Beginning of March

Someone asked me the other day if I wrote my blog on a regular basis or if it was at the end of the week.  My answer: welll........you can see by the dates.  If I date it then it is usually day by day in the evening but if there is no dates then it is usually incorporating a number of days. This one is incorporating a number of days because it has been crazy.

So, on Tuesday, March 1st Squeak had a vet appointment to evaluate her treatments.  This was a big appointment for a couple of reasons. The first is that I was not in town for her last appointment, the second was that she has been eating more so I was excited to hear about her weight, and thirdly because this was the appointment that identified whether or not the treatments were working and we should continue with the course of treatment selected or if we needed to re-evaluate.  Needless to say, I was a mess.  Basically, I was going to learn if Squeak would be with me approximately 4, 6, 8 months or if there was a possibility for longer.

Squeak before she was going to the Vet on Tuesday.

Squeak was trying to help determine content of food by lying on my notebook that has the info!

 Well taking Squeak today was not easy.  She has come to equate the kitty carrier with going somewhere she does not want to go and she kept trying to jump out of the carrier.  On the way there, she was good and allowed me to pet her but when I got out of the car she started crying again.  I should note here that Squeak does not growl, bit, or scratch.  She really is a good natured cat that just makes a meow noise when she is unhappy.  However, she is very muscular so when she wants to get away or does not like the position she is in, she uses those muscles to move.  I have always said she has the strongest tail in the world because she can move things with that tail if she hits something on a table.  They left me in the waiting room longer than I expected and that scared me a little bit. However, when they came out of the back, they did not take me into a separate room so that seemed to be good news.  And it was good news!  Dr. Oglivie gave her an A+ for her lab report and exam.  He said her lab report is good and while the WBC count did drop, it was what was expected and not in a bad area.  He said all her other levels looked good and while the platelets were a little low, it was most likely because they were clumped when the machine read them and therefore they read them as one instead of many. Obviously, this is good news.  He believes that she is doing well and if she continues with this progress the treatments will work and the cancer will go into remission.

Squeak and I celebrated with ham and turkey for her!  She seems to have really taken to the foods that I don't eat.  Now, this is pretty funny because I am going to the store and spending $20 - $30 on meat that I won't eat!  But it is worth it for her and it is great to see her eat.   It is funny to see me in PetSmart or Petco reading food labels like you would in a grocery store trying to find the right food for her and worried that I am not calculating the content correctly and will do more damage then good.  The goal is less than 30% Carbs in dry matter so there is math involved in figuring out the content.  So....moral....know how to do math!

This week at work has also been crazy but good.  I always miss everyone when I am gone and to be back after a week there is always things to catch up on and that you realize is on the deadline board no matter how much you try to keep up with the email and work from abroad!  I did a okay job but there is always the things that no one emails you about because they know you are gone so they wait until you get back.  Those were the issues that I was dealing with this week.

Now, I do have to admit that on Friday, it was stressful.  I was at a Co-Admin meeting in the morning and then came back to do lunch duty.  Due to the day, I ended up being the only admin on campus out at lunch duty.  I hate when this happens!  I always try and make sure that I am at lunch duty so there is more than one admin at school on duty.  I think I have missed lunch duty twice this year while I have been on campus and one time was a parent issue and another time was an admin issue.

This week at work has also been crazy but good.  I always miss everyone when I am gone and to be back after a week there is always things to catch up on and that you realize is on the deadline board no matter how much you try to keep up with the email and work from abroad!  I did a okay job but there is always the things that no one emails you about because they know you are gone so they wait until you get back.  Those were the issues that I was dealing with this week.  

Now, I do have to admit that on Friday, it was stressful.  I was at a Co-Admin meeting in the morning and then came back to do lunch duty.  Due to the day, I ended up being the only admin on campus out at lunch duty.  I hate when this happens!  I always try and make sure that I am at lunch duty so there is more than one admin at school on duty.  I think I have missed lunch duty twice this year while I have been on campus and one time was a parent issue and another time was an admin issue.  

