did have a freak out though. We discovered that when you open the blinds on the sliding door that leads to the 4-seasons room and a car is driving down the alley a block over, it looks like they are driving right into our backyard! Hopefully when I get off work, the ceilings will be primed and sprayed and I can help lay it down. For those of you with minimal construction knowledge, we are lacing the ceilings. You spray mud onto the ceilings, let it start to hand down and dry, then take a trowel and smooth it out. So here is my timeline if all goes well.

Tuesday (that's today!): Prime and lace the ceilings
Wednesday: Paint ceilings
Thursday: Eat turkey and sleep
Friday: paint bedroom and start painting hallway and living room
Saturday: finish painting
Sunday: eat more turkey; maybe move just enough so we can spend our first night in the house.

I will admit that I am liking the learning process I am under going. I was learning about wiring last night, how to mix the mud to fill cracks, tape, etc. I liked it...call me crazy, but I did.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Why Cats Shouldn't Be Left Alone!!

This is what happens when you leave your cat at home alone!








No Cats were harmed in during the process!

Closing is DONE!

Well, it is official. I am now a home owner! We closed this morning at 8:15 and were even given a nice check! The money went immediately into the bank, except for $95. Did you know that in order to change the utilities over to a new name, you have to give the city $95? Well, I guess it's worth having heat and electricity, but still.....$95!

Well, it's my first day at "Coordinator" so I better start coordinating.

Good Luck!

I just wanted to take a moment to publicly wish Todd and Bethany "Good Luck" today. They'll know what I mean, so don't worry if you're lost!

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Have I become addicted?

After laying in bed for a couple of hours last night, trying to get my brain to shut off, I began to wonder. Have I become addicted to blogging? I'm not talking a full blown addiction and I DO NOT mean to lighten the severity of an addiction, I understand how serious they can be. But I realized a change in my behavior over the past week. When I arrive at work, I no long check my e-mail first, I check everyone's blog. I find myself disappointed if a new post is not made by at least one person. I think to myself, "that would make a good blog." I even talked to a blog consultant last night. Did you know they have those and that they are very expensive? My consult was free because, well, my consultant loves me (hahaha). No, but seriously consultants makes mucho money! I was told that my blog could be very successful and that I have a great voice running throughout my blog. I didn't know I had a "voice" in my blog. Heck, I didn't even know people other than my family members read it until this week, and I still have no clue how many people do, and frankly, I don't care. I blog as a way of journaling. It's therapeutic for me. But I'll admit it was cool to here a blog consultant compliment my blog. I find the whole thing hilarious. I started the whole blogging thing just to have a spot to "vent" and now it has managed to connect me with people that I wouldn't normally connect with on a daily basis. My "addiction" doesn't disrupt my life, I still function quite well in society, I can get my work done, and I can stop any time I want to, I can, I swear, really, ok, I'm stopping now...see me stop....really, I'm serious this time.

Friday Night Follies

We decided to celebrate my "promotion" last night by hanging out with a group of people at Joe's apartment. Turns out, we were the only ones who showed (Joe did too of course). So we talked and ate dinner. Without getting too deep, we learned that we had both (Joe and I) been deceived in the past by one person. It was interesting to learn the truth from each other. But on to the funny part. There are a few lines from last night's long conversation. While you may not find it funny, we sure as heck did.

...Joe frantically reached for the cookie and clutched it to his bosom. He could only hope avoided the wrath of the angry hand.

...three people, three bottles of bubbly (non-alcoholic of course), three plastic champagne glasses, three bellies full of bad Chinese food, three VERY gassy individuals.

...it involved a tree, a raccoon, and a package of fig newtons. I'd tell you the rest, but I'd I would have to kill you.

Ok, so reading them now, they aren't as funny, but to me they are funny and frankly that is all that matters! Oh, the pictures I am supposed to be receiving from last night will be hilarious!!!

Friday, November 17, 2006

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES!!!

It's time to celebrate and have a good time!!! I was given a promotion today! I am not only the teacher of the Steuben County Youth Improvement Day program, but the coordinator for both the Youth Improvement Day and After School Program! More money, better hours, better lap top, year round work!! I am so excited!! It means more responsibility, but I'm ready for it!!!! I am so excited! My first really big job using my degree!!!!

