Kitchen Project-Part 2

This Labor Day weekend, I definitely labored. Saturday was spent taking down the last little pieces of wallpaper and Brian went along the crown molding to get the pieces that were sticking out up there. Sunday we washed one wall, but had to go down to Fond du Lac to pick up an entertainment center that my aunt was giving us. Monday I washed the rest of the walls, my dad filled the cracks and we started priming!!! The whole kitchen is almost primed, we just have the area above the cabinets left-which will happen this weekend. Also, this weekend, we will be putting at least one coat of the final color on. I am hoping that we will be able to do both coats this weekend. I am ready to have my kitchen back in working order.

I could not imagine doing a complete kitchen remodel. I mean, I still have use of my sink, stove, and microwave-as well as access to all my cabinets and counter (which may not always be the cleanest) Of course, if we ever did a full kitchen remodel, I think I would have to leave the house-provided we were not doing the remodel ourselves!! Since I did most of the physical wallpaper removal with minimal help from Brian, I don't see a remodel in our future!!

Stay tuned for pictures of the final project, hopefully early next week!!!!

Have you ever...?

...been to a wedding where there was a rent-a-cop guarding the whole scene?? Well, I can now say that I have. And it was a little strange.

My cousin got married this past weekend, and her brother was not invited-or told about the event-so we are guessing that is why the cop was there. We don't know the whole story, but he was sent to St. John's Military Academy, which he went AWOL from a while ago. This child is not talked about at family gatherings, but his parents and we know better than to ask questions. A few of us cousins have contact with him on Facebook, but know better than to give him details about the wedding.

So we were standing outside talking after church and dad asked if we noticed the rent-a-cop at the back. None of us did, but we all had a feeling we knew why he was there. (if they didn't tell their son about the wedding, were they really expecting him to show up??) At the reception I noticed him, he was standing by the DJ, not far from where we were eating dinner. It was just a strange feeling, knowing that we are being watched all night. I can only imagine how the cop felt, just standing there monitoring things all night.

None of us have any idea what this kid did to make his parents hate him so much that they would not want him to attend his sisters wedding. It must have been something horrible if they felt that they needed to hire a guard to stay with them all day in case he showed up.

Now, part of me wanted him to show up to see what would happen. I mean, this guy has been through military school-what would the match up between him and a rent-a-cop be like? Guess we will never know.

I can now say that I have seen it all, when it comes to people "attending" a wedding!!

Kitchen project-Part 1

This past weekend, we started our kitchen project-with the help of a few friends!! If you remember, we have been wanting to tear down the apple/rooster/wheat wallpaper that was in there since we moved in. Last weekend Brian decided lets do it before it keeps getting put off some more.

So, we enlisted Kurt and Joanna's help (they had done 3 rooms in their house!!!) and rented a streamer from Home Depot. On Sunday morning, the kitchen turned into a work zone. There was scoring, applying DIF, streaming, scraping, washing, and paper sticking to everything but not the walls anymore!!! The only problem spot was the area that sticks out above the cabinets and Brian is trying to convince me to take those down anyway. We will have to see who wins that battle.

Now the kitchen is wallpaper free and looking like a kitchen again. The walls are a mess and need some patchwork before the painting can begin. Who knows when we will get to that, but at least the wallpaper is gone!!

More updates as we make more progress.

Chocolate covered bacon...

...on a stick!!

We went to the State Fair yesterday and the new item on a stick this year was chocolate covered bacon. I debated for a while, after hearing mixed reviews, if I was going to try this or not. I decided to be brave and give it a try. I mean, I like bacon and I like chocolate, how bad could it be?!?! It was actually quite delicious. The flavor was mostly chocolate, with a little salty kick from the bacon. I could hardly taste the bacon!! I just wish that I didn't have to eat it so fast to keep the chocolate from melting all over me. (it was a messy thing to eat when it is 90 degrees and humid!!) If it is there next year, I have to say that I will get me another piece!!!

If you are going to the Fair this week, or know someone who is, I recommend the chocolate covered bacon, on a stick!!

Club 30

That's right, today I have joined the 30 club. I am near the end of my group of friends to join that club, but I am not complaining. I have to say that I was not really freaked out to turn 30. I have been telling people that I am okay with turning 30 for the first time this year-how many times I will turn 30 is yet to be determined!! I have comfort in knowing that no matter how old I get, Brian will always be older.

I am hoping that my 30's will bring about great change:

*I will get a teaching job

*We will be able to start a family

*We will be able to move out of this house

along with many other not so large changes.

Here is to me turning 30 and many more 30's to come!!!

Happy 6 years!!!

That's right, on Sunday Brian and I celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss!!! We actually celebrated a little early, with a trip to Door County on Saturday. One of Brian's friends lives up there in the summer and owns an antique mall in Egg Harbor. So we met at the mall, got the full tour and went off for the afternoon of sight seeing. Bob took us around the scenic spots of Door County. While most of it was seen from the car, it was still a good time. It left us plotting our next trip to Door County, which would include a weekend stay this time to get everything done.

Sunday was church, shopping, and babysitting for friends while they stained their deck.

All in all, it was a great weekend with hopes of many more happy years to come!!

Summer School-Part 2

Summer School is over!!! As much as I enjoy teaching the little kids, this year was not as enjoyable due to the teaching staff I had to work with. Those of you who read Part 1 know that I was team teaching with 2 other teachers (P and A). I got along great with A, but P had a totally different teaching style, if you could even call it a style. It was more that she was downright lazy when it came to teaching. And she knew how to get the kids all riled up and excited, but really played no role in calming them down again.

