All's Well that Ends Well

I love my new phone!

2008-07-23T22:54:00Z

This last weekend I went to Sam's with my Mom, and they have a phone kiosk in the store. I had been thinking of getting a new phone, and I sort of got sucked into looking. What I have been wanting is a phone that is a combination phone/ mp3 player. I got a pink Sony Ericsson w508i. I bought it and a phone charger and kept saying no when they tried to sell me bluetooth. I am a teacher who can't talk on my cell phone during the day and I have a short commute--why would I need bluetooth?

What they should have been trying to sell me was the memory card. I kept trying to download songs off my CDs, and I had downloaded the software, followed the directions and nothing was working. I called them up Sony Ericsson said, "You need a memory card for that." Now when I was telling the kiosk guys that I wanted to put music from my CDs on the phone, might they not have seen this as a selling opportunity? No problems though. I live near an AT&T store and quickly went and got a a card. I was downloading music all day.

You know all those CDs you have that you bought because you liked one or two songs. You know you never pull them out and listen to them. Well now I can listen to all the old songs I haven't listened to in years. I have been rocking out like the lame "yep, you're no longer in your twenties" woman I am.

It was really useful on Tuesday because I had to do a huge copy job for my AP English classes that took 2 hours and I just rocked away the time at the copier. I am sure I looked oh, so silly. I don't care. I love, love, love my mp3 phone!

WOOPIE!--Summer School is Over Tomorrow

2008-07-09T20:51:00Z

Tomorrow is the last day of summer school. My students have their final tomorrow, I run the scantrons, submit their grades, finish all other paper work and I am out of there!

I am so fed up with CP students who failed the course the first time,and don't seem to care about passing it the second time. CP stands for College Prep, but really in our county CP is a standard class. Honors is a college preparatory class (as are the gifted and AP classes).

Why am I fed up with my summer school CP repeaters? Out of 25 students, I only have three students with As. Keep in mind that the vast majority of the students are covering the same material they have covered before. Most students have Cs or Ds. Even with the numerous opportunities I have given them, I still have some students who are failing. I have one student who managed to make a 35 on a test that most students managed to make a B or higher on, and the next lowest grade was a 74. You have to wonder if they even care. I call parents, but some I cannot reach because all the phone numbers I have for them are no good. Hmmm, parents who don't care enough to provide the school with proper contact information---I wonder why their children are doing so badly in school. (Yes, the sarcasm is meant.)

I teach for the love of teaching, but I am teaching summer school for the extra money. At least I feel that I have been good for a few students. One parent emailed me that her child seemed much more interested in my class then he has in past language arts classes. He started off not doing so well and then when we got to Oedipus Rex and the scene performances I had them do in class he perked up. He got one of the higher grades on the Oedipus / Medea essay.

I am looking forward to the time off before school starts up again, and I am enjoying the process of getting ready for my AP classes and my gifted junior class. This will be my second year teaching AP English and I really feel like I am starting to hit my stride.

Okay, Who Asked My Mom for Lucky Charms Cereal?

2008-06-21T18:54:00Z

My mother lives with us, but she's not elderly--she's in her fifties--and besides misplacing stuff, which she has been guilty of doing since she was in her twenties, she has always been on the ball. She has a very detail-oriented job, so I don't know what to make of today.

I was at my husband's clinic this morning getting a massage. When I got home, my mother pulled in an hour later. She had gone to the grocery store, and as I was helping her unload stuff she said she'd gotten me the Lucky Charms cereal I'd asked for. I was completely confused. She said I called her around 11:20 when she was in the grocery store, and when I found out where she was I asked her to get me some Lucky Charms cereal. Now I did get out of my massage around that time, but I did not and have not made a single phone call today--a fact that my cell supports as the last call I made was yesterday.

My mom claims up and down that she was sure she was talking to me. She had an entire conversation with "me" that consisted of "me" also telling her to look in her wallet when she spoke about misplacing a piece of paper with a FedEx tracking number she needed....WTH?

Therefore, one of three things happened. She imagined the entire conversation, I had a conversation that I have no memory of, or somehow someone else called and the call registered as me (my name popped up). This situation was so bizarre that I couldn't help laughing, so my mom thought I was trying to mess with her. I think she suspects me of attempting to gaslight her. What is even weirder is that I don't eat Lucky Charms ceral. I have never eaten Lucky Charms ceral. Plus I am on a diet, so why would I ask for it? My husband does eat cereal without milk as a snack, but he doesn't like Lucky Charms. All I can think is that someone is going to be very upset when their mom doesn't bring home any Lucky Charms.

I suppose there is one more possiblity -- a hole in space and time opened up and my mother got a call from me that I will make in the future....well, welcome to the twilight zone.

My Second Anniversary and Summer School

2008-06-03T22:13:00Z

Well school is over and I've been a lazy person since Memorial Day weekend. My second anniversary was May 28, and we tried a new resturant that is near our house and faces on the park where my husband proposed. Because our anniversary was on a Wednesday we also participated in the resturant's wine tasting that they have every Wednesday. It was fabulous! The wine was great and the food was great and all the right portions. We had a starter, then I had a salad and my husband had a bisque. Normally we would have been too full for our entree, but it was just enough food. We even had room for desert. All the food was so delicious. My husband had duck, but he wants to go back because he had a taste of my filet mignon. He said we have found 'our place.' If you live in the metro Atlanta area anywhere near Duluth, you need to try Park Cafe.

The wine was excellent too. We both loved the first wine -- a saviguon blanc, so we bought a bottle. After dinner we walked around the park, for a romantic after dinner stroll. Then we went home and the rest is censored.

On the work front . . . I have been working on things for teaching AP English next year, and sort of working on things for summer school. Summer school planning kicked into high gear, as today was the official work day -- I actually got paid for planning; which is a rare thing for a teacher.

