Christmas in CA

Sunday was "get back on the horse" workout day!!  I got up and went to the gym to walk on the treadmill and try to get back to a gym routine.  Upon completing that I finished up the few errands that had to be done and get items for this week.  I was out of veggies and needed to get the materials to make salad for dinner at the Roe's tonight.  Dinner at the Roe's tonight was fun.  Steve Brockman joined the fun.  He is a cheerleading coach, ASB director at a local high school and a friend of the Roe's.  He is the educator that Michael Roe had "Fun Banter" with and they both made videos about the other team.   It is nice to make connections and get to know people.  Steve is a great guy and he is from Wisconsin and guess who the Carolina Gamecocks play at the Capital One Bowl.  So of course the conversation started about who was going to win the bowl game - Go COCKS!!!!!!!  It was nice to come home and be able to relax and not have to worry about going to work on Monday.  However, I ended up with a rash on my neck which was extremely itchy.  I ended up having to take Benadryl to get the itching to stop.

So I was going to wake up early on Monday and go work out but when I did I realized that I was still a little dizzy and sleepy from the Benadryl so I went back to sleep.  I had a doctor's appointment at 8:05 am with Kaiser Permanente so I slept until it was time for me to go.  Now, let me explain this doctor's appointment, Kaiser has been bugging me to choose a doctor and come in for a check-up to establish my presence in their system.  Really!!!!  I am not sick, nor do I need anything.  However, I will play by the rules of Kaiser since they are more about preventative care.  So I made the appointment during the holidays so I did not miss work.  Now, I also had my medical records sent from SC to Kaiser but get this.  Kaiser sent them back to me and told me to take them to the doctors.  Well I took them and all they did was flip through them.  What the heck????  All that work, emails, faxes and phone calls and they didn't really even look at them other than to flip through them to tell me that it was normal stuff and nothing that needed to be recorded as medical history.  Needless to say, i was a little irritated.   After the doctor's appointment of which I had to get a flu shot as well and was told that I might have some flu symptoms in a day or so as my body built up an immunity.  However the thing that drives me nuts about that is - really on my break????  So as I left the other thing that drove me absolutely nuts was their check out system.  There is none.  Since it is a co-pay situation, there is really no direction when you leave.  Not what I am use to.  A different system - not necessarily good or bad, just different.   However, on a plus side, I did not have to wait as long as you did in SC.  LOL!!!

After I left there I did make it to the gym and was able to get in my workout, come home and get started on the research.  I was able to go back through Chapters 1, 2 and 3 and get a handle on what I need to do with the coding, changing some word choices and fixing some APA citations.  Overall it was a productive day.

PhD Mess on the Floor 

It's Christmas Eve and I am one workout in and am going to Riverside for a salon appointment and a Mexican Christmas Eve.  A fellow AP, Victor from another high school invited me over his house with his family for Christmas Eve.  Of course his enticement was to experience a real Mexican Christmas of which I said yes.  Now, Victor told me the family goes from house to house for Christmas and they start at 12:00 pm and goes into the evening.  I figure that I would be able to go for a little bit and then come on home.  So I was suppose to meet them at 4:00 pm and I figured I would leave around 6:00 pm.  Victor and his family are fabulous.  Jenny, his wife, is fantastic and he has the two cutest kids.  I am not going to name them here simply because I want to protect their identity but they have the most adorable personalities and are true characters.    While I was at Victor's I have to say that I thought we would be at his and Jenny's house and people would be coming here.  However, that was not the case, we went to Victor's parents house.  Victor's family are absolutely wonderful and welcoming.  There was a table full of food for everyone to try.  Victor's mom was so funny, she was trying to feed me meat and Victor told her I was a vegetarian and the pause and look on her face was priceless.  The entire experience was fun and interesting.  I got to try some new foods and meet new people, which I always love to do.  Most of Victor's family has graduated from North High School, where I work so it was fun to talk with them to see who is still there and who has left.  There family is bilingual and they spoke mostly Spanish while I was there.  It was interesting to hear because I could pick up the majority of the verbs so that I new what the action was but it was hard to follow at times because of the fast pace.  This was a great learning experience for me because it puts into perspective what we do our ELL / AEL students or when Spanish speaking parents come into my office.  We left Victor's mom's house about 11:15 pm and I made it back to the apartment by 12:15 am.  It was much later than I expected but I had so much fun and it was great to see how another family celebrated Christmas Eve.