So I am excited that summer school is over and hoping that P will not be teaching with A and I next year. We have voiced our frustrations to both the site coordinator and the summer school coordinator. The summer school coordinator was going to talk to P and let her know that there were some problems this year and that she will not be teaching at that school again, if she decides to return next year after their talk. I don't know what Gail is planned to tell her, but A and I are waiting for an e-mail from P expressing her anger at us!! We haven't got that yet, so I am not sure if Gail has talked to her or not.

Besides the teaching situation, I enjoyed the children once again this year. Most of the parents were not so bad either!! The children seemed to enjoy summer school and many of them are well adjusted to the kindergarten routine. Hopefully the kindergarten teachers will not have quite the problems at the beginning of the year that she has had in the past with kids from summer school. They usually ran around like they owned the room-which given P's teaching style is understandable. Hopefully A and I have provided enough structure for the kids to feel comfortable in the room and kindergarten, but not like the own the place. I feel that we did a nice job providing activities for them and letting them know what was off limits.

Now we just have to wait and see what next summer brings!!!

Wandering, Pooping Cocker

So, this is the latest in my neighborhood. A few houses down there is the Cocker, I believe his name is Patches from what i have heard. Well, Patches does not get leashed when he is outside and likes to roam into other peoples yards. A month ago, I caught him taking a poop on our front lawn and by the time I ran out there to scare him, he was done. Last week, we found more poop in the backyard. (Hmmm. wonder who it was from) yesterday I caught him in the back again, sniffing the trees. I yelled at the top of my lungs for him to go home, knowing that his owners were in their backyard, also knowing that they could care less. There have been other times where we have seen him wandering and had to shoo him home.

Well, Brian decided enough is enough and called the cops last night. They arrived at our house, talked to Brian about the situation and then went over to talk to Alice-the dog owner. Keep in mind, that other neighbors were outside and saw the cop talk to Brian and then walk to Alice's. I saw the 2 other them talking, then the cop left. Alice went to talk to some of the other neighbors that were also outside. I am pretty sure that none of it really phased Alice as she thinks she is "all that" anyway. But Brian decided that is was time to show her that she is not above the law and has to follow the same ones that the rest of us do.

I am not sure what is going to happen now or if any of the neighbors are still going to talk to us. I don't really care and figured it is about time that Alice gets taught a lesson.

Next time I see Patches in a yard that is not his, I plan to take pictures so the evidence is documented and Alice can not talk her way out of anything. The next time Brian sees Patches in our yard, he plans to trap it and call animal control. Hopefully there will not be a next time, but knowing Alice, there will be. Stay tuned!!!

Summer School-Part 1

Summer school is half over, and we now have a week break-due to the 4th of July.

What can I say? This team teaching thing has been nothing but interesting and a little stressful. There are 2 other teachers, besides me (A and P). There are also 2 aides and a therapist that comes in a few days a week to work with certain kids. It is one of the teachers that is causing the stress. I get along just fine with A and we are on the same page as far as routines and teaching styles. The problem is with P, and we both have a problem with P. The first week, A and I took turns with the projects, but I always did calendar because I had the songs that went along with it. The second week, P took over the teaching and did everything completely different. I had a days of the week and months of the year song-the kids were finally starting to learn them and sing along. P decided that she was going to do a different days of the week song, and a different one every day, and not do one at all on some days. Talk about messing with routine. Calendar time also got longer and louder when P was running it (Friday it lasted 35 minutes!!!!) And she kept changing the projects we had decided on before school started to put on the calendar we sent home to parents at the beginning. She seems to be taking an easy route and doing projects that don't involve cutting or gluing (which after a 35 minute calendar time is good or they would get no play time!!!)

Luckily, P has no projects or teaching time in the last 2 weeks, so A and I can get the kids back on track and into the routine. P has been teaching this for 3 years and is also a substitute teacher for a number of years. Makes you wonder what your classroom would look like if she was your sub for the day. As a teacher, you would think you understand the importance of routine, especially when the kids are 5!!!!

The kids are great!! We have 33 of them, and not all show up on any given day-which is nice. There are a few kids who like to cause problems, but with 5 adults it usually doesn't last long!!

So, I am having a good time this summer with the exception of having to work with P. A and I are both going to request that we not work with P next year. And the site coordinator seems to understand our frustrations. Are they that desperate for Kindergarten Readiness teachers that they will keep the ones that seem to have problems?? Even the teacher whose room we are in complained about the way things were left last year. I can see it, after what is going on this year.

Now I get to enjoy my week away from the chaos and remember that P has no more lead teaching to do for the rest of summer school!!! Routine, we are coming back to find you!!!!!!

Random Thoughts

It has been a while since I posted and while nothing interesting has happened, I will post some random thoughts about the last month or so. Forgive me for having no specific order to this!!

*Summer school starts next week. (And I am pretty sure that it is going to be blog worthy. 3 teachers, 2 aides, 32 kids, and a high school helper all in one room. I'll keep you posted on that one!!)

*4th year teaching summer school, 4th school. Still Kindergarten Readiness, and this year it was kinda up to me. I could have been at the same school as last year, but the teacher who's room I was in said that she would only teach if she could be in her own room. So, being the bigger person, I said that I would move to a new school, as long as it was still kindergarten. I am not so sure about this placement, so keep checking back for updates!!

