Procrastinating (as usual)

Honestly, I have so much I SHOULD be doing right now! But, my brain just can't take it anymore. I have two (count them, one, TWO) tests tomorrow and I don't feel like I'm prepared for either of them. What I am prepared for is having to take some of these classes again next semester because I just don't feel like I'm "getting it" the first time around. We'll see, maybe in the next few weeks some magic switch will magically go on and it will all become clear!

It's been a busy weekend here. Idiot actually took Princess Friday night, which left plenty of time for me to do homework. She took part in a cheer clinic this summer that the Varsity girls ran as a fund raiser this summer. As part of her "graduation" she got invited to go cheer for the 1st quarter of a Varsity game - which happened to be last Friday. So, idiot picked her up about his usual 5:00 and then had to have her at the field by 6:15. On top of that she had her game Saturday morning for her junior cheer. They had to be at the field at 7:45! (so glad it wasn't me!) Plus it was an away game, 30 minute drive on top of having to be there so early.....really, REALLY glad it wasn't me! I am NOT a morning person! It was cold and rainy and her shoes are covered in mud, but she says they had a good time.

Go figure, she likes cheerleading so much she can't even complain about being out in the 50 degree rainy weather!

On top of all my homework we are gearing up for Princess' birthday. It's on Tuesday and it just seems like there is so much to do! She decided she wanted to make chocolate pretzels for her school treat (you buy the chocolate buttons by the bakers stuff and melt them and then dip the pretzels and then lay them out on wax paper to dry......which if you don't want to waste a lot of chocolate takes a while because you hand dip each pretzel. I'm thinking about going back to the store to get more chocolate and lining all the pretzels up and just pouring it over!!) She's going to be 9. I can hardly believe my baby is going to be NINE! We're taking a couple friends ice skating this afternoon. Then back to grandma's for birthday cake and to play for a few minutes. Of course we still need to be at her tumbling class by 6.

Maybe I can convince her not to go to tumbling tonight? I've got class til 7 tomorrow night so I really don't know when we are going to make pretzels!

We'll figure it out. I really don't need to sleep anyway, right?

And for those of you who have given up checking - the National Geographic cam was up about 11:00(eastern) when I checked it. So, hang in there and just keep checking :-)

What in the world?

You know how some days you just really, really wonder what is wrong with people? What have we become as Americans (well, inhabitants of the planet earth in general) over the last few generations that causes so many people to act in ways that make you wanna say WTF!

GO HERE

No, really, you could GO HERE TOO

Now, had enough?

Well, in that case, you should definately GO HERE to unwind (best viewing time is 12-4 am Eastern or 4-8 pm Eastern, and be patient because it's offline a lot, but your first glance at a live giraffe in the middle of Africa drinking from a pond and I know you'll be hooked just like me :-) )

My Brain Hurts

All summer, when I felt like I was getting my ass kicked in Calculus 2.....well it turns out I might as well have been on vacation. 'Cause what's really killin' me are my classes this semester! I have never had so much homework. Most of which I avoid doing because I just don't "get" most of it. I'm going to have to break down and start working with a tutor and let me just tell you how much that kills me!

Like I have time in my life for a tutor. Like I am actually going to get off my butt and try and find one next week (you know, in all my spare time).

Next week I start observing a geometry class.

Have I mentioned that I can't wait for this semester to be over?

I am so tired. At the end of the day I am just plain mentally exhausted.

Idiot is off camping this weekend. I'm just so glad he agreed to take on this whole cheerleading project. Let's see, he's taken her to precisely....oh right, ZERO games! I know, I know, I'm not really complaining because I like to be involved. But geesh, if you tell your kid you're going to do something you don't turn around and make plans to go camping (and then make her feel guilty because she doens't want to go camping with you). GRRRRR

So, Princess gets to have Sweetie over for a sleepover tomorrow. We'll pick her up after the football game and pig out on junk food and watch movies and listen to the Cheetah Girls CD, all the while dancing around the living room like idiots.

Did we all see Gray's Anatomy on Thursday?!!(it was really, really good Christy :-P) How great is this season going to be?!! Not much else is drawing my attention this season. I did watch Studio 60 on Sunset Strip. I think that's a maybe, but it makes me wish West Wing was back. I watched Law & Order tonight, and I wasn't too impressed. Feels like it's going to be Numbers here on Friday night, except maybe when the reruns come on. I didn't watch ER, didn't even interest me. And I DON'T do any of the reality TV (which drives my mother crazy every time she misses a show and asks me what happened).