There are times when I am extremely observant and other times I feel like I have not got a clue.  On Friday at lunch duty I was watching a group of boys starting to play around.  I was just waiting for someone to accidentally hit someone and then it would “be on.”  As I am standing there watching this group, I am oblivious to another group of kids going back and forth where an altercation almost started.  From where I was it just looked like it was kids moving back and forth and I kept trying to watch the group I was concerned about to ensure there was no fights.  The group of boys behind me, waiting for the last bell to ring to sprint to class, said, “Ms. Iacuone, I think there is a fight over there.”   Of course, when I am not being observant to that side of the campus and I am the only admin out and I can’t see any campus supervisors.  So of course 1,000,000 things are going through my mind and I say on the radio, “There is a fight between 400 and 200.”  Ummmm….wrong Iacuone, I was walking from 400 to 200 but the fight was between 500 and 200.  (Facepalm!)  So I spent the rest of the day investigating the incident and figuring out what is going on between these two kids.  I should note here – NOT A FIGHT, just two kids arguing because they don’t like one another. 

At 4:00 pm, I left again to fly east for a meeting. I left early so that I could fly into NC and my mom picked me up to go to SC so that I could hang out with my friends and her.  On Saturday evening I spent time with Jamie at Panera catching up on four months of information.  It was great to see one of my best friends from high school and not have to wait an entire another year to see each other.  On Sunday, I got to see Benetta and Stacey as we sat at River Bluff High School and watch baseball and talked.  This school is only three years old and is beautiful.  It truly looks like one a college campus with the athletic facilities and outlay of the classroom.  One of the great things about being back in SC is seeing people.  Jeff Parsons, one of my professors from our athletic training program at USC was there and it was great to give him a hug and say hello. 

 On Sunday evening, my mom and I went to Charlotte, NC for the conference that I am on the east coast for this week. Mom decided to stay with me in NC so that we could spend some time together.  On Monday after the events of the day we went to the movies to see Zootopia and it is a GREAT movie.  I love Disney movies and this one was no different.  It was very entertaining and happy.   We went to a relatively new theater and it was so much fun, they had assigned seats because they were RECLINING!!!!!  Look at these!!

Tuesday was another day at the conference where I was able to make more connections and develop some ideas of how to help students.  At the end of the day, mom and I went to Maggiano’s, one of our favorite restaurants, to eat.  It was SUPER yummy and I cannot remember the last time I have been there, so it was great to be there again! 

All this time, I have still been worried about Squeak, she has treatments on Tuesday and Ali and Katja were staying with her again.  They send me pictures and keep me informed on what she is doing and how she is eating.  These are some of her pictures from this week.

The vet says that she is at 13.8 lbs so she has gained a little weight, which is good.  When she got home from treatment Katja said she wanted to eat so that is great news. 

Today is Wednesday and as I fly back I have to say that I am disappointed.  I fly Delta because I get a bag free and I feel there is just a tiny bit more room between the seats.  I typically fly at night and try to sleep but since I am flying during the day, I thought I would splurge so I upgraded to Delta Comfort.  Well, usually the planes I am on have the screens in the back of the seats and in Delta Comfort you are supposed to be able to have free Wi-Fi, snacks and movies.  However, there is NO TV SCREEN IN THE BACK OF THE SEAT!!  I feel so cheated.  I also went from Charlotte to Detroit and then San Diego and usually I fly through Atlanta so maybe that is why I got planes without the screens.  I have to say, I know that flying is one of those things I have to do because of going back and forth but one of the things that drives me nuts is the fact that they board so many different levels of people.  At a certain point, just let us on the plane and quit with all the levels.  If you board the plane from back to front it should go quicker as well.  But this all has to do with carryon bags which is stupid if they would just let people check a bag for free!  Ugh!!!

I have one more trip at the end of March.  My mom is going to be coming to stay with Squeak during the time I am gone.  I booked her ticket on Tuesday night but I know that she hates flying so it should be interesting to see how she does on American Airlines. 

