Voting

Today I went to a McCain Rally. I have been on the fence about whether I would vote for McCain or not. I knew that there is no way I am voting for the most liberal Senator in our country and now that he has hooked up with the 3rd most liberal senator..well...let's just say, I threw up in my mouth. So the question was if I was going to vote for McCain.
I have not appreciated McCain for many years. He is liberal in some areas and it drives me nuts. Plus I hated that he had an 8 year temper tantrum about Bush winning the Republican nomination. He was so often working with the Democrats, I thought he should probably just change parties. Plus he said insulting things about those of us who believe that you should enter this country legally and follow the law. So I said that it depended on who he put on his ticket.
Well, Sarah Palin is a great pick and on Thursday I knew I was voting for McCain.
The "Straight Talk" Express was going to actually be in the neighboring town today. I picked up a ticket to see it. Nobody would go with me. I don't know why they didn't want to sit in the hot sun for hours to see McCain, Huckabee, Romney, and my new heroine Sarah! So I went by myself. I ended up sitting next to the pitching mound. The rally was at a triple A baseball team's stadium. The VIPs got to sit in the stands...us real folk sat on the grass. A family came and sat next to me. When I had to use the restroom, they saved my spot in the grass.
I had a great time. It would have been more fun if I had friends with me but I still had a great time. When I walked into the stadium, I was asked to sign a book as a supporter of McCain. I said, "I will sign as a supporter of Palin." The girl laughed and said that I wasn't alone in that sentiment. I heard some guys laughing behind me when I said it. They gave me a sticker that said McCain and I asked for one that said Palin instead but they didn't have one.
The speaker who made me cry was a guy from St. Louis who was in the Hanoi Hilton. He was one of the last set of prisoners who were held there. The part that made me tear up was when he dropped his head and said, "I am chagrined and ashamed to say that I was offered the same deal that McCain was offered and I actually thought of accepting it for a minute." He didn't accept it but the thought that he would made him feel ashamed. I can't even wrap my mind around the thought of being ashamed of a thought of taking an offer of freedom and the end of suffering. His story touched me.
I also enjoyed the St. Louis woman who is a lifelong Democrat. Her whole family is Democrat. She was a Hillary voter. After Hillary lost, she looked at it and realized that the United States needs a leader who actually knows how to lead.
McCain was a better speaker than I thought he would be. And Sarah was great.
It looks like Gustav is going to ruin the Republican Convention. They discussed that also.
It was a fun time...there were 20,000 people there.
When I got home, I had an email saying I was chosen to help with the Extreme Home Makeover on Friday. At first, I thought I had a dilemna because it is also the Hobby/Game night at church. Then I realized that was a silly thought because the Hobby/Game night is a monthly thing but I might never had a chance to work on an Extreme Home Makeover again. So I will be going there.
Next weekend is going to be crazy.
Thursday...my birthday
Friday...Extreme Home Makeover
Satuday....Disneyland on Ice
Sunday....Cardinals game selling scratch off cards for charity.

Tickets

Yesterday, I ordered 3 tickets to Disneyland on Ice. It is in town for my birthday weekend. So we are going on Sat. September 6 at 3:30pm. We are taking Reagan with us. We don't have floor seats so I am hoping that it will still be good from where we are sitting. I am betting that Reagan will like the popcorn most.
I joined a church for the first time in my life. I usually just go but I have actually joined a church. It was an interesting experience.
When I came out of church, someone had put a flyer on my car. John McCain will be having a rally next Sunday in O'Fallon. Now if you know me, you know that I am not a McCain fan. I am having a hard time deciding whether I will vote or not. If I don't vote for a president, it will be the first time in my adult life that I didn't do so. So I have said that it depends on who he chooses as a running mate. So why am I interested in going to the rally? Well, Mitt Romney is supposed to be there. That interests me. Huckabee will be there. I told Tommy that if Huckabee speaks I am turning my back on him. So I might just go.
I can't believe how busy I will be Sept. 6th and 7th. I am annoyed that people keep scheduling stuff to do on the 7th. I am going to sell scratch offs at a Cardinal Game that day. But I received an invitation to go to a bbq. I don't think I will be able to make it.
So I am getting busy.