So today is Christmas Day and it has been hard.  It did not turn out like I wanted to.  I did not get my Christmas wish.  Nope, the little PhD fairy did not come and finish my PhD for me.  LOL!!  I chose to stay in CA to work on completing the analyzing of my data and then Chapters 4 and 5 to be done.  This has to be done by June 1st so that it can get to my committee and then defended this summer.  Well since the PhD fairy did not come today I spent this morning catching up on electronic correspondence and needs.  Squeak and I celebrated Christmas this morning with opening our presents that were sent to us and that I bought her.  Of course she could not wait to get into the tuna when I opened it for her.

Squeak could not wait for her tuna to be put on the floor.

My resume is up-to-date, LinkedIn is updates and my Weebly has been updated.  I did make it to the movies today with Erin and Michael to see Anchorman 2, which was extremely funny.   After the movie, I stopped by 7-Eleven (which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so they don't need locks) and yep, they were open to get a Slurpee.  So I have made it through the day today.  Yes, I have cried because I did not get to see the people that I normally see and wanted to see.  Yes, I have cried because I did not get to talk to everyone that I wanted to but I knew this would be the case when I made the decision to stay.  I am not whining, pouting or complaining.  I had a choice to make and I made it.  It is important that I use this time to make some decisions and complete the work that I need to in order to graduate from my doctoral program.  Hopefully the next week and half will look better for me.
So today is Thursday and I need to get going with the research.  I have used the time so far fixing my APA citations and reviewing my research questions to ensure that I can code correctly.  I should say Thank You to my friend Erin and her daughter Bri who got me wall art for Christmas so that I can look at this when I am feeling defeated about situations.  I put it over the door so that as I walk from my bedroom to the kitchen I see it and when I am sitting in the living room I can see it.

I got up this Thursday morning (6:00 am) and went to workout then came home (7:30)  and got a few things completed and began looking at my data.  Whew!!  This is going to be a long process…..  So, I worked on that until about 12:30.  Well at this point, it was time to take a break so I went to visit Kara in Riverside and we hiked Mt. Rubiodoux which several people at work have told me about.  The view from the top of the mountain is beautiful and allows you to see all of Riverside!!  It was great views and great company.  Kara is truly a fabulous teacher and professional and it was nice to get to talk with her outside of school.

Love the mountains here!!

You can't see the school I work at but it would be in this picture!!

On the way home I went to Target but I have found that I spend twice as much time in Target now using the Cartwheel App than I usually do. Tonight I was about to save $4.18.  I question if the savings is worth the extra time in the store???  I really want them to make an app so that all the discounts are there and they just scan the app so that I don't have to search for the discounts.  In fact, better yet, just apply the discount for everyone and don't have an app at all so that everyone saves money.  I like the stores that don't have "cards" or papers that you need in order to get the savings.  

Friday was fun and productive.  I got to hang out with a friend on Friday morning and then I worked on my PhD for a bit.  Around 5:00 pm I went over to the Roe's to hang out and got some girl time with Jessica.  We went to eat dinner at Panera at 7:30 pm after the kids were put to bed and it was nice to just sit and be able to talk with her.  Of course we "closed down Panera" (LOL!!!).  How funny is that?  We did not close down a bar or night club!  Is this a sign of getting old or just that we had so much to talk about that we never really get to talk about when the kids are around and always need thirty things???  I am going to go with so much to talk about because there is no way that I am getting old.

Saturday was all about the PhD but for some reason every time I started reading I would get tired and begin to fall asleep.   I think I took about three naps yesterday and each were about 30 minutes long.  I really did try and stay awake to get some work done.  Needless to say,  it was a long day but I did make some more progress.  I went to a Christmas party on Saturday night at another Asst Principal's house, Michael Rhodes, who lives about 25 minutes away.  The house is absolutely beautiful and it was a great night getting to meet his wife and some of their friends.  I know, I know… too many Michael's in my life so it is hard to keep them all strait but all the Michael's that I have met are great people and very supportive so I am happy to have another friend named Michael.  This Michael has lived all over the United States and therefore knows all about SC and the Southeast.  It is fun to be able to talk about things with him from the east.

