I'm Perfectly Normal. Ain't I?!

Costco was so crowded today. They were also offering lots of delicious samples including shrimp scampi, breakfast burritos, quiche, and salmon. Nick called me to relay that his father said I should get ice cream (which strangely Will does not confirm). I had just eaten a pizza sample and it was not wanting to go all the way down. I told Nick I was probably going need to go over to the soda aisle and sneak a soda to get it down. Fortunately, I was able to get it swallowed without resorting to that.

I had a cart full of items and was heading out of the store when my dear friend called. It's really difficult to maneuver a full shopping cart while holding a cell phone to your ear. The check-out guy at the door turned his back and stepped in front of me, to test my reflexes I presume. I skillfully but narrowly avoided him and gave my full attention to the phone call as we discussed what food should be served on New Year's Eve. I traversed the crowded parking lot, scanning all the gray cars that look just like my Camry, but not spotting it. (I think I'll get a big purple car next time.) We couldn't come to any conclusion about food, and I couldn't come to any conclusion about where my car was.

I finally confessed to my friend that I should probably call her later because I needed to devote my attention to finding my car. (Why did I admit this to her?) For some reason she brought up the last time we ran into each other at the store. I had stepped away from my cart to speak to my niece Brianna and her new fiance, bringing my purse with me. When I returned to my cart, I put my purse in it and was about to push it away when the person who was using it indicated she wanted it back. Oops, wrong cart, and unfortunately my friend with the elephant memory witnessed it. I had forgotten all about it. Doesn't everyone do things like that? Of course they do.

So, back to the Costco parking lot. I got off the phone, moved one lane over and stopped to reconnoiter. I noticed a woman waving at me and realized I was blocking an empty parking spot that someone wanted to utilize. How embarrassing. Just before I completely panicked, speculating that my car had probably been stolen, I remembered exactly where I had parked it and found it! How could I have forgotten such a close parking spot on a busy day at Costco! It was just too close, that was the problem! And certainly I would have remembered had I not been so distracted by the weighty discussion of what food was worthy of our New Year's Eve celebration!

At dinner, my husband wanted to know what the deal was about me sneaking a soda at Costco. I had to explain that I certainly wasn't talking about stealing a soda. Once when I got a food sample stuck in my throat, I had to get a case of soda (which I purchased on my way out), go way to the back aisle and covertly drink one. Obviously you don't want to do something like this in the middle of the produce section, thus I mentioned "sneaking" it. From there I shared the above Costco happenings with him and two sons. They reacted like I was an airhead or something. I also mentioned to Nick that his requested Cinnamon Toast Crunch (he wrote "sugary unhealthy cereal" on my grocery list) actually had less sugar than his father's Frosted Mini Wheats, however the Mini Wheats have more fiber.

The men in this family then verbalized their vision of me spending all afternoon wandering around the Costco parking lot, talking on my phone, blocking parking spaces, and comparing nutritional information on the food items in my cart. Their speculations about my unsupervised activities degenerated from there. Why must they pick on me like this? I am so misunderstood! Nick then "twittered" something about needing to hire a camera man to follow his mom around to document all her shenanigans. Ha!

But I must be doing something right. The cupboards and fridge are full of food and I provided my family with some delicious homemade chicken noodle soup and biscuits for dinner. The laundry is done, the house is respectably clean, and I believe beyond a reasonable doubt that I am one of the most normal people I know. I insist.

Winter Break Begins

And what a break it will be! My office partner and I stayed a couple hours late Friday stripping down the office, moving everything into the conference rooms. The crews start work on Monday morning, and we should come back to an office with new built-in workstations in two weeks. Of course, that means we'll get to come in the weekend before school resumes to move all our stuff back in. But in the meantime, we can't really work there, so we finally have an excuse to use some of that comp time we've built up!

The last week of school was fun but everyone is so ready for a break. I am still fuming about the mooning incident that took place last Friday. For at least 20 minutes, from the time the last bell rang until the last bus left, two 18-year-olds stood in the large window of the second story apartment across the street and repeatedly bent over and mooned the crowds below. I was about to call 911 to report an out-of-control parent chasing and screaming at a child on the side of the school when I heard someone in the office say, "He's flashing us again!" I looked out the window and sure enough, there it was. So I reported both incidents.

A police officer eventually made contact with the mooners, who admitted to doing it but supposedly didn't realize that everyone in the crowded parking lot and all the buses were watching. They were only mooning a friend of theirs and they were very apologetic and embarrassed. Yeah right. But according to the nice policeman, no crime was committed. Ok folks, go ahead and moon crowds of parents and children across the street from a school. It's perfectly all right in Albany, Oregon.

Anyway, I am thrilled to have the next week off, because I have a Christmas letter to finish and get out, my final shopping to do, all the gifts to wrap, some baking to do, and various other miscellaneous and sundry items on the "To Do" list which I am about to make!

I had a delightful surprise when Anise and Venisa came over last night. We made cut- out Christmas cookies together. How lovely to spend time with a grown up niece who is so beautiful inside and out. (And her mother too of course. Except she said I was bossy sometimes.) Oh well, I guess it's true!

I wonder how many people out there are all ready for Christmas and have no preparations remaining? I suspect I may be behind the average 50-something-year-old matron in my readiness...but the preparations are half the fun! Merry Christmas!

"My First 4.0!"

The either greatly dreaded or anticipated "progress reports", formerly known as "report cards", were passed out to students during their last period class today. After school, sixth grade teacher Mr. J came to the office and shared this story. One of his favorite students raised his hand after looking over the Progress Report and said, "I have a 4.0. That's really good, isn't it!" Mr. J recalled that he had given this child a C, so he asked the student to show it to him. After looking at it, Mr. J was sorry but greatly amused to tell the student, "You do indeed, have 4.0 in absences!”

Good Will, Bad Will

I love a Saturday morning when there is nothing urgent on the agenda, just a day to get up whenever you wake up, drink coffee, read the paper, and dilly dally on the computer before you start the day's chores. The urgency of the seasonal to-do list hasn't taken over me just yet, so yesterday I was slothfully enjoying the morning until around 11:00. Will put some laundry in the washer and I commented how kind he was to get it started. I also took it as a hint to get busy, since of course he had been productive already for several hours.

My pleasure at his helpfulness lasted until I transferred his laundry to the dryer. To my horror, I beheld a flannel sheet that had been in the RV dog crate, mixed with kitchen towels as well as Will's clothes! Whites and darks were mixed as well, but that was a minor side issue compared to a dog item mixed with kitchen towels! I calmly, tactfully mentioned this faux pas to him. (It goes without saying, the kitchen towels got rewashed.)

Soon he came in to get my car key to put a can of de-icer in my car to help me out on the busy mornings when he is unable to go out and warm up my car for me. A few minutes later he brought me a cutting board that he had repaired for me.

In amazement I inquired, "How can you be both so bad and so good at the same time?!!"

And so it is. Since then I'm afraid it has become very easy for me to label the things he does and says. "Good Will." "Bad Will." If he calls me psycho or wacko for my feelings about dog germs, "Bad Will". Of course, Good Will is far more dominant than Bad Will. I observe myself also having these two sides. In fact, everyone does. The best thing is that both the Bad Will and the Good Will make me laugh. Frequently. Loudly.