Nothing new

I don't think that my life has been exciting or even interesting so I haven't been posting. Sorry..I hate boring you guys to death.
The most interesting thing I have done is figure out how to put Rush Limbaugh's podcasts on my nano.
The most interesting thing Tommy has done is drop MY Nintendo DS into the toilet. Ok, how did he do that? Well, he wanted something from the bathroom and he was playing with the Nintendo. He walked in there and fumbled it and plop! it went into the toilet. Good news! It dried out after a few days and both the unit and the game are playable.
I have to say that I love the library system out here. They are open 7 days a week. They are always nice to me. I can go online and look for books. I reserve them online and can renew them there. They have lots of DVDs. I am telling you that it is a wonderful library system.
The kids play down here every day. All of us are full of bruises but yesterday Camden took a header. Reagan wanted to play hide and seek. She went into the bathroom and climbed into the bathtub...this of course is my fault because I hide there all the time and pop out yelling, "BOO!" She wanted to do it. So of course, Camden followed her. Well, he likes to jump. So he jumped from the top of the tub into the tub. He slipped and landed on his forehead. He has a big ol' bump on his forehead. Poor Reagan got into trouble. I felt so badly. I felt badly that Camden hurt himself and I felt badly that Reagan got into trouble. It reminded me of all the trouble I got into as a kid because my little brother hurt himself. Oh, the trials and tribulations of being the oldest.
It sucks and is so unfair.
Meanwhile, life is just going along.

Oh I haven't been here for a couple of days. I am sorry. We have been hanging with the babies. I babysat last night and am babysitting tonight. Yesterday, Grampy and I took them to McDonald's to play. We were there from 1130 to 1400! They were exhausted.
I took Reagan to her first movie today. She informed me that the popcorn doesn't smell like Target's popcorn. It was a family free showing of Ice Age 2. She wasn't really that interested in the movie. According to Reagan, the best part of the movie was the little box of nerds I gave her.
After the movie, I had to go to the bank. I love this bank. They have freshly made cookies. Reagan and I shared a chocolate chocolate chip cookie. They have a children's area with a fish tank. She wanted to stay there coloring for hours. I finally lured her away with a promise of McDonalds lunch.
We get to McDonalds and it is finally really raining. UGH! The children's area is packed. We ate and then Reagan went to play. She didn't play long because there were too many kids.
We went to the library after that to return a book.
Tomorrow night Tommy and I are going to a social hour with the Exchange Club. I am excited about meeting new people. I am hoping to make friends.

Tears

Ok, I had a good day with my family. We went to Toys R Us and Reagan got another Barbie furniture set Why the sigh you ask? Because Reagan loves me (actually probably ANYONE) to lie down on her floor and play with her dolls. First of all, I am too old to lie on the floor playing Barbie and second of all, I am too fat to lie on the floor. But I do it because I am Grammie.
Then I got my mail and a friend of mine sent me some photos from WDW, a Mickey Mouse diary, and a card. It made me cry. My group of friends will be going there in Nov. I have known for a long time that I wasn't going to go and I was fine with it but today, I started to cry. I must be hormonal because I am crying again.
I want to go to Walt Disney World.

Patience

Well, yesterday was a nightmare. I think the day went fine but I can't remember because the night was so traumatic. Oh my gatos!!
I had met a girl and liked her hair so I asked her who did it, she recommended a girl at a beauty school. I was fine with it and made an appointment. The beauty school itself is really nice.
I made the mistake of saying I wanted to keep my blonde streaks in my hair. I could try to explain for hours why it went wrong but let's just say it went terribly wrong. First of all, it took the girl over 3 hours just to foil my hair. She got me soaking wet when she washed it out. When I got home, I found out I had hair dye all over the back of my shirt. Anyway, she almost started crying when she washed it out because my hair was blonde all over the top and dark dark red in the back AND my roots were still showing. I told her to just dye my hair one color and get rid of those roots. There was a meeting over my hair and the instructor insisted on putting in low lights. She had two girls foiling my hair at the same time. Ok..so how does this end..my hair is lots of colors..none of them the red I wanted. I got home around 11:30pm. Yep...I started at 5pm and got done about 11:15! I was exhausted but I couldn't sleep.
Then today, I went back (why???) to get my hair cut. I am still unsure of why I went back except that I felt sorry for the girl. She was upset and she knew I wasn't happy with my color. The good news is that in 5 weeks I will get it done again but I won't be going back there. So why did I go back for my haircut? I have no idea...all I know is that I committed to going back so I did.
So I hate my hair...wait..hate is a strong word..I don't hate it..It just isn't what I wanted.

