-ectomy and the 9 month check up

Taylor had his nine month check up on the 18th (a week early). He is 29 3/4 inches long and a very solid 23.8 pounds. He's a chunker!!

Doc took some time looking at his front teeth. I think the gap is adorable, but doc is concerned. He mentioned something about some sort of "-ectomy." I think he assumed that with my extensive background in dentistry (sarcasm at your service) that I understood. I finally pieced it together. He thinks the gum tissue between Taylor's front teeth is too thick and fibrous. If this procedure is done, it will allow his teeth to be better position and the odds of his adult teeth not being so gaped will be better.

I was talking to Ayron about the whole thing later that day and he kind of panicked. Over 40 years ago, Kelly (would be his mother's sibling) went in for some dental work. She was 6 (I think) and she was given too much ether and passed away. Ever since then Ayron and his mother freak out when people need dental work. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but that was OVER 40 years ago. They have different practices and procedures now. They don't even have to knock TJ out to do this. Just about a 60 second deal then hold him while he cries and the bleeding stops. But Ayron freaked out, "Don't tell my mom she will be all upset." Well, welcome to 2008 (almost 2009), it has been 40 years and those mistakes aren't made anymore. I understand that losing a child to something that could have been easily prevented is traumatic, but that was OVER 40 YEARS AGO!

Anyone know a good pediatric dentist in the Auburn area who will do a consult?

Holy Family

Ayron, Taylor and myself will be playing Joseph, Jesus, and Mary at New Hope's Christmas Eve service (6pm, come check us out! Taylor's stage debut!). We had rehearsal last night and I was a bit out of it (cold medicine). I was holding Taylor and trying to think of how Mary felt.

There Mary is, happily asleep, dreaming of good ole' Joe, when Gabe tells her that she will become pregnant. Can you imagine! I have had some whopper of a dreams, but nothing like that. Naturally, it had to be a bit overwhelming. She was a virgin about to be married. How does she explain this to Joe and her family?

Then came the donkey ride/walk. I choose to believe that she walked. Yes, walking when pregnant can suck, but imagine riding a a donkey when prego? Not happening people! Then, no hotels. Lovely, a room for two (soon to be three) at your local manger coming right up.

There were a total of 14 people in my delivery room and after 16 hours of labor your dignity goes right out the window. I can't imagine going through child birth while listening to cows chew their cud while the aroma of fresh goat poo wafts through the air. What a humble beginning for such a great man.

Then to know that you just gave birth to Jesus. How awe inspiring is that! I think I would panic at this point. Knowing that I am responsible for raising Jesus Christ! What a task at hand! Just knowing that I have TJ to raise sometimes gets me. I truly believe it does take a village (or church) to raise a child. They gain so much knowledge from so many different people who come in their lives. Wouldn't you feel bad saying, "Jesus, that was naughty. Don't bite Momma. Time out chair for you." Hello?!?! You just put your Lord and Savior in time out!

To those of you (this include Joseph and Mary) who have raised or are working on raising good children, hats off to you!

Crazy!!

It has been a crazy day. This blog may seem to ramble, but I am just trying to make sense of today's happenings and get everything in place for the weeks to come.

I was ecstatic last night to learn that I already had a two hour delay. I thought for sure they would cancel today. Nope, I was wrong.

I currently have 3 students in my program. After numerous telephone calls, emails, faxes, etc I am up to a total of 10 students. The new 7 aren't starting till after the holiday break, but it will be crazy. I will have 6 high schoolers (2 male, 4 female) and 4 middle schoolers (all boys!).

I had been trying to reach a family for a week about enrolling their son. Today the step father finally called me back. The student had cut up their arms. He claimed it was an accident, but the parents knew it was a cry for help. The student has been in counseling and is on anti-depressants. They rushed him to the hospital. Once the doctors were done bandaging his arm, he told his parents, "I drank bleach and mildew cleaner too." The doctors were amazed (doesn't seem to be the right word to use, but it is all I could come up with) that he hadn't started vomiting, it had been at least 40 minutes since he claimed he swallowed it. They were getting everything in place to pump his stomach when his body took over and he started to vomit on his own. He now in a treatment facility getting help. I sent some work (the facility wants school work) with mom this afternoon. I haven't even met this kid yet. I have no clue what he looks like, how he sounds, yet my heart broke when I heard the news.

I guess "Tis the season to kick out students" around here. I think I have everything in place for the rest of this week (I am off tomorrow for Monkey's 9 month check up...can you believe it...9 months!) but Friday will be crazy. Then two weeks of peace. Yeah right. I'm sure I'll get called into work. It's a crazy job, but someones got to do it right?

Picture Time

It's picture time once again boys and girls! I just love taking pictures of Taylor. Obsessive parent? Maybe, but I am having fun!

All decked out in his Purdue gear! Boiler Up!!

Mommy and Taylor. House Divided? I think not! My real hoodie (PURDUE) was in the washer. This is just the hoodie I wear when I don't give a crud!!

His first Christmas card! He loves it. I had to fight to take it away from him!

I know he is my kid. How? Because he likes books! We have read this three times now. It is a tongue twister too!

Look! My Monkey looks like a monk!!

Holiday Shopping and Planning

I wish I was the type of person who holiday shopped throughout the year. I am not! With three nieces, it is hard. Their tastes in ANYTHING change from minute to minute.

I usually hate holiday shopping. I have to really psych myself up to go. You see I have had some rough holidays in my lifetime. For starters, I am usually sick. Ayron and I have a joke, "It's not Christmas till Carma barfs." Yep, I start the holiday's off with a bang! I lost my grandfather around thanksgiving and his birthday is (it's still his birthday so I can't write "was") December 25th. My grandmother passed away right before Christmas my sophomore year in high school. I remember it was SO VERY COLD out and I thought the blue fuzzy seat covers at the grave site looked like Grover threw up everywhere. It's just a chaotic time of the year.

I have about 75% of the shopping done. Ayron and I are going to Ft. Wayne on Saturday to finish it up. I am actually looking forward to it! We are going to Gordmans (a new store) so that should be fun and he wants to walk around Jefferson Pointe. For those of you unfamiliar with our territory, Jefferson Pointe is an "open air" type mall. It's a bit too cold for me to want to trek around Jefferson Pointe.

Planning holiday get togethers has become a hassle too. We have to coordinate everyone's schedule. It took us 2 weeks to get this Christmas schedule planned! I think we finally have it all figured out!

Don't get me wrong, I like to see family, etc, but there is so much work involved that I wonder if I truly enjoy the season now that I am an adult.

It Never Fails

I hate going to Wal-Mart. I have to go all the time for work and it seems like we are always running out of something at home. I usually go on Sunday mornings. About once a month we do a big grocery shopping trip and I drag Ayron along with me.

Yesterday morning I discovered we were out of some things so I didn't bother to take the time to really get around. I threw my hair back in a pony tail, brushed my teeth, threw on a hoodie and left.

