It's amazing what drugs can do

It's been awhile since my last entry. Honestly, I just haven't felt like writing. I haven't felt like doing much of anything.

Today however, was different. Today I made a nice dinner. Today I did 8 loads of laundry. Today, I finished my lesson plans for next week. Isn't that amazing? For the last month or so I haven't felt like doing much of anything. I would come home from work and be so tired that I'd barely eat dinner before falling asleep. The weekends were just as bad. I loaf around doing not much of anything, and if I did do something like empty the dishwasher, I was so tired I needed to take a nap. For the last month one of the two weekend days was spent sleeping. I could barely get out of bed.

So I talked to my doctor. After talking with him for about 10-15 minutes, he deduced that I was depressed and put me on some medication. It took a little while for the meds to kick in but I think today they really worked. Today I felt great! I had energy and drive again. I was motivated to work and get something accomplished. As a matter of fact, I even got ahead on my lesson plans! That, in and of itself, is amazing! It's amazing what the right drugs can do!

Do you know my grandma?

There comes a time in everyone's life when they realize that they have made a shift from one level of life to another. When you're a kid, you dream of hitting your teens. Once you hit 13, you can't wait to be 16. After 16, you long for the day you're 18. After 18, it's just a mere 3 more years and you'll finally be 21! Ahh, to be 21. I knew it all then. I could do it all then.

I'm still 21, but now I have 26 years of experience. Body parts are seeming to wear out. I can hear my parents voices when I say things to kids now. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." "Turn out the lights if you're not in the room! Do I look like I'm made of money?"
"You'll do it because I said so." These old adages seem to flow out of my mouth more and more as I grow older. Usually, when such things happen, I pour myself a drink, curl up on the couch with my worry beads, and meditate on how I'm DIFFERENT than my parents! Eventually, it passes.

Today, however, I was just slapped in the face with reality again. One of the students in the 5th grade (not one of mine and that's a good thing -- if she was mine, she might never get out of the 5th grade!) came up to me and asked "Do you know my grandmother? Her name is (another problem with age, short term memory isn't wasn't it used to be)? Now, there was a time that kids would ask if I knew their sister, their mother, their aunt, and maybe even an uncle. That phase of my life is over. Now I know their grandmothers. Keeping in mind that these kids were born in 1998 or 1999, I guess I shouldn't really be so shocked.

Kids ask me things like this all the time. But, for whatever reason, it hit me differently today. I could know somebody's grandma. I could have gone to school with them. I could have grown up with them. I could of hung out with them. I could still be friends with them.

So kids who want to ask me if I know their grandma or their grandpa or their great great aunt Lulu or great great uncle Bubba, to all you little people who will never know the joys of record players, roller skates with keys, and the Beatles, to you I say....

Yeah, I know them. So what of it!?

Bad karma

I had to go to the doctor today. I was long overdue. I was supposed to have had blood work done late March or early April, but I never got around to it. I finally remembered a couple weeks ago and had the blood work done last week. Today was supposed to be the follow up to review the results.

So today was the follow up day. I left work about 5 minutes early so I could drive across town to make my 4:00 appointment. The traffic wasn't bad at all and a I made pretty good time. I actually arrived about 15 minutes. As I turned into the parking lot, I noticed that a car had taken up two spots when it parked diagonally rather than straight in. As I got closer to the vehicle, I understood why the unusual park job...it was a hearse! This is NOT a comforting sight when you are going to see your doctor! (Upon closer inspection, it was an old hearse that probably wasn't used for that purpose anymore, but still!)

I went inside to check in and said to the nurse, "Did you know there is a hearse in your parking lot?" She kind of giggled and said yes, they were aware. It belonged to a patient who was here for a scheduled appointment. I told her that it isn't very comforting to see a hearse in the parking lot when you're coming for a doctor appointment. Is he prepared for the worst when he examines me? I know my blood pressure is a little high, but isn't a hearse a little premature? She just laughed a little and said "nooo" the way people do when you're just being silly.

When I was taken back to the exam room, the nurse followed the usual routine of temperature, weight (which I don't want to talk about), and blood pressure. My blood pressure was a little high but I think I know the reason for that. Besides there being a hearse in the parking lot (did I mention how unsettling that is?), the nurse had just told me that I'm scheduled for my annual exam. What? No way! I was not prepared! I didn't have on the right underwear! No NO NOOOOOO! She kind of looked at me oddly, like most people do, and said ok, but she wasn't going to tell the doctor, I had to do it. I agreed to accept the responsibility and she left.

Well I don't want to bother you with the test results, just suffice it to say that nothing is what it should be. My blood pressure was a bit too high, my cholesterol is still too high (it's still under the suggested level, but the bad cholesterol is too high and the good cholesterol is not high enough), my weight is still too high and gaining (no pun intended), and my sugar level is too high. Add to that that my buttocks/hip/thigh hurt for some unexplained reason so I need to get that X-rayed. But I didn't have to have my internal! HA! Something went right today!

I'm blaming all my problems on the damn hearse in the parking lot. Bad karma led to bad doctor visit. It's a good thing I didn't have my internal today. With all that bad karma, who knows what might have happened! He could have pulled something out that should stay in!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Yep, that's me!

I know you're all wondering who is that adorable baby in the picture? Well, it's me. It's one of the few pictures of me I actually like so I decided I'd post it so everyone can put a face with the blog.

I imagine that when Sara has her baby, she'll look exactly like this...cute, adorable, irresistible. That describes me to a tee!

