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Sunday, 07 February 2010

  • Decoupage, anyone?

    clipboardLOM 001

    This my first attempt at decorating a clipboard. I am taking an online scrapbooking class, and this was part of our pre-class assignments. The other part of the assignment is sorting through all my photos, lol, of course I chose to do the clipboard first. I traveled to the next town over, to shop at Hobby Lobby yesterday. I left the kids at home, so I wouldn't have to hear 'Please buy me something...' every few seconds. On the way there, I had an idea for the clipboard, how I was going to do it. By the time I got home, the idea had completely evolved into what you see---no where near what my first idea was, lol. I had plans to decorate the back side, but once I finished this, forget it. Maybe another day...

Tuesday, 02 February 2010

  • Makeup Days

    Got the news today...the days we have to give up, to make up for the two snow days we took last week. Ugh, we have to give up President's Day and Good Friday. Dang, I was hoping we would only have to make up one day. I love getting President's Day off, especially when it falls on my birthday. Of course, it didn't this year. I love to pretend the day is for me, since my birthday is George's birthday, lol. Oh well, I will be in class---teaching. Tomorrow is supposed to bring another ice storm. Hopefully, it will just be a two hour delay---I don't want to give up anymore of my vacation days, lol.

Sunday, 31 January 2010

  • Crazy Idea

    We are bursting at the seams in this house! The girls have shared a room, from day one. Dh needs an office, even though he is retired now. Imagine, a space to call his own?? I toiled with the idea of building on to the house, for years. First, I thought, build up. Two bedrooms, and a jack and jill bath on a second floor. But could the structure handle that? Then I thought, build out from our master bedroom, a study. One girl then takes over dh's old office. This could be doable, not too expensive. Now today, I get this grand idea. A family room! Let's turn the garage into a family room, and then build a new garage out onto the old garage. Ample room on the property. Dh constantly worries about the resale value of the house. He doesn't want the house to get more expensive than the neighborhood is. I say, let's meet our needs! I don't see us moving anytime soon. Dh would have moved yesterday, if he had his way. I have no plans to move. The girls need their own rooms, that is our first priority. I will work on dh--or better, discuss this in detail with dh for the time being, and see how it goes, lol.

    Hey, if the man hadn't been flipping houses for the last four years, these thoughts wouldn't have come into my head. I am ready to flip my house, for me! The only reno we have ever done in this house, was lay tile in the kitchen/dining area, both bathrooms, and the laundry room. Oh, and the laminate floor in the girls' room. I am ready to move some walls, baby!!

Saturday, 30 January 2010

  • Busting out with Winter

    Yes, my part of New Mexico was dumped on! About 7 inches fell. We have a snow day every so often, and some years we don't. This year, wow, two snow days in a row. The girls and I got a four day weekend! Even though we will probably have to make up at least one day, this little treat was nice. Most likely, Good Friday will be spent teaching.

    Today things are finally starting to melt. The roads have been bad for two days. I have ranted and raved to dh that he shouldn't go out in this. All I need is for him to fall and hurt himself. I have just realized another disadvantage to marrying an older person. I do worry that he will get hurt in bad weather. I have really been on him, and of course, what happens? He is out cleaning off the cars, starts to fall, catches himself, but pulls something in his shoulder in the process. The man is incapable of being idle. He is a workaholic by nature, and I am realizing that is isn't going to change. I can rant, but he will do what he feels he needs to do. Why get myself all worked up? He is an adult, but dang it, who do you think will be taking care of him, if he does get hurt? We went through this in the fall, when he tore a leg muscle.

    He was out in California, visiting friends. he stops at Laguna Beach, walks in the waves, and as he is turning to run from a wave, there goes the leg. He didn't even fall. I spent the beginning of school, taking care of him. He used to help with taking younger dd to school, a couple of days a week. I got in the habit of doing it everyday, while he was on crutches. Now, he doesn't even offer, go figure. History has always been that if I start doing something everyday, he quits altogether, lol.

    Didn't mean for this to turn into a B***H session...

    Life is good. I have spent these days doing what I love best, sitting on my butt, doing hardly anything. I have surfed the net, played with my Sim, but that is about it. I've been chilaxin', which comes quite easy to me. LOL, dh WOULD NEVER...

Sunday, 10 January 2010

  • Parrot Antics

    We have a new family member! A parrot named Simon! That bird doesn't like me yet, but he sure adores little dd. Simon is a Lilac-crested Amazon parrot. He is about 12 years old. A friend, who retired a couple of years ago, offered him to us. She was traveling alot, and knew we were big animal lovers. She wanted him to go to a family that would dote on him. We certainly do!

