June 8 - June 14

Monday, June 8, 2015
Well I thought I was caught up.  Guess what.....NOT!!!!  My desk was nice, clean and beautiful when I went in this morning and i had a "to do" list that I knew I had to work on and low and behold - nothing got done.  It was one of those days that everyone needed something and needed it now.  That is the way with the end of the school year.  I made it  through and we are good for tomorrow!!!  I hope.....

John W. North is working on offering come college credit for our students on campus so I met with the professor today of the first class we are offering and I am happy that she and I get along so well.  She will be a good influence on our students.  She is realistic and we will be able to have study groups for the students as we move forward with the semester.  The kids are going to meet on North's campus at 2:15 pm and the class will go till about 5:30 pm.  A lot of their work will be done during the school day with tutoring hours so that piece is good for the kids.

Today was the theater position interviews.  Wow, I learned so much sitting in on the interviews and listening to Michelle talk "shop" with the interviewees.  That was an interesting experience and we did end up with a selection that we are happy with and we are super excited about.  Today we also found out the guidance counselor we wanted accepted the position and will be joining us.  We are excited to have her also.  We think it is a good match for our department.  So, two down and now a science, social studies and SH to go......

It is Senior Celebration time at North.  It amazes me how much they celebrate.  So let me just list.
1.  Senior Awards Night - May 28
2.  Baccalaureate - June 5
3.  Senior Grad Practice - June 8
4.  Senior Sunset - Pool Party - June 8
5.  Senior Breakfast - June 9
6.  Grad Practice - June 10
7.  Graduation - June 10
8.  Graduation Night at Magic Mountain - June 11

  This does not count all the little things.  Tonight was the first time we did Senior Sunset and it was cool.  The students loved it.  The Carl's Junior Food Truck came and fed the kids who got to play in the pool.  Some of them floated on tires, others played water polo and others just hung out in the pool.  The kids would go down to the food truck and come back up.  It was really great and they had Veggie Burgers!!!  I was able to sit and talk with Jesse Paulos who is one of the newer math teachers in the department that really wants to do some new things that are innovative and willing to share with others.

After Senior Sunset, I went back to the office where the time flew by as I cleaned up and tried to get things in order that ended up all over the place.  I should have taken a picture of my desk because you would be surprised.  At least it is at a point that I cam come in and work tomorrow!!!!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015
I am so tired!!!!  I can hardly stay awake.  I got three hours of sleep on Sunday night and now only another three on Monday night.  I am in one of those tired moods where I am so tired that I cannot sleep so anything that I do I am having difficulty with right now.  I spent the day running around and putting out fires while not really getting anything done.  I need to move carts around, get things set up and deal with some other issues but it is just hard to get it all done.  I left at 6:00 pm, since I did not get much sleep the past two nights.  I got to Murrieta and decided to see if there was time to get my nails done.  I stopped by Princess Nails and they said they would do them for me and it was a much needed break to be able to sit and just relax for a bit.

 I sat with Squeak and Husky that night a good bit and I think that Husky liked the company.  She was knocked out and I promise you I thought she might be dead based on how still she was and the weird position she was laying it.  Really, you could not see her breathing at all.  Don't worry - she is alive.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Today was a busy day for me.  I had to review applications for a special education teacher and a science teacher.  While this is not hard to do and I enjoy looking at the applications, the issue really becomes the system we use and how it must be navigated.  It is time consuming.  I printed them out and picked my favorites and then let the department heads look at them to choose their favorites from the pile to interview.  Hopefully we will get someone good from the interviews.

In addition, my friend from the East Coast, April, is leaving soon to move back east.  April and I have a unique kinship in the fact that she was a graduate student at USC in the athletic training program and was looking to move to CA since her fiancee was here.  April was hired in October 2013 as our Athletic Trainer and we became fast friends.  April and I worked on a $300,000 grant that we were awarded and now she is leaving before the grant is in motion but is doing all the planning to help out the new athletic trainer and myself.  I hate that she is leaving now!!!!!!  She is now moving back east because her husband has a new job.  All of the coaches are upset she is leaving as well.  Every coach donated to purchase her a gift.  We got her a back back training kit since she will be working at a clinic and traveling to high schools to work.  

Wednesday was also graduation.  I did not have to dress and march this year but I was able to send my PhD hood to be in graduation.  April did not have a hood so she was going to walk without colors so we sent her with my hood!  LOL!!!

This is the guidance department I work with.  From left to right is Keri O'Neill, Rolando Flores, Alison Lattimer, Erin Martinez and Miranda Taylor.  Keri, Rolando, Ali and Erin were reading names at graduation.  This goes really quick since they alternate reading names.  Each of these individuals worked their tushie's off this year with getting students to graduate.  Erin and Ali were at school late Tuesday night trying to get a student to finish their credit recover classes to be able to walk.  They are an amazing counseling staff and I am very lucky to be able to work with them.  We are adding another two members this summer.  We have a new school psychologist coming in and a new guidance counselor.  We are very excited!!!

