Disappointment

Weird. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Why do people try to steal other people's joy? Why do some people use their influence to hurt people? How unhappy does someone have to be to be the one to perpetrate this kind of crap? I am very disappointed in what has happened at my job. I can't really say, because well, you know, I'd like to keep my job.

One person has a project, is enthusiastic about it, has done a TON of leg work on it, but seems to be unsuitable. "How about so-and-so doing it? Would it be okay with you? Think about it and let me know." Clearly the decision had already been made. What does a person say in a situation like that? "Hell to the no! I've already worked my ass off and the plans are in motion!" How about that would slightly cross the line of being unprofessional?

I know that soon I'll be too busy to worry about this and the person concerned will be fine, but it's not fair. "Grown-ups" playing favorites is not cool.

On another front, the closet still not completely finished. UGH. I guess that if that is my worst trouble, my life is a bed of daisies. Lucky me!

First Day of School!!!!

This is gonna be the BEST YEAR EVER! Really, I think it may be! I actually got some things done on day one, something that is unprecedented in my tenure. The air conditioning system is installed and, more importantly, working. There was this fine, gray dust everywhere that seems impossible to sweep up. Oh well.

It was really good to see everybody. Snoopy made me go to someone's house for lunch. I wasn't invited, but she invited me. I felt so faux-paus-y and paranoid. Oh well, lunch was free and really good. Snoopy also is a master painter of walls. She painted a coworker's wall and wow, what a job she did. This sounds totally sarcastic, but I couldn't be less sarcastic.

People were in pretty good moods today. I think the getting up early will take its toll on us and we may be a little grouchier tomorrow. We'll have our big, endurance-test style faculty meeting tomorrow. FUN!

Well, I'm going to prepare for the fun and enjoyment that will be tomorrow.

Have a nice evening kids!

The Last Sunday Before School

Don't tell anybody. I still get excited the night before I go back to school. I also have trouble sleeping the night before students come back. Sure, I get ill during the year and have evil, perhaps violent, thoughts about some students. But for the most part, I still love school. The newness of the school year is always fantastic to me.

I am roasting a turkey breast while I'm writing this. I feel so productive. Cooking isn't something I do regularly. I have a shake that I make up daily for breakfast. Lunch is usually a protein bar or something grabbed. Then, for dinner, I tend to eat too much. I was thinking that I should be a little more nutritionally responsible when I go back to school. Oh, a product that I LOVE (or as Madea says, "LURVE") is the Thomas 100% Whole Wheat Mini Bagels. I've been using them for sandwiches for a while now. I suppose you could use half a bagel, but the mini ones are so cute. There's also something about eating half a bagel that makes me feel deprived. I enjoy them as a snack, toasting them and shmearing them with cream cheese and apple butter.

I am officially on a jag. I didn't work out yesterday either. I really need to go today to make sure that I keep my ability to run!

Short comment to help avoid confusion

Yeah, I was corrected by Hippy Chick. Yesterday I referred to a "Bubba." This is my daddy (I have called him "Diddy" forever, way before Sean Combs.), so named by The Child. I will now refer to him as Bubba, Sr. to keep confusion with my old buddy pal, Bubba, at a minimum.

Thank you, Hippy Chick.

So, how did I spend my last free day?

Well, I have done very little. I watched "The View" because John Travolta and Queen Latifah were on there hawking Hairspray. I was excited to hear that Sherry Sheppard will likely be one of the replacement people. I like her. Whoopi, not so much. I think Whoopi is very funny, but am not sure how I'll feel about her moderating. I'm on a totally different political plain than she is. A friend of mine, Mrs. C. (not to be confused with Marion Cunningham, she's certainly not that) said that Whoopi was okay. I'll have to wait and see.

I bought some organizational tubs and Supermom got me some folders, so when I'm through with this, I'm gonna go in there and get some semblance of a storage order for my closet. I have one tiny closet, so it houses clothes and a lot of other items.

