A "warm fuzzy" after a Sunday from hell

I will start with the Sunday from hell.  It started out nice, we went to church and out to brunch with the in-laws.  The intention was that after brunch, I would help one of my sister-in-laws with her math for college.  We were at the house and the other sister-in-law decided that she was going to put on a lovely shouting match complete with insults for practically everyone in the house.  I sat there and took it for probably about 20 minutes then looked at Brian and said are you ready to go??  So we left and P was upset because I was supposed to help her with her homework and her sister screwed everything up.  (Hopefully that ended up being a fight between them later.  Did I mention they are twins??)  So Brian and I left and my mother in law ended up bring P to our house for the homework help.  And I will not be going back to their house to help with homework.  The kicker here is that A will also need to take this same math class in a few weeks and was hoping that I would be able to help her as well.  Needless to say she screwed up that opportunity and all the "I'm sorry's"  in the world will not make me help her with the math.

On to the "warm fuzzy".  I got called to sub for yesterday afternoon at the school where I spent most of last year as a long term sub.  I was welcomed back by many of the teachers whom I got to know last year.  A few of them even asked when they were going to give me a job already.   The nice part was that as I was in the middle of read aloud, the principal walked in.  I thought he was there to talk to a student (I was in 5th grade).  No.  He said that he found out I was in the building and wanted to come and say HI and welcome back.  I thought that was really thoughtful of him.  How many other principals would have done that.

Then I had 4 hours at Sylvan, which was much easier than it sounds.  I didn't have nearly the amount of students I was supposed to have according to my schedule.  Hour 1-3 students.  Hour 2-2 students scheduled, I only had 1.  Hour 3-2 students, 1 given to me from another teacher because one of mine didn't show up.  Hour 4-1 student, 2 scheduled.

So after a weekend from hell, I had a great Monday which pretty much made up for it.  I also came home last night to find that one of the day cares that  I applied for called me back and wants to set up an interview.   Wish me luck there!!

First day of school

Today is the first day of school for most in the Fox Valley and here I sit at home.  Now I didn't really expect to get a subbing call on the first day of school, but I was hoping to have my own classroom.  I do still have one application out there-the posting does not close until today at 4:30pm-so there is still hope.  I even broke down and applied for a lead teacher at a day care-something I thought I would never do.  But I am realizing that I need something more permanent than subbing because I can't guarantee that I will have a nice long term subbing like I did last school year.

So, here's to hoping that something still comes through.  And knowing that I probably won't be called to sub for a few weeks.

Good luck to all of you students, parents, and teachers who have started off the year today.  If anyone needs a tutor, give me a call!!!

I should feel more worried

For most in the Fox Valley, school starts next week and for the 3rd year in a row, I have no school to go to.  All summer I say that I am not going to worry until September, because I know that a lot can happen over a summer and I know of lots of teachers that get hired days before school starts.  Well, it sunk in this weekend when someone asked me if I was excited about school starting.  I replied with, "I would be if I had somewhere to go."

So why am I not more worried about that fact that school starts in a week without me??  I know that there is still time, but the chances are getting slimmer.  There are still a few postings, but not like there was at the beginning of August.

I am on the sub list for the district I was at last year, but am not expecting any calls the first few weeks of school.

Part of me is glad not to have the stress of setting up a classroom, but as school draws nearer and I still have unanswered applications out there, I know that the stress of setting up a classroom could be greater should I get a last minute job.

Now I continue to play the waiting game and look for other ways to supplement my income until subbing (hopefully) picks up like last year. 

I thought we were done

Phase I is not really complete.  We took the tape off and most of the paint came along with it.  We left the tape on overnight, which we believe was a bad choice.  So today we are re-taping and re-painting.  This time we are going to take the tape off as soon as the 2nd coat is on in hopes to leave the paint on the wall this time.

You live and learn I guess and now we will know what to do and not do next time we paint!

Painting-Phase I complete

This wasn't a large project, but it makes the room look better.  We had the windows replaced in our 2 bedrooms a while back.  Well, the trim that is on these new windows was not as wide as the trim from the old ones, so we could see parts of unpainted wall around the windows.  Since the walls are white in our room and light blue in the guest room, you could really notice the spots with no paint.  So yesterday, Brian decided that he had been staring at the unsightly walls long enough.  He taped around all the trim and painted the spare bedroom wall-there was only 1 window in that room.  This morning I scraped the high, built up paint around the bedroom windows and Brian painted them-there are 3 in our bedroom.  

So you can no longer tell that we had the windows replaced, they look like they have been there forever.

I know I called this post Phase I, what is Phase II you ask??  Well, everything in our bedroom is white; the walls, the trim, the doors, the blinds, the ceiling fan.  Even the carpet is cream.  I had to buy blue window valences when we moved in just so it didn't seem so sterile.  There are other things we added to give it some color, but I am sick of staring at white walls, trim  and doors.

One day, while at Home Depot for some other reason, we happened to walk by the OOPS! cans of paint.  We decided to look and see what colors were there, since they were only $5 for a gallon.  They had the perfect shade of periwinkle that I had talked about using in the bedroom since we moved in, just never had the extra money for that minor improvement.  Now, you only have one gallon for a whole room, you ask?  

My plan is to just create an accent wall with the periwinkle.  I am hoping to paint the wall behind our bed.  I would like to do something on the opposite wall, but I am not convinced that it will look decent.  So I am totally content with doing the accent wall and hoping that will take care of the sterile feeling in the bedroom.  And I think that it will look nice with the white baseboards.

Not sure when this project will be started, but I am hoping to tackle it before winter.  I don't think that is asking too much.  Besides, Brian is already got experience cutting in around the window!!

Brett's a Jet

If you haven't heard the news by now, you must live in a bubble.  This information has dominated all forms of media for most of the day today.  In fact it was the entire first 10 minutes of the 10pm news this evening.  Granted I was watching a Green Bay station, but I am sure it is all over.  I must say that I am glad the whole saga is over, but am slightly disappointed that Brett will not be staying in Green Bay.  From the beginning I had thought that if he came back to the green and gold he shouldn't be starting QB anyway, I mean how fair would that be to Aaron who has been working his but off for the months since Brett "retired".  From the moment Brett announced his retirement, I had a fear/hope that he would come back. (Check my previous blogs, I really did)  I just was not quite hoping for it to end with Brett going to the Jet's.

Brett did some wonderful things for the Packers and will be remembered for them, even those saying they will no longer be Packer fans.  Were you ever really Packer fans to start with then??  I mean, players come and players go, but in the end it really is just a game.

I wish Brett luck with the Jets but can't help but wonder if and when he will flop there.  I mean Mike McCarthy said that Brett's heart/mind was not in the right place to play for the Packers.  For the Jet's sake, I hope he finds the right mindset that he needs just to be able to play football.

In the words of my brother, hopefully the Packers and the Jets will meet in a playoff game and Aaron can kick Brett's butt.  Wouldn't that be some sweet revenge?!?!

I think I may have to make a trip to GB tomorrow to get some discounted Favrewear-I hear they are slashing prices.

I wish Brett and the Jets luck, just not too much-wouldn't want them to outshine the Packers.

And I am moving on and will happily cheer Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on to a Super Bowl!!!

Random Thoughts

*Brett, make up your mind!!  I am glad that he will not be coming back as starting QB, should the Packers decide to keep him.  It is not fair to Aaron.

*People, there is other news in the world besides the Brett saga.  Why does he get first news story and several newspaper articles.  Lets get this whole reinstatement over so the state can move on with things.

*We are now officially godparents.  The baptism was Sunday.  Little William cried when the water was poured, only because he was sound asleep before that time.  What a way to wake up, cold water poured on your head.  Can't say that I have had that happen to me.  He was great the rest of the day.

*Still job hunting and procrastinating on cleaning my house.  It is so damn hot lately, who wants to do anything too stressful.

*Would like to go to State Fair this year, but not sure if that is going to happen.  Will have to see if I can find some discounted tickets somewhere.

Thank you for reading Random Thoughts, by Sara :)

good deed

I did my good deed for the week yesterday.  I went to get my hair cut and the lady asked me if I was interested in donating.  I said sure, if it was long enough.  Turns out it was way long enough!  So I sat in the chair and watched as she cut a very long ponytail off the back of my head.  I was shocked myself to see how long it really was when it was sitting on the table.  I kept thinking "wow, I can't believe it was that long".  That would explain why I was getting a sore neck every time I put my hair in a ponytail.  To top everything off, because I was donating, I got a free haircut.  

I think I need to do this more often!!

5 years

It is hard to believe that 5 years ago today, Brian and I were standing in front of our families and friends professing our love for each other.  And 5 years ago, at this exact time, we were climbing into my Escape so my brother could drive us to the Embassy Suites (which is no longer called the Embassy Suites, by the way) so we could have pictures taken in the grounds.  It is hard to believe that 5 years has past already.  Life sure has changed, not only for us as we began to deal with situations that arose from having to share everything with someone else, but life in the world has changed quite a bit too.

