It is what it is

Up for early service and had the whole day to do all the things that needed to be done and caught up with Andrew & Amanda. Otto decided to have a Super bowl party next Sunday so, if you are looking for a place to watch the game come on over. Did a lot of nothing and made chicken noodle soup today. Very cold this weekend and glad to stay home and not have to go anywhere else. About to watch Desperate Housewives. I am a Desperate Housewife....LOL back to the grind tomorrow, conferences 1/2 day on Thursday and Sex Ed refresher on Friday, guess I have forgotten what I knew about teaching Sex Ed!. No comment.....it is what it is!

As I watch her sleep and enjoying me home, it makes me wish I could stay with her here. It is 11 degrees and we are out of food again. Being in Chicago last weekend, I didn't buy food! Need to get nails done, go to the florist, buy light bulbs, buy out Target, etc. Lots to do here, finish grades (my school insists on a hard copy that I still have to write out yet) Went to our friend's house in Washington Township last night for a fish fry. Their brother-in-law, who is retired, has a second home in Alaska, caught and brought back an 80 lb. halibut. MMMMMMMMM! It was the best. Good to visit and see friends we haven't visited with in awhile. It is an hour drive each way though. Spent an hour video chatting with the boys Thursday night. Will catch up with Amanda this weekend. Am laughing about people who chose to be "child-free" (LOL) I have to say that the wrong people are choosing to be child-free. There are some real good reasons to help a lot more p...

I actually left school before 3:30 after doing my daily bus duty. Stay until all the busses are gone. It is so frickin cold my fingers were numb and my ears burned. Had my lesson today, gearing up for recital in March (jitters already) We made snowmen for fun today and got through all our lessons...oh wait, dumb and dumber were suspended! How nice to have 25 today. Funny story: One of my girls was in the hall throwing a paperback up in the air and catching it. Well, one time she missed and it hit one of my 5th grade boys in the face and he decked her which resulted in a smackdown. I pulled him aside and asked him what had happened. His answer " I did what I had to do!!!!" Out of the mouthes........It is what it is! Gotta love kids!

Not trying to make fun of anyone but in Chicago this weekend, someone introduced to Otto said " Oh that's a parallelogram!!!!! Well being the math nerd that I am had to step in and say "You mean a palindrome??????? ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!.......sorry 0102 / 2010 it is what it is

Amanda at Dr. today and he agrees she may be anemic. What a day! Did a science project with Foss kits and I have sand in my eyebrows. I have had 4 kids on suspension for various offenses, fighting ect. and one kid pinched another so hard he had a huge bruise. My principal told him to find a new school. I have a couple failing who come to school late, sleep as needed, bring nothing and do nothing except disrupt. Since we are a public school we can do nothing. Parents false promise or won't support us. You know....our fault. And they want to base our pay on merit. I am learning to let it go. I had a father say "well you know, he has asthma and has to go to the orthodontist all the time......... Well.....everyone in my family has asthma and they all had braces and weren't the shitheads I have to deal with. My parents would have smacked me out of the solar system if I acted the way they do. On the bright side......2 of my 5th graders (hope for next year) took 1st...

Been working after school in my room for a couple hours a day getting everything ship shape for the state audit in April. Do this do that but don't worry about it. They say I need a meeting place for my 30 adult-sized kids on a rug....hahahahahahahahahaha! I barely can walk in my pint-sized room with double everything for 5/6. Another cabinet to cram all the crap we have been given from the latest grant $ for the latest stuff. That will so make me a better teacher..more crap. I am lucky to teach the basics to 2 classes every day. What we need are smaller classes and more help...go figure. It is such a simple solution, yet no one has thought of it. I spent over 2 hours last night correcting papers, posting grades and just catching up and more to do tonight. It never ends. June, July, August! However, after the last day being June 16th, I start Math class for 7 days the very next day and then agreed to teach writing camp again so I will be free by July 10th and PLEASE no...

Enjoyed the time change going.....not so much coming back. Friday, took KC to vet to discover her ear infection still there. Vet took care of bump on her eyelid. Washer repaired, errands done and left for Chicago only to get there and enjoy Matt & Dana's company until very late. Sat we hung around, talked, watched old episodes of Jeopardy and went to Snookers to celebrate Matt's 26th birthday with many of his friends and co-workers. Bursting with pride at all the good things everyone had to say about him. Dana's new condo is top-notch new and beautiful and accolades to her for having us stay there. We saw nothing new but just enjoyed relaxing and visiting. The weather was 50 degrees plus but rainy, foggy and ucky all weekend. When we left today, you could not see the top half of the Chicago skyline! Watched "All Creatures Great & Small" DVD's there and back and enjoying very much. Thank you Cindy! KC went to Grandma's for the weekend....

