Monday, September 25, 2006

Another Year Older

My birthday yesterday was a lot more uneventful than last year! No hurricanes, we kept power, and there were restaurants open. A significant improvement. I don't really care that much about my birthday, but last year's was just lame.

We went to Louisiana for the weekend to see the folks. I hadn't been since July, Darren hadn't been since Father's Day, and more importantly, my parents hadn't seen their only grandchild since August 17th. Mom and Dad's house, which I call "the money pit" has been in a constant state of remodeling since they moved in two and a half years ago. There are always new improvements to see each time we go.

It was a nice weekend, even though the weather wasn't so nice. Saturday, Mom and I did some damage at Macy's, buying new clothes. It's so nice to find some classic, tailored pieces that aren't cut for people with no curves! Saturday afternoon, Mom and I went on a towel quest to find some new towels for one of the bathrooms, and Saturday night, we all went out to eat to celebrate my birthday. We went to Peking Garden, which was the first hibachi restaurant in Lafayette. The food was excellent, but it took forever to get seated. As my hubby says, "They take reservations, but they don't know what to do with them."

Yesterday, we went out for breakfast to Dwyer's, which has been around since the 1920's. It took forty minutes for our order to arrive, and when it did, they had run out of biscuits. You would have thought the waitress would have had time to let us know. After lunch, we ran around to a couple of places, and we headed back around 3:30. Zach slept almost the whole four-hour drive, so last night's bedtime was a marathon event.

I got all sorts of new bike stuff for my birthday, so I guess it's time for me to get serious and start riding. I bought my road bike a few weeks ago, and have only ridden it three times. By the time Darren gets home during the week, it's almost dark, and Zach isn't trustworthy on a bike. I need to start making the time to train, so that I will be in great shape once April and that 187-mile ride come. I just need to stop working, so I can ride during the day. Ha.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Slightly Better Rested

I went to work yesterday morning, and still felt okay until about 11:00. I decided that I wasn't going to try to tough it out all day, and requested a substitute for noon. The kids read independently for their lesson, so there wasn't a whole lot of teaching that took place in my classroom. That's a good thing, because I think I would have babbled endlessly.

Around lunchtime (11:10), I became REALLY tired, and had a hard time talking to my third period class at 11:45. I could feel myself swaying. My sub arrived at noon, and I left the students in her capable hands. I had to talk to someone all the way home to stay awake, and of course, I couldn't go to sleep right away when I got home. It took me an hour to fall asleep, then I slept until 4:00. That wasn't enough, but I had to pick Zach up from school. I managed to stay awake all evening, and we spent an hour at the grocery store. Thanks to my incoherence, we spent WAY more than we usually do. It will be fun today to look at what we bought last night. Hopefully some of it has some nutritional value.'

When it came time to go to bed, I had a hard time getting to sleep. Go figure. I can't wait for this congestion to leave and never come back! My whole house probably smells mentholated by now; I have a vaporizer next to the bed, I had some inhaling oil from England on a cotton pad in my pillowcase, and for extra measure, I smeared Vicks Vaporub on my chest. I slept all night, though! I'll probably (hopefully) crash early tonight. We'll see...

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Just. Want. To. Sleep

Well, it's 4:27 in the morning, and I have been awake since 2:51. My alarm goes off at 6:02, so this won't be much of a night for me. I didn't manage to pass out until after midnight. It's going to be a fun day. I have a raging sinus infection that seems to have gotten worse since I went to the doctor yesterday. I should've stuck with my DayQuil and not even bothered to fill the decongestant prescription. My whole face hurts, and my body feels like it's weighed down with lead (or is that fat?) I sure hope this stuff keeps me awake all day, like it did all night. Right.

Zach's birthday party went very well, for the few of you who actually read this. He got lots of Cars-related stuff, and we had a great turnout. I'll get to those thank-you notes eventually, after I finish the ones from last year. We had a great weekend with Darren's sister and her family, and even went out to eat Japanese food, which I had been craving. There isn't a noticeably large amount of toys in my living room, so I'm happy.

Labor Day weekend flew by. We went back to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels for the weekend, with Darren's brother Sean, his wife Jamie, and their two kids. We did the waterpark for two days, and had a ball. No one got sunburned, and we rode all of the rides. Zach even rode the big slides. We were hoping they'd let him on, since he is about half an inch too short for a few of the rides. I bought him some water shoes to make him taller, and I guess that worked. We cooked in the room Saturday and Sunday night, and Monday, we checked out and went to Gruene. We shopped a bit, ate a yummy lunch at the Gristmill, and headed home, along with the rest of the population from the Houston area. We stopped in Giddings, home of the famous Seafood and Donut restaurant, and got some ice cream from Dairy Queen. It's probably a good thing that there isn't one closer to our house. I'd be even fatter than I already am.

Hmm. Still not tired. What else can I babble about? Oh, I can talk about my frustrating students. That should fill some time. I teach four classes of Social Studies to fifth-graders. My homebase is pretty good; I have two other teachers in the room with me, so that helps with crowd control. I have a deaf student and her teacher, and all of my other kids (and me) want to learn sign language. They got rid of our content mastery room this year, so instead of sending the kids who need extra help to another room, we have extra teachers in the room to help those kids. It works out really well, because the kids don't miss instruction, don't get lost on the way to and from another room, and there is someone else there who can watch the kids if I have to pee. Second period is my "helpless handraiser" class. I have one every year, and they suck the life out of me with their endless questions and need for me to clarify every word that I say. I can't think of any major discipline problems in that class. Third period I have after lunch. I have the aggressively helpful boy, the boy who sits under his desk and refuses to work, the girl who can't sit still, and the boy whose neck must be broken, because his head is always down. I also have lots of talkers in that class. They take a lot out of me. My last class I have after PE. I have the bouncy boy who can't sit still, the blurter who can't understand why he can't talk to me all the time, the boy who slaps people in the bathroom (and can justify it), and two boys who can't seem to get their act together and keep track of all of their stuff. This class requires the energy of a lion tamer, to keep these kids quiet enough for me to teach them. I pity them this afternoon.

Well, since I'm still not tired, I may as well go find something to do. I only hope I make it until 4:00 this afternoon!