It never fails. If I don't take the time to look like I a human, I run into people from high school at Wal-Mart. You think I would learn to actually get around and not look like a zombie to avoid the embarrassment, but nope. Sweat pants, hoodie, pony tale and sneakers.

New Rule

I was browsing through pictures of St. Augustine (via Kym) on Facebook and I came up with a new rule.

If your place in this world doesn't get snow, you can't put up Christmas lights. It just seems odd to see lights and no snow. So there is my rule. If you don't get snow, don't decorate your house. It just looks silly!

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@ Val- Didn't know your mom read my blog. Hi Jacque! The christmas lights rule was a joke. I just think it's funny to think about a place that is warm all year putting up lights, since I have never known that.

I do agree with you. It is sad that people get trampled and killed all for a stupid black Friday sale.

Holiday Fun

Monday night I took Taylor over to see Hunter. Hunter is 6 weeks older, but Taylor out weighs him. Not a big deal since Taylor refuses to crawl and Hunter is starting to toddle around. We decided to take some pics in front of the tree. I posted some of my favorites on facebook. For those of you who don't have a facebook account, here is the link.

GRRRR

I took yesterday off. I needed to use up some personal days, so I just took it off. I knew that I would have a pile of mess to sort through when I came back to work, but oh well.

After sorting through my pile, I would like to vent.

DON'T GET MAD AT ME!! I CAN'T DO MY JOB TILL YOU DO YOURS!!!

I am in the middle of enrolling 4 students, but I can't do a think until the schools get back with me about what work they want the students to do. Their probation officers are mad because I haven't enrolled them yet, but I can't until the school gets back with me. My hands are tied. Don't get mad at me, call the school!

Shipping

Last week I bought two Wii games from Amazon. I can track my package. When I checked it this morning I found out that sometime this weekend it left Michigan. I just checked it again, and now it is in Nevada....hmmm... A bit out of the way. I think it is funny that my package could have just come straight south, but instead they sent it out west first. Oh well!

I did ship a package today to my dad in South Carolina via UPS. I am curious what route it will take!

Santa

We took Taylor to see Santa last night. He wasn't afraid, in fact he was very curious. Santa had a beard that felt funny and glasses! Bad Santa. He parked his chalet on a handicapped space in a government employee parking lot.Don't even think of taking my bink away from me!

My hat is WAY cooler than yours!

I've been good. I swear!

How Long?

How long does it take for a life to change? 1 day? 1 hour? 1 week? 1 minute?



We are coming up on the second anniversary of the accident that changed everything. Here the blog I posted two years ago.

We, Nikki and I, were talking about the accident last night. The anniversary is proudly written on the family calendar. It marks a change in not only her life, but our family's life. We are stronger now. Not a week goes by that I don't see my nieces or in-laws. That month of living in a hospital waiting room was rough, but it did bring us closer together. It also humbled Phil. He was forced to ask for help and he realized he didn't have to go through this alone.

I can still remember the first time I saw her after the accident. They lead me back to the Neuro ICU. They told me, "She won't look like herself. She won't respond to you, but that doesn't mean she can't hear you. Talk to her, tell her who you are, hold her hand, etc." I walked into the room and about lost it. I swore I wouldn't let her hear me cry. They had the movie Frosty playing on her TV. You know, the old movie version that is horrible, but that gets played a million times around the holidays. She loves that movie. When Phil saw it on the tv, we left the tv on. Phil stepped out of the room to take a phone call and I walked over to her right side and took her hand. I was talking to her and I told her, "If you can hear me, squeeze my hand." Those two seconds were the longest of my life. Suddenly her hand grabbed mine so tight I jumped. Her legs started moving. She was panicking. They were still adjusting her meds to keep her in a "mini" induced coma, but alert enough to respond (if she could) when asked. I got Phil's attention. He waved me off (I don't think he realized what was going on and he was on the phone). I couldn't get her to calm down. Finally, Phil came in, took her other hand and she instantly calmed down. You can't tell me that people in comas don't hear, I think they do. Of course she doesn't remember any of this. She was in the hospital for exactly a month, but she only remembers the last couple of days. Thank God that she is perfectly healthy, actually she has better eyesight since the accident. The only difference is a cool scar on his thigh and her speech is still just a bit off. She sounds like someone who has had one to many to drink. But if having her voice be different means we can keep her, then we'll take it.

I have to say that I hate driving. It makes me nervous. I hate accidents even more. I have lost a grandfather to a car accident (he died long before I was born), a high school friend, and Ayron's mother's first husband was killed in a crash. It makes me nervous.

I was driving to work this morning thinking about the accident and Ayron called to say that he will be going to Wisconsin (or was it Minnesota??) this weekend to meet with a gentleman that wants to use KRUSE to auction some cars and car parts. I know if they drive that I will be a wreck. Pray for sanity!

You Gotta Be Creative...

...when you are a teacher with a teacher's salary. Check this out.

Shopping

So I am attempting to get ALL of my holiday shopping (including baking supplies) done this week. I am currently filing my cart at amazon.com. I decided to look at coloring books (it's a family thing) and you can buy used coloring books for around $1. What fun is that? Why would I want to buy a book that is half scribbled in?

Idiot!!

Last night one of the tv shows did a special segment about Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown. Here is an article I found on line that briefly discusses why she is in the news.

At the end of the television segment the news reporter said that they had tried to contact the two men she saved. The one man she saved said, "Women have no write to serve on front lines and have no place in the service."

I was shocked. That jerk of a guy is not thankful? She saved his macho butt and he can't even say "thanks"? I understand that according to our military "rules" women are not to serve in front line combat. But sorry to tell you people, war doesn't always follow a nice neat plan. Sometimes our service men AND women are attacked and forced into the front lines. I was just so mad at the man. She saved his life. If it were a man that saved his life he probably would have done an on camera interview!

I understand that this is controversial. If it were a man, would it have gotten this much attention? Would the solider have been awarded the medal? I don't know. She did keep stating, "I was simply doing my job." She wasn't trying to be a hero, she was trying to protect and help the people that she had become friends with.

I was just appalled at that jerk or a solider who couldn't even thank the woman that saved him!

One Word

All of my students are on their lunch break so I have time to do yet another silly email forward and post it to my blog.

