Alert - Vacation Needed!

School has been back in session for 3 weeks and already the tribe is getting restless and that is with the 18th as a no school day.

January must be the time to really kick everybody's butt with homework and class preparation.

Colt has his solo and ensemble competition tomorrow. Amy has her's next Saturday. Vernon has tests to grade and lesson plans to do.

The test results for this week were dismal to say the least and for two kids used to getting A's, this has been devastating.

The mood in my house is grim.

Comfort foods are in abundance to stimulate endorphins. I am smiling and being as reassuring as I can to the downtrodden. I just need some sunshine to boost the moods of the tortured.

I keep telling them they have another day off on February 15th - President's Day - just two weeks away.

To top it off Amy has a killer cold and Colt looks like he has a hickey mustache from pulling his upper lip in his mouth with his teeth.

Out of self preservation I do not mention I will be on vacation from the 19th to the 26th of February - that would just be cruel.

Positive note here - It is going to be COLD this weekend!!

Seasons

The seasons are magnificent. The colors or lack of colors that accompany each change are so characteristic of the season or that we have become used to associating with each season.

It isn't just the weather that has seasons. We all have seasons of our lives and it has always struck me amazing that no matter how old a person is, they have lived a full life when they die. Whether they are 90 or, 46, or 31, or 4, these people live their lives to the fullest. Especially when it comes to cancer patients.

I don't think anyone wants to leave their family and life behind in this world, but I do think that people do know when their time here is done and they they will be moving to a new place. Leaving the miseries of this world behind is not a bad thing.

But many leave with fear. That fear of the unknown - what is coming next? what will happen to my family? what is dying like? The answers to each question are as varied as the people who ask them.

I have had the season of goodbyes this month. As January comes to a close, I have four patients who have died this month. I have another two who are sick and we cannot determine why they are having the symptoms they are having. This conundrum is not a good sign for survival.

I have been honored to care for these people and help make the journey easier for them and their families. Although it can be painful - it is also an experience that adds to the color and richness of my life.

Often you all ask me how I can deal with this day after day. I must tell you that we all have our strengths. Mine is being able to help people in times of catastrophe and death. I truly could not be an accountant or an engineer or in tech/computers.

God has given me the grace to help people in their last season of life. And do not make the mistake of thinking it is all pain and suffering - there is much beauty and grace in that last season.

Thank you for letting me grieve the losses of my world with you. You all give me the strength to do this every day.

Numbing Hateful Work

No, it is not my job I get paid to do. I love my nursing job.

It is the jobs that I don't get paid to do that irk me.

Ironing. I know one of my sisters thinks that this is the perfect thing to do when you are stressed. It is calming and soothing to her in way that I will never, never understand.

Washing dishes - I know you are all with me on this one. I have lovingly passed this one to my daughter to share with me. But if homework beckons - I am the dishwasher.

I remember when I first got married, I had a house elf who would come and clean up after me in the kitchen. Those days are behind me and I'm not sure when the house elf really moved away from my house.

Vacuuming. How can a person have pets be hairless without getting the ugly pet that is really hairless? And how can two dogs and two cats make so much fur? I used to vacuum once every 2 months when I had no pet. Now I could vacuum twice a day and still find wads of fur.

Dusting. Look for it at my house. The dust is not removed unless I have planned company coming over. And since my house is off the rotation for holidays, I haven't dusted in like ....2 years. It just clumps up and when the door is open and big wind blows through the house the dust is blown to the floor to be vacuumed.

What is your hateful work??

Priests, Deacons, and Religious

Last night Amy's CCE class met in the church. We listened to three talks.

One from Fr. Dat, the vocations director for the Houston-Galveston Diocese, who talked about his journey to the priesthood.

One from Deacon Phil about his journey to marriage and the deaconate.

And lastly from Sister Eleanor, a wonderful nun with the Benedictine order, who shared her life.

It wasn't really a journey as she knew when she was 4 that she was going to be a nun. Her hardest decision was deciding which order to join.

She joined when she was 17 in 1959, so this year she celebrates her 50th year with the order and next year she will celebrate her 50th year as a nun.

At 8:00 she begged for another 10 minutes to share a story about how nuns influence others and how inadvertently God had her give an award to a 7th grader who had decided to commit suicide at the end of the school year. Sr. Eleanor knew nothing about this until the then-student revealed the wonder of God in her life at a school reunion a few years back to Sr. Eleanor.


Sr. Eleanor closed with a song, but first said she needed to be closer the the crucifix and walked up towards the altar. She then looked up at the crucifix and told everyone pointing at the crucifix, "That's my spouse. I'm married to Jesus. This is my ring." She then proceeded to sing a folk song - "The King's Highway", which described her life of service to wherever God would lead her.

It was a really interesting and inspiring evening.