A Five-Day Thanksgiving Weekend!

Budget issues that result in three paid days being cut from school employees this year sounded like a real bummer---but now that I get to take one of those days off tomorrow, the day before Thanksgiving, I'm thinking it's a great deal! A whole day to clean house and prepare for Thanksgiving guests and drink my favorite Good Earth Sweet and Spicy Tea, (which I have already started)! What a great feeling!

Everyone was in a good mood at work today. One of my favorite co-workers, a spunky age 55+ pastor's wife, was talking to our principal yesterday and as she was leaving she said, "Thank you Sweetheart." It struck me funny, and I told her I wondered how many employees across the United States called their boss "sweetheart". She informed me that I well knew she calls everyone "sweetheart" or "honey" and she's not about to change her ways. Today she called my co-worker by her given name and I asked if she was mad at her since she didn't use any terms of endearment. She glared at me and said, "I have one thing to say to you." (One of her trademark lines. I always listen well.) She continued,"Watch your hiney, honey!" Then she made her exit. So I won't be turning my back on her for awhile! I am so thankful that I work with fun characters!

Then another co-worker character, a young man with a curly pony tail past his waist who has a pet goat and is planning to buy another one for his wife for Christmas, came through. He tends to come to work with boiled eggs in his coat pockets, and you might see him standing at a garbage can peeling and eating one at any random time. Someone asked him if he would be eating a turkey dinner and he said of course. She said, "Well, I wasn't sure since you're kind of nontraditional." Then came another great quote of the day, "I'm not nontraditional," he said. "I'm supplementally traditional."

This education assistant spends all day in a room with a male student with limited communication skills and low impulse control. He has to be vigilant for unexpected moves. (This kids suddenly threw the contents of a recycle bin at my office mate last year!) My principal witnessed them working together this week and came back to the office full of appreciation for the patience of this guy. "Where does the Q go?" he asked. To which the student replied in his monotone, "I'm sick and tired of your f%*$#@& b@*%#!!" (I don't really know how to type the swearing symbols!)

I am very thankful for the patience and commitment of all the people who are willing to work with the difficult children our schools are populated with.

I'm also thankful that we all get a break from them for five whole days!!!

Four Years Ago Today

November 19, 2005. My 21-year-old nephew Tyler, was on the other side of the world, a Marine serving in Iraq. He wrote a letter to the McAnulty Family and addressed and sealed it before he went on duty. He didn’t know that he would never come back and put it in the mail.

Here in Tangent, it started out as a perfectly ordinary and wonderful Saturday. I went to my parents in Brownsville and had a good time quilting with some family members, then took Nick out shopping for a new sweatshirt that afternoon. Nick had just found one that he really liked when I got the call from my brother (Tyler’s dad) that changed everything. The sweatshirt was left behind, and I couldn’t go back into the Ross store at the mall for a very long time.

Tyler had lived next door to us since middle school. On Christmas Eve, Tyler’s sister and mom walked over and brought me an incredible gift, the letter he had written to our family on that last day. They discovered it among his belongings that were shipped to them. I shared it in this blog posting: http://wlenmusings.blogspot.com/2005/12/letter-from-tyler.html

Here is another blog I wrote that tells more about the awesome person that he was. http://wlenmusings.blogspot.com/2005/11/tyler-troyer-american-hero-beloved.html

Tyler will never be forgotten by those who love him, and today we will all be remembering the fun and laughter and love he brought to our lives, as well as again grieving the loss of this beloved nephew/cousin/ brother/son/ friend. My love and prayers are with his family today.

Not Meant to be an Orphan

Forty-one years ago in the year 1968, I was living in the small town of Cairo, Nebraska, population approximately 600, with my family. The year before, my dad had a career change, from a farmer to a mechanic, after he bought a garage in Cairo. For the first time, we lived "in town" instead of out in the country.

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and had two surgeries, including a mastectomy, during July and August of that year. Her recovery was slow and it was a very difficult winter for her.

Recently my older brother John was in Cairo, and an elderly person he visited there had all the back issues of the local newspaper, "The Cairo Record". She couldn't find this article while he was there, but found it later and sent it to him.

From the December 20, 1968 Cairo Record:

”We just couldn’t think straight”

"Stan Troyer, his son John or Dan Kroeger can tell you what it is like to be monoxide poisoned after a brush with asphyxiation Saturday night. The three men were working in Troyer’s Garage on Dan’s truck, actually had the door open while the truck was running, yet half an hour after they shut the truck off, Stan keeled over. Both John and Dan were partially asphyxiated at the time, but had the presence of mind enough to get Stan outside, Dan Kroeger told John to call the Doctor, then passed out himself. John managed to call the Doctor and Dan’s wife, then staggered outside where he also became unconscious. By the time Dr. Harb arrived, Stan and Dan had come around, but John was still under. Dr. Harb had fire chief Al Veeder called to bring the oxygen resuscitator and about half an hour later, John was back on his feet.

Stan said he had often wondered why a person receiving an overdose of carbon monoxide could not do something about it, such as go for fresh air, or open a door, but he said all of them were staggering around trying to work, but they were unable to think clearly, John said at times he can recall that everything seemed hilariously funny.

Perhaps the thing that saved their lives was when Stan passed out. Until then, apparently, everything seemed under control and none of them felt they were in any way in danger, but when Stan fell over, it jarred them into the knowledge that they must get fresh air.

Dan recalled being dizzy at an earlier point, but said he went back to work thinking it was after effects from the flu.

At any rate, all three feel lucky to be alive and will not soon forget their experience."

Wow. I have heard this story many times over the years, but reading this made me think about how different my life would have been had I lost my dad and/or brother that night. My siblings and I would have been orphans five years later after my mom died! What would have happened to me and my three younger siblings? My imagination can run wild! Obviously it was not God's time for them to go, and I am so very thankful for that!

Even Really Stubborn People get Sick

If sheer determination and stubbornness prevented one from catching the seasonal ailments that go around, then I would never get them. (Not that I'm admitting to being stubborn.) I set my mind that I will not get sick and miss work. Perhaps it helps slightly, because I rarely catch anything that keeps me home more than a day or two. But last Wednesday at work, a dry cough kept erupting from me, and a headache wouldn't go away.

Maybe you've noticed that we are currently living in a social climate where any coughing, nose blowing, or related behaviors are greeted with more than distaste; some people become very alarmed. I did not feel very popular in the office that day, and it was just a dry cough! By the end of the day I knew for sure I was getting sick and was very happy to find that one sub who does a great job was available. I made arrangements with her to come in, optimistically saying to plan on just the morning because surely I'd be fine by noon. I came home and went to bed.

Hah. Optimism didn't help me either. Although I did tell her to plan on just the morning again the next day because surely I'd be fine by then. Double hah. Shortly after noon on Friday, my temperature reached its' high of 101.2, which really isn't bad. The next couple of days I felt very fortunate that I had a mild version of the ailment, with only a couple of hours a day with a fever, but constant extreme exhaustion and tummy aches when I tried to eat. But no upper respiratory symptoms - the dry cough even disappeared! And no nausea or other unmentionable digestive problems.

