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
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
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
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
Saturday, October 15, 2011
MUMS the word!
Here is a lovely picture of some girls in Meg's class with their MUMS yesterday!
Submitted!!!
EDD 580 ARP Final Draft.docx was submitted for the 'Final ARP Paper' assignment on Sat 10/15/2011 04:09 AM MST. Students can refer to the assignments section for submission details.
Today is a big day! After two long years, I have finally finished the program requirements for my masters. Although I walked in the graduation ceremony in July, I still had to finish my 70 page thesis. I submitted it this morning.
This means I get to have a life. For those of you who haven't heard from me lately, I'M BACK!!! I look forward to catching up with everyone, updating the blog more frequently, and spending some time scrapbooking!
Aaah. This feels good. A little out of the comfort zone. But WOW! This feels good!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Oh Mum!
It is HOMECOMING WEEK at Megan's school. This means the Fishgods have to learn about, and participate in, another Texas tradition....wearing of the MUM!
Evidently, back in the olden days, boys would give their homecoming dates a real mum corsage to wear the week of homecoming. This has evolved into parents or dates giving girls a MUM type ornament to wear on the Friday before the dance. Oh, and boys are in on the scam too! Boys wear garters on their arms. Freshman year begins with a "small" mum. The mum gets BIGGER each year. Seniors are solid white, whereas lower classmen wear school colors. Turns out we missed this tradition last year and Megan was the "only girl in school" who didn't have a mum. This morning, we gave Megan her mum.
As you can see, it is nearly as tall as she is. It has ribbons, shiny sparkles, a little bear and even has bells that will jingle jangle all day long! Isn't she cute!
Tomorrow is the homecoming dance! Several of her girlfriends are coming over to get ready at our house. We'll post pictures of that this weekend!
B
Evidently, back in the olden days, boys would give their homecoming dates a real mum corsage to wear the week of homecoming. This has evolved into parents or dates giving girls a MUM type ornament to wear on the Friday before the dance. Oh, and boys are in on the scam too! Boys wear garters on their arms. Freshman year begins with a "small" mum. The mum gets BIGGER each year. Seniors are solid white, whereas lower classmen wear school colors. Turns out we missed this tradition last year and Megan was the "only girl in school" who didn't have a mum. This morning, we gave Megan her mum.
As you can see, it is nearly as tall as she is. It has ribbons, shiny sparkles, a little bear and even has bells that will jingle jangle all day long! Isn't she cute!
B
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Outdoor School
I enjoyed the experience of taking 110 fifth grade students to outdoor school yesterday. We return again today for the final part of the field trip. It was a lot funner with the kids than it was being trained last month with just adults!
The outdoor school has 6 trails that students participate in. They spend 75 minutes on each trail doing science experiments. My trail is the yellow trail. We do a nature walk, pick up dead leaves, test the soil for nutrients, discuss photosynthesis, and how it is all related to the food chain. I can't remember the last time I sat in dirt and played like that.
Plus, it is really neat to see the forest from the kids' perspective. They see so much more than adults do. They are fascinated by the simplest things. It's refreshing.
In addition to the learning, we also have team building experiences. The adults took on the kids in this one. I don't know what its called, but the goal is to work together as a team to move your logs to the finish line. Some of the kids did great. The adults not so much. Fortunately, nobody was injured. The kids want to do it again today!
I tried to turn the picture around but haven't had enough coffee to successfully do that yet. Please turn your computer upside down to view correctly.
Well, I'm off to get ready for outdoor school again!
The outdoor school has 6 trails that students participate in. They spend 75 minutes on each trail doing science experiments. My trail is the yellow trail. We do a nature walk, pick up dead leaves, test the soil for nutrients, discuss photosynthesis, and how it is all related to the food chain. I can't remember the last time I sat in dirt and played like that.
Plus, it is really neat to see the forest from the kids' perspective. They see so much more than adults do. They are fascinated by the simplest things. It's refreshing.In addition to the learning, we also have team building experiences. The adults took on the kids in this one. I don't know what its called, but the goal is to work together as a team to move your logs to the finish line. Some of the kids did great. The adults not so much. Fortunately, nobody was injured. The kids want to do it again today!
I tried to turn the picture around but haven't had enough coffee to successfully do that yet. Please turn your computer upside down to view correctly.
Well, I'm off to get ready for outdoor school again!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
October already?
Hard to believe it's October. Even harder to believe my last post was nearly a month ago! It's been a busy month so here are just a few highlights.
We held Steven's birthday at Mr. Gatti's in mid-September. The event was a huge success and we are thrilled that things went so well. I will try to post some pictures of the party here shortly.
Megan broke her nose earlier this month and got a pretty good concussion in the hit. She is scheduled for nose surgery on 10/19 to straighten things up and roto-rooter out the nose. Troy offered to use his drill to do it at home, but Megan has decided she would rather have the ENT do the surgery!
We went to San Antonio last weekend for a swim meet. Megan was initially scheduled to swim, but was not released by the doctors to swim yet. We decided to go down and get out of town for the weekend just for a change of scenery. We enjoyed the time together but had a hard time recovering from the drive!
Troy met with the neurosurgeon who referred him back to the spine doc for another potential fix before attempting a fusion. The next procedure is a spinal neurotransmitter implant. We had to jump through a few hoops before they can get insurance approval. This past week Troy had an updated MRI and a psych eval. He passed both and now we await insurance approval. The doctor's office said it can take up to 6 weeks. His pain level is pretty high, so we are hoping this can be scheduled sooner than that!
I started my final thesis course this past week. The last six week course was incredibly time intensive and I was looking forward to this course being a bit easier. Unfortunately, the syllabus is pretty full and looks like it will be just as labor intensive as the last class. I will be completely done on 10/24 and that date cannot come soon enough!
For those who haven't heard from us much lately, please be patient for these remaining few weeks. Between working, driving to appointments, my thesis, and juggling the demands of life, I just don't have the time and energy to keep in phone contact as much as I would like. I look forward to having some free time in just a few weeks!
Betsy
We held Steven's birthday at Mr. Gatti's in mid-September. The event was a huge success and we are thrilled that things went so well. I will try to post some pictures of the party here shortly.
Megan broke her nose earlier this month and got a pretty good concussion in the hit. She is scheduled for nose surgery on 10/19 to straighten things up and roto-rooter out the nose. Troy offered to use his drill to do it at home, but Megan has decided she would rather have the ENT do the surgery!
We went to San Antonio last weekend for a swim meet. Megan was initially scheduled to swim, but was not released by the doctors to swim yet. We decided to go down and get out of town for the weekend just for a change of scenery. We enjoyed the time together but had a hard time recovering from the drive!
Troy met with the neurosurgeon who referred him back to the spine doc for another potential fix before attempting a fusion. The next procedure is a spinal neurotransmitter implant. We had to jump through a few hoops before they can get insurance approval. This past week Troy had an updated MRI and a psych eval. He passed both and now we await insurance approval. The doctor's office said it can take up to 6 weeks. His pain level is pretty high, so we are hoping this can be scheduled sooner than that!
I started my final thesis course this past week. The last six week course was incredibly time intensive and I was looking forward to this course being a bit easier. Unfortunately, the syllabus is pretty full and looks like it will be just as labor intensive as the last class. I will be completely done on 10/24 and that date cannot come soon enough!
For those who haven't heard from us much lately, please be patient for these remaining few weeks. Between working, driving to appointments, my thesis, and juggling the demands of life, I just don't have the time and energy to keep in phone contact as much as I would like. I look forward to having some free time in just a few weeks!
Betsy
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