I have to say that this week has been relaxing and good.  I can't remember when I have been able to just  relax and get some items done.  I have another week of this and I am sure that I will be bored and ready to go back to work - or not - depending on how much work I get done.  I do miss everyone and wish I could have seen my friends but this dissertation has to get done so this is the price that I am paying for it.  Much love to all!!!

Week Before Christmas Break

Okay, who ordered the full moon the week before Christmas Break???  It is only Tuesday as I type this and I feel like it should be Friday.  Monday started out busy and crazy.  Every time I tried to get into a classroom there was an emergency that needed to be taken care of.  I had every intention of getting into classrooms for observations and I never made it.  It seemed like there was just one referral right after another and for the week before break you really have to make sure that you keep the referrals caught up because the kids will not remember what it is they did when you get back from break.  On top of that, everyone's nerves are shot this week.  The kids are excited and ready for Christmas next week and on top of that it IS A FULL MOON!!!  Hormones are raging and things are nutty.  Police always say more crimes and such happen on full moons and nurses always say more babies and emergencies come into the hospital on full moons.  On a side note, it truly is a beautiful view driving to work in the mornings.  I can see the moon in front of me and if you look in the rearview mirror you can see the beginning of the sunrise.  Not a bad drive at all!!!    The day ended with a graduation meeting.  Yes, graduation is in June but we ended the last meeting of the day in a meeting preparing for graduation in a new stadium at the school so we are starting early.  It is going to be interesting to see how this turns out.    This is the start of a new tradition at JW North High School and whatever is put in place now will be here for awhile since this school works on tradition so much.  There are lots of varying opinions about our parking, lack of parking, where guests enter, where the graduates "stage," where they walk, where the leave, where the parents meet them, security, balloons, fireworks, sound system, stage and a 1000 other items.  This will be the rough year figuring it out and then it will be simple.  (Me grinning!!!)  Don't worry my LDHS friends.  I am stealing borrowing everything I learned at LDHS graduations to use here.  So happy I had such great experiences.   My actual day ended at the Riverside Educational Enrichment Foundation Dinner where teachers in the district were awarded grants.  The event was very nice and well attended.  North had about 8 teachers that received grants.  Lexington Richland District 5 had an educational foundation as well but I never knew how the money was distributed.  In RUSD, the money is done with a grant writing process.  It was great to see how many teachers participated and were awarded money for their classroom.  I got home at 8:40 pm and crashed at 9:30 pm - out like a light!!!  I think it was because I had no caffeine at all.

So on Tuesday, I started my day with some Hot Apple Cinder on the way to work from home.  However, I got halfway to work and realized - DARN IT, I LEFT MY LUNCH AT HOME!!!  Well that means I left my breakfast also.  I ended up stopping to get an egg and spinach wrap from Starbucks to start the day and figured I would just eat yogurt for lunch or someone would run to grab lunch.  It was a good thing I started the day with the egg and spinach wrap because I never got to sit down and eat or drink anything today.  From 6:45 am when I heard the first voice mail - well, let's just say it was over because after hearing that message and creating a plan to handle that situation, I had a parent-teacher conference, two incident reports, a bullying situation that involved a police report, another investigative event that required an administrator and campus supervisors along with a surprise visit from one of the tech guys from the DO, a classroom walk-through with students throwing items that had to be disciplined, students being sent out of classes and a variety of other small issues.  I literally forgot to eat lunch or drink any water today and now I have a headache and am trying to over hydrate.  However, you know that does not work!!!    Now the good news is that we are moving forward with parts of the Technology Plan that was developed.  I know this is going to make teachers, students and the administration happy and therefore I am excited about that aspect of the crazy week!!  Hooray - progress!!!  However, I also found out today that my district will not be paying us until January 2nd rather than December 31st.  Ummmm…… never heard of this before…… Not sure what the purpose is of this.  Someone told me it was so it was not on your taxes since it was after the first of the year but my point is, it is on your taxes for next year so what is the deal?????  We also found out that the 6% raise has to be voted on again for management - I knew it read funny.  I am being told that it is pretty much a done deal but somehow I have a very hard time believing that so we will see.  I will let you know on Jan 2nd if my check is higher.  It might need to be in order to pay the fees that may occur if the money is not there for my bills that come out the 1st-5th.  LOL!!  Just kidding, I will be fine!!!

