A "Just for Girls" entry.

So, today I was at work and I think that when I get stressed my brain tries to find a way to release. Anyway, I was in the bathroom and I realized that there was a 'feminine product' dispenser in there. And I noticed, as I have noticed before that one said: "tampon" and the other said: "napkin". Now I know what a tampon is, and I even know what it means when it says napkin. But does anyone else think it is weird that they use the actual word for tampon, but a different one for "pad"? I mean, why call it a napkin? This may seem crude but what am I supposed to do with it? Use it to dab the blood? Hello? It was probably invented by some man.

So I know that I should so be sleeping right now but I had to write an entry and I had to pick up the place as my husband cleaned because my friend Brenda is coming down tomorrow for "The Great Minnesota Get Together". You wanna know something weird? I lived in North Dakota for 27 years and never once went to the State Fair. I live in Minnesota for just over 1 year and this will be my second State Fair.

Okay, time to take the clothes out of the dryer, brush my teeth and lay down for pity's sake.

Theme of the day: tired.

Remember a few entries ago when I talked about investing in stock for Tylenol? It has started. I am so tired that I have a pounding headache. I know that I just suck it up because I am not the first teacher to go back to work after having a baby. And I am probably not the first new mother that has had to get up between 4 and 5 am to feed baby, or feed the baby at 3 am, then get up at 5, and get ready to make it to work on time, but it sure feels like it right now.

The above picture was taken a few weeks ago and I love it because it's funny but it has also become his common face. Honestly, I am tired and when he gets like that for an hour, I don't know what to do for him. My synapses aren't firing enough to figure it out, so I just sit and sing to him and eventually he falls asleep. My husband and I figure that he is just so overly tired. I wish that I could just pitch a fit and someone would rock and sing me to sleep and then let it go because "I am just so overly tired." Lukin has it made and he doesn't even know it.

Lastly, school hasn't even started yet, so I don't know any kids, and I have a meeting tomorrow with a parent. Are you even kidding me? What am I supposed to say about the kid? I'll just sit and nod along like I know the kid, and try to soak up as much as my tired little brain can handle.

An entry for an entry's sake

Well, it's day two of 'workshop week'. I went to my second school to find out that I have a whole classroom to work in (read: and freak out about decorating). Usually, I get some corner room or some room that smells like moth balls or something that no one else has any use for. This room has windows. It's my 5th year in Special Ed, and my first year with windows in both my schools. That's gonna be awesome.

The longer I sit here at the computer, the more stuff I think of to do. I don't want to do any of it. I just want to sleep. It took me almost an hour to get home from work today. As if getting up so darn early and then mentally and physically trying to prepare a classroom and make a schedule isn't enough. So I think I am going to slack and let my face age 7 days by not taking off my makeup and just take out my contacts and brush my teeth and crash on the couch. (Side note (as asked of me years ago by Amanda): If wearing your makeup overnight ages your face 7 days, what does wearing it all day do?)

Lastly, I got an email from an old coworker, and if anyone from my old job reads this, I would like Colleen's email address. Of all the special ed people, she's the only one that I don't have an address for.

Work and other things going on...

So, today I figured out what days I am going to be at the middle school. In case you were losing sleep worrying, it will be Thursdays and Fridays. And that actually works out well because that way, I will be going to the earlier starting school on the days that Sonny will be home. That's nice because I don't want to keep getting up at 4 or 4:30 in the morning for a whole lot longer. I should number down the days until we move and that shouldn't be the case anymore.

I've started doing this thing that every time I write in my blog, I look at the next one and if I ever find one I want to comment on, I will. This got me to thinking. Has anyone ever thought about if their life was a movie. I mean, not some boring movie about our boring lives but let me explain. Think about if your life was a movie and you were in charge of creating the soundtrack. What songs would you add? Would they tend to be upbeat? Old school? Love songs? All of the above? The songs that I would include changes almost daily. I will hear a song on the radio that I haven't heard for a long time and I try to think of ways that I would incorporate that into my soundtrack. I guess another question would be what the name of that soundtrack would be.

Well, as has become the case as of late, I better get off of here and get ready for bed. It is going to take some time getting used to going to bed around 9 pm. Oh the joys of having a little baby.

Seasoned like Salt and Pepper

Okay, so I have been asked to make the font bigger for the older eyes that try to read this stuff. So hopefully, if you have 'old' eyes like my friend, you won't have any trouble reading this.

Well, I have a few things I want to comment on from the end of this past week and a few to comment on for the upcoming week. First of all, I want to comment on the new teacher workshops. It's funny how many people came in not knowing anyone who was going to be there, and then they introduced themselves to someone (maybe in their discipline or their school) and then they cling to each other for the rest of the workshops. I think that's funny. I'm not saying it doesn't apply to me. I just think it's funny.

Next, in attending all these workshops, I realized that I am not a novice at teaching. Nor am I a novice at teaching in special education. We were given this worksheet on Friday and were given this manual to help us find the answers. I didn't really need the book although our table pretty much doubted all my knowledge. Hello? People, don't you know how smart I am? So I am now going to refer to myself as being seasoned like salt and pepper, and not green, and not well seasoned like cajun.

Friday morning all the new staff met at the middle school for a meeting with the principal. He wanted to talk with us about some policies and procedures about the upcoming school year. He was explaining all these things and listening to him made my last school seem really ghetto. It was funny. When I was working at my last school, I never really thought of it as being ghetto. But listening to him talk about things like 'bomb threats' and 'fights between students' (both things I was through at my last school), made me feel like maybe I was moving up. That's good.

