Friday, January 30, 2009
PS
And on the way to Walgreens to get my prescriptions filled, I had to stop for a cattle drive. That's right, a cattle drive. Two cowpokes were herding a bunch of steers. This was between the fairgrounds and the autobody parts place. In my painful state of mind, I decided this topped off my week.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Cave In's
I arrived at school Monday morning, took off my coat, etc., went to my desk to put some things away when I heard a loud ripping sound and then water began to pour through the ceiling tiles over the circle-time area. It was fixed within the hour, but I felt like Chicken Little.....the school is a bunker, after all.
Then, I've had this persistent pain in my gut, remember? Went to the doc this evening, gave 4 tubes of blood. Result? He thinks I have a mild(?) case of diverticulitis. And me, the person who tries to eat healthfully (except for all the sugar). I don't have all the symptoms, but enough of them, I guess. So I'm on megadoses of 2 antibiotics. I'm not sure I want to take one of them, as it produces nausea. That's all I need. I've got to research and figure out how to feel better. What eating plan to I follow now? I'm beat. Going to bed.
Then, I've had this persistent pain in my gut, remember? Went to the doc this evening, gave 4 tubes of blood. Result? He thinks I have a mild(?) case of diverticulitis. And me, the person who tries to eat healthfully (except for all the sugar). I don't have all the symptoms, but enough of them, I guess. So I'm on megadoses of 2 antibiotics. I'm not sure I want to take one of them, as it produces nausea. That's all I need. I've got to research and figure out how to feel better. What eating plan to I follow now? I'm beat. Going to bed.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Feeling Punk
I don't know what it is, but I feel really punk. I've had this gut ache all week and it doesn't seem to go away. Yesterday I limited my food intake by amount and kind....did the bland rice, plain toast thing. It helped some, but not enough. I even went so far as to buy some milk of magnesia, something I don't think I've ever done for myself before. My gut is clean, that's for sure, but the pain is still there. It radiates in a triangle from the tip of my breastbone to across my navel. It is worse after I eat and while the food I've eaten traverses my body. Do I have an ulcer? Some sort of virus? Salmonella (though I haven't eaten any of the tainted peanut butter stuff, I don't think)? I hope it is nothing worse, but I won't list the bad scenarios that flash through my mind during intervals of pain. The pain is wearing me down. I don't have a primary physician here. I've heard so many horror stories of misdiagnoses in this valley, I hate to go to the doctor. I will have to, though, if this keeps up.
I've begun the C.H.I.P. program yet again......will I ever learn to eat for health and not live to eat? We are doing this program together, my family and I. Send your prayers that we will persevere to better health long term!
And to top it all off, it is snowing AGAIN! We have 2-3 inches of the white stuff and I've given up snow shoveling. I can't take winter anymore. But don't worry, I'll be complaining about summer heat come August!
My cat keeps crying to go outside, but when I open the door she just settles down in the doorway, letting cold air in. So I shut the door. So, she walked to the front door....like I never let her out the front!
I'm all for snuggling under some covers today and hibernating till spring. And you?
I've begun the C.H.I.P. program yet again......will I ever learn to eat for health and not live to eat? We are doing this program together, my family and I. Send your prayers that we will persevere to better health long term!
And to top it all off, it is snowing AGAIN! We have 2-3 inches of the white stuff and I've given up snow shoveling. I can't take winter anymore. But don't worry, I'll be complaining about summer heat come August!
My cat keeps crying to go outside, but when I open the door she just settles down in the doorway, letting cold air in. So I shut the door. So, she walked to the front door....like I never let her out the front!
I'm all for snuggling under some covers today and hibernating till spring. And you?
201 Post
Just saw that I had 200 posts on this blog. Amazing! And, really, what does it all mean? What if the 'Hokey Pokey' is really what it's all about?
Friday, January 23, 2009
a Little Motherly Advice
I feel sorry for all mothers, as after we have children, we never truly have that full night's sleep again. Me, I'm awake in the middle of the night. Here it is 2:21 a.m. I can't believe I'm not sleepy. I didn't go to bed early or anything. As I get older, I tend to do this more and more. It is frustrating.
Oh, the motherly advice? I was just thinking about how hard it is to persevere day after day after day, putting up with tantrums, runny noses, high fevers, messy diapers, etc. Yet, when those little ones show their smiles and endearing qualities, our hearts melt. We will always love our children.