I chose not to go to the gym again today. I AM going to get up and go tomorrow. Mrs. C. wants me to go to the yoga-ish class, and I really can't come up with a good reason for not going. I am planning on treadmilling prior to that.

Have I told you about my friend and colleague Snoopy? Snoopy is undoubtedly the best teacher in my school. Snoopy teaches the WHOLE person, addressing scholastic needs, but realizing that if personal needs aren't met, then scholastic needs don't even matter. She has turned out to be one of the people in this world that I trust the most. She hasn't a judgmental bone in her body. And, most importantly, Snoopy does the hamster dance like it's her business. With relish and reckless abandon. And yes, children have been scarred by seeing this manifestation of joy. Also, she can't wait until fall comes and Starbuck's starts serving pumpkin lattes.

Grandmomma and Bubba will be visiting The Child tomorrow. So I'd better go tidy up for their visit. Happy day to all!

Establishing Contact

Today was a VERY happy day. There was more cleaning. My sister helped a ton by shredding papers. I'm still trying to organize everything. I went through a box my momma gave me last year. It was full of mementos-- mostly letters, pictures, and newspaper clippings. I noticed that two people who were in my eighth grade band picture have died. It's kind of sobering.

That spurred me to establish contact (I'd been trying for a couple of days because of one classmate's death) with my DEAREST friend from high school. We talked for over an hour. It is so fun to get back in touch. She is up there with my sister in the supermom category. How do these people do it? It makes me tired to think of all the things they have to do. Anyway, I have determined that a true friend is one who is without pretense. My friend, hereafter referred to as Big E (not because of size, but because of awesomeness), and I can always just pick up a conversation at any point. We like to keep up with each other, but if several years intervene, there's no hostility (that is discernible to me) and I certainly feel none towards her. It's so funny, she's just the same way she was when we met in the eighth grade.



All this was after having dinner with my dear friend (and awesome hairstylist/hair cutter person) I'll call Hippy (short for Hippy Chick). She is really an awesome person. Hippie has cut my hair for about five years. She is so cute. She is funky and always trying to do something different-- not in the, "Hey, I'm cool. Look at me trying to be edgy." sort of way. I don't know if there's a color her hair hasn't been and it always looks cute. She pursues knowledge like me! We really enjoy talking about books we're reading and the joy of being smarty-pants types.

After a LONG absence, a former big-brother type friend has come back into my e-mail. He's someone I was REALLY mad at for a while, but time passes and things get into focus. You can't unring a bell, but that doesn't mean you should melt the bell back down to nothingness. I'll call this guy Bubba. Not because he's a stupid southerner, because he's not. Sometimes I think he would like people to think that just so he could surprise them later. He's brilliant at people stuff. I am looking forward to getting reacquainted with him.

Well, thanks to you all for a great day! Over and out!

How about I have a horrible hording problem?

Well, it's not as bad as it once was. I will throw insignificant mail in a basket or box or drawer and not open it. It is a mess at times and I went on an expedition to find some "important" papers. This proved to be somewhat of a handle. I found crazy stuff like calculators, my other work i.d. badge, and not the papers I was looking for. Oh well, at least I was able to cull some clutter.

In my revolting style, I didn't get dressed today. It's really just me rebelling against going back to work next week. I'll have to get dressed tomorrow, since I've gotta go to the gym.

I am absolutely loving "Shaq's Big Challenge." Mr. O'Neal really has a heart for kids. Not just the six kids on the show (and presumably his own), but he really cares about the childhood obesity situation and is trying to actually do something about this. His "crew," including Coach Brown, Doc, Shaq's nutritionist, Mr. Tyler, and Tyler Florence, are also impassioned crusaders for making a difference with the students at the selected middle school in Florida specifically and kids in general.

I think I'm gonna go do a little more in my closet. Ugh.

Doctor Bel Grande

OWWWWW! I went to the doctor today. She was over an hour behind and when I got into the exam room, OWWWW! She's really a good doctor, that's why I didn't leave. . . that and making sure that I'm not gonna drop dead in the near future. I won't go into the procedure, because it's somewhat oogey. I'm really glad that ordeal is over. I'll go back for the results in about two weeks.