Well, Wednesday was interesting and please know that I cannot put all the details here about what happened but I will tell you that I had my first experience with students sexting today and cyberbullying.  All in one day!!!  Needless to say today was an educational experience for me in many ways.  When I got home today I was exhausted and totally crashed.  I spent the majority of the day in investigation mode and talking with students, parents and the SRO.  In addition, I have several students who are having "issues" with teachers and the students are having a hard time "communicating" with their teachers.  I have been doing  lot of conflict resolution this week but it is quite humorous to hear what they tell me.  I am telling you - reality TV should be done in a school!!!  I am happy that the full moon is almost gone.  I know that Squeak gets mad at me because when I get home I am so tired that I clean up, get out clothes for the next day and usually sit for 15-20 minutes and read or watch TV with her before I go to bed.  I think she wishes I would sit with her more because she certainly talks to me.  I hope she is saying, "Mom, I love you," but I really think she is saying, "Where the heck have you been?"  When I am here she follows me around the apartment and lays with me or on the ed with me.  In addition, if I am in the kitchen she sits wherever she is in my way so I have to pick her up and move her or carry her around.  She is so funny even if she is a little "plump."

Squeak laying on me as I try and type.

Thursday morning I got up and tried to sit with Squeak for about 15 minutes before I left for the morning but she really did not want to sit much.  So at work yesterday, I promised one of my darling students that I would come and watch her play.  So this morning as I was coming in at 6:30 am, my student was there dressed for her play and handed me a little stuffed bear with some candy canes.  She is so excited about this play and being on stage as well as happy that she and her teacher have come to a resolution for them to get along better in class.  So I started with discipline this morning doing the "regular" items like tardies, electronic violations and so on.  I got to a kid who is on his 15th tardy for the 2nd quarter (45 days) and we have 13 days left which means he is late almost every other day.  When I called mom, mom literally told me he should be excused because it is her fault.  Well I would have accepted that at Tardy 6 or 7 but not at 15.    I got to see the play today which was parodies of Christmas Classic like Twas the Night Before Christmas and Scrooge.  The plays were totally cute and my students as well as the others did a FABULOUS job!!!!  I am so proud of them.

My student who typically wonders all over the school actually made it three days in class with no truancies or tardies.  I am so proud of him!!!  Now, I have to tell you that I did bribe this child.  He usually comes and hangs out in the discipline office and then ends up getting in trouble and I needed him in class this week so I told him if he would go without getting "picked up" that I would get him a treat.  So I need to pick up Gummie Worms for him.  That was the candy he wanted.  Well, I left the school on Thursday night at 8:45 pm due to a Parent-Teacher-Student Association meeting so I went strait home.  However, I was sitting on the couch with Squeak when I realized I forgot and needed to write a note to remember.  The problem is I fell asleep on the couch before I wrote the note, woke up 30 minutes later and went to bed without writing the note.  Oops!!!