It makes me wonder how many of those students will join the religious life.

Ain't No Sunshine When You're Gone....

But there IS!! Sunshine! All day! Today!!

Now I just need to get the bearded one out in it to boost his mood and relieve some of his depression about his job and the world in general.

We finally got a call from the church and they are going with other candidates for the bookkeeping position. I'm sure you all know what a bummer that was in our house.

I just keep praying that God will provide him with some relief of stress and find a place for him to work, be happy and make some money to meet our financial obligations.

The bearded one is even praying. God should be sitting up and listening to THAT!

The school has made several changes in the second semester for the teacher. He has to turn in a daily lesson plan for the entire week for both classes he teaches following a specific form every Monday. He has picked up another 47 students in his classes. One class is so big that he is short 5 chairs in his room. To top it all off - someone took his desk chair and has not returned it. All in all, it basically sucks to be a teacher.

If only we had a magic wand to wave...

I'll just keep praying, eventually something will change.

Driver Needed

We did not let Amy take driver's ed last summer.

I regret that decision, but it probably wouldn't have made much difference anyway as she is not yet 16.

My children need a driver.

To take them to school early in the morning.

To pick them up after school.

To take them to CCE and youth events ( well never mind the youth events - we chaperone).

I don't mind and thankfully, I have a job that is flexible enough to allow me to leave early or come in late. BUT it does get tiresome after a while, especially if it is every day.

Everyone else likes it when I do pick-up duty, because I am home before 6 pm on those days and food is ready to eat sooner.

Come to think of it I need a cook, too.

I Have The Time, Sooo....

I decided I'd give a little update and a funny story that happened in Chemistry today.

First off, thank you all SOOO much for all of your letters. And, yes, Aunt Theresa, I cried. Surprisingly, so did some of the guys in the room.

I finally got the Annotated Map done today.You know, that annoying assignment in WHAP that I couldn't check the book out for? Yeah, that.

I'm really proud of myself today though. Yesterday I worked my butt off on homework and got my entire Algebra Review done, today's and (last) Thursday's power notes done. I did my Health flashcards and my English vocabulary. All I have tonight is a 3 x 5 card for WHAP in-class essay and Dialectical Journals for English. YAY!!!

OK, so for the funny thing in Chemistry:
Mrs. Rodriguez was telling us what we'd be doing for the lab today(which involved Hershey's kisses). Alex raised his hand.
She called on him and in all seriousness he says:
"I know this is more physics but I hear that eating chocolate is like one tenth of an orgasm."


She sent him outside.

And then she called his Mom.

His Mom laughed and called him a bonehead.

Our teacher looked pretty pissed he didn't get in a whole lot of trouble.

Why would someone get mad at their child for that? I know it's inappropriate, but jeez!

Hope you read Mom's post below!
LOVE YOU!!!

Last One!

Amy got her last Gardasil yesterday.

And I am still waiting to hear when boy can get his shot.

The commercials just kill me. The talk about cancer of the cervix and vulva, but do not mention the other things that are distasteful when it comes to HPV infections - like genital warts and anal cancer. What? THey think girls can't get that stuff too?

I was looking at the ads for the Gardasil injection in Europe - where it is approved for boys.

The ads for the male persuasion list anal cancer and genital warts as the primary preventative action - does not talk about penile cancer which is another victim of HPV.

For the females, it mentions cancer of the cervix and vulva, no genital warts or anal cancer there either.

I think you should be inclusive with what this shot is supposed to prevent. Just because it sounds bad does not mean that you should skimp on the coverage of a great medication.

You all did FanTasTic!

We arrived at noon today to have Mass with Amy and the other retreat attendees.

I was greeted by a tall young woman racing at me calling "MAMALA" and grasping me in a HUGE hug full of emotion.

After a few moments of composing herself, she then turned to the father and held him in big hug also.

She had such a large grin - she was full of love for us all - even her brother. Obviously she had been touched deeply by the love you all shared with her.

She got 9 letters. One from God and one from her teacher. She chatted us up all the way home about what happened.

She told us that her friends all think her parents are cool. I think that makes her happy. We are a bit amazed about this fact, but are pleased that we aren't a "burden" to her.

I was saddened to see some of the kids' parents did not make it up for Mass and left their kids to ride home with other parents. I just don't understand it - couldn't at least one parent come up?

Thank you again everyone for your letters of love to Amy! I wish you could have been there to feel the love emanating from her.

They Give It A Bad Name %#@*!

It just makes it so hard. I would love to give this person a good piece of my mind about her methods. She is giving all teachers a bad name.

It is difficult enough that my child is taking an AP course but then to punish all students instead of going after the screw-ups is insane.