My dear husband treated me like royalty the first day that I was in bed, bringing me drinks and even an unsolicited pancake, and toast and chicken noodle soup when I asked. Texting was a great way to meekly communicate my simple needs, and oh the joy of his predictable response, "Yes, Princess." When I moved downstairs to the living room couch the next day, he was a bit less servile. I suspect he had been trying to keep me isolated. But I stayed out of the family room, never touching his recliner or his remote, washing my hands often and spraying disinfectant on surfaces I touched in the kitchen.

I considered staying in bed the next day hoping he would again wait on me hand and foot, but my back ached from being in the recumbent position for too long. At least on the couch you can vary from sitting and reclining!

I watched a lot of HGTV and Food Channel because they didn't require full time alertness to be enjoyable. It doesn't really matter if you doze off in the middle and miss the ending. Apparently the Food Channel had quite an impact on me because I tossed quite a slab of butter in the skillet tonight and sauteed some chicken tenderloins with garlic, lemon pepper, and a bit of thyme. It was so juicy and fabulous. I normally would have used just a small slosh of olive oil. The Food channel shows cook with a lot of butter. They seem to have no idea that it's really high in fat and calories. There is one fun show with a husband and wife bantering as they chop things and cook very fattening food together, swooning as they taste the delectable results. I would like that to be me and Will in our kitchen, without the cameras and fattening part. I felt kind of jealous. Actually, after a few days, I was jealous of everyone who was well and out of their house doing things.

HGTV helped me become extremely aware that my home is very dated and needs some updates before anyone would ever consider buying it. Fortunately it's not for sale. It's so '90s.

I had a very restful day yesterday, holding my breath that my temp wouldn't go up again. It didn't! I got up this morning at 5:30 feeling great. I saw myself in the mirror after my hair was done and make up on. My eyes were sparkling and I just looked great to myself! Craig was also sick yesterday, and his comment that "It's a good thing we look so good in sweats!" was very kind and amusing but not at all factual. I was really sick of seeing myself in the mirror looking sick!

The sunrise was streaking the sky with color as I drove to work this morning. The world was such a beautiful place. The office and the people there looked wonderful, and they were all very kind and happy to have me back. Although they cruelly pointed out that I missed out on the payday coffee that one teacher always brings us, and on the Krispy Kreme donut sale that happened Friday.

The in-box is very full but it's doable. Will and Nick are taking off for a week of hunting on Thursday, so I have plenty of time to catch up.

I love feeling good!!!

Camping at McIvar

Friday morning as we prepared to depart for McIvar State Park near Estacada, Will was nearly soaked through his rain gear by the time the fifth wheel was hooked up. As I headed out the door, I perched my sunglasses on my head in a humorous gesture of optimism. Will dropped me off at the library while he went to Coastal Farm in search of better rain wear. I can think of worse things than being in a cozy warm place with a stack of books while the rain pours outside. But the rain let up as we headed north with our bags of books and raingear, and it was the last rain we saw until it sprinkled as we returned home today.

This campground is thickly forested with large private sites. Inside the fifth wheel, I could look out all the windows and feel like I was in a cabin in the woods. My optimism paid off as we hiked in sunshine that afternoon. The weather was gorgeous all day Saturday as well.

The park is huge, with 13 miles of hiking and horseback trails. Our explorations included watching some guys fly their model helicopters in the model airplane field and viewing groups of disc golfers on the huge disc golf courses.


There was a beautiful big open dog run area, and of course Zeek loves walking the trails with us. Although he'd prefer if we ran instead of walked. Several times I heard Will say, "Zeek, I am not your wagon." Zeek jumped gracefully up onto this ledge, but getting down was a different story.


A wonderful relaxing weekend, and now I'm ready for a great week of work!

Conferences

Once again my hopes to get lots done were dashed by people and mess ups. (Not mine, other people's!) But it was a good day. Started out with a teacher calling to tell me she'd be late. If you are easily grossed out, skip to the next paragraph. She was upset, voice quivering, reporting that on her way out the door she noticed that her dog, a standard poodle, had a bloody butt so she loaded him up and was going to stop at the vet on the way in. She called later to report that she was on her way. He had been diagnosed with a ruptured anal gland and would be fine. Later she came by to tell me he hadn't been feeling well and started to tell me some symptoms he'd been having the past week, but after seeing the look on my face said, "Well, you probably don't want to hear this, do you?" Just like you didn't want to read this. How sensitive we both are!

I remained perky and cheerful with all the people who called saying they just heard about conferences, needing to know what time they started and wondering why we don't let them know about them. It's on the calendar we handed out at registration, in the newsletter we mailed out a few weeks ago, on our web page, on our readerboard, on the flyer we sent home yesterday, and we've been announcing it to kids for the past week. Perhaps I need to make a personal call to the home of each of our 690 students before the next event. I'll mark my calendar.

Funny yet sad was the grandparent who came in worried about his granddaughter who he thinks is running with a rough crowd this year. She herself is the biggest bully our school has ever seen!

But the joy of my new discovery of Corn Candy Hershey's Kisses made the day very special. I shared them with staff and parents and kids who came through. Most people got nearly as excited about them as I was. The Federal Express deliveryman tried to steal the whole bowl! They smelled great sitting on my desk and they are beautiful to behold!

My boss ordered us to close the office tomorrow so we are going camping! If Will is really nice I might buy him some Corn Candy Kisses to take along!

Didn't Dent the Inbox

I was eagerly anticipating lowering the height of my inbox today, with no school for students, staff development in the morning for teachers and grading in the afternoon. So I would have the morning to myself to attack my piles!

First I opened the box of retake picture flyers that arrived and discovered the date was wrong. I looked in my file and confirmed that the date I've had on the calendar, advertising since registration, was indeed the date from the contract. I wasted quite a bit of time on their automated phone system trying to get the rep and finally left a message. Late afternoon after the third try, I finally got to talk to someone who knew something. They say they can reprint the flyers and have them to me by Thursday. I doubt it.

Then I made the mistake of opening the mail and finding a bill that I remembered paying in June. I looked it up, called that company, and they say their records don't show a check was ever received. I dug a little further, got the check number, and called someone at the district office to investigate. She told me the check had been voided. Someone else had to look into that, and later she called telling me the check had been returned with a note from the office manager of the company saying that the bill had already been paid in full. For the rest of the day I tried to reach that company, and they never answered the phone.

I also got a bill from a magazine "Science World" that a teacher only ordered because we had received a notice from the company that she had a credit. The credit didn't show up on the invoice so I found my credit invoice, called the company and got to tell my story to three people before I finally got someone who found the credit and said he would re-issue the invoice.

Then I discovered a duplication on orders from two PE teachers, one from last year and one from this year, who didn't know what the other was doing, so I had to talk to both of them before I could do the order. Still waiting to hear back from one of them.

A former student dropped by to chat and stayed awhile, which is an interruption I truly enjoy and was glad to have. But you can't really do paper work while you're chatting.

So before I really got anything done, the morning meeting was over and teachers were needing supplies and information and other assistance. One special teacher called the office and the principal was standing by the intercom phone so he picked it up and said hello. She said, "Is this LeAnn?" He laughed and said he didn't know his voice was that high! And I didn't know mine was that low! There's a reason Cindy always tried to make me answer the phone when that particular teacher is calling!

