Saturday, May 2, 2009

Tour de Hood

Today Gunner did a 15 mile bike ride on post. It wasn't a race, but he came in 5th--he's been married to me for 14 1/2 years, of course he knew I would ask! He was going to do the 50 mile ride, but we had plans.

I spent all day in class, but it was the last class of the term. Relief.

Looks like our hiking might get canceled tomorrow due to rain. If it does I guess I will grade papers, pack up more of my classroom, and clean the house. My pile of clothes to get rid of is growing by an alarming rate.

I thought of having a PCS sale, but seriously, who has the time for that? When we left Fort Lewis, I think Gunner made about 6 trips to Goodwill. We need to unload at least 2,000 or more pounds. 6 1/2 years in the same spot and we somehow accumulated way too much stuff. As usual, I will vow not to do that at our next duty station! I'm seriously trying to work on getting a little OCD, but so far it's not being acquired at a fast enough rate!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Another race...

Just registered Gunner & I for the Jackrabbit Run 4 Hope 10K tonight. I wonder how Junior will do in the stroller for that long, but he should be okay. It's in just over a week, so I better start hitting the gym since I took a hiatus while everyone was sick so I didn't infect the world.

The run benefits the Hope Pregnancy Crisis Center to help those that need help because they find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy. I know the director and when they first acquired the ultrasound machine there, they needed to practice. I was pregnant with Junior and they invited me to come get a free ultrasound and they would print out a picture for Gunner who was deployed. We didn't find out the sex, by choice, but it was fun seeing the little one kick around on the screen. After Junior was born I donated piles of maternity clothes to their loan closet as a way to pass it on and thank them for the pictures and the ultrasound.

Hmmmmm....I just noticed that they pass out layette items too, I am sure I still have some of that stuff to pass on as well. Time to do the PCS purge!

A good deal

When I decided to become a teacher, I got a lot of encouragement from my friends, my aunt and uncle, my sisters, and my husband and kids. It took a lot of planning because we had to pay for everything out of pocket and it was a huge drain, but one that I was ready to do.

Now you can sign up for the My Career Advancement Account and get up to $6,000 paid for! You can read an article about the program here. Where was this when I was going to school. It will also help with certifications, so I am looking at getting certified for special ed, so maybe I can go this route to keep my costs low? Worth a shot. This wasn't open to spouses in Texas originally, so I am glad to see that they have opened it up to everyone. You need to register by the first week in May, so go for it, what do you have to lose? My dad used to tell me that it was important to him to educate us because it was something that could never be taken away from us. So sign up now, and go after something you have always wanted. If your spouse is deployed, it's even a more ideal time to take advantage of it!

Good luck!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

I can't wait

Fort Carson or bust. We are on the housing list. I've picked out where I want to live already. We luckily qualify for a 4 bedroom, due to the ages of the girls and the addition of Junior. Who knows where we will actually wind up, but we are hoping to get into housing right away. I don't want any worries other than setting up house, since it's been a long time since we PCSed. We've been here for 6 1/2 years. Yikes! I never thought we would be here that long, but it has served its purpose and it is time to move on. The time with my dad was priceless.

To top it all off my mother told me that I was the most self-absorbed person she knows! Ha! Everyone I have told has gotten a good laugh out of that. It's all good though, and time to move to a new place without all the drama of family. Like one of my kids said, you spend so much time doing for us and everyone else, the only time you ever have is at the gym. Very true, and glad that she realizes that! I think I sneak in a 5 minute shower every once in a while too.

I was back at school today and even hit the pool with my triathlon training partner. We ended up having to share a lane with a GI and he was pretty fast, so we did some sprints together, and that got my heart beating fast. I won too. :) No gym today as I don't think my tummy can handle that yet.

Em feels good about the Science TAKS test, and Abs took a practice test at school today for reading. Abs is also working on a story about a smart mummy and Japanese suicide bombers. Should be an interesting tale!

That missing piece of paper that I couldn't find? I found it after I had to request another one and submit it for a signature. I just can't win! I'm working on organizing everything though. This weekend I have class, Gunner has a bike ride, and the girls and I are going hiking with their Girl Scout troop. The end of the year is going to fly by as things get crazy with everything that is on the schedule.