Thank you to everyone who was part of our special day 5 years ago and is still a special part of our lives today :)

Last Comic Standing

Well, there are actually still 12 in the running, but tonight was the last of the semi-finals.  While I didn't watch any of the episodes leading up to tonight, I had heard that there were 2 people from WI, so I decided to tune in.  There were indeed 3 from WI, only 1 whom I thought was mildly funny.  He was from Janesville and didn't make it to the finals.  Oh well, no reason to continue watching now.

a much needed break

Ok, I only saw the kids for 10 days and only for 3 hours on each day, but there are a few of them that I was ready for a break from.   You can tell the kids who have never really had any structured sort of school experience, which of course is why they are in summer school to get ready for kindergarten.  Most of the kids are 5.  There is one who just turned 6 and i have one that is still 4, and you can tell that he is 4 just by looking at how he acts compared to the rest of the class.

So on this break I had planned to get my neglected housework done so that when school started up again on Monday I would have a clean house.  Well, here it is Wednesday and the only thing I have done is a few loads of laundry to catch up on towels and sheets.  How exciting, so my house is still a mess.

Ark building anyone?!?!

We have not started here, but we don't have it quite as bad as southern Wisconsin.  We have been lucky to only get the heavy rain, and that it had plenty of places to go so that it didn't sit on the roads.  We did get a little in the basement, but not enough to ruin anything.

I have friends in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, and things do not look pretty there.  Streets are flooded.  Water was up to the apartment doorsteps last night in Fondy, and she had to park 2 blocks away and walk home after work last night.  And if that wasn't bad enough, there is water in the basement too.  Luckily she lives on the 2nd floor.  Oshkosh streets we flooded already on Sunday when we drove through there, so I can only imagine what things look like now-the pictures are helping!

Hopefully all of you are dry and safe and have not lost too much in any of these rains.  

Summer school frenzy!!!!!

Summer school starts on Monday!!!  I have been to my classroom yesterday to begin setting things up only to find that the room is really not a good learning environment.  I understand that the teacher probably has a lot of her own things in the room, but my kids are going to need something to play with.  There was pretty much nothing left out, she did leave a few games that have seen better days.  And all of the computers and shelves we shoved in a corner and covered in plastic.  Imagine being a 4/5 year old, maybe coming to school for the first time and walking into a room that looks like this.  Talk about a traumatic first school experience.  

I have nothing to bring really, since all my kindergarten stuff belonged to the school I was at.  So now I have to scramble around to find something that the kids will be able to do during free choice time.  Luckily one of my good friends is also teaching K Readiness at the same school and teaches Kindergarten during the year.

Tomorrow is shopping for snacks for the month and then back to school to do the final organizing.  Wish me luck!!

Freeloaders

Well, now for this week.  I guess it was last week.  We had rodents in our attic, which woke us up last Sunday night.  I heard scratching and wasn't sure if it was outside.  Brian looked and saw nothing, so I figured that it was coming from in the wall.  Well, Brian being the paranoid person he can be, decided to call the cops, just to make sure.  So they came and of course found nothing outside-DUH, I told you that the sound was in the ceiling!

So, tried to go back to sleep and would call pest control in the AM.  Orkin man said that if we could hear scratching it was probably a squirrel need to call animal control.  Animal control came out and went in the attic, after fixing the step that broke as he stepped on it, and said that there was bat poop, somehow knew that there was a flying squirrel up there, and possibly rats/mice.  So, the nice man put a trap up there to get the squirrel, and bait for the mice.  He also put a out only door by the hole they most likely came in from, in case anything was still in the attic that he didn't see.  And he would be back in 3-4 days.

He came back on Friday.  He took out he EMPTY trap from the attic, didn't see anything up there, and permanently sealed the hole in the roof.  So, we are hopefully rodent free! (Knock on wood)

My apologies

I am sorry to those of you who check regularly hoping to find something new and exciting going on in my life, only to find that I have not posted anything since March.  In my defense, it has been very busy since then.  Here are some of the highlights/lowlights.

*My long term sub picked up again, only this time it was for the other parapro-she "resigned".  Not sure on the whole or correct story there, but at least it meant a steady income for me.

*"old" computer died, got virus or something.  It was only 2 years old, but we started getting the "screen of death" as Brian calls it (the blue one with white letters).  Everytime we were able to get on and tried to run virus software and get updates, it would kick us to that blue screen.  We even tried to totally reload everything and start over, but the computer froze when it was just about done.  

*So we stimulated the economy by buying a new computer-a Mac.  Brian has had enough with PC's, so we decided to give a Mac a try.  So far, so good, but it does take some getting used to.  And there are some things that I am no longer able to download because they are not Mac supported.  Oh well, everything comes with a price!

*Spent quite a bit of time getting all my paperwork in order to turn in to teach summer school in Appleton.  I will once again be teaching the Kindergarten Readiness program for the 3rd year and in my 3rd school.

*Attended a memorial service for my great-uncle and was able to catch up with distant relatives.

*Attended a baby shower for my cousin.  Still waiting to find out if she has arrived yet-due tomorrow, I believe.  My other cousin had her 2nd, a boy this time.  Can't wait to see him.

*I had a clean bill of health from the dentist, but Brian had to go back last weekend for a filling redo.

*Attempted another rummage sale.  Was fairly productive, sold our dead computer parts-and made more money then mom and dad!  There is another city-wide rummage in September and I think we are going to try again.  If anyone has anything they want sold, you price it and get it here and we will be happy to sell it for you!! (We won't even keep any % for ourselves!!)

WE'RE GODPARENTS!!!!

Brian and I officially became godparents on Saturday evening around 7:37pm. Baby William Nicholas came 10 days early, he was 8 pounds 1 ounce, and 21 inches long. He is healthy and happy. Mom and baby are doing fine, came home Monday. Big sister is a little jealous that mom can't pick her up and that everyone who comes over pays more attention to the William.
We visited them last night at home and made sure that Abbie got plenty of attention. After she went to bed, it was William's turn.
We are excited to be godparents and hope that we can be great role models for William.

A sad time for Packers fans

While I would hardly call myself a die-hard football fan, it is a sad day in Packer country. With the announcement of Brett Favre's retirement yesterday, the media has taken that and ran with it. The end of an era, they are calling it. We all knew it was coming, we just didn't know when. Now that it is here, it seems to be consuming our lives.
Brett will be missed and Packer football as we have come to know it will never be the same. As hard as it is to believe that Brett will not be coming back to wear #4, part of me is thinking that this is all a joke and in a few months he will announce that he made a mistake and will be wearing a Packer uniform for training camp. You can see, from all the highlights that they have been showing, that Brett truly loved the game and all the good and bad that went with it.
I respect his decision and am actually glad that it came early and he did not drag it out like last time. He will now have more time to devote to his family and his Forward Foundation. I only hope that Brett will miss Green Bay as much as Green Bay will miss him.
Aaron Rodgers, you have some big shoes to fill, fill them well.

Winter Thunderstorm?!?!

I don't know about all of you, but here in the Fox Valley, we had a winter thunderstorm last night. It was both cool and scary. The cool part was seeing the lightning as it lit up the sky and the shadows that were cast on the slick snow piles that are on the ground. The scary part was when the lightning would light up the sky for close to a minute. At one point, it started out normal and then the sky turned to almost an aqua color. As neat as it looked at first it was a little creepy as to what could follow.
I am glad that I was inside my house last night and didn't have to go anywhere. I am also thankful that our sump pumps were working last night and still are today-and boy have they been running a lot.
So just when the rain lessened the snow piles slightly, the rain turned to snow. So I got to go out this morning and shovel, once again. Why does it seem like I always have the day off when there is heavy wet snow on the ground and no place to put it?!?!
Who needs a gym membership when you live in Wisconsin in the winter. You never know what to expect!

An end to the backups????

Well, the crew finally came yesterday to replace our sewer pipe. No one was home, so we are assuming it is fixed-we were told the old one was broken in 3 places. (That would lead one to believe that they took out the old one, right?!?!) So, we now have a new pipe leading from the house to the street and are even less some snow. Since they needed to move it to do the work, they got rid of it. It is at least easier to back out of the driveway.
So we will see, in a few months, if this solved the problem.

I HATE SNOW!!!!!!

I enjoy Wisconsin winters, most of the time, but this year enough is enough. I am so tired of the snow, and the sub 0 temperatures. I am tired of the snow shovelling, brushing off my car, and trying to navigate snow covered streets that don't get plowed in a timely fashion. Just because I do not live on a busy street, should I have to wait until the day after the snow stops falling to get my road plowed?? (especially if the main roads around me are already clear) The city is really slow at plowing and sometimes my road gets missed completely. I am glad that 5 years ago when i purchased my new car I decided to go with the SUV or I may have gotten stuck coming home a few times. I am guessing that Brian is also glad he went for the SUV. They also help when navigating other streets with idiots that don't know how to drive in this white stuff.
About a week ago I was that I was no longer living in Milwaukee or even Fond du Lac with all the snow they got from Snowstorm Grace. First of all, Grace?!?! Who comes up with these cutsy names for snowstorms. as if that is going to lessen their impact on our lives. So anyway, jsut as I was starting to be thankful for living in the Fox Valley, Snowstorm Hunter comes in and just keeps dumping. Those of you in the Milwaukee area, I think I know how you felt last week.
Not only is this snow annoying, but it is getting in the way of trying to solve (used loosely) our plumbing issues.