And today....

Tommy and I went to the Career Center. Tommy really looked at the jobs and put his info into the system. I printed up another job application. Whippee! I am tired of doing this and not getting any bites. It is not fun! It is very demoralizing. I found myself looking at the job fair at the local McDonald's and wondering if I should go visit them.
I need to do something but what???
I didn't see much of the kids today and I missed them.
I did get to watch Camden while Reagan went to dance class. He helped me take the trash out. He also helped me cook dinner. I cut up a cucumber and I tried to get him to taste it but he decided that Grampy would like to eat it so he took it to Grampy. Then every few minutes he would tell me that he needed to give another cucumber to Grampy! Grampy ate them all.
I shared my steak and mashed potatoes with Camden. Tonight he actually ate all of the mashed potatoes when I put a little sour cream on his plate. I didn't stay upstairs to see if he ate any dinner when Chris came home.
I had checked out a couple of VeggieTales DVDs from the library yesterday. I put the dancing one on the TV after Reagan came home from dance and we all danced. We didn't hear all the songs but one of them cracked me up. It is called Sport Utility Vehicle. It was about how wonderful SUVs are. I enjoyed it a lot.
Now I am back to looking for jobs on the Internet.

A whole day and what do I have to show for it?

Well, Tommy and I opened a local checking account today. Do you know when I married Tommy, he was a quiet person. In fact, I was told by one of the sailors working under him that the only time he ever talked or smiled was when he was talking about me. Ok, so who was that guy who wouldn't shut up at the bank this morning? He said he learned it from me. Well, he needs to stop talking so I can.
I think I found a church home. Chapel of the Cross. They were quite welcoming and nice. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed for bible study. I will go back next Sunday.
Other than that...well...I watched Camden while my son took Reagan to dance class. ROFL! That boy is something else. I cooked dinner for myself and Tommy. I tried to eat but Camden wanted me to share so I did. He ate some of my mashed potatoes and steak. I realized that if I didn't put him in his high chair and make a plate for him, I would never get a chance to eat so I did that. Well, he ate the steak but I guess the mashed potato tasted differently when it was on his own plate. Chris arrived with McDonalds for him and he ate some of that also. He loved the yogurt parfait.
That was my day..wasn't it exciting?

Did I do anything?

Ok, did I do anything today? Nope!
Oh wait I worried about money. Did you know worrying about money doesn't bring you any money so it is a total waste of time.
I am trying to find out about subbing. I vascalate between doing temp work or subbing. I hated my last year subbing for Palm Springs Unified but was that because I was promised things that I didn't get or because subbing is horrid?
On the other hand, subbing is easy money and I can take off whenever I want to. So what do I do?
I don't know. It is discouraging. I went back to school to be a "real" teacher but I can't even get an interview. I don't know what else to do.
On the good side, I am enjoying my grandchildren.

Errands

Whew..we went all over the place and didn't achieve much.
We did get a scan of my teaching certificate. I needed it to apply for jobs. That was our first errand and it was so successful that I thought the rest would be also.
Then we drove to the Department of Motor Vehicles only in Missouri, it isn't called that. It is the Licensing place or some such name. We drove to St. Charles for that. We split up into two lines because I couldn't figure out where we were supposed to go. The place was dirty and icky. I got up first and I was told we needed passport, social security card, piece of mail with our new address on it. I don't remember what else because I was overwhelmed with the list.
We left and went looking for a T-mobile store so we could change our phone numbers. We changed our numbers.
As we were leaving T-Mobile, I saw a licensing bureau right down the street...it was 5 minutes from the house..we never had to drive to St. Charles.
Oh and we went back to the storage place and they gave us a refund on the second storage unit we didn't need.
We came home and I played with Reagan. We played Candyland and I WON!! Yep, the most exciting part of my life is beating a 4 year old at Candyland. I am pitiful.