Next Monday is the first day of summer school. I am teaching one class. I wanted to teach two classes (more money), but I'm not too upset. It will be nice to have a little more free time. I will be teaching from 7:30 to 10:30, so I might actually visit the local pool for a little sun and swim this during June and July.

Another reason that I am glad to be working this summer is that it keeps me focused on living rather than brooding. I'm sick about being so focused on having a baby. I want a baby, but it is making me crazy that it's not happening, and that it very well may not. We are still trying. I am temping every morning. I even have to go get a Measles/ Mumps/ Rubella vacination that my RE requires, so we are ready to go if we decided to go the IUI route after a couple of months. Still my life has to go on with the other parts of my life. This anniversary I thought about how tough married life has been with the business, financial worries, and fertility issues, but I realized I am happy and blessed. I have a man who loves me and who I love. I have to have faith that life will unfold as it was meant to for me.

Brown ooze and a strange day at school

2008-05-16T00:23:00Z

Today at school there was a ruckus outside my room. I go out into the hall and from the boy's restroom there is a huge growing tide of brown ooze. There was also a sort of acrid smell. For some reason my first thought was a student had put a cherry bomb down a toilet. The fire alarm went off. It was my planning period, so I didn't have any students to worry about. I thankfully was smart enough to take both my purse and my laptop as I exited the building, so I didn't have to worry about my stuff as all the chaos was going on. All the kids were stuck outside in the rain as they were dealing with the problem. Finally kids were sent to the commons. Then students who had classes on the first floor were allowed to go back to class. Then students who had classes on the 2nd floor, but not on my hall were allowed to go back.

I found out when I went up with our department head that a sprinkler had malfunctioned (or was damaged by a student) and air bubbles had caused problems in the septic systems. The big green machine that cleans the floor (picture something like the zamboni that cleans ice at an ice ring) was cleaning the floor. It seemed to making head way on the floor, unfortunately not on the smell. At the end of the day, I was lucky. The dirty water did not seep into my room -- others were not so lucky. If a kid is actually responsible, I hope they catch them. At the end of the day the alarm went off again. The principal got on and told us to just let the kids go to the buses. I think a kid pulled the alarm to continue the mayham. I was so glad to get home today and away from all of the 'crap.'

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T14:38:00Z

Well, I finally had a period -- a normal period. It started after taking my last of 10 days of prometrium. It's sad that normality is wonderful. Part of me kept hoping that post-HSG I had gotten pregnant. Well, the period is now over and we are going to try again. I am not sure when I will try IUI. My RE's pricing makes it possible. It is something we had not thought we could handle financially.

Today is Mother's Day and I'm not a mother. Last year at this time I had just miscarried. I don't think I will ever be able to feel the same way about Mother's Day again. Some way I know I will be a mother either through giving birth or adoption, but the wait is hard. This Mother's Day is very hard for my mother. My grandmother passed away a few months ago, and this is my Mom's first Mother's Day without her mother. I wish I could magically make it better for as she wishes she could make it better for me.

Ironically this Mother's Day my mother and grandmother have given me a great gift. My husband's business has been struggling under the weight of all the loans and the unexpected cost of having to move locations early into owning the business. Because of what my mother has inherited from my grandmother she is going to be able to lend us a substanial amount of money in a few weeks. The look of relief on my husband's face was the greatest gift I could get besides a baby. Who knows maybe the decrease in stress will help on baby front as well.

I wish a happy Mother's Day to all those who are mothers and all who hope one day to be mothers.

To AF or not to AF that seems to be my body's question

2008-05-04T17:50:00Z

After Clomid in December I had freaky periods of spotting for weeks and long periods, so I was bleeding for half the days of my 28 to 29 day cycle. This last cycle since the HSG I have yet to have a period and I took a pregnancy test the day I was late, a few days later, and the Friday morning before I went in for my RE appointment after the diagnostic tests and it was BFN each and every time. So another week has passed. Tonight is my last night of taking Prometrium and still no period. What the heck. First ovarian cysts made me bleed too much and now I can't bleed at all.

I was sick last week -- a combination of allergies and a cold. We figure if I hadn't had a period, I haven't ovulated, so I guess we will start trying again. After all it can't hurt.

One other weird thing is that my RE doc's office tried to call me about lab results two times at the end of this work week. The only lab test I had was a blood test they were running on my immunizations. I can't figure out why the nurse is calling. Usually they leave a message for me to go to the automated system to hear the results. It is funny that they are calling me about this basic lab test, and yet they didn't call me about my HSG results -- I had to wait to until the RE appointment.

Well, things are winding down at school. My seniors take their AP test next Thursday. My juniors take the county wide End of Course Test next Wednesday and Thursday. I have a little on the Modernism unit to finish with my juniors, but as of next Thursday my seniors are done. Now on to planning for next year and also planning for teaching summer school.

"The Unborn" by Sharon Olds

2008-04-27T20:44:00Z

“The Unborn” Sharon Olds

Sometimes I can almost see, around our heads,

Like gnats around a streetlight in summer,

The children we could have,

The glimmer of them.

Sometimes I feel them waiting, dozing

In some antechamber - servants, half-

Listening for the bell.

Sometimes I see them lying like love letters

In the Dead Letter Office

And sometimes, like tonight, by some black

Second sight I can feel just one of them

Standing on the edge of a cliff by the sea

In the dark, stretching its arms out

Desperately to me.

I am a fan of Sharon Old's poetry, but I was not familiar with this poem. My AP students were assigned a modern poet for which they were to read and analyze a certain number of poems by that poet, so as I am reading through my student who chose Sharon Olds this is a one of Old's poems she chose. After I read it, I had to stop grading for a while.