I got an order for supplies from Office Max and another order for construction paper done, updated tomorrow's school announcements and this week's web page announcements, dealt with some other problems that came up and it was 3:30. Electricians had scheduled a power outage for that time and my boss had told me to go home when the power went out. So I did, but on my way out the door, a trouble alarm started beeping so I had to go back in an call the alarm company. The glitches were never ending today!

So I never did get to attack my inbox. Lucky me, it will still be there tomorrow! Along with the nonstop phones and interruptions of a regular school day. Maybe if I'm really fortunate I'll get to talk to my favorite parent. I received another outstanding insult from him last week. Some teachers doing outside bus duty after school called the police because they believed his wife appeared under the influence of something while waiting in her car for her child. I stupidly picked up the phone after 4:0 and got the phone call from the angry father demanding to talk to the principal, who wasn't there, then letting me know he didn't appreciate teachers calling the cops on his wife. He asked if I knew who the six teachers were who did bus duty. Six? I thought there were only three! I said, "No, I don't know." With greatly exaggerated politeness, he said, "Of course you don't know. You have never known anything in your life, have you, ma'am." Then he hung up on me. And I laughed out loud. This was the same guy that called me last year when our librarian was out sick and ordered me to have our library open before, during and after school every day, no matter what, "Is that clear, do you understand" and got so irate that I told him I would no longer listen to him and needed to hang up. I'm not sure why I find him so entertaining.

Since my husband won't be eagerly awaiting my arrival home because he is camping, I can stay and work guilt-free as long as I need to! Oh joy! It's supposed to be raining so I won't be able to enjoy my lovely new patio anyway. But I am bitterly disappointed that I didn't get a lot accomplished today.

Old Friends Reunite

Soon after Will and I were married, we became acquainted with a young couple at our church and discovered we had many common interests. They soon became our backpacking and skiing companions, both cross country and downhill.

We always enjoyed spending time with Jan and Steve. Steve and Will had a Boy Scout background in common, and they could spend hours making knots and discussing them. Jan is very artistic and the home they bought was beautifully decorated. It made me realize I had given very little thought to the decor in our little duplex, I figured as long as I had some avocado green and harvest gold I was doing well! But she didn't seem to judge me for my lack of taste. We were so comfortable together that sometimes Steve would lie down and the floor and doze off if they stayed after 9:00!

We had our first babies (both boys) within six weeks of each other and bonded as we went through those experiences together. But sadly for us, Steve took a promotion in Wenatchee and they moved away about two years later. We visited back and forth occasionally, and then came the bad news that Steve was being promoted again and they were moving to Maine! I can't remember what Will was doing but he was unable to make the trip up there, so I put the boys in the Caravan and drove up for a last visit. They had just built a beautiful new home in the mountains near Leavenworth, and the boys had a great time playing in the woods. Nick was only three, and I remember Steve mentioning how articulate he was. Talk talk talk! What happened? Now I don't know anything that's going on until his friends come over and tell me. But I digress.

Now it's fifteen years later, and they have moved to Seattle from Alabama. We finally met again when they drove down to spend this weekend with us. They couldn't believe it when the first thing they saw was the Bronco in our driveway! Yes, the same Bronco that we had taken us all to the mountains together many times twenty some years ago. (Will recently bought it back from Eric with renewed plans to fix it up. A retired guy can't have too many hobbies.)

It was so great to find them the same fun, interesting, generous people they were way back when - only more mature of course. They recalled the camping trip where we were making spaghetti for dinner and Will was draining it using a lid. I was cautioning him and amazingly, the lid failed and all the spaghetti disappeared into the bushes with the water! We had spaghetti sauce with bread for dinner. Will never has liked spaghetti much but really! This led to a story later on from another guest how as a young bride expecting guests for dinner, her spaghetti went down the garbage disposal as she drained it! Not knowing what else to do, she retrieved it, rinsed it off, and served it!

Two more couples joined us last night and we had many good laughs. Everyone remembered their signal for "time to leave". Jan would make a little clicking sound in her mouth...but it was discovered and soon everyone knew about it! Maybe that's why they had to move! We looked at our photo album of backpacking pictures and were horrified that we hiked in such short shorts! (Jan's were shorter than mine by the way!) Of course Will and Steve were wearing some pretty short ones too. But we all looked pretty good anyway!

It was absolutely wonderful to spend time with them again and see how God has blessed their lives. The weather was gorgeous this weekend, and we were able to sit around on our lovely new patio and enjoy the gorgeous red of the maple tree, in fact we ate lunch out there Friday. I could kick myself that I didn't take pictures.

We took some this morning before we tremulously said good-bye. (Jan and I laughed at that word in a newspaper article yesterday and I vowed to use it as soon as appropriate.) We plan to meet somewhere between before too long and camp together.

Friends, old and new, are wonderful gift from God!

Update

Will and Nick laid the last bricks on the patio Friday morning before Nick went to school! Now we are scheming on a corner bench, an outdoor kitchen, landscaping, a fireplace.... By spring it should be really great!

We enjoyed some time bonding with Galens and Dougs over pizza last night while the Beavers were on TV. They witnessed that Zeek can run full speed into our sliding glass door without breaking it. Zeek doesn't seem any goofier than normal either.

This week's priority is to get a new dishwasher. Mine has been falling apart for quite some time and reached the end of the road yesterday. I spent way too much time hand washing dishes today! These old hands can't take it for too long!

Progress

My blog posts have seriously declined over the past few months, and I do believe it's directly related to my Facebook activity. It's easy to just post a few sentences with a picture on Facebook, and I kind of forget about blogging. But since Will has the recliner and Nick is stretched out on the couch, I'll stay here at the table with the laptop and blog so I don't disturb him! I'm such a nice mom.

I posted most of these pictures on Facebook but I like them so I'll share them here too.

We still have our family Sunday dinner each week, and it is always fun to watch Eric play with Zeek.

Will says Zeek thinks Eric is his litter mate.



Will tore out our small deck awhile back and is consructing a paver patio. It is a lot of work but he is making great progress. Our friend Dave Davies was thinking about making one so he came over to help several times this week. His wife came along on Friday and we enjoyed pizza (with the employee discount due to Nick working at the pizza place!) after they quit for the evening. I asked how his parents were doing and got to hear some interesting and hilarious stories about the older generation in his family. He could write a book! Or maybe I'll steal some of the stories and write the book!


Here's how it looked a the end of the day. I'm liking it! Will offered to let me pound in a few bricks "just so you can say you did it". Hah. I'm not falling for that old trick. I'd much rather say I didn't have to lay even one of those bricks!

What will it look like next weekend? Stay tuned!

School's In!

The days are long and busy and fly by unbelievably fast. The sun is going down shortly after 7 PM so I have to hurry to have dinner and take my sunset view walk. They have been gorgeous! I was so enthralled looking at the sky last night I nearly stepped on a snake, but my usual speedy yet graceful footwork kept me safe, and no one was around to hear my shriek.

School started nearly two weeks ago, and after last year's cuts we found ourselves 40 students over our projected number. A student enrollment of 685 means very large class sizes. So we were granted an additional teacher on Friday. That of course led to major numbers of schedule changes this week...and a few very unhappy people.