That's right, we are still having water in the basement. And a month ago we had, what Brian has called, a poop gyser in the shower. The plumber came out and grinded the roots out of the pipe, once again. The camera showed that our pipe is not squarely connected to the city pipe and that is why we keep having backups. How many times do you need to be called out for the same thing before you look all the way to the street?!?!? Needless to say that we were not very happy with the plumbers-especially since this will be our 3rd, very costly attempt to fix the back up problem. We have already replaced the shower and told that everything should be fine. We then cut sown a wonderful, shade producing tree in the front yard becuase we were told it's roots were causing our problems. And now we are told that we need to replace our sewer pipe. And becuase it is our lateral, we are responsible with no help from the city.
Which is where we get to the snow issues. This was supposed to happen yesterday. Of cource that is when "Hunter" decided to show up. Luckily we don't have to wait long to reschedule, they are going to try for Monday. But, those of you who have heard the weekend forecast know that there is another storm coming Sunday night. UGH!!!

Why can't things go the way we need them to just this once!?!?!?!?!

Good to be missed

So today I went back to the school and classroom where I was a sub all last semester. This time I was the other parapro, so I got to see how the one I subbed for gets on with the kids-at least the little bit that we are actually together.
After being in an EBD room from hell last week, I welcomed the chance to get back to familiar surroundings with students that I knew how to handle. I had never been told by so many people that I was missed. And this was coming from both staff and students. I missed them too, even though it was not that long that I was there.
It seems as though some things just are not running as smoothly, but there is nothing I can do about that. I am not the district hired parapros, I am just a sub who happened to fall into a long term position and create a routine and relationship with the students and staff. Once they got back from break they had to start new routines and build new relationships with a new person.
Everyone seems to be doing okay and I will jump at the chance to go back there any day, even if they are special needs kindergartners. Anything is better then EBD kids that are bigger than you are.

A look back at 2007

2007 was not an extremely eventful year in the Burns' house, but here are some highlights:
*2 years in the house
*finally unpacked that last box
*organized the basement
*labeled all the tubs in the basement
*had lots of water backup issues in the basement
*cut down one of the trees in the front of the house to "fix" the back up problem. (so far so good-knock on wood!!)
*got 3 new windows in an attempt to cut down on heating costs
*had a long term subbing position from the end of Sept. until Christmas break
*Brian changed jobs-twice I think
*bought a new car-Mitsubshi Outlander
*survived 4 years of marriage
*attended a cousins wedding
*taught another successful year of summer school
*attended my 10 year high school reunion and reconnected with some old friends
*got a snowblower (it is dad's old one, but at least we don't have to shovel)
*my "little" (perhaps younger would be more appropriate for those of you who know him) brother graduated from college
*family and friends continued to stay relatively healthy

I think that is it in a nutshell. I think that one of my New Year's Resolutions will be to try to post on here more often. Course, that will also depend on my subbing, now that my long term is done.

I love Teachers Convention!!

And as a sub, I don't have to attend anything. I don't think the teachers in the district do either, but it is still 2 days off from school.
My house can finally get some attention. I haven't done a whole lot today, except catch up on some e-mails and TV watching(taped from the week). And I still have 4 hours of Sylvan today, so I don't want to get into any big projects. Tomorrow will be my big cleaning day since I have no Sylvan and don't have to leave the house.
And my parents might be coming this weekend, so that is a little extra motivation to get things cleaned tomorrow. We have a halloween party Saturday night too, so I don't want to have to clean on Sat and be too tired to enjoy the party!!

Earning money

Okay, so I have been really busy this month between subbing and Sylvan. I have been doing a long term subbing position for a paraprofessional in a Flex Kindergarten situation. I have been there for a month and am not sure how much longer it will last. Part of me, specifically my shins, are hoping that it is over soon.
I guess I better explain. My job is to follow, drag this kindergarten to his classes and make sure he is on task and safe. I am not exactly sure what his special need is, but I think he is a combination between ADHD and Autism, with some other issues mixed in. Nothing has been diagnosed yet, but slowly getting there. So, when something doesn't go his way, he throws a fit and sometimes kicks and hits. It usually doesn't last long, just needs a distraction and other times it does last a while. I have learned to dodge the kicks that I sense coming, but it is the ones I don't' that really hurt-especially when they hit the bone. So I have war wounds from my job and the pay is not really compensation enough, but it has increased since this is long term and I am starting to do better with this boy.
I guess I will stay. Originally I was told this would be till the end of the month, so I figured I could handle it that long. Now I am hearing that no one really knows when this lady is coming back-some sort of medical reason she is out. I know that I shouldn't be complaining because it is one more steady paycheck coming in, but at the same time it the pay worth the abuse.
My answer is no, but it is also not fair to this 5 year old to have a bunch of different people with him all the time. So, I am going to stick with it as long as I am needed.
The up side is that I am getting to know people in the school, including the principal, so this could be an in for next year if something opens up. I will keep my fingers crossed for that one.

food, fun, and fond memories

Friday night was my 10 year high school reunion. After a lot of thought about whether or not to go, I decided that there were a few people that I would be interested in seeing again. And there were also the others that I was curious to see what they were up to now.So, after getting lost in downtown Milwaukee-due to highway construction-we finally found the bar we were looking for (thanks to a phone call to dad) For being 30 minutes late, there really were not a whole lot of people there yet. So, we mingled a little, ate, and mingled some more. It was nice to meet the husbands/significant others of my classmates and hear what they have been up to in the past 10 years. I talked to everyone that I was interested in talking to, and even a few people that I wasn't, and was surprised to hear what some of them had been up to. Not many had kids, but quite a few were expecting. I expected most people to be married and a few that I expected to be were still single.All in all, it was a nice evening of reminiscing with high school classmates. Sharing stories that some spouses may not have heard yet, and hearing new stories of how relationships started. And I was pleasantly surprised that everyone looked pretty much the same way they did 10 years ago, in high school.

and frogs

Yes, I said frogs. I opened the breezeway door and was getting ready to head out the front door to get the Sunday paper when I noticed something greenish brown sitting on the floor between my shoes. I closed the breezeway door (I went back to the safety of the kitchen) and decided to keep an eye on this guy until Brian woke up. The Sunday paper would just have to wait.
10 minutes later when Brian came into the living room, I told him there was good news and bad news. The good news-we have a paper today (since we are only on weekend delivery this is sometimes a problem) The bad news-there is a frog in the breezeway. We then discussed ways to get him out of the house. The simplest was to go around to the front door and pull him out with a broom or something, hoping that he didn't hop all over the place. I told Brian to go for it. His response, "Why do I have to do it?" My response, "I kill all the other bugs in this house, you can deal with the frog."
Once he got around to the breezeway, he thought for sure I was smoking something because there was no sign of a frog. He moved the shoes he was between and even tapped the shelves and walked around, but nothing. I told him there was definitely a frog, maybe he was in my shoe. First shoe, nothing. Second shoe, out he hopped(fell) on his back and was "helped" outside by Brian.
Now, don't go calling PETA on us. The frog was still alive as he landed on the sidewalk outside. And when checked on a few moments later, he was frolicking (Brian's word) in the leaves by the front steps. There were no frogs harmed in this story.

The real question: How did the frog get in the breezeway?? There are 2 theories. 1. He hopped in while we were taking our time getting out the front door on Saturday night. It was dark, so it is entirely possible. 2. Someone put the frog in our mail slot during the night. It was homecoming in the area, so a neighborhood child certainly could have done it. I guess we will never know how he got it, but I am glad he got out.

an end to the plumbing problems????

Well, we are hoping so anyway. Guess we will find out in a few months.

This weekend we had a tree cutting party. The neighbor had a tree to cut down and so did we, so we went in on a cherry picker together. Long story short, the tree in the front of our house that had the roots growing into our water pipe is now gone. Left in its place is the stump and all the leaves and small branches waiting to get picked up during branch pick up next week. half the wood is stacked neatly in our backyard to use for firewood next year, and the other half is sitting in the neighbors yard. (we gave them half the wood for doing the hard cutting part in the cherry picker)

So, now we can see into the neighbors front window and they can see into ours. We have also lost a bit of the shade that was provided by that tree. However, it may help heating costs in the winter as the sun can get through now.

And we will have to wait and see to find out if this ends the plumber having to roto-root every few months. If not, we will have to start the search all over again to determine the problem.

One Problem Solved

Just call Brian Mr. Tech Support. Apparently when he got home from work yesterday he was so pissed off at Dish Network and the local dealer that he decided he was going to mess around with the connections to see if perhaps the cables were hooked up incorrectly (Entirely possible since the cables were not color coded like they were supposed to be and in the switching boxes we may have switched cables). I mean, he couldn't really mess anything up any further, right?!?!
So, when I got home from work last night, I was informed that the cable is once again working and everything is doing what it is supposed to be doing.
We once again have cable, I can record missed shows while I am at work, and we don't have to wait in anger for the installer to come out and look at things. (I think we are keeping the appointment though, just to make sure there really is not a more serious problem.)

Why does bad luck come in 3's???