*Glad I added the Kimberly School District to my subbing list this year, because they came through a lot more than Menasha.

*3 teachers left Sylvan-yeah for us, more hours!!! Wrong, they have hired a new girl who already has more hours than I do next week. (I have the most seniority of the teachers, but that means nothing at Sylvan) I could do a whole post on my frustrations with Sylvan, but I will not.

*With subbing for 3 years, I have been able to get a lot of reading done. In the past 3 years, I have read the Harry Potter series, the Twilight series, the newest V.C Andrews series, and several other random books that don't belong to a series. Yeah reading!!!

*Had 2 rummage sales, one with a friend and one where I just sent stuff with mom to grandma's. The 2nd one was more successful, but we still have stuff left that I have to decide what to do with. Thank goodness we have a house with a basement and don't live in the apartment anymore.

*My cousins youngest had his 1st birthday and got to go to IL to celebrate. Another 1 year party coming up next weekend.

*We got new living room carpet. Went from blue to "native clay" (light brown with flecks of other shades mixed in)

*Spent a lot of time with my godson and his sister (their parents too!!)

*Saw a hypnotist at a new comedy club in the valley. That was hilarious-one guy almost took off his pants, until the hypnotist noticed that he was not wearing underwear!!! I have never seen someone move quite that fast.

*Got 20 free tickets to the same comedy club for Friday and looking forward to hanging out with some friends and seeing a comedian.

I think that about covers what has been happening since my last post. Look for a new post next week as summer school starts and I will have more time as I have lost hours at Sylvan for next week!!!

Catholic Church

The Catholic church sure has me scratching my head lately.  I have been raised in the Catholic church, went to Catholic school all my life (even college), and still consider myself a practicing Catholic.  But lately there have been some things that make me wonder why I keep going to church.  I mean, I know what I believe and believe in, why must I go to a church to pray especially when they seem to be very hypocritical lately?!

I guess it all stems back to the priests molesting the altar boys and it being covered up and the priests still being allowed to keep their jobs.  Since this didn't apply to any of the priests that I knew in any of my parishes, so I didn't let it bother me too much.

A few years back, a teacher at the Catholic high school here in the valley (also part of the system were I used to teach) was fired for her decision to use in-vitro fertilization to get pregnant because they couldn't any other way.  I understand that in the contracts we sign, we are expected to live by way of the catholic values and obviously that would be to use no medical measures to have a child, but don't you think firing her is a little over the top??  I mean she probably would have been better off to LIE and not tell exactly how she became pregnant.  Is that the Catholic way??

Then I find out a few weeks ago that Archbishop Weakland, who was in charge of the Diocese where I grew up, is writing a book about his experiences and the molestation issue.  Also in the book, he apparently comes out that he is gay.  HELLO!!!!  Doesn't that totally go against the Catholic teaching of Adam and Eve.  I have nothing against homosexuality, you do what makes you happy, but to have such a high Catholic official admit that he is gay seems a little wrong.  And again, he covered it up for who knows how many years.  So he figures that since he had resigned after the molestation issues that now would be a safe time to come out of the closet?!?!

Finally, and most recently, another Catholic high school teacher has not been given a contract for next year due to the fact that he slept over at his girlfriends house instead of driving home drunk.  Again, so we are promoting drunk driving rather then safety.  Ok, so it was his girlfriend, but how do we know that he didn't sleep on the sofa??  I am just a little confused are we supposed to drive drunk rather than stay somewhere that may lead people to jump to the wrong conclusions??  The students are supporting the teacher in fighting this one and they also seem to feel that the school is then promoting drunk driving.

So, after all these things that have happened and some that have been covered up, how am I supposed to be expected to go to a Catholic place of worship and listen to these people that are involved preach about what Jesus would do??  Would Jesus get rid of someone for doing the only thing they thought possible to create a family??  Would Jesus want you working for him if you were hurting children, the very people he works so hard to protect??  Would Jesus want you to preach about something (marriage between a man and a women) if you didn't believe in that yourself??  Would Jesus want you to risk your life and the lives of others just so people didn't jump to incorrect conclusions when you stayed over at your girlfriends house?? (Wouldn't Jesus be more upset by you possibly killing innocent people??)

Thank you for reading.  Sorry it got so long!!  I just felt like this is something that has been on my mind for a few days and that I needed to get it off my chest.  Feel free to leave your comments on this issue.

Happy May!!!!

After quite a busy and rainy April, I am glad May is here.

April brought: 

*only 9 days of subbing (but Spring Break was also part of April)

*16 evenings at Sylvan

*2 Saturdays at Sylvan

*Easter celebrated at our house, with both my parents (and Adam) and Brian's, as well as my aunt.

*A dress fitting and alterations for a bridesmaid dress

*And the busiest weekend of all of April, the wedding of 2 great people and wonderful friends, last weekend.  While it was a wet weekend, the wedding and everything having to do with the wedding was wonderful.  It did contain a lot of driving as Brian and I stayed with my parents 40 minutes away from all the activities.

Both Brian and I were in the wedding, so that was nice.  Friday was rehearsal, and what a beautiful day it was.  The dinner was also nice and we were able to get to know the wedding party a little better, since there were a few people in it that Brian and I had never met.

