BUSY Saturday

Saturday morning I had to set my alarm......ugh. NOT fun waking up on a Saturday at the same time that I get up on weekdays. We were at the soccer fields behind Gaither HS by 7.30 am for pictures. The photographer was on the ball this time-I guess that it pays to be the FIRST team because previously during tee-ball and soccer, it did not go quite so smoothly.

We were down three lil ones, but RED THUNDER played HARD with only 6 kiddos on the field and managed to pull out their third win of the season. The other team had like 14 kids and they were subbing like mad. Lemme tell you we had 6 seriously exhausted kids when we were done. Lil J came soooo close to making a goal. If he had been wearing his glasses(which he refuses to do during soccer) he would have gotten it right in. I think that he might reconsider this weekend and wear them. Frankly, he is afraid of getting hit in the face with them on and I "get that".

We dashed off the field to get home and ready for a trek over to UCF and the MS Annual Meeting where I was receiving an award for Volunteer of the Year. The keynote speaker was a research doctor at UCF doing some incredible research on stem cells that will someday......cure NUMEROUS diseases specifically diabetes. He was brilliant, which in my mind equaled all kinds of BORING. His speech was soooo far above my head it was frightening, but the rest of the day was awesome. I luv being able to see "friends" from my MS family.

Did you know that University of Central Florida is the 2nd largest university in the USA?? The MS chapter president said that in her intro and of course, I didn't believe her, so I googled it. Low and behold, I am guessing she had googled it too. Who knew?!! The medical school is magnificent and I will gladly send my son there so that he can find a cure for MS. LOL.

Just after the shindig ended, I received a text message that sent me into a FUNK. Many many years ago and truthfully, a WHOLE other lifetime ago, I was with another person and married for a total of ten years. While I would not change things if given the chance, this text message TRULY made me stop to realize that everything in life DOES happen for a reason.....not that I ever doubted that, but this confirmed what I have known for a VERY long time.

My heart breaks for a woman and her little boy that I have never met and another woman that I used to call my mother-in-law.
May the end be painless and yet another life lesson that my daddy taught me, Life is definitely, NOT FAIR!!

We were supposed to head back on Sunday to go to LegoLand, but neither dh nor I had the stamina to drive to Winter Haven so we will go this weekend. I hear it is great for kids that are lil J's age. I can't wait.

Off to go get ready for school. We will find out today which one of us who submitted a $500 mini grant back in August will be awarded the $$. Apparently, a school board member will be there to present the grant to one of us. I think that there are 10 of us in the running. Who knows, maybe this will be my week for winning awards?! I shall keep you posted. I do, however, HATE surprises, so............we shall see.

There is NO doubt

that life just seriously gets in the way of soooo many things that I used to have time for.....blogging, is def. one of them.

Last time I sat down to blog, I couldn't for the life of me even remember my password to log in to post......I have tooo damn many passwords and at work having to change it every 90 days to one that I have never used before just boggles my mind. Just about the time that I can remember it, I need to change it.

I used to love to go blog hopping and read, but NO time and with facebook on my thunderbolt and my tablet, it is just easier sometimes to keep up via FB. I know that sounds pathetic, and I am sorry for that.

We are in full swing now with school. It blows my mind that my "baby" is five weeks away from being 7 years old. How is that even possible? He is thriving in first grade and has yet to miss one question on math, spelling or reading tests. One year ago, he could barely read(and didn't even want to) while he is now going through MY classroom library to pick out books. Unreal.
He hasn't gotten ONE single behavior check this year either........and only one day on yellow!! His meds are working and HE totally knows it.

We are in our second season of YMCA soccer with Coach Chris. Lemme tell you........that man is a SAINT!! He has taught the kids sooooo much and seriously with only one hour per week, I don't know how he does it. Especially since practice is at 6.30 pm and their attention span at that time of night is GONE. We won our first two games and tied today agains the best team. Way to go RED THUNDER!!

This week I survived my pre-observation conference, my EET observation, post observation conference, ELP, SES AND our PTA Fall Festival Carnival. So, lemme tell you what tired means. LOL. Thankfully, a lazy day is in my future tomorrow cause I am gonna take full advantage of it. This afternoon we will head over to St. Pete to hit the pumpkin patch that we have gone to every single year since Johnnie and I met.......then dinner and then all of us will more than likely collapse. Dad's Club President outdid himself last night and then again this morning on the soccer field, so I know he is as tired as I am.

