Yesterday when I got home I laid down on my bed just "for a minute" and the next I knew it was nearly 6 p.m.! I'd been a bit cranky with a couple of my classes too - over tired I guess.

We had an All Saints presentation by all the various grades yesterday, whcih cut short one of my favorite classes. But I enjoyed it, and even was asked to read a bit from the Bible -- the Bible on my phone to be precise. Sr N came up to me an said "You know the Bible pretty well, right?" "Would you know where it talks about feeding the hungry/clothing the naked?" I had a good idea of where it was, and Google helped me find out for sure.

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Today was a really good day. First, I had an awesome parent volunteer who was whipping through the donated books finding out lexile and test info for me. Then, I finally!! got in touch with someone who told me how to take off the barcode filter ... and I then preceded to catalog 5!! books I can hardly wait to see my third graders on Monday so I can tell them all about these books - they're on their level.

Even better though, when I got home tonight I had a call from my brother! Not a 5 minute one, but nearly 45 minutes long. His birthday is on Friday - he'll be 31. He's loving his new job and proving his worth -- in fact, if any of you are in the Napa area and get the local winery magazines ... you may just see a picture of him and his girlfriend on a back cover. It's an advert for the new place he's working at - as Marketing/Advertising/All Trades ...

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Today was my 3rd day doing morning duty/prayer. It went much better than the past two mornings. (Monday I blanked on doing the sign of the cross before praying) and Tuesday I totally messed up on the attention signal. I was complimented on my choices of prayers by the Kinder teacher - even though they've had nothing to do with the actual feast/Saint days occurring this week. They are all prayers of being thankful/showing God appreciation.

Even though it went so much better today, I will not be sorry to see Friday and 8:15 a.m. come (end of duty.)

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Today I actually managed to impress my fifth grade girls - really almost shock and awe. They'd been working on a PowerPoint project about Fall. Today I showed them how to use a computer microphone to record themselves reading their paragraph. It was priceless seeing their faces as they heard their own voice being played back. The only caveat is that I only got through 3 girls because the front microphone line didn't work on any of the 4 computers I tried it on - so ended up using the circulation computer.

After school the tech coordinator and I figured out that the mic plug in the *back* of the computers worked. Whew! I'm glad I figured this out today, and not when I had my 8th graders on Monday getting ready to do final prep on their presentations!!!

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Speaking of the plagiarism project. I found out yesterday that one of my mid-school students was caught plagiarizing a classmates essay -- word for word. This was after having spent at least the past six weeks focusing on plagiarism and its consequences. She failed the essay assignment, and is now being watched with Eagle eyes by all her teachers. It makes me sad to not be able to trust her. But even worse, to know that all we've discussed and pounded in, has gone in one ear and out the other.

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I bought my ticket to CA for Christmas tonight - $285. Not too bad if I do say so. I won't be going to San Jose this year - just LL. I've also limited my time to 8 days. That way it'll give me time here to have actual "vacation" and maybe do some projects in the library ... My dad really wanted me out there the whole Christmas break ... I love him, but that is just a bit too much time to fill -- plus, I'd really hate to leave Kari that long. (I need to find someone to care for her while I'm gone at Thanksgiving and Christmas.)

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I found a flyer today for a Children's Librarian seminar in ABQ on Jan 18 with a pretty famous (to school librarians) facilitator/presenter. It would mean missing a day of school, and one nights stay at a hotel. I plan on talking to SrN about it tomorrow - I really hope she agrees that it is a good idea!! I may be able to have my way paid for/reimbursed from Title 1 funds (professional development.)

So Thursday and Friday I stayed after school -Thursday til 5:30, and Friday til 6:20 - helping with preparations for the Halloween Festival which was today. I could have left at 5 on Friday, but felt like I should stay til the last dog died due to not being there on Saturday (since I go to church on Saturday.)

My feet were SO tired! I had a good bit of fun though - especially on Thursday helping the mid-schoolers pick out costumes. There were a couple of boys -- man, did I ever wish I had my camera with me! They were a hoot! However, I ended up getting into major hot water because I let the mid-schoolers into the costume closet - and they made a royal mess. I had no idea they weren't allowed back there - all I was told was to help all the kids find a costume! I also realized they'd left a mess, and was planning on cleaning it up on Friday - which I told to one of the other staff. However, on Friday I didn't get back there till nearly 4:30 because I was put on other tasks ... I apologized to the people's toes I had stepped on, and helped finish the last bits of clean up. That was more than a bit frustrating to me - trying to be helpful and a part of the team, and getting into hot water. I know I should have probably just cleaned it up on Thursday, but my feet were *killing* me (though they were worse on Friday ...)

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Anyway, this was a LONG week.

Next week I have morning prayer duty. That means I have to lead out in prayer each morning. To me, praying is bowing my head and closing my eyes (out of respect) and just talking to God - whatever is on my mind/in my heart. From what I've seen so far here, prayer is making the sign of the cross and then reading a prepared prayer or singing a song - and then sometimes adding an Our Father or Hail Mary to it.

I really wish I wasn't having to lead out in prayer on Halloween day and All Saints Day. But, have to deal with what I have. I'd kind of been thinking of just doing songs all week - but was told that there are special prayers for some of the days coming up this week ... Will have to get that figured out tomorrow.

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Tonight after sunset I *finally* got busy and washed my dishes - I've been pretty much out of clean dishes for a week ... I soaked dishes in the sink and washed them, then dunked and rinsed them in a large pot of boiling water (well, water doesn't necessarily *boil* here ...) -- About a week ago I put a bunch of dishes in a sink full or hot soapy water with the full intention of washing them .... and there they still sat tonight. Now though, all dishes are clean, dry and (mostly) put away.

That is a good thing, because tomorrow after I do lesson plans and put in a few hours cataloging, I need to make a cottage cheese roast for the staff Halloween get together at our principal's home. The tradition here is for all the staff to gather at one place, and the kids all go there to get their candy from us.

I plan on putting Kari in her kennel while I'm cooking. I absolutely do not trust her around any food right now. The other morning I was making a sandwich, and before I'd put anything on the bread, she'd jumped up on the counter and taken a bite of one of the slices!!! Crazy cat!!

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Tonight I also have finished 3 loads of laundry, and need to go put in the last one. It's funny, even with a washer and dryer right in my own home, I still tend to go as long as possible between doing laundry ...

I think it's partly my laziness, and partly just being so tired from school .. mostly my laziness though.

Yesterday was parent teacher conferences, so I spent a bit over 8 hours doing *just* inventory. I went from about 70% finished, to 88% finished! I also had two helpers - one who dusted and cleaned the shelves (badly needed), and one who put books back in correct order and started processing lexile levels for the new books.

Today I kept inventorying every spare moment. I even stayed at school til 5, even though I really had needed to stop by the PO and get into town earlier than I ended up doing -- I just couldn't stop when I was so close!!

There are 499 items missing (really more like 485, because some of them are at my house ). Most of them I think are either just plain lost, or were farmed out to various teachers classrooms by the previous librarian. I'm going to do some searching over the next few days, and then just mark them all LOST. If they end up coming in at a later point, it is easy to unmark it as Lost. But until I have the inventory at 100%, I can't get new barcodes!

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Tonight I spent just a bit over $100 at Walmart. Only $44 of it was for personal groceries. $32 of it was for a new pair of shoes which I hope will work well in the snow (predicted for tonight). The remainder consisted of 3 dozen Halloween cupcakes for the Halloween Festival the school is having on Saturday (which I won't be participating in since it is my Sabbath, but I am doing all I can to help out in other ways) and a bag of Smarties to hand out on Halloween. It is a tradition here for all the teachers to have dinner at SrN's house on Halloween, and pass out candy to the neighborhood kids. In fact, some of the Navajo families take a bus to come to our mobile home park!

I am really hoping that my next grocery trip will be kept under the $50 mark (I'm trying to go just every other Friday - save on gas and wear and tear.

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So tonight when I got home, my lovely cat Kari played a trick on me that my previous cat Monkey did way too many times. When I was coming in the door with my hands full of bags (and cupcakes I didn't want crushed) she pushed her way out the door! I was sorely dissapointed because I thought she wasn't going to get into that bad annoying habit.

I put all my stuff down on the floor, and ran out after her. I kept calling her, and she was ignoring me. I managed to get her before she got very far. Ugh!

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Today was my first elective class. I'm teaching journalism (i.e. newspaper and yearbook.) I have 6 6th and 7th graders total. I told them that we are going to do a couple issues of a newspaper, then concentrate on the yearbook, and then it would be up to them whether we do bookclubs or learn how to design a website (which we'd put a newspaper edition on.) Being middle schooler's, there was no visible reaction to any of it. Oh well, I think over all they enjoyed class today - I know the time flew for me!

Those of you who have Netflix streaming, I would highly recommend the movie Cyberbully. The acting isn't that great, but the storyline is really well done. It would be really good to watch with your young/older teens and discuss why it is so important to be careful with what you post online -- that there ARE consequences - real life consequences.

I had wanted to watch this when it came out back last April or May - but my ex-stepdad didn't have that channel. (He actually got married on Saturday!!) I'm glad Netflix has it. I'm thinking of suggesting our guidance counselor here watch it, and then maybe show it to the eighth graders. We did a couple lessons on online predators at the beginning of the year, but then got busy with other projects, so I didn't get to the cyber bullying lessons I'd planned on doing. They really need both.

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I put in about four hours of book inventory today. Have roughly 3,500 books to go ... It isn't hard, it is just *really* time consuming. And as I'm going along, I'm finding so many books totally miscataloged and my problem book pile grows steadily larger.

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I really hate not having a dishwasher. I've been procrastinating SO badly about washing dishes - finding anything to eat that doesn't require a dish ... because I'm completely out of clean ones. It's not so bad if I keep up with it, it's just when I let it go for a few days and it starts piling up ...