Friday night we went to the Vikings game and we took the train. On the way home, someone on the train must have gotten a phone call saying that the twins had won their game and suddenly everyone on the train started singing "Take me out to the Ballgame". It just shows how much everyone in the twin cities is proud of their teams.

Other than that, I am just trying to get the last minute purchases made before school starts and mentally and physically prep. One more week to go, here's hoping that I get everything done that needs (or that I want) to get done.

A new year, a new reason to invest in Tylenol stocks

So today was my first day back to work. It wasn't as overwhelming as first days have been in the past. I don't know if that is because I have done this so many times that I know what to expect now or because now that I have had a child, beginning a new job is not the biggest thing in the world anymore.

The day went fine. It was pretty uneventful actually. I'm sure that it will be more eventful when I start working on schedules and stuff...I don't even want to think about that. I don't even notice but when I am not thinking to not do it, I clench my jaw. It's not a good thing.

Today is my friend Karie's birthday and I am missing her big birthday bash in Fargo. Happy Birthday Karie!! I hope you have a good time for you and for me as well.

Lastly, we had some bad weather here tonight. It scared me. I don't know if it was because from 6 pm to 7 pm the 'news' was just the weather, or if it was because all these storms were in the area and I was worried about Lukin. Being a mom sure changes things.

Well, again it is 9 o'clock and I should be heading off to get ready for bed. I don't think I have to be anywhere before 8 tomorrow but I will still want to be out the door by 7 just in case.

A temporary truce

So it would seem that the Breastfeeding Strike is over...for now. Today has been good for getting Little Man to take the breast. I think that it helped me to read that book and take what it said to heart and set some time aside just for him and me so that he could feel reconnected with me. Of course, things are gonna change because tomorrow I go back to work. Ask me how I feel about this. I am an emotional wreck. Whenever I think about the fact that my husband is going to take over as primary caregiver during the hours I am at work and he is home, it makes me feel really sad. I feel like Lukin is going to forget who his mommy is. Sonny says that he won't forget. But today has felt like he gets upset when Daddy leaves the room (or even view), and I have never seen him react that way to me. It's tearing me up, but I will have to get through it. I know I am not the first woman to have a child and return to work, and I know I won't be the last.

Sue and I met for lunch today. We went to Olive Garden and had the soup, salad, and breadsticks lunch. Yum. We had a good time visiting and it made me miss the fact that I won't be going back to work there this year, but some of the stuff I won't miss (like administrators who non-renew you because they weren't available to sit in on your initial hiring meeting)...but I'm just sayin.

This makes me think about my general lack of appreciation for female administrators. But there is one exception. Her name was Vicki Coombs and she was such a nice lady and she was a very helpful administrator. I miss her. She is the only female administrator that I would work with again. And Vicki, if you ever see this, you rock!

Well, that whole list of stuff that I was supposed to get done today didn't get done. Go figure. But one of the main things did: fill out my planner. Only doing that just stressed me out because neither of my two new schools have the same schedule for conferences or days off (with the exception of holidays). This means that I am going to have to figure out which days I have to be at which conferences because if I am at all of them, I will be over my time and I will get some free days off. This happened two years ago when I was working in a split district. It was fluke that I earned a Comp day, but it was nice to have.

Well, even though it only a quarter to eight, I better go and feed my son and think about getting ready for bed. I don't even want to think about how early I am going to have to get up to get myself ready, feed my boy (thankfully, I won't have to take him to daycare because my husband doesn't work tomorrow or Friday), and drive from the north end of the city to the south end. I can't wait until the end of September when we move closer to both my husband's and my work.

Fighting with my Blog and my Boy

So I have been fighting with my blog. I really should log out and try to get back to this sucker before I let anyone know that I had to change it again. This is why technology and I don't really mix so well. Grrr.

Hopefully, this will work better this time.

So I had to pull out the big baby book today to see what was going on. Lukin refuses to breastfeed. It's like, "Seriously. Are you my kid? And you refuse to eat?" That must come from his dad. So anyway, I pull out the big book and I come across a section called "Breastfeeding Strike". Seriously? But as I read it, it made perfect sense. He may be emotionally upset over "busy nest syndrome" with all the traveling we have been doing and my getting ready to return to work on Thursday and/or physical upset as in teething. I know how old he is but he has other symptoms of teething too, like drooling and crankiness and a perpetual need to have his hands in his mouth.

Tomorrow I have lunch plans with Sue from my last job. I am excited about that. I miss everyone from my old school and Sue is cool and I think that we will probably keep in touch so that makes me happy.

Lastly, I have a million things that I should have done today and probably won't finish tomorrow. This just makes me feel stressed and will probably interupt Lukin's feedings tomorrow. That's just great.

It's about Stinkin' time

Monday, August 21, 2006

It's about Stinkin' time
Okay, so I have been putting this off but, I think it is time that I have my very own blog. This way I can get back into the habit of venting when I need to, and then I won't have to tell the same stories twenty times to get everyone's input.Also, I figured that now that I there's a baby around, people might want an occasional update on what we are up to since I have gotten really bad about replying to 'real' emails.So is that all I have to say for today? I suppose I should write something 'real' so I can call it my first official blog posting.Let's see...Well, today Lukin and I came back from Fargo. We had flown up there to surprise my mom, sister and Grandma. It was fun. Exhausting, but fun. Although, three weekends in a row of going up north is plenty. That's too much traveling in too short an amount of time for me and the wee one. He's exhausted and sleeping, probably what I should be doing, but I will get there soon enough.While I was in Fargo, we did some shopping. I know I am too old for school shopping, but I still do it every year. It's like one of the perks of working in an educational field.But enough for tonight. I'll think of something cooler to write about for next time.
posted by Juniper Spangletoes at 11:02 PM 3 comments