Jury Duty...a Blessing in Disguise...

Well, I finally served that day of jury duty -after getting it delayed due to the fact I had to read my script and give the IQ test at school. I can't believe that I'm now looking at it as a blessing in disguise. I went and spent my day in the jury room and was never called for a case. I managed to catch up on all kinds of teacher homework and paperwork that I had been hauling in my bookbag for weeks. I actually feel like the mountain of stuff to do has been lifted off. Of course, the other shoe may drop tomorrow and a bunch of new stuff could appear - but right now, I'm at the point of only needing to file some things and do next week's lesson plans. I can't remember how long it's been since I've felt caught up - it's an amazing feeling. So, I guess my day sitting in that room wasn't wasted. If anything, I at least helped the lady sitting there with me who took charge to get the sitcom rerun channel switched to Oprah...I voiced my support when she asked who wanted to see Oprah. It was a mini-revolution in the jury room - LOL.

What is the proper way to handle this?

Well, I was making that quick run through Wallyworld (aka Wal-Mart) last night to pick up those necessities in life - M & M's being at the top of the list. As I'm going through the pharmacy area for the toothpaste, tampons, shampoo, Tylenol, etc., I find my path blocked by this guy reading the backs of the condom packages. His back is to me and the aisle is totally blocked - and I'm standing there thinking do I interrupt with a "Pardon me" to get past? Maybe it would be better to stand there and tap my foot impatiently and wait for him to realize there are other customers in the store. Then there's the loudly turn my cart around and go to another aisle to get where I need to go option. In the end, I quietly turned the cart, mumbling to myself as I went over one aisle - what is proper etiquette for getting around someone blocking the aisle while buying condoms? Thankfully, I didn't have to read boxes when I got to my destination - feminine products. I can toss that stuff in a buggy and move on without ever stopping to block an aisle. After a co-worker told me the story about having a mini-parent conference on that aisle of Target, I make an especially speedy trip down that aisle - grab and go is the motto. That's definitely one place I never want to be cornered by a parent wanting to know how their child is doing in school. At least the Wallyworld condom man wasn't the parent of any students I know - that would have been the worst!

Happy New Year....

Gee, Happy New Year to me....let's end 2005 - a wacky and stress filled year - on a perfect note - with a jury duty summons in the mail box. Yep...that's how one hell of a year has ended. I guess it's suffice to say I'm glad 2005 is coming to a close...and February 7th most likely will not be fun....

Been a while....

Well, the fall was hectic...I had too many things on my plate and I dropped a few of them along the way - blogging, an online grad class, hitting the gym and any semblance of a social life. Between work, a grandmother with a broken hip who lived with us for a month of the recovery process, helping with the church youth group, a trip to NYC and my mother having heart catherization - I can't imagine why I dropped those plates - (roll eyes).

That said, I guess it's time to move into the New Year and make some resolutions - which I guess I do every year but never seem to stick to. So, I guess I resolve not to make any resolutions - instead, I'll make promises to try to get back to the gym, to try work smarter not harder, to try to deligate more, to develop more of a social life. Now, what I really have to do is figure out ways to make all these things happen. Let me see....gym...I got an I-Pod Nano for Christmas, so I have something to listen to while I work out...maybe that will help motivation there. As for working smarter and deligating - my assitant has been after me about doing that....I need to work this week while I'm off on getting my act together and plan some things ahead rather than doing the planning the night before I teach it. Then I could actually know what to deligate beforehand and be ready - I used to do that, but with two grades to teach this year, I've struggled to find the time and energy to work ahead. As for the social life...I have started on that a bit - I am going to movies and dinner with friends from work occassionally - I really need to work on the dating end of it. We won't even talk about how long it's been since I had a real date - all I can say is the battery operated mode of pleasure has been over used for too long :(. So, I've started being a bit more serious with the Match.com stuff - I talked to couple of different guys in the fall - but my life was so crazy that those fizzled without even meeting. Hell, who had time to meet when I could barely find time to sleep. So, I've been reading the ads the last few days...sending out a few winks and trying to decide about e-mailing a few guys. I know a lot of women out there are very aggressive with this stuff - that's not my style - so I'm sure that puts me a step behind, but I'm going to put myself out there more and see what happens. At worst, I'm at the status quo - which, while a bit lonely at times, isn't that bad. I have friends, travel and can pretty well do as I please - I guess I'd say I'm comfortable but it's time to edge outside the comfort zone and take some risk in the new year. So, I guess the first goal of 2006 is to get to a point where it might be possible to get flowers and candy from someone besides a student at Valentine's Day. I guess I've laid out the lofty goal...wonder what will become of it....

Some parents....

Part of my job is parent conferences. Most of the time, I deal with parents who are concerned about their child's education and they are doing the best they can to help their child learn. However, there is that occasional parent who leaves a teacher wanting to scream. I had one of those conferences this week. The child in question has already missed 12 days of school this year. Her records from the previous school show she missed 54 days last year. I made the accurate comment in the conference that in order for this child to make academic growth, she need to be at school consistently. The parent then goes off about how she only keeps her child out when necessary. As the conference progressed, the fact that the child didn't miss a lot of first grade came out and the parent remarked that was because her roommate at the time got up in the morning and made sure the child got to school. All I can say is that I'm lucky I didn't bite my tongue in two trying to remain professional and not go off at that remark. I stood my firm ground that when the child is truly sick, of course I want her to stay home. However, she needs to be at school consistently. The conference ended with the parent informing me that because of an emergency, the child will be out of school on the 18th. I've never met anyone who could forecast having an emergency 10 days before it happens. Is that a special form of ESP????

So, do I laugh at the comedy of me being in this situation, or shake my head at the soap opera this conference turned out to be?

This and that....

Today is a short Word of advice...

Gentlemen, if you want to meet an interesting, fun woman through an online dating service, don't make your online ID name likeamaid.

Procrastinating.....

Well, I'm procrastinating on doing the teacher homework this afternoon. I hate the writers cramp that comes with doing the 4 sheet carbon report cards....that and just doing all the stuff I have to do period. This year, it seems like I have this immovable mountain of work to do and no time to get it done. I guess that's part of teaching a 2 grade combination - with double planning to do, I go nuts when it's time to sit down and get to it because I just can't seem to see the end of the pile of stuff to get done.

Since I've been procrastinating, I've done some online shopping - ordered shades for my grandmother and hot tub parts for my parents. It seems that I'm the only person they can think of who can function to shop online - LOL. I've also spent some time browsing Match.com today. That new who's viewed your profile deal can be rather interesting along with some of the e-mails I've received in the last few day. Is the moon full or do I just seem like a gal who can handle anything since it seems I've attracted the attention of a 39 year old grandpa (no desire here to be a grandma - step or otherwise at this stage in life), some guy in the Middle East who's looking for a woman who speaks Arabic (that's definitely not me), a guy who hates liberals because he deems them to be communist (card carrying Democrat here - didn't know that made me a communist) and then there was the guy who started his e-mail off with "Hey Babe - how hot you look" - even my 2nd and 3rd grade students have better pick-up lines than that. Yes, there are some normal guys out there I've exchanged winks and e-mails with...but it was just strange that I received 3 e-mails and looks from some guys who need to crawl back under a rock somewhere because I'm now ready to crawl under a rock of my own and hide from the strange and weird ones who are contacting me. Thank goodness for the many more looks, a few winks and some e-mails I've had from guys who seem somewhat normal - that at least make me feel like I'm not a magnet for the oddball guys out there.

Ok...enough procrastinating and ranting....off to do some school work I guess. Time to make a spelling list...