When it Rains, it Pours...

Wowie, the old idiom when it rains, it pours has been true literally and figuratively this week...
(And begging your pardon in advance, as the following may turn into a giant venting post.)

Weather: Though only the 5th day of September, we've already had TONS of rain. This makes escorting my class to/from the cafeteria a daily adventure, as we dodge puddles and try to avoid rainfall leaking through the roof of the outdoor walkway. Good times, great fun. Seriously though, I heard on the news that in the first 2 days of the month we had OVER the amount of rainfall usually gained the entire month.

Family: DH's Great-Uncle Charles died last week. DH's dad and sister were able to drive from Jacksonville to Ohio for the funeral. As Peggy and Charles lived next door to DH's Mamma, we would always see them during our visits. Wonderful, kind-hearted people. Our thoughts and prayers are with Peggy this week. I hate that we were unable to attend the services.

Car: We ended up taking my car to the shop FOUR times before they adequately fixed the problem causing the "check engine" light to come on.
1st time---diagnostic test; at our regular car shop $56 (price lowered from $80 when they said the tests indicated there might be a leak, but it was something they didn't have equipment to test further for. "If light comes on again, take it to the dealer." Ack!)
2nd time---new gas cap; at Dealer $10
3rd time---replaced part of hose/gas line; at Dealer $42
4th time---replaced charcoal filter (I think...something with charcoal...I'm forgetting exact name); at Dealer $46
UGH. As of yesterday the light hasn't come on again. You know how Murphy's Law of Cars works, right? The light didn't come on allllll summer when DH or I would drive the car. But the first day of teacher planning the light came on as I was driving to work. Sheesh! At least now it seems to be taken care of. And I'm grateful we were able to fix it for only $150...when our regular fix-it place referred us to the Dealer, I was concerned we'd get hosed for big $$$.

School: Including myself there are 4 teachers in the reading department at my school. Last week one of the teachers, Ms. J was promoted to a Standards Instructional Coach position. Thus, she has a long-term sub. This meant that I had to help the sub with logging students into the computer software, as our district deadline for ALL reading students to be tested is this Friday. (Note: A new teacher, Ms. Y was hired. Her start date is Tuesday 9/8.)

On Tuesday of this week, the lone guy in our department received news that his mother had died. (On a side note---his brother TEXTED him the UNEXPECTED news while he was teaching. What bullshit!!! I couldn't believe his brother wouldn't call the school to pull Mr. B out of class instead of broadsiding him with the news while he was in front of a class of 6th graders!) So, Mr. B was out from half of Tuesday through the duration of the week. And I had to help his sub with logging students on the computer software for testing.

Add to this that department heads received an "urgent" email on Monday requesting that we take a TDE ("temporary duty elsewhere") day on Tuesday because the principal received news that our School Improvement Plan (SIP) was DUE on WEDNESDAY instead of on 9/11 as she had previously been told. ACCCCCK! So, Monday afternoon was spent prepping for a sub. And while I truly appreciate and applaud anyone who is willing to substitute, I think I speak for most teachers when I say---it is a HUGE pain in the arse preparing for substitutes! I would much rather TEACH and be in class MYSELF than have to prepare lessons for a sub. My biggest issue is that my reading classroom is set to have 3 rotation groups---independent reading, computer software, and small group with the teacher---each day. But since all my kids hadn't finished testing yet, I was unable to have them rotate to the computer software group. This left me scrambling to find a curriculum-appropriate activity for students to complete instead.

Tuesday was spent in the conference room in our school media center working on the SIP. During "breaks," I would check in with the subs in Ms. J and Mr. B's room to see how the testing of their students was going. And of course this is the day that our S.cholastic rep for the R.ead180 program picked to "drop by" our school. So I met with him and reviewed the technology, equipment, classroom libraries, etc from each of our reading classrooms.

Wednesday...a mostly normal day.

Thursday...the second Instructional Leadership Team (department heads and administrators) meeting for the year occurred before school. Apparently myself and 4 other department heads missed the email that went out Wednesday evening saying the meeting had been moved from 8:45 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. (Um, yeah....Em has gymnastics on Weds nights, so I hadn't checked my email since 7th period.) So I arrived late. Oops. Apologized to my principal after the meeting. She said not to worry, she found out she had to move the meeting because until our new contract is signed, she isn't allowed to hold meetings during our morning planning time. Doh!

After the meeting, Thursday was a normal day. I had to stay late after school to prepare for a substitute, as I was previously signed up for a training session on Friday. (Are you catching this? This makes TWO days this week that I had a substitute.)

Friday...I attended a really great training session. The session was about our R.ead180 software and the county's goals for reading classrooms this year. VERY informative. I'm glad I attended! Yea!

This coming Tuesday is my school's Open House. And the "testing window" for students closes this week. I'm hoping that means things will be less busy by the end of the week!

So now it is Saturday, and I am WIPED out! :)

DH: Today is DH's and my 11th wedding anniversary. (Thank you, sweet DH for putting up with me! Especially during this crazy back-to-school time of year! I'm proud of you sticking to your guns and writing, writing, writing. Can't wait to read your first draft! Muchas smooches!)

Emma: I can't believe my little girl will be FIVE in 2 weeks. Where does the time go?? Today she was thrilled when we took her to purchase booster seats for our cars. She FINALLY meets the height/weight requirement to not need a "car seat." Though DH and I cracked up...the label on the booster seat box says "For 40 pounds to 100 pounds. This seat can be used for 4 to 10 year olds." If DH's petite grandmother and aunt are any indication of Em's future....I think she is very unlikely to be 100 pounds at ten years old. (Though one of the oldest in her class, she continues to be one of the smallest.) We got a kick out of visualizing Emma riding to the prom in a booster seat. Lol!

