A Busy Week

Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Well……lots of crazy things going on recently.  I think it is the full moon.  Anyone else have that problem????    I have been having a hard time sleeping or should I say, getting enough sleep.  I am not sure if it is a situation where I need a new mattress or if it is just me being restless.  It seems like as soon as I go to sleep it is time to get up and get going already and I am tired.  Of course this is typically the the of the year this happens.  The "jaunt" between Labor Day and Veteran's Day is a huge amount of time with no days off.  

John W. North High School completed our Middle Years Program (MYP) authorization visit today on October 6th and 7th, 2014.  This is something the school has been preparing for over the past four years and is a great honor for us.  By attaining this authorization, it helps to strengthen our Diploma Program and draw in more students who are looking for a more global education.   Christy, the MYP Coordinator, has been working so hard over the past two years that I have been here to guide the school and make sure we are on the right track.  She has been doing a great job with the unit planning and reflections as well as all the paperwork to be ready for the visit.   The visiting team left and while they have 90 days to create the report and let us know if we are going to have full authorization.  We had an exit meeting at the end of the visit and I think we will get recommendations that we have a few months to fix and then they will provide us authorization, but it is going to happen.

The weather here is acting a little nutty.  It was cool at the end of last week, hot this weekend and it is now hot during the day but cooling off in the evening.  To be honest, I would like it to just get cool so I can leave the windows open.  I love the fresh air but I worry about leaving the windows open with the cats and it not being cool outside right now.  I think Squeak has decided to adjust to the new kitty.  She is sleeping on the bed and sitting next to me now on the couch as well as letting Husky hang around.  But I have to say - Husky has got to get her claws out because my skin is feeling the effects of playing with her.  I have little scratches all over my hands and arms.  They are not deep but just irritating and uncomfortable, like paper cuts.    It is on my list to call and see when I can actually have her fixed and declawed.  Yes, while I know some people would call it mean, it will save my skin and furniture.


Friday, October 10, 2014
Ummm….. I did not think Friday would ever get here!!!!  It has been a long week where I have been around at school fairly late again this week even though I was attempting to get home early this week.  Note: Epic Fail!!!  I did not get home early at all.  There has not been any one thing that has happened, just overall long days with lots of things that had to be done and lots of meetings that were unexpected. Whenever I was trying to get to something, something else would come up and it would change the course of the day.  Well, I would say that is the life of an Assistant Principal.

Last night I did not get much sleep and I had to get up early to get doughnuts for school today.  I got a huge latte this morning to try and stay awake.  Then I had to get 24 doughnuts for the PSAT training of teachers and then 40 doughnuts for the No Tardy / All ID party today.  I dropped everything off at school and then was off to my all morning district meeting.  Now most of you know that I don't sit still long!  We were in this meeting from 7:30 am - 11:50 am and I had 20 oz of caffeine.  This is not a good combination for me.  I could not stop moving around and found everything interesting.  It was like a 12 year old with ADD!!!!  Needless to say it was not good.  I think the caffeine started to wear off about 10:45 am and I started to settle down.

After the meeting I made it back to school in order to be there for lunch duty.  However, I wanted to go and do some classroom mosaic observations this afternoon and never made it there.  I had two students who needed to talk with me and then had a meeting with a teacher at the school.  By the time that was done the bell had rung and it was time to supervise kids after school.

I did call to talk to Amanda in South Carolina today.  I miss my teacher friends in South Carolina so much but am so happy they are doing well and keeping traditions as well as staying the course the way they need to.  Kelly is pregnant, Amanda is working on a STEM grant, Jonathan is doing well and so many of the department are teaching four classes rather than three.  It makes me so happy to hear all the work that has gone into pushing science in the district is coming to fruition.  It took time but it is great to hear about so many of the initiatives we worked on in the science department are still in place and being strengthened.  I have to tell you I teared up after being on the phone with Amanda - knowing I miss everyone but love things here also.  It was then off to the Volleyball game tonight.  Football was away this week so Mike told me to stay for the game and then go home, not to bother coming to the football game.  I ended up at work today until about 8:00 pm in order to get everything done to be ready for Monday and not have to go to work this weekend.