Today was the first day back this week and MY PHONE GOT STOLEN!!!!  I had just finished meeting with another Assistant Principal, a parent and student and another student came in asking for a notebook and paper because their bookbag got stolen.  The bell had just rung and we had to go to duty so I told the student if he came with me to my office, I would get him what he needed.  We talked on the way to my office and when we got there at 3:00 pm,  I laid my phone and keys on the round table in my office and another adult was sitting there working as well.  I got him the notebook, paper, dividers, highlighters and pencils.  I told the young man that if he needed anything else to come and let me know and we would get him the school supplies he needed.  He left the office to go home and another came in to sit down and ask a few questions to me and the other person in my office.   At 3:15 pm, I packed up all my materials to go to the 3:30 pm meeting I was supposed to be at and as I was getting ready to leave I could not find my phone.  I started looking around for it, my secretary retraced my steps, Ali came in and looked through all my materials as well and no one could find it.  I tried Find My iPhone, calling, and texting from someone else's phone and did not hear anything.  At this point I knew it was taken and who did it.   I have to say that I was extremely emotional but trying not to show it.  I know it is just a phone and it is replaceable but here is the issue.  My Mac laptop that has the backup of my phone on it is not working, I had not backed up to iCloud and I had no contacts written down anywhere.  All I could think of is that everything is gone and there is no way to get any of it back!!!!  And...how in the world will I wake up tomorrow - it is my alarm clock!!!

I talked with the GURU of getting phones back and she called the student's parent who said he would look through his son's materials when he got home at 6:00 pm.  Well that means my phone is gone. This student probably sold it on the way home or at least stashed it somewhere so that it is not at the home.  I was so upset trying to decide what to do about the situation that I could not concentrate.  I did not kn ow if I should go ahead and buy another phone, try to get my Mac fixed for the latest backup to be available or what to do.  I decided to leave at 5:45 pm to run to Aveda to pick up some hair products and just go get another phone to start the process of getting it set-up.  As I was about to leave, my principal came in to talk with me.  She asked if I could wait until Friday night to get a new phone and that she would go to the student's house and try and get it back.  So she and another assistant principal went to the student's residence to see about getting it back.  Right before I was leaving Riverside, I called my principal and she said that yes, the student admitted to taking it but he did not have it.  He was told to bring it Friday morning to school and report to the office right away.   I left, feeling a little better that at least we knew who took it but not confident that we would get it back without damage.  

On a side note, let me tell you I have not been without a phone for about 15 years.  For the last 15 years I have always had a phone with me and driving anywhere.  It was odd to be driving somewhere without having that piece of security.  I know that sounds weird but since I don't have a house phone and live by myself, it is a piece of security.  It is good to be able to put the phone down. There are so many times that I am on it due to emails and text messages that not having it was nice as well.  :) 
On Friday I tried to stay away from the discipline office as they investigated the phone issue.  I have to tell you that I am embarrassed and sad about the situation.  I am embarrassed that it happened at all but sad that this is causing hours of investigation into a phone.  After about two hours, one of the campus supervisors brought me my phone but the SIM card was missing.  They asked if I wanted them to continue to look for the SIM card and since I am not sure what is on the SIM card, I said, yes, I would like it back if at all possible.  I was mainly worried about the contact information and what is on the SIM card.  I did not want my friends to get spam and phone calls that were annoying.  I also have a password protector on my phone and I was not sure if that could be hacked into.  Believe it or not, my SIM card got returned also.  

I tried to stay out of the entire process so that my emotions did not show and influence anything.  I am pleased that my phone and SIM card was returned and the only thing missing is the cell phone case, which I can get another one.  I cannot believe that it is actually back with no damage. Everything is on there and safe due to the fact I had a passcode on the phone. I am amazed and thankful!!!  I owe a lot to our principal, assistant principal and campus supervisors for investigating and working so diligently on getting it back.  

Saturday was a busy day and I am so tired already.  We have the RUSD Teacher Fair from 8-12 which I will be at to sit at the science table.  Then I am going into work to get some things done in the morning.  We also the quarter finals for the CA state championship!  The Huskies won and it is great, only a few more games to go for the season!  Very excited for the Huskies!