ArizonaButterfly

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids. I’ll still be working (of course), and I will miss the kids, but I do enjoy the quietness and slower pace of the summer. Tomorrow afternoon though will be barbeque time, even though it’s been cloudy, rainy, and very cool for here. On the menu: ribs, blue cheese potato salad, sunshine coleslaw, sweet corn (maybe) and alcohol. We haven’t decided on the type of alcohol yet but I’m leaning towards beer at the moment. Of course a cappucino martini wouldn’t be a bad ending to the school year either.

I came home today to discover that the boys had eaten my beautiful daisies…as well as knocking over two chairs, the pots and spilling dirt everywhere. Since I also found a dead gopher, I suspect the gopher had something to do with all the mess. *sigh* I have some hanging planters that I just need to get up and planted. They should last longer because the dogs won’t be able to reach them.

Blatent manipulation and churlish behavior annoy me to no end. My nephew had surgery last Friday. My niece let me know, staying in contact with me. This morning I tried to call my SIL to see how things were going and she hung up on me. Twice. *sigh*

The days at work have been extremely long. I’m thankful there are only 18 days left in the school year.

Why is it so difficult to go back to work after a break? And it’s not that work has been “bad,” it’s just the principle of it all. The principle, and getting up early again. The state has been visiting the past two days, and they’ll be with us again tomorrow for their last day.

Adjusting to the new meds has been interesting. This may be TMI, but I was convinced I was having night sweats because of my age…but they turned out to be because of my heart, which resulted in one of my new meds. I’m supposed to take this one at around 5. Last night I didn’t get around to it until 7, and then had to take it with another med. Bad idea. My leg tingled and felt hot until about 2 a.m. I took it on time this evening in the hopes of sleeping better tonight.

I have a new chair in my living room. Cotton isn’t too sure he’s allowed up. He is of course. I’d have to sleep in the living room to keep them off the furniture at night. He finally realized it was okay and relaxed. It’s a comfy chair.

It’s Easter. Sarah and John are coming over later for dinner. Which means I should be cleaning house at the moment. We’re having ham, potato salad, sweet corn, salad, veggies, strawberries, blackberries, pineapple (all fresh) and angel food cake. It almost sounds healthy doesn’t it?

I have a new tv and home theater system to go with the chair. Actually I think it was the chair that was purchased to go with the tv, but that’s not important. Anyway I had to get an optic cord to get the surround sound to work correctly when I’m watching tv. So this morning I put August Rush in the dvd player and couldn’t figure out how to get the surround sound to come on with the movie. After several tries, including reading the manual, I turned the dvd off and watched tv instead. I had trouble with one remote and now I have three.

I haven’t been sleeping well with the new meds. Last night was particularly difficult as I was very uncomfortable after taking it. According to the information that came with it the side effects should lessen with time. I’ll be checking that out with my doctor in the morning.

Spring break is over. It seems like it should just be starting. This is the first year my district has had a one week spring break instead of two. It’s strange because most of the neighboring districts still have two weeks. Schools here are very resistant to going to school past Memorial Day which is why we start school in early August.

So it’s back to school tomorrow, and a team from the state will be visiting for the first three days. Surprisingly enough I’m not all that nervous about the whole thing. The older I get the more I realize that not everyone is going to be satisfied with what I do, no matter how hard I try. So it becomes even more essential to stay focused on what’s really important (the students) and let the rest take care of itself for the most part.

Okay that’s enough work talk for Sunday. The weather is beautiful out. Now if the neighbor kids would come and finish the job they started (spreading rocks) I’d be very happy. They started Friday, said they’d be back Saturday morning, and now it’s Sunday and nothing. I’m glad I didn’t pay them yet.

I went to see Defintely, Maybe yesterday and then had lunch at Pei Wei. The movie was okay, the food was good, and the company was great so it was a good outing.

After the outing, I decided it was time to pull the lawn mower out for the season. It wouldn’t start. John got it running for me today which I totally appreciate. Especially since I no doubt caused the problem by overfilling the oil.

So I mowed. Which is good because the grass/weeds/clover was so thick and tall in places that it gummed up the mower which in turn stopped it…and flooded it when I tried to restart it. After the third time I put the mower away, leaving a small swatch of unmowed grass/weeds/clover in the side yard, and the back yard untouched.

