Not so great

My sister reminded me that I said would update the blog about our visit with Steven and Megan and her friends.  I'm not going to get into the details, but it didn't go as great as I would have liked.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.

I'm so excited!!!

Today we are driving down to see Steven!  We even get to stay overnight!


An added thrill is that Megan WANTS to go see her brother and even invited a friend to go and meet him.  This is a huge step and we are soooooo excited at this new development.

We'll post details of the trip after we get home tomorrow night!

A Day in Dallas

Thursday was a day to remember!  My fellow teacher, Jennifer, and I went to a science teacher conference at the convention center.  We thought it would be an adventure to ride the DART.  We had no idea just what an adventure it would be!

The morning started uneventfully.  We rode the train with lots of other teachers who had the same great idea.  The morning workshops were good, but then they gave us a 4 hour break.  No workshops, no exhibitors, nothing to do.  So we ventured to the West End area for lunch.  That is when the fun began.

After we ate lunch, we still had several hours to fill.  We decided it would be fun to go get our nails done.  We checked our cell phones and located a nail spa .3 miles away.  We needed to cross the street so we jaywalked like all of the other downtown characters had been doing all morning.

Unfortunately, we did not see the police on the other side of the street.  They stopped us.  They asked what we were doing downtown, if we could pay $200 ticket, and if we had ever heard of a crosswalk.  Ummmm.  Ok.  So, we talked our way out of that ticket.  I'm pretty sure they were just amused to see two middle aged white women venturing into the city to get their nails done.

It had taken a while to get our bearings and figure out where we even needed to go.  Then, the police thing shook us up.  Then, we looked around and realized there was a very high police presence in this particular area and wondered if walking through the neighborhood was a very good idea.  We decided against it.  We went back to the safety of the convention center.

At the end of the afternoon workshops, we headed home.  We took the DART to the West End station to transfer to our train home.  Unfortunately, it was dark, neither of us had paid much attention that morning, and we got on a train heading further south into deep Dallas.  By the time we figured out we were going the wrong way, we were in "Deep Elum".  We got off at that stop to wait for the right train.

Deep Elum Station

We knew we had made a mistake as soon as we stepped off the train.  It was cold, dark, and we were the only white people around.....only women that we could tell.  There was a nice gangster trolling the platform while we were waiting for the train.  I decided to befriend him instead of standing for 13 more minutes in fear.  Good decision.  He was actually a very nice gangster boy.  I am sure his friendship saved us from further adventure when another posse of gangsters walked up 6 minutes later.

 We were thrilled when the DART showed up and we got on the right train.  A hispanic lady was already on the train when we got on.  She was very amused by us and commented we were "a little too pale for this neighborhood".  She told us to stay close.  We did.

We made it home safely.  But wow, it was an adventure!

Reality TV

Maybe this should be titled random thoughts at 4am?  Whatever.  I'm awake.  My mind is rolling.  It's kinda scary how it works--my mind that is!   I can be thinking about one thing and it leads to another and another and comes full circle.  Anisa understands this.  Her brain works the same way.  Our friend Shane used to say we need to announce rapid changes of subject with a beep sound so he could keep up.  Whatever.


So this morning I'm making a grocery list for Thanksgiving and real grocery food list.  Because those two things should be two separate lists.  Why?  Cuz I said so and I am the shopper in this family.  Anyways, I started thinking that I could make a grocery list while I ride the DART downtown to a conference today and tomorrow. Then I thought about juggling the newspaper, my coupons, and my coffee on a moving train.   I started thinking about Extreme Couponing on TLC.  Then, I thought about the reasons those ladies started couponing.  Some were because of job stuff, others health stuff.  Then I thought maybe I should do that.  I have more time now that I have finished my degree.  Maybe I should invest my time in trying to become a crazy coupon lady.  Which led me to various reality shows.  Maybe I could create our own family reality show.  I mean the Simmons, Kardashians, and Osbournes do it.  I think we are far more interesting and exciting than they are.  Which led me to thinking about the holidays and family.  That led me to Thanksgiving.  Which led me back to the grocery list. 

If we did create a reality show, I'm not sure what our focus would be.  We're rather comical like those crazy families in "wife swap".  We have medical issues and events like those "Trauma:  Life in an ER" shows.  We have lots of airhead moments and mood swings like those crazy people on that MTV show where strangers live together.  But, we're not strangers.  So, does that mean the focus of our show should be family?  And who would want to even watch a show like that?  A crazy family, medical issues, airheads, moodswings, crazy couponing.....what would we even call it?

Okay, so I have all those random thoughts out. Maybe I will be able to sleep another hour or so before I have to get up and go to my conference today.  And the grocery list is done.....both of them.

B

Hello November

This means the holidays have officially kicked off.  I am a little concerned about Target's marketing strategies because they had one aisle of Halloween, another aisle of Thanksgiving, and had already prepped 3 aisles of Christmas stuff.  I think they like all of the holidays......starting in August.

All in all, things are the same here.  Megan went back to school this week.  She's still easily tired, but is enjoying the social aspect.  It's amazing how smart she is.  She was out for 8 school days and is fully caught up in only 4 days.  We are so proud of her responsibility!  She is excited to begin swimming next Wednesday and even more excited coach put her in the meet next Thursday!

Troy's pain continues.  He had a spinal implant last week that was a last resort attempt to block the pain signals.  It was deemed unsuccessful and the implants were removed yesterday.  Today we will make the phone call to the surgeon to consult about what comes next.  Troy swears he heard the surgeon say he will do the fusion if the implant didn't work.  I swear I heard the surgeon say there were significant risks associated with a triple fusion and we would look at options if the implant didn't work.

Steven is doing pretty good in Abilene.  He is still giving them hell at school.  He really doesn't like his new teacher so he just walks to his old classroom next door and refuses to move.  I guess that's an improvement over the days when he would beat someone up to communicate his dislike!  He has impacted molars and will be having dental surgery soon.  I am awaiting that phone call providing details later today.

I'm doing okay.  I'm definitely worn out.  Last week was a difficult week at school and I took a mental health day last Friday.  My absence spoke loudly to the administration and some behavior management strategies and FOLLOW THROUGH FROM ADMIN have been implemented.  Today is a big meeting with all admin, interventionist, all fifth grade team members, and school psychologist to determine what we can do about the dynamics of certain kids in my class.  Somehow those challenging kids gravitate to me and feed off each other.  My principal swears this is luck of the draw-----I am convinced my luck consistently drives me to draw the short straw!

This weekend is a mellow one for Troy and I, but a busy one for Megan.  She has swim team photos today, swim girls sleepover tomorrow night, team breakfast on Sunday, followed by team paintball event.  I, personally, am looking forward to getting caught up on grading, laundry, and my shows that have been recorded on TV!

Have a great Friday!
B