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Ugh! I *still* have not received my new driver's license. It was supposed to be here by Sept 22nd. I sent the DMV an email several weeks ago, and have had no response. On Tuesday we don't have to be at school til 12:30 - so I think I may go into GR to the DMV and see if I can get this straightened out. My temp license expired on 9/22, so considering I'll be flying in a few weeks (Thanksgiving) I really need to get an unexpired one!!! (My TX license isn't expired, but it is deactivated since I got the NM once ... almost wish I hadn't bothered ....) Ugh!

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I ordered a book on Amazon on Thursday, and as soon as I hit "proceed" I realized it had the wrong shipping address -- my ex-stepdad's! I tried to cancel right away, but it wouldn't let me cancel - not even 30 seconds after I placed the order!!! Luckily my ex-stepdad hasn't moved out of that house *yet* (it closes contract on the 27th) so he'll forward the package to me. I really must delete that address - it isn't the first time I did that, just the first time I couldn't cancel!

Like I said yesterday -- must put a moratorium on ordering books!!

I typed up a nice long post and forgot my typical advice to copy it to a clipboard before posting ... just in case. And of course I'd gotten logged out because in the middle of typing I got into a text convo, so it took awhile. So nice long post -- gone.

Short of it -- Long, busy week at school. End of first quarter, major hiccups with online grading program that computer tech person and I got to handle. Look to be worked out now. (cross fingers!) Parent teacher conferences on Tuesday - hope to finish book inventory and get started on processing new books. Must put a moratorium on my buying books for the library. MUST.

Co-worker who found out she was pregnant, miscarried last Thursday night. No support from family - taken to hospital by brother, then he left. I didn't find out til Monday morning.

Really missing my Texas church family. I do like my life here, my job, my home, etc. Just if we could transport my Lew****** church family to here ... then it would be perfect. If I wanted the stress of it ... I'd offer (make a strong suggestion) to be worship leader/coordinator. Today they mentioned Nov 5 is supposed to be "community church" day - where we invite coworkers/friends. HAH! I'd be seriously embarrassed right now to invite anyone. Not that they aren't good people - because they are good people. But they are seriously organizationally challenged. It makes it *really* difficult for me to talk myself into going to church each Sabbath - let alone invite someone who knows nothing about our church (other than what they might see in me.)

This past week was quite busy. Between teaching classes and trying to do inventory (still!) and then the end of the first quarter ... Yikes!

The computer tech and I are in charge of the online gradebook program. This is the program that at the beginning of the year I ended up spending a LONG day with classes canceled putting together the data files. Computer tech printed a sample report card on Wednesday and discovered that student name and teacher name did not show up. The tech help for the program convinced her to reupload roster files (which I'd been told could *not* coexist with the data files I'd uploaded at beginning of year ...) First grade teacher became the guinea pig and opened up her gradebook ... all her students were gone, along with all her grades. Panic ensues.

Spent most of Thursday on the phone and/or trying to figure out how to fix the problem. Finally convinced computer tech to tell gradebook company to delete roster files *again* and go with the data files and figure it out from there. That worked - got kids names back AND grades. But then had to write out instructions for teachers to fill out class info for *each* gradebook. (we could have done it for them .. but 15+ teachers times 6 - 10 gradebooks each ... much more efficient to have them do it, and then we troubleshoot.)

So Friday was teacher inservice day. At breakfast I realized that most of the teachers had completely misunderstood the instructions I hurriedly handed out at the bus waving (end of day everybody waves the busses home). So I had to stand up and reexplain exactly what they were supposed to do. Then while teachers were completing their grades, numerous problems kept cropping up, so both computer tech and I were kept on our toes til about 4 p.m.

What a week!

A funny though ... Friday afternoon a couple of the teacher assistants were assigned to help me in the library. Only one of the 6 assigned actually was there the entire time ... but that's another story. Anyway, the PE teacher is good friends with this one teacher assistant. She needed to leave early due to "babysitter problems." PE teacher was giving her a ride home. She offered to come in and help me with doing inventory on Sunday afternoon. PE teacher got this shocked expression on his face, and then said, "You come in on Sundays?!" LOL!!! I told him that yes, I come in on most Sundays.

Shoot - I could use another 30 hours a week, and still not even come close to getting to all the projects and things that need to be done.

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Tuesday is parent teacher conferences. It appears that I'll have that entire day to work in the library ... and do inventory and hopefully start on processing the new books (books I've personally bought, and those donated by others). Sister N posted a sign up sheet for teacher assistants who'd like to get a few hours in that day by helping in the library ... only one person signed up. Sigh. At least the person who signed up is a darn good worker (he actually owns his own computer business in Phoenix, which he goes to every other weekend ... he's here now only due to family, we so LUCKED out that he was willing to be a teacher assistant!!)

Err... speaking of books I personally bought ... I really need to get a moratorium on that spending ... I haven't really put much away in savings yet.

Between the books and Kari and food ... yeah, not saving much yet.

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On a sad note ... my single coworker who found out she was pregnant recently, miscarried about a week ago. She miscarried on last Thursday after work, and came back to work on Monday (even though she was told by doctors to take week off.) I've really tried to be supportive, though I don't know if what I've said has been helpful or not ... mostly just tried to listen when she needed to talk. The worst part of it is how utterly unsupportive her family has been. I know if it was me, as soon as family (mom, brother - dad if he could...) heard I was in the hospital, they'd be either driving or flying here to be with me - no matter what else was going on. She was *alone* in the hospital Thursday night and Friday. Her brother took her there -- and then LEFT!!! Totally inconceivable to me ... but then as nutty as my family is, the one thing we are is we are there for each other. (She has at least 4 family members in the area - mom, brother, two sisters, and a best friend.)

This afternoon I took Kari to the vet. What an adventure that was!

First of all, I had to borrow a cat carrier from a co-worker. The one I had for Monkey had seen better days towards the end of his life .. Well, the one I borrowed, was a soft sided carrier with zipper enclosures.

Yikes!

It took Kari all of one minute to figure out how to get out of it. At first I though maybe I had left a zipper open, but she repeated the performance. Next, I realized that there was a velcro tab thing to hold a handle type thing for the upper zippers. So I did that up. This time it took her ten minutes to escape - though the majority of that time was spent yowling and complaining.

I had to pull over to put her back in the carrier twice. Finally, I decided to try to see if she'd be a good lap traveler like Monkey had been. Not so much.

Finally made it to the vets office. They put us in a room right away - no wait. Upon the vets advice, I let Kari out of the bag so she could explore the room.

Such a strange cat. When she got both of her shots, she had no reaction ... at first. Then 20 - 30 seconds later it was like the Tazmanian Devil broke loose. Yeow!! I've got multiple scratches and claw marks to prove it.

Then the vet tech started clipping her nails. Yowie! You would think WW3 had started or something. She was going to show me how to do it - to make sure not to cut the quick -- but she ended up having to take her to another room to finish. The whole clinic could hear her vehement protestations.

When it was over, I asked the vet if they had any plastic ties so I could secure the zippers for the trip home. They had some, and put 3 on. Kari tried her darndest, but could not manage to get those loose!

The vet told me that we'd wait to clip her nails again until when she gets spayed ... in other words, when she is asleep.

I'll definitely be needing to get a real (plastic) cat carrier for future visits/car rides. I also can see that she'll probably need a tranquilizer if I take her with me on any road trips. The entire 35 minute drive to the vet she did not stop bellyaching once .. except for when she was out of the carrier. (When my previous cat Monkey was a baby and I was taking him home for the first time, he also cried pitifully in his carrier. I took him out and put him on my lap. He fell asleep. That is how he rode with me the majority of the time ... on my lap. Kari ... I don't see that is gonna happen - she couldn't settle down.)

Kari seems to have forgiven me for the torture I put her through today. She is fast asleep on my lap.

My morning had a lovely start. While I was cleaning out Kari's litter box, she decided to do #1 right next to my foot - outside the box. I'm not sure if she was expressing her frustration with me because I hadn't fed her yet, she saw me cleaning her box and realized she *really* needed to go, or if it may be some kind of an UTI. I cleaned out several clumps of #1, so I think this was a first (I hope!!!)

I realized this morning that my vet appointment was for today, and not tomorrow -- which was impossible for me to do. So I called the vet this morning to let them know I needed to reschedule. I got their voicemail. About 2:30 they called back and left a voicemail saying that the next available appointment would be Oct 26, and that I'd be charged a $15 holding fee.

Considering how old Kari is getting, I want to get her shots done ASAP so I can get her spayed. Waiting another two weeks isn't going to cut it. So I called another place, and can bring her by on Thursday afternoon before 4:30. They are quite a bit more expensive, but it is worth it so I can at least get in and see someone!!

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This afternoon I was in the middle of teaching one of my third grade sections when SrN came by. The 3rd grade teacher and I were working together on a Saints research project. The kids were working on researching their different Saints. SrN unfortunately came in while I was running around the room helping the kids put their Saints name in the search engine. She started telling me she thought it was way too hard for the kids and that they'd get overwhelmed. I told her that the Monday section had done it, and had done quite well with it. I probably was quite a bit more short with my response than I would have been if I hadn't been in the middle of class and on the third week of working on this project ... She also told the 3rd grade teacher the same thing - 3rd grade teacher had done the same project last year with her kids, and it was in her lesson plans she turned in a few weeks ago ...

Ugh!

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One thing I'm having to get used to here is never knowing when people will just waltz through your classroom. This week so far we've had at least three groups of donors tour through campus. Then today we also had one of our more major donors/fundraisers/volunteers make a presentation from pictures he and his group took during the Summer School program. Never a dull moment!