TYPE ONLY 1 WORD. IT’S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!
1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Your spouse/boyfriend or girlfriend? Ayron (part of me thought, "do they want to know where he is? They did just ask where my cell phone is???"
3. Your hair? blech
4. Your mother? Work?
5. Your father? East
6. Your favorite thing? Taylor
7. Your dream last night? Work
8. Your favorite drink? Amaretto
9. Your dream/goal? Happiness
10. The room you are in? Office
11. Your fear? Failure
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Mommy
13. Where were you last night? Michigan
14. What you are not? Perfect
15. Muffins? Yummy.
16. One of your wish list items- Peace
17. Where you grew up? Auburn
18. The last thing you did. Yawned
19. What are you wearing? Clothes
20. Your TV? Crappy
21. Your pet. Hyper
22. Your computer? Government's
23. Your Life? Hectic
24. Your mood? Grouchy
25. Missing someone? Sister
26. Your car? drivable
27. Something you are not wearing. Glasses
28. Your favorite store? Changes
29. Your summer? Short
30. Your favorite color? Blue
31. When is the last time you laughed? Morning
32. Last time you cried. unsure.
33. Who will/would re-post this? Nat??
34. Who do you miss the most? many
35. Four places I go, over and over. Work, Sitter, Wal-Mart, Mom's
36. Four people who e-mail me: Aunt, Sis, Dad, Kelly
37. Four of your favorite foods: Fish, Salad, Deer, Potato
38. Four places I would rather be right now: bed, Florida, bed, Florida
39. Four people I think will respond: ???

How I spent my long weekend

Here are some pictures and videos that show you just how I spent my long (5 day) weekend!

This shirt was given to Taylor from "Uncle Tyler" while home on a visit. It cracks me up!

This is Taylor on Thanksgiving Morning at Meijer. He fell asleep on the way and I didn't want to carry him around the store, so we made a "bed" in the cart!

This is Taylor and Daddy sword fighting at Meijer.

Scooter singing his version of Chirstmas Carols.

Most people spent "Black Friday" shopping. Not at our house. My boys (all three) were up around 6:30, but back down around 7:30!

Things I've Done

Want to play? Copy and paste. Pick a color for the things that you have done.



I HAVE...

1. Started my own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than I can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world- I was little. I only remember dropping my icecream bar shaped like Mickey's head.

8. Climbed a mountain- I actually climbed one right after a rain storm while sining, "The hills are alive with the sound of music." Only to be told that the mountain I just climbed and sang on was the same one as Julie Andrews!!

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sung a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched lightening at sea

14. Taught myself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child- Does adopting on in a foreign country and sending money count?

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown my own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitchhiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run- Does Wii Sports Baseball count? If so, then I should be drafted!!

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught myself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David- in pictures!

41. Sung karaoke- only with my nieces at the in-laws.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa- Came oh so freaking close. But the weather was too bad and the tourist boats weren't traveling that day. So instead we stayed at Gibralter and were attacked by monkies.

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had my portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma- Then passed out in front of students and was escorted back to my classroom by football players in case I passed out again. Embarassing!!

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp- Creepiest place ever, yet very overwhelming to think about all that went on.

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had my picture in the newspaper- Stupid snowman!

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life- I don't know why I highlighted this one....I think it was a mistake.

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Ridden an elephant

Cool Thought

My grandparents(my mom's parents) would have been married 60 years today. Unfortunately they have both passed.

That is a cool thought for me. In a world where marriage is taken so lightly and divorce is used way too much, it is cool to think that they would have made it to 60 had health issues not stepped in.

Ayron and I have been married for 3 1/2 years now and that number astounds me, I can't imagine how I'll feel when we make it to 60. That will be July 2, 2055. That seems so far away!

ADD

Recently I have blogged about a student I have been having issues with. It has been a smooth couple of days, until this morning. Homework was not done nor was his homework letter signed. According to the contract I made him sign, I can legally kick him out. I hesitate to do so. I called his probation officer and we have worked out a plan and she is coming over to see if he laughs at her like he did at me this morning when we talked about everything. In my conversation with his probation officer I learned that he is ADD, yet his mom refuses to medicate him.

I get that, as a parent, that is your choice, but don't act all confused when the issue you refuse to acknowledge is the reason he has been having so many problems at school. Change his diet if you don't want to go the pharmaceutical route. Help him learn how to manage and cope with is problem, don't pretend it doesn't exist. We can court order a parent to medicate, but only if it is a life threatening situation, ADD is not, so we are stuck.

It looks like his days here are numbered and as much as I hate to ruin a family's holiday, I can't help this kid if the parents aren't willing to help me help him. Does that make sense? The homework letter says, "Do not sign till you have seen ALL the completed work." It is signed even if the doesn't do one lick of homework.

I know that these types of blogs may not be the most thrilling thing, but it helps me try to think through the situation. Did I miss something? Could we try another route? Etc. I think we have tried every path and every tactic with this student and until he cares, nothing will matter. It's sad, but sometimes true.

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After lunch I decided to talk to the student one last time. I looked at him and said, "I give up." He was confused. I said, "I don't know what I can do to make you want to work and finish 7th grade. Your probation officer doesn't know, the school doesn't know, none of us do. Unless you can come up with a good reason why I should continue to waste my time planning and coping work you won't do, I give up. I hate to say it, but I give up. I don't know what you need or want from me. You have to tell me." His response, "I dunno." I told him that I was giving him till 3 to prove he wanted to be here and not repeat the 7th grade. If he hadn't completed his work or proved to me by then that he wanted to stay, he would be removed from YIP. It is currently break time and he is opting to work through his break. He has been plugging away and seriously making an effort (which makes me wonder...lazy or ADD or a combo?). He is asking questions and doing research and coming to ask me a question now.

15 minutes later...

We just did 35 math problems! He worked them straight through and didn't complain! It's sad, but I think tell him "I give up." helped.

Bored at Work

Stolen from an email that was forwarded to me. Since the students are here yet, thought I'd kill some time by actually answering the questions.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Who needs that stuff? Just tie the Wal-mart bag shut!

2. Real tree or Artificial? What tree? We don't have a tree. No place for one and we have a dog that would eat it!

3. When do you put up the tree? See #3 answer

4. When do you take the tree down? See #3 answer

5. Do you like eggnog? Depends, is it "adult" egg nog or kid friendly?

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My real life baby doll

7. Hardest person to buy for? Dads

8. Easiest person to buy for? Taylor. He would be happy with a cardboard box!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Working on it. I want the Willow Tree one.

10. Mail or Email Xmas cards? I mailed some once, like 5 years ago...does that count?

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Underwear

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? "You'll shoot your eye out!"

13.When do you start shopping for Christmas? About 2 weeks before the holiday.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yep. Work smarter, not harder.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? deep fried turkey

16. Lights on the tree? only white. I don't like colored lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Harass me later, but Hanson does a collage of several songs that is cool.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?a little of both

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Umm....I've never tried...hang on......yep.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? See answer to #3. If I had a tree, angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? 1 on Christmas Eve. Natty always opened batteries...hahahaha. She'd be so mad. "That's not fair. I get to open another one!"

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? How hard it is to coordinate family schedules to fit it all in. Gotten harder since we all have little ones now.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don't have a favorite, but I like looking at the ones I made in pre-school.

24. Gifts this year? Simple and small. We are more about spending time as a family then the presents. If only my three nieces understood that concept.