Closing on Monday

Ok, so it's final! We are closing Monday morning. Here is our latest issue. The "tub" in our new house is not really a tub, but a shower with a seat for an elderly person. There is only about a 3 inch lip on the bottom of the "tub" so we will need to put in shower doors. The problem is, the tallest I can find shower doors is 69inches. Sounds fine and dandy for a majority of the population, but have you met my husband? So I think I'm going to contact Lowes and see how much it will cost to specially order taller doors. I guess we could buy the the 69inch tall door and hang a shower curtain up higher. Would that look tacky? Hey wait, since when do I care if it looks tacky, as long as my bathrooms is getting flooded!

Songs for my Sister

These songs are for my sister, in hopes of cheering her up. Heck, we could all use a little cheering up!
Stand
You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless
Like you've lost your fight
But you'll be alright
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand
Life's like a novel
With the end ripped out
The edge of a canyon
With only one way down
Take what you're given before its gone
Start holding on, keep holding on
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand
Everytime you get up
And get back in the race
One more small piece of you
Starts to fall into place
Ooohhh

Or there is the ever popular.....

Here's a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note

Don't worry, be happy

In every life we have some trouble

But when you worry you make it double

Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy now


Thursday, November 16, 2006

Fed Up

I have decided that I am fed up with the traditional form of education. It obviously doesn't work for some students. Those students get sent to me because they are "trouble makers." Case and point. I had court today, and enrolled a new student to begin my program tomorrow. He is 13 and highly intelligent. He gets into trouble because he is bored. He admitted it. Why is the school system not challenging these students? I often wonder if the school, as a whole, would produce better students if everyone was allowed to work at their own pace. How many "troubled" students would graduate early because they were allowed to work ahead? I don't believe my students are bad, they are not challenged enough, so they challenge. I understand the difficulty teachers face. Up to seven classes a day, with at least 25 students per class, that adds up (175 to be exact). I've been there, done the public school thing. I still don't find it hard. Assign group projects. Give several different choice to choose from. Let the students personalize their education. It takes extra time, I know it does, I've done it. But I feel the reward is better, students are happier, and happier students most often leads to better grades and more confidence. If only states would allocate more money to education instead of selling the toll road, only to build a new one around the state capital. What about our failing students and crappy schools?

Sad

Well, Adam just tested a piece of equipment and found it dead. I have a feeling that the kid I am soon to test will be just as dead as that 20 year old piece of equipment, and he is only in his first year of "teen hood." I have court in less than an hour for an emergency case. While I cannot go into details, I can say that he is a very young minor with severe issues. It is sad to realize how many "dead" young people there are in the world. They can be dead to many things, family, friends, school, faith, etc. This student, I'm afraid, is dead to all of those things. When did it become acceptable to give up on these students? I know that I haven't, but I'm only one person. The student has even given up on himself. How am I suppsed to hook up the AED paddles of life when the student keeps wiping up the jelly (to prevent burns). I could go ahead and "shock him" (send him to lock up) without the jelly, but all that is going to do is burn him. He'll come back deader (I know, I know, grammar) than he was. The school has already written him off until at least next semester, and for good reason, but it's still sad. Hopefully I can find a spark of life in this kid, and use my AED (Alternative Education Documents??) to bring him back to life.

I'm a great aunt!

Recently my nieces have discovered 4-H, and more importantly, my sister-in-law, is discovering what she missed by not being in 4-H. Long story short, they now own a small bunny farm. They started out with one bunny, and now, if my calculations are correct, they have around 15. One bunny, Kamisha, only had one bunny. But this bunny is special, it only has three legs. They don't know what happened (they traced bad genetics on both sides, or the mom could have accidentally chewed it off when trying to move the baby) but either way, my three nieces have become attached to the tripod bunny. The other bunny, I can't remember her name, had 5 bunnies, one of them being orange, which is apparently rare and something special. We are going over tonight to meet our new great nieces and nephews. While I laughed to myself (internally of course) when this whole bunny breeding farm started, I am now seeing how it has brought the whole family together. Even our three year old niece has duties when it comes to the bunnies. Although, brand new baby bunnies confuse her. After the first batch of five healthy bunnies were born, she was taken out to the garage to see them. After being lifted up to see the hairless and pink bunnies, she was disappointed. Her dad finally asked her, "M, what is wrong?" She replied, "Daddy, those ain't bunnies, those are piggies. They ain't got no hair!" My sister-in-law took out a photo from when M was born and said, "See when you were born, you didn't have any hair either." Even though those new bunnies don't fit into her knowledge of what bunnies are, she still loves them. She is still confused, but watching the bunnies grow on a daily basis is starting to help her. Sometimes I wish we could all go back to those days of innocence and exploration. When was the last time you were astounded by an animal birth? Sure, the miracle of life is always thought about during a human birth, but look at life through the eyes of a child. Her pet bunny was just getting big, and now, she has five more bunnies she gets to help care for. She doesn't care if their bunnies or pigs, shes just proud that she gets to help. We should all be so lucky and proud to help.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Unwanted Lesson