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I had been planning on getting an iPhone 5 when it came out. Of course, that didn't happen. So now I am thinking about getting an iPhone 4 -- if, as I've seen reported, it will sell for $100 (w/2 yr contract.) My current phone could then become my defacto iPod touch for a 50% less than getting a 4S.

Or ... I suppose I could wait til the 5 comes out, and possibly get the 4 for free ... (like the 3GS will now be ... only the 8GB one though)

It sure has gotten cold here. Very different from Texas .. there we'd have shorts and sandals weather til nearly Thanksgiving most years. Here, we had a low of 27 degrees Friday night, and I imagine last night was even colder, because at 8 a.m. it was only 30 degrees!

I slept most of yesterday - still trying to fight off whatever this bug is that I got.

Today I spent about three hours picking out appropriate youtube videos for my 6th - 8th graders to watch on their various plagiarism topics. I couldn't find a good one for citing music MLA format (well, I did find *one* but not exactly appropriate.) I used quietube to make the links devoid of any advertisements or links to other videos.

Then this afternoon I spent about five hours doing inventory at the library. I made it through A - F in the E Fiction section. Before I can process any new books, I have to complete a full inventory. Our circulation system (Destiny) was purchased in the middle of last year, and merged with the old circulation system. So until all the books are accounted for one way or another, there is something called a "barcode filter" in place. I can create my own barcodes for new books, but by doing that I run the danger of using a barcode already assigned to a book. Once the inventory is complete, then the barcode filter will be removed, and the barcode field will fill automatically with whatever barcode is next in line.

I have a bunch of new (or newish) books that are ready and raring to be processed. I forsee a number of Sundays going forward spent doing inventory, then a number more getting the books processed ... Oh well, not like there is all that much else to do around here.

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Tomorrow after school all the teachers are riding busses with the kids. Two teachers per bus. I'm glad I didn't get put on the super crowded bus - though I did get put on the one with the longest route. I will need to be sure to dress warmly!

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Wednesday after school I have a vet appointment for Kari. I'll hopefully find out how old she is, and then get her started on her shots. (She did have some shots already, but her previous owner can't find the paperwork, and the vet clinic (she'd gone to a free clinic) didn't keep any records! I hope to get her through all her shots and fixed before she goes into her first heat! (One reason I think I/we've always gotten male pets ...)

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Probably on Tuesday after school I will go get my oil changed. I really should have done it last week when we had the half day instead of going to see a movie, but oh well.

Over the last two weeks I've been progressively feeling yuckier and yuckier. I was even beginning to think I may have caught strep or an ear infection. I took some Mucinex D (two doses) and my throat and ear started to feel better ... but then I realized that I most likely had a sinus infection.

Our school nurse suggested a Neti Pot. So Tuesday was Pet Day (half-day). I went into the town with the Walgreen's (only one in a 90+ mile radius ...)and got a Neti Pot and some OTC Allegra D. I took the Allegra D last night, and got some relief. Then this morning I tried the Neti Pot for the first time .... still need to practice with it (swallowed more than I cared too ..)

In talking with the school nurse again at lunch today, she suggested taking oregano. I was like, I have some of that at home. She told me you have to take it in the pill form - that supposedly it does wonders for all kinds of illnesses. Kind of an all natural antibiotic. She had a bottle at school (unopened) and gave me 6 pills for me to try.

I took one around 1:30, and by 2:30 I was already feeling much better!! I unfortunately left the other pills at school, but am still feeling better than I was last night (or this morning.)

Who knew that an herb used to spice up sauces could possibly clear up a sinus infection??

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I have to tell you about Pet Day! Tuesday was the celebration of Saint Francis - patron saint of animals (or something like that). I'd guess that about 50% of the students brought an animal -- lots of dogs and cats ranging from maybe 8 weeks old to adult; hamsters; turtles; guinea pigs; hermit crabs, etc. There was going to be a horse and a donkey, but they didn't come due to the rain. (We've been getting LOTS of rain!)

All the animals that were in cages or smaller than the kids knee (and on a leash) were allowed in the cafeteria while the kids ate breakfast and lunch. It was simply *amazing* to me that there were NO dog fights, and that the cats were overall pretty darn calm with all the commotion. At 10:30 we had a "Pet Parade" where SrN picked up the PreK from their classroom (PreK-K only had stuffed animals) and then picked up all the other grades. Originally we were going to have the blessing of the animals outside ... but well ... it was raining. So we all went into the gym. Pets and all. There was one dog that was going a little haywire for most of the time we were in the gym, but otherwise, the animals were pretty quiet.

Before the Pet Parade though, we had other excitement. A particular charity came and gave a free pair of shoes to every student!! SrN had been panicking about how we were going to do the shoes AND Pet Day in a half-day ... so we were very very well organized. We managed to get 200+ kids fitted with their new pair of shoes in about 90 minutes flat. Every kid as they left said thank you to the truck driver/organizer. He (truck driver) said to SrN that our school was the most organized and the kids some of the most appreciative (we were school #57 on his route.)

The shoes really are more of a water shoe type, so probably won't be usable till summer - but maybe would be good for indoor wear before then ...

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This coming Monday all the teachers are going to be riding the busses out on the reservation. I rode one bus when I was here for my interview, and I am very curious to see how this different bus route will look. Somehow I don't think we'll get quite as far out (or up) on the rez as I did when I went on the food run -- but it still will be a good experience to see where the kids live.

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One of our teachers was posting some very drunken posts on FB this past weekend. Saying some very incindery things about Native Americans. Apparently a couple of the people he has been "hanging" with and drinking with busted out his back car window and stole a couple things (not sure what.)

The big problem with what this teacher was posting is that one of their "friends" is a parent of a student at the school. A Native American student. So not only could his posts cause problems for him, but also for the school.

Anyway ... especially with the new format on FB (UGH!!!!) one must be *really* careful about what they post AND what they comment on/like. No telling WHO might see it.

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Like many techies, I was really disappointed that what was looking like the iPhone 5 turned out to only be an iPhone 4S. My protective cover for my iPhone is on its last legs, and I was just waiting to get a new iPhone/new cover. Now though, the upgrade really isn't all that much over the 4. So ... as long as this phone works, I'm going to keep on chugging with it. I will however *need* to get a new protective cover ASAP. My current one opens up if you blink at it.

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Oh! Tuesday when I was in town for Walgreen's, I also finally saw Contagion! I thought it was really quite good. I saw it with the middle school science teacher (who has a Master's in Ornithology I think). She lived in Taiwan (teaching ESL) near the end of the SARS outbreak. So the movie seemed all too realistic to her (face masks, grocery stores, etc.)

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I think I've decided to not do the Af * Lac secondary insurance. If I had a kid, then I might be more interested in the Accident supplement ... but even as Klutzy as I am, I don't think I'd get my money's worth.

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RIP Steve Jobs

Today was teacher in-service. We got to go into work an hour late.

I'm now up to the beginning of season 4 of Ally McBeal with yummy Robert Downey Jr. Too bad he doesn't last very long on that season ... he could have probably lasted out the show (and maybe have saved it from its downward spiral in Season 5) if he himself hadn't taken a downward spiral. I'm just glad he was able to pick himself up and rejuvenate his career ... otherwise Iron Man 1 and 2 wouldn't have been half as good (with some other person playing the part.)

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I spent a lot of money at the grocery store today. I'm not sure exactly what was up with my thinking ... bought quite a few prepared meals, etc. I also bought a couple different cat sprays (the kind to keep cats from scratching things, the kind to attract cats to certain areas you DO want them to scratch, and a wet/dry cat shampoo) and a cat toy (it was $10 and so far seems to be a dud ... wonder if I can take it back??)

Any ideas on how to keep Kari out of my trashcan? I moved it away from anything jumpable, then she figured out that she could knock it over. So then I put it in the laundry room with the door closed ... and she figured out how to get under the door. Then I stuffed the door with a mat, and she figured out how to pull the mat out!! I'm out of ideas quite frankly.

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Buddy (moms dog) apparently bit another person last week. My mom was taking him out to do his business, and a neighbor lady was behind the garage door. It drew blood. She asked to see his shot records. Thank the Good Lord mom had gotten it together (finally!!!) and had him for his shots the week before. Oh yeah, he of course wasn't on a leash. This might get her to put him on a leash for a week or two, then she'll get too annoyed at the hassle ... or over confident in her "control" of him ... Ugh!!!!!

During this same phone call where she told me about this, she also essentially asked me to tell her why she shouldn't move in with this guy (the guy who's broken up with her 4 times in the last 7 months ...). I wasted my breath, all the while she was telling me what good advice/wisdom I had. The move in day was Thursday - haven't heard from her, so more than likely my words went in one ear and out the other. So I'll get to spend Thanksgiving at this guys house. Ergh!

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The same woman who gave me Kari told me yesterday that she is pregnant! She's 33, so not too much younger than me -- and she's single. I'm happy for her, even though maybe slightly jealous. She's due in May - so that's really pretty perfect.

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At our in-service today, the Duck Company (which starts with an Af and ends with lac) had a representative. I've had them before, and remember getting paid "wellness" benefits for doing things like getting a dental checkup and annual physicals, etc. Of course, I had them my first few years of teaching ... so I'm debating on whether or not it really makes any sense (financially) to go with them again. The cost has definitely increased since 1997 (ha ha!) I'm thinking of doing the accident/sickness/cancer plan, which would be around $45/month.

I'm 35 and relatively healthy (although in the obese weight range). I haven't had a real checkup in almost three years now, so who knows what may come up whenever I get one done (now that I have insurance again!) I am a certifiable klutz. And well, cancer, the incidences of that occurring in young people (relatively young ...) seem to be increasing rapidly ...

What do you all think? Is it a waste of money? Or, is it like any kind of (health) insurance, if you can afford it, you can't afford to NOT have it??

A couple days ago I'd written a big long post, and then Kari (my cat) walked across my keyboard ... poof!