Things going on today:

1) Reading some of My Antonia
2) Beginning the cleaning of the closet (not a metaphysical situation, the literal one in my room)
3) Napping
4) Making a delicious, nutritious dinner
5) Drinking untold quantities of water, but not too much
6) Laundering (again, a literal thing)

I had lunch with one of my best girlfriends today at a lovely place in town. A teriyaki salmon wrap is number one. Put that with a salad of field greens and a vinaigrette and you have DELICIOUS!

Went to BodyPump this morning and then did 3.07 miles treadmillin' it. I'm trying to decide how my regime will fare when school starts. It's been nice to do about two hours of working out first thing in the morning, but once school starts, bye-bye to that luxury. If I don't decide now and have a plan, it'll be trouble. I have had several epiphanies this summer. One is if I have even a loose plan, I'm more likely to follow through with scheduled workouts. Also, I can't say/write enough about buckeyeoutdoors.com and how just knowing that I want to have something to record on my calendar will oftentimes pry my buttocks off the couch (not in that gross "Nip/Tuck" way either, yikes!).

Wow, what is the deal with Lindsey? Bless that girl. She really needs somebody to read her the riot act. I hope this deal will work, because she can't have that many more chances coming her way. It's sad, I can remember seeing her in The Parent Trap, which I thought was pretty good. Then again, it did have the DQ factor (Not Dairy Queen, although it is awesome at the appropriate time. I'm talking Dennis Quaid.) Regardless, she seemed like a charming child then. I wish her the best.

Okay, I'm feeling pity for a spoiled-rotten person. It's time to quit this for now.

Good Day

Today was very good! I started out the day by watching Hotel Rwanda and crying my eyes out. Don Cheadle is unbelievable. It's one of those movies that I know that I've needed to see, but haven't. The fact that it lived up to expectations was refreshing as well.

Yesterday, I went and saw Hairspray. Although I've never seen the original movie or the Broadway show, I REALLY wanted to like the movie. It was everything I expected and more. I think that Christopher Walken was my favorite as Tracy's inspiring dad. And even though he was great in the "Weapon of Choice" video, I had no idea how light on his feet he could be! John Travolta was also entertaining. And their dance together--amazing! Of course, Nikki Blonsky was a dynamo as Tracy. Actually, all the cast was fabulous. Funny that John Waters turned up in the opening number as a flasher and Ricki Lake was one of the agents viewing the Miss Hairspray contest. I will be going to the theater to see this again. It's one of the few truly -- and I hate to use this expression -- feel-good movies I've ever seen.

I piddled around watching a little television this afternoon. I read the local paper which took all of about twelve minutes. Then watched a little of "The Biggest Loser" and then was motivated by Jillian to go do some strength training at the gym. That show is one of my favorites, although I cannot imagine working out for the hours they must to have the losses they have.

Right now, I'm watching "The Next Food Network Star." I'm not too excited about watching, but it's on in the background. I suppose I'm interested enough to want to know who the winner is.

Well, tomorrow begins my LAST week before pre-planning, so I'd better make it good!

Until later!

This is just a quickie. I'll be back later.

I have walked/jogged 16.69 miles this week!!!!! I have never logged that many miles before. Also, my goal this summer was to work out six days a week. FINALLY, I have done this. I had strep twice, so that made a couple of weeks go kerplunk. But this week I achieved my goal. The week of doing nothing actually was the week of achievement in disguise!

Going to see Hairspray this afternoon. I will file a report upon my return.

The End of The Week of Doing Nothing

Wow, it's been a quick week. I'm very excited about doing a few things next week. If asked what those things will be, I don't know. I've got to actually do some school work, getting some of our benchmark test questions ready. Yes, it's been put off since the beginning of my summer, so it's gotta be done. I may do some of it this afternoon, since my viewing of Hairspray has been postponed to tomorrow.