My allergies are killing me, i have to take so much medication to be able to breath that i can't stay awake (she says as she types at 1:30 am.....but that's because I slept so long this afternoon!)

Man, I can't even follow a complete thought through, can I? I better go crawl in bed and rest up for sitting in the rain at Princess' game tomorrow *sigh*

The good and the bad

It's always good to get the bad news out of the way first. So, the bad news is - my internet was down all weekend! A girl could suffer serious withdrawl symptoms!

But, the good news! I had a ton of homework this weekend, and without internet I got a ton done. Plus, it was a gorgeous weekend! Princess had another 4:00 football game so we didn't have to drag ourselves out of bed early AND we got to enjoy the perfect football afternoon.

You should have seen the game, it was priceless. We got to the field and the boys were already on the practice field warming up so the girls grabbed a corner and started stretching. Once the game before us got done the boys headed over to the playing field and the girls followed in close order. When the boys realized that the cheerleaders were coming to their field there were many shouts of "hey, we have CHEERLEADERS today!" (I have never laughed so hard in my life - you should have heard them!) But, it was cute. The boys were thrilled, the girls were thrilled and we even won the game 22-6. Ya can't beat that!

Fashion DON'T (and other rants)

So, it was cold and rainy again today. Not complaining TOO loud because we do need the rain. But does it have to rain the hardest at the exact moments I need to walk from my vehicle all the way across campus to get to my class? Why don't college campuses have parking lots adjacent to their largest classroom buildings? Why are the best and biggest parking lots on the side of the campus that has the football field? Where, may I add, there are NO classrooms?

Ranting about the rain. Do they NOT teach young drivers how to drive anymore? Leave extra space between you and the car in front of you when it's raining this hard because you WON'T be able to stop. There is a TON of water on the road and you are going to get yourself hurt! (mostly because I am going to slap you silly if you cut me off one more time....) AND have automatic lights made us freakin stupid? When it's dark and raining and gray (especially if you have a silver car people!) turn your damn lights on. AND when the power goes out, that light at the busy intersection that's out - yeah, it doesn't mean you can drive right through it because the car in front of you went through it, it's a four way stop! Or have the rules of driving changed since I went through drivers ed?

....and that was just my drive TO school :-)

Now, fashion police. If you are older than me and have obviously had a couple kids (or a couple too many cases of beer) you should NOT cut the bottoms off your t-shirts so that you can wear them 1/2 an inch above your jeans and let your roll of fat jiggle for all to see. Next, if you are a poor college student and the only pair of shoes that you have are flip flops (you know the cheap kind with the annoying hard piece of plastic that goes between your toes)I don't care HOW cold it is, please, please, PLEASE, do NOT wear socks with your flip flops!

I am now going back to figuring out how a vector of origin relates to the centroid of a flippin triangle (can you tell I am more than a little stressed right now?!)

9/11/01

Did you know that MSNBC ran the Today show coverage live this morning.....the rerun from 2001? I wish I would have known. I didn't get to see it the first time and I would have liked to have seen the whole thing. As it was I didn't turn the TV on until 11 and by then the events had all transpired. (Although I did get to see Katie Couric ask a Congressman if Congress was indeed meeting today and if so, where...oh yeah, the Capitol building was a possible target, so let's just announce on NBC where all of Congress is at the moment, brilliant journalism!) But, I digress.

I have looked all over to see if there was a master list somewhere of all the bloggers posting with the 2,996. Many of the people on my AOL alerts, and my Bloglines have posted wonderful tributes....I wish I would have made a note of all of them so I could share them with you. They were, after all, everyday people just like the rest of us.....people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

UPDATE: No wonder I couldn't find the master list for the 2996 project, I suspect the site is especially overloaded today....but you can access the list through a cache. Here's the google memory

Today is my dad's birthday. 59 this year! Hard to imagine having a birthday on such a "historic" day. I suspect we will have dinner and cake and enjoy our evening as if it was any other day.

I stayed home from school today. I was seriously in need of a mental health day. Taking classes all summer was just too much, and my break between summer and fall classes was NOT long enough! So as soon as the kids arrived this morning we were off to school and then I came home, layed on the couch and enjoyed the quiet. It was delicious!