Today we had teacher in-service. It was okay as far as in-services go. We had a real Mass (versus the version we do each week at school.) That was interesting - especially the way the Bishop sing songed most things (other than the homily.)

After we were done, I stopped at Wal-mart and got groceries. When I got home, Kari had knocked down her food container, and her food was all over the floor. Her food container now has a new home.
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The last few nights I've been on an Ally McBeal kick. I'm almost through the first season. I asked some of my coworkers if they'd watched Ally - one said she liked the dancing baby. Later I realized that most (if not all) of the teachers at the table were under 27, so most likely had been in elementary school when Ally was on. (Thank you Netflix for letting me get my Ally fix.)

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Last weekend I was in San Jose, CA celebrating my grandma's 90th birthday. It was good mostly. The very best part of it was going up to Napa and seeing my brother for a few hours. He's recently gotten a job on the Napa Wine Train, and so is pretty much working 7 days a week. This new job is in his field (what he actually got his degree in), so we're all hoping that eventually he'll be able to get out of the restaurant business. (being a waiter is fine, but it is hard on the body + he's got a college degree - it would be good if he could use it!)
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I came up with this project for 6th, 7th and 8th where they are being put into pairs (or trios) and each given a topic related to plagiarism/citing sources. They have to research it, then create a storyboard and a script. Finally, they will make a video (3 to 5 minutes) sharing their information. The Title 1 teacher was in the lab when I was explaining the project to the 7th graders. She later asked me if I had a camera - I told her that I have a flip camera, plus my iPhone camera. The next day she told me she told her husband about my project, and he offered to give me (the school) an extra video camera!! So we'll have a real honest to goodness camera to use!! The Title 1 teacher also taught the 7th graders how to do a storyboard - they had no idea what I was talking about when I introduced it. That works for me - I was planning on explaining it in more detail when we got to it, but now I won't have to spend so much time on it.

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I just remembered something I was going to post about last time. Buddy (my mom's Maltese) apparentally bit a small child. I'm not sure of the whole story (and with my mom .... who knows what *really* happened) and I guess he also caused her to fall and scrape her leg when he lunged after a man who was running by (he seems to have something against males of a certain color - he goes nuts mostly only when he sees one ...). So the long and short of it is that she is looking to find a new home for him.

As soon as I heard she'd dumped J and gone back to M, I had a gut feeling that she was going to start looking for any excuse to get rid of Buddy. M and Buddy don't get along too well.

I would take him if I had the time to get him retrained, and wouldn't have to leave him alone from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (or later) 5 days a week. And of course there is the matter of Kari - I really don't know how he'd handle another animal taking my attention (or how Kari'd handle it.)

It just makes me sick. To me, when you take an animal into your home, you are making a lifetime commitment. That animal is yours to care for until it dies. I personally even have life insurance to make sure that if something were to happen to me, that whomever took over the care of my current pet, would be financially compensated.

My mom and I are alike in some ways, but in many other ways we are worlds apart.
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When my brother was here helping me move, he checked out my stereo to see what I would need to connect my iPhone to it (to play my iPod music, etc.) While I was visiting him in Napa, we stopped by a Radio Shack and got the needed cord. I now can play my music over my stereo!!

Possibly in November, or perhaps December, I'm going to upgrade to the iPhone 5. Then I'll keep my current iPhone(3gs) as a dedicated iPod/radio. (The regular radio here only gets maybe two or three stations - none of which I care for.)

Well ... I will be Friday morning. I'm heading out to CA to celebrate my grandma's 90th birthday. I'm taking two days off work (leaves me with one personal day for the year ...) It'll be worth it though.

I'll be staying in Albq Thurs night, and leaving my car at the hotel. If the movie theater is close enough, I might go see Contagion.

The person who gave me my cat Kari will be looking in on her while I'm gone. She came over tonight so I could show her where everything is, and she was exclaiming over how big Kari's gotten.

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School's been in session nearly a month now, and I can say that I really like my job. There are times that are a bit stressful, but only having the different groups for 30 - 60 minutes at a time once a week .. can handle anything just fine.

I also feel like I am where I belong. For the first time in *years* I almost always go right to sleep at night. There is no (or very little) night dreaming (like day dreaming, only at night). Pretty much as soon as my head hits the pillow, I am asleep.

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I'm really not sure what to do about Thanksgiving. One of the men my mom was dating bought me tickets (with air miles) for Thanksgiving. She has subsequently ditched him and gone back to the guy who is so wrong for her. So when I go there for Thanksgiving, most likely she's going to want to spend it with him. And if the relationship actually lasts any length of time (they broke up and got back together 4 or 5 times in 6 months) they may be getting married this summer. What I feel like saying is "if you're still married 5 years from now, I'll throw you a big celebration. Other than that, I have no interest in attending your wedding." But ... ugh! I'd really be shocked if it makes it that far, but I was shocked with her last ex-husband too. So, who knows.

The Thanksgiving tickets are already bought, and I know she'd feel really bad if I didn't go visit her ... Oy vey! Family.

Yes, you read that correctly. A cat that plays fetch. In fact, the cat in question is my 4 month old kitten Kari. I discovered this quite by accident Monday afternoon while sitting on my couch reading. She was bumping up against me wanting attention, so I wadded up a piece of paper that was nearby and threw it. Next thing I knew, she had brought the paper back to me and dropped it on the couch. So, incredulous, I threw it again. At least 25 throws later, she was tired and fell exhausted on her back.

I thought maybe it was just a fluke, but this afternoon when I got home I did a similar thing. She again went after the paper and brought it back to me. Only 5 or 6 times this time though. I wish I had video of it!

I'm very curious to see what all I can get her to do once I start clicker training her.

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Today was payday. Last paycheck basically went to finishing off my moving expenses, plus a bit of current expenses. Todays paycheck pretty much covers Septembers expenses. The next paycheck (18th) will go towards October's expenses, and then I'll be back on track. Once I have $2000 saved up again in my EF, I plan to restart my retirement savings. That should be right around October (2nd paycheck). Boy will that feel good!!

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Today I let the girl who was such a royal butukus last week (switched names with other girl and was quite rude) be in charge of checking out books for her classmates. She was quite pleased, and said she had fun. I don't know for sure if that is the right approach to take with her (7th grader) but I'm hoping that being given a responsibility like that will maybe begin to soften her attitude. She did a good job.

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Tomorrow I have to go back into town so I can get my Synthroid. They were out of stock when I went to pick it up on Friday. :big eyes shock: That is very annoying, but I really can't go without it till Friday (when I'd normally do my shopping trip.) So I'm going to try to get what I need tomorrow. I may need to pick up more bananas on Saturday after church - hate to do that, but the bananas most likely wouldn't last a week and a half.

First I'd like to mention that I finally updated my Living frugal blog (actually two updates since I last mentioned it here.)

---Silly kitty! I had almost finished the above sentence when all of the sudden my computer started shutting down! Kari had started chewing on the edge of my computer - where the power button is - and managed to hold it down enough to shut it off!

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I took my car to a tire/mechanics place here in town (the only one here) and had them check my tire pressure. According to them, the pressure is just fine. So the little twerp who let air out of my tire(s) didn't let out too much. Whew!

While I was there waiting, I sat next to a Navajo woman who was *extremely* talkative. She was telling me all about these conspiracy theories. That Nasa is trying to keep the repercussions of this new planet that was recently discovered hush hush. (Something like Nubari or Nbaro ...) The reason for all the disturbances we've had the last few years (earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc) has been this planet system getting closer and closer.
She kept up talking for an entire 30 minutes.

Interesting.

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I ordered several books from Amazon. One arrived already on Friday. The one that arrived though, has an interesting story. It had two delivery attempts -- to the post office. Apparently no one was there to receive it at 10 a.m.

Just have to laugh.

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I found out last night that Kari (my cat) LOVES spinach. I was eating a Spinach Souffle and she was *absolutely determined* that she was going to get some. I'd never seen her quite like that. I finally had to put her out of the room and close the door so I could finish my food in peace.

I'm planning on click training her. I already know several commands I'll be teaching her -- OFF and Leave It!!!

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I stopped at Walgreens after church today to pick up my Synthroid. They were out of stock!! Seriously??? So that means I'll have to either wait till I go into town again on Friday, or make an extra trip on Tuesday or Wednesday.

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No school Monday, so only one really crazy day next week. (Tuesday) Then the next weekend I'll be going to CA for my grandmother's 90th birthday - will be taking Friday and Monday off. Then the next two Friday's we have Teacher In-service days. I feel bad for my 5th grade boys and the 6th graders - they'll be missing 3 weeks in a row of computer/library. (There is no one to sub for me when I'm gone - if I'm gone, they just don't have the special class.)

Wow! Last night shortly before I headed off to bed, I checked Facebook. One of the teachers who live in the trailer park posted that I might want to check my tires before doing any highway driving. One of the neighborhood boys ( a 2nd grader at our school) had been letting air out of my tires - she'd caught him red handed. He admitted it wasn't the first time he'd done it either.

She, or another teacher must have told SrN because this morning I saw her talking to him, and he was in tears. She also called his mom.

I'm not sure I would have done anything about it - just for fear of making it worse...

I'm very glad I have an air pump!

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Something scary happened today -- one of our teachers may have had a stroke. She's been taken by ambulance to the nearest major town. She's not very old ... maybe mid to late 50's if that.

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I went to the Family Dollar today and got a watch. When I was a teacher I always had a watch on. But after getting out of teaching, I only used my cell phone. But for practical reasons (i.e adolscent boys) I am back to a watch now.

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Yesterday was very stressful.

I had the two sections of seventh graders today. I did the same lesson with them as with the 8th graders on online predators which had went really well. With the 7th boys, it went so-so. The girls though ...OY VEY!! There was one in particular who was being quite rude and disruptive. The other girls realized that I was going to be taking points away from her "house" (points management system for grades 6-8). So at the end of the class, two of them came and told me that they had given me several wrong names when I was making the seating chart for the library classroom.