What else? The shower didn’t drain this morning but I was able to unclog it (courtesy of some good drain stuff of course) successfully. Tomorrow I’m off to another overnight conference. I’m hoping Lucy behaves a bit better for Sarah this time.

It was an unpleasant end to a rather unpleasant week at work today. Sometimes I wonder about my career and life choices, especially on days like today where I feel unduly dumped on and blamed for decisions and actions beyond my control. It’s moments like that that I have to remind myself that I can only do what I can do and if people are disappointed in that, then there’s not too much I can do about that either.

There are changes coming, and I suspect that is why things are unsettled. One of the front office staff is leaving soon, and has quit pretending she has any type of professional ethics. Her actions, of course, have a direct impact on the rest of the office. Even though there’s nothing that any of us can do about the situation at the moment, it becomes tedious and frustrating.

Being at work very late two days in a row made today especially tiring for me, and while only the administrators stayed late in the office, everyone else seemed tired as well. My first instinct this morning was to take the day off and just go to my lunch meeting, but instead I went in to work. By mid-day I wished I hadn’t. Between people dumping on me (because I apparently am an easy target) and dealing with the various issues that came up, I left work feeling rather deflated and upset.

In the back of my mind through all of this is the reminder of what time of year this is, and as always, I feel a sense of profound loss as I remember my Mom. Not a day goes by that I do not miss her, but that sense of missing her is heightened these days. She was a remarkable and resplendent woman. She showed great courage, compassion, and love in her words and her actions throughout her life. She lost much as a young child when her mother died when she was four. My grandfather, who died 16 years ago this past February 1, gave her a sense of self-confidence and adventure that she was able to move half-way across the country to join the Navy as a young woman. She graduated from college at a time when it was not all that common for women to do so. She dedicated her life to serving and helping others as a registered nurse. I wish I could recall how many babies she helped deliver during her 40 year career. Asbestos exposure during her naval career ruined her lungs, and greatly diminished her quality of life, but she never gave up hope, and she never quit caring for the people around her.

As grateful as I am for the time I had with her, even though I will always feel it was too short, the world is a less beautiful place without her in it.

I’m happy to be typing this on MY computer and not my work computer.

I’m grateful that my class is finally over and that spring parent-teacher conferences are over.

I’m disappointed in myself, but that’s a post for another day.

I forgot to mention that I did purchase a new washing machine Friday afternoon. It’s so quiet (no screeching) and it doesn’t jump all around during the spin cycle. I’m very satisfied with it.

Tonight is my last night in the class from hell. I won’t miss it. And, I have a few weeks off before I start my next class and I’m looking forward to relaxing a bit.

Things were quiet at work today and I’m very grateful they were. Tomorrow I’m at a meeting off site all day. I’m not thrilled about the meeting mostly because I dislike sitting for so long. To me, sitting around is much more tiring. I better get used to it though because I’m off to a conference for three days (ugh) next week.

I’m off tomorrow for two days downtown. I’ll be gone overnight and I’m a bit worried about the boys being outside tomorrow night. In my mind I know they’ll be fine: they have lots of protection from the elements on the porch, and John and Sarah will be taking good care of them. It’s just hard to be away from home. I’m crossing my fingers that they won’t bark all night. Lucy will no doubt be more of a challenge because she tends to not want to come back inside when I’m not home. It should be interesting.

Equally interesting will be to see if I’m able to get my homework done tomorrow night so I’m not a crazed person when I come home Wednesday afternoon. I should have plenty of time at the hotel Tuesday night. I feel like I was able to get caught up somewhat today and I definitely don’t want to lose that momentum.

So, let’s talk about my class for just another minute. It started with 20 or so of us…and now? Seven left in class. 13 students dropped the first week. Need I say anything else about the class and what’s going on in it? I just submitted my paper and fully expect it to be totally ripped apart because the facilitator feels it’s his job to “beat us down.” And, I have to admit he’s done a great job of it. Last night I felt utterly defeated and I cannot even imagine how I’m going to react when the paper is returned. I’m appalled that the university is allowing this to happen, but I’ll be damned if I drop because of this facilitator.

You can bet, however, when this is over in 15 days that I’ll have plenty to say on the course survey form.