Starting Saturday:
1. Our flooding/drain back up issue. Look into "The joys of home ownership" entry for more information on this problem.
2. Brian had to get new glasses after the optical tech at Wal-Mart broke his. You never expect that anything will happen once they give their "since you did not buy them here, we are not responsible should any damage happen to them during our adjustment" disclaimer. Low and behold, she broke the tip of his earpiece. The glasses would still do their job, they would just dig into the side of his head. Talk about a headache. So, since it had been 3 years since the last eye exam, we decided that was the best choice and thanked the Wal-Mart lady for her help. (We went to Lens Crafters to have the issue resolved.)
3. After spending close to 2 hours on the phone last night with Dish Network Tech Support, we have come to find out that there is a problem either with our dish or the cables that hook everything up. No big deal, we are still under warranty after recently upgrading to a new DVR, so send someone out. Well, last night we were told that no one could get out here until Friday between 12 and 5. Okay, I guess if that is the best you can do. We can live with the little TV from the basement with the basic channels for a day. Well, Brian called the local dealer, who would be sending someone out, this morning to find out that the soonest someone could be out here was NEXT WEEK Friday. Um, a whole week without cable and being able to tape missed shows while at work-I DON'T THINK THAT IS ACCEPTABLE!!!!!! So I went to work this morning and Brian was going to do some calling during breaks to see what he could get accomplished. I think that because the service lady at Dish told us someone could come out tomorrow, that is what should be stuck too. Why do we have to suffer because the local dealer gave her the wrong information???

Hopefully this is the end of the back luck. I have had all I could handle for a while. Wish us inexpensive luck on all our issues.

The "joys" of homeownership

We have drain backup issues. Every few months, our basement shower drain backs up and sends water out the bottom of the shower, under the walls and out into the basement. It also backs up into the shower. We had the shower replaced a year ago, and were told that was the root of our problems. That doesn't seem to be the case.
Funny I used the word root, because that seems to be exactly our problem. Anyone that has been to our house knows about the 2 large trees in front of the house. Well, it seems that the roots from one of those trees may be growing into our drain pipe by the street, causing occasional backups into the basement.
As beautiful as the trees is and a wonderful shade provider during that afternoon sun, it is starting to get very costly. And since the back ups happen on the weekends, we end up paying the plumber extra for the weekend call. That tree just may have to go.
Today our pipes had their 15 minutes of fame. The plumber came and sent a camera down our main drain in the basement bathroom. Everything appeared to be clear from our house to the street, but at the street is where the tree roots became visible. Upon the advise from the plumber, we called the city to see what they were going to do about it. They sent a crew out to open up the manhole cover and clear their MAIN pipe which runs down the middle of the street. I am told that everything is clear on their end. Then explain to me the video tape that I have showing tree roots growing into my pipe 44 feet from my house. Again, anyone that has been here knows that our house is not far from the street, so the problem would be in the street.
Well, if it is, we are still responsible because it may be in our lateral (whatever that means. That is what the city guy told me) The city is only responsible for the main line and we are responsible for anything else.
So, our pipes have been rotor-rooted, the main city pipe has been rotor-rooted. All we have to do now is wait a few more months to see if we can go swimming in the basement again. Stay tuned for the latest plumbing saga.

Better late than never

I finally broke down and decided to find out what this Harry Potter craze is all about. I bought all 7 books this weekend. Barnes and Noble had 1-6 in a boxed set, and I couldn't seem to resist. Of course, what good would 1-6 be without 7, so that got added on to the purchase as well. I haven't started reading yet, but books 1 and 2 look relatively short, so I should be able to get those done in no time.
If anyone out there reading this had read the series and would like to have book discussions on it, I am all for that.
Happy Reading to all!!!!

Another year bites the dust

Yep, yesterday marked the beginning of my 28th year on this earth. It really doesn't feel any different. Brian keeps telling me to wait until I hit 30 (he will be 33 this year), and he keeps teasing me about getting older. The great things is that no matter how old I get, he will always be older!!
The day was really no different than any other Monday. Except for the fact that there were a few cards in the mail and less bills. I love having mail that doesn't require sending money to someone. The mother in law also stopped by, with one of the sister in laws, to drop off a gift and cake-we all know that Brian wasn't going to make one. And I still had to work at Sylvan, but I did get a gift certificate to Dairy Queen, so I guess it was worth it. And my student load was fairly light and easy, so I can't really complain. Now I just have to figure out how to spend all that birthday money.
The other excitement from the day was that Brian started his new job. Well, the training part anyway. I guess there is no guarantee of a job until the training is completed and passed (whatever that means). I believe that means we have another 3-6 months to wait before we know if he has permanent full time employment.
I still have no full time employment. I did get an application in the mail that I asked for 2 weeks ago. I even e-mailed them last week to make sure it had been mailed since I hadn't gotten it yet. They assured me it had been mailed-that was July 31st when I got that e-mail. The postmark on the stamp said Aug 2. Makes you wounder. Do I really want to fill out that application?? It is only at a day care center for K4. Guess I will wait to see if anything else comes along.

A DMV visit can be accomplished in under 1 hour!!!

I was just as shocked as you are reading that, but I did it today. And I must say it was a firts for me!!! I needed to have the lein removed from my car title (the car has been paid off since May, so I decided that I would finally make the trip in to the DMV). So after teaching at Sylvan this morning, I headed to the DMV, with my title and lein removal paperwork from Ford in my hand, along with a book to read. Walking in, there seemed to be an awful lot of people, so I thought I was doomed. I waited in line to get my number. The time stamped on my number was 11:13am. There were only 4 numbers ahead of mine, maybe this wasn't going to be so long after all.
So, I took a seat and began reading. After about 10 minutes, I was noticing that the 500's were not moving at all and everything else was. (My number was 535) Finally it went to 532 and then they started flying from there. Just before 11:30, I heard that wonderful DMV voice say "now serving 535 and window number 6."
I gathered my things and went to the window. The guy took all my stuff, entered some things into the computer, took my check, and handed me my new title-with no leins!!! I was walking out of the DMV shortly after 11:30.
So for all those of you who dread going, like I used to, it is possible to make it a short trip. The trick is to pick the right day and the right time. Would I have been so lucky at 3pm on a Friday?? Probably not.

Anyone wanna trade lives?!?!?!?

Brian came home 2 weeks ago to tell me that he quit his job at the bank because they wanted him to sign something that wasn't true. When he told them he wasn't' going to sign it, they said they would have to walk him out. so, they walked him out. He couldn't even tell me this face to face, he called me form his moms house to tell me.
So he is unemployed, again. And I am still mostly unemployed.
He had a somewhat promising interview this morning. Sounded like he would get paid to play with toys and other things all day. His dream job. All he has to do is keep his thoughts to himself and things should be fine. Some days whatever he is thinking comes out his mouth, not thinking about what his boss will think.

I have sent out 4 job applications last week and one more today. I still have nothing lined up and am not even getting any interviews. I would even be happy with a NO so that I know that my resume is at least being looked at. Oh well, it is still July.

So, keep us in your thoughts as we hope for the best. If not, I may be writing this blog from a cardboard box or tent in the backyard as we may have to rent out the house.

Sorry its been so long

Okay, so I logged on to see that it has been a month since my last post. In my defence, it has been a very busy month. Summer school started June 18 and ended July 20. (We had the week of July 4 off!!) So my mornings were packed with teaching soon to be kindergartners how school works, what things are done (and not done) at school, and how to behave. Overall, the 4 weeks went really well and there were no real problems. A few kids that liked to act out and need several reminders, but they wouldn't be 5 year olds if that didn't happen.

So, by the time I would get home I would have to eat lunch, do any prep work for the next day and head off to Sylvan. Sylvan has really been giving me hours, so I wouldn't get home until 9. Then I would eat, do any prep work that didn't' get done in the afternoon and go to bed. Even my weekends were busy with Sylvan and other family things.

The week off for the 4th was also busy. We spent that week camping with my dads side of the family. That was fun and luckily it didn't rain-we were in a tent!!

Now things are starting to slow down a bit. I still have a basement full of summer school stuff to sort through in my free time, but there is no rush. I will still be working at Sylvan 4 nights a week, but have also added 2 mornings a week. I hope to have a bit more time to do some postings on here, for all those of you faithful readers that like to know what is going on in my life:)

Sylvan by candlelight?!?!

We almost went that way yesterday. You see, they are ripping up the road in front of Sylvan-it is down to one lane, one direction. So, it was shortly after 5pm and all of the sudden the lights went out. There was no storm and the winds were not really all that strong, so we figured it must have been the guys out front. But what construction worker works past 4:30???
We continued teaching by the light coming in the windows, thank goodness for the sunlight. Then we had to decide what to do about the last 2 hours of the night. (The power company was called, and the had to track down employees, so who knew when the power would be back.) Did I mention the phones were dead too?!?! So, kids that were staying for the 6:15 hour had to stay since we couldn't contact parents, in an orderly fashion.
We finally decided, the teachers and one administrator (the center owner went home shortly after we lost power), that we would teach by sunlight from 6:15-7:15, but the last hour would have to be cancelled. So parents were tracked down in the parking lot as they dropped their children off and infromed of the change. No big deal and the hour went fine, but we were loosing light at the end-even my eyes were starting to hurt.
Wouldn't you know, right about 7:15 the lights came back on?!?!?!!! Well, guess I get to go home early. I mean, you couldn't very well tell the parents, "just kidding, we are really going to have that last hour of class!" I'm sure parents were a little confused as they came inside to pick up their children and the lights were on, but what can you do? One never knows what will happen with those city employees and their projects.
I will be so happy when Midway road is back to normal, which I know won't be for a while.
Hopefully tonight will be less eventful, I am not sure how much more excitement I can handle!