I have decided that this whole house buying process is an unwanted lesson in patience from God. Anyone who knows me, knows that I suffer from a lack of patience. I would rather take the reigns and do it myself instead of waiting for someone else. You would think that I would have an abundance of patience, considering what I do for a living (teacher juvenile delinquents) but truth be told, I think my level of patience varies on the situation. I have a ton of patience when it comes to work and friends, but when it comes to family and God, I seem to lack. It's sad to realize that I lack patience in my daily dealings with God. He is the one person I should be the most patient with. All things happen according to His timing, not mine. I know that, yet I don't. Why am I trying to rush the whole moving thing?

The whole moving thing scares me. Yep, I'm a 23 year old chicken. I'll work with the roughest of the rough when it comes to work, but I'm terrified of moving. I guess it's because I view this thing as a giant step into adulthood. Sure, I've done the marriage thing, earned a college degree, got my first job with my degree, but a house...yikes. I guess I've grown comfortable with where we are at now. It's so secure. True, living with the in-laws isn't always a walk on the beach, but it does hold less stresses than owning your own home.

A called in the middle of my blog session to tell me that he still hasn't been able to get a straight answer from anyone about closing. It's frustrating, but I'm turning it completely over to God.

God grant me the patience to get through this situation and still have sanity afterwards. I know that all things happen according to Your timing, so I pray that Your will be done.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Unavoidable Disappointment

They say that God works in mysterious ways, and I agree. It's just that sometimes I wish he wasn't so mysterious. Then I wonder, is he being mysterious or are my ears turned off to what he is trying to tell me? We were supposed to close on our house tonight. A called me this morning and told me that some paperwork that is neccessary for closing has yet to be sent back to our mortgage person. It's nothing that we could have changed, it's nothing that our mortgage person could have changed. Whoever is supposed to fill a certain paper out, did not get that form back to our mortgage company in time. Long story short, we aren't closing tonight. It seems that whenever I get my hopes up about anything, it all comes crashing down on my head. This is why I try not to get overly excited about anything. So, I woke up feeling yicky (feverish, sore throat, huge tonsils) and now I really feel icky.

We did go to Home Depot last night and get some supplies for the house, $133 in supplies to be exact. We had to get three big tubs of mud, 1 bag of joint compound, 2 gallons of primer, 2 rolls of blue painting tape, a contractors bundle of brown tape, and two boxes of painting plastic. It was not exactly my favorite shopping spree, but we did decide that we can afford new counter tops sooner than we had planned! Still, if I got to choose between shopping at Home Depot or shopping at any store in the mall, I'd choose the mall.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Stolen Post

I have recently discovered blogs written by people from my "group" at church. I will admit that while I hate to "lift" material from other people, I am an English teacher, this one was too good to pass up.

Do you ever screw up? I mean really blow it. Or do you ever see someone else who makes a major mistake or does you wrong. Poop like this causes life to get real messy real quick. I, for one, have a tendency to get really agitated at myself or others when there is a major screw-up. But why?

In the medical profession, doctors often ask patients when the last time they had a bowel movement. Sometimes they ask frequently as everyday, “Have you had a bowel movement?” What a weird question! But its one that needs answered. You see, that daily bowel movement signifies to the doctors that everything in the body is working they way it should. The bowel movement is a positive role in a patient’s recovery; poop is good.

I think we need to lighten up sometimes. When you, or someone you know screws up bigtime, its stupid to get all worked up about it. Sure it was a mistake, but you’re human so that mistake just proves that you’re still working things out; you’re still living. Instead of getting all worked up it would be better to get excited and say, “Yea! Somebody took a dump! We’re alive!” and get over it. Wipe it and be done.

This entry was lifted from www.adamdiehl.com

Friday Night Funny

We had QUEST(a group of young adults from our church get together and hang out) and it turned out to be really good. I ran into my old middle school crush and his wife. Kind of funny the similarities between him and A. They are both dark, tall, hilarious people. Strengthened a friendship with a newlywed couple in the group. Reconnected with an old friend of A's. Anyways...now on to the funny part.

