Not Feeling Well, But the Show Goes On

I'm not feeling well at all. Yesterday my nose was so runny that I wanted to just put a cotton ball up there. Today I'm so clogged that I don't even feel like my head is connected to my body. But life goes on. This morning I got up and made some fudge to take to school. I was at school for two blocks plus lunch - I graded papers (caught two plaigarizers), I updated grades, I ate a delicious lunch (the English teachers had a Halloween potluck) and I got my 3rd Block started before leaving to take Colby to his doctors appointment in Roanoke. The doctors appointment was pretty uneventful. He got the flu shot (not the swine flu shot) and was sort of cranky about riding in the car for two hours, but not bad. We came home chilled for a little while before I put on his Halloween costume to head down the downtown Radford. They have a downtown trick-or-treat. My church had an entire parking lot of games and such, so we went down to say hi to everyone. We didn't get any treats mostly because Colby doesn't care and I don't want any candy around here. I just wanted to dress him up and take him out. If you can't tell in the picture, he was a dragon :-) We came home and just hung out after that. He was pretty peaceful and when it was time to go to bed, he went without a fuss. Not bad for not feeling well.

Whew...

Today was crazy from start to finish. Colby was really cranky this morning. He kept crying and wanting to be picked up and was like "I need to make my lunch!" I'm good, but I'm not that good - I can't put wheat thins in a bag with one hand. The day kept on like that. My kids had research papers due today so I heard "I'm not done!" and "How do I do a bibliography?" It's not like we haven't been working on them since the beginning of October and we've been over bibliography about 3 million times! When I started reading said research papers they were abismal. On one paper all I wrote was "What is this?!" because it clearly wasn't a research paper. On another paper after he explained for the second time where Jamaica is I wrote "I KNOW WHERE JAMAICA IS!!!!!" I also caught two official plaigarizers. Awesome. Then when Colby and I got home he continued to fuss and throw peas on the floor. We somehow made it to parenting class and he was okay there, but when we got home it was full on tantrum time. We had barely walked through the door and he was on the floor face down screaming. He didn't want to change his diaper, he didn't want to put on his pjs and he didn't want to stay still for either. As I speak, I'm glad to be on the couch not listening to anything but a rerun of NCIS.

Oh. I've started watching the HBO series TruBlood. One of the English teachers loaned it to me. Let me just say that HBO certainly operates by different rules and I don't think I'm missing anything by not having it. I like the show alright, but I could do without the graphic content.

Sleeping, Doctors and Cats

I did not sleep well last night. I kept dreaming about some really horrible things over and over again. Plus I couldn't breathe because my nose was all stuffy. I almost fell asleep during 4th Block today. Thank goodness for candy corn (otherwise known as a sugar shot).

I got annoyed today because I tried to move Colby to a pediatrician down here in Radford but they weren't taking any more patients. So I still have to haul him up to Roanoke for his 18 month appointment on the 30th :-(

Lately I've been seeing a lot of cats around our house. I need to call the humane society to see if I can get some traps. Apparently I can have them spayed or neutered and then re-released. I don't mind them being there, but I don't want any more cats, so maybe I'll try it out.

Bite Log Again

Well, I had to sign the bite log again today. Colby's been doing really good at him. He pressed his lips up against my arm a couple of times without biting this evening, but it seems at daycare he forgets that he's not supposed to bite. At least today's bite was over a book. I can deal with that :-)

So the new laptop is awesome, but I can't figure out how to get my iTunes songs off of my other laptop and onto the new one - I'm still working on it. I love how fast the new one is. It is astounding sometimes.

This week at school we've been doing the writing SOL's for the 11th Graders. Of course my 3rd block doesn't seem to understand that they need to be quiet while students are writing their essays. Even with six or seven absent students, I had to send out two students because they wouldn't stop talking. Sometimes it's really frustrating to deal with high schoolers, especially the ones I deal with regularly. At home they don't get taught manners, they don't have male role models and they don't have a lot of respect for women. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job, especially when the light turns on or they're interested in what we're doing, but sometimes they just wear me out. I think we just all need a break. We haven't had a break since Labor day and won't get one until Nov. 2 when we have an early release. Students are getting on their teachers' nerves and each others' nerves. The other day it just felt like negative feelings were just building and today the dam just broke and we had two major fights (one involving lots of blood). You'd think that with all these kids out with swine flu it would be calmer, but you'd be wrong.