It is FRIDAY!!!!  It is the day before break!!!  Am I ready - HECK YES!!!  Bring it on!!!  As a curriculum specialist and administrator I want the teachers to continue to teach today and go bell to bell.  As a realist I know there is going to be parties in the classroom so there will be issues.  I am prepared for them.  BRING IT ON!!!! Then I remembered that I forgot to get Gummie Worms!!  Darn it!!  My admin friends tell me, just go to the liquor store around the corner and I look at them and say - "Are you crazy?  I am not going into a liquor store at 8:30 am in the morning, I like my job." Well, I learned something new today. I learned that in CA, liquor stores sell candy, drinks and such.  It is not just liquor like it would be in SC.  WOW!!  I went and got my Gummie Worms for student and yes, I did go to the liquor store but I took another administrator with me who had to pick up a gift.  LOL!!!  Well we got all the way to 5th period and then it began!!!!  We had a fight in one class between two students and we had a student who decided to throw something at a teacher.  I mean really people, is it too much to ask to make if from 1:45 pm to 2:51 pm without incident.  The answer to that is obviously yes!!!  It has been a heck of a day.  In addition, I had a parent tell my principal that I was the most unprofessional person she has ever met.  ME!!!  Really!!!  For those of you who know me, you know that a parent has NEVER said that to me!!!  Even the one parent who had the most complaints about me was singing my praises by the end of the year and told me how much I helped her daughter.  Well, as we all know, you cannot make everyone happy and I am finding as an administrator, parents will say and do everything they can to push your buttons to get what they want.  Thank goodness I have an AWESOME administrative team that I work with.  My principal is SO SUPPORTIVE, my BFAW has my back,  my office mate ROCKS and my other Co-Administrator just helps me laugh about it all!  Thank you!!  I also have fabulous friends in the district because after talking and texting with other administrators I know it is not just us that are having crazy things happen on campus. It is nice to know we are not the only ones.  Well, needless to say, we all wanted to get out of there this afternoon.  So for the third time this year, I left school to come home before 4:15 pm.  Once was in August to sign apartment papers, once was to pick up my mom at the airport and today.  So I packed up all my wonderful cards, plants and fabulous Christmas presents, including the addictive candy apple seen below, and made my way home where I unloaded the car and took a bath to relax before I did anything else.

OMG!  TO DIE FOR!!!!  This was so good!!

Now I am working on getting all of my schoolwork done so I can put away my present job for two weeks and work on the PhD!!  Wish me luck!!

I woke up with a raging headache this morning and tried to figure out what it is from.  The conclusion that I came up with is dehydration.  Upon reflecting over the past few days I very seriously double I have had 30 oz of water.  Things were so crazy at work that I don't remember drinking anything but something in the morning, as I was leaving to go home and with dinner at night Wednesday - Friday.  That is the only explanation I have for this monster that is beating in my head.  However, I am going to make the best of it because it is Saturday and I am suppose to go with Jessica and Michael to look for the last minute gifts for their kids. Since I don't have kids of my own I have never felt the panic when you cannot find the one gift your child wants, I have only read about it on Facebook and heard people talk about it.  I was able to see this and hear it in Jessica's voice today as she searched for the gift.  there was an hour there were we had to go to Plan B which was to go to Toys R' Us and just find something that the children might be satisfied with.  As we were walking down the aisle low and behold the gift was sitting on the floor.  There was 6 of them.  Michael immediately grabbed it and the store employee started laughing and said they had just put them out this morning.  With a sigh of relief we finished shopping and headed home.  Now, while this is only a paragraph, I am neglecting to say this search involved three other stops with a 3 year old boy who is starting to get sick in the middle of holiday scrambles.  I am excited that the kids will be happy on Christmas morning.

I came home about 12:00 pm and ate lunch, drank a lot of water and then crashed to try and get rid of this headache.  I don't usually sleep during the day but I took a two hour nap and when I woke up I laid in bed and read a book.  After resting for most of the day I decided to get my lazy tushie up and go to the gym and try and get back into the swing of my workout schedule.  After finishing up a walking workout I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up my White Elephant gift for a get together later this week and came home to work on getting dinner of veggies together, sweaters washed and ready for the PhD dive into coding tomorrow as Squeak follows me around the apartment meowing at me.  Wish me luck!!!!

Week of 12/9

Well Monday started off busy and it just has not stopped.  We had RtI / MTSS training and was there all day.  I then came back on campus to get some work done and had every intention of leaving early and ended up staying for awhile and working on getting some things done.  However, Megan and I had to pull data for our meeting on Tuesday so we ended up working on data from 5:00 pm - 8:15 pm.  Ryan, Megan's husband, was so sweet and brought us dinner with her 1 year old daughter for a 20 minute break.  Megan and Ryan take such good care of me and I truly appreciate that!!!  I was even able to get on the Freeway / Interstate by 8:15 pm so I did not have to take "surface streets" or call Michael Rhodes, who lives three exits up from me, for directions on the way home.  LOL!!!!  I got home and basically crashed.  As I sat down to relax, it hit me that it was a busy day and I still don't have the itemized price list done for the Technology Strategic Plan or the Library purchases - guess I better get on that tomorrow because I am too tired to even think about working on that.