The really strange thing is that parents seem to be more upset about it than kids. "She's always wanted to be in Yearbook. How dare you take it away and put her in an elective she will not enjoy?" "My child does not want to be in Home Ec. Is she really going to have to waste 18 weeks learning about cooking? I see no value in that whatsoever." Really! I tell them that we cannot do any more schedule changes, and when they get obnoxious and insistent, I get to turn them over to administrators! They are definitely earning their pay!

But I was pleasantly surprised that most people have been very nice about it. Things are going really well.

I don't usually go to staff meetings but I attended the one Monday because I had some things I needed to share, and it was such a beautiful thing. People were complimenting administrators and each other, and by the time I finally got up, I had to tell them I had no idea staff meetings were such a love fest! I will definitely try to attend from now on because it was such an uplifting experience! I'm positive all staff meetings are like that one!

Then it's fun to come home and see the progress Will makes each day on the big paver patio project. He needs to post some pictures on his blog since I'm not doing so much of it now.

Jean's Shower and Eric's Bday

It's already been a whole week since our family shower for Jean and Serena. Sadly, my battery died before the party got in full swing. Must be time to upgrade the camera, the battery doesn't last nearly as long as it used to!

I had to put up with a little harassment from my dear family. Somehow I didn't notice the baby shower invitations I bought were bordered with blue until I was addressing them. But it was kind of a silvery blue. And there were pink stripes on the back of the card! I guess I've just had too many years of gravitating to blue instead of pink!

Here's Jody, Melissa, Hope, Janelle and Anisa admiring Serena.

I wonder if it was the distasteful view of soiled diaper that caused my camera to give it's dying gasp. Dear niece Jody came up with the game of guessing what kind of chocolate candy was melted on the diapers. I had to sniff with my eyes closed. It just looked hideous. Hope couldn't look either, she said it made her sick. And as the mother of nine children, she has changed more diapers than any of us!

This picture of Serena was from a couple of weeks ago. She is so beautiful!

This weekend we finally got our family together for a birthday dinner for Eric, who has been 21 for two whole weeks now. Had some more family join us for homemade ice cream after dinner, and were fortunate enough to catch Dawn and Tavin just as they arrived in town. Twelve people did not fit on our deck, and accentuated how great it will be when Will gets out patio project done!

Here's the birthday boy Eric, who grows more handsome all the time. He moved into a house with three friends the beginning of the month and is quite enjoying it. A few days after he moved in, he proudly announced to me that he had eaten for less than a dollar the previous day - cereal for breakfast, ramen noodles for lunch, and his roommate gave him free pizza for dinner!

We know that God has great things in store for this special kid, now a man, who we love so much!

Exciting Times at Target Part 2

Feeling happy and excited from the wonderful news from Ashley, I headed back to the baby department to fulfill my purpose for being at Target: to purchase a baby swing for my sister's new baby. My SIL Carol was going in on it with me. I looked them over, and of course the one I really wanted was a little out of the budget. This cool swing not only swung, it also could be a rocker or a jumper. I called anther SIL Anisa but of course, she already had purchased a gift. After all, the shower is tomorrow. She is always prepared.

While I was telling her all about this cool swing and wanting to find another person to go in on it, a genial looking middle-aged gentleman with gray hair waving near his shoulders approached me with a wad of cash in his hands. "How much do you need?" he says. "I'll be happy to give it to you." Startled, I politely declined and finished my phone conversation with Anisa. He still stood there with this huge wad of cash.

"I mean it, I'm happy to share this with you," he said. "I just won it yesterday in the lottery. Just tell me how much you need!"

I thanked him very much but told him I really wasn't comfortable taking money from a stranger, and I had other family members I could check with. (Surely I'm not the only one who waits til the last minute to buy a gift!)

He told me he would be nearby and to come find him if I changed my mind. "I think it's important to invest in the lives of children!" he said.

I bought the cheaper swing that's JUST a swing, but later on I got ahold of a niece who hadn't shopped yet either and she was happy to chip in. So I'll go exchange it tomorrow!

If I the rich gentleman is still wandering around waving his cash, I may solicit him for school supplies for children at my school....or college money for my boys....and my hubby wants me to mention that he'd really like a laser level...

But I feel pretty comfortable with my decision to decline money from a friendly old guy walking around with a big wad of cash!

Exciting Trip to Target

Today as I headed into Target I heard a girl say "Mrs McAnulty!" and saw a couple of former students sitting on a bench. I headed over to chat, and what a wonderful chat it was.

About 10 years ago, the Christian mother of this girl (I'll call her Ashley), came with a friend to a Bible study at our church. She had just found out she had ovarian cancer. Fast forward a few years, and I worked at Memorial Middle School. "Ashley's" brother went to live with their dad because their mother was dying of cancer, and he registered at our school. The mother soon died, and in spite of our efforts to help the boy, he got involved with drugs and got expelled from school. A few years later, Ashley came to our school. Dad was not very attentive, and Ashley was headed down the wrong path too. Knowing that she had a godly mother, and having lost my mother as well, I always had a soft spot for Ashley and prayed often for her and her brother.

Ashley went on to high school and continued to be involved with drugs and the wrong people. I'm not sure if she dropped out or got kicked out of school, but she didn't graduate.

When I saw her today, she looked great, so different from the sullen angry girl I knew in middle school. She told me she got her GED and was getting A's in her classes at Linn-Benton, and also working at a local restaurant. As we were talking she mentioned a friend who I know is a out-spoken Christian. They certainly hadn't hung out together in middle school! I mentioned that I hadn't realized they were friends and she said they are best friends now, and she has given her life to Jesus and given up all of her old bad ways! She said her dad also got saved, "But he still isn't quite living like he should!"

I was so excited! I told her I have been praying for her and her brother, and I know her mother's friends have been praying for them too. Her mother has been gone for seven years now, but I feel very strongly that God honors the prayers of a mother for her children. Then another Christian friend who used to be our library aide came along and I got to tell her that Ashley is living for Jesus now!

It was so exciting to talk to her and see and hear the changes that have taken place. Praise God that he heals broken lives!

Another camping trip

We spent last weekend up at the posse camp. Half our entertainment was watching Zeek chase Doug's dog Penny around as he tried desperately to be her friend. (Zeek, not Doug!)She wasn't impressed. When she wasn't running away, she was sitting there growling fiercely at him. Since he seemed to think he could get through all the small spaces she ran through, it got a little exciting sitting around our little circle sometimes as he flipped over tables and chairs chasing her around. She wasn't even impressed when he pranced around her in a half circle carrying a big stick in his mouth.

Will worked his magic with the Dutch ovens again. He cooked a wonderful roast beef in the bottom one and a delicious blueberry cobbler in the top one. We had a great potluck Saturday night. He also impressed everyone with his own home made sprinkling device to wet down the area.

The creek was a lovely place to hang out and practice rock skipping skills. Here are Doug and Anisa, Galen and Carol and Scott and Becky.

We girls waded bravely downstream, with the water nearly up to our waists in spots. Anisa figured out how to use the timer on my camera and stacked up some rocks for a "tripod". You'd never know she ran through the rocks and barely settled in before the camera clicked, would you? She did a lovely job.

Camping with family is so relaxing and fun. I must admit we all think we are pretty cool!