A very non-dramatic (that's sarcasm for those of you who don't know me) friend of mine, J, came out of the bathroom and asked me what I thought of his pants. He is always one to be stylish and point out how good people look in certain colors, so it caught me off guard that he was asking me a question about apparel. I looked the jeans over, decided I like them, and then told him that. He gladly took the compliment and hesitated. I sensed there was more to come. When prodded, he admitted they were women's jeans. He told the hilarious story about trying them on and the funny looks from the sales lady when he asked how they looked. He was able to buy six pairs of jeans for under $100, which is very impressive. After being heckled by a couple of people (mostly his brother and sister), N (another friend from the group), looked at J with a very serious face and asked this question; "If a guy wears women's jeans, are the jeans tighter up front and bigger in the butt?" J, after a minute of contemplation answered, "Nope, they feel really good!" It's people like these that make life worth living.

Ok, so after rereading what I just wrote, I realize that it's not exactly as funny as it was in person. But I did make the comment that the whole situation was very bloggable, so now it has been blogged.

Court

I had court this morning for a student. His behavior has been unacceptable in every part of his life, and today it caught up with him. As I sat and listened to the judge, I began to feel like a kicked puppy. I was this kids last chance to straighten out and that didn't happen. I keep wondering if I missed something. Could I have done anything differently that would have changed this outcome? I know that he needs help that I cannot provide, but it still hurts to see your first student be sent away while his mother cries. I feel like I let her down. Hopefully he can get the help he needs and can get his life back on track, but I am viewing the whole thing as a failure attempt on my part.

Never being one to accept failure, my new view is hard to accept. I guess I'm just worried that it will make me look bad in the eyes of the community. I went and talked to the alternative school director about these feelings and she assures me they are natural and that the student does indeed help that no one locally can provide the help he needs. It's still a let down.

Thank God for In-Laws

Not a title most people would expect me to use, but the tables have turned. We close on our house tomorrow and I knew that money would be tight because of timing. We had to pay our first years insurance up front, and then the car payment, etc. We have enough to survive comfortably, but my father in law knew how concerned I was. I found out this weekend that my in law's are writing us a check to cover way more than the paint and mud we need. Hopefully, we can get all of the paint, mud, primer, and even some border on top of getting some shower doors. I guess they (my in law's) had been feeling guilty because money was being gifted (our of grandma's account) to various cousins for various events (mostly births) and A and I along with A's brother and sister in law, were not given any because neither N (my sister in law) or I have given birth lately. So each couple is getting a check. It is a big load off my mind. I am truly greatful and cannot wait to go to HD tonight to get paint and supplies.

Well I have court in a half an hour so I should get ready.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

I made a decision

I did something last night that I hardly ever do. I made a decision concerning the makeover of our new house. After we met with DC, our insurance man, who by the way is very cool, A and I stopped at Wally World to look at a new bed-in-a-bag. We found one with similar colors to the one we currently own. We decided to go ahead and get it, thanks the to sale price. So while we were there, A made me go look at paint for the millionth time since we put an offer in on our house. I made a decision on paint! In fact, I made two! What makes it really cool is that A and I were able to agree with hardly any problems! Our bedroom will be "spring fawn" and the living room/ hallway will be dusty cannon. We could close tomorrow night, which would be really cool! We have also decided to go ahead and lace the entire ceiling, bedrooms and all. It will be a little more expensive, since we'll have to buy more plastic, but in the long run it will be easier. We will then paint the ceilings, our bedroom, living room, and hallway. I attempt to learn and help how to spray the ceilings, but I know that if I bow out gracefully and go home to pack, the ceilings will get done a lot faster. It is getting really exciting now and I think it would be really cool to take possession tomorrow and start working on the house this weekend. If we start Saturday morning, we could very easily be done with the ceilings by the evening and paint the walls and everything on Sunday and possibly Monday. It would be soooo very cool to be in my house by this time next week!

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

House Update

We got another house update yesterday. The air conditioning is fixed. We have our interest rate. We are finalizing insurance stuff today and tomorrow. I just can't wait to get in there. I tricked into helping me clean and organize some of our stuff last night. We had his soccer game at 5, went to dinner after that, putzed around, finally gave up and came home. I challenged him to Hot Shots Golf 3. We played a quick round, and since we tied, he had to help me organize some stuff. I managed to get some stuff organized. Nothing really packed though. I did stop this morning and got more boxes from my dad's office. I am in the mood to simplify as I pack, which isn't going well for a couple of reasons. A) I haven't really managed to pack anything, just kind of shuffle things around. B) My husband has become a pack rat. I have a fear of becoming a pack rat (apparently it's genetic and runs in my family) so I have been trying to avoid it. I am in the mood to clean and pack now, but I'm at work. Hopefully the house will be empty when I get home and I can crank up the music and get some packing done!!!

