Tuesday, August 28, 2007
My horoscope today
Yes, it's 9:34PM and I am just now reading my horoscope. I may have to start reading it first thing in the morning...if I'd read this before I left for school I might have had a better day:

You may be feeling the emotional stress associated with this Full Moon
Eclipse in your 8th House of Transformation. You might not want to change in
ways that are being required of you now. Even if you know that the old road
is changing, you may not be ready for the new path to appear. Nevertheless,
your happiness may depend on your ability to let go of the past.

More on this later. Let's just say that this whole going back to school thing is turning out to be a bigger strain on my time, patience, wallet, and sanity that originally budgeted. My new mantra is "It will be all worthwhile when I have my diploma." Imagine it said through clenched teeth with a desperate smile, and you have my current status. :) I'm nothing if not ornery, so I'm sticking it out. I'll post more later.

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posted by Jen @ 9:25 PM   0 comments
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Thanks, Cassi...
Ok, the rules are, once you've been tagged you have to write a blog with 6 weird things/habits about yourself. In the end you need to list 6 other people to tag and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment saying "You've been tagged." in their comments and tell them to read your blog.



1. I would rather do another extended football season - traveling every Friday all over the state - with 150 high school students than work with a 1st grade grade for one day again.

2. I start college again on Monday. I will be a parent, teacher, AND student...all at the same time.

3. My house throws the best Halloween party in the city. Wild West this year, baby!

4. I can crochet and knit...small stuff is better because I don't have the attention span for anything larger than a scarf.

5. I'm OCD about grammar and punctuation.

6. I married - and am still married to - my high school sweetheart (that sounds so sappy).

I tag D2, Kas, Cher, TX Jen, Val, and Resa.

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posted by Jen @ 6:54 PM   1 comments
Friday, August 17, 2007
It's funny
I remember sitting on the couch in the wee hours with a little baby Cam 8 years ago, wondering what he would be like as a kid or a teenager or an adult. You always wish the best for your kids, and I'm no exception. You want them to be smart, of course. But smart isn't all - I wanted him to have common sense as well as book sense. I hoped he would be understanding and open to hearing other ideas.

Fast forward to today. I had a conversation with Cam in the car (a lot of the good ones happen there - anyone else notice that?) that left me wanting to cry. I won't go into the details, as they're not my details to go into. A troubled teenager that we know had run away, and I wouldn't have even told Cam about it except he was expecting to see her Sunday.

He asked why she might not be there, so I told him. He pondered for a moment. "Why did she run away?" I explained as best I could that she had had a very hard life up to this point, and explained about foster homes and such. He pondered for a while again. "Well, running away doesn't help anything, does it?" Score! I agreed with him. He was quiet for a while, and turned up the radio.

About 5 minutes later he turns the radio down and goes, "What if we call her?" What? "Can we try to call her? We'll ask her where she is." Aw. He'd been thinking about it the whole time! I told him that they'd tried calling her, but she wasn't answering her phone. "Well, can I try calling her?" I could tell he was really worried. I told him that all her friends knew that if she contacted them, they needed to find out where she was, and that the police were also looking for her to take her home. He turned up the radio and sat back.

A few minutes later, he turned it down again, and goes, "I really hope she's ok...I hope it isn't raining where she is." I told him that she was probably just fine, and that she was tough and should be just fine. He nodded, turned the radio back up, and sat back for the rest of the ride home. We got home and found out that the young lady in question had returned home safely. I let Cam know and he all but sighed in relief.

Bless his little pea-pickin' heart. I'm going to talk to him about it again tomorrow to make sure there is no lasting trauma. I'm glad that he's able to sympathize and/or empathize. It makes me feel better about him growing up. Well...a little.
posted by Jen @ 9:21 PM   0 comments
We had Orientation at Cam’s school today. 3rd grade… Shoo. I mean, ~I~ remember 3rd grade. It was a big year for me…I learned cursive, I learned my multiplication tables (however grudgingly), I moved upstairs to the “big kids” hall (3rd, 4th, and 5th graders), and my teacher’s name was Schwartz. Schwartz may not be a big deal right NOW, but in the 3rd grade, it was a WHOPPER of a name. One vowel in all that mess!