    He can talk! He says---Hi, Simon----I'm Simon---Hello---OK---and also barks like a dog, and gives a good chuckle. When little dd is playing at the dining room table, chattering away with her stuffed animals, Simon will chatter away. Once little dd gets quiet, Simon will go silent. It is too funny!

    Today, little dd had a pair of shorts laying on the table. Simon walked over, and started rolling around in the shorts. I tried to find some info on this strange behavior, but I couldn't. I just got done ordering books to help us train Simon---A Parrot Guide for Dummies, Teaching your Parrot Tricks, and Teaching your Parrot to Talk.

    We have one jealous cat in the household...

    parrot 007

    When little dd is doing her homework, Simon will come over and climb on her shoulder. He likes to grab her pencil, and nip the eraser off.

    parrot 006

    parrot 005

    parrot 004

    Simon will fan is tail feathes out when he is happy--look at those orange colors hidden among the green.

    parrot 002

    A close up, Mr. DeMille!!

    parrot 001

    I love this shot! This was when we realized that Simon had an affection for little dd...



Tuesday, 08 December 2009

  • Strep?

    Looks like little dd is out for the rest of the week. She has strep throat! If the antibiotics kick in real good, she may be able to go back on Thursday, but I won't push it. Her class is making gingerbread houses with parents on Thursday. I had planned to be there. If anything, we can do it at home, but it won't be as much fun, without her classmates.

    I need to slip out of town tomorrow afternoon. Not sure if I will make it. My dear friend's mother passed away over the weekend. She was diagnosed with advanced cancer two weeks ago. I really do need to go to the rosary tomorrow night. Not sure if the weather will be cooperating. The drive is an hour and a half. I am sure lots of family will be in attendance. My friend comes from a big family. Her father passed away six months before my mom did. Her mom was such a sweet person. This is really the only true friend I have left from high school.
  • Sick Child

    HACK! COUGH! SNEEZE!---no, not me---little dd! I've been out two days taking care of her. She was mad yesterday when she realized that her perfect attendance would be ruined. Today she cried, thinking of missing another day. LOL, wish all kids had this mentality. I hope she keeps this feeling with her all through school. I picked up some homework for her today, but she is feeling too miserable to work on it. Doctor's appointment at 3 pm.

    My school has a presentation on meth and cyberbulling today. I went to a short meeting this morning to review it. Then I ran to the classroom to get the room ready for the substitute. She was sitting at my desk, waiting. I looked at her, she seemed familiar, but I knew she had never subbed for me. As I was calling up the class roll, I asked her what her name was. LOL, she took care of my random dogs and cats over the years at the local animal hospital. She and her dh retired some years ago, and she decided to sub just to give her something to do. I jumped up and gave her a hug, apologizing for not recognizing her. I secured her for tomorrow, too, since little dd still has a fever. Protocal is that little dd has to go without a fever for 24 hours. With the H1N1 scare, I am trying to stick with this.

    This has been my week, anyone else have a more exciting one???

Saturday, 17 October 2009

  • Blogless

    Yep, I've let time fly by, without so much as a peep from me. Life is just going and going. Dh was laid up for about six weeks. Seemed like forever. He was on crutches. You would think that life would be pretty easy, since my sister-in-law moved here from South America about the same time it all happened. She has been taking care of him, cooking, and doing the laundry. Ya see, he was on a beach in California. We were here, starting school. He turned to run away from a wave, and at that moment, tore a leg muscle. Things are almost back to normal, which means that he is gonna throw himself back into flipping houses.

    As for school, it is there. I feel like I have stepped away from teaching life skills. I wish I had never gotten the idea to teach Adapted PE. I have no where to do it, and no equipment. At least in the Spring, we know where we will be---at the track. We have mostly been walking, which is good exercise. I seem to teach reading, reading, reading all the time. We concentrate on social skills daily. I am forever telling my kids to quit wiping their noses with their hands, sneezing all over everything, and please go blow your nose. This H1N1 is crazy! We sanitize the room a few days a week. I am sure we probably should be doing it hourly, lol.

    Bowling began for Special Olympics. The area games happened, but my two participants were sick. Oh well, we still have the State games to go to. One student got his own bowling ball. The parent and I were probably more excited than he was, lol. With his bone condition, he has never been able to lift heavy things. He was forced to choose a light ball, which is made for young children. His fingers never quite fit, being 15 years old, but he did the best he could. Now he has his own light ball, drilled just for him. He managed to knock over 10 to 15 pins more per game.

