Overload

My gawd, it has been ten days since my last post! Egads (I've always wanted to use that word in a blog post) that's too long. I'm sorry my awesome blog friends I promise I haven't forgotten you. I also promise that there has been MORE than enough stories for me to blog about. So what's my deal you ask? Exhaustion. Pure and simple

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I don't know how children manage to collectively go nuts, but, they do it and at my school they do it with a dash extra crazy topped with loony. Yes, I realize they all mean virtually the same thing, but, that is the best description my fried brain can conjure up right now. Last night I went to bed around 9pm. The extra sleep did me a world of good as today I've had one child throw a fit for a solid twenty minutes during lunch, I had to break up two near fights in another class, watch another employee show off a students teeth marks on his arm, and at the end of the day I discover that my friend and co-worker has to have a brain scan to rule out an aneurysm. To top it all off Leo was hyper and Louie's having explosive diarrhea all over the house and I must get him to the vet pronto. Oh not to mention there's the concern that what Louie has Leo may get so I gotta keep an eye on both of them and keep Therapetics informed of what my vet says Louie has.

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Aren't you jealous?

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That's just today people and there's still over eight hours left until the end. And just to let you know today is a pretty good example of what's been going on since last week. One thing after another. It's just nuts and I'm very run down by it all.

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So, I have to miss Leo's training, but, I'm hoping to get my dance class in as I just need something to take my mind off of all this craziness. In exactly one week I'll get to be on fall break and I'm hoping to recoop some of my energy and sanity for that matter.

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In the meanwhile, I'm working to get back into the blogging groove. I have pictures of the new kitten (yes, I kept him), Leo at the fair (no mullet pics though boo!!), stories about this that and the other all ready to be posted. Just bare with me, I'm getting there!

Little Surprises

You see this guy? Yup, that's a kitten. And yup, he's sitting in the little kitty cube of fun that I own. So, yup, SURPRISE! I've adopted a kitten. I found him Saturday night. He was outside a friends basement apartment and didn't run when I picked him up. In fact, he purred. And it was pretty much all over at that point. My friend thought there was a chance that a neighbor was taking care of him (along with a gob of other neighborhood outdoor cat), but, I couldn't just throw him outside and check in the morning if he'd back. I took him home and my friend hasn't informed me that he belongs to someone else.

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So, as I said, it seems I've adopted a kitten, or him me... you never know with cats. ;-) He's adorable, sweet, loving, low key for a kitten, is already beginning to tolerate the dogs and knows to leave my cat Mina alone until she's full accepted his presence (she'll get over it soon enough). He perches on shoulders, curls up by my face when I'm in bed, give kisses, and purrs every time I approach. I've already made an appointment with my vet and Jon is already talking baby talk to him. I guess he's staying put! I know I can deal with it, but, I've been wanting another cat for a bit now so... kinda biased.

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The only problem is a name... what should he be named? Right now he's 'Little Guy' and that just doesn't roll off of the tongue nicely does it?

Thoughts? What does this name should this cute, loving, sweet face be called?

R&R??

Remember when you were younger, and when it was Saturday came around all you had to worry about was the what television programs to watch and/or where you were going to hang out with your friends? I know I do, though it seems like eons ago. Now that I'm working more my Saturdays have transformed into days where I am excited, yes excited, to clean house and get things in order. I have developed some kind of weird neurosis about having the house cleaned up before Monday.

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However, the past two weeks I haven't felt well at all thanks to the outrageous levels of ragweed and other allergens in there air. No kidding folks, it has been BAD. My roomie had to go to four pharmacies to find Zyrtec as so many people are desperate for relief that the stores can't keep that product stocked. Even Jon started suffering symptoms and the beginning of an infection and he rarely gets so much as the sniffles because of the pollen count. Anywho, thanks to constricted airways and a puffy face I wasn't exactly feeling up to cleaning. Now things got done here and there to keep the house from completely going to pot, but, it just hasn't been in any kind of order as I and Jon and my roomie have all felt lethargic and ill.

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Well thanks to better living through chemistry (ie antibiotics, Zyrtec D, and steroids) I'm feeling my more alive and motivated to get things done. Today my Saturday will not be spent laying on the couch, it will be spent getting this place cleaned up and even some practicing in. I'm actually very anxious to get through it all. Is that sad?

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And in the spirit of full disclosure here I will show you all what I am up against. Brace yourself folks. Please don't judge me and this house of yucky. If you are sensitive to pictures of what messiness looks like please look away now and do not return to this post. Okay you all have been warned!

Exhibit A: The laundry. Keep in mind this is before sorting and before all the laundry was moved to the basement to get washed. Laundry is one of those things that will never, ever end and I've come to accept it- to a degree. I still LOATH folding laundry though... that may never go away and I may have to come to accept it too. It a process I'm working through. They need a 12 step program for laundry I think... would help some of us out there.

Can you guess what clothing items are clean and which ones are dirty on the washer and dryer? I can't. Seriously, I have no clue on that one. If you have any thoughts do share!