I hope to scrap something one of these days........lord knows I might finish up kindergarten school year one day soon.....a page here and a page there. Some might say, that isn't too bad, he is only in first grade, but PLEASE keep in mind, I have yet to scrap my wedding(8th anniversary was two weeks ago) or Joshua's birth, so yes, I am just a little behind.

We are looking forward to celebrating Joshy's 7th birthday in New York, so I def. see some winter clothing shopping in my future as well. I have NO complaints. My life is nearly.......perfect. A few xtra hours of me time wouldn't hurt. Then I might post more than once a year. LOL.

First Field Trip

On Friday, Joshy went on his first field trip as an elementary school child......his first ride on a school bus and my first time on a field trip as a chaperone/Mommy.

We had a fabulous time at Lowry Park Zoo, but oh was it crowded. There were 17 elementary schools there. I think that I saw more friends/former co-workers and former students than animals actually. The kids were very well behaved and truly enjoyed the experience. My only complaint is that we were literally RUNNING thru the zoo to get to see as much as we could before having to race back to the front of the zoo in time to get back on the bus. When we got back to school, we had lunch in the kindergarten classroom and then they rested....truthfully, the majority of them CRASHED and had to be woken up to get ready for dismissal. They were wiped out!!
I got some gr-8 photos that I can NOT wait to order prints of and scrap. Soooo cute.

I had hoped to get some scrapping done yesterday,, but instead, I spent about 2+ hours in my scraproom cleaning up the MESS of albums that had crashed onto the floor last weekend. I organized them all and put completed pages into their appropriate album. It felt good to get that all accomplished.

Monday morning and back to it this week. Hoping NOT to have quite so much going on this week. No car rider duty(hoooray), no conference night and all I have on my agenda today is getting lil J signed up for soccer at the YMCA.

Life is Good

Busy as usual, but good. NO complaints at all.

We had a fabulous visit with half of our Colorado family a few weeks ago. We spent a nice weekend with my sister, niece and oldest nephew. Dh and Ds had tons of fun with Brian and Lil J was quite the baseball star at his game that weekend.
We even did some exploring and despite the chilly rain, we spent a great afternoon at Rainbow River State Park. I can't wait to go back when the weather is a bit more cooperative. I am not sure that I have ever seen water that crystal clear.

The crop at O'leno was one of the BEST that I have ever attended. Super great group of women and so much FUN. I re-connected with some long-time scrappers from the original Florida Scrapper days and did NOT freeze my tush off!! Lemme tell you, down comforter, heating pad and leader cabin=perfection. Helen and I did lots of chatting and if you can believe this-I stayed up later than she did TWO out of THREE nights!! Helen has always been our night owl, but I was in the crop room until 2 am all three nights.
What fun we had and a very special shout out to Lydia who went out on Thursday evening and bought cigars to smoke in Daddy's honor. I was soooo touched. I miss that man and his stinky cigars. I also got 26 pages completed!! Now if I would just get unpacked and put things away where they belong.

Valentine's day was pretty laid back here. We don't do a whole lot of celebrating, but I did get luv from my special lil man(and he is turning into just that-a man, not my baby anymore). I cooked heart shaped everything for dinner(burgers, cookies, salad and red soda).

I can't believe that Feb. is nearly half over already. Walk MS is right around the corner. Hope to grow my team even more and get some volunteers recruited SOON.

Have a fantastic day. Wish there was something more exciting to share, but life is just that....life, not exciting.

Sad day yesterday

Lorry had to put Lil Baylee down yesterday!! What a terribly sad day. That pup~a~kid was so much more than just a doggie from day ONE. She was born on CG's tummy, June 15th when I lived on Orange Grove(several lifetime's ago). She was the biggest of the pups, most playful and of course, she became the pick of the litter.

My heart broke in August that year when she left Tpa to begin her reign as the Island Princess on Williams Island. My daddy would call daily(and sometimes more than once) to say, "I luv my puppy" and promptly hang up. He lived an xtra two years because of that "magnificent beast". She was spoiled rotten, luved to bits for those two years and hung her head in sadness for nearly six weeks after he left us all........

Now, moving on to Lorry.......she is NOT what anyone would call an animal lover. She conceeded to getting the puppy by repeating LOUDLY that she "wasn't walking her, feeding her, bathing her.............." none of it. HE would do it all.