There are cetain books available for the AP classes to check out then bring back. BUT because some kids have kept these books out all semester, the teacher, is refusing for any other kids to check them out and then assigns homework that requires the use of those same books.

One kid actually laughed at Amy when she gave him grief about still having the book at home. What the crap does he care he has the nook he needs for the homework assignment.

The teacher's reply was that she would try to post some maps for the kids to use. Do you really think that is going to suffice for the entire book?

Amy also asked to stay after - the teacher refused.

Unfair, discourteous and just bad teaching in my book.

No, I do not feel better. Amy still has a shitload of homework for this class and not enough resources to complete the work. And she has her retreat this weekend. Luckily, no school Monday, one saving grace.

What Fun... uh, yeah

I went in search of the elusive The Boy In Striped Pajamas last night after work.

Two stores and one hour later, I threw up my hands in surrender. No had it and no one had any suggestions.

Do you have any idea who comes up with the categories of books? Especially in a Half Price Bookstore? Teen/ teen fiction/ fiction/ historical fiction/ Young adult/ children/ bestsellers/ media based - Good heavens! I have an intimate knowledge of Half Price Bookstores North Houston locations.

I figured I would just have to order it online and pay a fortune for overnight shipping.

So log on to B&N so I can use my member discount for something worthwhile.

Look up the book - The Boy In Striped Pajamas - yup - that is it.

Just for grins look ans see if it is in stock...

Dad gum it! It is everywhere, including the two B&N I drove by earlier that evening.

So I reserved a copy. The boy has informed me he needs it by Monday.

That is even better because now we can take advantage of the Educator's weekend and get 25% off for my teacher husband's educator card.

It would have been fun - had I not been looking for my son's book. Alas, sometimes being a Mom is tiring.

Late Notice

My kids are not dumb, so I get a bit irritated when they act dumb.

Colt announced last night that he needs $7.50 for a book. The Boy In Striped Pajamas is going to be read in English - This Week - need the book ASAP. I have no cash and the father has no cash.

I don't dare send him to school with a check because we will never see or hear from that piece of paper again. It apparently gets time warped to another space and dimension.

SOOOoooo.... I looked on line - and guess what?



Go on, guess.......



All the local book stores are out of The Boy in Striped Pajamas.

I did not ask Colt when he knew about this book because I really did not want to know if he got this information BEFORE the holidays.

Off to 1/2 Price Books today to see IF they have one I can buy.

After that - who knows.

He is supposed to have it by Friday. Whoopee!!

Really?

My father-in-law is 87 years old. And he lives alone since the death of my mother-in-law five years ago. He is active but grumpy. He sees what needs to be done but has no motivation to do things.

So every so often he hints at what he wants us to do for him. Like cleaning out the pantry. Or cleaning the guest bathroom. Or taking more of Granny's clothes to shelters. Lately, the hint is for his kitchen cabinets to be thinned of excess pots, pans and dishes.

My brother-in-law and his wife came over to Grandpa's house last weekend and decided to save the old man from his filth. They cleaned his shower.

Now understand that Grandpa does not shower in his house. He usually goes to the gym or to the golf club to shower.

The shower definitely needed cleaning, it had last been cleaned before my mother-in-law died.

Grandpa's statement was, "It looks too purty to shower in now."

He also told us that the cleaning duo would be back the clean the rest of his bathroom the next day.

We laughed to get a call from the cleaning duo the next evening, regarding the state of the house Grandpa lives in.

We have tried for the past 5 years to get Grandpa to move in with us and let us go through the house to clean and sort items for sale or trash, but it is his stuff and we respect the fact that he can do what he wants. He knows we are there should he need us.

So it was hilarious to us to find someone else having a fit about what Grandpa will not let them do in HIS house. Where have they been for the last 5 years??

Apparently, the cleaning duo tried to clean out his refrigerator - he may have barred them physically from touching the refrigerator.

They tried to clean out the medicine closet - he shooed them away from the bathroom.

They wanted to clean out the kitchen - he told them Joan was going to help him with that.

Gotta' love him - he knows what he wants and sticks by it!

Merry Christmas!!

Yeah, yeah, let's get all technical.

It is the last day of Christmas.

Those of you waiting to take down all those decorations - Hop to it!

Although I suppose we can cut you some slack if you live in Texas where the weather has been rather cold. But remember, it will be warming up so don't wait for the next cold front before you dismantle the decorations.

Those of you who didn't even get them up this year - relax it is over.

We now move into the season of ordinary time in the Church calendar and then Lent will start in February. Easter is April 4th in 2010. I am organizing my calendar to what is coming up and where I need to be.

I was offered the job at Methodist Willowbrook, but I will be turning it down. The 12 hour schedule does not work well at this time with the kids school and my involvement at the church. Maybe in the future but not now. It was definitely worth checking out and they were very positively impressed with my credentials and had offered me the first opening.