Summer School-Day 1

The crazy day. Kids coming in early, late, with parents, without parents, not on my list, wrong name on my list. I think kids started coming in at 8:20-the time they are allowed to enter the hallway. Then two families came in, one girl was in my room-her friend wasn't. The one came back a little while later, and now the other girl is in my room too. Can't split up those friends, what will the 5 year olds do!! Then one comes in and says the first name is different, is it the same kid. I don't know, sent them to the office. she came back and said they goofed. So I now have to make 2 new name tags as part of my homework tonight.
Once the parents were gone and kids were where they were supposed to be, the day went fine. I didn't realize how little was actually left in the room until the kids started playing. Oh well, they didn't really seem to mind and now that I know how fast they work, i will have more planned.
I had 4 kids out today, so my total was at 11. What a nice size and they all played so quietly!!
We will see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully nothing blog-worthy, but with 5 year olds, you just never know!

It's been a long time

In my defense, I have been very, very busy. I haven't even been on the computer very much this month. And when I was I was to tired to do anything but check for important e-mails and get off. I guess I will start at the beginning of the month. I had subbed pretty much non stop since the 14th of May. I had maybe 2 days off in there. Yes, i was even kept very busy during that last week of school. I guess that is what happens when a parapro quits with a few weeks left of the year. I was not her long term sub, but I subbed for her sub a few times. So, school was don on the 8th of June.
What have I been doing since then, you ask? Well, that day we left for Watertown-Adams graduation party was on Saturday. Sunday it was down to Milwaukee for the graduation party of our old neighbors. Followed by a drive back to Kaukauna. I felt like I live in the car last weekend.
Monday I got to sleep in, it had been a while. Shortly after I woke up, I was asked to babysit for a friend so they could get some work done outside and not worry about the baby. Well of course I said yes, I would never turn down Abbie time. I went back there on Tuesday morning as they had some errands to run and to make them quicker, they left Abbie at home. Wednesday I went supply shopping for summer school and spent the rest of the day organizing school stuff. Today I went to school to see my room and what was there. Minimal things, but I think I will be able to make due. After all, it is only 4 weeks. Hopefully the weather is nice and we can spend some time each day outside. Tomorrow I plan to go to the library to get some books for summer school before all the good ones are taken(hopefully it is not too late already!!) of course, all these busy days are followed by nights spent at sylvan. I even get to go on Saturday. As far as I know it should be a somewhat relaxing weekend, but we will have to see if that proves to be true.
Stay tuned for good first day of summer school stories on Monday!!

Never a dull moment...

...in this neighborhood. When your doorbell rings at 4 in the morning, you tend to get a little worried. Luckily Brian was awake, so he answered the door. At 4am, would you expect anything but the police?! I didn't go to the door, but I guess there were 2 policeman there wondering if there was a 20 something person in the house that was bleeding. Ummmm, we are all sleeping, so I don't think so. Feel free to come in and look. They didn't take us up on that offer, but continued to search outside and visit a few of the neighbors.
(Apparently they had received a call that there was someone bleeding profusely at one of 3 houses.)
But they could not find anything. Supposedly a car that was involved was found about 20 minutes away in another city. What are you doing in this one then!!!!!!
A few minutes later, 2 of the 5 cop cars in front of our house left. I do not know when the others left and Brian said he could still see someone searching the train tracks behind our house. I never heard ambulance sirens, so I am guessing no one was found (or at least not in serious condition).

Have you ever tired to go back to sleep after something like that?!?! First of all, you are looking outside to see if you can figure out what is going on. Then when you finally do climb back into bed every sound makes you jolt awake. By the time you have settled yourself down, it has been an hour and will be time to wake up shortly.

And, if that weren't bad enough, this is not the first time police have been in the neighborhood. The truancy officers have been to a house down the street several times. They are not something i worry about. But the police have been to the neighbors house a couple times. Do you know what it is like to look out the window and see 3 cop cars in the driveway of the house next door, lights flashing and guns possibly drawn?? Makes you want to know exactly what is going on. Is that public knowledge?

If anyone is looking for excitement, come stay with us for a week and you may just find some.

Subbing, Subbing, Subbing

I have finally had a few days off to catch my breath. I have been subbing for the past week and a half. Don't get me wrong, that is a good thing, but it has been a while since I have worked a full week. I have been a preschool parapro, I have supervised in school suspension, I have been in the CD room working with small groups, and I have been a "floating" kindergarten teacher. I have enjoyed all except the in school suspension. I actually thought, at first, that would be easier and more boring than the middle school library. I was wrong, WAY WRONG. The child I was supervising was an EBD (emotional, behavioral disturbed) student and could change moods in an instant. One minute he would be doing his work just fine and the next he would be flipping out about something. And when he flipped out it took quite a while to get him back on track again. Course, I didn't know any techniques that they were using in the EBD room, so that was a bit challenging. I survived, but would not want to do it again-if I had my choice.
The other days went well and it hardly felt like working. Especially in preschool, I mean where else can you get paid to play and color for most of the day. I did have some other "teacher like duties" too, but they were not as tough as controlling my EBD student.
The district is off today for an unused snow day, so I knew that I would have today to catch up on the house work that got neglected by the time I would get home at 8 every night.

oh to be a student teacher again

Ok, maybe not really. I mean all that hard work with none of the pay for it. But subbing when there is one in the room is pretty awesome. This was the case last Friday. I subbed in a 3rd grade classroom and didn't know there was a student teacher in the room until i got there that morning. And he was to the point in his student teaching that he was teaching everything. Again, I was only there to help with crowd control and give feedback as necessary. And I was doing odd jobs for the teacher as she wanted me to leave the room several times during the day. I would have to say it was pretty easy day. And the class was fairly well behaved that I didn't even have to help with discipline, he had everything under control. This teacher is also out on Thursday and Friday of this week, so I am hoping that i could possibly be back there again. Hey, it is more easy money for not having to do a whole lot. I would have to say it is easier than the middle school library.
Thank goodness for student teachers!!

I don't know if I could ever be a mentor teacher. I am not sure that my teaching skill are the greatest yet. Maybe someday i can have the luxury of having a student teacher in my classroom-course, I would need a classroom first!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Between subbing, Sylvan, friends visiting from out of town and the beautiful weather, I haven't had much time to write in the past week or so. Last week, I subbed 3 days and so far this week I have subbed 2. last week I even got a few days in the middle school library, so those were easy days, but tiring. I would much rather be doing something, after all I am getting paid to work. Middle schoolers just don't have book check out as often as those elementary schoolers do.
I am hoping to get more subbing in as the month goes on, I mean there are bound to be personal days when the weather gets warmer, right?!?!
This weekend was full of visiting and reminiscing. Someone Brian and I went to college with and her husband were up from IL this weekend staying with some other friends of ours, so we spend the weekend out of the house-literally. On Saturday, we visited in our backyard since the weather was so nice and then we went out to eat and back to Bill and Kristins house. Sunday we went to Oshkosh to the outlet mall. All six of us and the baby found something during that journey-and accomplished our goal of me finding dress pants and Brian finding shorts. What a great weekend.
I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend again. And hopefully I will get a few more sub days in this week so that i have a reason to want to relax.

Back in the subbing game

still not as much as I would like to be, but better then a sporadic call every few weeks. I subbed Wednesday-Friday last week and I have 3 more days set up for next week. I still don't have anything for this week, but it is only Tuesday. I wish I could get more teacher jobs instead of the parapro jobs, since they pay more, but I guess at this point money is money and I will take it however I can get it. (Short of having to go stand on the corner of College Ave. somewhere downtown)
Still no job leads for next year. I have sent in a few recent applications and am still waiting to hear back on them (or not hear back) I am sure that more will be coming up in the next few weeks as contracts come due and districts start working on budget things for next year. I am not going to totally worry until the end of August. I didn't get hired until the middle of August when we first move to the Fox Valley, so I know that a lot of schools are not in a real hurry to hire sometimes. I also have to decide how far I am willing to drive each day to work and how that drive would interfere with the hours i would work at Sylvan. But at this point I am willing to do about a 30 minute commute, one way.
Off to do more job hunting.

Successful Easter

As mentioned before, we had Easter dinner at our house this year. I would have to say that everything went pretty well. Brian's mom couldn't make it because she "won" the work lottery and had to work on Easter Sunday(Do people actually call with insurance questions on Easter?!?!) But Brian's dad was able to make it for a little while, my parents came up, Adam came in from school (probably more for the home cooked meal then the visiting), and my aunt came up from Fond du lac. I think that everyone had a great time, even if Brian's dad didn't come with an off button and talked pretty much from the time he got to our house until the time he left. That's okay, I spent most of my time in the kitchen preparing food along with my mom who brought pretty much everything that we would need for that day.
Overall a wonderful time spent with family.

Spring Cleaning???? Happy Easter!!!!!