2 Hour Delay

Like some people, I went into education to have my summers off! I also enjoy the occasional snow day. I woke up this morning to discover I had a two hour delay. I wasn't that excited. Since my "school" doesn't start till 10, 2 hour delays don't mess with our schedule. I had the panicked phone call from a parent, "What do we do?" I had to explain, "We don't start till 10 any way!"

As I sat eating my frosted mini wheats I kept watching the scrolling schools on the bottom of the screen. I became a kid again. "Please let them close!" I wanted to stay home and do laundry of all things! I gave up and headed into work around 8:15. The highway wasn't great, but it wasn't THAT bad either.

The teacher in me says, "Good, we are still on track with our days." The student in me pouts, "But I wanted a snow day!"

Only Me

I have a lot of stupid things happen to me. I have just come to accept it.

This morning I slid through an intersection on my way to get gas. Thank God, no one was coming and all is well. I ran into the Angola Wal-Mart and bought conditioner, then drove over to the Murphy USA Gas Station ($1.57 a gallon!) where I filled up my car for $21!!

I came to work, shoveled the side walk, and went through my usual morning routine. I decided Applebees sounded good for lunch so I called and placed my order. I was getting around to go pick up my food when I realized I couldn't find my debit card. I tore apart my purse, checked coat and clothing pockets. I went though the car, retraced my steps, I did it all. I even went and dug through the snow I shoveled. Nothing. I called the gas station, "No one has turned in a card." I checked our account balance on line, nothing had been bought, so I knew it wasn't being used. I knew if I called and cancelled my card I would immediately find it, so I hesitated. I decided to check the car one last time.

I bent at the waist to check under the car and something hit me on the head. I looked at the ground and there was my debit card! Sitting up in the tree was Squirrelo, our pet squirrel. See, Squirrelo won't leave. We have tried. His favorite activity is torturing us. He likes to throw things at the back door on drop them on people. He is a rolly polly thing and we have tried to chase him off several times, he fights back!

Part of me thought, "That stupid squirrel stole my debit card." Then I realized that my card fell out of the hood of my coat. I have no clue how it got into the hood of my coat, but I think that sounds a little better than "Squirrelo stole it!"

View From My Window

I was busily typing away at my desk when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. By the time I opened my phone (to catch it on video) it had decreased greatly. This is what I saw.

At one point, I couldn't see the cars parked in the parking lot across the street. Now it just looks like I am in a snow globe that is settling down.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see snow, it is November 21 and I do live in Indiana. Every year I am surprised by the snow. It's such a hypnotizing, yet terrifying thing to watch.

And now, as I am ready to hit the "publish post" button, the snow has stopped. Silly Indiana weather!

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I just watched the video on my computer screen and realized, you can't really tell it was snowing. I guess that is due to several factors: The screen on the window, poor video quality (it was my phone) and the fact that I was to lazy and warm to actually go outside and capture the video "in the moment."

Excuses

In my line of work I get a lot of excuses.

"I couldn't do my homework because I don't have a computer at home." - That's great, it was a math worksheet, you didn't need a computer.

"I tested positive because I was in a car when people were claim baking." - A) That is not smart. B.) You will only test positive if you smoke the weed, so you smoked the weed.

"I didn't know I couldn't smoke in the bathroom." - You are a 6th grader, you can't smoke anywhere, let alone a school bathroom.


The latest is the best. I was helping do some filing at the office. A parent of a former child had been written up. They tested positive for meth. Their excuse? "I took Sudafed and drank 3 Monster drinks and that's why I tested positive." No, you tested positive for meth because you took meth!

Grocery Shopping

I hate grocery shopping. I used to love it, now I hate it. It is a pain! In an attempt to squelch my disdain, I have become more organized. I have a coupon according folder with each tab/slot containing different types of coupons (frozen, dairy, baby, toiletries, etc). I make a very organized (according to store lay out) list. Each * next to an item equals one coupon.

Well, it's been a month since we last went grocery shopping and a lot of the staples are disappearing and since tomorrow is payday, I thought I'd tackle the grocery list today. I decided to clip the Kroger ad and take those clips to Wal-Mart. Well, on a whim I called Wal-Mart. They won't take the cut out if the cut out has a picture of the Kroger card with it. They consider that another store coupon and they don't honor those. Ok....I'll go to Kroger. So I called Kroger. They don't accept store cut outs from anyplace. Arg! How am I supposed to save money people!?

What happened to the time of double and triple coupons? Oh those were the days! I was a cashier at Scott's during that time and I hated it. It meant more work for me. As a consumer, I miss those days!

Drive Time

I have a 30 minute commute to work each day. The morning drive allows me to think and prepare for the day. Knowing that I have a pretty calm day today (although when I say that, it is never calm) I was "sight seeing" on my drive to work. I was marveling at the trees, nature, etc when Creed's song Arms Wide Open came on the radio. The song talks about a man who just learned his wife was pregnant and he begins to pray. The song got me thinking. How can someone look at nature and all that it encompasses and childbirth and not believe in a higher power?

I often wondered the same thing when I was pregnant. Knowing what my body was doing and how I didn't have to think "Ok cells, divide. Ok heart, make your chambers." It just happened. How can someone know that and not believe?

Sure there are a lot of bad things in their world, but I feel everything happens for a reason and having one bad thing happen is not a reason to try to ignore that there is a God who is watching out for us.

I guess I just don't see how people can't believe.

What Is Indiana All About?!

I have a friend who is coming home for Thanksgiving and bringing his girlfriend with him. They will be in Auburn for a whole week. I asked him, "You told her there isn't anything to do in Auburn right?" He said he warned her about our lack of entertainment. So what is there to do in Northeast Indiana?

1.) WWII Museum- It's interesting, but if you're not a car or war fan, you could easily pass.

2.) ACD Museum- It is cool to look at old cars, but it's not like you get to drive them around.

3.) Sechler's Pickle Factory- I know the local elementary school kids get to take a tour, but part of me wants to see what it's all about too.

4.) Glenbrook Mall- I guess it's not that impressive to me because that is really the only "mall" I have known.

5.) Satek Winery- I don't drink wine, but it might be cool if you do.

6.) Fremont Outlet Mall- If you ask me, it has steadily gone down hill.

So, what do you suggest he take his girlfriend to see while they are home. I suggested the family dairy farm, but she doesn't strike me as a dairy farm type gal!

Monkey at Work

Yesterday I brought Monkey to work with me. It is exhausting to bring him, but I didn't have another choice. The morning went smoothly and he napped like normal. In the afternoon, gears changed and he refused to sleep, he refused to even play. He wanted to be held. Needless to say, getting work done in the afternoon was difficult.

When I pulled in the driveway yesterday afternoon, I found Taylor like this.

Clean House

I give up! For the past 7 months I have been pulling my hair out trying to keep a clean house. I give up. If you come and visit me and think, "Man! Look at that pile of dishes!" or "Why is the laundry still on the drying rack? It's dry." I'm sorry.