Searching

One of the not so much fun about moving is finding a new church home. I have been to two different churches so far and I don't think I am a good fit for either one of them. Either would work in a pinch but I still need to look around. I think I went to 5 churches the last time I searched for a new church. I wonder where I will go next.
Meanwhile, the church I went to does have one program I really am interested in. It is called Angel's Food. You pay $30 and you get a box of food. Tommy and I belonged to a program like that in Maine and we enjoyed it.
I must say that there was a young couple who tried to make me feel at home so I know if I need to go to church and I can't find one, at least I can go back to this one and feel comfortable with one couple.
Meanwhile, I keep looking.

When I said I wanted a Do over, I didn't mean one that was the same

Ok, so Tommy and I went to the Post Office to get postal money orders and....we couldn't do it because we have a limit per day on our debit card..oh yeah..I forgot.
So I call on my son and daughter in law. I am so lucky that my son and daughter in law are good to me. They met us at a bank and cashed a check.
Then we went to the storage place. It cracked me up. First of all, it is a really old place. I walked into the office and it smelled like cigarettes. I am from California. Nobody smokes in California. I have to get use to the smell of cigarettes...UGH!
Palm Springs has a film festival every year. This place reminded me of a movie I once saw at the film festival. It had Donald Sutherland in it. It was about a storage place. The people storing their stuff would hang out with their stuff every day. Maybe I will go there every day and hang out with my things.
After we got home, the driver called..yesterday he said he would be there after 12:30. Now he is going to be there after 6:00pm. I hope he is faster unloading than the guy who was loading or he will be unloading at 3:00am.
Ok, we are finally home. It is 10:30pm and we just got home from watching the guys unload that truck. We had 2 storage units but they only used one. The guy wanted me to cut the cost of storage in half but I refused to do so. I started yelling at him. I told him that we shouldn't have to be out here doing this at all and that they had stacked my stuff so high and tight that I have no idea how we are going to get it out. And I told him that my husband had to get up for work at 3am but he was here instead of sleeping.
I informed him that we paid so much money to have them move us so we wouldn't have to move ourselves and we were ending up having to move ourselves anyway. He told me that he understood that the moving company would be coming when we were ready and move the stuff for us. That was news to me. But I don't care I was beyond pissed. You should see my stuff..boxes were crushed..totes were smashed. They dropped 5 Disney Christmas ornaments on the truck (where the box was, I have no clue) and broke them. One of the crushed boxes was labeled "Stoneware." I am sure I won't have any plates. It is just a mess. I am so sick of the whole thing.
Chris brought us a camera so we could take a pictures of how they stacked things and what it looked like. Then we got home and I realized that I had blocked in Deidra. Chris had to take her to work. I feel badly about that. I forgot to leave the car keys. I am just a ditz.
And then to top it off, my Mom emailed me and told me that there has been no movement on the condo and she wants us to wait 2 months before we figure out what to do. I feel badly about that also. I would love to give my son and dil back their house.
Things are just sucking.............