    Life goes on...

Thursday, 27 August 2009

  • This and That

    A new student joined my class today. I was worried how her day would go, once I heard that she was emotionally disturbed. This could be the calm before the storm, but I am staying with positive thoughts on the whole thing. She got along well with my students, was very polite, and enjoyed helping in the cafeteria after lunch. I have a few students working in there, cleaning tables and chairs, and throwing away trash. I called the parents in the afternoon to ask if she could work in the cafeteria, and earn money. I also gave a good report on how her day was. See, when the parents showed up yesterday to enroll her, they thought my room was not restrictive enough. They want her in a behavior program, for those students that act out. We have nothing like that in our district. Time will tell, if she shows her true colors. The parents seem to think that I can't handle her, what would I do, if she needs a moment to pull herself together. Who knows, but I am not going to keep worrying about 'if' and 'when'. After all, Truman was throwing feces around last year, and beating anything and everything he could get his hands on. My bathroom had to be completely put back together, toilet replaced, after his outbursts. I really don't think this child will ever reach to those heights, lol.

    On another note, our beloved Cheddar passed away. She was older dd's dwarf hamster. We had her for two years, the lifespan being 2 to 3 years. She had been looking frail for months, losing weight and hair. It was just a matter of time. I feed the hamsters at night time, just before the girls go to bed. We get them out, pet them, fill their bowls, and put them back. Poor little Cheddar was in there, lying on her side, just under the water spout. The girls began to cry. With Dad being out of town, I was on my own to deal with this. I felt so sorry for them. Now they are fast asleep in my bed, taking the whole bed up. Somehow, I will squeeze myself among them, and try to get some sleep. I wrapped Cheddar up real good in plastic bags, and stuck her in the freezer, so that we can have a proper burial when dh returns.

Friday, 21 August 2009

  • Lesson Learned

    Even if you haven't seen your student in your classroom, check your bathrooms, before going into panic mode. LOL, I misplace one of my students today. Mind you, this is only the first week of school. Yes, I did survive. I had a margarita to celebrate!

    My female student with Down's Syndrome starts her day in another classroom this year. She is taking ProStart--a class that teaches restaurant skills---serving, place setting, menus, etc. Today, she came into that room, got her glasses and left. I was out in the courtyard, monitoring the students, just before the first bell. I didn't see her.

    The other teacher texted me about 20 minutes later, asking if I had seen her. I told her no, she hadn't been to my room. So, I start a search, checking every bathroom in the main building. Ten minutes later, the administrators know, and start a search, too. I ask my student in the cafeteria (who is working), if he had seen her yet. He said no, but he said that he saw her in my room before the first bell rang, while he was putting his backpack away. I thought, 'This couldn't be that easy.' I run back to my room, where my students are patiently waiting, working with my assistant. I walk over to the hall, where the bathroom light is on, door open. There she is! Sitting on the toilet, door wide open. She tends to giggle and sing while taking care of this task, but she hadn't uttered a sound for 40 minutes! I hadn't seen her, didn't think to check my bathroom!

    I was quite embarrassed to admit that I found her in my bathroom. Oh well, lesson learned. One day I need to write a book about all my teaching antics.
  • Visit Annette33's Xanga Site
    • Name: Annette
    • Birthday: 2/22/1965
    • Member Since: 12/11/2005

About Me

  • Special education teacher, mother of two adorable dds. Love reading and scrapbooking. Learning what geocaching is all about!

Pulse

  • Almost 2:30 am, can't sleep.  Hyped up for the first day of school.  What is it about the first day?  Excitement?  Apprehension?  Waiting
  • Meeting with Truman's family in less than one hour.  Updated IEP info this morning, up since 5 am.  All is good!
  • Belle's heart gave out this morning.  Dh and the girls are crushed.  I am just glad she is not suffering anymore.

Chatboard (1)

  • sez_who_sez_you
    The Osmonds on Oprah! http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=k7OLJ52lTeo part 1 of 5 http://youtube.com/watch?v=V0aAp2RNeFw part 2 of 5 http://youtube.com/watch?v=LOpV1w-VJOo part 3 of 5 http://youtube.com/watch?v=PwDzNv4jYx0 part 4 of 5 http://youtube.com/watch?v=2GtbqKWHJDg