I have over 200 names to learn - I'm starting to get some of them ...but this seriously burns me. I'm unlikely to forget this one girls name though!!!

Today I started the internet safety unit. I had 3rd, 4th and 8th grade. All of them seemed to enjoy it, but the 8th graders most of all. I was shocked to hear a couple of the kids even say outloud that they liked the lesson and that it was interesting. Not something that most teenagers would readily admit in front of their peers. We were talking about online predators and the warning signs. We also watched a video called "Tracking Teresa" which showed how someone could track another person down within 20 minutes just based on her user name in a chat room and email address. The kids were pretty wowed by that one.

When I got home today I had to wash dishes. They'd been piling up and I was out of bowls. Kari was so funny. She kept trying to jump up on the counter by the sink, but couldn't quite make it. So I put her up there. (I know, I know, bad habit to let her get into.) She sat there watching me wash the dishes, occasionally getting sprayed with the hot water. When she'd had enough, she jumped down and laid right behind my feet washing herself. She is definitely not a cat that likes to be alone.

Right now she's asleep on my lap.

No spending news this weekend. I do need to get a watch soon though. Using my phone as my watch isn't the best way - especially when I only have my bra to use as a pocket. Not a good place to remove something from in front of any boy older than maybe 2nd grade.

I was going to wait til January, really! But today a coworker told me she was taking her 4 month old kitten to the shelter because she was alergic to it. When she told me it might have some Siamese ... well, who can blame me??

For newer readers - I had a seal point siamese for 10 years named Monkey. He died in surgery 4+ years ago. I still miss him, but finally feel ready to bring another kitty into my home.

Her name is Kari (what my coworker named her). Sweet as can be (is asleep on my lap right now) and looks a lot like Monkey did when he was a baby. I haven't had too many girl pets, so this will be different.

And I am TIRED!! The kids were great today (again). Right now I'm feeling pretty good about my decision to get back into teaching/classroom. Maybe my being older (perhaps somewhat wiser?) is helping, or perhaps the break of six years has refreshed me enough ...

I didn't get by the PO today to see if any mail came - stayed late at work setting up a username/password spreadsheet for one of the programs we subscribe to.
Tomorrow I only have two classes!! However, I have plenty to keep me busy! It will be nice however to eat lunch in the cafeteria. M,T and F I only have 25 minutes between my last morning and first afternoon class -- not really enough time to clean up, set up AND go to the cafeteria.

Tomorrow a group of teachers/staff are all going to a Steak and Sushi place to celebrate one of the teachers birthdays. I'm hoping that they have something that I can eat ... if not, I'll drink water and just participate in the celebration.

I'm definitely going to bed early(ier) tonight!

It's pretty crazy how many places in the US today felt an earthquake ... makes you wonder.

Today was our first full day of school. Last week we had three half-days. It was a long and very busy day, but it went pretty well. I can't believe I'm saying this, but my very favorite class I had today were the two 8th grade sections! I taught them how to use Google Advanced Search (none of them had heard of it before.) They had to find a current science article to write their findings on and present in Science class on Friday.

I read all the classes (except 8th, because we had too much to do) the Shel Silverstein poem "Peanut Butter Sandwich." Every class (K, 3rd, 4th) seemed to enjoy it.

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So my dad called me Saturday afternoon and told me that grandma had sent me something to the address I'd given them, and it had been returned "Addressee unknown" or something like that.

I also received an email from Geico telling me that my new insurance documents had been returned to them.

So I stopped by the post office and double checked that I had the right address. I was told that it is the correct address, and they weren't sure why it was getting returned.

The person working the counter told me she'd talk to the person in charge of the PO boxes and make sure they were on the lookout.

Life in a small (miniscule) town!

My first week back in the world of teaching is over. I had 4 classes - all of them 5th grade. Wednesday I just had enough time to go over procedures and what we'd be doing this year. Thursday I attempted to get them signed up on edmodo - hah! 4 of 17 managed to get signed up. The internet just hung and hung and ...

I also helped several different staff members with computer stuff. One of them told me that they were so happy I'm here - apparently the computer teacher last year several times told them when they had a problem/question - "Oh, that's easy!" and then would walk away. What she needed help with *was* easy -- for me -- but I've had enough experience walking my mom and dad through stuff step by agonizing step that I KNOW better than to SAY it's easy.

On Monday I will be starting my full regular schedule. I still don't have the library ready to go ... so will have to go in on Sunday - probably most of the day.

I'm a little frustrated. I mentioned to Sr. that I would like to get some playaways for the library - they are like mini-mp3 players only they have audiobooks on them (usually one - two stories per playaway). She thought it was a really bad idea because they'd get stolen. Same thing with cameras - digital or otherwise ... Ugh! I'm seriously curious about how I'm supposed to do a yearbook and newspaper without access to a camera??? (The school has one digital camera - that Sr keeps under lock and key - she doesn't think anyone would be responsible with it and it would get lost or stolen.)

I think once the next paycheck comes in, I'm going to get a digital camera. My iPhone camera is sufficient for personal pictures, but really need something better for yearbook/newspaper.

Oh well, I knew this wouldn't be easy. I still really like the people here.

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On one of the forums I frequent, a frequent poster had gone missing. Many people were attempting to locate her and find out what happened. I logged in today to find out that it was confirmed that she'd died of cancer this past weekend. She's the second frequent poster in this one forum that has died of cancer - the other one died about a year ago. Both really good people.

Well... the guys did come by this morning. First the MHPM had to find me to borrow my keys - the extra set was in a truck that went out to the lake (20 miles +). Then later while I was at home for lunch (and had figured out that the hot water still wasn't working) he came by and told me why it wasn't working yet...

Apparently the first people setting it up had left some parts out or something. So today when they tried to light it - they had a small gas explosion! Thankfully no one was hurt.

Later this afternoon he came by the library to get my keys so the gas man could take a look at it. My extra set of keys were "mis-placed." The gas man needed some parts he didn't have, so will be back tomorrow.

So ... maybe tomorrow I'll have hot water again.

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I nosed around today on the various sections of the school server and stumbled across a few helpful nuggets left by the two previous librarians (before last year's.) I now have access (for the kids and teachers) to the Gale databases and have an inter-library loan type deal setup with the county public school system/district for teaching resources.

I won't be getting my first actual paycheck till the 25th. I'm not sure where I got the 17th from .... Oh well, I'll survive.

Our copying machines leave a LOT to be desired. I attempted feeding a two-sided document through to copy on one side. No can do. (should be possible, but copier refused to do it)

I also had a teacher approach me today about a lesson she wants to do periodically in the computer lab.

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The most difficult thing for me right now is that as a classroom teacher I was used to preparing for one or two grade levels with a pretty set curriculum (though with leeway in how I carried it out ...) I also had only one room to think about fixing up/decorating.

But as the librarian/computer teacher, I'll be seeing/working with TEN grade levels in two separate sections of a building , and attempting to correlate what I'm doing with the curriculum the various grade levels are doing. All the while I've also been strongly told to use this one program for computers (which I've been told by several teachers that the kids hated) ...

And today Sr told me when I mentioned to her my plan to choose the best behaved classes as the "Golden eBook" class every six weeks or so -- she tells me that I shouldn't do any rewards unless I need it for management ... huh? To me at least, rewards/positive motivation are just as important as clear expectations and consistency. She said that I could start something like that if I really needed to in October ... oy vey! Now I wish I hadn't said anything to her, cuz going ahead with it would be insubordination.

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Forgot to mention - I used my new stool today. It was SO much better than the chair I attempted to use yesterday!

I had a choice of two stools - same price. One was already put together, but was just a plain wooden stool. The other had to be assembled, but had a back and a cushion. Not knowing what tools I'd need to put the stool together, I chose ... the plain wooden one!

They brought the new water heater in my house today, and even put it in the right spot. But for who knows what reason, they didn't connect it. *shrug* So tonight I asked one of my teacher neighbors to use her shower - ahhhhh .... clean again.

Hopefully they'll be back tomorrow and finish installing it. Then I can get back to my exercise routine.

Tonight I ended up having to go to the town 30 miles east again. I really didn't want to - but I really needed to. My circulation computer desk is designed where the computer is set up at above waist height. That way you can work on it while standing. That's great if you're there only for ten or fifteen minutes checking books in and out --- but not so great if you're there for hours and hours cataloging books. --- So I went to Walmart yet again and got a stool.

The previous librarian had a stool that was hers, and took it with her. (which wasn't made clear to me until today - otherwise I would have gotten one when I got my trashcan!!)

I got all of 6 books cataloged today. Most of it was trying to remember what sites I used in my cataloging class. There is a tool which will make it a lot easier/faster, but it costs money. I doubt I can get approval for it. I may offer to pay for it myself (if it isn't too expensive!) I've got probably 200 more books to go - need barcodes, spine labels, and entered in the computer.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with Sr N (today's got postponed due to her double booking) and then I plan on working pretty late trying to get as many books done as possible. Friday at 9 is our first whole school teacher's meeting - so my time won't be my own anymore.

I really like the technology coordinator. She is Navajo and really down to earth. She doesn't seem to be too annoyed by all my questions. I posted a video on Facebook today from the Sock puppet iPhone app that I'd made. She commented on it that she's looking forward to all the changes I'll be bringing to the school. I hope that's a good thing - being seen as someone bringing changes....

This morning I had a fun trip to the town 30 miles East of me. This was after doing some internet research and making some phone calls. What was I after? A lockable trash can! I've already missed two trash days (Thursday and Monday) and the bags are piling up! Most of the time I do love my GPS, but times like today trying to find the G Lumber and Supply store (where I bought my trash can at!) and yesterday's fiasco of trying to find the Walmart in the town 30 miles West of here --- UGH!