A do over

Oh I so want a do over today.
Let me see should we start when Tommy started yelling at 5am. Why was he yelling at 5am you ask? Oh let me see.............oh because he should have been at work for a half hour and he was still in bed. Did he call them to tell them he would be late? Nope....He got there and they didn't even notice that he wasn't there.
Ok, after I finally went back to sleep..it should have been ok right?
Well, let me see...I picked up the mail and there was a letter from Palm Springs Unified School
District asking me to fill out a questionnaire about why I left. Do I tell them the truth, ignore the letter, or lie? That is the question. I haven't decided yet.
Then I was checking our bank account and I see $80 worth of pending charges from an Internet company that tried to do this once before but last time it was $25. That is when I found out there is no longer a branch of our bank in Missouri. Oh my gatos, how bad can this be? So Tommy called Washington Mutual and they told him that the charge had to go through then we can challenge it. I was mad. But not as mad as I was about to become.
Then the worse happens. I get a phone call from a truck driver identifying himself as having my belongings on his truck and wanting to deliver it tomorrow after 1230. What is the big deal you ask? Well, it was supposed to be in storage until June 27th..then I was going to ask them how much it would cost to keep it another month..instead it is here and I have no place for it. PLUS...they needed $1900 and I found out that our bank closed the only branch they had out here. I would put a deep sigh there but I was upset.
I called the moving company and they claimed it was impossible for a driver to have my stuff..it should have been in storage. They asked for time to figure it out then they called me back and told me, "Oops! What we will do is deliver it to a storage place on your end and you can deduct one month's storage from the $1900." It was said oh so cheerfully. I was beyond pissed. I asked her how she expected me to do this on a Friday night at 4:30pm. I managed to find one that charges $144 for the first month and the second month is free...that might work for us..I hope!!!
So now in the end, we are going to have to move our own stuff.
Oh and the name of this great moving company is ASAP Relocations, just in case anyone you know thinks of using them.
When I pointed out that their previous driver tipped over our big screen TV into the dining table and we didn't know if it worked, she said that if we found any breakage after we took the stuff out of storage to just call them and they would give us the claims information.
I went upstairs to discuss this with Chris and I fell apart crying. Poor Reagan got so upset because I was crying. Camden started crying too. I had to stop myself so I wouldn't scare them anymore but really all I want to do is have a big old meltdown. I am feeling extremely sorry for myself tonight. This is just not how I wanted it to happen.
Of course, I am being a drama queen about the whole thing.
I am so thankful to have my son and his wife. They have been so kind to us and I sit here bawling like a spoiled brat because things just aren't happening the way I planned them. Oops...maybe the problem is I planned them.
So anyway, I want a do over today and will probably want one tomorrow also.
Oh and what were our plans for tomorrow you ask..we were going to go to a county fair. Oh well!!!

Is it really Thursday?

I don't seem to be able to go to sleep at a decent hour. It is not good because I will sleep forever if you let me. I need to figure out how to be my big rear into bed at a decent hour.
Today, I got mail from my Mom. She is a TAC (The Angel Company) representative and she sent me the new catalog. I love so many of the rubberstamps. It made me want to scrap and make cards. They have some really cute stuff.
Let's see, we went to Costco this morning. Of course, I didn't realize that I need to buy cat litter soon or I would have bought it. No, I wait until I get back at the house to find out we are getting low on the stuff. Of course, in my defense I THOUGHT we had some in the car but it turns out we didn't. I brought it all in. Oh well!
Chris took the kids to the library and I tagged along. I really love the libraries out here. Isn't it amazing that I am living in what the snobs on the East and West Coast think of as backwards and they have nicer libraries than Palm Springs and Maine. The kids section is huge and full of fun for the kids. The periodicals section is very large though I do wonder why they get 2 different homeschooling magazines...who would have thought there was one homeschooling magazine much less two AND two quilting magazines but only one scrapbooking magazine. There computer set up is amazing. It is definitely a user friendly library with lots of librarians to help you. I have found them to be quite helpful. I need to get a Missouri driver's license so I can get a library card.
As usual, I had fun with Camden and Reagan today. They amaze me. They are so cute and so dang smart. Just watching them is exhausting.