Barbeque chicken pizza from Papa John's ROCKS. I think I could do shots of barbeque sauce, I love it so much. We deleted the onions and added pineapple. My sister has very odd tastes. She likes onion dip, but not onions. She likes strawberry-flavoring, but will not eat an actual strawberry. She also has issues with texture, but that's another story. Anyway, the pizza was very good even though we got the thin crust.

Yesterday was BodyPump and treadmill. The treadmill was a little difficult, so I only did the workout as it was, without running at the end. Actually, have I mentioned this? I use the Podfitness deal. You add in your music, pick your workout, indicate if you want more or less encouragement, and they mix your music with your selected trainer for a workout. I chose the "walking" workout, but there are some speeds that I cannot do without running, so it's become a walk/jog workout. Can anyone under six-feet tall WALK at 4.5 miles per hour? Maybe it is possible, but I cannot. Regardless, I do the workout. The trainer tells you what speed and incline you should program the treadmill for. The average length of the workouts (you choose what level you want) is about 35 minutes. Anyway, I need my workout to be longer, so I do jogging starting when the trainer tells you to cool down and run until the end usually. Yesterday the BodyPump wore me out and I did the workout as it was. That was about 39 minutes. I like the Podfitness, but it is a little pricey. It is good enough though, that I like having it as an option.

Is It Wednesday Already?

Why does it seem that time passes more quickly during the summer than it does during the school year? This is my next-to-last week and I have declared it the week of doing nothing. It's my homage to the Congress. Only I'm not gratuitously spending money.

I started watching Hotel Rwanda. I can't stand a movie with an impending sense of doom, or ISD, as my friends have come to know it. I realized this when watching the movie U-571. It brought on the worst headache I've ever had. I couldn't finish watching the movie. I thought my head would explode. But, since so many people have told me how much I need to see Hotel Rwanda , I am determined to watch the entire movie. I'm feeling the same thing about Cinderella Man. I know that I should have seen these long ago, but just haven't been able to make myself sit down and watch them. I know if I don't do it this summer, they'll still be on the DVR list come next summer.

I received my "Hey y'all, come on back to school" letter today. Our principal is FANTASTIC. I'm not being sarcastic. I really do love him. He looks out for the students and teachers and also wants to have good communication with parents. This will be his second year and I am anticipating that it should be a good one.

Good news, my room SHOULD be ready before school starts, air and all! I'm very excited about this. Heard through a third party that my room may be being painted during pre-planning, but at least I'll be getting back there sooner than I'd anticipated.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to go to the gym. Really thinking of NOT. I think I'm gonna stay home and go to bed early. Tomorrow morning BodyPump is at 5:30 a.m., and I'm planning on doing a little treadmill action also. That helps me rationalize not going today.

Not much is going on here and I am glad.

Well, yesterday was a pretty boring day. That is perfectly good day as far as I'm concerned.

It's T-13 for me. We start pre-planning on June 30th. I will be glad to see all of my colleagues. There is the debacle of the air-conditioning installation, or lack thereof. Our building is separate from the "main" building of the school and our air was controlled by some secret governmental group. I am a big girl, and you really don't want an angry, sweaty big girl. Last year during our open house, all dressed up, the temperature in the building was high 80's (F). Finally one of the influential board members experienced this and we are getting new air conditioning, for which I am TOTALLY thankful. However, the Harvard-yard brainiac who is our architect, ordered the wrong units. This is causing there to be a GREAT crunch in time. I have arranged to borrow a lab from one of the science teachers. They think I'm kidding, but I'm afraid I'll have to teach out of this strange room. I know that there are plenty of people who do this all the time. KUDOS to you because you are better people than I am. I like having my stuff around me, like I like it. However, if they give me a room a little later with HVAC that I can control, it's a small price to pay.