Now, there are many wonderful tributes out there, but as I mentioned, I didn't bookmark any of them. So let me leave you with a choice of these two sites (they are both very similar so you can pick one or the other) Jimmy put one together 5 years ago, and another one more recently. Enjoy!

His Blog
On AOL

Finally!

Finally! I finally got the pictures to load! I know you've all been waiting patiently *giggle* So I present to you the first day of 3rd grade. This is Princess (left) and her best friend in the whole world. Sweetie & Princess are crushed this year because they don't have the same teacher. Somehow I think they'll survive! And I'm quite sure they will remain fast friends despite the separation during the day :-)

Next I guess I have to share. Cheerleading pictures *sigh* Lucky for them they were adorable, but it was a rare occassion when they were all doing the same moves or saying the same words! But, they had fun, and really, that's all that counts, right??
It was only 60 here today and a chilly wind. Our team lost 8-0. The only bright spot in the day......it wasn't raining by the time the game started. She has to go to another game Tuesday night. It better be warmer!!

Warp Speed

On a lighter note, 40 years ago today Star Trek hit the air waves.

When Enterprise was cancelled last year it was the first time in 25 years that there was no Star Trek series or movie in production or development.

Isn't that unreal?

Call me crazy now, but I LOVE everything Star Trek. Beam me up, Scotty. I Love the crappy original episodes with unbelievable plots..damnit Jim, I'm a doctor not a bricklayer..., love Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and even Enterprise. I even admit to loving all the movies (yes, including the really BAD ones!). OOPS, forgot Voyager, I never really did catch up with that one, but the few episodes I did see, yup - loved 'em!

Let's hope for another 40 years of nerds dreaming and reaching for the stars, and most especially attending Star Trek Conventions. Because, hey, if we're all at the convention center at least you know where to avoid :-)

But, until that next convention let's lay in a course, warp factor 4

Engage

Public Schools

There was a little blurb on the radio station that I listen to. It was talking about the growing trend of restricted recess. You know what I mean. First teeter-totters and merry-go-rounds had to go because they were too dangerous. Then we needed to make sure there was 6 inches of wood chips under the swings and other playing equipment because that was too dangerous. Next it was dodgeball, TOO DANGEROUS! Never mind punishing the few kids who are ruining it for everybody because they are mean and like to inflict pain. Anyway, so the blurb on the news said a local school district has now banned Tag as a recess game. Too dangerous, afraid somebody will get poked in the eye or pushed too hard, or they will be so busy trying not to get tagged they won't be looking where they are going and run into something. PLEASE stop the insanity! I've heard reports that include some school districts have banned recess altogether - and not to gain more teaching time but because it's too dangerous. This is a very good thing to teach our kids. Let's not work together to make a system that works, let's just bow to the lowest among us and avoid anything that may result in a lawsuit. Yeah, that works for me - NOT!

On a similar subject. Our local police forces are sponsoring a gun buy back program this weekend. Now, I'm all for getting guns off the street and I'm sure there are plenty of statistics that say the buy back programs work. BUT, and come along with me now. They are offering to give debit cards in exchange for these guns (because money is the only incentive that "works"). Well, what about the rest of us law abiding citizens who DON'T have illegal firearms in our homes? Dang, I could use $100 to spend at our local Meijer store. But hey, let's just keep rewarding the criminals. We're doing it on a lesser level in our school systems so why not in the entire community through the police force. Yeah, that works for me too.

(As usual, I should be working on homework.....can you tell I'm rushing right off to do that?)

One of the classes that I am taking is a class called "Math Activities for Secondary Teachers". As part of this class we need to do 20 hours this semester of class room observation. The placement options were posted today and they were ALL grade A high schools (where we, as new teachers have NO hope of getting a job). Well, this should be useful. Let me go and observe this "great" teacher who is teaching math to kids who already want to learn. That should be useful in my teaching career. I e-mailed my teacher and asked her if she could find me a placement in a city school. I think she probably gagged on her coffee because her reply was that nobody had ever asked her that before. She said she's look into it. I'm guessing, however, that for the next 10 weeks I'll be sitting in the back of some Upper Middle Class 100% white AP Calculus class (or something eqully dull). Gosh, the other kids in my class will really get a good taste of what teaching is like, won't they?