Summertime

Yikes, it's been almost a month since I posted anything here! Spent about 11 days at the Metolius living the life everyone dreams of, then got back to work the beginning of last week. Here's some pictures of our camping trip I posted on Facebook. I hope you can access them. I struggled with this for awhile before calling my whiz kid son Nick to take care of the html code and set me up with these handy links (in about two minutes). So cool! He is available for hire. Last week he got two unsolicited "computer gigs", from a teacher and a family at church who actually paid him for his expert technical assistance!

Camping at Metolious.

West Metolious hike.

Now the family project is painting the exterior of our house. It moves along slowly because of the heat, painting in the morning and evenings. The boys are all just loving this opportunity to get up earlier than normal and be productive members of the family before they head off to jobs in the afternoon. We appreciate it! How it warms a parent's heart to see their children working together for the common good!

Yesterday I had the day off because the carpets were getting cleaned at the office. Eric decided he might take the opportunity to get a tan on normally unexposed areas. Aren't these nice cutoffs! What a fashion plate! I giggled every time I looked at him.


I got off pretty easy so far, being at my glamorous job all alone at the school while most of the painting is going on. Hopefully it will be finished up before the weekend!

Father's Day

As usual with the rest of my life, better late than never, right?

Nick left on Sunday for the youth mission trip to Vancouver, so only two boys were home for Father's Day. We had a nice roast beef dinner and they watched some baseball before Eric had to go to work.

Sometimes Zeek watches baseball too. He's getting a little big to sit on Will's lap though!

Later in the day, we picked up Doug and Anisa and Will drove us around Linn County, showing us some scenic sights and telling us some stories of things that have happened at various locations over the past years. Enjoyable and entertaining as usual. We stopped at the Point restaurant in Sweet Home for pie and wondered if we would ever get it, but eventually got the attention of a waitress. Will got an extra scoop of ice cream in an attempt by the waitress to make up for the delay.

Summertime

Well, I survived all the year-end activities and didn't mess up anything too bad. Only one parent called on the last day (Thursday) to criticize the promotion ceremony, which took place at 9:00 am that day. Why is it that when some people complain they feel the need to repeat each complaint several times? Yes, I agreed it was too long, we are sorry it went longer than intended. I am so sorry your husband is disabled and couldn't sit long enough to see his daughter receive her certificate. And on and on. I've received several memorable complaint calls from that parent over the years, and I rejoice that her child is moving on up to high school!

Friday we got the teachers checked out for the summer. This week has been amazing, with few phone calls and very light traffic in and out. The boss left, the new boss is moving into her former office, and the new assistant principal brought some of her things in. Lots of work to do to keep busy for a good long time. I get to take Fridays off this month and next to make up for all the long hours I've put in, as well as some time in July to go to the Metolius. I have always had the whole month of July off since I started working. But on the bright side, after I've been on the job for a year, I will get two weeks of paid vacation! That is also a first!


I love the summer hours - 8 am to 3 pm! Now if I could just train myself to go ahead and sleep an hour later!

I love home made ice cream!

I am pretty much convinced that unplanned social activities at our home are much for fun than planned ones.

Recently I told Will I would like to get an ice cream freezer. I love to have people over, but working makes me have less energy for cooking and cleaning...but making home made ice cream is easy and it's a fun thing to invite people over for.

So yesterday morning I asked Doug and Anisa if they would like to come by that evening for homemade ice cream. They had other things going on and we left the time open. We always try to have a family dinner with our boys on Sunday, and it ended up being a little later than I had planned. They arrived just as we were about to sit down. Fortunately we had lots of salmon that Will had caught on his recent Rogue River fishing trip, and it was quite fun ordering the boys to haul out another board for the table after the table was already set and being embarrassed by their lack of working together politely skills. We had enough food to go around and I didn't have to worry about making a dinner good enough for company. Although the meal was pretty decent if I do say so.

Brother David called while we were eating and was just leaving our parents house in Brownsville, so he and McKenna came by. The weather was nice enough that we could go out on the deck to eat it. Although poor Anisa had to wrap up in a blanket. I have this problem of feeling like if more than one sibling is here, I really should call some more to join the party. I called Galen but he was home nursing a cold. Lucky for us, because that gallon of ice cream disappeared pretty quickly!


Yes, it was a good evening. Nick and Duane played catch in the back yard and didn't break any windows. Some cute little neighbor dogs escaped and came over to bark at Zeek. Nick and Duane enjoyed playing with them til the neighbors got back. They also went for a bike ride earlier in the day and didn't bend any wheels or damage the bikes at all. Nick didn't rip any pants out or anything. A very successful day.


I woke up at 4:30 this morning, thought about all the things still to do to get ready for 8th grade promotion, got up and was the first customer at Dutch Brothers shortly after 5:30 on my way to the office. Got a lot done and am feeling ever so much better. I went to McDonalds, the one clear across town, after work to pick up the Ray Kroc award (founder of McDonalds), a Leadership award they give every year to an 8th grader. I had called ahead and they were expecting me. I knew a couple of kids working there and chatted with them a bit after someone handed me a bag with the award. As I drove away, I thought it seemed a little odd that it was in a McDonalds bag and kind of heavy. At the stop light I opened the bag to check it out. It contained a couple of wraps! I thought it was real nice of them to give me some free food, but where was the medal? I circled around and went back in. The manager had been told I was there for the award, but she said, "I thought you said she was here for her order - someone just went through the drive through and left before getting one of her bags!" They didn't let me keep the food but they did give me the medal!

I wonder what I'm forgetting? I'm making a list so that this will all be much easier next year. Events at work do require a great deal of forethought and planning!

Camping at Casey's Riverside RV Park

We camped at a new place this past weekend. (New to us anyway.)Less than an hour and a half away, it was a delightful surprise, set along Willamette River where the Middle Fork and the South Fork come together, just four miles out of Oakridge. An ideal place for a little dog to learn to swim and fetch in the river.

We enjoyed a lovely hike along the river on Friday. Wild yellow iris and columbine were blooming profusely, but I didn't get any great pictures of them. Zeek was a good hiker and was happy to splash in the water at the end of the journey.

All the campsites had little flower gardens or pots. Zeek is such a good dog, he knows better than to bother flowers!

Our friends Bruce and Marla joined us on Friday with two more dogs. It was a great camp for dogs, with a place to play fetch in the river as well as a fenced in dog run where they could romp and play to their heart's content.

A unique feature of this place was a soft serve ice cream machine in the covered group area. On the honor system, for $1 you could make yourself an ice cream cone! We enjoyed one our last night there.


It wasn't all about the dogs of course. What a lovely place to sit and watch the river with your husband of 26 years, or read a book while he's playing with his dog.

It was wonderfully relaxing to get away from the hectic pace of work. Eight more days and I can breathe again!

We'll Make it Through

What a week. The past few days all the school employees have found out their assignments for next year. My new boss got the great job of delivering the letters over a two day period. We also learned that our new assistant principal will be the current dean of students from the high school next door.

Now that the dust has settled, 18 people are leaving our building (including our principal, who resigned). We have 40 teachers. Out of those, four were transferred to other schools next year, two were laid off, and one temporary position was cut. So we are losing seven teachers. Three have been transferred in, two part time and one full time.

Our classified staff had even more changes. This includes custodians,classroom helpers and kitchen help. Out of the 31 employees, seven were transferred to other schools, one was laid off, two temporary positions ended, one's hours were cut from 6.5 to 2.5. Eight people are transferring in from other schools.