It was easy to get everything done and have dinner on the table by 5:30 when I was on maternity leave. Working full time and taking care of Taylor complicates that. I have decided to spend my afternoon time (all of 45 minutes) from when I get home till Ayron gets home playing with Taylor and Scooter instead of frantically cleaning my house like the cleaning inspector is coming to visit. I used to freak out if one dish was in the sink. Not anymore. This morning BOTH sides of the sink were full of dishes! I would normally run home, unload the dishwasher, then reload it. Then i would move on to vacuuming up the spare dog hair (which is EVERYWHERE) and then laundry. NOT TODAY! I am going to go home and read a book with Taylor.

My priorities are changing. I will clean the house, don't get wrong, but I am not going to stress myself out if the dishes aren't done and the house isn't spotless by 5pm.

Christmas Tree

I "stole" these pictures from an email sent to be from Kelly. I am trying to get my boss and co-worker to save their pop cans so we can build one here at work. Although, they both drink diet mt. dew, so should our tree be skinner?

Happy Birthday

Today is Mickey Mouse's Birthday 80th birthday!

He Doesn't Care

I have a new student who started this morning. He is a middle school student who is in the 7th grade. He doesn't care. That is apparent. When I interviewed the family last week it was apparent. I don't know what made me think his attitude would change upon starting the program this morning (I still have hope, I am not as jaded as some may think).

He is upset because when I looked through his books I found various assignments that were not complete or quizzes he had failed because he turned them in blank. Needless to say, I added those to his daily assignments for today.

Since arriving at 10 am this morning he had completed the following: 20 math problems, a 10 problem math quiz, read 1 page of his novel.

This student is intelligent, he can easily do the work, he just doesn't want to. I will not sit right next to him and do the work for him. That does nothing.

As I sit here eating my fake Oreos (see previous post: I know Todd, they suck!) I have to wonder what brought him to this point? Does he not understand (I have told him several times) that if he fails here, he will be held back and all of his friends will move on and he'll repeat the 7th grade. Does he think that sounds fun? He won't answer me, just gives me a blank stare.

It's not like the work is hard. Part of an assignment he didn't do, but I am making him redo is labeling the western states. That's it. How hard is that? Would take him all of 30 seconds if he cared.

I wasn't an exceptional student, but I cared. I am not sure why I cared. I think I was afraid of disappointing my parents and my teachers. Do students not care about that today? I know we are all motivated by different things, but what if nothing motivates them? How can I make them see the path they are headed down is not fun. I have my older students (if they want) share their experiences in lock up and the justice system as a type of "scare" tactic for the younger ones. Usually it works, with this kid, he'd probably just shrug his shoulders.

So now I get to call his mother at work and explain my rationale and state that I am giving him one more day to prove he wants to be here (technically he doesn't have to be here, he chose to be here) or I will remove him from the program. I am not going to waste my time planning his work when he won't do it. I have better things to do with my time. I can devote my attention to a student who actually wants to work!

Monkey Madness

For those of you who don't have facebook (I think that's just Kelly!), here is a link to the Monkey Album I just updated. The first pictures you have probably seen, but the rest are new!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63763&l=830c5&id=790068782

Brand Name vs. Store Brand

I usually buy the store brand (if there is an option). Even with coupons, 9 times out of 10, the store brand will still be cheaper. I do miss the day's of double and triple coupons, but I have a feeling those day's won't be back.

The last time we went grocery shopping we went to Aldi's and bought a bunch of stuff to stock the house for awhile. I needed baking supplies and things you don't normally buy on your weekly trips to the store (or however often you go).

I have discovered some things that I just can't eat the store brand of.

1.) Mac and Cheese- I'm sorry. It has to be Kraft. I have done the cheap kind and it's just gross.

2.) Nacho Chips- Doritos people, there is nothing like them. I just tried the Aldi's brand with my gross sandwich (see previous post) and they were worse than my sandwich.

3.) Cool Whip- Depending on the recipe. The store brand "melts" faster so it won't hold a shape or stay firm in certain dessert recipes.

Ok, well apparently I can only think of 3 things right now...but I know there are more!

Sucky Sandwhich

This morning I packed myself a sandwich for lunch. I discovered we were all out of grape jelly. So I made a peanut butter and strawberry preserve sandwich. It sucks. There is just nothing like a good ole pb and GRAPE jelly sandwich.

Give Taylor 11 Years...He'll Get There

I found this article on wane.com


7 feet tall at 12 years old

Brenden Adams says he's just a kid

He's 12 years old and seven feet tall. Seven feet and three inches to be exact.
Brenden Adams had all of his teeth at four months old. At age four, he was the size of an eight-year-old. And when he was 10, he was the size of Michael Jordan. He towers over his classmates. Adams has a problem with one of his chromosomes that helps regulate growth and development. As such, his bones and organs grow at an incredible rate, meaning frequent trips to the hospital. He's had a brain tumor, a bleeding disorder and surgery to remove 12 extra teeth. Doctors hope they can make him stop growing by bringing on puberty early. They've given him testosterone injections and so far they're working. As far as they can tell, Adams has stopped growing. Still, despite his height, Adams says, at heart, he's just a kid and loves riding his custom-made bike.

I hope they get his condition figured out. But I am guessing that Taylor will be the only 6 foot kindergartner!

Not Ready

I currently have a female student doing a Child Development class. We have talked in the past about having kids, etc. She has always said, "Maybe one day, but I am not ready now." She is plugging away at the course work and doing a good job (she averages high "B's"). Today I was reading an essay answer and the question asked her to describe some games you could play with a 6 month old that would allow for parent/child bonding time. Her answer, "Fetch."

Yeah, I'd say she's not ready!

Stupid Tree

We have a lovely lot. It has several trees that those trees are wonderful....all except one of them. On the back corner of our lot we have a huge oak tree. It is gorgeous, but it has problems. It is old. It has been struck by lightening a couple of times, but it manages to live. It lives right next to our power lines.

Monday afternoon I pulled in the driveway and attempted to open the garage door with my opener. Nothing. Irritated, I thought, "Did I pay the utilities?" I knew I had, so I angrily dug out my keys and went in the front door. I looked out the back window and saw that there was a large city truck with a bucket lift in my backyard. After about 45 minutes, we had power. They were trimming up some branches because our stupid oak tree decided to shed some limbs on the power line and kill the power.

Later Monday night we realized that our furnace was not working properly. We called Josh, our favorite repair man, and he tried to walk Ayron through some things, but nothing seemed to work. He said he would come on Tuesday (I had already planned to take the day off) to look at it. Ayron went to Wal-Mart and bought a small space heater to keep Taylor's room warm.

Tuesday came and so did my favorite repair man. After about 30 minutes he figured it out and pieced it all together. When the power had gone off, the furnace had been running. The furnace then decided to shut off part of its operations to keep gas from leaking in. We simply needed to hit a nicely hidden reset button.