I sound bitter, do I sound bitter? I guess the two articles on the radio about recess and the gun buy back just sent me over the edge today.

From the sounds of it, Jimmy has had enough too - you should go read his latest post

Since I didn't have breakfast, maybe I'll go find myself somethin' for an early lunch. (That way I can avoid that homework just a little bit longer!)

Respite

Thousands of parents across the country are full of mixed emotions today.

BACK TO SCHOOL!!

You're happy that you don't have to hear "I'm bored" one more time. You're happy that your job as chauffer is now limited to after school. You're thrilled that education is back in the forefront of your child's mind.

But, you'll miss them (ok, not all the time, but the house does seem blissfully quiet today).

Princess started 3rd grade today (really, she did, I have pictures that sort of prove it, but camera is NOT cooperating). She looked adorable! I'm not sure she really wanted to go, but by the time I picked her up I saw nothing but grins :-) She can't wait to go back tomorrow. They all got the cutest little "homework organizers" as gifts from their teachers. She feels so grown up! Now if I can just get her to fall asleep tonight!

Last night was the longest ever. She was so worked up about school she couldn't fall asleep. And then woke up at 5 this morning with a tummy ache. I wasn't sure she was going to make it to school. Ah well, she's good and exhausted now and when she gets back from idiot's and crawls in bed she is going to fall asleep in about 2 seconds.

Back to school for me tomorrow (and gosh you'll be surprised to hear I have only finished about 1/3 of my homework). I'm gonna be up late tonight - with nobody to blame but myself!

Labor Day

The work force is what makes America great. It's what makes us different from so much of the rest of the world. If you're lucky enough to find a job and work hard, you can "live the American dream". You can have a family and a house and food on your table - so many choices that most people in the world can't comprehend it when it is explained to them. They simply have no frame of reference for a WalMart!

And I know it's not Memorial Day or Armed Forces day, but let's say a special prayer for the soldiers who are out there on the front lines, who have worked every day they have been deployed, only enjoying a rare "day off".

Enjoy a few words about the war from the point of view of a soldier and go

visit John

No homework for miles

I didn't do a lick of homework today! I should feel some pang of guilt for procrastinating - but all I'll probably feel is frustration as I spend Sunday, Monday & Tuesday trying to finish it. And that, of course, is assuming that I start it tomorrow.

We spent most of the day at my mom's house where Princess amused herself helping Papa scrape paint. They worked on the front picture window and the frame around the garage. They might even get it painted this weekend. My mom will probably die if they do - my dad is not one that is known for finishing projects that he starts. Several times today her refered to princess as a slave driver! rofl Throughout the day we played Zooreka on and off. This game rocks! It's a Cranium product and it's tons of fun. If you have kids you need to have at least one Cranium game in your inventory!

The rest of the time (you know, when I SHOULD have been doing homework) I was reading Godless by Ann Coulter. She cracks me up! (and in a good way). I can't say I've ever leaned to the left in my political views, and I seem to lean more right the older I get. Well, except for the gun thing, I really don't get the gun thing. Mostly what I don't understand is why 70% of the country claims to be Christian and yet we sit silently and hide our light in a closet instead of taking a stand. And, ok, reading Ann Coulter and Christians taking a stand don't exactly have anything to do with each other, it's just sort of where my brain went today.

Have I mentioned that I'm taking Princess to see the Cheetah Girls in concert in November? ACK! 36.50 a ticket PLUS THIRTEEN, yes THIRTEEN dollars in fees! for a stinkin concert (i guess disney knows how to make money!) I'm bringing reinforcements in the form of Sweetie and her mom and we are going to make a night of it. If you're going to get fleeced in Detroit it's always good to go with friends :-)

I got Batman Begins on sale today at Target for ten bucks. That doesn't have much to do with the rest of the post, but gosh what a deal!

Things I meant to do.....

Wow, I'm exhausted! I meant to be better this week. I meant to have my homework finished already (haven't even started on it). I meant to clean off my dining room table (HA! Like that's going to happen). And then Em tagged me and I meant to do a great post on books that I love (I'll do it, really!).