Not sure if you can really consider it spring cleaning when it is snowing outside, but I am cleaning my house. Oh and not just the normal dusting and vacuuming. I have cleaned out closets, drawers, file cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and the normal cleaning as well. It is just so hard to think of it as spring cleaning. Does this mean I will have to do it all over again once we really get spring?!?! I won't be-once a year is enough for this kind of cleaning for me. And I probably wouldn't be doing it now if it weren't for the fact that we are having people over for Easter. Sure, I didn't have to clean out closets and cabinets, but as long as I knew I wouldn't be called to sub this week I couldn't think of a better time. So,, I have completed (almost)my spring cleaning in what would appear, to anyone reading this today, to still be the middle of winter.
I hope it stops snowing so that all our travelers can get here safely tomorrow. Not that any of the snow is really sticking, but with Mother Nature you can never be too sure.

I would also like to wish everyone reading a Happy Easter Whether you are cooking or someone else is doing the cooking, I hope you all have a wonderful time visiting with family and friends.
Off to do more cleaning:)

March goes out like a lamb

a cold wet lamb, but at least there was no snow. What a month March was!! I think we experienced all the seasons in 31 short days. (We even saw fall, with leaves blowing off our roof from last fall!) Gotta love Wisconsin. I mean where else can you experience at least 2, sometimes 3, seasons in one day? Now, when we should be having Spring weather, we are getting colder temps with a threat of snow over the next couple of days. I would much rather have the rain that we had all weekend-at least I don't have to shovel that. Sure, it makes the already large puddles of mud on the lawn every bigger, but then it also keeps the neighborhood children off the lawn. And if not, you can at least track them by the footprints left in the mud!:) Just kidding, we don't really do that. And the neighborhood children and pretty good about staying on the sidewalk, it is the neighborhood dogs that we have to worry about. If you ever see a story about flaming dog poop found on someones porch in Kaukauna, it was probably us:)

Menasha is on Spring Break this week, so I don't have to worry about any wake up calls. That is okay, because we have having the parental units (and an Aunt) over for Easter on Sunday and I could use the the free time to clean the house. I plan to spend a good portion of the week doing a huge spring cleaning of at least the first floor of the house-the basement is pretty organized and cleaned out. (Too bad I won't be able to open the windows, without freezing, to let all the dust that will be stirred up out of the house.) Oh well, life goes on and so do we.

A bit of good news

No, I don't have a job for next year yet. However, the interest rate on the car loan for the new Outlander went down. So did our payments. We will be paying $20 less a month:) The money we will be saving makes up for all the money we had to pay in our taxes this year. Unemployment really stinks. They could at least take out some taxes so you don't get socked with them all at the end of the year. At least we won't have to worry about that next year. And I am hopeful that I will find a full time teaching position so we will be able to pay down some of our debts. Contracts are due in a few weeks, so I am waiting to see what kind of postings I will see then. Can't wait. I have the printer warming up for all those resumes it will need to spit out. All I need now is more resume paper!
Sorry that this is all the exciting news I have. Subbed last Friday for an LD parapro, but nothing since.

Death and Taxes

Those are the only things that we can count on in life. And right now I am not happy about that. We decided to have our taxes prepared again this year, by H&R Block. All was going well, until we got to the IRA contributions. Turns out they were entered wrong last year, giving us a credit that we should not have gotten. So, H&R is doing an amended tax return from last year, for free since their guy screwed up. (Which doesn't surprise me after the trouble the guy had last year. which is why we specifically asked for someone else this year.) H&R will also cover any interest or penalties that occurred because of the error, but we still have to pay the back tax. And, as if that weren't bad enough, we are probably going to owe the feds quite a bit this year again-mostly due to my unemployment and the fact that they are not taking enough taxes out of our paychecks. Needless to say we have changed our exemptions so that will not happen again for 2007. So, we go back in on Saturday to find out exactly what our damage is to the government. I am sure that it will not be good since that seems to be how our life is going right now. I just hope that someone in a higher power grants me a much needed full time job for the 07-08 school year. If that could happen, things will slowly get better.
There is a piece of good news though. I only have 2 more payments on my truck and then it is mine. And we will have that extra money each month. Yeah, we will finally own something!!

I learned something new yesterday.

Ok, for all you computer savvy people this may not seem like a big deal, but I was pretty excited. I was subbing at the middle school library as the parapro yesterday. the librarian was showing a video on the big 6 steps to research paper writing. Well, during the research stage they were talking about searching on google. If you want to narrow your search, you can put a minus sign in front of any words you don't want included in the search. I never knew that before, but it is going to save me a lot of time next time i have to google something. I also learned that if you are searching for a name of a person, put that name in quotes otherwise it will look for the first name and the last name, not necessarily together. I thought those were pretty interesting tips and wish I would have found them out sooner, would have made all those college paper searches a little bit faster. Oh well, I guess this just further proves that you are never to old to stop learning.

Since I am not subbing today, I am not really expecting to learn anything new today-unless it comes from the news. Course, the book that I am reading for Lent has provided some pretty thought provoking questions. (Rae Ann, still waiting to start discussions!)

Haven't gotten a wake up call in a week.

I haven't subbed since last Wednesday. I thought for sure with cold and flu season lasting longer this year I would be kept nice and busy. Guess teachers have found ways to stay healthy. Oh well, hopefully something will come soon.
I have been keeping busy applying for a few jobs. 2 in Kimberly and 1 for the new school they are building in DePere. I already got a no from Kimberly for one of them, but I am still hoping. The jobs are starting to show up more now that contracts are coming out.

For anyone wondering, we ended up driving to Watertown on Friday night. Not the best drive I have every had, but we made it in one piece without landing in the ditch. It took us about an hour longer to get there then normal, which was actually quicker then I was expecting. The main highway was not too bad, but the country roads had major drifting. Especially as we got closer to my parents. By the time we pulled in, the back of my car was buried in snow and the underside was also caked in snow. It is days like that where i am glad that I own an SUV, even if it does not have 4 wheel drive. I am not sure we would have done so well in a car.

Well, I am off to do some more applications.

To Go or Not To Go...

that is the question. It is snowing now and we are supposed to have 2-4 inches by the time it is done. 1-800-ROAD-WIS says all the roads are snow covered and slippery. The sun is out right now and I am sure there are at least plow trucks on 41. The only problem is after 41 I still have about an hour drive on 2 lane dark roads. I really want to go to Watertown just to get away from everything here for a weekend, but I don't want to end up in a ditch. I guess I will wait to see as the day goes on and call the roads again later and see how they are. Who knows, maybe the snow will stop sooner then they expect and the roads will all get cleared up. If things get too bad, guess we could always leave early tomorrow morning and drive at least in the day light. Too bad Brian works until 5:45 tonight.

Speaking of work, they didn't cancel Sylvan last night, but they might as well have. I didn't have to be there until 5, but called at 4 to make sure they were still having classes. they said they were, so I made the trek in. 2 minutes from Sylvan, my cell phone rings. they are asking me if I am on the road yet. Hmmm, 10 minutes before I am supposed to be there and I live 20 minutes away in good weather-YES I AM ON MY WAY. So she said okay, come on by and we will figure something out. I got there, ended up teaching no students at the 5 class, but got everything pulled that they need for Saturdays classes. 6:00 class, there were 2 students that hadn't called in by 5:45 and there were 2 teachers. Would be a slow night. At a little after 6, one of the students called in. So, we were all heading home at 6:15 and the director would teach the other student if she showed up. I busted my butt to get to Sylvan and will only be getting paid for 1 hour of my 2 hour scheduled shift. They didn't close because of the hassle it would have been to schedule make ups for all the kids in the schedule that night. Well, now they have to schedule make ups for all those kids anyway-except for the 4 that showed up for the 4-6 class. Snow has a way of screwing everything up. GRRRRRR-I hate snow!!!!!

And March Comes In Like A Lion

We are getting our second major snowstorm this week, and it promises to be worse then the one from the weekend. "Edward" is going to be dropping about the same amount of snow as "Danielle", but it will also be bringing sleet and freezing rain. Wonderful news for all people without a snow blower. Course, I am not sure how well a snow blower would work with really wet snow. Many schools are closed today, with many more closing by 1pm. We are supposed to get the brunt of everything tonight, and I am hoping they are right. We are hoping to drive to Watertown tomorrow night to visit my parents and I really don't want to do the 2 lane country roads if it is snowing/sleeting/raining. And according to the radar, the precipitation will be changing depending on the part of the state you are in. Gotta love this wonderful winter weather. I guess I shouldn't complain, I mean we had to know that we were going to get hit hard with the way winter started out so mild.
So, now I sit here, watching the snow, waiting to see if Sylvan will be cancelled for tonight as well. I am assuming they will, since most area schools are closing early, but you never know. And I am sure that schools will be closed tomorrow, so no subbing there either. Luckily I got a little bit of subbing in yesterday afternoon.

The rest of my life

I know that I haven't written in a while. That is for 2 reasons. 1. I subbed on Thursday and Friday last week and didn't feel like sitting on the computer when I got home. 2. I have been battling a cold since Friday, which kept me off the computer since then too. I am feeling a little bit better, but still have a stuffy nose and cough(not a very productive one either)
So, my Lenten goal has not been off to a good start. With subbing and this cold I haven't fit it in. I was recommended a book, that I am going to dry to find and hopefully that will help (thanks Rae Ann)
When will the snow stop? We got about a foot here, and there is more on its way for sure on Thursday. I wouldn't mind it so much if we had a snow blower, but we have to shovel the heavy wet snow(actually, Brian had to shovel this weekend since i was sick). Hopefully we are getting one soon. Mom said that Dad wants a new one and he will probably give us his old one. Luckily we have nice neighbors who snow blow our driveway for us, but it would be nice to return the favor.
OK, I think you are filled in. Sad that it only took a few sentences, but what can I say.