Where did Tuesday go???????  I woke up in the morning, got to work and then, well, I am not sure where the day went.  I had a Co-Admin meeting for Guidance and Curriculum this morning that last until 11:15 am.  We had to present the data that we worked on last night.  The entire meeting seemed to fly by and before you knew it I was back at work and meeting with a teacher about school policies and procedures.  Then lunch duty happened and a continuation of technology clean-up.  OMG!!!  Imagine a building with 100 rooms and getting rid of all sorts of technology from the past 10 years and that is my life right now.  That has to happen before December and I have been working on this for two months now.  While that makes it sound like it should be done, I have been doing inventory along the way of computers, printers and materials in the classroom while cleaning out the materials and placing them in the "Technology Graveyard."  I think I need another room to store everything.  There is one more area to clean out that will be done on Wednesday night and then listing of the serial numbers for removal begins!!!!   I got home about 7:45 pm after supervision tonight and decided to clean the apartment.  I am hoping to be able to take it easy this weekend and get some studying done.  Wish me luck!!!

Talk about a Wacky Wednesday!!!  Oh my gosh!!  We had four students try to "escape" from school but not very well - they got caught and are now suspended. I know, I know, they try to leave and therefore we put them out of school for a few days.  I think that a better suggestion would have been to put them on lock down in school.  LOL!!  I am such an evil Assistant Principal - make them STAY!!!! Well the fun did not stop there.  We had three students who were suspended for possession and at least one of them will be moved to an alternative placement.    Wow!  Wednesday seemed to go on forever.  At the end of the day, I then had the nighttime custodian staff move a bunch of old electronic equipment and I helped.

Thursday did not get much better.  We are one assistant principal down this morning we had a student who was "tagging" lockers and another one get busted for possession as well.  I did "normal" discipline today - the regular items like electronic violations, tardies and such.  I was hoping today would settle down a bit but nope, at the end of the day, a chick fight!!!  So now I had to suspend the two young ladies for three days and had them given tickets for fighting so they will have to go see a judge.  On top of that, another young lady videoed the entire thing, posted it on Instagram which was shown to me by another student.  I got the girl who video and posted who tried to tell me that she gave her phone to someone else.  I mean REALLY - How crazy do you think I am.  Like a 16 year old is going to give her phone to someone who is going to video and post it on her site…… How crazy do you think I am?????    Well the day finally ended with me teaching about Essential Questions to a group of teachers who wanted optional PD.  That make me very happy!!  :)  I ended my day with a wonderful Band Concert tonight with fabulous students who have put in a lot of time and effort for a fabulous performance.  I was so excited to be there.  My congratulations to the BSR band!!!  I finally made it home at 9:10 pm tonight after getting gas and was able to sit down with my cute kitty who talks to me all the time when I am home.  

Band Concert 1

Band Concert 2

Band Concert 3

My Cute Kitty!

My problem right now is that I have gone, gone and gone for the past three days with a lot of stress at work with students.  I am not complaining or whining!!! I love my job and interacting with students and teachers. However, I am very tight across my shoulders from stress and I can feel the tightness setting in to my muscles.  I really need to go hiking or visit the gym this weekend.  I think getting in a good workout will help loosen me up.   While it was a rough week so far, it has also been great because as I walk across campus, students stop me, talk to me, and interact with me in a way that is indicative that I am making a difference on the campus.  As I am typing this on Thursday, I am wondering what adventures await me on Friday!