Exhibit B: The Kitchen. This will be Jon's project for today. Lucky him!! I am really spoiled though. Jon cooks most of the meals and cleans up the kitchen. Though, he can take awhile to get to the dishes. It drives me nuts!! He has gotten better about it so I can't complain too much. Oh and before you click on this picture (I don't recommend it though) do know that all those black specs around the sink are coffee grinds. We won't go into the incident that caused them to be everywhere. Just understand that there is a legit reason for it and that is not little mold spores you're looking at.

Exhibit C: The Floors and The Dogs. My boys, ohhh how I love my doggy boys. They are so sweet, fun to be around, cute, loving, etc, etc. They are also the main culprits in creating a never ending trail of fur and destruction of toilet paper and toy remains on the floor (see picture below). I used to vacuum more than once a week, then I got a bit lazy these past couple of weeks and boy was the floor showing signs of neglect! Absolutely disgraceful, no excuse really. Cleaning the floor will be a major part of today.

Why did SpongeBob deserve to die?? SpongeBob lovers, I apologize for the graphic display of his tattered corpse. But scenes such as this (fur balls, toilet paper, shredded toys) are all too common around here. It's almost like the laundry in that fur balls are almost always on the floor. It's almost enough to make me give up keeping up with it, but, since my slight tendency towards OCD cannot tolerate looking at dust and fuzz tumbleweed I will take care of it! Just waiting for the medicine to open up my air passages for me to fully commit to cleaning and breathing while cleaning. It's the little things.

Well, at least some of us around here will get to lay around. Hope you all are having or had (for my friends in Oz and Asia) a Happy Saturday! I know mine will be happy once all this is DONE!

Leo At Your Service*

A blog post midday?? Why you ask? Shouldn't I be at work you ask?? Yes, I should, but, I'm not due to the sinus infection that mutated into an upper respiratory infection-again. I'm on the mend and am beyond grateful that my roommie had a spare refill of an antibiotic laying around so I don't have to shell out more money to see the doc (my health insurance hasn't taken effect yet). I'm kinda cranky about being sick, but, I'm trying to think positive here! I will get back all my energy and motivation to get stuff done.

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Now that my "I hate being sick" rant is over let's turn our attention to Leo. Specifically Leo's adjustment to my job at a local elementary school. My schedule has been changed a multitude of times already which can be frustrating and sometimes hard on Leo as a new room, students, and teachers can cause him to neglect napping and be a bit overstimulated. The first week and a half ish it was really rough. He wouldn't sleep, he'd get a bit agitated, restless, etc. Now that we're more in a 'groove' he's doing better and following commands better than ever. It seems the more noise and the more we have to do in a day the better he pays attention. He still has his days/moments though, but, hey don't we all?

Leo's presence at school has gone over really, really well. The kids are in love with him. Whenever we're in the hallway the students will wave hello to him, ask me if they can pet him, and sometimes they talk to him as if he were just another student there. The first day I began cafeteria duty the kids in line began chanting, "Leo! Leo! Leo!..." (which had to be stopped before mass chaos ensued). Talk about cool. The art teacher has had the younger students make pictures of Leo and they now line the hallways. I've had children give me pictures of them with Leo (they also give me Zany Bands and pencils- score!). Leo is a rock star at school and I cannot help but think he is loving the attention.

I think the biggest impact Leo has made is with one particular student I work with. Due to privacy issues I cannot go into specifics about this one kiddo (I'll call him J for John Doe), but, I will say he has a lot of issues to deal with at such a young age. I've been working with J for almost three weeks now, for about an hour a day and it's so neat to see what has been happening. This student calls Leo, 'his dog' and he often reaches out to Leo to touch him- the action seems almost subconscious actually. The students have been told that there is to be no touching/petting without my permission (we also use petting Leo as a reward for good behavior), but, I am inclined to let J touch Leo when he needs to. His teachers comment on how much calmer J is when we're in the room with him and I know that's in part to Leo's mellow yellow lab presence. Animals can truly be amazingly therapeutic and I am so lucky to see this day after day, especially in the relationship that has formed between Leo and J.
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To say Leo's presence has been a positive one is an understatement. I love bringing him to work with me even if it means putting up with the little hassles that will inevitably happen with a puppy and training a service dog. It's worth it though, and to show that I will leave you all with this one very sweet episode from last Friday. The student, J, came with his classmates to the 1st grade class I was working in to read to the younger students and the younger students would, in turn, read to them. We allowed J to read to Leo and I (see picture above). Leo laid down calmly and watched him read, gradually falling asleep. After J read for awhile Leo woke back up and watched him again staying really low key; despite the classroom being noisy the area we sat in was a sea of calmness. J asked me something and I asked him to repeat it as I didn't hear it. J asked if he could give Leo a kiss. I said yes he could and J gave him a gentle peck on his forehead and Leo sighed and looked at him with contentment. What a moment to witness. There's an understanding going on between those two, one that I don't get to be a direct part of, but, one I am more than happy to have develop.

*That is Leo's first name. All the service dogs are give the 'last name' of 'At Your Service'

And We're Back

Ohh last week, how you took it out of me. My apologies for my blogging absence! I got a bit sick, the kids all took crazy pills at school, and yesterday I had three places to be and Leo had hot spots on his paw so bad he hardly moved for a day (he's a lot better now). My energy is coming back and now I'm back to blogging.