Final Outlander Update

We picked up our silver Outlander on Friday-just in time for the snow. Brian is still getting used to driving it, especially since he is used to driving a car. The garage is still a challenge for him, and those of you who know our garage/driveway layout know why. The added challenge of the snow is not helping either, the apron of the driveway has been made smaller with the piles of snow.
In a few minutes I will be off to pick up the floormats for the outlander, and then everything will be done. I found it a little strange that the car didn't come with installed floormats, but they have to be ordered seperately. I guess they are looking for ways to make an extra buck.

Outlander update

We were hoping for an anniversary edition, which is $400 less then the other model because they only made 2500 of them for their 25th anniversary. And on Saturday, our salesman didn't think he would have trouble finding one by the end of the week. However, our salesman is having a hard time locating one because they were so popular after they premiered in a SuperBowl commercial. (Except for FL where they are actually selling for above sticker because of the popularity. Crazy Floridians:)) So we are most likely getting a base model (which is exactly like the anniversary edition), and our payments will go up slightly. Oh well, we are still around where we want to be.
As for the color, it sounds like we a getting a silvery one because a dealer in the Fox Valley area may have one. As of yesterday, however, it was not for sure. We could also be getting a grayish one. Brian would really like a silvery one, but I am open to either. And like I mentioned before, Brian will be the primary driver, so I am not sure that my color opinion matters a whole lot.
I will keep posting as new developments in the car saga occur.

Ash Wednesday

I have just returned from Ash Wednesday mass, since I didn't have to sub today and will not be able to go tonight due to Sylvan. I have decided that I am not going to give anything up this Lent because I always go right back to doing what I gave up as soon as Easter is over. In years past, I have tried to give up chocolate (which worked for a little while until a chocolate cake was served at my cousins birthday party). I have tried to give up soda, not that I drink that much to start with, but I like the carbonation every once in a while. I have even tried to give up swearing. And while I will admit that I have cut down quite a bit, there is still the dumb driver out there that will cause a naughty word to come out of my mouth.
This Lent I have decided that I am going to try to strengthen my relationship with God. Fr. Mike said at mass today that wearing just the ashes is not good enough if your heart is empty. So, I am going to try to read something from the bible every day and reflect on it. This is something i hope to continue once Lent is over. I am hoping that by surrendering more to God, it will improve my life and make me a more giving person.

Our big purchase of 2007

This weekend Brian and I signed on a new car. The Mitsubishi Outlander-an SUV Crossover type vehicle. We are just waiting for them to call saying they have located one in a color we wanted-then we can give the okay to have it shipped in to Appleton. I knew we would be deciding on a vehicle soon-Brian has a lease, which comes due in May-I was just thinking that we were going to wait until it got closer to May. That is life though, and we were able to get a pretty good deal on the Outlander with all of Brian's negotiating skills, thanks to a friend of ours who also recently bought an Outlander from the same salesman-so he knew all the tricks and how far we could push this guy. So we are getting a great deal to trade in Brian's Honda, as well as a good deal of money off of the Outlander. I didn't know that Brian had those negotiating skills, but I guess we all have hidden talents. So, hopefully by the end of the week or the weekend, we will have the Outlander in our possession. It is exciting, even though I know that I probably won't be driving it as much since Brian in kinda anal about the cars he owns/leases. We are leasing this vehicle, with the intention to buy it once the lease is up. Luckily my truck is paid up in May, so we wont' have two SUV car payments.
Keep tuned in to the Outlander saga and I will fill you in as new details arise.

It wasn't a wake up call, but...

...I did get called at 9:30 for an afternoon position :) The only downfall is that it is a parapro(paid hourly). But it some money, no matter how small the amount. And it is at the preschool, so I know it shouldn't be that stressful of a day. Then I get to go right to Sylvan until 8:15, so it will be a long night. But at least I will have a reason for being tired when I get home.
Off to do the dishes since I won't have time this afternoon :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Do Brian and I qualify as an old married couple because we are not exchanging gifts or doing anything special tonight?? I have to work, so going out to dinner is not a great option. We are going to go out this weekend. We have decided not to spend money on gifts-I am making him a card, not sure what he is doing. And I am going to attemp heart shaped chocolate chip cookies-which may turn into plain old chocolate chip cookies-we will have to see how things go. Oh well, I guess when you are married, Valentine's Day becomes less important and is just another day.
For all those of you voyaging the crowds to go for a nice dinner(have a drink for me) or a movie-good luck(and be safe). For those of you who have yet to shop for that special person-WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????? and extra good luck to you. (watch out for all those other crazy last minute shoppers)
Guess I need to go finish that card and work on those cookies :)
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone :)

Did I jinx myself??

I didn't do much at home yesterday, I surfed the internet and watched some TV. I had dishes and laundry to do, but figured that I would have time today. I am thinking that I jinxed myself thinking that way. So I am going to get all the dishes and laundry done today so that I will be free the rest of the week to get called to sub. I haven't been called since last Wednesday. I am picking up a few more hours at Sylvan, so that is helping a little bit-but the pay is not the greatest there. That is okay though, I like what I do there and all the people I work with-I wouldn't give it up for anything. Which is why I am having sucha hard time finding a full time day job. Any one that I see, would conflict with the hours I work at Sylvan and I don't want to put them in a bind by me having to cut back on hours. I am there every day that they have instruction and almost every hour of instruction.
New topic: When will this cold weather be out of here?? I am glad that I am not living on the East Coast after seeing the weather there lately. So much snow has fallen out there and more is on the way. I wish we could have a little snow here, at least it would make the cold a little more bearable. But the wind here today is crazy. I am sitting at the computer and can hear the wind blowing through the house every once in a while. course, could just be that the house is old and has poor insulation, but I can still hear it.
Well, off to do my chores and work on a Valentine's Day gift for Brian :)

My welcomed 6:05am phone call

Yes, it happened today. After 2 weeks of no phone calls, and the cold weather closing yesterday, I finally got the 6am phone call I have been waiting for. I threw back the covers, checked the caller ID (just to be sure it was Carol and not someone else calling at 6am), and accepted the preschool parapro position. It was an hourly job, and one at a school with the longest unpaid lunch of all, but it was a job none the less.
It turned out to be a much easier day then I thought (except for the fact that I had bus duty, which put me outside 4 times today). I spent the morning doing bulletin boards and cutting things for the teacher that would be used next week. The afternoon was spent in a class that I had been in for a week in January, and was pretty laid back due to the fact that the teacher in the room was also a sub. In fact, the whole building was crawling with subs since the teachers were all testing for kindergarten next year. But, I can't complain-I made some money today.
Then there was Sylvan. Not a tough night-actually a pretty easy day for me. The only down side is that I am really tired at 9:30pm. But at least I have a reason for that which beats sitting at home all day.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Could it be any colder outside?? Ok, yes it probably could. With the wind chills today it is -36 degrees. Without the wind it is still -18 degrees. It is so cold that all of the schools in the area are closed-a few even decided last night that they were going to close. So, I am not subbing today. However, I am taking this opportunity to catch up on the laundry and dishes from the weekend,in preparation for being called for the rest of the week. Maybe a little wishful, but I am thinking positively.
So, we watched the SuperBowl last night and most of the commercials. We missed the very beginning, which I am told had a cute Blockbuster commercial. I am hoping that one makes it air and I will see it soon. I was really not impressed with the quality of the new commercials this year. I actually didn't see a whole lot of new ones either. Coke had quite a few and I found out on the news this morning that the commercial for the Chevy HHR, when all the guys are taking their shirts off, was created by a college girl from UWM. I thought that was pretty cool. I can't say that I have a favorite, but I did like the one for Budweiser with the dalmation and the white dog who got splashed with mud from a passing car and then decided to join the other dalmation in the Budweiser wagon. Pretty cute and intelligent for a dog. I would love to hear what your favorites were-if you had any.

Happy February!!

So, it is finally February with all of its cold glory. And it is only going to get colder. Still no sub calls this week-but there is still tomorrow:)
So, I sit at home contemplating what to do. There is cleaning that needs to be done as we are having company tomorrow night. I know that I should get it done today, because I may get called tomorrow and then I will be screwed. But part of me is thinking that I probably won't get called so I might as well hold off. Oh the delemas of my life. Wish I had bigger delemas.
Well, the time of the morning has come where I search the employment websites to see if there are any work from home jobs that don't require any money up front-or if there are any other part time jobs I could do as a filler for my days. I am confident that subbing will pick up soon. After all, this cold weather is bound to make some people want to stay home and take a personal day, right?! Or the germs will finally come back and spread throughout the schools. I know the germs are in my house. My scratchy throat turned into a head cold, and that is excatly where it is staying. See, if I had been called this week, I could have spread my cold germs around-potentially getting more subbing calls!! (I actually had a friend suggest that I take in blankets laced with small pox to schools. I wouldn't want to kill the staff, jsut knock them out for a day) Oh well, so I spend another day sitting here, waiting for the phone to rign for even a half day sub and thinking about all the cleaning that I should be doing but am putting off. UGG procrastinating- it is like school all over again!!!