Guidance Staff

Graduation at John W. North High School

Graduation went off without any problems other than a student who got sick in the bathroom and had to go to the hospital.  It was a hot morning and students had been sitting in the theater all morning, then went to the field to practice and were released at 12:00 pm.  Students then had to be back at 5:00 pm dressed and ready to go.  The sun was shining down and students had on their dressy clothes under their graduation robes, therefore making it hotter than students are normally use to and causing some to get sick even though they had bottles water.    The second mishap was after graduation when a parent was walking out and mis-stepped, therefore falling.   The family immediately wanted to write a incident report and started talking about filing claims.  This floors me!!!!  Really!!!!  Be aware of your surroundings people.  You walked on the campus and this is new construction so there are no cracks or uneven pavement so there is no reason for filing a claim.  As the police officer stated.  If he goes running on the sidewalk and twists his angle while running, you don't sue the city, it was your choice to run in that area.  I feel the same about graduation as well.  People need to take responsibility for their actions.  

After graduation, Rich had me take him up to the office and I truly thought he was picking something up, but he opened the door, walked over and opened a bathroom for a student, then walked back and handled me his keys as he closed the door.  He got his belongings and left.  I have to say that I cried.  I mean I knew he was retiring but I honestly did not think he would just hand me his keys as he left!!!      Rich did come back on Thursday for the luncheon but I could not be in the same room without getting upset.  We will just have to say our goodbyes later when there is no one around.   I keep telling Rich that he is just going to have to have lunch with me like he did his other friend once a month!

Thursday and Friday was prepare for summer school days.  I spent the majority of the day dealing with parent issues, phone calls, moving things around and cleaning up for summer school that is to take place on Monday, June 15.    I know I will have to work over the weekend but at least I feel like progress is being made toward getting cleaned up and ready for summer school and next year.

Saturday involved errands, errands and more errands.  I got the car cleaned, did grocery shopping, picked up my diploma, dropped off some boxes that had to be mailed back to the company, and did a few loads of laundry.   One of my favorite people came to see me on Saturday for lunch also.  I don't see this person enough in my life and the time I spend with them is truly valuable to me.   I often wonder if the people I don't see often think of me as much as I think of them.  I hope they do!!

I was at work by 3:00 pm on Saturday and stayed for Michelle Grotness's retirement performance.  It was fabulously funny and entertaining.  Lots of former students who came back to say goodbye as well as adult supporters there for her.

Michelle being roasted!

Michelle singing on stage!

Celebrating Michelle's successes!

On the way home at 11:30 pm at night there was something that flew off the back of a truck. I could not move out of the way and ended up running over it. The problem is that when I got off the interstate, I realized my car had a strange sound to it.  When I got to the apartment, I realized there was something very wrong with my car.  As I pulled into the garage and looked, the underside of the carriage, where the plastic covers it up had fallen down and was dragging.  I could not get it to move to try and fix it.

After - can you see the plastic hanging down?

My Jetta going for a ride.  

 Sunday, I set up a service appointment at the VW dealership to see if they can fix it and also for the 40,000 mile service.  I was worried about getting the car there so I contacted AAA and had them come and tow the car to the VW dealership.  The tow truck driver, TC, was fabulous and explained to me about the car and what was happening because apparently you do not tow a VW like you would another car.  There were pieces and parts that I learned about that we were around the Jetta that TC had to manipulate.  The disk in the front had to come off and the tow attachment that sits with the spare tire had to be hooked into the front of the car in order to tow it.  TC explained to me all about the gadgets and what has to be done.  I learned a lot from having my car towed even though it is a pain!    I am hoping the Jetta Baby will be okay in a week or so. We will see!!!  Good thing I still have the Yellow Escape!!!

First week of June - Kinda Long but Lots of Pictures

Hello Everyone,
  Hope you are doing well and this blog finds you well.  Just wanted to tell everyone how much I miss them and that I truly appreciate your birthday wishes last week.  Thank you for taking time out of your day to post on Facebook, send me a text, or call me.   As many of you know, I am not a huge fan of my birthday.  There is always bad things that happen on my birthday in some shape or form.  My parents tended to forget that my birthday was coming up.  I never had parties with school friends because we were always out of school by Memorial Day or everyone was leaving for vacations during that time.  If people tried to celebrate it early, it seemed it always overlapped with some other event.  Then as I got older, they just became another day.