But, it's 9:00, I'm watching Gray's Anatomy and I am just exhausted. We did NOT ride the train today. Princess decided that she didn't want to ride it bad enough to arrive for the 6:35 departure (thank goodness). We DID go to Michigan Adventure today, which was a blast! I cannot believe how lucky we got with our amusement park trips this year. Hardly anybody at the park today, the longest we waited for a ride was MAYBE 5 minutes. But it was rare to have to wait at all. We had tons of fun. Princess wanted to stay, but I told her 5 hours was enough for mom! We headed back home and dragged ourselves to orientation at school tonight. Listened to the usual blather about our high academic standards, high behavioral standards, moral focus, yadda yadda. Don't get me wrong, I do love our school but it gets old dragging yourself into a mandatory meeting every year to listen to the same thing. Turns out last school year our school ranked #4 out of the 51 charter schools in our organization. (I knew we were good!)

Princess got to see some friends she hadn't seen all summer. Tomorrow we are going ice skating one last time before school starts for her. And it turns out her "boyfriend" is going to be there too. Ah, young love :-)

So, where was I going with all this? Oh yeah, I'm sitting here stuffing my face with my mom's homemade apple pie. And I do mean home-made. Crust from scratch and everything. It's heaven. Trying very hard not to remember all the things I should be doing. I'd like to be sleeping. But that homework isn't going anywhere, and I should get to that sooner rather than later.

And so it begins...

First day of classes. Where to begin? Yesterday I was about to print a copy of my schedule (this is about 6pm) when I thought, gosh, I wonder if the class I really (REALLY) want to take is still full. They are only offering 2 sections of it this semester and I haven't been able to get into it since registration opened in March. And WOO HOO! ONE seat open. Of course this meant I had to change around ALL my other classes! So I did. Informed my mom at 9:30 last night when she got home that her babysitting duties had changed. She wasn't thrilled, but it didn't change TOO much, so she could adjust.

Fast forward to my first class at 9 this morning. The teacher was great, the class is going to be everything I hoped it would be AND he teaches Calc 3, which I wasn't able to get into this semester. AND he teaches at 10, right after the other class. So, I thought, what the heck....can't hurt to ask......And after class I asked him if he would grant me a closed class permit to take his Calc 3. He asked me what else I was taking and we went over my schedule, in the end he granted me a closed class permit for his Calc 3 section and the class that he teaches at 11 (which I was going to take with another prof on T/H). I guess I best hope that he turns out to be as nice as he seems since I am going to be spending 3 hours in a row with him MW and Friday! This is going to mean dropping my Educational Psychology class, but I can take that next semester.....or maybe CLEP it? I haven't decided yet. My original plan was to CLEP it, but I need to bring my overall psych GPA up.....

Ah well, one thing at a time, right?

My class this evening was an entirely "other" story. Not sure I'm going to like it! But, it's required to get into the College of Education, so I don't have a choice. It's only a 3 credit class and we meet twice a week for 1 hr & 50 minutes. PLUS we are required to observe 2 hours a week at a local high school PLUS the additional homework, etc..... This is SO NOT a 3 credit class! I'm emailing the department tonight to ask them just what they are thinking!

Not that they'll care, I'm sure - LOL

Poor Princess is suffering from emotional overload. She spent almost a week with just my mom up north the week I took finals week. Then I worked so many hours last week and now she's just ready to have a down day with boring old mom and Thursday seems to be too far off! I'll be thankful when school starts for her next week and we can be back to a normal schedule.

And can somebody please tell me.....

Where did this summer go?!!

Ah Weekends!

Don't you just love weekends? I survived my week at the doctor's office and looking back I can honestly say, "I'm going to miss it". It's true. I always leave there feeling like I've put in a good day's work. Everybody is nice to work with. You couldn't ask for a nicer place to work.

Even if my feet are killing me!

Do you know what it's like to wear pumps all week after 6 months of sneakers??

On a school note.....

One of my professors (educational psych) posted his 5 page syllabus the other day. Where he says, (and I quote here) Some of my personal prejudices that I have developed over the course of teaching at the University level:

1. Students that ask if I have a stapler.
2. Students that email me without identifying themselves or their section.
3. Students that turn in work without identifying their section.
4. Students that miss class and then email me to see what they missed
(ask another student instead!).
5. Students that miss class or carry on side conversations in class and then wonder why they don't do well! It's obvious!

I'm either going to love this guy or really hate him, I'll let you know after the first day of class.

Princess survived spending the night with idiot. Her Grandma & Grandpa came into town to see idiot's new house and decided they better come on a night that princess was there since they haven't seen her since Christmas (mind you they only live 45 minutes away).

