St. Patty's Day Blues

Well, tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day... and I'm sad. Why? I'm an Irish dancer who has been [medically] unable to dance! Already, there have been two performances my dance school has done and where was I? Stuck at a home with a bum eye and a weak ankle. Sorry for the pity party, but, this has really bummed me out. To top it off, I won't be going out tomorrow hitting the pubs or anything fantastically St. Patty's Day-esque. I won't be in a parade, or seeing a parade, won't go to the new 3-D Lord of the Dance premiere (something to do with only seeing with one eye is nauseating enough at times, add 3-D and I'll be a mess!) and so on.

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So, if you are going to have some St. Patrick's Day fun, think of me. Have a drink, holler louder, and have a little bit more fun (not about to get in jail fun though!) for me okay? Just don't do anything that would cause you or someone else great harm alright? Not like I think you will, just wanted to put that disclaimer out there. ;-)

Coping Mechanisms

God Bless those who fry food and make big LITs.

I haven't had the best of weeks. Perhaps this is to balance the great Thursday I had last week. You never know. Anyways, Monday started out awful. I woke up with pink eye (thank goodness I had the anti-biotic eye drops to help!) and my period started (I know tmi, but, it sets the tone for this day). The cold, snowy weather that rolled into Tulsa was enough to nearly get me in a wreck, but, not enough to cancel school. The school I work in was cold in many places as the heaters aren't working as well. Leo wasn't listening, the kids weren't listening, and my body wouldn't stop aching. As if that all wasn't icky enough I discovered I locked my keys in my car. I do NOT have a spare set.

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Ugh.

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Jon once again came to my rescue. He drove over to my school from work, called a locksmith, got cash and a hot chocolate at Quiktrip, and came in time to pay said locksmith and take Leo off of my hands. That night he treated me out to Bros. Holligan's and I coped by drinking the LIT you see in that picture (to my left), eating fried shrimp, cottage fries and the entire container of God-I-Don't-Wanna-Know-How-Many-Ounces-Of-Amazing-Gravy-Goodness. Not exactly my finest hour, but, it was delicious.

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Okay, so this week hasn't been horrible... just blech. I think I'm still adjusting being back to working for forty hours per week. Dance is about to start back up and I'm hoping that I'll get an energy and motivation boost from that. I'm also getting back to some French classes to get me ready for my visit abroad. I am thrilled to get my [foreign language part] brain working again.

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So there's hope I won't be a complete lump on the sofa when I get home everyday from work, right? Right?!

Contented Sigh

Today was one of those days. One of those good days that is. I have nearly caught up on the lost sleep I sustained at the beginning of the week and am beginning to settle back into the daily grind. Today I had energy and more mental clarity and kids seemed to respond to me well. Even Leo seemed more settled in, willing to take naps when I didn't need him to do anything. And when I did need him he didn't fail to perform. When I asked him to lay down with the pre-schoolers during an assembly not only did he lay there until I needed him to move, he tolerated frantic four year old pets, kids in his face, and his ears being pulled in all sorts of giggles. Much to the delight of the little ones, of course!

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Then, we had the first class at Therapetics of 2011, and thing there went very well. No, Leo is not perfect, but, I'm able to correct and redirect him well and he gets to what he needs to be doing after that. It is so nice to not have him dig in his heels and refuse to do things now. Today, he [mostly] did what he was told, was walking around with a loose leash, laid quietly for long periods of time (hard for him, he likes to do things and whines when he's bored), and just in general listened well. It seems he is FINALLY getting past the obnoxious teenager phase! YAYNESS!

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After class I went down the street to the new studio space our dance school is going to be using. Now that we're our own school my teacher found a place for us to dance in and has put in a dance floor. My shins are rejoicing! It's not a huge space, but, it will meet our needs. I don't know why this excites me, but, it does. I came home and practiced more and had a couple of moments where I saw progress. That gave me some serious encouragement.

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I guess, in a nutshell, today is one of those days where I saw and felt progress in areas I often get worried I'm not improving in. Work, Leo, and dance all had little signs that told me, "Hey, you're getting somewhere and doing okay!" It's nice to get days like that isn't it?

Robitussin and Christmas Movies Help to Make the Season Bright..

I'm sick. Again. lol It's almost ridiculous actually. I think this is the fourth time I've been sick this semester! I knew, going into my new job, that the first year (and even the second) one works at a school they use up all their sick days and then some. I have been told that I will not get sick after this immune 'boot camp'. I know they're right, I do. Just right now, feeling a little pessimistic. ;-)

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I do feel a bit bad about so many posts centered around being sick or having a hard time at work. I promise, my life is not all sickness and hard moments. Things have been great, but, very busy. Irish dance is awesome, though I am working really hard right now (in between illnesses) to improve which of course comes slower than my perfectionist self wants. Then there's Leo who's training is coming along great despite this horrid teenager phase, Louie who is as sweet as ever, Mina who reigns supreme, and the newbie Tibby who is getting ridiculously cuter and sweeter with each passing day. Of course, Jon's still around working and beginning to actually think about fixing up the house to his liking. In between all of that I've been out with friends, had my productive moments, and so on and so forth.