All day spent on School Improvement Team, and attended district School Improvement Team. Late piano lesson, watching last night's Idol after bunco was last night. Awful sleep night. I hate those nights. Amanda called and it is raining coyotes and scorpions in Arizona. All the traffic lights are out and the wind has been horrific all day. She arrived at class soaked to the bone and the teacher made her take her hat off! Nice....idiot. Oh well, it is what it is. Sleeping in tomorrow, taking Casey to the vet for her 14 day check up after her ear infection a month ago. Washer repair guy coming at noon to replace the timer in the washer, doing some errands and paying bills and hitting the road to Chicago for the weekend. Hope the weather holds, suppose to have freezing rain. Wouldn't that be a crap or crap if it got bad and school cancelled on my day off? LOL My kids have been horrible. Science projects due on Monday. Good luck with that. I feel for my sub tomorrow...

Little Miss Huffy got her due today. Her snottiness backfired and she suddenly was asking what we needed to complete our order hahahahahahahaha! Talked to Andrew today, mailed Amanda's leftovers at UPS (ouch), went to a math meeting, put up with shittiness from several students. How is it some of my students think they can lie, cheat and talk to me the way they do and get away with it? You cannot swear in my class and cheating involves the person who gave you the paper to copy....duh! Where are the parents here??? How dare you! Kwame's in the making. I can't believe some of the things that happen. Caught copying and then lied about it and it was word-for-word. Oh wait, Kwame did the same thing as did his mistress. Guess that makes it ok. It is what it is...also caught several stealing $ from chip & M & M $. The nerve!

Watching Idol and missing Amanda and everyone. Casey was moping when I got home. Wrapping up odds and ends. Worked on grades, packing what Amanda left, recovering from my 6th graders that drive me up the wall. Why do they even bother to come to school. We talk about being challenged, they are parentelly challenged because their parents are not doing their jobs. They act like jerks and come to school to have fun and goof off. I have a couple that do nothing and will pass because of their age and they know it. I am ready to give up on them. It is what it is.

It looks like a storybook. Everything is covered with frost and really looks pretty. It's nice to have the day off and recover. I have a lot to do still. Car needs an oil change (yuk, I hate driving on what seems like a 1 inch bridge), I am finally getting my tooth re-bonded that I chipped Christmas Eve eve, still cleaning up around here and hope to do some long awaited shopping of not needed things! My snowman tree awaits decorating, Casey needs her ears re-checked and I think we are going to Chicago this weekend for Matt's birthday, so I better take Friday off! Feeling better today and will try and stay away from that dark self-pity, lonely place. Why doesn't anyone talk about how hard it is to have your kids become independent and leave? I guess it is a good thing that I miss them so much and wish they were closer. It is fun to visit where they live but I just wish they lived closer. Ok enough. Read the paper and enjoy Casey's company! It is what it is! ...

Took Amanda to the airport all too soon this morning. Watched 27 dresses last night and didn't want to end the evening. Why do I feel so sad? She had been here for a month and it is time for her to go back and I am not handling it well. Since Thanksgiving it has been one high of activity with everyone here and all the excitement and now....nothing. I hate this. I took everything left down today and Otto has taken the outdoor down and packed it away. It is so much work but if I didn't have this would go mad. Why do we have the joy of children only to have them go so far that they can't be a part of our lives? Matt was here for the weekend and left to go back to Chicago and I am so miserable, I can't stop sobbing. I am so grateful that they are back safely but I miss them already and I miss the excitement of Christmas and just being together and doing day-to-day things. I am glad that they are such a joy and so much fun and we have such a good time together...

Watching the ABC special on the Haiti Earthquake. This is so tragic and yet we all feel so helpless! Ready to do some errands. Going to lunch at a Fatoush place for a salad, then to Target. Have to get Amanda packed for her Sunday flight. I am sure she will have to get to the airport 3 house ahead! Security is beefed up but that is ok. I don't want to think about that now. It is time for her to start 2nd semester and back to routines. It is what it is!