As we raise these precious bundles, and all their newly learned skills seem so delightful (and perhaps frustrating), remember, parents, to persevere. Daily, moment by moment, hang in there. What may seem cute at a young age, could blossom into full rebellion at a later date. It is much easier to train a child when s/he is young than to try to retrain them after an annoying habit has been established. Believe me, even babies can be trained. And even though it seems easier to ignore little mishaps; when they persist, perseverance in structure, routine and 'rules' needs to be your mantra. A defining, repeated /No/ is essential. If you don't believe me, just look at Nanny 911 or similar shows. Even though these are the extremes for sickening 'entertainment' value, those things happen. You don't want them happening to you or your children.
Raising children is perhaps The greatest way for us, as moms and dads, to grow within ourselves in our relationships with others and in our own psyche. I am certain that I have learned the most value and truth in my life from raising my children. If we are willing to let go of the old baggage that drives a lot of our behavior and learn to 'say no,' to persevere though we feel we will collapse in every physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual part of our lives, and to hang on to the hope that we are teaching our children and ourselves to live lives of high quality, we will grow old with grace and wisdom. (Okay, that is way too long a sentence, but it is the middle of the night.)`
Am I growing old with grace and wisdom? I am finding that I want to spout about all the things I've learned and WARN all upcoming generations when I see them making mistakes that have negative consequences. But, I also realize that every person has his/her own journey to travel through this life. I am sometimes strong enough to keep my mouth shut.....but not often enough. :0)
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs? I believe this. I've lived by it....mostly. I've made huge, huge mistakes. You will too, but persevere. Change. Grow. Smile, laugh. Say no. Persevere.
My children? Oh, how I love them and am so proud of them and their spouses. I'm so glad to call them FAMILY!! They take their lives seriously, yet not so seriously to squash the fun, joy and hope.
Enjoy life, but persevere, even in the little things. Love each other.
Oh, the motherly advice? I was just thinking about how hard it is to persevere day after day after day, putting up with tantrums, runny noses, high fevers, messy diapers, etc. Yet, when those little ones show their smiles and endearing qualities, our hearts melt. We will always love our children.
As we raise these precious bundles, and all their newly learned skills seem so delightful (and perhaps frustrating), remember, parents, to persevere. Daily, moment by moment, hang in there. What may seem cute at a young age, could blossom into full rebellion at a later date. It is much easier to train a child when s/he is young than to try to retrain them after an annoying habit has been established. Believe me, even babies can be trained. And even though it seems easier to ignore little mishaps; when they persist, perseverance in structure, routine and 'rules' needs to be your mantra. A defining, repeated /No/ is essential. If you don't believe me, just look at Nanny 911 or similar shows. Even though these are the extremes for sickening 'entertainment' value, those things happen. You don't want them happening to you or your children.
Raising children is perhaps The greatest way for us, as moms and dads, to grow within ourselves in our relationships with others and in our own psyche. I am certain that I have learned the most value and truth in my life from raising my children. If we are willing to let go of the old baggage that drives a lot of our behavior and learn to 'say no,' to persevere though we feel we will collapse in every physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual part of our lives, and to hang on to the hope that we are teaching our children and ourselves to live lives of high quality, we will grow old with grace and wisdom. (Okay, that is way too long a sentence, but it is the middle of the night.)`
Am I growing old with grace and wisdom? I am finding that I want to spout about all the things I've learned and WARN all upcoming generations when I see them making mistakes that have negative consequences. But, I also realize that every person has his/her own journey to travel through this life. I am sometimes strong enough to keep my mouth shut.....but not often enough. :0)
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs? I believe this. I've lived by it....mostly. I've made huge, huge mistakes. You will too, but persevere. Change. Grow. Smile, laugh. Say no. Persevere.
My children? Oh, how I love them and am so proud of them and their spouses. I'm so glad to call them FAMILY!! They take their lives seriously, yet not so seriously to squash the fun, joy and hope.
Enjoy life, but persevere, even in the little things. Love each other.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Week's End
A short R&R weekend. Long deep breath. The early morning hour in which I am blogging on this Saturday is a quiet respite from the day to day shoring up I must do mentally, emotionally and physically to face a day at work.
About work: Student transportation issues have been worked out, finally. Medical issues for one student will be the principal's first micromanaged crisis next week, I'm sure. I'm putting on my armor to face that one. Some students' set ups to leave the classroom to get extended services begins next week. One is being mainstreamed into Head Start for an hour, another is getting extra speech services and one will be receiving extra services in the social behavior classroom. Quite the gamut. The new 3-year-olds who have joined my class function at the 8-12 month range, so it is quite a challenge to balance their needs with those who are 4 going on 5 and ready for more preacademic preschool activities. Of course, they all have their quirks, believe me. But the old screamers look bewilderingly at the new screamers and the dynamic changes again. Some children, because of transportation issues, mostly, did not attend regularly, so the most children I had in any one class was 8, which is Plenty, considering the wheelchairs, oblivious runners, destructos,screamers and children w/autism in their own little worlds.