I'm going to surprise Princess on Thursday with a train ride! Amtrak leaves here and has a stop less than an hour away. Tickets are only $7.50! Bad part, it leaves at 7:30 in the morning! But, she has always wanted to ride on the train and since idiot fell through on his promise to take her to Chicago this summer (because his wife couldn't get any time off work?!! Like he can't take a day trip with his daughter?!! Don't get me started......) She's going to be so excited, I can't wait to see her face.

I need to get a picture of her in her cheerleader uniform. She had team pictures taken Thursday night, but I'm not hopeful that they are going to turn out that great. It was the most unorganized mess I've ever had to be a part of.

Ah well, she was just excited to get to wear her uniform for a while.

I don't want to be a cheerleader mom!

OH!

I know this was highlighted on a lot of 11:00 news programs tonight, but you have GOT to check this out!

Fantasy Husband

Real World

Having spent the last two days in the "real world" I already need a vacation! I forgot how exhausting it was to be in a fast paced doctor's office all day. My feet are killing me from wearing grown up shoes. My head is still pounding from the phones ringing all day. Basically I'm falling apart. Suddenly I am longing to be back in that Calc 2 class.

The other half of being back in the real world.....dealing with all the stupid people! I had forgotten how many clueless, CLUELESS people there are out there! Here's one of my top pet peeves......

+ring+ +ring+ "Dr's office, Kelly speaking can I help you" "uh, yeah, dis number was on my caller ID and i wanna know why you be callin me"......."well, this is Dr's X, Y & Z office, is anybody at your house a patient here?"....."I dunno, maybe my moms but she ain't here right now, so why was you callin her?" At this point the phone should just be slammed down in this idiot's ear, but being the seemingly nice professional that I am, I politely tell him he'll have to have his mom call back when she gets in and maybe then we can get it straightened out.

I mean, COME ON! there are 20 people in the office who could have made that call and unless you can tell me the patients name, or maybe even narrow it down to which of the four doctors i need to start with.....there's no hope of figuring out who called you! Some people are such morons!

And this occurs frequently! Here's a hint people, if you have caller ID and you want to know WHY we are calling you.....get a freakin' answering machine!

This is the 21st Century right?

Phew, I feel so much better now :-)

Tomorrow Princess has to get her allergy shots and then after lunch we are going ice skating with one of her friends. Ice skate for 2 hours for 5 bucks (including skate rental) how great is that in the summer? Cool off in the 50 degree ice arena and then go back out and play in the sunshine. It's our best discovery this summer.

After that, back to work Thursday and Friday. If I survive that, I get a night to myself Friday night while Princess sleeps over at her dad's and visits with his parents. I definitely think there will be a movie for me Saturday morning. I don't even care if there's anything good playing!

I can't even believe this is how I am spending my one week off from school! What was I thinking?!! (oh, right, darn bills........)

Where?

It seems my journaling pixie has been seriously MIA this year. While school and princess have certainly kept me busy, I feel a pang of guilt for not taking this time for myself.

Things in my neck of the woods are starting to look up. Exams for the summer are over. 1st half I took Intro to Education and Psychology of Disabilities, and pulled in an A and B+ respectively. 2nd half of the summer kicked my butt! I am not having good luck with my math teachers and pulled another insane one for my Calc 2. Calc 2 had me in class M-F for 2 hours a day - which you can imagine was not a thrilling prospect during the best part of summer in Michigan! With Calc 2 I also took Technology in Education, which was an online class. I wish I could take more of my classes online - it rocked! Got an A in my online class and somehow managed to pull a B- out of Calc 2. I thought for sure psycho teacher was going to hand me a big ole C. Ah well, I'll take that B anyway I can get it.

I have a whole week off before heading back to class on the 28th. The doctor's office called and asked me to come in and fill in for one of the girls that is going on vacation....so much for having a week off. I'm a little bummed, since I haven't really spent a lot of time with Princess this summer, but glad for the money since I haven't worked since spring and student loans only last so long.

Two more weeks until princess goes back to school. I've only got 4 classes for fall semester so I'm thinking maybe I'll skip one day of class my first week and take her to Cedar Point or Great America.....or maybe just keep it local and go to Michigan Adventure. We'll see.