Slow Day...Again

This week has been incredibly slow.

Monday: No students (long story)
Tuesday: Sent both students home
Wednesday: Both students sick again (one at dr's, other sick with sinus infection)

There is only so much cleaning I can do. I've reorganized the filing cabinet, twice. Cleaned off both desks, three times. Changed out the bathroom door knob (with the help of A), rearranged classroom, put down new rugs, went to Meijer with boss, played about a million games of mahjong solitaire, completed several different court documents. I'm just plain bored. Of course, I forgot to grab a book to read. I could always go shred paper in my other office, but the shredder is so loud and often gets stuck...blech.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Final Inspection....

...is complete. T (my father-in-law), P (my brother-in-law), and A (my hubby) all went and completed the final inspection last night. I took the earnest money into C (our realator) this. The other real estate company started the title work yesterday. A is checking on insurance today. It looks like this is really going to happen this time. I even went and got some paint samples this morning. We will have to fix a spot in the ceiling and paint that before we move in, and also paint our bedroom, and possibly the living room. It's all very exciting and frightening at the same time. I can't imagine how freaked I'd be if we didn't have access to a construction business! P is going to build me some extra cuboard for my kitchen, so that is cool! (My mortgage broker just called and she's faxing over papers my boss needs to fill out verifying my employment.) Wow, this is all very cool!! Hopefully closing can be as soon as possible and we can spend a week painting and decorating and then the next weekend move.

Moving is another thing that scares me. We have roughly 20 rubbermaid totes out in the barn of stuff already packed and ready to move. I forget what is in most of them. But as I looked around the house last night, we still have a ton of stuff to pack!! (Just called dad, he's going to have all of the schools in the county save big boxes) We are going to use a boxtruck. A is going to use two of his employees and pay them to help us move. We are going up to my dad's this weekend to look through some of his house stuff he doesn't use anymore and see what we can use. I'm getting very excited, which will make it hard to sit still and get some work done the rest of the day. I have court next week and I need to prepare today. Blech!!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

List of Stuff

So, I have decided to start a list of stuff that I will need to acumulate for our new house.

* new smoke detector/carbon monoxide detector
* new locks for all doors
* toilet paper (that one's for miamy)
* tv for living room
* silverware
* door mat
* Christmas tree ornaments
* toaster


So far my list isn't long, but I'm sure if I added all of the groceries people normally have (condiments, flour, sugar, etc) it could get pretty long. If anyone has any advice or more suggestions on how to make the moving process easier, leave me a comment.


*After reading my sisters comment, I guess I'll go shopping at the house of mom!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

We were told last night that our offer was accepted on the house we have been looking at. The offical paperwork was faxed to our realator this morning and T, my father-in-law, is doing the final inspection with A tonight! Yeah!! Hopefully we can close next week and be moved in before Turkey Day. Yeah!! I tried to upload some pictures, but our network is having problems today.

It's snowing out! I just looked out the big window at work, and bygosh, it's snowing!! Which reminds me, I need to add a shovel to my list of things we'll need for the house.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Nose Piercing

I've been contemplating getting my nose pierced for about six months now (save your parental speech and your breath). I've done a lot of research and I know what it entails. I've kept putting it off to see if the urge would go away. It hasn't, it has gotten stronger. I wouldn't get a big bull ring, just a very small stud on my right nostril. I don't want to wake up when I'm fifty and regret not living life. I've seen too many people wake up and wonder what the heck happened. I want the enjoy life, do something unexpected. I am going to talk to my boss about it today. I've even gone as far as to research how to hide the piercing for court. You can buy a very small, clear plug that you can paint the end of it with flesh nail polish. My sister had once thought of getting it done with me, but she wimped out. Maybe I'll do some more research today and finally make a decision.

Feeling Good

As I was driving to work today, listening to Clay Aiken, I had a moment. It came after dealing with some of my personal issues last night after running into an old friend. This friend and I have gone seperate ways and are trying to reconnect, but finding it difficult. I have been struggling with jelousy. She just married someone very wealthy and they just bought a house in a nice part of town and she doesn't work, etc...I discussed my feelings with A last night and he simply stated, "I don't care. We are better for it. We've had to earn our stuff, we're better for it." I thought about it all night and while driving to work this morning and I've realized how lucky I am. I have a secure job, an awesome boss (I am my own boss!), a fabulous family, and I know I am being successful at work. I am feeling much better about myself these days, which is a change for me, so I'm struggling with it. Everything is falling into place and it is very nice.