Saturday began very early-the girls had hair appointments at 8:30.  I had to drop Brian off at the hotel with the guys first, so it was an early start to our day.  And of course, there was rain!!  That made getting into the church dry a little interesting.  Thank goodness the guys had gotten there first and met us with umbrellas and even parked the car for us.  (Thanks Mike!!)  The wedding went well, and the only "issue" was the blusher falling off the veil as the bride bowed at the altar.  It was handled beautifully!!  Then there were pictures and a short visit to a bar before heading to the reception.  Everything there went really well also.  So, despite the rain, the celebration was perfect.  Sunday brought church, as a group, and brunch followed by gift opening.  One last time to talk to the wedding party.

Boy, were we glad to be home!!  Then the laundry was calling my name.

Hopefully May will be a quieter month.  So far, we only have a dentist appointment, a rummage sale, and a carpet installation scheduled.  

I am glad I teach elementary school!!!

Otherwise, the monotony would kill me!!  I subbed in a music classroom today-elementary music.  I showed videos all day.  She had 12 sections of kids-30 minutes each.  Luckily there were 3 videos to choose from and I let the kids vote on the one they wanted to watch, but I ended up watching each one 3 times!!

I could not imagine being a middle or high school teacher who teaches the same lesson all day to many different sections.  That would drive me absolutely insane.  I definitely like doing something different all day long.  And not knowing what could happen to change those plans.

My kudos to any of you out there who teach middle or high school!!  I could never teach the same thing several times a day!!

Always know the accepted payment methods

When dropping something off for services that will be paid for at the time of pick up, it is a good idea to know what payment methods the store will accept.

I dropped off a bridesmaid dress 2 weeks ago for a few minor alterations.  They said it would be ready today, after 3.  So I went to pick it up today, gave the girl my claim ticket, and as she was getting the dress, noticed that they only take cash or check.  I had neither with me-the $3 I had wasn't going to cover it.  So I told her that I had to run to the bank.  I ended up going home to get the checkbook, since both were about the same distance away.  Came back, paid with my check, and all is well.

The moral of my story is to ask about payment methods when I drop something off-course if I go to Stitchs again, I will know they only take cash or check.   Also, when in doubt, don't leave home without the check book.  (Luckily gas it not overly expensive and Stitchs is close to home!!)

Hopefully someone out there will have learned from my mistake.  If I can save one person from the embarrassment that I had this afternoon, it will have been worth it!! :)

The sex talk

I got to listen to that today.  Well, it wasn't really the sex talk as they were only 4th graders-they called it a human growth and development presentation.  They talked about starting puberty and the body changes as well as starting the period.  I got to sit through the video and Q&A session with all of the 4th grade girls, the guidance counselor, and the other 4th grade teachers, and the nurse giving the presentation.

Some of the girls definitely had great, valid questions.  Others had some strange questions and many repeat questions.  I think the biggest one was will it hurt and what happens if they get their period in the middle of class.  I am not so sure they understood that it starts more like a dripping faucet, not a gush.  Tampons also had them a bit confused.  Oh well, it was an hour and a half of the afternoon that I did not have to teach.

Obviously the boys did not have as many questions because when we got back to the room we discovered that all the boys were in the gym playing kickball.  (The downside of having the gym teaching present the boys session!)

Oh well, they went right home after the presentations, so I didn't have to field any questions!!

Times sure have changed since I was in school.  I remember being separated as 5th graders, but don't remember much of what was presented to us.  I do remember that the teacher kept the girls in for a few minutes of recess to show what a tampon does in water-expands.  (That was not part of this presentation, but they did get to see how a pad a tampon work-as well as you can without actually showing it!!)

Oh, the lives of middle schoolers!!

Water

You don't realize how much you miss it until it is gone.  That is what happened her this afternoon.

I was subbing today-thankfully I didn't have to hear the jackhammering of the street that start at God knows what hour this morning.  I came home about 4 to the Kaukauna Utilities truck all over the street with a large hole in front of the house across the street.  There was dump truck

 full of dirt in front of my driveway.  So right away I am not happy about having to park a house away and walk through the mud they created to get home.   As soon as I walk int he door, Steve (the one with the hole in front of his house) comes over to tell me that they were fixing some problem that apparently happened a year ago when we had our pipes fixed.  Well, in the process they hit Steve's sewer pipe.  He left and my first thought was to quick us the bathroom while I still had the chance.

So, I let them do their work while I hid on the computer, away from the sound of yet more jackhammering.  When I finally decide to check out the progress, here is what I see:

And, where are the utility workers??  Standing 2 houses away watching the geyser in the street.  Eventually they came closer to watch.  Apparently they had to wait for the sewage to get out or something.  

They were just packing up when I came back here.  There is still a big hole in the street-hopefully marked as such- and there is mud all over the street.  I am assuming we have water again, but haven't tried it yet.

Happy Friday the 13th!!!

subbing, subbing, subbing

That's right, I have subbed for the last 3 days-in a row!!  (And my house is showing the signs!!)

Monday and Tuesday were in the intermediate school, and I was a little nervous to take it at first, but I figured you have to try at least once before you decide if you are going to like it or not.  It really wasn't that bad-She was the World Studies and Computer teacher.  She had lots of prep time on Monday and a little on Tuesday.  The classes were only 40 minutes long.  Who can't tolerate kids for 40 minutes?!?!  I mean they are 5th and 6th graders how tough can 40 minutes be?!?!  Those days actually went great, and I have to say that if asked again, I would probably try the intermediate school again.

