Finally, a (good) reason to be tired at the end of the week!!!

Besides my 2 hours, 2 days a week at Sylvan. 

I have been subbing again.  Today I was in a Kindergarten classroom and had a blast!!  Wednesday afternoon and Thursday I was in a first grade, bilingual, classroom.  That wasn't quite as much fun, but I can say that I have had worst times subbing in the past at that school for the older grades.  I usually don't like to go to that school for the bilingual reason, but at this point in the game I figured I can't really be picky.  And I was lucky enough to be teaching the English part of the group, so it all worked out for me.  May have been a little easier if I could speak Spanish, but maybe someday I will take classes!!

And I even have a day and a half booked for next week!!  It is with a new district, so I am excited to see how different this district is from the Menasha district that I have been used to for 3 years. I will be in 2 different 1st grade classrooms in 2 different schools, so it should be interested.

Stay tuned and I will let you know if there are differences and how I feel about this new district!!

WHY???

*Why can't Brian and I find jobs?

*Why is the price of everything going up?

*Why is the state so backlogged with unemployment?

*Who do you need to tell your whole life story to a stranger in order to get some assistance? (that you may or may not actually get)

*Why does it seem like very few good things come our way?

*Why can't I be content with the things that I do have?

*Why can't contentment with the things I have be enough to get through life?

*Why does it seem like my college degree doesn't meant much right now?

*Why are there so many struggling families this year?

*Why does the economy suck?

*Why is the government bailing out auto companies and banks? (I think the taxpayers could put that money to much better use)

*Why won't the government bail me out?

*Why can't I think of a work from home job that I can start myself, with no money? (If anyone needs a tutor or Christmas gifts wrapped, give me a call!!)

*Why don't I try to write children's books? (If anyone knows how I can get started with that, let me know)

*Why is it that the price of things we need everyday keep going up  Is it because they know we will pay whatever price they ask because we need it?  If supply and demand stay the same, shouldn't the price?

*Why are teachers not needing as many subs this year?

*Why do employers not respond to a resume (even with a NO)

*Why do make money from home sites require such a large start up cost?

*Why aren't there more work from home jobs?

Okay, I am done with my pity party.  Time to move on and be thankful for all the positive things that I have going on in my life.

Thank you

*Thank you for our health.

*Thank you for our parents-who are healthy and able to help us out financially.

*Thank you for the few hours that I am getting at Sylvan.

*Thank you for the opportunity to be on the sub list for 2 school districts.

*Thank you for the roof over our heads.

*Thank you for the food we have.

*Thank you for keeping our cars running. (can't afford repairs)

*Thank you for our friends, who continue to pray for our well being.

*Thank you for unemployment checks (once they start coming)

*Thank you for our ability to search the Internet for jobs.

*Thank you for heat.

*Thank you to everyone reading this blog, who has kept us in your thoughts and prayers for so long.  We appreciate all of you!!

Like a good neighbor...

...Brian and Sara are there.  We did our good deed this afternoon.  We raked/blowed the neighbors leaves to the curb.  Brian did this mostly because he didn't want them blowing into our freshly raked yard (they have not raked once this season and the last pick up is Monday)

These neighbors tend to be annoying and move about the yard at the strangest times.  They have parties in their garage, where the music tends to get really loud-almost sounds like they are holding a band practice.  They also have bon-fires late into the night sometimes and they do not have quiet friends.  They also just recently got 2 dogs(who tend to bark a lot when they are outside), so there is now a chain link fence in their yard, which doesn't really bother us because there is a fence between our two yards already anyway.  They come and go at strange hours of the night and day.  The cops have also been at their house a few times in the past.  There was once a rumor about drugs, but that has never been proven, nor do we know why the cops were there.  So these people are simply neighbors, not friends or even acquaintances, simply neighbors whom we tolerate (at least for now)!

We don't really know or particularly like these neighbors, so it was a really nice thing that we did.  I am not expecting to get anything in return, they have never done anything for us.  Nor I am even expecting a thank you.  I will be satisfied knowing that I have done my random act of kindness today and leave it at that.

Ballot Number 1057

I have done my civic duty for the day, and it didn't take as long as I expected.  The poling place was a 3 minute drive from my house and I was doorstep to doorstep in less than 30 minutes.  I guess it pays to go during the "down" times.  Or not that many people in my district are voting.

Now, it could have been faster if the people looking up your information were a bit younger and faster.  But overall, I guess I can't complain.  And I had Brian go first, so my name is in the book right after his!!

Hopefully all of you out there are going to vote today or have already voted.  Feel free to share any of your voting stories, good and bad.

Happy voting!!!!

Fall clean-up!!

We just did a second round of fall clean up in the yard yesterday, since the weather was fairly decent.  About 3 weeks ago, we raked the whole yard.  Those of you who have seen our yard know what a big task that was.  I figure the yard could use a good raking at least once a year.  So our leaves and dead grass were raked to the curb for pick up, and the gutters were cleaned out.  Of course, the trees can not cooperate, so there is more raking/blowing done every week  We get curbside pick up for about 5 weeks, on our garbage day.  So, if they are going to pick up once a week, we will get leaves out there once a week.

Since yesterday was a beautiful fall day, we decided to do one more major clean up.  I used the leaf blower on the yard, and Brian cleaned out the gutter (which appear to be full again today-darn wind).  We even pruned a few of our bushes and burned the remaining brush in the fire pit, so no critters would make a home there over the winter.  

There is one more week of leaf collection after tomorrow, but we will have to see what kind of weather next weekend brings.  It is not looking promising right now.