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So you all see, I really do have a life outside of illness and work! lol I think I'm still adjusting to keeping it all in balance and then getting around to post about it. But hey, it'll come with time and more experience right? In the meantime, I'll be thinking happy holiday thoughts via the classics (Rudolph, Charlie Brown, etc), the vacation that's coming up, and thanking the makers of over-the-counter and homeopathic medicines which are keeping me quite mellow and content right now.

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ps- Please don't hold any typos against me. Decongestants make me a bit... foggy.

Good Intentions

I was going to blog about my Halloween weekend, I was. I had some pictures taken by my phone (as Jon needs his camera at work... darn it... bye bye nice camera for a bit) and some witty commentary all ready to go. What prevented this from happening you wonder? Waking up. Mind you it wasn't a horrible day, it just was... a Monday.

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In short, today I have/did...

Woke up thirty minutes late.

Forgot breakfast.

Forgot my phone at home.

Left various items in classrooms at my job.

Dealt with Leo's butthead/stubborn moments all stinkin' day. I hate [dog] adolescence btw. Hate. It.

Forgot to lock the door to the teacher's bathroom. Guess how I figured that one out?

Did I mention I work with kids while going through all of this?

Came home to hungry and thirsty kitties, one little one so hungry he nearly knocked all of the food over.

Realize the dirty laundry will take over this house if I don't get on top of it NOW.

Manage to not seal a Ziploc bag properly thus causing Amish friendship bread dough to ooze all over the counter, and the floor, and of course on me..

Come to the conclusion that a post about the Halloween weekend was not going to happen, because dang it I wasn't in the mood.

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Hope your Monday much, much better than mine. As for me, I'm going to drink some wine, fold some laundry, and hope that the world will leave me alone tomorrow.

Exhale...

Crud, I can't upload some goofy and appropriate picture for how I feel right now. Darn you Blogger and your need to maintain your website!! Okay so onto why I wanna upload some funny picture I would've found on Google: Today at 2:30pm Central time I began my three day fall break (it'll be like a five day weekend with how things lay out). This week, a three day work week essentially, has felt like the longest week I have worked at school since I began my job. I went into this last day of work thinking that it would be a successful day if I and the faculty/staff made it out alive and the kids didn't burn the school down it would be a successful day.

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Thank God, we made it.

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While this week was agonizingly long, the previous two weeks didn't make it any easier. We've had a kid bring a BB gun to school (yeah, don't even get me started on the drama that ordeal entailed), particular students hitting other students and staff on a regular basis, a few getting suspended, a pre-k student, yes I said pre-k meaning the kiddo was no more than 4 years old, was expelled for screaming obscenities to the teacher while wielding a pair of scissors, in-house suspensions, regular fights on the playground, the usual daily quibbles and issues that come up day after day, and so on and so forth. All the teachers, administrators, and staff- all of us have been completely fried. Of course, the students just pick up on the mania and it feeds and continues the craziness. It's a vicious cycle. And I'm breathing a serious sigh of relief knowing it has been broken thanks to the Powers That Be putting in a fall break that I don't get paid for on the schedule.

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At least for now.

Manic Monday

Leo feeling the adverse sideffects from today. Shh!! Snuck this picture while the kids were listening to their teacher.

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Where do I begin? It wasn't a bad day, it was just- manic! I was given a schedule of teachers to visit and help out for an hour or so. Five teachers in all. Yes, I said five. Mind you this maybe temporary and I've already been told of a change by the principal. Okay.. I'm flexible I can do this I told myself.

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Then I get to the classrooms. Kids are thrilled Leo's there, helped a sweet girl in my first class, then I get to the next teacher. She looks at me like I'm invading her room and I felt pretty awkward as the kids were in the middle of testing. Get to the next class and the teacher was cool enough to let me talk about Leo. THEN, while the kids are occupied with worksheets she asks me why I came to her class. It dawned on me in that moment, these teachers were not told I was going to be there and thus, couldn't plan accordingly. The first class going so well was a fluke, an utter fluke as I got a minute to talk with the teacher while her kids were on bathroom break. The rest were clueless as to why I showed up at their door.

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Ohhhh boy.

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So I go about the rest of my day apologizing to every teacher I had to go to, telling them I would probably be there, but, I wasn't for sure as things were already in flux. I still got to help some kiddos out and that was awesome. Leo did great despite the fact he skipped breakfast and wasn't in the greatest of moods (needy- very needy). Then while I was finishing my day in the office two 'suits' come into the school. I say hi,they introduce themselves, ask for the principal, I tell Principal some folks from such and such are here.

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Heh.

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Those people were from the school board. One was in fact the superintendent who just decided to show up without warning at the end of the school day. FUN! I clock out and get Leo and I outta there fast as I just didn't want to add any undue stress on the principal. So I haul butt to work where that was a whole 'nother series of crazy there. Ran an errand after work, traffic's bad of course, takes forever to get home. I get home and what do I do? Sync my phone and iTunes account incorrectly and erase the language podcasts and learning tools off of my phone.

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Go me.

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Suffice it to say my gin and tonic is pretty strong tonight. My liver may hate me by the end of this week if things stay this way!

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Hope your Monday was less insane than mine!