Some people are in shock, some are very upset, some are so happy to still have a job that they feel that they can't complain about having to leave. But no one wants to leave. Add all this to various health, marriage and family issues people face, and it's stressful times.

Every year on the last day of school after the students leave, we have a potluck and a recognition time for all the employees who won't be returning and invite the new people to come so we can introduce them. Guess who's in charge of getting good-bye gifts for outgoing employees? There have never been so many of them since I have been there! Eighteen people leaving! Eleven people coming! This could be a very long party! It's impossible to give that many people the recognition they deserve. We are losing an awesome group of people. But on the bright side, a wonderful group remains. And who knows what surprises are to come?

A Day at the Beach

After a full day of hard physical labor in the yard yesterday, I was so excited to go out to the beach today, with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s forecast the last time I checked. We even considered skipping church, but since Eric was playing the bass, we did the right thing and waited until after church to head west. I brought my beach chair, planning to lounge around and watch Will and Zeek play. Sunshine all the way to Newport - and the first glimpse of the ocean was obscured by fog. Low clouds hovered along the shore. And sadly, it was 55 degrees, not counting the wind chill factor! Oh well, we got great seafood from the South Beach seafood place and parked at the marina to eat it. Then it was off to the beach.


Zeek awoke from his long nap and had a great time cavorting on the beach.


Then Will was kind enough to buy us coffee to thaw my hands and we headed back home to the wonderful 75 degree sunshine!

Come to Burgerville Thursday night!

Let me serve your dinner at Burgerville this Thursday, May 7, from 5-8 PM. They are partnering with us to raise funds for a much-needed office update at Memorial Middle School. So our staff and students will be helping out there during that time, and they give us 10% of the take.

We've been wishing for an office remodel for a long time, and it looked like it was finally going to happen this summer. Plans were drawn up, a very reasonable bid was given by our district carpenters, and we were so excited. Then our budgets were cut and cut again, and the money just wasn't available any more. So, if we want to go forward, we have to raise the money. Don't we all love fundraisers?

I was used to our office the way it was, with old mismatched furniture, (some picked up at garage sales), sitting back from the front counter, our backs turned to that our computers could be next to the wall. But when my new co-worker came in from a "modern" office with a built-in workstation where she actually sat at the front counter with her computer in front of her, right where she needed to be to greet and help people, the shortcomings of the office became more apparent. We re-arranged furniture to face forward, meaning that cords are now a hazard as they snake out away from the wall, covered by a rubber guard that I have gracefully skipped over a few times. We are up and down and back and forth constantly to help people. It's good for us but not exactly the most efficient way to work.

This will hopefully be a somewhat painless way to raise some funds. Burgerville is a good fast-food option, with healthy choices and seasonal items. I'm planning on the spring spinach chicken salad. I'm hoping lots of people come!

Fruit and Flowers

I joined the camping guys Friday after work. They weren't really expecting me, so no one was there to unlock the gate, meaning I got to walk most of the mile in before I got a ride. But it was a lovely walk.

My boss brought a big fragrant bouquet of lilacs to work that day. I stuck them in the back seat cup holder and brought them along. I also had picked up a three pack of cantalope at Costco the day before. I was quite pleased with myself for sharing these two beautiful items with the campers. However, when I was inside the trailer I could overhear them talking outside. "Can you believe she brings fruit and flowers to a guys camping trip? Fruit and flowers? What is she thinking?" Yes indeed, a bitter disappointment when you're hoping for steak and cookies. (But I was very thankful to have a sprig of lilac to hold under my nose when Zeek passed a little gas wile sleeping in the 5th wheel. Yeah, I know, they always say the dog did it.)

We called Doug and Anisa Saturday afternoon and they came up with Duane and shared dinner with us.Will made a beautiful Dutch oven roast pork dinner, finishing it off with cherry cobbler served warm with ice cream. Ken lit the wood stoves over in the kitchen/classroom and we had dinner there.

No one had much success keeping the dogs out. Bruce's dog Clyde is sure easy going. Zeek would bite him and harass him unmercifully, then when Clyde would finally have enough, Zeek would hide under a chair and swipe at him from there!


So now we're all back home again. If only it would stop raining!

I am Appreciated!

Yesterday I messed up. I ran some errands on my lunch break and they took much longer than I anticipated. Burgerville was very busy, so I had to wait quite awhile to get my fundraiser paperwork taken care of. Then I was off to the post office for the bulk mail ordeal to get our school newsletters out. The bulk mail lady is a lot of fun, but she is always changing the rules about how the paperwork is done. I had four letters that had non-973 zip codes, and I kept them carefully separate. Another postal helper was hanging around back there pretending to be helpful, leaning on the scales and making her wonder why the weight kept changing, etc. By the time we finally got done with the paperwork, we noticed the four separate newsletters were gone. So was the "helper". So we had to look through all 655 newsletters to find the odd ones that he had helpfully stuck in the middle!

So I didn't get back to the office until about 10 minutes after school let out. I sat down at my desk and surveyed the chaos. To my dismay, a note I had written to a 6th grade girl still sat there. "Ride bus to Boys and Girls Club." This could be a problem. I called the mother, reaching her on the third number I called, and confessed my error with deepest apologies. The mother said she had been called to work, and the child would have ridden the bus home where she would be able to get inside. Mom was very nice, but she really didn't want the kid home alone all evening.

This mother has been in several times so we're acquainted. I offered to get the child and drive her to the club if she was comfortable with it. I was a little surprised when she took me up on the offer, but I felt like it was the least I could do since I didn't send the note out.

The child is a sweetheart and we had a nice drive together. I pulled one of my usual tricks, so engrossed in our chat that I turned off too early, so we took some back streets to the Club. She said she had no idea you could get there that way! I told her I wanted to show her the beautiful dogwood trees blooming along that route!

When I got back from lunch today, I was handed a card that a parent had dropped off for me. How unexpected. I opened it and read a very nice appreciative note from yesterday's mom, thanking me for going beyond her expectations. She enclosed a Dutch Brothers card with all 10 stamps, telling me to have a coffee on her and her daughter.

Knowing this is a single mother struggling financially, I was so touched, feeling like I had just received the widow's mite. Every time I looked at the card as it sat on my desk this afternoon, it made me teary eyed.

One appreciative parent and child make it worthwhile to put up with all the difficult ones!

Tuesday update

The runaway kids have been found and returned.

The parking lot project is delayed pending further discussion.

I didn't hear anyone fretting about swine flu today.

My inbox is nearly overflowing again. I only worked 11 hours today.

I spent a good bit of time making arrangements for a fundraiser with Burgerville to raise money to get new workstations in our office. We both sit away from the front counter with old mismatched, tacky looking desks and computer desks. We are constantly hopping up and down to help people at the counter and would love to have a more professional, welcoming and efficient office space. But in the current economic climate, the only way it will happen is if we fundraise for it. I hate fundraising. But hopefully we will do well with Burgerville. We will wait tables there next Thursday May 7 from 5-8 and give away balloons to kids! So put it on your calendar!

My co-worker got chewed out by a parent and finally hung up on her. No one chewed me out today. I'm so lucky.