After buying the trashcan ($9.99 - loads cheaper than anything else I saw online, and the only one available within a 200 mile radius) I stopped at Wal-mart. This was of course after a 9 mile detour thanks to missing one turn. I returned a Brita water thing (not a pitcher but the bigger thing) due to a crack in the bottom (not to mention it was ten dollars cheaper at Costco!) Then promptly spent the refund on groceries (plus a bit more.)(The Brita thing is needed due to pretty much undrinkable water here, and the need to stay very hydrated.)

I *think* I am now pretty good on the basics as far as groceries go now - at least enough to keep me for two weeks or so. I'd forgotten to mention that I need to do curtains ... badly. The dust can get pretty intense here - not to mention that several of the mini-blinds are not exactly ... whole. But they'll just have to wait.

I put the stuff away and made it into the library around noon. After being shown my office area, I started looking through everything. I've read many stories of lovely librarians leaving behind detailed notes and tips for those who come after them. The former librarian here was not such a person. There was absolutely *nothing* that spoke of what she'd done the past few years, nor any lists of passwords for programs, etc. The lesson files also seemed rather ... thin ... I was feeling quite discouraged until I discovered the plethora of library resource books! Many of which I had on my amazon wish list, but thankfully had NOT bought.

I have an appointment to meet with the head Sister in the morning - I guess to go over new teacher stuff. I'm the only new staff member this year - which is really pretty amazing for this school. (from what I've heard - of course, I am also taking over two positions ...)

I'd meant to start cataloging the huge stacks of books which need to get put in the computer .. but got distracted by all the library resource books. Will definitely start that tomorrow!

My brother called me twice! Once just to say hi, and then the second time to tell me something really cool that AT&T does! If you have AT&T you need to call them and ask them to upgrade your mobile to mobile plan to include ANY mobile carrier! My brother has been using LOTS of minutes lately with his new sweetheart and called today looking to upgrade his minutes - but instead found out he could do a FREE upgrade. I don't know how useful it would be for me, because I rarely go over 400 minutes, and have tons of roll over - but I might do it anyway, just for the heck of it.

Update to yesterday's post -- After two nights in a row of being sick, I *think* I'm past it. I actually managed to get a somewhat real meal down. Good part of it is the scale says I'm down nearly 10 pounds since a week ago. Bad part is that it probably won't stay that way for long.

Oh! Also, the MHPM stopped by this evening and told me that he has my new water heater! It should be installed tomorrow morning (hopefully before my meeting with SrN) or later in the day when I'm home. Yahoo! I won't have to beg a shower from one of the other teachers!

What a LONG week this has been! I'll give you the highlights:

Sunday (July 31) - Guys I hired get to Uhaul place nearly 40 minutes late (lost.) Instead of taking a total of 3 - 4 hours, it ended up taking a total of over 6 hours (after driving the moving guys back to their car - only one of them felt comfortable driving the truck.) Between the rental truck, trailer, and moving guys = total ~$1150!

Monday night - Picked up brother from airport at midnight. Didn't get to bed till nearly 2:30 a.m.

Tuesday - Brother and I on the road about 9:30 - 0nly 30 minutes later than planned. As soon as we passed into the New Mexico state line, we had RAIN! Something I hadn't seen in way too long. Total cost of gas ~ $350

Arrive at destination a little after 10. Are met by the Mobile Home Park Manager - very nice. LOVE my home (with the slight caveat of NO DISHWASHER!!!)

Wednesday - MHPM comes by and lights the hot water heater. Brother and I want to get the internet set up (I know, priorities!) but in order to do that need my bag of cords - somewhere on the truck. We end up unloading the truck *completely* by ourselves!! (Even though I'd been reassured a couple times that there'd be people lined up ...) While I go sign the lease and get a PO box, my brother takes a nap and sets up the internet. We have WiFi!!

Head out to the big town 30 miles West and do some major damage at Walmart and Home Depot. I got a power drill!! One thing I needed but *still* have not located is a lockable trash can. We ate a late lunch at Sizzler (last time I ate at a Sizzler .... elementary school!) Damage ~ $220

When we got back, I worked on unpacking the kitchen boxes and my brother put together my office/exercise room and setting up my stereo. Fell exhausted into bed around midnight.

Thursday - Head to airport, and along the way stop and see the elementary school we attended (I graduated from in 1989!) and also one of the two houses we lived in.

Got to airport just in time to meet mom as she's coming off the plane. Eat a light lunch. See brother off. Mom and I head to the teacher's store -- light damage $62. Then we head to Costco ($238) and again to Wal-Mart ($111). Ouch, ouch, ouch!

Friday - Do tons of loads of laundry. SO thankful for a washer and dryer!! After second load realized that there is no hot water. MHPM comes by - says it is kaput. Will have to order a new hot water heater on Monday. Gives us the key to the empty home next door to use to shower (till Sunday afternoon.)

Manage to unpack all but two boxes before calling it a day.

Sunset - Sweet relief and rest! Guilt free no messing with the house!!

Saturday - After driving around for over an hour, finally manage to find the church. Sweet people, although they are in the middle of an evangelistic series which isn't my favorite thing. Eat potluck in the "hogan." Find out the new pastor's wife used to attend a church I taught school at in Texas. Found some visitors who used to be church members of a TX church my dad pastored.

Sweet sleep.

Evening - Hung almost all my pictures ( a few had frames that are falling apart.) Got the living room and kitchen looking picture perfect.

Sunday - Mom woke up feeling drugged - had to stop 3 times for a bathroom on a two-hour trip. Finally after drinking a lot of water, she started feeling better.

Stopped by the church/school. Then ventured to find a nail salon. Mom's "friend" was treating for both of us to get a mani/pedi. Over three hours later my simple mani/pedi was finished, and I was feeling yucky. Went to Walmart and picked up a thank you card. Got back to the nail salon. 30 minutes later my mom's nails were done ( a fill???) Rushed like speedy gonzoles to the airport and dropped mom off.

On the way home I stopped at a Denny's. They were *really* short staffed. At one point I had to go grab silverware off another table so I could eat.

When I got home I was feeling extremely lousy, and did something I hadn't done in years - lost whatever food I'd had that day. Went to bed, though didn't sleep very well.

Monday - Forced myself out of bed around 10. Called the various places I needed to change my address at. Then got my documentation together for registering my car and changing my drivers license. After driving around for over an hour, and finally stopping at a police department, I found the MVD. Nearly 90 minutes later, I had my car registered, and a dl. Damage = $73. Attempted to go to Walmart, but the GPS led me to some forlorn warehouse, so ended up just going home.

Tomorrow will have to go to Walmart to take back a couple items, and get a few groceries I forgot.

I forgot - on Sunday while I was at Denny's I got a call from one of the ladies at the church who is a school teacher. She told me that the librarian at her school is looking to retire in the next few years - so that might be an opportunity for me if I'm still here. She also offered to let me spend the night at her house on Saturdays so that I wouldn't have to make two trips (one for church, and one for groceries.) I thought that was really sweet of her.

I've pretty much wiped out what was left of my savings with this move. So I am looking very much forward to my first paycheck on the 17th. I don't forsee any more big expenses coming up, so will be able to restock savings pretty quickly -- and restart my ROTH again!!

I was supposed to work tonight and tomorrow (insurance processing) but all the jobs I could do were already finished, and no more will be indexed til Tuesday. Not totally bummed about that.

I have 3 guys from my church lined up to pack my truck for me on the 31st - my brother should arrive on the first, and then we're off!

I found out that I will be in charge of the newspaper and the yearbook - both starting in October. Yikes! I was the editor of our high-school paper my senior year and basically had no direction and did a lot of it myself. When I did my student teaching, I put together a very simple cut and paste type yearbook for the small school (25 kids and 2 teachers) I was at. I had no real training for either one. So ... this should be interesting.

I'll be having a partly fixed and partly flexible schedule. Really ... if I can run with this and make things fly ... I might just end up staying longer than two years ... I already have ideas for what I'd like to do for summer school in computers ...

I really need to get back in touch with my finances ... been way too loosey goosey with them lately. Even though I have this real job to look forward to, I don't have the first paycheck til Aug 17, and even then I really hope to SAVE more of it than SPEND!!

For example - I finally got my $20 Amazon gift card from Zoombucks which I ordered towards the beginning of June. I had it spent within five minutes - 4 books for classroom ideas ...

One awesome thing though showcasing how much better two heads can be than one. I was looking at these flipcard management system holders - green for "doing fine" yellow for "need help but can keep working" and red for "Help ASAP!" They wanted $10 each. Not!! So I showed them to JJ (my landlady) and we came up with the idea of tri-folding a piece of cardboard and three-hole punching laminated colored index cards with some kind of ring attached. We figured that we could make 20 of them for the price of one!

It's 12:01 on Sunday morning now, so I probably ought to catch some ZZzz's - will try to catch up with everyone later today.

I got my first paycheck today for the insurance processing job. Yay!

I also got my first two quality check reports ... Hopefully they'll get better - though in a way it doesn't really matter too much since I'll be putting my 2 week notice in in a few weeks.

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My landlady JJ added material tonight to two of the three dresses I got at Kohl's a few weeks ago (two of them were her graduation gift to me.) They look pretty cool if I do say so myself. I love having someone who knows how to sew!!

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Today JJ's granddaughter and I spent nearly 90 minutes going through a box and a few bags of stuff that I needed to shred. I'd estimated it would take top at 30 minutes .... Ooops! Hopefully this will motivate me to shred things AS they come!!!

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I've been pricing out rental trucks for my move. Penske is a little bit cheaper, but I'd have to drop the truck off in Albuquerque. Uhaul has a store 30 minutes away from my final destination ... so more than likely, Uhaul will be it!