Funny thing there was the teacher I was subbing for is named Mrs. Berndt (burnt).  So, Mrs. Burns was subbing for Mrs. Berndt!!  A few kids caught on to that and thought it was pretty funny!!  (I have to say I agree)

Wednesday I was in an Early Childhood classroom.  I didn't know when I got the call, but it was a Special Ed room.  Early Childhood Special Ed is definitely not as intimidating as elementary Special Ed, but still not something I would want to do every day!  There were 3 sessions of kids: 1-3 kids, 3 adults; 2-2 kids, 2 adults; 3-2 kids, 3 adults.  I can't say that it was a tough day.  I did a lot of one on one work with one little boy and helped where needed the other times.  There was a parapro in the classroom as well, so that defiantly helped out.

Today, I am going to attend to my neglected house.  The dishes are piling up and I am afraid they are going to walk out of the kitchen soon.  The laundry has been screaming "fold me" since Monday, so that is on the list too.  Then there is the daily maintenance that needs some catching up.  Thankfully there is no Sylvan for me tonight, so I should be able to get everything done!!

Ash Wednesday

I have fulfilled part of my Catholic duty today-I just got back from Ash Wednesday mass.  I figured since I wasn't subbing and would be at Sylvan during the evening mass I would go this afternoon.

Usually people talk about what they are going to "give up" for Lent.  I have tried that, but since I go right back to it after Easter, what am I really learning??  This year I have decided not to give anything up, but do things differently and find ways to add more God in my life.  I am going to try to be nicer to those around me and not get so annoyed at the little things.  (Ask Brian, this can happen quite a bit)  So, starting today I am not going to get annoyed at small things that don't really matter.

The second part of my Lenten plan is to add more prayer into my day.  I will try to find time, even if it is driving somewhere, to thank God for all the good in my life and ask for guidance where I need it the most.  I tried to pray before I went to bed every night, but the more tired I was from the day, I realized this didn't work.  And I know that I may not always make it in the morning, depending on how I wake up (on my own or by the phone).  Therefore, I have made it open.  Whenever I find that I have a few extra moments or need the most help getting through the day, that is when I will stop to have my conversation with God.

I am hoping that by choosing not to give something up this season, but change a lifestyle, that this is something I will be able to continue after Easter as well.  

I mean only good things could come from being a nicer person who has a stronger relationship with God, right?!

On to the other part of my Catholic duty-fasting and no meat.  So far so good.  I have only had breakfast-cereal-and it is already 1:30.  I will need to eat something more substantial before Sylvan, but nothing big.  Then it will be fish for dinner.

I think I am off to a good start this Lent.  Happy fasting to all you Christians out there!!

How many people does it take...

...to program a remote control for the satelite receiver box??

Just one, English speaking, technician.  Of course we had to wait 3 days for that.

We got a new receiver box on Saturday and Brian and Bill got that installed.  Then they had to call Dish Network so they could activate it.  While on the line, the lady was walking them through how to program the remote.  (She had broken English and I am not sure she was understanding what they were telling her was happening on our screen.)  So she transferred them to tech support, where they got another not so English speaker, but understood a little better about what we were seeing on the screen-he just didn't know why it was happening.  The guys tried a few things the tech guy was saying and nothing was working.  Our remote has different chips that go in it so that the receiver can recognize which TV it is for.  (We have 2 TV's that work off the same receiver and 4 different chips came with the new remote)  I am not sure the tech guy understood what chips needed to be placed in the remote.  

After about 20 minutes of working with him and trying a few different chips, he told us that he was going to need to send a technician out to the house.  We thought "How hard can it be to program a remote?"

This morning the technician came out to the house and within 10 minutes was gone again.  He quickly tried the remote with the chip we had in it and when that didn't work, knew the exact one that would make it work.  He even showed us how to program the remote-if we ever needed to do it again for some reason.  His steps were the same as the ones the tech guy told us on the phone on Saturday-just with the wrong chip.

This goes to show just how easy things can be when you are getting helped by someone who understands your language in order to understand your questions.

STOP OUTSOURCING CALLS TO INDIA OR OTHER COUNTRIES!!!!!!!

False Advertising

Today, with our utility bill, we got a note saying that they were implementing some Identity Theft Protection Plan and that we needed to return this form, in person, and bring a photo ID.  In return for taking the time to do that, they would give us an energy conservation kit.  How exciting!!

So I filled out the form and Brian and I went to the utility company-thinking that they might only have  limited numbers of the kits and we really wanted to make sure we got ours.  They verified all our information and then the receptionist said, "As a thank you for coming in and doing this, here are some light bulbs."

Okay, so they were the energy saving kind, but where is this kit that was mentioned in the letter!?!?!  We were definitely not expecting light bulbs.  Why couldn't they just put: for taking the time to return this form, we will give you a pack of light bulbs.?  

I am not REALLY complaining, because after all, they were FREE light bulbs and not much is free anymore.  But the false advertising made us hurry up and get everything filled out and turning in to the utility company before Brian left for work.

So, if a utility company ever says they are going to give you an energy conservation kit, ask yourself:  Could it just be light bulbs?

Got my wish!!!

For those of you who read yesterday's post, you remember that I wished for a little snow to cover up the dirty snow that is on the side of the streets.  Well, wish granted.  This morning we had a nice layer of snow on the ground!!  And that came complete with drifting snow.  But the dirty snow is mostly covered, for now!!!