Sometime last year I put in a request to paint my classroom....they are going to do it next Friday! Thankfully I don't have children on Fridays. It is our assessment and team meeting day. Thursday I will stay late getting things off walls and furniture moved to the center of the room; then go in Sunday to put everything together. I've put out a call for help. We'll see what happens.
One Huge relief this week at work was that the principal was out of town, attending a conference. She took about 5 teachers with her, and despite there being so many substitutes, the week was calm. The administrator in charge this last week is a calm, joyful person, herself having gone through cancer 3 times. She knows the value of any given moment and has a completely different personality/outlook than the principal. One teacher even commented to me about that fact. This was interesting, as I wondered what others thought of the dramatic change in 'atmosphere'. This was a person I didn't expect to say anything, especially without my initiation of the conversation!
My little O is dramatically growing and losing his 'babyness' with every moment. Wednesday evening I babysat and he took my hand, and led me to the stairs, looking up and then back at me, jabbering on, obviously wanting me to go to the family room with him. When we got to the top, he looked to make sure I was seated in the room, then went over to the TV and looked back at me. Now, they don't have "TV" but play Wii and watch movies. He loves to play with the Wii wand. So I found the broken one he uses, gave it to him and then turned on a Baby movie about Old McDonald's farm. He asked for help to get up on the sofa with me and then proceeded to bounce around and climb all over the sofa, learning to climb up and down. He would stop every so often when I'd imitate the animals or ask him to look at a particular animal Then he'd bounce and jump and 'dance'with the music. He wore himself out, that's for sure! It was just so amazing to see him socially interact, initiating play with me, completing communication 'circles' and maintaining the play.....all of which I am attempting to teach my 3-5 year olds at school! When he finished his play, he went downstairs and started pushing the recycling bin around. He has a push toy, a push wagon and a bike, but what does he enjoy most? Pushing the garbage/recycling around!
He's my own little "Baby Einstein," of course, especially considering my skewed sense of normality working with children in special education! :o)
Grandchildren are jewels and I can't wait to see my little TN gal soon! She won't be a baby anymore either. I'm sad to have missed all that cuddliness! But I just consider myself fortunate to have modern technology available to keep me in touch. When I get to feeling sorry for myself, I just think of the 'pioneers' who got letters once a year..maybe, and perhaps never saw their loved ones again if they had traveled far West or East, North or South.
As to the weather, our snow is gone, except for the snow shoveled piles that started at 8 feet tall around store parking lots. We had a particularly warm Chinook wind blow through Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures were nearly 60 on one day. High winds dried everything out and with the warm temps, we even took the kids out to play on the playground. Thursday was colder, but the weatherman predicts a period of cold, dry weather for awhile. That will help with the flooding here. The Pacific Northwest has certainly had its ample share of wild weather already this winter! One interesting note is that I noticed a spot of my lawn where I had piled all the snow from my driveway is now indented. I don't know if it will even out, or not.
Have a wonderful Sabbath day!
About work: Student transportation issues have been worked out, finally. Medical issues for one student will be the principal's first micromanaged crisis next week, I'm sure. I'm putting on my armor to face that one. Some students' set ups to leave the classroom to get extended services begins next week. One is being mainstreamed into Head Start for an hour, another is getting extra speech services and one will be receiving extra services in the social behavior classroom. Quite the gamut. The new 3-year-olds who have joined my class function at the 8-12 month range, so it is quite a challenge to balance their needs with those who are 4 going on 5 and ready for more preacademic preschool activities. Of course, they all have their quirks, believe me. But the old screamers look bewilderingly at the new screamers and the dynamic changes again. Some children, because of transportation issues, mostly, did not attend regularly, so the most children I had in any one class was 8, which is Plenty, considering the wheelchairs, oblivious runners, destructos,screamers and children w/autism in their own little worlds.
Sometime last year I put in a request to paint my classroom....they are going to do it next Friday! Thankfully I don't have children on Fridays. It is our assessment and team meeting day. Thursday I will stay late getting things off walls and furniture moved to the center of the room; then go in Sunday to put everything together. I've put out a call for help. We'll see what happens.
One Huge relief this week at work was that the principal was out of town, attending a conference. She took about 5 teachers with her, and despite there being so many substitutes, the week was calm. The administrator in charge this last week is a calm, joyful person, herself having gone through cancer 3 times. She knows the value of any given moment and has a completely different personality/outlook than the principal. One teacher even commented to me about that fact. This was interesting, as I wondered what others thought of the dramatic change in 'atmosphere'. This was a person I didn't expect to say anything, especially without my initiation of the conversation!
