September

The Luke Bryan concert was a party and a half.  I thought Tim McGraw would be my favorite concert this summer, but now I'm just not sure.  Luke Bryan was every bit as fun.  I think the tie breaker would have to be that even Sean was dancing by the end of Luke Bryan, and Sean doesn't dance.  I don't know.  It's a close call.  We saw some great shows this summer.  I wish I had another one to look forward to.

Courtney and Curtis came over for dinner on Sunday.  It was really fun to visit with them.  As they were walking out the door to leave, Brittney and Anthony came walking in after work.  They both got off at the same time, so they met up here afterward for dinner.

Josh and Lexi had parent-teacher conferences Tuesday afternoon.  I really like Josh's teacher and I have a lot of respect for her, and she has some good ideas... but at the same time, it's hard when she's telling me what I need to do with him, and I'm thinking... I've tried that.  We've done that.  Or I've considered that and am not going to do that.  I have three other kids.  I'm not new at this game.  Each of my kids is different, but Josh is way different than all of his sisters.  He struggles with school, and it's not really clear what exactly the hang up is.  His teacher was asking me what motivates him, and telling me I need to use whatever that is as an incentive to get him to do his work.  Ya think?  Well, to be honest, nothing motivates Josh, really.  I mean, he has things he really, really likes.  But he hates schoolwork so much, and it's enough of a struggle for him, that he'd rather just not earn the reward.  He will start out trying, but it's just so hard for him.  Anyway, then there's Lexi's conference.  According to her teacher she can do no wrong and is pretty much a genius.  I love all my kids so much.  It's so hard to watch Josh struggle.

I have so much to do at work and I can never even get close to caught up.  It's overwhelming and keeps me in a constant state of agitation.  I had my students read this article about the brain, and among the different things, it said that lack of exercise, lack of sleep, and stress are all really bad for cognitive function. I told my students I'm lucky I'm not just drooling and wandering around aimlessly in the parking lot then, because I am batting 0 for 3 on that one.

Tuesday I did something I've never done in all my years of teaching... I cleaned up puke.  One of my sweet, quiet boys barfed at his desk and then I sent him off to the bathroom.  My students were all so sweet... worrying about him and if he was OK.  One offered to go get a custodian, but that just felt really... wimpy I guess.  Like, it's not like they have some specialized skills that I don't have.  If it were on the floor I would have got someone.  But it was just on his desk and not that much.  They were all so impressed that I was going to do it, and I'm like... Guys, I'm a mom.  I got this.  One girl was all... Yeah, but my mom would be gagging.  So I just got like half a roll of paper towels and desk cleaner and swished it all into the trash. Threw away his notebook and declared he would get credit for whatever was in there.  Squirted a ton of hand sanitizer on the desk and cleaned it off.  Voila.  Good as new.  I have a super glamorous job.  That's why they pay me the big bucks.

So then today, Lexi wasn't feeling well when she woke up.  Her blood sugar was really high, and I couldn't figure out if that was making her not feel well, if her pump site was bad, if she had a virus, or what.  So I took her to school with me, where she proceeded to lay on the floor and sleep, wake up and puke in the trash can, and go back to sleep.  There wasn't anything in her stomach, so it wasn't that big a deal, but high blood sugar makes her super thirsty.  So long about 3rd period, same class as the kid threw up in last time, she drank a whole bunch of water and then immediately barfed it up.  These poor kids were wondering what was up with my classroom.  And they were all taking a quiz at the time, so it was silent other than her.  Ha!  Oh my. Courtney was all set to come get her from me, but she just wanted to stay there with me and I needed to keep an eye on her glucose levels anyway, so I just kept her there.  Most of the time no one even knew she was there, until that little episode.  She's feeling slightly better tonight, but still not very good.  Her ketones are high, so I need to get those cleared.  I don't know what to do with her tomorrow.  I could get a sub, but I have too much work to do.  I've got to register my kids for a debate tournament by tomorrow and I have to talk to several of them.  Blarg.

So we're going camping this weekend.  Which is really stupid, because it's cold.  And will probably be rainy or snowy.  We wanted to get out one more time, and I wasn't really thinking clearly I guess.  So I've got to pack up the kids' clothes and get ready.  I don't feel like doing that.  This was a really bad idea, but I guess I should just make the best of it.

I just really wish someone would stop the roller coaster and let me get off for a few minutes.  Catch my breath.

That is all.

Song of the Day

Squee!!  Luke Bryan concert tonight!  So excited.

September

I really want to sit down and write, but I never make the time.  And then by the time I sit down to write, I've forgotten everything.  Or someone else has already said it, and said it better.

I spent a good portion of Saturday in a debate coach's meeting, which included two hours of Congressional Debate clinic, followed by another two hours of Public Forum clinic.  I got lots of good information, but my brain cells got a bit fried.  It's so overwhelming. Some of these schools are Serious, which makes me feel even more inadequate. I love debate and would love to develop this kickass program... but I'm just not sure if I have what it takes right now.  I guess we'll see how it all goes this year and then look towards next year to see what's what.  One thing though... being a debate coach can simultaneously make me feel like a freaking genius and a freaking idiot.  And I think I love that just a little bit. The challenge of it and the possibility of it all.

Yesterday in my English 10 Honors class we were having a discussion about Syria... and oh how lovely honors kids are!  Instead of, "Why do we have to read about this stuff?"  and "I hate politics because I don't understand it and it's scary and I don't want to know anything that is scary or makes me think," I get so much discussion that I have to cut it off or that's all we would do all day.  Not one single person complained or asked why they had to read an article about Syria.  So glorious.  There are things I love about teaching the regular class too... this just happens to be a perk of Honors.

Brittney is at work tonight for an awards ceremony.  She got an award for being Super Awesome or something, and she went with her boyfriend, who is receiving the Supervisor Scholarship.  Pretty cool.  She started an internship today through school at a cupcake bakery.  She said she got to make frosting today.  I hope she learns some interesting things about owning a bakery and about baking itself.

We finally bought another car after our Mazda died.  It needs a few parts and then hopefully it will run smoothly for a little while.  I hate care repairs.  We had a 1997, a 2000, and a 2001.  The 2001 Mazda was the first to die.  The 2000 Suburban will be next.  The 1997 F-250 runs the best of the bunch.  Funny.

Our dishwasher has been broken, so we've been washing dishes by hand.  That sucks.  Sean tried all kinds of things and it just wasn't working.  We had decided we finally needed a new one, but he tried a couple more things last night and thinks he has it working.  We still need a new one because this is a cheap contractor model and has outlived its life expectancy by like 8 years, but hopefully this can get us by a little longer.  I hate spending money on things like that.

My mom and I went out to lunch for my birthday last week, and it was so fun!  I feel like we haven't had a good visit like that forever.  We totally pigged out on pasta and chatted.

Brittney and I went shopping for Homecoming dresses last week.  She found a pretty black and red dress. Afterward, we were passing the movie theater and smelled the popcorn, so we decided to just go buy some. We went to the tables in the food court to sit and pig out on our movie popcorn, and one of my former students saw me and came over to visit.  His girlfriend was like... oh, did you guys just go see a movie?  Um... no, we just go buy the popcorn.  Ha!  It was embarrassing.  But I don't regret it.

Hopefully we are going camping this weekend.  Should be fun!