Oh what a night! Watched Grey's and Private Practice then after the Red Wing's fans came home I went to bed and slept until 5:45. I hate when that happens and I have no more time to sleep. Weigh in at school today. Lost 2 lbs. Then put out all the bagels and muffins for everyone else to hog down so I could be the biggest loser!!! LOL Normal day but glad to see Amanda & Lexi came to lunch and we went to Holbrook 1923 Cafe for lunch. After school Amanda & I went to bank to open a savings account for her "car" account and picked up her glasses. She is cooking quesedeas for dinner (no idea how to spell) and Matt is on his way home from Chicago for the weekend. That's all for now...it is what it is and it is the weekend plus a Monday off......YYYYEEEAAAHHHHH! oh update on Mrs. Dobos VII....the kids think that the fish the 4th grade teacher gave me is the one that died yesterday and that it came back to life or was hibernating or something but can't...

My beta fish died today. I was at a writing workshop for Lucy Caulkins today and they all had to tell me. They probably fed him pencil sharpenings or something. They are abnormal when I am not there. Not that they are normal when I am there! Glad tomorrow is TGIF. Need to work harder on piano. Recital will be here too soon. Amanda and Otto at Redwings game tonight. Watching the Haiti earthquake news..depressing. Ok, work to do. It is what it is. Exploding the moment! All the Christmas dishes are packed away, the snow people are out for January and once the family room is de-decorated, the snow people will go there. Also my living room tree is still on the porch and is waiting to come back in to be decorated with January snow people. At least my bulletin boards at school are done before half the month is done!

I bought my first bunch of daffodils today. I love them! I can't wait for them and now that Poinsettias are so yesterday, I was thrilled to see them in the store! It is what it is!!!!!!!!

Connie liked this! I was talking about our staff meeting and since my boss has no home computer (stone age) and does not know about Facebook or blog I can say stuff like that LOL!!!!! Amanda and I watched American Idol last night. Looking forward to tonight. Glee not on! Packed up all the ornaments off the tree while we were watching TV. Broke my travel coffee mug tonight grrrrrrrrr. I have had that for years. It fell off the counter and the handle snapped. House is clean clean clean! Thank you! (windows are awful though! Amanda and Otto got tickets for the Red Wings tomorrow night so I will pack the Christmas dishes away and get all the snowman stuff out before the month is over!!! Writing workshop all day tomorrow....no kids whooo hoooo! Bought goodies to host the day. Piano lesson tomorrow, better practice tonight! Still working on Forever Ireland (almost a year) and Entertainer for recital in March. Weigh in at school tomorrow. It is what it is and it weighs what...

Ride in was slow, did well with schedule today. 3 gum violations by 8:30 and by 9:00 a 2nd one for one of the first ones. Then she lied and said "no I don't have no gum" By 2:30 she had another referral for swearing and talking back and that resulted in a suspension which I am sure is my fault according to MOM! What a pain some of those kids can be. Been trying to crack down and if they are being disruptive....bye bye....go home until you are ready to come to learn. Had weigh in tonight and didn't lose over the holidays but stayed the same. Ok I guess. All de-decorating done except family room which is about 1/2 of the stuff! A couple evenings at least. Then I have to find everything I stashed and put away for the holidays to return it all to normal. Is it ever "normal" here????? I am happy if it is all back by end of the month. It is what it is. Tired....bedtime!

First let me say what a thrill it was to see Amanda on the "big screen" in "Youth in Revolt". Even if it was as an extra in the background. More to come I am sure. She is getting new head shots done and will have an agent soon. Thanks Angela for going with us and Lexi and her parents. It was fun! Stayed up too late and drank too much. Had a hard time getting going this morning and had sooo much to do. Only got to Target, Costco and nails done and went back to look and test drive a car with Amanda. Will have to go to the grocery store tomorrow. Hoped to get a good start on undecorating because it will take a week at least. Drove to Ferndale to see Lyric for a few minutes. She is visiting from Colorado then dropped Amanda at the Southfield ice arena to see Lawrence Tech play hockey. Melanie was waiting for her and will bring her home. So by the time we got home, I don't want to start anything so I am watching "Sleepless in Seattle". Tomorr...

Lots of snow since mid-afternoon, but probably not enough for a snow day!!! Durn! Fun drive home today. Piano, passed my holiday songs! Hope it keeps snowing hard! Nothing exciting happened except for an ITM that we had for one of my failing students and the parent is not ready to believe that she is ADHD, can't focus, complete anything or finish her work. She couldn't understand how out of 4 assignments with 100 on three of them and one not done at all she could have a C in writing. Since writing is graded only on that it is done, she only has to complete the assignment to get credit. The parent could not understand simple math of 300/400 points is 75% and a C. No wonder our kids fail! It is what it is!

watching glee while I am doing grades, math stuff and trying to figure out how to print one student's grades and assignments for this quarter. 3 of my difficult students out today....too bad! Ha ha. First weigh in of the Holbrook challenge! A lot to do! Math meeting tonight and had to drive home with the shit-head 5:00 drivers. Usually not that bad at 4:00 or at 7AM. It is what it is!