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So here's the long overdue post about the Scottish Games in Tulsa. I danced there a week ago and wow was I rusty- and HOT!

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The Scottish Games mean that there are multitudes of men wearing kilts. Young and old.

I wanted to hug this old man. He was decked out and didn't seem to be bothered by the hot weather. Though I wonder if his legs itched in those stockings that day.

Thank you Lord for men who dress in kilts and do us the favor of wearing shorts underneath. From what I understand most, if not all kilts, are all wool. For their sake I hope they were wearing their light weight summer kilts. I have my doubts.

Did I mention it was hot out there last week? Like almost mid-summer hot. Summer decided to make one last stand and of course it was on the day we had to dance. As you can tell I was less than enthused about having to be there. I wanted to dance, but, I knew it was going to be rough as I had just started practicing again after a six week break. Add the heat in there and I just wanted to run. But, alas, the show must go on!

Photographic evidence that I love, love to jump. And my form isn't nearly as good as it was! The beginning of the performance wasn't bad. But, after about 10 minutes I thought I was melting.

We have a new addition to our little dance school and his name is James. I don't think I have to point out where he is in that picture. He's really cool,talented, from Canada, and one tough cookie for having to dance in that heat in black slacks and a long sleeve shirt. I felt bad about my complaints. At least I had a t-shirt on.

We danced two 15 minute segments. I was told that my face looked about as red as my skirt towards the end. Darn pale skin and my tendency to overheat! I think we all lost five pounds dancing out there. Apparently Irish Dance has about the same cardio impact of full on running- while I am no scientist nor doctor I would like to throw in my, 'YA THINK?!' in there. It was fun though, the crowd was delightful and forgiving of our rusty performance (first time the 'band' was back together and we rehearsed just an hour plus-ish before we arrived at the games). Thanks to Sarah's kids and hubby who showed up and watched my face nearly explode! lol And of course we must give Jon some major credit for taking pictures of the dancing and for taking me to get a cold beverage at QuikTrip after. We wanted to stay longer, but, the heat was making us both very tired so we headed out and sought relief in cool drinks and air conditioning. That said, the Tulsa Scottish Games were fun, bagpipes and kilts everywhere, games, dancing, and good food. What's not to love and enjoy?

Picture du Jour

Wheee!! I believe I can fly!

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If you'll forgive me, I'm really drained and tired from today's performance at the Scottish Games . The temperature and humidity were both up today. I swear I lost five pounds due to excessive sweating!! So, no long blog entry with all the pictures taken at today's event. Just one photo, taken by Jon, which really captures the motion and momentum of dance. Enjoy! I'll be back soon with more great shots.

Fall Beckons

I can't help but have a, "My thoughts on fall approaching" entry. So if you'll allow me a bit of musing here and random photo-age I'd appreciate it. Even though, the daytime temps still hover in the lower 90's we can feel fall approaching here in Tulsa as the morning temps are much cooler and the humidity is beginning to drop. I don't think fall really starts in Oklahoma until October, so, with the end of September approaching I'm anticipating the cooler and crisper air! This probably has to do, at least in part, with my car not having a/c. But, seriously I do love fall!

Mina doesn't get a lot of face time on my blog, but, she's still around and Queen Bee of all.
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Fall makes me wanna clean. I know there's spring cleaning, but, what's wrong with a little fall cleaning I say? Oh, right cleaning involves work. Well, guess it's a small price to pay for some good clean 'feng shue' around the house right? Oh and fall means new clothes must be bought. Especially since I've been wearing the same black slacks 3-4 days of the week (different tops of course!) at work. A new job and a change of season is the perfect time for shopping, n'est ce pas?
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Okay... so anytime of the year is a good time for shopping really. I just get buyers guilt if I don't have a good rationalization for shopping.

The dogs love that temps aren't in the 100's anymore. Can't say I blame them there!
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Fall also means I'm back to Irish dance and hopefully my French language classes (if they're offered on one of my few free nights. Fingers crossed!). I'm still sore from last Thursday night's dance class and I've discovered that my feet lost their most of their calluses. I've been on blister watch for the past two days. Luckily, none have popped up yet, but, the balls of my feet are tender. Getting back into the groove of dancing has it's price. Oh why oh why did I not practice during the break!? Oh, right, I was trying to get a job. Then I got a job. I guess that's a reasonable excuse. ;-)
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Fall also brings the Scottish Games, the Tulsa Oktoberfest, and the Tulsa State Fair. Plaid skirts, Highland games, leiderhosen, bratwurst, beer, fried food, and mullet sitings- what's not to love?! Naturally I'll be attending these said events and going bananas with the camera. I hope I can capture a shot of the illusive 'skullet' at the fair. There's always a couple in the crowd, but, getting a clear picture of this phenomenon, and being inconspicuous about it, is very, very challenging.
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I love fall, but, I love every season for one reason or another. I think that's because, by the time a season ends I'm ready for a new one to begin. I love the changing of seasons the holidays in them, and the events, big or small, they bring.
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Do you have anything to look forward to during fall?