As normal as it all gets

Well, Tommy is at work. His schedule sucks as far as I am concerned. He works from 4:30am to 1pm with Mondays and Tuesdays off.
Today, I sent in a resume to a school district that I really want to work in so please, pray for me.
Every morning, when I get up and go upstairs, I am greeted with a big, "GRAMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!" I have to pick up a princess and a big boy. I get a hug and a kiss from the princess and a head butt from the big boy. It is a lovely way to start the day.
Camden (my big boy) loves to come look at my cat. He stands at our bedroom door yelling, "Kitty Kitty." So I open the door and he runs in screaming and the cat runs under the bed in pure terror. Then he points under the bed and says, "MEOW MEOW!" After that, his true reason for demanding entry comes to light when he points to a box of Wheat Thins and says, "Cracker!" Meanwhile, Reagan (the princess) is right behind him but quieter. They both get one Wheat Thin and I chase them out of my room.
Yesterday, Tommy was sitting in the living room with his shirt unbuttoned. I don't know why. I swear he is becoming my grandfather (and he never even met my grandfather). Since we arrived in St. Peters he sits around in no shirt or an open shirt. He didn't do this in Palm Springs. Reagan called him, "The hairy guy!" It made him button up. She told him that nobody wanted to see that.
She cracks me up. Today she drew a picture of my cat for me. Then she drew a picture of Tommy to give him when he got home from work. ROFL! She put hair on both sides and left the top bald..looked just like him. He was so happy to get the picture.
I am loving being with my family.

More Ketchup

Ok, so we took off to Albuquerque on Sunday. Tommy wanted to stop at the Meteorite Crater. I agreed to do so. We went in but it was so hot and the cat was in the Mitsubishi. I worried and worried about her. We were going on the tour around the crater and it was an hour tour. Finally, I just told Tommy that I wasn't going on the tour and I was going to sit in the Mits with Celine. Poor Celine was panting. It was hot. Later, Tommy told me that she was panting even when he was driving with the air conditioner on. A couple of hours later we were off to New Mexico.
The plan was to go on a tour of the petrified forest, we could do that in the car so there wouldn't be the Celine problem BUT just as we got there, the rain came down. It was pouring, we were lucky to see the road much less the forest so we kept driving.
I have to say that New Mexico is beautiful! It was breathtaking.
Albuquerque looks like a great town. Unfortunately, we didn't get in until 10pm so we didn't get to enjoy it. But I would love to take a vacation there some time. They have lots of touristy things to do but I don't think you should try it when you are traveling with your belongings and a cat.
The next morning we got up and started driving to Oklahoma City. Ok, how does the landscape know it is now in a new state? Texas...what can I say? 11 years ago when we drove through Texas on the 10 Freeway, I described it as flat, brown and forever, well on the 40 it is not quite as flat, it has some green spots but it goes on forever. I think we stopped at Arby's for lunch. I noted that they had chocolate turnovers now. Well, anyone who knows my passion for chocolate would think I would jump on eating one of those. But something about the thought of eating warm chocolate in a turnover doesn't do it for me. I couldn't get myself to order one. I stuck to my beloved cherry turnover.
Ok, so we ended up in Oklahoma City at about 9pm. We had a GPS problem. The address for the Comfort Inn was an empty lot on a service road. We had to call them but we didn't have the phone number. Thank goodness for cellphones! I called 411 (yeah, they are going to charge me $1.50 for that call) and had them connect me BUT it was the wrong Comfort Inn. I didn't have a pen to write down the correct number and I got it wrong by 1 dang number so I had to call 411 again..another $1.50! We finally get the correct one and the desk guy gave me directions. When I asked for the address, he said, 'Oh, you are trying to GPS us. I will give you our next door neighbors address because that one will GPS correctly." So it was 9pm when we made it there.
We had Wendy's for dinner. I had the original chocolate frosty but Tommy had a cookies and cream frosty.
We discussed going to see the Memorial in Oklahoma City but decided that Tommy didn't want me to cry all the way to St. Louis. I am such a big baby about that stuff.
We got up the next morning and drove to St. Louis. I promised to call Chris when we hit St. Louis but we never really did hit the city. Our GPS routed us around it. We were a town away before I called him and told him we were almost there. Poor kid had to run out to get our dinner.
We got there and I got to hug and love my beautiful grandchildren. Reagan had been waiting all day for us to arrive. We waited all day also.
Whew!!! I thought we would never make it to St. Peters but we did.