Man I wish those kids wouldn't talk so much. They would talk to dust! I am glad to welcome Hana who will be helping me 2 hours 3 days a week and a volunteer parent who will help correct papers, xerox, and give the stink eye to the other class when I am working with the other class! I have a couple of students who would make better doorknobs. Honestly, I wonder how they got to 5th grade. Not passing to 6th that is for sure. One student of mine had a cell phone ring in class today and then got mouthy about it. Snotty little brat! I am sick of her trying to have the last word all the time and her backtalk. I told her today she will not be winning the fight with me. I will have the last word! I wonder if she talks to her mother like that. I told her today that we wear uniforms and I don't want to see her in jeans again tomorrow or I would send her home. She got mouthy and said "well maybe I won't come tomorrow" and then told me she didn't have to do m...

Early!!! Dark!!! Cold!!! Boy was it hard to get out of bed today. Was not looking forward to the drive or work. Kids were pretty glad to be back and we accomplished a lot today. Started new chapters, new books etc. They were sooo chatty. That 6th never shuts up! The 5th was pretty good. Then my prep teacher didn't show up so I had a sub with no plans who wanted to know what I wanted to do. Sorry, not my job to do plans for the prep teacher. Idiot! He ended up doing synonyms and antonyms with them and they were quiet so since I had to stay in the room with them, I was able to get some stuff done, which suited me fine. I got all new Social Studies books and crap for both grades and had not had time to put away. There has to be 400 additional books. Yikes. Off to worship committee tonight.....like I said, back at 'em. It is what it is!

Really cold this morning, single digits. Even church was chilly. Getting ready to get ready for working tomorrow. Last minute things to take care of as "Christmas is officially over" for me once I go back to school. Want to wave that magic wand and have it all put away! Catch up on magazines etc. instead of packing all this junk. It is much "funner" unpacking it all! Anticipation! Ok, back to work, water plants, grade a few more papers, etc. Oh, Desperate Housewives has a new episode tonight. Hope I can sleep ok! Amanda and her dad took her car over to have a new water pump installed as I won't be here so she will have no car. It was leaking fluid from the anti-freeze place and had to be towed here a week or so ago. Then Otto found out he needs a new catalytic converter in his car and my washer needs a new timer. Anything else? I am afraid to ask! It is what it is and I have to go back to work to pay for IT!

Forgot to mention that "Youth in Revolt" movie that Amanda played an extra in during spring 08 is in theaters on Jan. 8th. She played a rich school girl in uniform and was on the LaCross team. The movie was shot in part at Marygrove College and Oakland University. Michael Cera is one of the main actors and I am so excited to see her on the "big screen"!!!!!! Hey even as an extra, everyone has to start somewhere...it is what it is and it is good!

Boy was that hard to write! 01-02-2010. Your brain has a hard time with it! What a splendid day yesterday. Did almost nothing! It was dark and we had the lights on all day (can't wait for the Dec. bill). We watched I Love Lucy, played a great game of Scrabble-used up all the letters and covered the whole board (instead of quitting like we do because only one quarter of the board is all jammed). We even used the Q and Z! Ate Swiss cheese fondue (I drag out the fondue pot yearly), more shrimp, and leftovers from NYE. Managed to clean up from the party and put it all away but did not much more. Today I will vacuum and make the bed! Probably go to the mall even though it is like 10 degrees out. My car is so dirty it looks grey! Went to look at a 2004 Mustang on Thurs. Only 6000 miles, red, prime condition but too much $$$$. Was owned by a collector that died so the dealership bought it from the estate. Wish I could do it! Only a couple days left until......back to sscc...

Everyone is complaining about how horrible 2009 was. I agree that there were some negatives but I cannot complain. My oldest son married the love of his life and we couldn't be happier to have Brian in our family. It was the wedding of the decade! I have had my family together many times this year. I was able to go to Washington DC three times. I went to Arizona in August. I still have a job. Otto was hired full time by Producer's Choice. First full-time job in 15 years. Casey is healthy.. I have a beautiful home, decorated to the nines for the holidays and I am extremely thankful and fortunate to have what I have. Shall I go on? Yes, we have had our share of trials and tribulations believe me. Some days I hate my job. I get depressed because all of my children live out of state. But, 2009 was not as bad as we are being led to believe. Every year we have bad things happen. I wish that no one would ever have to lose a job, or their home or, or, or.....but we n...