Thursday, May 28, 2015
This was a busy day for me with lots of meetings about Master Schedule with department head and make up testing.  I appreciate everyone that did great things for me at school.  My mom sent me flowers for my birthday.  Ali stopped and picked me up Starbucks that had "Birthday Gurl" written on the side.  As I was carrying it around, which I did not think about, I went into two rooms and students sang Happy Birthday to me.  It was very cute.  USL put a huge sign in my office and when I went to thank them, they sang as well.  That night we had Senior Awards Night but I had fun stating that the entire senior class decided to celebrate my birthday and give allow us to give them awards.  LOL!!!

Flowers from my Mom

Gifts from Friends

The Happy Birthday paper is from Cherilynne and she got me a Sprouts Gift Card!

The White Starbucks container in the back is from my principal, Lynne Sheffield!

The Doc Disney shirt is from Ali!

You cannot see it but there is a necklace and bracelet there and they are yellow and are from Keri!

Sign from USL - Look they put Dr.  It took up the entire Master Schedule Board. LOL!!!

Dinner at Panera before Senior Awards
This is one of the guidance counselors with her grandson who happened to drop in at Panera also.

Admin Team at Senior Awards

I got home around 10:15 pm after cleaning everything up with Ali and the PTSA group who helped to decorate!   I replied to Facebook friends who sent me birthday wishes.  If I did not respond to you with a comment or question, I am sorry, I must have missed the post.  I tried to touch base with everyone who make a comment on Facebook.  Thank you for making my day special.

Friday, May 29, 2015
Well I took Friday off!!! I know, I know.....Guess what I did?????  I went to an Athletic Training Conference in Palm Springs.

She really is not mean, although this picture shows her somewhat evil looking - she was talking to me.  She likes to sit up and cry so I will pet her.  

While she is 9 months old, she is still small enough to hide in some odd places. 

Week of June 1st
This week was somewhat of a whirlwind.  I am not really sure where it went or which way is up.  I went to the board meeting on Monday and out to eat with another assistant principal.  That might have been the earliest I got home during the week and that was at 9:45 pm.  LOL!!!  However, it is always good to sit and talk with DeEtte since she has been in the district so long.  It gives me her perspective of changes over the years.  

Tuesday was just busy getting things done at school, checking on individuals and wrapping up the end of school.  While everyone gets excited for the end of school, it is a tough time for me for several reasons.
1.  We are closing up the end of the year.
2.  However, we are starting the next year already.
3.  Summer school is happening at North so there is a little "planning" that must take place as well.
4.  The end of the year is such a whirlwind that it is hard to stop and think about anything.  However, one the end of the year hits, I go though a little withdrawal and depression because of the change in schedule that lasts a few weeks as I adjust to the change in schedule.
5.  There is a lot to do to be prepared for the next school year.

Wednesday was a busy day at school with seniors starting to learn if they were actually going to pass or fail classes and if the classes they were going to fail were ones they needed to graduate.  This can be a stressful time for everyone because the guidance counselors are working hard to help the students, contact parents and stay in touch with teachers. The students are on edge because they are not sure what is going to happen and if they would have worked a little harder several times they would not be in this shape.  The parents are on edge because they are expecting their student to walk and well.....they might not.    I personally find it appalling the kids have waited so late to worry about passing and the Potential Failure lists are so long.  We need to start having conferences after Spring Break about kids who will not be passing or are in danger of failing.  Then the kid that has 80 absences - HOW IN THE WORLD ARE THEY PASSING??????    If they have missed that much class and can still pass then what are we using class time for????  Not that the curriculum should be hidden but if the student is not there for the learning opportunities and can still pass then the class might as well be handed to them and let them fast track through the curriculum and move onto something they are interested in......  Just my two cents and I know not everyone will agree....

The guidance counselors had a meeting which was good and bad.  Let me tell you, they were is rare form throwing "digs" at each other during our meeting.  While I was happy for the upbeat tempo and I know they are excited about the end of school, it is these "digs" that cause issues later.  At one point I left the table to go to the restroom because the meeting was not going to end soon and crazy me left my phone on the table only to have pointed out the next day that I should probably check my pictures.  I do to find this on my phone!!!!  They are sooo funny!!!  Good thing we are friends as well as co-workers!

Crazy Girls of Counseling
(L to R:  Erin, Keri, Ali, Miranda (back))