However, since it was not enough snow to run the snow blower it meant that I was the one out there with the shovel to clear the sidewalk.  Why won't Brian clear snow when it doesn't involve the snow blower???  Who knows, but at least I got my work out for the day-and didn't have to pay anything for a gym membership!!!  Too bad it was a bit windy or it would have been a nice day to be outside shoveling.  I think I am finally starting to thaw!!!!

Happy Groundhog's Day!!!

From what I have seen on the internet, the groundhog has seen his shadow.  Therefore we have 6 more weeks of winter.  Really there would have been 6 more weeks of winter either way, but then we wouldn't have this fun tradition of seeing what the groundhog does every Feb 2nd.  So, 6 more weeks of winter, but I hear that it won't be as cold as the last few months have been. Yeah!!!!

I was thinking back to last few months-very cold and snowy, more cold than snow lately.  We hadn't used our snowblower very often in Jan, compared to Nov and Dec.  But, I could use a little snow to cover up the "dirty" snow that is on the side of the roads.  I am thankful that it was a beautiful weekend for the snow to start melting.  And that melting will continue for a while.  As long as the snow melts slowly I don't think the basement will have too many issues.  (Knock on wood!!)

Happy Groundhog's Day and enjoy the little warm-up!

I miss curbside recycling :(

Now, we have only been without it since the beginning of Jan. and it usually was only picked up every other week.  But it is true that you never appreciate something until it is gone.  First, let me explain why it is gone.  In a nutshell, the company went bankrupt and didn't tell the county until about a week before they were going to stop pick-up.  The contract with the company was set to expire Dec 31, but the county assumed that they would still go month to month until July, when the new company's contract was set to start.  No such luck-bankruptcy hit.  

There are several cites/towns/villages in Outagamie county that worked something out with other places or something to get interim  curbside recycling.  However, Kaukauna is not one of them.  So they have set up a recycling drop off center and the streets department (M-F 7:00-3:30 and Sat 8-12) for the convenience of those who still plan to recycle during the stoppage.  (I am sure that there are some not willing to drive there recyclables to a center.  And the county is worried about that as well.)

Well, we are willing to drive our recyclables, even if it is a slight inconvenience.  So that is what I did, for the first time today.  It was not bad.  The center is only about 5 minutes from the house.  But, you have the hassle of loading all the papers and plastics bins in the car and then driving to the center.  Then you have to unload and throw the items into the correct bins.  (The paper one was quite high I had to loft our bags in.)  Course as I was almost done, some guy came out to help unload the cars.  There were 3 others there besides me.  Then there is the drive home and bringing the bins back in the house.

Hopefully I will only have to do this until March, when they are hoping they can get the new company to start.  

Wonder what the mayor would say if we asked for a refund on taxes for the months that we are paying for a service we don't have?!?

An ice scraper shortage?!?!?!?

I am not talking the tiny ones for the cars, I am talking the long ones for the sidewalks and such.  It would appear that an ice storm, like the one we had over the weekend, tends to clear all hardware stores of these scrapers.  I called at least a dozen stores in our area this morning and only one store could confirm that they had any left-and another would be getting a shipment later on this evening.  Unfortunately, the store that had them was out by the mall-20 minutes away and a place I try to avoid until March.  

I drove to Home Depot, the only place that said they had any left.  Sure enough, they had 2 left.  So I grabbed one and headed to the register.  As I was walking a man asked me where I found that.  I told him to hurry because there was only one left!!

So all the stores in about a 20 mile radius of my house are sold out of sidewalk ice scrapers until about 6pm (When Ace told me they would be getting more in.)

Thankfully we now own one and I will not have to go on a hunt for one anytime in the near future.

I am also happy to report that it works great and the think layer of ice that was once my sidewalk can be called a sidewalk again.  It was fun to watch the ice chips slide down the snow banks as I added them to the heaping piles of snow in the front yard!!

We are ice free for the time being!!!

2008

Since today is the last day of 2008 and I have some free time, I decided to take a look back on the year.

Personally:

*5 years of marriage

*the leaky basement was finally fixed ($3000, and a beautiful tree loss, later)

*we became godparents

*2 new family members (2 cousins had new babies)

*Brian changed jobs a few times (I think he is finally somewhere where he can be happy)

*I am still looking for full time work

*now sub for 2 school districts

*bought a new snow blower (which has come in very handy this year so far!)

*reconnected with several old friends, via Facebook

*3 years as homeowners

*family and friends are relatively healthy (I have a cold as I write this!!)

*broke down and bought an Apple computer (love it!!!)

*another successful summer school (3rd year teaching, 3rd school-Wonder where I will be in 2009?!)

*bought 1/4 of a cow (freezer space is very limited now!!!)

*had several bonfires in the backyard with friends

Other big happenings:

*first African-American president elected

*Appleton hit record snowfall for the month of December (broke the record set in 1887)

*stock market in trouble

*gas hit all time highs, only to come down again

*several companies shut down production-leaving many jobless (several right here in the Fox Valley and more in Wisconsin)

*unemployment hits an all time high

Hopes for 2009

*stock market recovery

*continued health of family and friends

*less snow

*a full time job

*continue a happy, healthy marriage

*attending at least 1 wedding, possibly 2

*ability to spend as much time as possible with family and friends

*lower unemployment rate-more jobs created

*possibility for more travel-not just to visit family or friends

*Sylvan enrollment will increase so we can all get back to the hours we were used to

*safe travels for all family and friends

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, but...