So I am working on washing shirts from school for dress code, getting ready for the Color Run tomorrow and cleaning up around the apartment.  The kitties are both sitting with me.  Squeak is tolerating Husky and lets her sit on the couch and bed.  She is still only hissing when she thinks I am watching.  This evening Squeak is on the left and watching Husky play.  Husky gets up and plays for about 15 minutes and then comes and sits for a bit.  The funny thing is that she will sit with me for about 10 minutes then she literally climbs up my shirt and cuddles around my neck then goes and plays again.  She did the cutest two things tonight.  1) She is trying to climb in the trash can but is not long enough so she is hanging on the side of the trash can.  There really is nothing in there she needs to eat anyway - just vegetables.  In fact, carrots and Squeak does not even eat carrots.   2) She gave me kisses on my cheek for the first time also.  She climb up on my shirt and and just licked the side of my face about 12 times and then got down and sat by my side.  She really is a sweet cat for such a rough beginning of her life.  Squeak's coat is looking really shiny and smooth.  I have been putting lysine powder on her food to help her "kitty eye issues," as recommended by her new vet.  It has really improved the softness and shininess of her fur.

I am packed and ready for the Color Run tomorrow in San Diego.  I have learned from my first Color Run in Columbia and have my items in plastic bags for my bag.  I have a bag for my phone and I have a change of clothes and a towel to sit on for the way home.  Last time we did this I ended up with color all over me.  It was in my ears so much that I felt like I was taking yellow and blue out of my ears for about a week.  Tomorrow the run is at the Qualcomm stadium so we will see how it goes.  Apparently the route is around the stadium but not even the entire way around.  It should be interesting…..we will see….  Regardless, we are leaving the Temecula area at 5:30 am.  I am hoping that I am not the one driving!!!!!  I might need to do more sleeping.  :)


Saturday, October 11, 2014
The Color Run came early today.  At 4:30 am I was up and ready to go.  I made it to Temecula and met up with friends to go to the Qualcomm Stadium for the event.  I have to say that I tried to sleep during the ride down to the event so that I could have more than just 4 hours of sleep.  It did not work, I did not get much of a nap on the way.  Due to my lack of sleep, I definitely was not at peppy as I normally am during the day.  We got checked in and got in line at the chute.

Starting Line at The Color Run in San Diego

Believe it or not, we were in the first group that was started at 8:05 am.  It took an hour with all the people in the way to make it to the end with running and walking at different times.  I think we ran about half of the 5K all together.  It was fun and there was a lot of different people around.  This time the colors went Blue --> Yellow --> Pink --> Purple.  By the end I have to say that I had it all over my clothes and shoes.  This time the people throwing the color did a really good job of not throwing it at our faces so therefore it was not in our mouths and hair like it was when I participated in Columbia.  As we were finishing, there was still more groups starting but it was nice to be in the first group and be done.  I have to say that we did not get many after pictures for the simple fact that it is hard to have your phone our when you are covered with colored corn starch.  Upon arriving at the car, we all changed clothes in the parking lot, which was an interesting event in itself.

Before

After

We headed back to Temecula but decided to eat at a place called The Home Cafe in San Marcos.  While it was really good, the owner was a little odd and kept coming by and asking us questions.  He had some argument with the bus boy and caused a scene so it was a little tense for a bit.  However, the food was really good.  We went to visit Brianne's boyfriend to drop off a few things and headed back to Temecula.

When I got home, the first thing I did was head for the shower to get off all the corn starch.  After a bit it feels grainy and you just feel completely dirty.  By the time I got to the shower, I did not seem to have as much on me as the first color run but I think that was because it was not in my hair and ears this time, which was nice.  I spent the rest of the afternoon on a soccer field to watch Kennedy play a game and then headed to the mall to get my watches fixed and to run to Loft to see what they had on sale.  I ended up with two skirts for work and a pair of jeans for the winter.  Ummm, what winter.  LOL!!!  It has not been cold here yet.  I have had the windows open for a week now because it is starting to cool off but I am a little excited about it getting cooler, it makes for good hiking weather.  :)