Well, nine and a half years later, our Island Princess has left us to be with her/our Daddy. While our hearts are heavy and empty, I KNOW for a fact that there is one VERY happy Tinsky up in heaven.
I can hear him oh so clearly, "She is MY puppy and you have had her LONG enough".

Baylee, hope that you are enjoying lobster up there and don't forget, give him LOTS of kisses all over his FACE!!

You are truly the BEST pup and we miss you already here in Tampa!!

the REASON for the season

Despite the fact that admittedly I have spoiled(luved) my child a whole lot-yes, there is very little that my boy wants for, he has learned the REASON for the holiday season this year.

After trying hard to put away the TON of awesome gifts that he got for his birthday party and that he purchased with birthday $$ while at the Lego Store in Downtown Disney, I realized that he had received a couple of items that he already had or had already outgrown.......

We have talked about the fact that there are children who don't have much, etc etc, but it is inconceivable for my six year old. He lives in a loving home with both parents, yada yada yada.
Well, by golly, he GOT it.
We re-gifted and wrapped up a set of Hot Wheels cars to give to someone that we know who has a little guy who will adore them. Joshua RANNNNN to Aunt Sue's car a couple of weeks ago and the first thing out of his mouth was about how warm his heart felt because he had done this!!

Last night we took two shopping bags of items to the Toys For Tots box at Publix and he proceeded to place each one of the things from the bags into the box and told me again that his heart felt "100% good".

Yes, I admit, he is well luved/spoiled, and I don't deny-indulged, but he is one of the kindest little guys that I know and it makes MY heart feel incredible to know that he now understands the REASON for the season.

Happy Holidays!!

What a difference a couple of months can make!!

Things have really settled into a new routine and "things" are soooo much better, which in turn means, life is a much happier place.

My lil guy has gone from having his fingers having to be pried off the doorframe to go to school to being the October Star Student in his classroom for showing initiative!! I am not certain who is prouder-this Mommy of him, or my lil guy of himself. I KNOW that I could NOT be any prouder.
He is reading now, writing like mad and doing math that makes me know he ain't MY kid. LOL.

Tonite is report card p/u which means a VERY long day for me......I am still recuperating from the Fall Festival at school Friday night. We had perfect weather and an absolutely incredible turn out. The raffle baskets were awesome!! Waiting on the final tally of $$ raised, but I luv being the fundrasing VP for our PTA. It is really "neat" to be involved again with PTA, but as a parent. DH even grilled and sold a gazillion hot dogs with the Dad's Club. This may seem trivial, but 9 years ago, neither one of us would have ever suspected that we would have our own child.

Preparing now for said child's 6th birthday party-how is that possible? YIKES. I swear he grew a FOOT overnight Sunday.
I am going to actually get to scrap this weekend and I can NOT wait.

Off to report card check.

Have a fabulous Tuesday and enjoy this incredible weather.

CRAZY but it's all GOOD

So, thanks to the class size ammendment, I was able to move to a new grade level.

Although, it was a whirlwind, found out for sure on a Weds, packed and moved classrooms(AGAIN!!), unpacked, set up room, got a new partner on Thursday and yet another new partner on Friday and Monday I started teaching reading and writing again.

Hooray to it all. NOT easy to start over on day 25+ of the school year, but I am beyond delighted to have Tammy back and as my partner and to be back in a classroom that I spent many years in.

Everything does truly work out the way it is supposed to!! Sometimes it just requires a "test" or two of our patience. But, it does all work out.

TOday begins the first day of the 2nd nine weeks and although I still feel like I am learning about my new babes, I have 15 third graders, a new/old classroom, a new/old partner and I am one happy camper.
We also got a classroom pet-guinea pig named Field Goal thanks to a grant for pets in the classroom AND my lil guy is on some great meds for his ADHD.

It has been a trial and error getting dosage correct, but so far sooooooooooo much better.

Bring on some Fall weather as our Fall Festival is next Friday and I am ready for it.

Happy Monday!!

Holding Pattern

Life is still in a holding pattern for me. There are some xcting changes in the forefront that I can't share just yet, but it promises to be good.

J started on ADHD meds this week-BOO HISS on them. Did NOT work at all. Changing to med #2 tomorrow and hoping for some ability for him to focus on them with far fewer side effects.

Relaxing weekend with nothing xciting on the agenda. That is a good thing.

Have a great one and storms, please stay away.

Over the MOON

I am so over the moon happy, I can't NOT begin to describe it.........