Oh, princess starts junior cheer next week. I'm trying not to gag on the thought, and I'm sure they will all be cute and adorable.....but a cheerleader? really? I'm starting to think they sent me home with somebody else's child :-)

Mondays are so painful!

Don't you just hate Mondays after you have had a weekend off? Princess just does NOT want to wake up. It's a chore to get her ready for school. Heck, it's a chore to get ME ready for school! Especially since I knew I had a test first thing. Our Prof had told us last Wed that he was covering another class (at one the other campus no less) and that he would be late to our class - but that he would have somebody from the office come protor the exam.

Class is supposed to start at noon. noon plus ten and STILL nobody to give us the test...we had to send somebody to the office to ASK them to come give us the test. Geesh. Thankfully it was only 60 questions, multiple choice. I think (hope) I got a B on it. There were a few, thinking back, that I think I got wrong. So, we'll see! The two hours of lecture after the test, were sort of a blur.

Tomorrow I'm going to school with Princess in the morning. There's a bulletin board with my name on it! All the Flat Stanleys have come back and they need to be proudly displayed on the board outside of class. I volunteered - I love doing bulletin boards :-) Princess sent her Flat Stanley to visit her aunt and uncle in California (and their 1 yr old twins). He had a great time - he went to work with Uncle Scott (Uncle Scott works at Mattel.....how cool of a job is that?!) and he got to see the Pacific Ocean, and even climb a tree. Princess was so excited to see everything that Flat Stanley did.

I'm also going to start tutoring the kids one on one for a few hours each morning (before I go to class). I told the teacher I'd be happy to come in and I was shocked that she had so many kids who need help with the addition facts. Wow! This is the end of 2nd grade. Since there's only a couple weeks of school left, I figured I could squeeze in a few days of volunteering.

OY!! (sorry, CSI: Miami is on and I KNEW she was the mole!)

Have you seen the cute little build-a-bears that McD's is giving out in the Happy Meals? I'm looking forward to day after day of "can we go to McDonald's?" "can we go to McDonald's?" " PLEEEEEASE, can we go to McDonald's?" Lucky for her I'm really good at saying "No!"

Test Me

The bad thing about summer school is the pace of the classes. Cramming 1 week of material into each day of class makes for interesting study patterns. I already have a test in each of my classes this week. I think they will both be fairly easy, but I don't want to take any chances, so studying is the word of the day. And let's not forget the rest of the homework I need to continue working on!

Speaking of homework, I'm going to come to the blog-o-sphere and ask you if you know anybody who is physically disabled who might be willing to answer a couple of general questions. I'm writing a paper on the challenges faced by people with physical handicaps and I thought it might be better if I included some real thoughts, instead of just what the books say. More than that I really want to include the perspective or real people in my paper. So, please, if you know anybody that is paralyzed or an amputee or confined to a wheel chair for another reason, please drop them a line on my behalf and ask them if they have a couple minutes to answer a few questions. (Thanks guys! You're the best :-)

I volunteered to work with the PTO next year. The mom that got roped into being President has a daughter in Princess's class so I took pity on her and volunteered to help. AAAHHHH - I'm not sure it was the best decision on my part. I'm going to be busy next year, but the year after that is student teaching so there's no way I'll be able to help then. And let's face it education is all about parents being involved.

We signed Princess up for Junior Cheerleading the other night. I can't even wrap my mind around the fact that my adorable daughter thinks cheerleading is cool. My nose was too far into the closest book to think about cheerleading. 'Course back in my day the cheerleaders were not always the sharpest tools in the shed. Now it has morphed into a sport at some schools. Well, she can try it now while she's young and see if it's something that she likes. I just have to try to avoid getting roped into being an assistant coach or working at the concession stand!

Here's another question for you, why is it when you are trying to avoid doing anything productive that you can NEVER find anything good on TV?

Armed Forces Day

Tomorrow (May 20, 2006) is Armed Forces Day. I don't think you need to hear my opinion on this one. Support your troops (or else?!! LOL).

I'm thankful that our troops are supported, despite the way many people feel about the "cause". Despite it all, we know that being a soldier is more than just a job.

Now there is a new challenge which is going to spread our military thinner than it already is.

Seems like there is always a new job to be done.

So tomorrow, your job is to go find a military blog and tell somebody how much you appreciate the sacrifices that their family is making for this country.

I pray that God may continue to bless all of those who are and have served in uniform.