Thursday was baccalaureate for us.  This is something we do not do in the east.  It is an opportunity for the senior class to get together dressed in their robes and listen to speeches that did not make it to the final ceremony due to time.  It is a time for kids to showcase their last talents and celebrate accomplishments that are unique as well as show off their stolls and medallions.  This is a great picture time also with a more relaxed feeling.  It really is a great evening.  Students are running all over the place finding friends and teachers to take those last pictures with to sustain memories.  Now, if you remember, kids love pictures and will take pictures with anyone, including assistant principals. Most of you know how much I hate my picture being taken but I play along because it is their night and come on, let's face it, my picture will be deleted out of the large number they take, so no big deal. You also know that as a Sweet Southern Girl (not Belle) everyone we do not know the name of is"Sweetie, Darling, Honey, or Sugar."  Well, one young lady came up and wanted a picture and I took it with her but she is always Sweetie or Darling because I am embarrassed to tell you that I know she told me her name and for the life of me I could not remember it!!!!  This young lady is one that I talk to all the time at events and we always have great conversations.  She brought me my birthday poster seen above and when she works with USL I am always with her group or helping her in some capacity or her me.  Well on Friday morning she showed up in the office with a present for me.  That young'un had taken the pictures and got them developed and she brought me a picture of us in a frame.  OMG!!!!!  It was so sweet of her and I asked her when she even had time to do this.  She said her and her mom went to Walgreens to print them out right after the event because she wanted me to have the picture.  I started to tear up - it was so sweet!!!!  However, I had to go and ask Becky Porter who the young lady is because I did not know her real name and no one who was around me when I showed them the picture could remember her name.  I told Becky the story and she laughed and told me who it was.  Now, you are going to laugh and roll your eyes when I put the name here.  Her name is LiAna (LeeAnna).  No wonder we had a connection!!!!  How could I not have remembered that???????  Well she did not have academic troubles, discipline issues or need assistance.  The picture is sitting on my desk as a reminder to me of the impact we might have on a student without realizing how our interactions may or may not affect them.  While we get busy saving students who are "falling down" and celebrating students who are "shining stars," it is the students who are in the middle that need the extra push also and want the relationship.  This was a great reminder for us as the year closes to make sure that we talk with all students around us at all times!!!  I also had a student bring me flowers to say thank you for helping her through the last two years to make it to school.

On Friday the day went by quickly as we finished up the last normal day of the 2014-2015 school year.  It is exciting and sad at the same time.  Rich's last year is this year and all week I have been doing "This is the last regular Thursday lunch duty you will have."  However, it make me sad as well.  So...tonight Rich threw himself a party at the school.  His entire family came in to celebrate his retirement including grandchildren and they all had jersey's on with their numbers to identify who was first, second, third and so on.  It was so great to see everyone and to celebrate Rich!!!

Michelle and Rich both retiring!  

Bad Selfies

On Saturday, I had to take Squeak to the vet.  She had a red, swollen chin.

Squeak and Husky after making the bed!

Now, this scares me to death because she is 13 years old.  I am waiting for the day to learn she has cancer or is sick and will not survive.  I was worried it was today!!  She had a scab on her chin about a month ago and I did not think much of it, that her and Husky were fighting and she got scratched.  The past few weeks she has not wanted me to pet her chin, she puts her paw over my hand when I do to stop me from rubbing her there and begins licking me.  Well Saturday morning she was next to me and I realized how red it was and it scared me.  I did not realize how bad it had gotten.  I was a mess as I called and got her a vet appointment and took her in.  I got her loaded up in the carrier, which she hates and into the car.

On the way to the vet!

My appointment was at 8:30 am but again I was a call in and I did not see the doctor until 9:30.  In the meantime, Squeak hung out well in the office.  She cuddled up next to me as we waited for the doctor to come in.

At the vet.

The vet says she has kitty acne. Huh!!! She is old, how does she have kitty acne????  He says it is an autoimmune disease - what?????  Hobbs and now Squeak????  So they gave her a steroid shot and pill for 6 days and an antibiotic shot and suspension that I have to give her for 10 days.  She does not mind taking the pill, I give it to her when I give her treats (LOL!!!).  However, she hates the liquid medicine but it smells like a vanilla shake.  She will eat pickles but not take meds.....Hmmmmm....weird kitty.    She seems to be feeling better.  She is letting me pet her chin now more today and I am hoping she will be fine.  They did take some blood from her and they are going to call me on Monday with the results.

On Sunday, April, who is leaving to move back east in a few weeks, and I went to Joshua Tree National Park.  What an experience this was.  It is something that you just do not expect to see.  All the rock formations, the trees, animal life and camping.  Lots of camp spaces!!!!  We had fun discovering Skull Rock, Keys View, and touching the different vegetation.  Here are some pics from the day.

A Joshua Tree

The spines of the tree - they look like they would be soft but they are hard and sharp.

Large Rock Formations

Lichen Studies are done in the park and LOOK - some lichen is yellow!

You can see San Jacinto, Palm Springs and the Fault Line area.

Crazy Rock Formations

Panoramic View

Another View!

Squirrel

SQUIRREL!!!!

Leann and a Joshua Tree that April Picked Out!
One of the last ones before we got out of the park.
I thought about you Benetta and the missed cactus. 

  

Skull Rock

 We left at 10:00 for Joshua Tree and made it back by 5:30 pm.  We had a great time and it was seriously an adventure since we really did not know where we were going or what we were doing. April is an awesome travel partner and I am super sad she is moving back east!!!!  Especially after all the hard work she put into the grant we wrote together!!!!