I can't go into too many details, but things are seriously looking up and I could NOT be happier right now.

I am def. going to have an awesome weekend. HOOOOORAY.

Run Away

SOmetimes, you just gotta get away and I did just that this weekend.
I packed my CLOTHING, scrappy stuff and drove up to the riverhouse in Homasassa and spent the weekend scrapping away with Jan.

We got bunches accomplished and caught up on everything, with the exception of sleep. It was a great get away, but it was also VERY nice to come home. I got the biggest hug from lil Blue Eyes and my batteries are recharged this morning.

I scrapped 12 pages and got a mini album nearly done. Hooray for fantastic weekends.
Jax

Mixed Emotions

I got a phonecall this morning that upset me-NOT because it was before 8am on a holiday, but because it made me very sad.

Apparently, Lil Bay(also known as the Island Princess)-Daddy's puppy(whom he luved dearly and called me 3x's per day for two years to tell me) and now Lorry's dog, has a mass in her abdomen larger than the average person's fist.

There is no telling at this point if it is operable and it is more than likely cancerous :(
Tomorrow morning she will return to the vet in Hollywood for an ultra sound and we will know more then.
Thing is, she is acting perfectly normally, with the exception of becoming a seriously picky eater. She doesn't appear to be in distress or pain(thankfully).

At 9 years old, this puppy has been MORE than luved..........like you would NOT believe, and I am crying for us............but if it is determined that there is NOT anything to be done, as long as she continues to be Baylee, I am okay. Because ultimately, when the time comes, she gets to go to Heaven to be with my Daddy............

How bad can that be????

Because everyone knows, "he luvs HIS puppy"

It is one day closer

Today is Sunday and that is one day closer to Tuesday and the BIG day.

C'mon Sunday, be good to me and let me get thru til Tuesday, pretty please.

LIMBO

Does anyone remember that "game" of sorts? When you shimmy your way under the pole til it gets too low? Isn't LIMBO what that is called?

Well, my entire life seems to be in limbo right now and truthfully, regardless of the outcome, Tuesday can NOT get here soon enough.
It is stressing me out to remain in limbo and the pole is getting lower and lower. YIKES, c'mon Tuesday, get here already.

where has this month gone??

I just realized that I haven't blogged since the very beginning of the month. Oh my. I wonder if anyone else has noticed? Ha.

Back to school time is always a busy time of year for this teacher, but this year has been MUCH more overwhelming than usual. Not only did I move classrooms-heck, I do that EVERY single year, but I changed grade levels AND subjects. So, I am feeling a bit(okay A LOT) more overwhelmed than usual.

Added to all this stress was the fact that it wasn't only back to school for me, but my lil man began Kindergarten on Tuesday!! I managed to stay dry-eyed, although I am not 100% certain how that happened. He was so darn thrilled to be going to MY school and reminds me daily that Bay Crest is now OUR school. He is loving it, but I will say that I was not at all surprised when on the second day of school, he came home with a check mark in his behavior folder. Oy, gonna be a LONG year.

My kiddos this year seem sweet. I have many of the same ones that I had last year and that is a good thing. Surprising to take note that a bunch of them really seem to have "grown" up over the summer!! Unfortunately, I am still not feeling completely comfy with the math/science curriculum, but that will come with time and me doing MY homework and preparation.

Next Tuesday the 31st may actually bring NUMEROUS changes to my assignment so I am not(well trying not to) stress too too much. As we keep saying, "with the class sign ammendment in full enforcement this year, everything is subject to change."
If a certain someone gets a phonecall on Monday or Tuesday, then my assignment may just change significantly as will my group of students, teaching partner and way more than I am willing to mentally deal with at this point. So, for the time being, I am going thru the motions, doing what I need to do and awaiting Monday/Tuesday before I settle in completely.

I am a true believer that everything happens the way that it is supposed to when it supposed to, so I KNOW that worrying/stressing over any of this is not in my best interest, and Tuesday WILL be here soon enough.

For the time being, I will hang in there and wish only good things for this certain someone, despite the upheaval it may create.

I am MORE than ready for this rainy/crummy weather to be DONE with. We have NOT seen the FLorida sunshine in over a week and although many luv living in Seattle, I NEED me some vitamin D. So, rain rain go away please and while you are at it, Tuesday, would u just hurry up and arrive?