As Josh and I were talking, I saw the city trucks pull in the back yard (the back of our property butts up to an access drive). They began trimming up more branches. I told Josh how I have called several times to have that tree taken down and all they ever do is trim the branches. He went outside and pretended to be the home owner. Low and behold, they listened to a man and agreed to cut down the tree AND leave the wood! They mulched up the brush but left the rest. There is till half of the trunk in place, but they will probably be back today to finish cutting it down.

Now I have a furnace that works, a tree that will kill the power no longer, and Josh and Kelly have a crap load of wood for their soon to arrive (I hope) wood stove!

Happy Thought

Taylor is talking up a storm lately. He loves to talk to the dog. The other day I discovered that he likes to talk to our door. I left him alone and hid out of sight. I discovered he was talking to the object above our door. We have a wooden sign that is inscribed (Jesus is the unseen guest at every meal....etc). That sign was given to me by my grandfather for my wedding.

Those of you who know me know that my grandfather passed away a couple years before my wedding. My mom bought me that sign and said it was from my grandfather. He was a carpenter and loved to work with wood. I also got a blue stone cross from my grandmother (she passed while my mother was pregnant with me and I am her namesake).

After watching him talk to the sign for awhile I shrugged it off. When Ayron came home I told him how Taylor had begun talking to no one. He wasn't just babbling. I truly think he feels he is carrying on a conversation with someone. He will talk, the pause like he is listening/waiting for a response. I told Ayron how he is always talking to the sign above the door. Ayron offered me a simple explanation: "Maybe he is talking to Grandpa Eaton."

It made me wonder, does Taylor "see" grandpa? It was a comforting thought that made me tear up. Grandpa passed way to early. He was too full of life. He didn't go without a fight, but in the end the strokes got the better of him. So now when I see Taylor talking to no one, I like to think that Grandpa and Taylor are talking about going for a motorcycle ride.

*******************************************************************************

This month will mark the 7th year anniversary of Grandpa's passing. I do believe that our loved ones who have gone before us are watching out with us and always with us. There are time when I swear I can feel them and hear them. I will never forget that funeral. It was the COOLEST funeral I have ever attended.

My grandpa was a big Goldwing fan. He was always riding his bike and he loved it. He passed away right before Thanksgiving (I can't remember the exact date). He was a member of the CMA and the week before everyone had their bikes winterized. They all decided that the best way to honor Grandpa was to ride their bikes to the church and to the cemetery. Everyone pulled their bikes out of storage and got them "de-winterized."

I'm sure that to an outsider seeing people in jeans, cowboy boots, and leather chaps was shocking, especially at a funeral. To us, it was amazing! I know he loved it. You should have heard the roar when they all started their bikes and lead the funeral procession to the cemetery.

I also remember sitting in the car at the cemetery. None of the family got out of the car right away. Why would we? There was a Michigan St. vs. Purdue football game on the radio and it was the fourth quarter. I don't remember who won, but I do remember laughing and thinking that Grandpa would have loved it.

Proof

Proof that Josh has held Taylor. It's a bit blurry, but it is proof. So there you have it everyone, Josh will hold a "baby."

GIANT BABY!

Yesterday morning I had the house to myself (well Scooter was there) so I decided to go through Taylor's clothes and pack up what didn't fit. I then went to Wal-Mart to look for a couple of things he needed. I started really looking at the tags and the weight and height suggestions on them. According to the tags, my child is in 12 or 18 month clothes. The only problem is the pants don't fit. He is a long child, but he has a LONG torso. I did manage to find some shirts on clearance that I got him for $2 a piece. I kept finding myself wandering back to the cute baby onesie type outfits. I finally realized that our days of cute one piece outfits are over.

There were three outfits I couldn't bring myself to pack up, so I took them to my mom and she cut off the legs and hemmed the edges and BAM, he now has three long sleeved shirts! Two of those outfits we bought last month and he outgrew them that fast.

I guess this is what I get for marrying a giant. Taylor is 7 1/2 months and 29 inches long. He weighs 21 lbs. That goat's milk really helped him pack on the pounds!

I have to wonder IF (don't go reading into this) we have another child and it is a girl will she be a beast like her brother? I hope not!

The Beginning of the End

So I have a friend who is blogging (over several posts) about how she met her now husband. It got me thinking, "I wonder if I can remember all of my story." I have always wanted a daughter to tell the story too. Don't get be wrong I love Taylor and I am ecstatic we had a boy, but I think most women want a relationship with their daughters where they can discuss how "mom and dad" came to be.

In an attempt to test my memory, I have decided to see if I can document our (Ayron and I) meeting.

I started working at Scott's the summer before my senior year. That was THE place to work. There was a nice mix of DeKalb and Eastside students. We got along and soon were one big family. One night I was working and I had that annoying customer. You know, the one with a cut out (back when they did cutouts) and coupons for EVERYTHING, and a full cart to boot. I was one of the fastest and most accurate cashiers, but I secretly hated those customers. There were several other lanes open and I was dealing with the customer and her pickiness when I noticed a green giant (he had an Eastside jacket) in my lane. I thought, "What the heck dude? Why wait, go through Jen's line." But he waited. When I was finally able to ring up his order I must have gave him a funny glance. He had 2 gallons of milk and about 5 different cereals. He felt the need to tell me, "My parents are out of town." I thought, "Lovely, loser who can't cook."

After I had rang up his items, all the other cashiers started talking to him and asking when he was coming back to work. I ignored the chatter and went about my business. After he left, I looked at Jen and said, "So who's the moron who can't cook?" Jen looked at me and laughed, "Um your boss." I learned that his name was Ayron and he had graduated from Eastside and he took the summers off from Scott's to work for the family business.

When Ayron started back up at Scott's, I hated him. I thought he was always picking on me. Having me go do bathroom checks and bring in carts. Hello? Didn't he know I was a cashier, not a bagger? I always accused him of favoring the Eastside cashiers and frankly I wanted nothing to do with him. In November a former "fling" of mine returned home and I was happy to reestablish that relationship (it didn't work, THANK GOD).

By the time the end of December rolled around I had had enough of Auburn and was ready to split. School was pointless and I was getting sick of the small town views of some people. One night at work I was talking with Jen and we had decided we were going to take off, at least for the weekend. She had some extra cash and a car and we were set to just drive. I told her I would be back at the end of her shift and we could head out. She told me, "I have a feeling something is going to change, just call me here at 10." She knew something I didn't.

Rocking at Grandmas

My mom loves to play with Taylor. She is upset when she isn't needed to babysit on Tuesday or Thursday's. She has recently taught him a cool "trick" during their time together. Ayron and I caught him doing it last night and mom said, "Oh, that? He started doing that last week." Ayron and I tried to get it on video (via our phones) and this is a clip of what we were able to catch. It is very funny to watch in real life. If he knows you are watching him he will stop!