In a totally unrelated area, I am happy to say that I have a new obsession. While flipping the channels last night, I landed on the Victoria Beckham reality show. I cannot tell you how entertaining it was. If you'd asked me if I was going to watch it, I would've been very offended and given a big no. Well, I watched just a little bit and I was HOOKED. She is, in her vernacular, "MAJOR." I love how she confronted Perez Hilton. I'm sure alot of this show was staged, but it was hilarious. When she went to a neighborhood welcome party and was confronted by plastic-surgeried, cat-looking women, all of whom were well past 40, she could have been very condescending, but she was very sweet. I enjoyed this show SO much that I e-mailed NBC to ask them to continue it. There wasn't much Mr. Beckham in it, but maybe there can be more later.

I went to the gym at 5:30 this morning for the BodyPump class. The regular teacher is on vacation, so someone was supposed to fill in. They didn't. This is the first time this has happened since I've been going to the gym. And, if this is the worst thing in my life, my life is AWESOME! But just being up that early and all set for the workout, it was a little disappointing. Of course, I just hopped on a treadmill and did my 50-minute workout. Some of the people who were there were just furious. I hope they let us know before Thursday morning's class if no one is available to teach.

Yesterday I did make it to the gym, after postponing it most of the day. I did 2.25 miles, just the interval training on the Podfitness workout.

My mix is really good.

I just got back from my gym. First of all, it is the best gym ever. It's full of what I would call "normal people." Not one of the muscle-head infested, hey-look-at-me kind of places. I am trying to get in shape and do not feel bizarre at all there.

Well, I started off on the treadmill. Here's the triumphant mix:
Suddenly I See - K.T. Tunstall
Jump - Van Halen
Overkill - Men at Work
Come Dancing - The Kinks
Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
You Can't Stop the Beat - Hairspray Cast (new movie)
Girlfriend (remix) - Avril Lavigne & Lil' Mama
Never Again - Kelly Clarkson
Our House - Madness
You Get What You Give - New Radicals

Oh, how I love this mix! I always like to end on a hopeful note and this New Radicals track is one of those old songs that I'd forgotten about. I didn't remember what a good song it is.

After completing the treadmill portion, I got the weight thing going. Wow, I feel like a million bucks. Endorphins SO cannot be underrated. I hope that I can keep this up once I get back to school.

Good day to all!

Sunday Morning

The CBS news program, "Sunday Morning" is a favorite of mine. Its slow and deliberate delivery is SO relaxing. The stories are really interesting as well. This morning, they had Regina Spektor, the dark restaurant, and a Charles Kuralt interview from years ago with Ladybird Johnson. Most of these things would barely be on my radar, but if on Sunday morning, I get to luxuriate in them.

I also enjoy Sunday mornings. In the summer, I am even more lazy than normal. I love lazing around, doing exactly what I want to. What I am doing now is catching up on some of my DVR viewing.

I really need to go to the gym later today, but I'm afraid that my utter laziness may overtake me. I need to do weights and treadmill. Ugh. I'm always glad when I'm through with a good workout, but getting my hiney up there is always a struggle. I'm sure I'll go. Maybe I'll go have a nap to generate some energy!

Saturday is for laziness.

There are few things that I've actually accomplished today, other than luxuriating in laziness. My parents visited today, mostly to see my sister's son, the first grandbaby. Actually that should be THE FIRST GRANDBABY (cue The Hallelujah Chorus). They actually visited zero times prior to baby's arrival and have missed only one Saturday since the arrival. And that Saturday, they were out of the country.

So, with my ever-exciting life, I think I'll go to bed and do some catching up on DVR.

Lovely day to you!

Wow, I'm Blogging!

Okay, I'm not sure about this blogging thing. I just thought it would be fun to start and see what happens.

I'm at the end of my summer vacation, so I'm doing a LOT of nothing constructive right now. It's alot of sleeping and napping, going to the gym five to six times per week, and a little straightening around the house.

So far this is absolutely RIVETING!

Well, I'm gonna close for now. Thanks for reading. What did it take though, all of 22 seconds? Thanks for your time!