So here I am, looking at the 3rd grade again. Cam's classroom is further back into the school, as befits such a “big kid.” His teacher had the kids take the extra supplies (paper and pencils and such that go into a pile for classroom use later) to the place they belong rather than having the parents do it. She said they’d need to know where the supplies are later, so they might as well start now. I like her already. :)

She told us that she had received a grant that would purchase 19 laptops for her classroom, so the kids would be doing much of their class work on a computer this year. Cam, as you can well imagine, is stoked. He told his new teacher that he couldn’t wait for school to start on Monday.

The only downside is that Ty is in his class again this year. Cam saw his name on a desk nearby and went, “Oh…Ty’s in my class again.” I recall stories about Ty from Kindergarten up. A little girl from his class last year was saying hi, and he goes, “Hey Lizzie. Ty’s in our class again.” Lizzie made a sour face and goes, “Oh no…”. Lizzie’s Mom overheard the conversation and made her own face. She looked up at me and said, “Ty’s in this class? God!” That young man has made a name for himself already…I’ll give you a few guesses what that name might be. Heh…

We were on our way out the door and were stopped by Ms. Jane; she used to drive the bus that took Cam from school to after-school care and she just loves him to pieces. She hasn’t seen him since the end of the last school year and was aghast at how much he’s grown. Then the new Principal (the VP last year) stepped over and said the same thing. She also said that Cam’s new teacher is very gifted when it comes to Science…that’s very cool, because Cam’s favorite subjects so far are Science and Social Studies. Just wait till Social Studies turns into History. Heh.

Anyway – he’s excited and I’m excited and I just cannot WAIT until we get back into a more predictable routine. Even once ~I~ start school (the week after he starts) I think I’ll be happier. My schedule is going to suck, but at least it will be the same thing over and over. Right? RIGHT?! I’m grasping now, huh? …sigh…

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posted by Jen @ 12:36 PM   0 comments
Saturday, August 04, 2007
I have chore-related ADD
I got up this morning with two main goals in mind: laundry and coffee. Not necessarily in that order, mind you, but that was my vague outline for the morning. Laundry and coffee, coffee and laundry. Before I got out of bed (because I'm lazy...or maybe we could call it 'efficient'? That does sound nicer...) I pulled the fitted sheet off the corners of the bed to make undressing it easier. I tossed sheets and towels in the washer, then headed to the kitchen to start coffee. This is where things started to go off the plan.

I got out in the kitchen and realized it was a mess. It wasn't a disaster, I mean, it's hardly been used for the past 4 days since nobody's been home. The recycling was piled up on the counter, there was a big stain on the stove top, the waffle iron was on the counter (wasn't entirely sure it was clean, either), and it was just way too cluttered for my tastes. I started the coffee and then immediately emptied the dishwasher. I put the two plates and a bowl that were in the sink in there. I emptied the drying rack in the other side of the sink - pots and pans and such. I scrubbed off the stain on the stove. I washed the waffle iron (you know, just in case). I corralled all the recycling and took it outside. Then I sort of stood there going, "Wait...what was I supposed to be doing?"

I headed back in to my room to sort laundry. I had pushed the hamper over on its side before I went out to make the coffee, and upon my return I found my two fattest cats sprawled on the broad side of the hamper. They stayed throughout the sorting process, taking time out of their busy schedules to glare at me when something poked them or otherwise annoyed them on its way out of the hamper. I finished sorting and did that, "What am I supposed to be doing again?" thing AGAIN, and remembered that I'd already made coffee. Whoo hoo!

Back to the kitchen! Cam wants coffee this morning, too, so I pulled down his little Dracula mug and set it on the counter. He gets one scoop of Splenda, I get two. He gets just as much creamer as I do - he doesn't have much coffee in his coffee, you see. Anyway, he asked for leftover pizza for breakfast (yes, I AM a horrible Mom; coffee and pizza for breakfast) so I pulled it out of the fridge and was HORRIFIED by the number of leftover bowls and other crap in there. Sigh... I put a slice of pizza in the microwave and pulled the garbage can over to the fridge. I cleaned out the fridge, dumping the fuzzy contents of bowls into the trash and tossing the bowls themselves into the sink. Once I finished, I washed my hands and took Cam his nutritious breakfast, and then washed the bowls before putting them in the dishwasher. Where was I???? Oh, coffee!