JJ suggested that I hire a couple of unemployed men to load my truck for me - offer $10/hr for 3 - 5 hours of work. That probably would be a more reliable way of getting it done than hoping that church members will come out!

My brother is trying to get a day off work - if he can, then he'll be able to help me aug 1 - 4. If not, just till the 3rd. Either way, my truck will get from here to there.

Love my mom very very much ... but seriously, my brother is coming here to *drive my truck* NOT get into squabbles over where he spends the night (if indeed he even does spend it anywhere!)

Ugh!

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On Saturday we had Primary Potluck. It was also a goodbye/thank you for my assistant. Luckily most of the kids signed the cards I had for her during SS class, because very few came to the actual potluck. We had plenty of food, that's for sure. We did have 15 total for playing Charades after lunch though - so that was good fun.

I found out that some of the people at church approached JJ about putting together a going away party for me. She told me she was letting me know so that *they* don't get surprised by me making other plans for that day. She also told me that the theme is going to be board games!!! Now THAT is what I call a party!

Thank you everyone for all the words of congratulations. I'm not sure if it has sunk in yet that in a few short weeks I'm no longer going to be having much free time. It's really weird, because ever since I was laid off I've really had a pretty easy schedule. There were times I had to get up early and work long hours, but they weren't constant. Teachers are expected AT school by 7:45 a.m. so that means getting up WAY early - Monday to Friday. Of course, I'll have a two minute commute ... so not too bad.

So I started off the week before my trip spending WAY too much money on clothes and getting a mani/pedi. Most of the clothes I got off the clearance racks at Walmart, but a few I got of the sale racks at Macy's, and I got two pairs of sale shoes at DSW. I'd looked and looked *everywhere* for shoes, but the only place that had shoes that fit *and* that I liked was DSW.

On Monday my landlord JJ got me to the airport in plenty of time. As we were driving there, I checked the gate info and found out that the plane was delayed 20 minutes. After getting to my gate, it turned out to be more like 45 minutes! When I got to Houston, I had ten minutes to make my flight - I took off my shoes and barefooted it past 20 gates! I was one of the last passengers to get on board!

Sr.'s N and M (who share a mobile home) met me at the airport. They both are older ladies - perhaps late 60's/early 70's. I was really impressed with both of them over the whole time I was there. Neither one of them had ever heard of Seventh-day Adventist, so they both had quite a few questions on that.

In Albuquerque we stopped at Fuddrucker's - their idea. We chattered easily the whole time - at the meal and the two-hour ride to their home. We also made a couple stops - one at Walmart. Sr. M picked up a small round of cheesecake after learning that I shared her love of all things chocolate - but especially cheesecake.

In order to get groceries (more than what you can get at the local Dollar General) there are 3 towns 30 miles away in 3 different directions. Otherwise, there is Albuquerque, about two hours away. So, obviously whenever they make a trek to Albuquerque, they try to consolidate it with errands.

That first evening I got settled in to my room. They share a 3 bedroom double wide mobile home. It is one of the larger and nicer homes in the mobile home park - they even have a one-car garage/shed! It was built/bought originally by a well-off mission volunteer who sold it to the mission when he and his wife had to leave due to health concerns.

Once I was settled, we all three ate cheesecake while watching the movie "Windtalkers." What a gory movie. - more gory than even "Saving Private Ryan" or "Glory."

The next day we got to the school in time for me to see the kids at the 7:30 a.m. breakfast/assembly. I was very impressed at the noise level in the cafeteria and how generally well behaved all the kids were. Before they were let go, they had "prayer." Instead of what I'd normally consider prayer - they sang a slightly different version of "You Are My Sunshine" after doing the sign of the cross in Navajo. Then they did the Pledge of Allegiance in Navajo. After that, the many volunteers that were there were introduced, and I also was introduced.

I was supposed to go out on a food run (taking food to the elderly Navajo who are far out on the reservation) but the woman who does that didn't show up. So instead, the upper grades Language Arts/Math teacher took me around. Two volunteer teachers were teaching her normal classes. It was really great talking with her. She seems like a very positive minded person, and she talked about how she really hoped that whoever the librarian was would collaborate with the LA teacher for the different lessons. I told her that that was music to my ears.

I got to visit the two classes being taught by the volunteers. One class was discussing different reasons/forms of writing to go along with an art project they'd finished earlier. They were quite attentive, and fairly responsive. The other class was responding to pen pal letters from students in Chicago. Some of them were having a really hard time knowing what to say back because there was not much they could relate to.

Then I got to go into the computer lab and library. They are both located in the same modular building separated by two bathrooms. The computer lab has about 25 computers and a smartboard. The computer technicians office is also in that same building. I had an opportunity to talk with her for awhile, and really liked her. She showed me the library's automation system (Destiny) and also showed me the handheld scanner that she hadn't figured out how to use yet. I found a user's guide on the internet and bookmarked it for her. She is working on getting all the books in the library cataloged into Destiny - they only got the program towards the end of this last school year.

While in the computer lab, I had the chance to take part in a computer class taught by one of the visiting teachers. One thing I noticed was that only about 70% of the kids were paying attention when the teacher was doing a PowerPoint presentation - the others were doing stuff on their computer. I mentioned to the computer technician, and to Sr. N (the principal) about a free program that could be installed so that the teacher could have complete control of ALL student computers from one computer. They were quite excited about that.

I was pretty impressed with how comfortable the kids seemed to be with using PowerPoint. I did definitely notice that there would need to be some reinforcement of lessons on not just cutting and pasting.

The library is fairly large, and within it is a large classroom which I was told is pretty much soundproof. There is a projector in both the computer lab and in the library classroom. One thing I didn't notice was an area for storytime/rug lessons. That is something I definitely will want to add - especially add in some comfy reading furniture like bean bags and low to ground futons. There were books all over everywhere, so I didn't get a really good idea of the tables - these were the books being cataloged. Overall, I was impressed by the library.

After school all the teachers/faculty go out to the busses with the kids. I got to ride on one of the busses. One of the kids from the computer class that I'd helped with her project was on it, so we had a chance to talk a little bit more. Some of these kids live nearly 40 minutes away from the school.

When I got back, we had our formal "interview." I was already pretty comfortable with Sr. N, so it was more of a continued conversation than anything like an interview.

Tuesday evening we had two of the teachers over for dinner - one of them was the upper grades teacher who'd taken me on a tour that morning. I of course was the main course. We had a lot of discussion of religion. One of the teachers has a cousin who is a Seventh-day Adventist - so she actually knew a little bit about it. It was too funny - at one point one of the ladies was saying "well, does it really matter what day of the week you worship on?" and the teacher with an SDA cousin was going "to *some* people it *does* matter" with her eyebrows raised high and indicating me. They asked me if I'd have any problem with attending mass every week. I told them I'd never been to a Mass, so had no idea, but if it was like the weekly chapels we had in my various schools, I'd have no problem.

Something really funny that happened (and I really hope this isn't offensive to anyone ...) but at one point one of the ladies said something about how many people have the misconception that Catholics worship Mary as the Mother of Jesus - but that the truth is that they honor her. After saying this, as a group, all four ladies turned towards me with solemn and intent looks. The same lady then asked me - "Do YOU honor Mary as the mother of Jesus?" I told them that Mary was the mother of Jesus, and that was an honor for her, so yes, I consider her to be special in that sense. They all seemed satisfied with my answer. I do wonder though if their meaning of "honor" is somewhat different than mine.

We also talked about Saints and about food. There was also some conversation about the school itself and the kids - but really not all that much. After dinner, the upper grades teacher took me over to her home so I could see what my potential home might look like. Most of the mobile homes are single-wide 3 bedroom places with a backyard. Furniture such as couches, beds, and tables are provided if you don't have them. The kitchen was quite nice with all the usual appliances.

The next morning we all slept in a little bit. While Sr. N and I were sitting out on the back porch eating breakfast and enjoying the morning air, she asked me whether or not I'd be ready to sign a contract if she had one ready for me when I got back from the food run. She said she needed to speak with a few people first, but wanted to know what I was thinking. I told her that I'd be more than happy to sign a contract.

When we got to the school I asked to see a copy of the teacher handbook. Wow! Having been out of the regular school environment for six years, things have definitely changed. They had nearly three pages devoted to rules and regulations about technology use by teachers and students. One thing in the dress code for teachers which really struck my funny bone was that we can wear "dressy" capris. I've never thought of capris as dressy, so later asked Sr. N what that meant. She defined them as having a "tailored" look versus what you might wear to a picnic. She also told me that the capris I was wearing when I asked her about it, were just fine.

While I was waiting to go out on the food run, I had a chance to talk with one of the volunteers from Chicago. He was a pretty nice man (married!) In the end it turned out that our talk was a very good thing, because he and some of his group followed me and the food run driver in a van on the run. We'd gotten a late start, and by 12:18 only had half of the meals delivered. I needed to be back to the school by 12:45. So the people in the van took me back. Of course, we didn't actually get out of there til nearly 2 p.m. ...

The lady driving the jeep for the food run was a Navajo. At first she was pretty quiet, but then she started talking more (after I showed her some interest). She'd been off the reservation and working as a nurse's aide in Albuquerque, but had had to come back due to some family problems. Most of the homes we went to were of some type or degree of mobile homes - generally set out by themselves, or in a group of two or three. There were LARGE amounts of space between each home or set of homes. Mostly the roads were rutted dirt or gravel. Can you say Dust?

I sort of learned how to say Hello and Thank You in Navajo. I attempted it with a few of the people we stopped at. From what I was told, the Navajo are very much about saving face - so even if I'd completely mangled the pronunciations, they would not say anything. At one point, everyone got out of their vehicles and we were taken into a traditional hogan. The elderly woman in it was someone who enjoys visitors. No electricity. No running water. No air conditioning. She was very friendly. The Navajo woman driving the jeep translated back and forth for us.