But...guess what? It's almost Friday, which means it's almost the weekend! Yay!

New Laptop!!

Guess what guys! I'm writing this post from a brand new laptop as I sit on my couch watching TV. I went to wake Brandon up yesterday so that he didn't sleep too much - I didn't want him to not be able to sleep that night - and discovered him playing with the new laptop. He'd told me it would be in in a couple of weeks, but that sneaker lied! At any rate, I'm really enjoying the new laptop...now if only we could rememeber the password for the wireless internet.

In other news, I had to sign the bite log at daycare not once but twice today. He'd been doing so good, but I guess today he decided to make up for lost time.

Discipline Adventures

The other day we pulled out the pack and play so that we could use it as our timeout spot for Colby. Since Friday, he's been in timeout about 10 times for climbing on the coffee table, but he's getting a little better about getting down when I tell him "no." Oh, and last week at daycare, I only had to sign the bite log once, but only because he got bitten, not be because he bit :-)

This morning I went out to JCPenny's to use my gift cards. Colby is now a handful to take shopping, but I still ended up buying one shirt, two sweaters, and a pair of pants with only one small meltdown. We also took a stroll through the mall and I now have some ideas on what to get people for Christmas, so that's good :-)

Oh, and if you're reading this and considering what to get Colby for Christmas - NO BIG TOYS. Our house is too small and too full for any more big toys. Oh, and he's wearing 24 months/2T if you want to buy clothes :-)

Almost forgot...Brandy went to doggy daycare at school yesterday. Apparently she just walked around and crawled in people's laps so that they would pet her. I didn't hear anything negative, only positive :-)

VT plays GT today. It's a big game and will determine if we stay #4 or not. GO HOKIES!!!

Birthday and Christmas

Well gang, I had a fabulous birthday. My parents arrived early on Saturday and we then went to the VT vs. Boston College game. It rained on the way over to Christiansburg to meet up with Brandon's dad, but once we pulled into Blacksburg we didn't get a single raindrop. The game was good, a little one-sided, but good. Brandon and I got our usual shaved ice (which was sort of odd because it wasn't warm outside) and my parents enjoyed themselves (well, at least my mom did :-) ). After the game we went home to spend some time together with Colby and then we went to Sal's to eat dinner. I finished eating those leftovers on Tuesday...yum :-) On Sunday we all got up, ate an awesome breakfast of bacon, egg, and cheese buiscuts. That afternoon Brandon took me to Coldstone and we spent some time with his family and continued the celebration.

This week at school hasn't been particularly noteworthy. My students were their usual rambunctious selves. I called a few more parents and whatnot. My muscular dystrophie (sp?) kid was finally healthy enough to return to school, so I go to meet him for the first time. He seems pretty cool and he has a pretty pimped out ride. It's not a van, it's like a smallish SUV that opens up on the side to let his wheelchair out. Our small animal class at school has a doggy daycare so Brandy is going to try that out tomorrow. I'm sure she's going to have fun :-)

Oh...and guess what Brandon did...he got us a "Chirstmas Present." It's going to be delivered to the Best Buy in Roanoke sometime soon! I can't wait to be blogging from my couch and not in the closet!

Weekend of Non-Research

I'm really excited this weekend! Tomorrow the teachers are providing cake for my birthday - we all sign up to bring in cake for someone's birthday so that everyone gets cake for their special day. And then on Saturday I'm going to the VT vs. Boston College game. I'm excited that I'm going, but not that excited about the possibility of rain, though they're saying that it will rain in the morning, so I'm hoping for a soggy kickoff that will give way to nice weather. Also my parents and possibly my sister are coming in for the weekend, which I'm really excited about. I enjoy it when they come into town. They have tickets for the game too, so hopefully if it doesn't rain I'll get to enjoy it with them. If not I'm sure they'll enjoy hanging with Colby!

I'm also glad that tomorrow is Friday and I don't have to deal with my students for a couple of days. We're starting our research papers, which is like pulling teeth because they have never done it before and they don't immediately understand the whole concept of using index cards to write bibliography and information from sources. I don't really mind answering their questions (that's what I'm there for), but they are constantly calling my name to get my attention instead of simply raising their hands. They also have a "really important" question right when I'm in the middle of talking to someone else. Its frustrating enough that I sometimes consider changing my name :-) Maybe I'm not so frustrated with the process of writing research papers as I am with the rudeness of my students.