The rocking chair he is sitting in is OLD. It was a Christmas present given to my mom when she was 2 or 3. I remember falling asleep in it once when I was younger and my sister putting a suction cup basketball hoop to my head. It stayed on my whole nap. The only problem was the perfectly round hickey it left for a week! Thanks Nat.

Weekend Fun

So this weekend I worked the November Classic at the KRUSE Auction Park. I worked in a ticket booth and it was cold! I was all alone for 8 hours and you tend to get a bit bored. I did managed to read a couple magazines and a book. I also managed to sing most of Les Miserable to my empty folding chair!

This is the scooter I drove Friday night. It is a three wheeled contraption that is crazy to drive! Ayron about wrecked his into the back of mine. They wanted me to drive mine on to the block, but I politely passed. I would have wrecked it. The owner of the scooter drove it up for me! He had five of them to sell, but I don't think any of them did.

This is a video tour of my ticket shack. It is a tribute to my friend Kym who has given us two video and one picture tour of her home in Florida. Well, you may have 70 degree weather down there Kym, but I got you beat, I have/had 2 folding chairs!

I was supposed to help drive the Shelby Mustangs across the block, but some moron stole the keys and caused a huge mess. It ended up taking the whole weekend to get new keys made, etc. I so badly wanted to drive that car. It was black and gold to boot! BOILER UP!

Work Work, All Day Long...

We have been talking to our students about volunteering and doing some community service without it being court ordered. Today we had the perfect opportunity. There was a pile of leaves by the courthouse that needed moved. We grabbed our rakes and away we went. The kids were having fun just being outside (I have one on home detention so fresh air was fun for him!).

We were trying to get the kids to play in the leaves, but they wouldn't.....my staff however....did.

I wish you could have seen the kids faces. Legally, I couldn't post them, so I had to crop them out. They have the biggest shocked faces in the world. Suzanne has now spent about an hour picking leaf bits out of her hair and her pants!

Halloween Pictures

We didn't take Taylor trick-or-treating. What's the point? He is seven months old! We did get a costume. We played dress up and took pictures. We ended up going to Applebee's with Ayron's parents.

Politics!

Arg! I am so sick of the political ads on tv. They are on all the time. I am beginning to miss the stupid "Head On" commercials!

I will admit that I am an uninformed voter. I am voting early (this afternoon), but I am spending my morning doing research on each candidate. I don't trust the commercials. They are biased. I know that the research I will do will probably be biased as well, so I am going into my research with that knowledge.

It amazes me how much money each side has spent on the presidential campaign. Millions upon millions. Couldn't that money be better spent.....oh I don't know...lets just say FIXING OUR ECONOMY? Feeding the hungry? Housing the homeless? Betting our schools?

Ayron and I were talking about the attack ads the other night and we agreed. We think that after the primary election, each side should only be able to spend $100,000 (still a large amount) on advertising. Any extra money should be used to feed the hungry, house the homeless, better the schools, etc. Just think of how far that money could go. Instead it is being spent to by "infomercial" time as well as attack ads.

I honestly don't know who I am voting for. I have certain issues that are important to me, so I plan to research where each candidate stands on those issues. I really can't wait for the election and the attack ads to be done!

Memories

About a week ago I was helping my in laws clean some photos off of their digital camera. I was going through and deleting the unimportant and out of focus shots my 5 year old niece had taken (I think she snitches the camera more than grandma knows) when I came across pictures of my sister in laws vehicle.

Almost 2 years ago my sister in law was hit (T-boned) by a semi from a large and local trucking company. She spent a month in the hospital. She shouldn't have survived. We were told that so many times. "She shouldn't be walking." "She shouldn't be talking." "There is no way she'll drive again." We heard it all. Yet, she amazed us all and she is doing fine, in fact she has better eye sight now! It was a horrible, yet bonding time for our family. I still remember that feeling in my gut I had during the time of the accident. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew something was wrong. Then the phone rang. I have never driven home so fast. I remember passing the wrecker truck on the way to the hospital. I remember (and you can still see) the tire marks through the grass and the skid marks from the other car.

This morning I passed a semi from the same trucking company. My heart always stops a little. Mostly because last winter I was run off the road by a semi from that same company. I flinch now when I pass one on the high way, or I see one coming and it's a bit to close to the center line. I am pretty sure that is normal.

So when I passed a semi this morning I started recalling the photos I had seen in my mind. The car looked like a crumpled up piece of paper. I don't know how she got out alive.

I know she has come a long way, but some things will never be the same. Her voice is a little different now. It almost sounds like she has a bubble in the back of her throat. This morning I found myself struggling to remember what she sounded like before the accident. It killed me because I couldn't recall her voice. I still can't. Am I the only one who can't remember? Do her daughters remember what she sounded like before the accident? What really gets me is when I call the house and the answering machine picks up. It is Nikki, before the accident, on the recording. I don't think they will ever get rid of that recording. I think that is our one link to the old Nikki. Don't get me wrong, the old Nikki is back, just with a different voice. But my heart still breaks a little every time I get the answering machine.

Do you hear yourself?

I just got off a conference call with a parent. Her son has been expelled from school. He is a middle school student. She doesn't want him to come to my program because he will hang out with bad kids who are a horrible influence. I told her, "Our students are not bad people. They messed up and are doing what they need to do to get back on path." But her mind, they are bad people because they were kicked out of school. HELLO?? Your son is kicked out of school too!!! Using her justification, if all students who are kicked out of school are bad, then her child who is no longer in school is a bad kid too!

She will be visiting this afternoon to decide if she wants her son to attend my program. Here are her options:

1.) He comes here, continues his work and doesn't fall behind. It's free for them since the school is referring them.

2.) They pay for a private education. PRIVATE = EXPENSIVE

3.) He sits at home till January and is then 9 weeks behind his peers.

To me, the choice is clear, but maybe I am biased.

Are You Serious?

Check this out https://mail.co.steuben.in.us/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1081355/The-100-000-white-wedding-16-year-old-girl-lives-caravan.html

Are you kidding me? I can see so many things wrong with this. Lets start with the obvious. Their ages, she is 16 and he is 17. Sure, yep, they are mature enough to get married. She hasn't been in school since she was nine, but I'm sure she knows how to do the family finances, etc. The daughter looked like a tramp! I'm sorry. That was not a dress. The mom wore a bra as a top. Sure, women wearing bra's isn't a big deal, but they usually have something OVER them. The family spent over 100 British pounds on the wedding and yet they live in a van. Their priorities are a bit messed up!

I Give Up!!

So about 30 minutes ago, I put my lunch in the microwave. I brought a package of stuffed shells. I was careful to set the microwave on half power (like the directions indicated). I set the timer and went back to work. When the timer went off, my hungry tummy lead me to the kitchen. I burnt my lunch! In the microwave no less. I even followed directions. I was disappointed, but I remembered I had an extra "Michelina's" meal in the freezer.

