Meetings

Traditionally, the professional development and the back-to-school festivities that confront teachers when returning to the new school term are necessary but mind-numbingly boring. I was pleasantly surprised that yesterday's convocation was both brief and informative. I can appreciate a quick two-hour informative meeting, especially when I know that an 8-hour version exists.

After the meetings I went to connect with some schools and sent emails to my students and families. Reaching out to my families was, without a doubt, the best part of my day. Each replied enthusiastically with promises of sharing adventures from the summer. At this point, I wish I could fast forward the clock and have the students return today. Sadly, I will need to wait until next Thursday.

Today will be spent connecting with schools and trying to locate my student's teachers. After work Scott has an appointment with his cardiologist. While medical appointments always cause him a lot of anxiety, I am looking forward to it. I suspect a change in cholesterol medication will be prescribed, which will hopefully help lower his numbers even more.

 

Have a great weekend! 

Work?

 Yesterday was the first official day back at work for school personnel, myself included. Before heading to my base school I sent an email, asking for a status of my contract. I did not hear anything, so I went to work. I either have a job, or I'm working for free and nobody is noticing. (Hopefully the situation has been settled and informing me is of little consequence and was forgotten.)

My first day back was uneventful. Because I cannot really build my schedule until the kids are settled, I spent my time helping a new teacher understand the students on her caseload.  As I was helping her understand the files as was as her new role with the students, I was left with one overwhelming feeling. I am so very glad I am no longer a teacher. 

While I still work within the schools, the responsibilities of teachers are vastly different than mine. I attend meetings, I do not have to organize and run the event. In my humble opinion, I have the best job in the county. I get the perks of working with amazing students while avoiding a majority of the pitfalls associated with education.

Unfortunately I cannot miss all the icky parts. Today my schedule is packed with 'back to school' meetings. Wish me luck! 

Sunny Sunroom

 Summer vacation, at least for Scott and me, has come to an end. Tomorrow we both report to work and the pre-year chaos will begin. Robby and Timmy have another few weeks of vacation time, so both are gloating rather than emitting any great empathy for us. Of course, I have yet to hear anything official about my position, so I am planning on showing up and seeing what happens.

With our vacation days dwindling away, I managed to achieve one of my summertime goals just under the wire. Yesterday the boys allowed me to play Designing Women by completely rearranging my sunroom. It was a lot of work (more for them than for me) but I am delighted with the flow and the look. As a bonus, all of my little plants have direct access to a lot of sunlight and will surely thrive.

I'm not sure what is on tap for today, but I suspect it will be cut short because of the storms. Yesterday some wild ones blew through our area in the afternoon. Thankfully we didn't lose any trees this time, but I always worry when that wind starts to blow.

Have a great day! 

Idiots

 For the first time in nearly 15 years, I am now cooking on a fully functioning cooktop. In our previous house, the back burner never worked correctly. When we moved into this home, I quickly learned that the front burner only worked on what we quickly dubbed 'burn your face off mode.' I'm used to adapting, so purchasing a new cooktop was never a top priority.

Last weekend our stovetop stopped working entirely, prompting a new purchase. Despite issues and confusion over our electricity, the appliance was installed on Saturday. My goodness it looks pretty in my kitchen, and having four fully-functioning burners feels like an exciting novelty.  To our delight, the 'power boil' feature does actually boil water nearly 3 minutes faster than its counterpart. (We spent Saturday night boiling water with timers.)

Yesterday morning Scott and I were awoken to the sound of Timmy vomiting. Initially worried that he was ill, we quickly realized that he had eaten too many Spicy Nacho Doritos before going to bed, and they did not sit well. Unfortunately he did not make it to the bathroom, and deposited bright orange nacho cheese vomit in the center of his large floor rug.

After getting Timmy settled, Scott and I moved the furniture off of the rug and lugged it outside to rinse it down with the hose. It was as we were schlepping the heavy, dripping wet area rug to lay it out to dry in the sun, I realized that we are complete idiots.  

We could have just used the carpet cleaner.  Neither Scott nor I thought of it. Instead, we created a lot of work for ourselves.

For those who are asking, I still haven't heard about the license issue.  Fingers crossed.