...enough is enough!!  It is not even winter yet (officially) and we have already had one of the snowiest Decembers on record.  And more is on the way, just in time for all the holiday travel.  We are not getting hit as hard as the areas south of us today, but I am still sick of the snow.  Don't get me wrong, I love the snow and it wouldn't be Christmas without it, but there is a limit.  When it snows about every other day, that is too much.  

We have lots of travel plans, SOUTH, for this weekend which I hope are not affected:

*Housewarming/Christmas with friends in Waukesha

*Christmas with mom's side of the family in Hales Corners.

*And I have a cousin that is supposed to be flying in from NY this weekend.  Hopefully that will happen, I haven't seen her in a year!

And if that wasn't bad enough, we are supposed to get more snow Saturday night into Sunday.

Mother Nature sure has some twisted sense of humor!!

Well, here is wishing safe travels to anyone going anywhere these next few days, even it is just down the street.  

Happy Shoveling Too!!!

I love student teachers!!!!

I probably didn't feel that way when I was one, but now that I am a sub, they are great!!

I subbing in a 4th grade classroom today, with a student teacher.  He was at the point where he was teaching everything.  So, why take that joy away from him to change things and confuse the kids.  I am not one who like to confuse kids and take them away from their routines.  So, Mr. Lamers taught the class today.  

What did I do all day??  I watched, and circulated the room to help out where necessary with directions and behaviors.  Now, keep in mind that they were 4th graders, so they didn't need much help.  There was also an hour break in the morning for Gym/Music.  There was nothing that needed to be prepped and Mr. Lamers was all set to go for the day.  So I read my book, a lot of my book.  

My day was a pretty easy one.  I like to have those every once in a while.  I hope that all of you get an easy day every once in a while.

Recess Duty

Up until today, I have had recess duty for the past 6 days that I have subbed.  As a teacher, I know how precious those recesses are, both to students and teachers.  And being a sub, I don't mind covering the required recess duty so the teachers can get a much needed break.  But every day was starting to get a bit much.  I would leave in the morning with my boots and winter gear prepared for duty.   And sure enough, but the time I read through the plans, I would see I HAVE RECESS DUTY written there.

I usually don't mind recess duty-when the sun is shining and there is no snow on the ground.  6 days of recess duty is a little much when there are so many layers required to just go outside.  And then with the snow, there is a little extra watching required to make sure that there are no snowballs being made or thrown and that everyone is playing safely in the snow.  And again, if the sun is shining I typically don't mind that much.  However, lately it seems that the wind has been pretty strong on my duty days.

I am beginning to wonder if teachers schedule conferences and necessary meetings on days that they know the will have duty, just to make the sub suffer!!

Luckily today was 5th grade at the intermediate school, so I had a pretty good feeling when I left this morning that there would be no recess duty in my future today.  I was right and was able to stay inside and warm all day long!!!

Happy December!!

Winter is definitely here!!  Our snow blower got it's first voyage today, since we bought it.  And it works great.

We woke up to a wonderful blanket of wet, cold, white stuff this morning.

I am told that there has been measurable snowfall on Dec 1st, for the last 3 years-more so down south from us.

And now the winter driving begins, along with school closings and delays.  

It is the weather like this that actually makes me want to put up the Christmas decorations and get rid of all signs of fall around the house.  I am sure that our decorations will be up by the end of the weekend!

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

Turkey Day and Early Bird Survivor!!

I am happy to report that I have survived 2 turkey days and 1 morning of shopping, early bird shopping!!

Turkey Day #1 was at the in-laws on Thanksgiving.  I was a little worried about this one, since there is some history there.  Surprisingly everyone was on their best behavior.  One SIL even played a game with the rest of us!!  There was no arguing, shouting, complaining, or raising of the voices.  All in all, it was much better than expected.  

Turkey Day #2 was at my parents on Saturday.  This was just my parents, Adam and my aunt.  So nothing really out of the ordinary there.  Mom kept retelling the same stories, and the rest of us would just roll our eyes, knowing we had already heard the story.

Early Bird shopping was great.  Brian and I were up at 4am, and out of the house by 4:30am.  We were standing in line outside of Best Buy by 4:50am. (Best Buy opened at 5)  We were in and out of there in 15 minutes.  Then it was off for more shopping.  There are no injuries to report from the morning and we got everything we set out for.  I am happy to report, that thanks to this early shopping day, we are almost done with our Christmas shopping.  We returned home by about 9:15, after visiting 6 stores and stopping for breakfast!!

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

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

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

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

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

WHY???

*Why can't Brian and I find jobs?

*Why is the price of everything going up?

*Why is the state so backlogged with unemployment?

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

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

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

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

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

*Why are there so many struggling families this year?

*Why does the economy suck?

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

*Why won't the government bail me out?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you

*Thank you for our health.

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

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

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

*Thank you for the roof over our heads.

*Thank you for the food we have.

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

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

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

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

*Thank you for heat.

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

Like a good neighbor...

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

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

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

Ballot Number 1057

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

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

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

Happy voting!!!!

Fall clean-up!!

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

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

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

Did you ever wish...?

that you could just shake the leaves off the trees??

(Sorry, but I couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture!)

That is exactly what we convinced Abbie she could do.  I showed her how to "shake" the tree and make leaves fall down.  Thankfully the wind cooperated a bit with this as well.  So as we were playing in the leaves in the front yard (they don't have leaves at their house, so they came to play in ours), she would decide that she needed more leaves.  Abbie would walk up to the tree and "shake" it as hard as she could.  Se had her "working really hard" look on her face (I wish you could see it in the picture it is a cute look)  And then the wind would blow a little and she would watch all the leaves fall in the yard and in the street.  She thought this was the coolest thing.  So she would play in the leaves for a while and then go back and "shake" the tree.