My little O is dramatically growing and losing his 'babyness' with every moment. Wednesday evening I babysat and he took my hand, and led me to the stairs, looking up and then back at me, jabbering on, obviously wanting me to go to the family room with him. When we got to the top, he looked to make sure I was seated in the room, then went over to the TV and looked back at me. Now, they don't have "TV" but play Wii and watch movies. He loves to play with the Wii wand. So I found the broken one he uses, gave it to him and then turned on a Baby movie about Old McDonald's farm. He asked for help to get up on the sofa with me and then proceeded to bounce around and climb all over the sofa, learning to climb up and down. He would stop every so often when I'd imitate the animals or ask him to look at a particular animal Then he'd bounce and jump and 'dance'with the music. He wore himself out, that's for sure! It was just so amazing to see him socially interact, initiating play with me, completing communication 'circles' and maintaining the play.....all of which I am attempting to teach my 3-5 year olds at school! When he finished his play, he went downstairs and started pushing the recycling bin around. He has a push toy, a push wagon and a bike, but what does he enjoy most? Pushing the garbage/recycling around!
He's my own little "Baby Einstein," of course, especially considering my skewed sense of normality working with children in special education! :o)
Grandchildren are jewels and I can't wait to see my little TN gal soon! She won't be a baby anymore either. I'm sad to have missed all that cuddliness! But I just consider myself fortunate to have modern technology available to keep me in touch. When I get to feeling sorry for myself, I just think of the 'pioneers' who got letters once a year..maybe, and perhaps never saw their loved ones again if they had traveled far West or East, North or South.
As to the weather, our snow is gone, except for the snow shoveled piles that started at 8 feet tall around store parking lots. We had a particularly warm Chinook wind blow through Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures were nearly 60 on one day. High winds dried everything out and with the warm temps, we even took the kids out to play on the playground. Thursday was colder, but the weatherman predicts a period of cold, dry weather for awhile. That will help with the flooding here. The Pacific Northwest has certainly had its ample share of wild weather already this winter! One interesting note is that I noticed a spot of my lawn where I had piled all the snow from my driveway is now indented. I don't know if it will even out, or not.
Have a wonderful Sabbath day!
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Today is about Tomorrow
Holiday break is over. Today I am finalizing January's lesson plans and going to the school to put up a bulletin board, put in place a few new 'toys' I bought and fill the Circle bag with new stories and rhymes. Now I had planned, over the break, to reorganize my files, rearrange the classroom, etc., but that never happened. I do avoid unpleasant tasks! I have five new students coming, two in the morning and three in the afternoon. It's a bit like the first day of school all over again! I doubt if I sleep well tonight. How many of my students will actually attend tomorrow is questionable, what with the weather (18 degrees last night), colds, flu, and transportation issues (I had a call that one family was concerned that they hadn't heard from the bus barn as to a pick up time for their child.)Since we left school three days early, rather abruptly because of the weather, everything will take a while to settle into a regular routine.
I know I'll need to breathe deeply on a regular basis and be patient. When I'm anxious for my classes go well, I'm easily provoked by anyone...my little students included. Even my exceptional assistants get on my nerves. And, remember, I have that new data system to put in place.
So, this day, starting early, I hope to get a lot done to prepare for school tomorrow and feel more relaxed tonight. I'm opening a new page to color at school. I already feel like I'm scribbling nervously as a squirrel moves in cold weather. I need prayers to help me remember to color joy and fun into the doing.
Friday, January 02, 2009
It's Ba-A-ack!
Snow! It is snowing in earnest! Heavy, wet snow. Weather report says it should be rain by noon, but for now we have over an inch and the birds are frantically searching for the bird seed hidden by its white snowy frosting.
The new year has arrived, my grandson and family have returned and school starts on Monday. Vacation is over. What have I accomplished? Rest. Rest. Rest.
I am beginning to color in the pages of the new year. As each blank page of the new year presents itself as pure and open, I hope to color with beauty, originality and purpose. I'll color inside the lines wisely. At the end of the year I hope my coloring has brightened the lives of those who contacted it and shown the glory of my merciful God.
The new year has arrived, my grandson and family have returned and school starts on Monday. Vacation is over. What have I accomplished? Rest. Rest. Rest.
I am beginning to color in the pages of the new year. As each blank page of the new year presents itself as pure and open, I hope to color with beauty, originality and purpose. I'll color inside the lines wisely. At the end of the year I hope my coloring has brightened the lives of those who contacted it and shown the glory of my merciful God.
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