I look exactly like this now, only I have all my own teeth and my hair is a little longer (and grayer).

Did I mention I have a wonderful sense of humor? Sara, you're going to be so lucky to have a baby just like me!

Yo hablo espanol

Hola! Que tal? Nada aqui.

I know you have to be impressed! In case you couldn't tell, I'm learning Spanish. I have 3 non English speakers in my class this year. Actually, they do speak some English, but it is minimal so they are considered non English speakers. So I decided this is the year that I learn Spanish. The kids are helping me some, but I knew that wouldn't be enough. I actually signed up (and paid for by myself, thank you very much) for a 15 week Basic Conversational Spanish class. I've gone for 3 weeks so far and it's been fun. I'm actually recalling a lot of what I learned in high school, which was just a couple years back. (Ok, get off the floor and quit laughing!)

That's right, I'm conjugating verbs and everything! I'm not good enough to write my blog completely in Spanish, but I could at least ask to go to the bathroom or where can I get something to eat if I was in a Latin country. That's gotta count for something.

Hasta luego ustedes y buenas noches!

Time for a change?

Today was not a good day. It started at 5:00am when the stupid alarm went off. That's the time I had to get up this morning. Who in their right mind gets up that early in the morning? Whoever thought that was a good time to start the day should be tarred and feathered! Nevertheless, I had to get up early today to get to a meeting at 7:30. I agree 5:00am was a little early, but it gives me time to stare into space and veg while trying to wake up.

The traffic was a bear. I left home expecting to be at work about 20 minutes before the meeting, but it ended up being only about 3 minutes by the time I actually got there. It wasn't just regular traffic, but the school traffic that messed me up. I pass and high school and a middle school prior to getting to my school and that really slows you up. Parents dropping off their little darlings at 7:00am. It ended up taking me about 15 minutes to travel 3 blocks because of school traffic.

After my 7:30 meeting, the principal asked to meet with the teachers a few minutes before returning to their rooms. She asked if anyone would like to "volunteer" to transfer to another school as we have to cut another teacher. Our budget for this school year is pretty much non-existent and our numbers are down. In order to try to stay in the black, we're going to have to cut a teacher. Is anybody willing to leave? Hmmm...

This is big cause for concern for me. I'm not low man on the totem pole, but I am next in line. With the low man being forced now to leave, that puts me at the bottom of the pole. If anything happens, I'm next to get cut. And if prospects are not good for 2009-2010, I can pretty much count on not having a job next year. Granted, they do what they can to place you in another school, however, there are no guarantees. And, who knows if you will like the new school, principal, co-workers, etc? It's not a good situation. For the moment, I'm safe. But the way things are going, I don't see that cushion lasting for too long.

It worries me...it makes me wonder...they are making changes that are causing complete turmoil at the schools. (Ours is not the only school having this problem. Many schools had to cut teachers at the end of last year preparing for this year.) Perhaps the time has come to think about a career change.

A Nice Touch

I went grocery shopping today. Actually, I was just going to get bread, water, and dog food, but once I started down the aisles, well it turned into a regular shopping excursion. As I wandered through the aisle, I saw things on sale that we could use and a few things that I just thought would be good to get. Anyway, what was supposed to be a $20 quick trip to the store, ended up being a $108 grocery stop.

At the checkout, the cashier was very friendly. She made a little small talk, making sure I found everything I wanted, and talked a little about the lovely weekend weather. (It was pretty hot today and sunny.) A young guy came over and began packing my groceries and putting them in the shopping cart. I paid my bill and was ready to push my cart out the door, but the young guy that packed my groceries continued to push my cart and make small talk with me. I thought he'd get me as far as the door and then I'd be on my own.

We got to the exit and he asked where I parked. I told him and he pushed the cart to my car and helped me to unload all the groceries. I've never experienced that before so I didn't really know what to do. I wanted to offer the kid a buck (sadly, I didn't have any cash on me to speak of) but he said, "No thanks. I'm just happy to help." He then bid me a good day and took away my empty shopping cart.

Normally, I push my own cart, unload my own groceries, and walk my cart to the cart return. It was a nice touch to have this kid help today. I smiled all the way home.

I'll be shopping at that Publix more often and be certain to carry a couple of bucks just in case this kid should be there to help another day.

Vick's the magic cure all

Take a minute and flash back to the past with me. We're little kids again. And we get sick. What was the first thing that mom always got out? That's right, Vicks Vaporub. That stuff was the cure all for everything. Stuffy nose, runny nose, stuffy head, congestion, itchy eyes, dry eyes, green eyes, blue eyes, anyway you get the idea. We'd rub it on our chest, our back under our nose, behind our ears, where ever we thought it would do the most good.

This holiday weekend I've been sick. Mostly stuffy head, congestion, and itchy eyes. Actually I think it's more allergy related than cold related. But the first thing I did when I was having problems breathing was dig out the Vicks Vaporub. That mentholatum would move its way through the toughest nose block and for the briefest of moments, I could breathe again. I also got the humidifier out and put some liquid vicks in the water. All night long I was inhaling that wonderful smell that would eventually help my runny nose, itchy eyes, and stuffy head clear out.

Today I was feeling much better so I decided to do a little grocery shopping. While at the store, I wandered through the cold and allergy remedy aisle and happened across an old friend...the Vicks Vapor Inhaler! Quite costly these days, but I didn't care. I bought one and couldn't wait to get home to try it out.

Hello old friend. (Sniff Sniff) Ahhh, it's like being a kid again!