Oh, and they cancelled the job fair for my school district because of the swine flu. I guess the health department wanted it cancelled because it would draw in people from outside the area and they could bring the disease with them. Crazy!

It happened....

After Abs got sick Monday night, I managed to make it through TAKS testing on Wednesday, and race home to get sick. It was awful. Two things that were confirmed: 1. I am a horrible sick person and 2. My husband loves me unconditionally.

Thank goodness for #2, and that he was home to help! The only one who hasn't gotten sick was Junior, so maybe he was really throwing up in the tent last Friday and was producing nothing to go with it? Let's hope that this family is on the mend.

I am trying to put together the most ridiculous project while I am laid up in bed. I have to create a math exploration topic with all these different requirements. She provided a great example for a 6th grade class, but for second graders we have a whole other things going on. I have to design activities to go along with it, and while 6th graders could probably deal with dried beans, I imagine my second graders eating them, sucking on them, or sticking them up their nose. I'll just hope for the best.

I do have to drag myself out of bed today to go to a SNAP meeting for Abs. This is where they want to remove her from daycare permanently and send her somewhere else. I have HUGE issues with this for many reasons.

1. FCC--while this is a great option for some people, it is not for me. I had a friend whose daughter was hurt by none of the people that the daycare people investigated, but by the boyfriend the wife had while her husband was deployed. You just never know, and I would never be able to be at ease with that situation.

2. Their second option is they send Abs to a home daycare that is run by staff that also works in the centers. She tried to sell me on this by telling me how Abs can watch tv all day if she wants, and it's a home environment. I don't want Abs watching tv all day, which she will do if given the opportunity. I asked if these places go on field trips like the SAS summer camp does and she said no. So you will take a child with ADHD, coop her up in the house all summer, let her watch tv, and then expect her to behave. Not going to happen.

3. If they tell me that these are my only two options, I am moving to plan B. I had a friend that put her daughter in a great summer daycamp in Salado. It cost big bucks, but was wonderful, and I will go with that option. The thought of driving to Salado every day is less than inviting, but will happen if that is the choice I am faced with....

......Took a nap and forgot to finish up. I went to the meeting, and they do not find me funny. Imagine that. Anway, Abs can go to the regular summer camp, and the community health nurse said that Abs should have bitten that kid if he was holding her down. We HAVE to enroll her in EFMP this time, and Junior too with his egg allergy. I still don't agree with that, but.....

The big news????? We don't have orders yet, because they are handing them out on their first day back to work, but we do have a reporting date of July 10th.

Let the PCS stories begin.....

Monday, April 27, 2009

Oh no!

Em started throwing up last night. Then Gunner started having other issues. They both were home today and I banished them to Em's room for the rest of the night. I sprayed down everything they could have possibly touched, and now Abs and Junior and I are watching tv on the freshly lysoled couch.

Gunner said he was going to start a blog and blog about me and my obsession with lysol, sick diets, and quarantining people.

I have to be at school tomorrow! At least he can take care of anyone who doesn't go. I have my sheets being washed in hot water again. I finally found a shoppette with chicken noodle soup. I tracked down some crackers, and got some diet sprite. Sick diet, here we come!

I didn't sleep well at all last night, so I am tired and hoping everyone goes to bed early tonight.

I guess at least it isn't the swine flu!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Cleaning House

I have piles of clothes to get rid of. It's an obscene amount, and this was just the first purge. More to follow. I haven't even attacked Junior's closet which is full of my clothes.

I'm not ready for school tomorrow. I need another couple of days off.

I have class on the 2nd, so I need to crank out a paper, a project and and evaluation.

I went to my classroom today to search for a paper with a signature that I have managed to lose. I don't know where I put it. I'm sure somewhere safe, or it got mixed up with all the millions of papers that I have. All I know is that I HAVE to find it tomorrow or I am in trouble!!!! I'm sure I will have nightmares tonight about not finding it. I have got to learn to be more organized. It's driving me nuts and costing me too much time!

I wonder if I can go from the most unorganized person on the planet to OCD in just a few days? It needs to happen and fast.

I went back to the campsite this morning and Gunner cooked up bacon and pancakes for breakfast. I brought home two dirty little kids and got them cleaned up. Gunner took the kids skating this afternoon while I was working/searching and by 7 they were all exhausted.

I'm not far behind....