Oh well, I'm going to watch Vampire Diaries followed by Supernatural tonight. That will be plenty to get me relaxed and ready for another fun day of research tomorrow!

Roanoke Visit

Today I took Colby to Roanoke to visit with his UVA doctors. They said he looked great and was growing properly. Barb said that his tyrozine level was low (that's what our body turns phenylalinine into), but she wouldn't worry about it until there were several consecutive blood tests that came back low. She assured me that it wasn't anything we were doing wrong, just that it was something to be taken care of if it comes to that. I took half a day off from school, but I ended up driving to Roanoke, seeing the doctor, going to Burlington Coat Factory and driving home before my students even packed up their stuff at school. But I got an excellent nap in :-)

Here's a little heads up on what's going on in our local news. A teacher in Roanoke County is being investigated for giving a student an "obscene" book. We were discussing this among the English teachers and I found out what was in the book - bad language, some sexual refrences and some violence. The parent objected to the book after he saw his son reading it, which was weird to the parent because the child never reads. My question for the parent - if your child who never reads was reading, shouldn't you be happy about it instead of trying to fire the teacher for giving him something interesting to read? Have you ever been to a high school? No matter how much supervision a school provides there will still be cussing in the hallways and cafeteria, bad behavior in and out of school, and violence in and out of school. Have you ever read To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Outsiders, or 1984, or The Catcher in the Rye? Those books draw the same types of objections, but we still teach them. Why not applaud the teacher for getting your child to read instead of trying to crusify her? If you wonder why this book appeals to your child maybe you should look at how you're parenting, what your child is watching on TV and what sorts of video games they're playing - not the schools, who do not condone those sorts of things, but know that they happen.

Working at Work

Lately I feel like I've been working my ass off at school. I'm not really complaining because normal people go to work and they...work...imagine that :-) It's possible I didn't take my job as seriously last year, but this year I'm really focused on getting these children to learn these skills that they'll need at higher levels. I think it's wearing me out because I care more about the area now that I've lived here for a year, but I also think God has been working on me to give my best in all areas, including my job. I also think that I've realized that these kids are the future. Eventually they are going to make decisions on my behalf so I better teach them how to string sentences together and weave them into paragraphs. I better teach them how a peice of literature can expose them to new ideas. I better teach them that to get respect you have to give respect. In previous years that knowledge didn't seem to touch me, but now it does and I'm taking it really seriously.

Lately Brandon has been doing a lot of reading about becoming self-sufficient. He bought a book called Five Acres and Independance. This has put a lot of interesting ideas in his head and I say interesting because I am also intrigued. Maybe one day after I have my master's degree we'll buy five acres. Then maybe one day we'll try raising chickens, growing a real garden, build our own house...the possibilities are endless. I mentioned this to one of my co-teachers and she laughed at the thought of me living on a farm. Is it really that unbelievable? Am I that much of a city girl? Maybe one day we'll find out.

Autumn! Fall! Whatever!

The weather has been awesome! The smell of fall is in the air and some of the trees are already starting to change into those beautiful fall colors. I could have done without the frost on my windsheild this morning, but I do love the way a fall sky is super blue and the way the mountains look like when they're covered with red, orange and yellow trees.

And it's October! Where does all the time go? Jonathan, if you're reading this, your birthday present will be in the mail tomorrow. I've had it for months, but have yet to send it to you, but it's coming! And then my birthday is coming up...27 sounds so grown up, don't you think? When you're 27 your not a spring chicken anymore.

And on my birthdy, Colby will be 18 months old. He's getting so big! He moved up to the next classroom at daycare, which means I have to let his new teachers know about his PKU and everything. It's sort of a hassle, but it's okay. I did REALLY like his last teacher, so I'm sort of sad that Colby has to leave her. His last PKU test came back good - a 4 (anything under 10 is good, under 5 is excellent). Next week Colby goes to Roanoke to meet with his nutritionist and UVA doctor. I'm sure we'll make adjustments to his diet and all that jazz.