I vented the corner, and put it in the microwave for 3 1/2 minutes, according to the directions. Back to work I went. When I went to the microwave I discovered I burnt my back up lunch! At least I have a pudding and applesauce cup left of my lunch. I won't burn those!

Paranoid?

I have a student who is a bit paranoid. They are adjusting his meds to help him cope with life. Here is a conversation we had this afternoon.

He storms into my office and throws his papers at him.

"You guys are out to get me."

"Excuse me? Calm down and explain to me what you mean."

"I know I am doing this work correctly and you guys only give me 80%"

"What makes you so sure you are doing work that is worthy of 100%?"

"Well, I cheated on the chapter 15 test and I only got an 86%"

"Ok, so that explains where my chapter 15 answer key disappeared to. Let me get this straight, you are admitting to me that you cheated on a test."

"Yes."

"Um....ok."

The conversation continued and the school was called along with grandma. It is all worked out now, but it cracks me up that in order to prove he was right and I was wrong he fessed up to cheating. He very easily could have gotten away with it. He scored an 86%, he is a "B" student, I didn't suspect anything.

I called grandma and told her our conversation. Her reply, "He cheated by copying the answer key 'word for word' and he still only got an 86%? Dumb ass."

I lost it. I tried to be professional, but the way she said it cracked me up. It is sad that someone would say that about a family member, but to hear this 70 year old woman say it on the phone cracked me up.

So, moral of the story. If you are trying to prove you are right, don't admit to cheating.

What makes YOU soooo special?

In order for me to properly do my job, often times I have to wait for others do to theirs. There is an order in which students must be enrolled. I must have a ton of things given to me before I can even call a family. That being said.

I work with several schools, one in particular. It is a large school in the county and I am sure the assistant principal is busy. I just wish he would understand that I need him to do his part before I can do mine. He hands me a phone number and expects me to enroll the student. I need more info. I ask the school to inform the family that I will be contacting them. The recent family doesn't speak English. The student does, but according to school, "Dad speaks a little English." Great! So now I have to cold call them and try to explain who I am and why I am calling. To top it all off, I have no clue what I am supposed to do with the student once I get them.

So, why do some people think the rules don't apply to them? What makes them so special that they think they can bypass steps 1-4 and magically have everything they want? How do you get those people to understand the process? I have explained it several times. I guess another email is in order.

Drama

As if the last couple days of a nine week period aren't crazy enough around here......I had a student hit by a car today on his way to school. He was riding his bike across the crosswalk by the mound (if you are familiar with Angola, you know where I am talking about) and a truck hit him and then left! I had to call the cops and the student had to give a police report. He didn't have much to tell. He was too busy "sliding across the pavement" to get a good look at the vehicle. His knee is scraped open and his pants have a big hole in them, but he will survive.

Playing in the leaves

He didn't actually eat any leaves, in case you were wondering.

Goat Killer

We own a goat that lives out at my brother-in-laws. We bought a goat when we put Taylor on goats milk. When we bought the goat, we didn't know her name. Once we got her formal registration paperwork we laughed. Our goats name is Taylor as well. Taylor Maid to be exact, but that's beside the point.

So we dried Taylor Maid up and decided to breed her. They took her to a man in Ohio who has a buck of the same breed and they thought the kid would be a good goat (we are hoping for a female, more milk.) They waited till Taylor Maid was in heat and put her in the pen with the buck. They came back a little while later and the buck was dead. They think he died of a heart attack during the act. So we don't know if Taylor Maid is pregnant or not.

I was talking to my brother-in-law about the buck and he said, "Yeah, but what a way to go!" Only a male would think that way!

What a morning

So I had a student come to me this morning and confide in me that she found out she is pregnant. She has gone to the doctor and told her family. The principal from her "home" school was in my office this morning so I encouraged her to tell the principal this morning. We have arranged what will happen with her schooling. My heart aches for this student. I have had her in both the night and the day program. She has made some serious strides towards growing up and becoming accountable for herself, but at 17 she is not ready for a child. I asked her if she was on vitamins and she said, "My mom got me some fish oil." I told her to go to Meijer today after school and get the vitamins for free from the pharmacy. I told her that I would go with her to tell her probation officer sometime this week. She wants to hide it from her PO, but I am trying to make her see that she needs to be an adult and tell her PO now.

It's just devastating because she is only 17 years old an in no shape to raise a child. I have no doubt her mother will help and the father of the child is looking for a job, but she needs to finish school first.

On the brighter side of things, another student decided he wanted a job this morning so he went out and got one! That made my day!

God cracks me up

I have a theory that God has an odd sense of humor. This situation might not be so much humor as an off beat way of reminding me.

It has been a year since I had a student commit suicide. Yesterday another student and I were reflecting on the events this time last year and remember the positive things the now deceased student had done for all of us. This morning I casually mentioned to some co-workers that it has been a year. They blew me off. I was upset. She was partially ignored in life, which is why she chose to leave early and they have already forgotten her. It's only been a year.

I came back to my office to think about everything. I decided it was too quiet so I turned on yahoo music and the first song that came on was Skillet's "The Last Night." I knew that was Him telling me, keep remembering her. I had never heard that song till last year right after I learned of my student's death. The song just hit home. Even now, every time I hear it I think of her. So thanks God for allowing me to remember her. I hope I never forget!

In case you haven't heard the song, here are the lyrics.

You come to me with your scars on your wrist
You tell me this will be the last night feeling like this

I just came to say goodbye
I didn't want you to see me cry,
I'm fine

But I know it's a lie

[Chorus:]This is the last night you'll spend alone
Look me in the eyes so I know you know
I'm everywhere you want me to be
The last night you'll spend alone
I'll wrap you in my arms and I won't let go
I'm everything
You need me to be

Your parents say everything is your fault
But they don't know you like I know you they don't know you at all

I'm so sick of when they say
It's just a phase, you'll be o.k. you're fine
But I know it's a lie

[Bridge:]The night is so long when everything's wrong
If you give me your hand
I will help you hold on
Tonight Tonight

[Altro:]I won't let you say goodbye
And I'll be your reason why
The last night away from me
Away from me

Light Weight

So I like to look at all the pictures people post on facebook. It cracks me up to see how many pictures include alcohol. I often wonder if I missed out on anything by skipping that phase of my life. Alcohol has never been a big deal to me. I have only ever been to a bar 3 times in my life. I helped play DD after my 21st b-day. I am not against alcohol. I am against those who take it WAY TOO FAR. After looking at some party pictures yesterday (of a former student no less) I had to wonder. Do young people realize they can have a good time without alcohol? Can they get together and hang out without beer pong?

When I got home yesterday I decided to have a wine cooler with dinner. Yeah, big bad me had a wild berry wine cooler! 1 wine cooler made me so relaxed I feel asleep! I am such a light weight, but I like it that way!