If only raking in the fall was that easy.

Fall is here!!

As if the colder weather the last few days wasn't a sure sign that fall was here, all the leaves that I raked out of my yard this weekend and the ones that are still falling assure me that fall is here to stay.  We were teased this weekend with temps in the high 70's and low 80's.  Temps which allowed much outdoor yard work to get completed without being too uncomfortable due to cold.

This weekend we:

*Raked the back and front yard.  Leaf collection starts this week and goes every week for 5 weeks.  And this is our one good raking of the year.  My arms are still feeling it today and I have blisters on my hands to prove I really did do the work.

*Cleaned off the lawn chairs and stored them away for the winter.

*Dumped what was left of the planter boxes on the porch and cleaned out the "garden".  Our garden didn't really work this year.  Not enough sun and plenty of bugs, so nothing grew and we were left with the dead remains of our plants.

*Put the garden hose away for the year and turned off the water to the outside.

*Cleaned the leaves out of the gutters to prepare for the rain we are supposed to get this week.  However after the slight wind today I am sure that they are full again.

So, that was our busy weekend.  Hopefully all of you did something outside to enjoy the last bit of summer this weekend as well.

Maybe I'm not meant to be a teacher

Yesterday, I thought I still had a chance at the Kindergarten job in Menasha when I called the school to see if the position had been filled and the secretary said they were still working on it.  Today, I know that my chances are gone.  I subbed at that school and one of the Kindergarten teachers, who I e-mailed yesterday to update on the situation, said that they hired someone.  Luckily that was at the end of the day, so I only had to hold it together for a few minutes.  She made it sound like this had happened a while ago, but was sorry that I didn't get the opportunity to interview.  Why was I lied too??  Was the secretary not aware that the principal had made a decision??

It also gets me thinking about my Perceiver interview.  Was it that bad??  Was the principal seriously considering me for the position or was I granted the phone interview out of guilt??  (I did hand my application directly to him and worked at the school most of last year)

I know that the economy is in a tight spot, but why an I not getting a teaching job??  I am not a bad teacher, though I haven't really been given a chance to show that.

I would not be as upset if I had at least been given the chance to show myself and my skills in a face to face interview.  Would I be less upset if the secretary had told me yesterday that the position was filled??  Probably.  I don't mind the no's, because I know i got looked at, but why the lies??

So, now I contact the day care that was interested in me before the Menasha saga started.  I informed her that I had some opportunities through a school district that i was waiting to hear about.  Hopefully I didn't burn my bridges there or I don't know what i will do.  I need something full time and subbing is not going to cut it.

Thanks for reading my vent.  I know that I am a good teacher who will shine given the right opportunity.  I'll keep you posted on my career saga.  And if anyone needs a good tutor, or knows someone who does, let me know.

Teacher Perceiver Interview

For all of you teachers out there, you know exactly what I am talking about.  For those of you that are not teachers, the Perceiver interview is about 60 questions on your teaching style, teaching philosophy, interpreting situations, and how you would handle different situations.  Not all school districts ask for them, and this is actually the first one I have done since college (which was just a practice one)

Overall, I think the interview went fine.  It was done over the phone, so I really couldn't see reactions.  And it was done at 9pm, after I had subbed all day and put in 4 hours at Sylvan.  My brain was a little fried, but the administer knew all that was going on in my day and still wanted to give the interview at 9pm.

I answered from my heart and a little of what I think they want to hear.  (Who doesn't answer interview questions that way, either in person or on the phone?!?!)  After the interview, which took about 45 minutes, he was able to tell me some things that her "perceived" about me, based on my answers.  I would have to say he did pretty well.  He was able to perceive that I was a good listener and knew that there was more to listening then just listening.  He also picked up on that fact that I am a focused person, based on the fact that I have wanted to teach since childhood and have done things in life to reach those goals.  He did say that my mission was a little messed up, based on the fact that I didn't think that teachers were more important than doctors.  I think that they are equally important, but for all you teachers out there, teaching is the most important job in the world.  Remember that for future interviews.  He did think that I had the right mission, he said there were just other pieces floating in and out.

He was going to call the school principal as soon as we got off the phone and let him know what was perceived and then the ball was in his court.  Well, that was Thursday and I am still waiting to hear.  

I had a dream last night that the principal called and offered me the job, without an interview.  After all, I spent most of the year there last year, what else does he need to know about me.  So here I sit waiting, but not by the phone-don't want to seem too desperate.  Hopefully something good will happen, but for now it is out of my hands.

From summer to fall in a few hours

Wow, what a temperature change from Saturday to Sunday.  Saturday was beautiful; some sun, no rain, nice enough to hang laundry outside and wear shorts.  Sunday was gloomy, cold, no laundry outside and pants and a long sleeve shirt.  I guess we have truly entered fall.  The upcoming week shows more of the same cold and cloudy weather, with a little rain.  I am actually waiting for the rain to start, they said it would be in Appleton about 10am.  Almost 11 and no rain, but Doppler showed it, it is coming.

What a great day to bake blonde brownies and warm up the house with the oven and the home baked brownie smell.  Guess I could do some cleaning too, since I am not subbing today.  And I will be the next 2 days, so I will not have time then.

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.