My apologies

Ok, it was brought to my attention that I have not written in my blog for awhile. Well, I have been a little busy.
Here are some of the things that happened:
Here goes how Thursday went: We got up at 6am. We had to put our mattresses in plastic bags. Tom picked up his box spring and didn't realize that Celine was right there. Celine put her head where the box spring was supposed to be. Tom dropped the box spring down and Celine was stuck there. Tom thought he broke her neck. All I could see was the cat's body thrashing back and forth. Tom lifted the box spring and she took off like a bat out of Hades. She was ok but shook up.The moving people who were supposed to show up at 8:30 am didn't show until 1:30 pm. They were a mess and took 8 hours to load our stuff. We left for Nana's at 10pm. We got in at 3:30pm.
They proceeded to take 8 hours to load our stuff. The name of the game for them was to shrink wrap every piece of furniture we owned. They charged us for the shrinkwrap and the tape. They managed to build up $903 more dollars on the cost of the move.
The guy also managed to tip over Tom's Widescreen TV after he had covered it with cardboard..of course, he charged us for each piece of cardboard. It hit my dining room table. Tommy wasn't in the room when it happened so I text messaged him and he came strolling in right away. The guy turned to him and said, "Well, you wanted a new TV anyway."
It was a horrid day for all of us.
Next we drove in separate cars for 5 hours to my Mom's house. We got there around 3 am.
Celine is scared to death and hiding either in the closet or under the bed. We stayed until Sunday because we have to help my Mom with a couple of things and we are just too tired to drive alone for 8 hours. We need to calm a little bit and rest.
On Sunday, we drove to Albuquerque

Sleep

Last night I went to sleep early and didn't pack a solid thing. I couldn't. I was exhausted. Today I am ready to tackle it again. It helps that while I slept, Tommy moved most of the boxes to the office. I can walk around my house again!!
Today I will pack.
Today I will go buy more bubble wrap and boxes.
I will finish the living room.
This evening we will start unloading my Mom's storage thingy. It was only 115 here yesterday and will be just as hot today. UGH!
Packing and moving is not fun.

Sad

Today I cried. Wait...I cry all the time. Today I cried because we are leaving and I am not going to get to say good bye to my nieces and nephews. I can't say good bye because they are leaving to go camping on the day I could show up. It makes me sad.
Last Disneyland visit with Tommy will be on Thursday. Tommy and I should have fun. We were hoping to take our nieces and nephews with us but that is out.
I spent the day packing. Why do I have all this junk? Why don't I throw it out? Man it is a lot of junk.

UGH!!

I am already sick of packing and I have so much more to do. It will never ever ever end.
And I want it to end.
I am so excited about moving. I can't wait but I have a couple more weeks to go.
Meanwhile, Tommy is packing the office up. He has been packing the office for a week. I don't think he will ever finish. He must enjoy packing up the office.

Where have I been?

Oh my goodness...I am MIA. Let's see, I was at my son's house in Missouri for a week, babysitting his dogs.
Then I came home and started back to subbing.
Today was a joyful day, I had a crown put on my back molar and 3 cavities filled. Oh lucky me.
But I also signed a contract to have a moving company pick up our stuff and store it for 30 days, then deliver it to Missouri.
We also met with the Realtor who has to sell this condo so I can buy a house in Missouri. Oh I can dream can't I?
We are leaving California on June 26. I am happy to leave. I feel sorry for the people who live here. I can't imagine paying all that money for gas, food, and housing. It is absurd!