Back to work for me tomorrow. Mom is going back to the surgeon to have stitches out and she is doing really great. No pain and that is the key as her foot had been killing her for quite some time.

Hope everyone is warm out there and safe through the cold, COLD winter weather.

The week is over.

Yeah, poor grammar, I know.

But is is true, my vacation week is done and I have been working the whole week. Taking call Monday and Tuesday then fielding calls the rest of the week. Even though I have no treatments Monday and Tusday, I will be busy cleaning up after the other nurse.

Mom did great with her surgery. The pain is very minimal and she is back to her independance except for driving. She goes to the doctor on Monday to have the dressing and stitches removed.

I have gotten many things done, not all that I planned to do but some that needed to be done. Like taking the big dog to the vet for diarrhea - all over my carpet Thursday. That carpet got a unplanned steam cleaning - looks good, too!

Got a job offer from Methodist. Very flattering but I think for just one dollar more per hour, not worth the change in my life to 7pm-7am and every other weekend plus holidays of work. Vernon agrees, so I be staying where I am for now.

Grocery shopping has been done, laundry is being sorted and I have an all day meeting for ONS tomorrow.

Another note, Vernon and I will NOT be chaperoning the Confirmation retreat as all the teachers will be there. Colt is thrilled that PawPaw does not need to come over. Now we just have to drive her up there for the retreat and pick her up Sunday.

Have a great weekend!

They're Gone!

Yep, that's right folks, all the school people are school today.

One irritated at me because I made them get a head start on their WHAP before the retreat weekend on the 15th. (don't forget)

One irritated at me because I keep reminding them to go to their first period class early to get their new schedule.

One irritated at me because they can't stay awake to do their homework.

Yes, I have two kids - you figure it out who is who.

Just remember, I didn't name names and implicate the guilty parties.

Wasn't me.

I'm just reporting the facts.

I'll be unavailable for dinner tonight at my house - the biggest concern of the school people is "what is for dinner?"

I keep reassuring them that the linguine with clam sauce will be in the refrigerator and just needs to be warmed up.

My house smells so good as I just finished cooking the dinner entree and packed it up for the refrigerator to enjoy the luscious smell of linguine with clam sauce.

And I'm not giving anything away when I say I know there will not be one smidgen of it left for me to snack on tomorrow.

Good news is I don't have to listen to the male persuasion moan about how they ate too much.

Busy Day Ahead and it is already half over

I'm off this week. Yesterday was a nice get a bunch of paperwork done kind of day.

Today I have to take some stuff over to CAM, drop off stuff at the Church, pick-up the pager from my office, get the applications printed for my ONS meeting tonight, fix dinner for the oven before I then go to the ONS meeting.

Lots to do still at home - print and laminate holy cards for my CCE class, update my CD log, work on dictation logs, check out shelving options for Vernon's office, set up dinner for tomorrow night so homework can be the focus for the school people, get the kids ready to go back to school tomorrow and it just never ends.

And can't forget time to chill with the kids and read a bit. It is the reading that keeps me sane. I need every bit of sanity in my household!!

I guess that is good as it keeps me out of trouble.

Crazy Cat

Amy's cat, Loki, loves mint.



He will hop up on the bathroom counter to sniff the toothpaste and he also loves to sit on the balcony and check out everybody's breath in the morning.

My sister, Theresa, I mean her husband, Chuck, gave me a tea pot and a tin of mint tea sachets for Christmas. I had one today and Loki went nuts. I gave him a bag to sniff and he was all over it. it is like it is Ecstasy for a cat. The other cat - Esmeralda, has no use for the mint.

Hours later, Loki is still thinking I am the fairy of mint. He has even fallen asleep on me today - truly an honor bestowed on only the loved of our house.

Gotta Share

Yesterday, we went grocery shopping. Nothing traumatic in that BUT.....
I told Amy to pick out two packages of bacon - 2 for 1 special, and as she started to look as then she noticed it had "pork" on the label ans said "ooh, it is pork." We all looked at her dumbfounded and said, "bacon is pork" in stereo and disbelief that our smart daughter has such a brain fart to forget where bacon, her favorite food, came from!!!

Today, We went to PawPaws to take him to lunch. I asked him if he was hungry and he said sullenly, "yeeaahh." I then said "I hope Hooters okay?" and he said "YYEEAAHH! OOOHH I'M HUUN-GRAY!" and hopped up out of his chair like someone had put a hot poker to his butt. That is a major achievement for an 87 year old geezer.

Sadly, we got to Hooters to find that the signs were gone and the place was closed, open no more, departed this world, at this location. The dejected look on his face was so sad to see. So we went to Rudi Lechner's a truly German Experience. Mom will have to go there once to get their German Potato Salad. She'll LOVE it!!