Will called from the posse camp and claims he is helping with a building project up there. Zeek and Bruce's dog are having a great time. Will was cooking a beef heart in the Dutch oven. Lucky Bruce. (We got a quarter of a beef last week.) Will claims to like beef heart. He sounds very cheerful and happy. So do I. I visited the library on my lunch break and have a fun new book to read. Here I come!

Monday, Monday

Thank goodness another Monday is over. This morning when I got to work and checked on Aesop, which tells me all the subs scheduled for the day, I discovered that one job had been put in twice and two subs were coming. I quickly called one and was able to catch her before she came. She was not happy. The other sub came in and we discovered the child she was supposed to work with was absent, so we sent her home after an hour. These things do not make me popular. I picked up a phone call from a parent and listened to a lengthy explanation of why her child would be absent next week due the family taking a trip to visit a friend with terminal cancer. It is very difficult for me to diplomatically handle some of these calls when I have deadlines and lots of stuff happening.

Two of our students ran away together over the weekend, so there were phone calls from their parents and students being called down to be interviewed to find information about them. They are still missing.

A student came back from a week long trip to Mexico, and some people were freaking out about the possibility that he might be carrying swine flu.

A girl came down somewhat worried that she had ingested some Orajel. "It felt so good" on her gums she had used a bunch of it and then read on the package that you should call poison control if you ingested it. Turns out that it's a popular thing for a few girls right now, so that ring had to be busted. What are these kids thinking???

The morning flew by, and I tried to go to lunch at 11:00, but could not get out for 15 minutes because of constant calls. The custodian radioed, asking me to put in a work order to get a clogged toilet fixed. A teacher reported a restroom out of paper towels and blood on the floor, which I relayed to the custodian. A teacher called and told me I needed to cancel a purchase order I had done on Friday. The duplicator in the copy room next door had a major master roll jam and it was quite an inky ordeal to get everything unjammed. Fortunately I was wearing dark colors. A parent came in to pick up a child and told me all about a seven foot pet python a friend of hers had.

During my lunch break I went out and bought some weed killer to spray the clover in our yard while Will and Zeek are up at the posse camp. Will called me just as I was about to head back into the office. He is greatly enjoying the relaxing beauty up there with his cute entertaining puppy and his buddy Bruce. Although apparently Zeek got into something that caused some digestive problems on both ends, possibly during his unauthorized romp to the creek with another doggie friend up there. But being the good pup he is, he kept the nasty business outdoors.

On Friday, some trucks pulled up and portable cyclone fencing was put up around the big grassy area in the front half of our school that is not parking lot. We were told it was going to be turned into a parking lot for the high school next door. Instant uproar ensued, and it continued today with many safety and ecological concerns.There was a meeting after school,(which I avoided, having much paperwork to do and not enjoying meetings full of angry people) and a school board meeting tonight will take comments about it.

After school, a parent called, complaining that a hat confiscated from her child hadn't been returned to him. I expressed surprise that I had seen her son still wearing a hat in the hallway under those circumstances. She hung up, called back a few minutes later and said he told her he could wear them in the halls but not in classrooms. Obviously he knows better because it's been an ongoing issue, so she wanted me to know she has now confiscated all his hats for two weeks. Good job Mom.

After school, Nick dropped by to tell me he got an A on his chemistry test. He's doing so good this year. That made me very happy. I'm also very happy that Mr. Gilbert, our assistant principal, will be our principal next year. He is absolutely wonderful to work with.

Since Will was gone and Nick was doing homework, I stayed at work til almost 7 pm, going all the way through my inbox, doing my weekly update of announcements and calendar on our webpage, getting the calendar ready for our calendar meeting tomorrow, catching up on email, preparing some publicity for an upcoming fundraiser, and various other miscellaneous tasks.

So I'm all ready for a fresh start tomorrow.

The Week in Review

The week fortunately ended better than it started. Monday morning I got to work and immediately got calls that both administrators were out sick, and two subs for absent teachers called in sick. So I was on the phone finding two subs to replace the subs, which fortunately took only about four phone calls! The phones were going crazy, people had all kinds of demands, but finally the morning rush was over. Then a sweet hispanic woman came in and wanted proof that her two boys had completed 8th grade at our school in 1992 and 1993. I checked, but there are no computerized records from that far back. West Albany High School no longer had their files, and their printed transcript showed no middle school, with 10th grade being the highest. Her sons needed her to send some proof of their education to them in Mexico for something. It was difficult to communicate with her. I got out old yearbooks and saw that the boys had attended our school, but certainly I couldn't sign my principal's name in her absence certifying that they had completed middle school, especially since the high school transcript showed no enrollment for the older one the year the younger one would have been in 8th grade. And that year's yearbook was missing. I really wanted to help her and spent a lot of time trying to, but eventually she decided to try harder to find their promotion certificates. She showed up later that afternoon to show them to us - her daughter had found them. Yay, a happy ending!

There was no school the past two days due to Spring Conferences. Our reader board sign was rather crowded with all the information of dates and times, especially since the 8th grade DC trip people asked us to advertise their silent auction fundraiser which was going on during conferences. 8th grade students put the letters up, and the sign never looks as good as it did back in the day when Nick was doing it. He was trained by Randy Lary himself, the principal when he was in 6th grade, and Nick maintained the sign through all three years of middle school. (And several times since then when we were in a crunch or someone messed it up.) Nick actually texted me yesterday "Your sign looks terrible." There is somewhat of an art form to centering things and arranging the words to actually make sense. The sign said:

Conferences - Silent
Auction April 15 5-730
16 8-11 1-4 5-730

It didn't look great but I thought people could get the message.

Yesterday someone called and said, "What are silent conferences?" I was startled for a moment, then I remembered the sign. I was tempted to give a smart remark, like "It's when teachers sit at their computers and do email conferences." or "You go to the classroom and look at your student's work but no one can talk."

Had some good news and bad news this week. The good news, there will be no Late Start days next year. It has been such a pain this year, having from one to three Wednesdays a month when school starts two hours late, with no rhyme or reason to the schedule. Most people are schedule-challenged anyway, and this is just too heavy a burden for them to bear. They have to call every Wednesday to find out. Others just keep their kids home every other Wednesday. It's a constant surprise to them when they're wrong. So we in the office are very happy, knowing this will hugely cut down on phone calls and Wednesday tardies and absences.

The bad news is that we are looking at losing 5 of our 30 teaching positions next year due to budget cuts and a small decline in enrollment due to a new school opening. I hate to even think of that.

Also we were given surveys this week to share our opinions for desired qualifications in a new principal. A huge majority of us would like our assistant principal, Mr. Gilbert, to be promoted. One teacher showed me his response to the question, "Describe the personal characteristics you want in a leader." "Short, plump and bald." And he said it aloud as Mr. Gilbert walked up. I suggested he change "plump" to "husky". But Mr. G. was not at all offended by the description, being the first to make bald and plump jokes about himself. He would be a wonderful principal. Hopefully we will know within the next week or so.

And now I am looking forward to a weekend of warm sunshine! Watch out, weeds! Will left with a friend on Wednesday to fish the Rogue River, but of course I will be home working tomorrow, because I am a hard worker. Will compliments me for that all the time. He called tonight from Gold Beach and reported that Zeek was in the boat for 12 hours today helping catch fish and did very well. But for some reason Will was a little tired. It's gotta be tough, all that camping and fishing and dog nurturing. Poor guy.