Happy Thursday. Hoping for a sunshine-filled weekend!!

that mini vacation

ya know the one that i said that i needed from the real vacation? well, aunt sue and i were talking bout it and things seems to fall into place, like we were meant to be going to clearwater beach for an overnight.
so, i booked it. nice suite very c heap price........

then comes the clincher. i said I needed a vacation. I needed a break. I needed to get away. and what happens, the boyz decide to join me. AGGGGGGGG.
the lil one has been whiny and I hate whiny. the big one doesn't like the beach unless he can fish, which you can not do on clearwater beach. so he sat looking like he was in pain. yeah, that made me feel good and relaxed. ughhh.

sometimes it is just better to let US go and u stay home. kwim? well apparently you didnt', but I did tell u such when we got home. I am all for family vacations, but c'mon, don't act so flippin miserable. I put on a good front for ELEVEN days with YOUR parents. Suck it up at the beach or stay home next time, k?

Thanks.

Have you ever?????

Seen someone that looked remarkably "different" and automatically passed judgement on what kind of person they are or you assumed they are?

I am quite embarrassed to say, I did just that the other day :(

I was at a training full of other elementary school teachers and about twenty minutes into the training a girl walked into the class. I am usually on-time(or within a few minutes and strive to be and it has always upset me when someone shows up to class late since they get the same number of hours as someone who is on time), but in walks this "teacher".

She is dressed in all black-grunge.....VERY VERY pale and thin with her hair dyed JET black. Automatically, I passed judgement on what kind of person she "must" be. When she turned around after signing in, I noticed the black gothic make-up, jewelry and the front of her hair dyed bright BLUE!!

I continued my "assessment" of her and was not at all disappointed when she choose to sit in the empty seat NOT next to me.

After awhile in our original groups, we were "mixed" up a bit and I ended up sitting at a table with said educator. I couldn't imagine what kind of person would be dressed that way and the bright purple eyeshadow did nothing to help.

However, after the nearly four hours of training that we were seated at the same grouping, I realized how shallow it was of me (and many others, I am sure) to have assumed that this girl was freaky just because she didn't fit the "normal stereotype teacher model" that most of the other participants did.

I hang my head in shame and vow to myself to be less quick to pass judgements on others. PROMISE.

Vacation

Sometimes one needs a vacation from their vacation. I am one of those people and now is one of those times.

We spent an incredible 11 days flying to Denver, staying in Ft. Collins, riding Colorado's Georgetown Loop RR, driving to Wyoming, South Dakota and back to Denver once again. However, after flying cross country(and two time zones), driving over 2,200 miles on our rental car, staying in four different hotels and eating wayyyy more than I ever do, I was sure ready to come home and sleep in my OWN bed.

Vacations with family are wonderful and the memories we created will always be treasured, but I am truly very glad to be back in Tpa.

One More Morning

As my lil man says, one more morning and then we are officially on vacation. True, I have been "on vacation" for nearly a month now, but tomorrow, it REALLY begins.
We fly out to Colorado tomorrow, then drive to Wyoming on Friday, followed by South Dakota on Saturday. I have a packed schedule for us all to follow and we are nearly packed. It should be a nice change of pace if weather.com would just cooperate. I keep checking it and hoping that it will change for the better. Right now it appears that it will be a wet week in Hill City. Fingers crossed that it changes some.

Speaking of changes and I don't like change, so I am both THRILLED and delighted with the fact that there are NO changes on my current MRI. I knew that I was still feeling the same and I am so happy to receive the report from Dr. L. HOORAY. Guessing that the MonSter can read and as I have tatooed on my tush-MS can kiss it!!

Off to run some errands(after some more coffee) and pay some bills. Must stop at the bank as well.

Jax

My Birthday WEEK

In our family, we have a history of celebrating birthday MONTHS. It started with my step-mom whose birthday is the 31st of December. She didn't do dishes in Dec, cause it was her birthday month. LOL.

So, we have a great time celebrating. For me this year, it was for more than a week and I am petrified to get on the scale cause I am telling you I ate my way to and thru 43. It was awesome.

My sister and my niece flew in from Colorado and there was no shortage of opening presents, eating lobster and just having a great time.

Joshy and his cuzin Amanda thoroughly enjoyed each other and I had the BEST birthday in a LONG time.

Now to put all of my goodies away and hope to lose a few lbs.

Enjoying a peacefully quiet moment while my boyz are at Home Depot so trying to catch up on some "stuff'.
Enjoy your SUnday all.