Em continues to be very excited about school. I love her zest for learning. (Wish more of my 8th graders were still "into" school!) She was super excited this week to tell us at dinner that her class will be going on field trips "on a real bus" this year. Too sweet!

Emmaisms:

On nuisances:
"Daddy, you're getting on my nerds!" (ROFL. Nerds, nerves...whatever.)

Regarding food re-heating:
"Can you put it in the microwave and hot it down?"
(Really, why do we heat UP and cool DOWN? Why not 'hot it down?')

On man's best friend:
"Dogs are just like people, except they can't climb trees or watch movies."
(Um...yeah. And I can't lick my butt. And Viggo can't cook dinner. But who's keeping track?)

The Ugly, The Bad, and The Good

Whew! The school year is back in full swing and my blogging/free time are dwindling. Here's what's been going on this September...

The Ugly:



Last Wednesday 9/10, I was in a minor car accident. I had just pulled into
a parking space at a restaurant, when a man hit my rear bumper, as he
tried to park in the spot next to me.

When we got out of our vehicles, his first words to me were, "What do you want?" As if I had inconvenienced him. Sighs. To make a long story somewhat short, after I wrote down his name
and license plate #, we agreed we'd exchange insurance info inside the restaurant we were parked outside (because it was 90+ degrees out that day.) As I entered the restaurant, the man got in his car and drove off! Instead of calling a non-emergency police number as originally planned, I then called 911. The man was located at his home. He was cited for driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident, and careless driving. I'm still dealing with insurance mumbo-jumbo with his appraiser to have my car fixed.

Fortunately, the damage isn't too dreadful. And no major injuries, though my back has been sore since the accident.


The Bad:

DH and I spent last weekend at Disney World to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Though very enjoyable overall, I am writing a letter to our hotel to complain about the following:
--After calling that morning to verify if we could check in early (the posted check in time is 3 p.m., but we wanted to check in between 1:30 and 2), our room was not ready when we arrived.
--Brand new fridge in our room was still taped shut with the owners manual and styrofoam inside. It also was not plugged in. We had to move it out of the TV/Entertainment unit in order to plug it in, because the furniture unit was too large for us to move in order to reach an outlet.
--There were 2 flat screen TVs in our suite. 1 in the bedroom area and 1 in the living room area. The TV in the living room area was also not plugged in...and we could also not reach the outlet, again due to the large entertainment unit.
--The jacuzzi tub did not work. The whole reason we chose a suite at this hotel was because I wanted a room with a jacuzzi. I did have a nice, hot bath which helped my back...but it's not the same!
--Neither of the lamps on our nightstands were plugged in. The one on Aaron's nightstand even still had the plastic piece covering the plug prongs when he checked to see if it was plugged in!

Overall, the Buena Vista Suites hotel was really lovely. They have just renovated everything. The suite was roomy, CLEAN, and nice. The breakfast buffet was super. I think they just rushed to book our room after renovations without really checking to make sure it was ready.

The Good:

After getting over my initial guilt of going to Disney without Emma (DH reminded me that "Disney is one of (my) favorite places in the world too," not just Emma's,) we had a great time.
We spent time shopping and sightseeing in Downtown Disney---we had never been there before.

Aaron on a chopper at the Downtown Disney Harley store.



DH and I in front of Cinderella's castle


We spent a lot of time looking at the neat exhibits at the Lego store in Downtown Disney.
I especially liked this dragon in the lake outside the store.



Downtown Disney signs. We ate dinner at House of Blues. It was really yummy! But we were disappointed that they didn't have any live music playing at the time we were there.



Self-portrait while we were riding the Tomorrow Land Transit.


It was really nice to have one-on-one time with DH. We don't have many "date nights" or time away from Emma. I always enjoy our times together. Oh---I don't want to forget---DH sent a dozen roses to me at my school on our anniversary. He has purchased flowers for me before, but has never sent them to my work place. I thought it was very sweet!

More Good...

Em turned 4 this week! I can hardly believe our little one is growing up so quickly. We didn't plan it, but it worked out so that she had nearly a whole week of celebration. Weds she took cupcakes to school and had a small class party there. When we arrived home from school, there was a package from Auntie Laurel waiting on the porch. It was filled with great goodies (including a purse and wallet Em had requested,) but Em seemed especially excited about the book of 400 princess stickers.

Thursday we had a playdate after school w/ Em's friend Adrian and his mom. They gave Em a cool princess story book and the CUTEST Cindy Lou Who PJs.

Friday when we arrived home from school there was a package waiting from Grandma and Grandpa. It contained several books (thus far Em's favorite is the "Beauty and the Beast Look and Find") and a Dorothy costume complete with gingham hairbows and red shoes. (Em told Grandma she wanted to dress up as Dorothy for Halloween.) Em immediately wanted to try the costume on. It is SOOOO CUTE! I can't wait to post Halloween pics next month. Em really enjoyed having her hair braided in 2 pigtails and asked me to braid her hair again today. I love it...but it makes her look so grown. Sighs!

Today we had Nana, Papa, Auntie Amie, and Uncle Burke over for a cookout dinner and birthday celebration. Em had present opening and birthday cake time. Fun was had by all. (Kiddo wouldn't sit still for a nice pic with Nana and Papa. Bummer.)




Daddy picked this WAY COOL princess cake out by himself. Em loved it. (Note the "Princess" photo of Em on the top tier!)


Blowing out the candles...


Delicious!


Em's "Birthday Girl" badge was given to her by her teacher.


"I'm 4!"


Uncle Burke and Auntie Amie


Opening presents... (Shhh! She doesn't know the princess art supply kit was
purchased by Mommy & Daddy at Disney World!)


The amazing cake.

What a nice day!!