Ok so Friday was just as crazy!!  So much so that we did not get all of our Admin meeting completed.  We started and kept getting interrupted.  I am not sure there is a good time for an admin meeting.  I have been trying to determine what I would do if I am ever a principal.  This one is a hard one to figure out.  So Friday at school was nutty:  I have a young student who got his skateboard taken for the second time.  I mean really - while I feel terrible for the kid and want to help him, the cameras did not show anything and on top of all of that the kids that are saying they heard something - is just that - they all heard something.  None of them saw anything.  I have told this young man that I think he needs to leave the skateboard at home since this is the second one that we have had an issue with.  That took the majority of the afternoon as well along with the other three issues that had to be taken care of.  Needless to say, not everything got done on Friday and I have to remind myself that sometimes things don't always get done and it is okay.  There is always tomorrow and everyone is busy.  As long as students are safe, the things that cannot wait are not put off then everything else can be done a little later.  I just have to prioritize and keep on working.

Saturday was a nice surprise.  I was able to have breakfast with a dear friend who I treasure and relax.  It is nice to have a morning where I did not have to be at work or write a report - yeah, I know the PhD does need to get done but I did not have a Technology Report, Strategic Plan or Library Needs list to itemize.  Rather, I was able to have a relaxing morning and get the rest of my Christmas shopping, wrapping and errands run so that I can really focus.  I spent the evening catching up on some contacts and working on getting laundry done as well as get organized for the next week.  I know that tomorrow, Sunday will be fun.  I am eating dinner at the Roe's with Erin and Bri joining us.  We are doing meatloaf tomorrow and yes, you read that correctly - I am making meatloaf, yes the stuff with meat and I am doing a Mushroom Meatloaf also.  I am pretty excited about trying out this new recipe.  I will let you know how it goes!!  Cross your fingers and hope.  It will be an exciting afternoon.

So….did anyone look at the sky…… know what time of the month it is???  You got it - FULL MOON!!  Wish me luck and keep me in your thoughts as we enter the week before Christmas Break with a full moon.  LOL!!!!

Thanksgiving and Beyond

Well, it has been awhile since I have blogged.  Not because I have not wanted to but really, time has just gotten away since November 17th.  So let me start by making you a little jealous.  I had the entire week off for Thanksgiving.  Yes, that is correct - a full 5 days.  Due to budget cuts five years ago districts in CA furloughed and they have left the two days of the week of Thanksgiving in as holidays and therefore we had the full week off.  It was very nice!! To the point that I was a little bored having that much time off by the end of the week.  I know, I know, I may be the only person to say that!!

It's Squeak!!!

Well my kitty came over Thanksgiving.  She arrived on Friday afternoon and I am so happy to have her hear.  She walked back and forth and all over the apartment for about three days consistently just crying.  I cannot tell if she is mad that she had to take plane ride or she is "yelling" at me about being gone so long or if she is talking to hear herself talk.  She has been on or around me every instant that I am at the apartment and follows me around.  In addition she sleeps right next to me, which is a good thing the last few days because it has been cold and she is a little furnace.  To the point you have to take off some covers.

Well the break was quite interesting.  On Saturday my visiting family went to LA so that we could do the tourist thing.  She wanted to do a GrayLine Bus tour and while it was good, I think we could have found a better one.  On Sunday we stayed around the area so that my mom could see the area that I live.  I took her to Menifee, Temecula and Murrieta and showed her some of the places that I go to shop like Ranch 88, Trader Joes (she has not been in SC), Sprouts and the places that I typically go.  We ate dinner at the Roe's that night and Jessica and Michael both had their parents come.  It was a loud and exciting evening with everyone around.

Hollywood Sign

On Monday, we made our way to the California Science Center to see one of the most amazing things I have had the chance to see.  The retired Space Shuttle, Endeavor, is housed there and on display.  The four story Science Center is a great opportunity for elementary students.  They have a fabulous Ecosystem and Human Body display for elementary age students. The claim to have a Air and Space Museum but there is not much there really to look at.  It may be packed up because they are going to be building a new area for the Space Shuttle and therefore things may be stored.  The Endeavor display was amazing and I am so excited that I had the opportunity to see it while it is stored horizontal. When they finish the new building it will be attached to two Solid Rocket Boosters and Fuel tank with levels of which you can view different aspects.  The pictures here do not do it justice.  If you get a chance to visit you really should visit.