So I grabbed my coffee and came in my room. I started a load of whites after moving my sheets and towels over to the dryer, then plopped down on the edge of the bed to blog. And now you're current. I'm sitting here typing away, drinking my coffee, and waiting for the sweet spot in between loads of laundry where the dryer is running but not the washer. I need to shower. I feel nasty. I just hope I don't get distracted between my laptop and the shower.

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posted by Jen @ 8:18 AM   1 comments
Friday, August 03, 2007
I can't be the walrus, I'm the lunch lady
TX Jen's Mom: I'm here. Mostly. :) Also, after much thought, I have decided that I will now refer to you as TX Mom, especially since TX Jen will have to be renamed shortly. I apologize to everyone for my absence of late - I've been out of sorts. My schedule is crazy busy, I turned 32, the last Harry Potter came out, I start school again in 24 days, and it's hot as freaking hell outside, folks. To elaborate:

My schedule:
Mon-Thurs: Get up at 5:30AM and get myself and Cam ready. Leave at 6:30, drop him at day care, stop at Wal Mart to buy sodas and chips for the kids' lunches. Get to PFHS around 7:15. Take lunch money until 8. Add up lunch numbers, call and order lunch. Then I spend the next 2 hours prepping for lunch. Then I go pick up lunch. Then I hand out lunch to 90 of the sweatiest, hardest-working kids in the world. Then I clean up after lunch. Then I eat MY lunch - not diet food, mind you - and then I pack my stuff up for work. I work from 1 to 6. Then I go home, spend an hour of quality time with my son and then put him to bed. Then I TRY to go to bed early, but it doesn't happen very often. Lather, rinse, repeat.

My birthday:
I turned 32 on the 26th of July. I share the birthday with one of my students. She turned 16. Yes, I am twice as old as her, thanks for pointing that out. She just couldn't understand why I wasn't nearly as excited about our day as she was. Our woodwind instructor got me one of those squishy neck pillows...it's a Diet Coke can. :) The brass instructor got me a 20 oz. Diet Coke, and two 2 Liters of Diet Coke. A student that graduated last year brought up a case of Diet Coke. Anyone else noticing a theme? TJ took me out for sushi, and I got a gift card and some cash...some of which I used to get a new piercing. And no, I won't tell you where.

Harry Potter (no spoilers):
I went to the midnight release party at B&N, which was actually a lot of fun. I got my book and was home by 12:30AM. I started reading immediately, and finished at 9:50 that morning. I laughed at points, cried at points, and cheered out loud at least once. Anyone that’s read the book knows what I’m talking about – all I’ll say is that it involves Mrs. Weasley. Ahhhh….good times, good times. It was a good book, and a fitting ending to a long and very entertaining series. I’ve reread the last book already, and am considering starting over from the book 1.

College:
I start as a Junior at UWF on the 27th. I’m taking all music courses, and am becoming more and more nervous as the days progress. I did solve my manuscript paper problem today, thanks to Frank. Thanks, Frank! I’ll be fine once I get past the first day, but I’ll worry obsessively until then. There are too many issues to go into at this point…it would be a whole rant-within-a-rant. I’ll save it for another post.

The temp:
It’s just hot. Hot and muggy. At least it’s raining a little, too. Granted, it rains when I need to do things outside, but that’s ok. At least the whole state won’t burn to the ground before we can be wiped out by another hurricane, right?

Meh. I haven’t been running and I certainly haven’t been eating right. I’m sure that is contributing to my general malaise. I’m starting back on the straight and narrow tomorrow, though. I know once I eat better and start running again I’ll feel much better about myself. At least that’s the plan for now. I’ll be back later to work out that school angst thing. Thanks for reading, guys!
posted by Jen @ 12:56 PM   1 comments
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