Just another reason to hate subbing

I was subbing a good class today. It was a bilingual classroom but almost every student was really fluent in English. The one real behavioral problem also did not like speaking English but he thought he was the class clown in Spanish.
Part of the lesson plan said that I was to take the class to the computer lab. The teacher said that she had emailed the woman who runs the lab and told her I would be coming with the students. The teacher further warned that subs weren't usually allowed in the computer lab. OKAY!! So I get there and a snotty woman told me that there was no email and further more SHE wasn't letting a sub in her computer lab. I had to bite my tongue in front of the kids. We walked back to their classroom and one of the girls said to me,"Ms. Dean, why is she so mean to you? Aren't you a teacher? Why doesn't she like subs?" I had no answers for her.
Now I know that the computer lab position is just a aide position. You do not have to have a degree in our district to run the labs. No other labs in the elementary schools in our district have the rule that subs aren't allowed.
So I wanted to say to her, "Hmmmm, so I am not allowed in the lab, tell me where did you get your BA degree. You see I have a BS from the University of Southern California's Business School. I was working on computers when you still had to have punch cards. Oh and what is your Master's Degree in? Mine is in Elementary Education and I did all my classes on the Internet. So please tell me what you are afraid I would do to your precious computers?"
I was so angry. I wanted to call my boss and really yell about it but since I am leaving, it doesn't matter does it? My screaming at my boss won't change anything. I also thought of yelling at the principal but that wouldn't help either.
You know I feel so sorry for subs. As a group, we are treated like shit from both the students and the staff. Funny, they complain when there aren't enough subs to fill all the openings. You would think that they would be nice to us.
When they have Christmas stuff we are left out.
When they have special things for National Teacher's Day, we don't count.
When we show up for work, we are not greeted by name, instead we are asked, "Who are you today?" I have been known to answer, "I am Nina just like I am every day."
These teachers crack me up. They refer to us as guest teachers and then treat us like we are pieces of crap. Hmmm, I would hate to be a guest in their home.
Do I sound bitter? I am.

Fire Alarms

So today, I was at one of the roughest elementary schools in our district. Hey, it was 1st grade..how bad can it get?
Well, it started before I could get in the door...there were no parking spaces in the teacher's parking lot! What is that about? So I had to park on the street across from the school. I park my car and walk up to the crosswalk. I said to the crossing guard that I couldn't yell at the kids if I wasn't willing to use the crosswalk myself. She said to me, "Yeah, you better because I turned in a teacher yesterday!" OHHHHH KAAAAYYYYY. That was pleasant. Thank you very much.
I finally get into the school grounds.
I get my class and it is full of talkers. Nice. The reading class was all students who are low achievers. It was painful. But if that wasn't bad enough, the fire alarm went off. So we line up and go outside. We get halfway to the grass when the school secretary says over the loud speaker that there is a water problem and nobody could use the restrooms. She told us to go back to our classrooms. So we go back to the classroom.
Now we are working in our groups and what do we hear? Another fire alarm! My aide looks at me and I say, "I am a sub, we have to go out." So we line up and walk out but I just sit them on the ground instead of walking all the way to the field because no other classes were out there. Finally, the other teachers show up. We all just look at each other. The secretary again says we can't use the restrooms and tells us to go back in the classroom.
So back we go to our groups. What happens next? You got it...the fire alarm goes off only this time it is a different sounding alarm. It was the high pitched squeal and a beeping noise. We go outside. Other teachers just opened their doors. We all waited. The alarm stopped and the secretary never announces anything. Most of the teachers took their kids back in so I did also.
Well, it turns out that they were doing some construction and the workers had busted the water main. It causes the alarm to go off because the sprinkler system needs water.
So now the kids are all wound up and my day went accordingly.
It was a tiring and icky day.

As I sit here feeling sorry for myself because I have a headache and I feel miserable, the phone rang. It brought bad news. A little girl who I used to go to church with has passed away. Kiera was a true miracle child. She would make you believe in God. She was born with a disease that should have caused her to die before she was 1 year old. She was on a ventilator, yet, she learned how to talk. She never ate any food in her life, yet she loved candy. She loved to have her nails polished.
She lived with her grandparents. Her grandma quit her job so that she could care for her granddaughter. They are proud people and would apologize if Kiera made noise in church. I would tell them that they shouldn't apologize because every sound that baby made was a miracle from God and we should be thankful for her.
The amazing thing was that she always looked like a baby to me. She had a stroller that she lived in. As I was thinking about her age, I realized she must have been at least 10 years old. Can you imagine? This little girl should have died and she beat the odds. She even went to school.
I feel so badly for her grandparents but I know Miss Kiera is finally running and eating up in heaven.

In a while

We are moving to Missouri....in a while

I may lose weight.....in a while

We are getting a new grandbaby......in a while

I will work some more on packing.....in a while

Tommy will help me.....in a while



Hmmm...my life will happen...in a while