On Tuesday, we went to visit my school and check on the new radios that the district is putting at the school.  It is always interesting to hear how people view the differences in the campuses from the East and West Coast schools.  The JW North Campus is beautiful in its own way but very different so therefore it is interesting to see others interpretation of the school.  It is in an industrial area and is considered an urban school.  It is interesting to think I have had the opportunity to work in a rural, suburban and also urban school district.  This makes me happy to have had all these different experiences in which I can grown and learn professionally and share my knowledge with others.

Thursday was a fun day.  We joined the Roe's at Michael's grandparents house so there was a total of 30 people there from four generations.  The Roe family has been so sweet to adopt me and show me the love and affection they have for their family members to me as well.  I am quite a lucky girl to have such fabulous friends in my life.  Of course, Roe was up to his old tricks, trying to embarrass me and anyone else in front of his family members but thank goodness they all know him so well.  Jessica and i just take it in stride and try and dish it back out.   It was a hard day while fun simply because I did not get to talk with everyone that I hoped to on this day.  If I did not get to talk or text with you, please know that I miss you.

Jessica, Mog, Michael and Riley

On Friday I stayed around the apartment to get some things done and picked up my car that was getting the bumper fixed.  I know, not the new car, the Yellow Escape.  When the tire blew out, the bumper got messed up and I was finally able to get that fixed.  I was worried it was going to turn out poorly when I saw the color but California Collision was able to get the right color and make it look fabulous.  The inside door panel also got fixed as well.  Hooray!!!!

On Saturday, I got caught up on my work and we went to my BFAW's (Best Friend at Work) house for dinner.  It was great to see Megan!  I love the fact that I work with someone that I truly love and miss when we are not at work.  I know her husband Ryan, thinks it is strange but I really enjoy that we get along so well.  Ryan just shakes his head at us but it is fun to get together and not talk about work but about clothes, her child Willow and our pets.  I also got to see the new Disney movie Frozen and let me say AMAZING.  The music and storyline was fabulous.  The color and animation was great as well.  If you have not seen it, you really should.  However, for those of you that know me, you know I am a Disney freak so that may be another reason I loved it.

On Sunday, I took the older Roe kids to Disneyland for the day.  Michael and Jessica went out of town and I have not done anything with Elyse or Kennedy recently so it was a good time for us to be able to do something together.  Now, I have been to Disney with a 5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 18 and 23 year old and I must say that I really enjoy the 7 and under or the 18 and older group.  It was a totally different and unique experience taking a 10 and 13 year old to Disney.  Not good or bad, just different.  It also reminds me that if you are not a Disney fan Disneyland may not be your thing.  This is a great reminder for me so that when others go with me I remember this.

Kennedy, Me, Elyse

Monday it was back to work and after a long restful week I was ready to go!!!  However, this past week it seems I have not stopped!!!!  Monday was full of challenges and they have not stopped.  Last week I deal with irate parents with religious issues, a mother who thinks her child who is chronically absent should have a A if she does all the worksheets but fails the test, stolen phones, stolen golf cart from the custodial shed, and two Winter Assemblies for various groups on campus.  I did not get home before 9:00 pm on any night.  It is good for me to stay busy!  It keeps me out of trouble.

I wanted to hike on Saturday but the weather ended up being bad and I had to go to work because my secretary was getting married at the school.  Yes, you read that correctly.  My secretary got married at the high school.  She wanted to just have the other Assistant Principal, who is a Bishop in his church, marry her fiancee and herself but she made the mistake of saying something to the secretaries and therefore a quick wedding ceremony and reception was planned for friends and family.  It turned out beautifully and I took the cake and got a few photographers from the yearbook and school newspaper to come and take pictures.  It was absolutely fantastic for a wedding that was put together so quickly.  I was excited to be a part of the day.

So as I start this week off I know already that I have supervision and it will be a week of late nights for me again.  I am hoping for some stress relief this weekend in the form of hiking if the weather is nice.  It has been really cold here the last few days but it is suppose to be 70 this weekend.  I will have to check later this week.

I miss all of you and thank you to each of you that have been sending me information and keeping me up to date about life back in SC.  Can't wait for this summer for visitors!!