Here I sit again

I haven't gotten called to sub since last Monday. This darn cold weather, killing all the germs. Except I think that I may be coming down with a cold. I had the scratchy throat a few days ago and now my nose seems to be stuffed up. But I would give anything to get a 6am phone call this week. As tired as I feel by the time I get home from a 12 hour day, the money is really nice. And you would think that with all this time off, the house would be cleaner. That is not the case-but it is not a pigsty either. I did a good cleaning a week ago and am doing things to maintain that, but I am just not in the mood to clean either. I am keeping up on the dishes, but that is about it.
So, if anyone knows of any school district in the Appleton area, who is looking for teachers for next year-or even this year-let me know. And if anyone in the Appleton area has any odd jobs that they are willing to pay someone to do-let me know.

I have...

...my health.
...a wonderful husband.
...a family who loves me.
...friends who care about me.
...2 part time jobs that bring in some money.
...a house (hopefully that we will be able to keep)
...a college degree.

WHY...

...can't money grow on trees?
...can't the necessities in life be cheaper-or free:)
...aren't more teachers getting sick?
...can't I find a full time teaching position?
...does it have to be so flippin cold?
...does it seem like bad things are always happening to good people?
...can't we ever seem like we are on top of things?
...can't we win the lottery? (guess it might help a little if we played, huh?!!?!)
...can't you make money from home without having to put money in first?
...am I not lucky in the sweepstakes that I enter?
...can't I think of something creative to make and sell? (I am open to ideas)
...does it seem like my life sucks and always will?
...won't a school district hire me?
...am I questioning if I am a good teacher? (Am I a good teacher?)
...am I sitting here feeling sorry for myself?
I guess that is all for my slef pity for today. Feel free to add any of your own WHY's to the list.

Pretty, pretty snow!!

when you are watching it from the inside, curled up under a blanket with a mug of hot cocoa. It is snowing here and has been all morning. I think watching snow is really prertty. Since this is our first measurable snowfall here in the Fox Valley, I think it is neat. Course I will probably change my tune once it stops snowing and I have to go out and shovel it. That's right, I said shovel. We don't have a snow blower and if I wait for the neighbors (who graciously do it once in a while) I may be waiting a while or get my door mat shredding again (that happened last year). so once the snow stops, I will bundle up and venture outside. I will be sure to have the cocoa waiting for me when I come in.
I hope all those of you who are also getting this beautiful snowfall are enjoying it. There may be snowmen in our yard soon:)

Easiest $91 I ever made

Get your minds out of the gutter. I was back at the middle school library again today-for the librarian. The day was a very slow day. There were no classes coming in to check out books, so I didn't have that guarenteed work. I sat in the back all morning, reading a book (the parapro told me to) while she took care of the few kids that came in between classes to check out books. she also did a few odds and ends around the library. I spent the afternoon sitting at the desk, watching classes work on the computers and checking in and out a small amount of books. Wonder if I will be back there tomorrow. Can't think of a better way to spend a Friday, if I really have to go to work that is!!
Well, as simple as my day was I am still exhausted. Must be all the hard work I do at Sylvan, sitting all night!!!

Happy New Year

Christmas celebrations are finally over. (Well, I still have a party for Sylvan, but who knows when that one will happen) We had our last on on Saturday with my dads side of the family. Since everyone is so spread out and has different travel plans, it usually is January that we celebrate with them. We got home last night and started to take all the decorations down. All we have left is the tree and the lights. I am going to do the lights shortly and Brian will do the tree when he gets home. Then it will be time to start getting ready for Valentine's Day.
Anyone make any good resolutions for the New Year? I didn't, but after writing my last entry I think it should be to finish the sign language book. And maybe learn Spanish since that would come in handy with subbing at some schools. Well, stay tuned for 2007 in review to find out if any of those happen. can't wait to hear yours.

2006 in review

Ok, so I meant to do this last week, but ended up subbing in a preschool classroom as an aide. So time got away from me.
Here are the few things that happened in the Burns house during 2006:
*All family and friends have been relatively healthy
*1st full year in the house, which brought:
*landscaping-as much as the budget could handle
*happy birds
*garage door remodels
*Brian learned to put in a toilet (hoping to replace another one soon)
*1st September in 5 years I didn't have to get a classroom ready for kids to come (that is kind of a sad one)
*Reconnected with old friends (both in person and in e-mail)
*one couple had a baby whom I got to babysit for quite a bit
*one friend got married
*I started this blog to keep better connected
*Kaukauna saw a big pyrotecnics show
*attempted a rummage sale (semi successful, but still had a lot of stuff left over)
*survived 3 years of marriage
*attempted to teach myself sign language(that lasted about 3 weeks and I still haven't finished the book)

Happy New Year...almost

Sorry to all of you who follow my post regularly, I have had some almost crippling back pain for the past week and it hurt to sit at the computer. I am doing much better now.
Now that Christmas is over, I wonder where has the time gone. It seems like it takes so long to get here and everyone is so busy prepareing for Christmas and it is over in a blink of the eye. I was able to spend some time with my parents and that was nice. I hope that you all had a chance to spend some time with loved ones.
It is time to prepare to ring in the new year. It is hard to believe that in a few short days 2006 will be behind us. It will be a time to start over in whatever part of our lives needs starting over-even those of us who don't make resolutions.
I want to wish everyone reading a happy and safe new year.
God Bless!

The gift wrapping had to wait

Just when I thought I wouldn't get called to sub the week of Christmas break, I have subbed every day this week. I am hoping that I don't get called tomorrow, which is only a half day for the district. I still have the gift wrapping to do-we are leaving Friday after Brian gets home from work. I also have some Christmas cut out cookies to make. I am taking a short cut thought-we bought pre made dough and I am going to dye some of the dough to cut down on decorating. Hopefully it works. So I am hoping that I have all day tomorrow as well as Friday to wrap, bake, decorate, and not to mention clean the house that has been neglected since last week. Working 2 jobs is tough some days.
And tiring. Since I have had to backspace several times on this post, I think this would be a good place to end it and think about going to bed. These 6am phone calls are really starting to get to me!!

Let the gift wrapping begin!!!!

I have decided that I am going to start gift wrapping today, or at least making sure I have boxes for everything that needs to be wrapped. I once again have the day off, at least so far, and I do not know if I will get called at all next week. So I have decided to make good use of my time off once again. After all, there is only so much house cleaning one feel like doing in a week. So, in between making cookies for Brian's company Christmas party tomorrow and the little straightening up I need to do, I will begin the gift wrapping. It should be done in no time, since no one took me up on the "gift wrapping for donations". Oh well, at least mine can be done in case someone does at the last minute. No procrastinating for me this year!!!!

Where have all the sick teachers gone?

I haven't been called to sub at all this week. I even gave the lady my cell phone number so she can get a hold of me while I am online(yes, we are still in the stone ages of dial-up). Oh well, I am getting some much needed cleaning done. I should be using this new found time to be wrapping Christmas presents, but then I have to lug everything up from the basement which would tire me out before i even started wrapping. Course, I guess I could just wrap everything down there. Oh well, I think I will continue a bit more cleaning today and worry aobut wrapping tomorrow if I also have the day off.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...inside the house anyway. We finally finished putting our tree up this weekend, which completed the decorating we started last weekend. The christmas shopping is complete, with the exception of my father, and I have no idea what to get him. Course, we had to venture anohter weekend to the mall. This one was even worse than the first time. I almost got backed into twice. It is like christmas shoppers are in their own little world and forget that there are other 4 wheeled things on the roads besides their own. Oh well, we made it out of there without any scratches and now I have vowed not to go back to the mall until February-unless it is a matter of life and death.
Now, let the baking begin!!!!!

I'M DONE!!!!

...with my Christmas cards, that is. I used my day off yesterday to my advantage. Not only did I do some much needed house cleaning, but I finished signing and addressing all 40 something Christmas cards. Now they are sitting on my coffee table waitng for stamps and return address labels. Since I am also not subbing today, I will have to get to that. I can't remember ever having all my cards done this early. It feels good to know that I don't have to worry about those anymore and now I can focus on gift wrapping-but not until at least next week, I wouldn't want to over do things. And besides, we don't even have the tree up yet to put the wrapped gifts under anyway.

A Day Off!!!

Well, kinda. I haven't gotten called to sub today, but it is only 10:30am. I do have to work at Sylvan tonight and I have to clean the house today. So it is a day off of subbing, but not of work. Now that AJ has gone back to his house, I can get some of the cleaning done that would have freaked him out while he was here. He is such a chicken, even though he tries to act tough with his small bark every time someone walks by the window.
So, I am almost done with my Christmas shopping after a trip to the mall yesterday. I try to stay away from the mall at all costs, but had to go to use a Bath and Body works free gift coupon. It was a pretty productive trip though, because we knocked out gifts for 4 more family members. We have 3 people left to complete shopping for. Then comes all the gift wrapping-call me crazy, but I actually enjoy that part. (I am accepting donations for gift wrapping for anyone who doesn't want to do it themselves!!)
I hear some dishes calling my name, so I am off to the kitchen.