Oh - almost forgot! I found out from the jeep driver that there had actually been another person they interviewed for this position who'd been there the week before.

When I got back to the school, there was a contract waiting for me on Sr. N's desk. She told me that everyone she'd spoken to (including a number of the volunteer leaders) had spoken highly of me.

After I signed the contract she printed off a number of informational sheets for me. I also found out that I will get a 401K type plan! She also said that they'd be meeting on Tuesday to figure out the scheduling. (I'll be teaching PK3 - 8th grade library, and only 1st - 8th Computers. I'm going to be quite busy!)

As we were about to leave to head out to Albuquerque, we had quite the excitement. One of the neighbors dogs broke out of it's collar and ran over to our house. She eventually got into the backyard (fenced). The sister's dog Ben (sweet old fella) placidly laid there watching all the excitement. Both of the Sister's were trying to get the dog out. I ended up successfully getting it out (once - it ended up getting back in) by getting its attention, and then running away from it. It then of course ran after me and out of the yard. We ended up leaving with it still in the backyard (it managed to squeeze through the space between the gate and fence.) Quite exciting.

Overall, I am very excited about this opportunity. I think it will be quite challenging - definitely take me out of my comfort zone. Attempting to do a good job as both the librarian and the computer teacher is going to be very time consuming. But .. there isn't much in the way of evening entertainment anyway. I will be very much in a fishbowl as far as my faith is concerned. They will be watching me very closely I imagine - one of the Sister's asked me if I'd ever met a Nun before. I told her that I hadn't. She laughed and said that they better be on their best behavior then so I get a good impression. I responded by saying that I too need to be on my best behavior so they get a good impression of Adventists.

Working with the kids will be a challenge too. I've worked with full classrooms of younger kids, but not too much with older kids (other than my tutoring students.) One thing Sr. N stressed strongly was the need for strong classroom management - but also that she will back me up when needed.

The older kids (6th - 8th) have a really neat system set up campus wide. They are divided into "houses" ala Harry Potter. (haven't read them, so not totally sure what that entails) Teachers can add or deduct "house points" for behavior, homework, etc. At the end of each quarter (I think) the winning house gets to go on a field trip. The points, etc. are all done online. Each "house" has a leader and several other students that act as kind of motivators.

I'll be leaving towards the end of July so that I have time to get settled into my house and get started on my classroom/library.

Oh! Almost forgot. Due to my Master's degree, I will get nearly an extra $1k per year to my salary. I'm going to be the only new staff member this year. The other teachers have been there anywhere between 2 years and 8 (other than Sr. N who's been there for over 16!)

Pat yourself on the back if you actually made it through to the end of this.

I'll have to write more about my trip later when I get home, but I had to share this with you all! This morning Sister N asked me if I was ready to sign a contract if she had one ready for me when I got back from the food run. I told her yes of course.
She just had to talk to two of the teachers we had dinner with last night.

When I got back, she had a contract on the desk waiting for me.

God is good!!!!!!!

I want to add THANK YOU! Y'all have been so good to me and so supportive. I love my SA family.

Yikes! I'll be leaving to go to my interview in New Mexico on Monday around noon. I'm pretty much packed - found a few clothing items at Walmart on clearance. Now just need to get some nice sandals.

I hadn't heard from them since May 28!!! I'd sent a couple emails with some questions ... and was starting to get worried. Finally today I got an email that told me "don't worry about dressing fancy, jeans and capris are fine."

Well I have two pairs of capris, and a pair of jeans, and a nice broomstick style skirt (long) - all courtesy of Walmart's clearance. I was really needing something cooler than my black dress pants and dressier than my pink or blue track pants for wearing to my tutoring appointments.

I wish I had clue one about what all we are going to talk about. The Sr. and I will have a TWO HOUR drive from the airport to the school. Plus she said we'd stop to get something to eat (would it be appropriate to say Taco Bell if asked??)

Tuesday morning I get to go out on a Meals-on-Wheels run so I can see the reservation. Then I think my official interview is Tuesday afternoon. I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing Wednesday morning. I was hoping to be able to spend some time in the computer lab and library before my interview ...

JJ (my landlady) thinks I should keep my hair in an updo the whole time - it would be more professional looking. Maybe a French roll?? It sure would be cooler than having my hair down ... (and easier!)

Arghh!!! I'm nervous enough when it comes to interviews that are an hour or less worth of interaction. This is going to be nearly three days - including lots of time in cars ... I tend to clam up when I'm nervous or not comfortable .... or ... I become Miss Chatty Cathy and say lots of stuff to just fill the silence (half of which I wonder why I just said whatever it was I said)

I know I have a lot of people praying for me (although quite a few of them I think are praying halfheartedly - they want me to stay here, or at least not go to NM!) If this is where God wants me to be, I just have to trust that it'll all work out. If not, then I know I have a way of bringing in income one way or another.(insurance processing/tutoring)

I'd really love any suggestions from y'all regarding the in-reality Three Day Interview!

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I updated my Living Frugal blog with the story of how I managed to graduate debt free from grad school. Although with all the spending I've been doing this past while (plane ticket, fixed car a/c shredder??? and refilled freon, dental work ....etc.) my savings account is looking really slim.

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Today I finished my first full week doing the insurance processing. There are some things I really like about it (especially once I get my first paycheck!) and some I really don't care for. Overall, it is a good stopgap measure - definitely not something I'd want to do long term.

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JJ has no cartilage in her knees. And in order for her to have any kind of knee surgery, she needs to lose weight. The only exercise she can do without killing her knees is the reclined bike. She has had a membership with twenty 4 hr fitness for several years, but hasn't used it in 9 months. So ... on Monday morning we went in there and I told the sales guy that I was *only* going to be here till the end of July, and I would be moving someplace *nowhere* near one of their facilities. I ended up being signed on as a family member on a month-to-month plan for a total of $64 (good till Aug 15.) Ouch.

The good thing is that JJ and I have been there 4 times this week. Her granddaughter came with us twice. On Monday I could just do 20 minutes on the treadmill (intervals). Today I did 40 minutes. It is still hot in the gym, but WAY cooler than outside (100+ degrees!) It will be worth it if it gets JJ back into the habit of gym going (and it's pretty good for me too)

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My brother's taking flying lessons!! I'm not sure what brought this on, or what his plans are beyond getting certified to fly a small plane ... but how cool is that??

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I had a very scary experience while driving a few weeks ago. I was stopped at a light when a lady in a red car stopped behind me. I noticed two things pretty quickly - 1. Her hood was smashed in like she'd been in a head on crash, and 2. She had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth (drooping would be more apt). She had an overall look of someone not altogether with it. My defensive driving senses came to alert status.

While the light was still RED, all of a sudden I noticed the lady behind me coming closer and closer. She then preceded to BUMP my rear!! Finally the light turned green. We preceded to a narrow two-lane road surrounded by construction projects going on. She kept on going slow behind me, then speeding up. I was going the speed limit. Then suddenly, she is right on my bumper, and passes me - double yellow line with a cement truck coming the opposite direction - I had to slow down quite a bit so she wouldn't cause a crash!!

She got stopped at the next light, and I took a picture of her license plate. Then we were both turning left. Before the left turn signal turned green, she got out into the intersection, and came within centimeters of getting T-boned by yet another cement truck!! I noticed after turning left that she pulled over into a side lane - I think she was waiting to see if I was going to follow her.

My adrenaline was sure pumping - but I had to go to the bank and run some other errands.

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I have a new tutoring student!! The mom of the preschool girl I tutored last semester, and who's son I am now working with, is a hairdresser. She and her neighbor/friend/client were discussing their children and it came up that her n/f/c was looking for a tutor for her son. I had my first session with him on Tuesday. A really sweet kid. Oh, the funny thing about the other boy? My mom had worked with him and his older sister - said he was very difficult to work with. I've now worked with him three times, and have not found that to be the case at all!

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I can't remember if I mentioned this or not ... but ... I got a new computer!! I had to get a new monitor for my processing job (19") and I'd been saving all my Amazon gift cards, etc. that I'd been earning from the various sites for the goal of replacing my computer. Well, with the graduation money I received plus the AGC money, I decided to bite the bullet and get a new computer!

It's an Acer Slimline w/ Win 7, 1 tB memory, 9 usb ports, etc. I was worried about how I'd like Win 7 versus XP, but I actually do like it quite a bit. Plus now when my dad calls with technical questions about his computer (running Win7) I can actually SEE what it looks like, rather than trying to visualize from his descriptions.

The CPU unit is SO small! My screen is both wider and taller than it.

Now I just need to get my printer working again ... It is a wireless printer, and the Wi Fi here doesn't work - you have to be plugged in. I have my printer plugged in to the computer via USB, but after working two or three times, it has now just stopped responding. When I get back next week I'll have to spend some time on it.

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I'm so sad. My Sabbath School assistant is moving in a couple of weeks. She has been SO reliable - like my right hand. We are having a Primary SS Potluck and Charades next weekend. Unbeknownst to her, we also are having a thank you/goodbye party.

It looks like the nominating committee has found two possible people to be my assistants. (New year starts first Saturday of July). I hope they are even half as reliable as OB. Especially since I may have to be leaving my kids in their hands. (if I get the NM job)

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Did you hear that ING has been bought by Capital One? YUCK!! Even as the interst rates have dropped, I still have been a big fan of ING. They have such awesome customer service, and better yet they actively encourage people to SAVE!

I'll wait till CapOne starts charging fees for every little nit picking thing - but I will be moving my money sooner than later.

Someone on FB suggested Ally, and another person suggested USAA. Is USAA open to non-military, etc. personnel?

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Okay, I better close out this book. I need to make sure not to take so long between updates.

Now I'm going to attempt to go catch up on all the blogs!