Work Update

Most of you know that I am "interim co-director" of my preschool this year. It has been very up in the air what is going to happen after this year, though, which has had me very anxious. Well, a couple of weeks ago we had to meet with the board of directors who told each of us that there would not be co-directors next year. They either have to choose one of us or hire someone from outside. In order to make this decision, they will be doing observations, 2 appraisals in the next 3 months, and we have to write out what our goals would be as director. Shoot that anxiety level right up there. Oh, and they said that we should not look at it as a competition. Ha. So I really don't like competing for recognition and I'm not willing to be aggressive they way I think my co-director is. I'm just going to do my best and put my thoughts out there and then hope for the best. And I'm going to try not to be disappointed with whatever they decide (unless they decide to hire from outside - then I might need to look for a new job). Please wish me luck as I venture into scary territory at work. Thanks.

1st Day Recap

The first day went really well. We had only two upset parents because they didn't have the physical that they had all summer to get so their baby couldn't start. One crying 3-year old in each class, but they both stopped in the first 10 minutes. A couple of kids who I can tell are going to be quite the handful. And mostly just a great group of adorable kids. We are going to have so much fun this year.
Daddy and Grandma managed to get Ben onto the bus this morning, and Daddy was able to pick up both boys with no mishaps (it was not a sure thing). Then Daddy walked out the door to go to work as soon as I walked in. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be a little hard because we won't see each other at all, but the other days we'll have a couple hours in the afternoon while both kids are at school. We have plans tomorrow afternoon to go shopping for Ben's birthday present. Poor Ben. I will never have another child with a September birthday. I have been so busy getting ready for school to start and getting all of us in a routine that I haven't even thought about what we're doing for his special day. And Daddy and Joey are going camping for the whole weekend so we won't be able to do anything then. Oh well, at least he gets to celebrate at school, twice, unlike Joey and I.

Job News

I've been "promoted" to co-director at my preschool. I put promoted in quotes because I don't really feel like it is a true promotion- when the boss dies and only one other person has qualifications according to DCFS they don't really have a choice. My other half has also only been with the school for a year and isn't technically director qualified, but she is going to school to get her certs so she can help. So, since I didn't really "earn" my title, I'm not really excited like I should be. I'm worried that everyone will be looking for a reason for the other co-director to take over next year because they don't think I'm good enough. She seems to really want it too, and is more willing to fight for it. I am very unwilling to fight for a position of power. That totally goes against my being. I want people to want me because they think I would do a good job, not because they have no other choice.
Also, this year out enrollment is way down. We think it has a lot to do with the economy. When people are looking for something to cut back, preschool seems to be disposable. Especially 3 year old preschool. The good news is that we don't have to hire a new teacher to replace Carol. The bad news is the budget isn't so good right now. We do still have a month to enroll those last minute stragglers, so we're trying to spread the word as much as possible around town.
So wish me luck with my job this year with the parents, students, and my co-workers. I plan to prove to everyone that I can do this and do it well.

I'm Having Some Time to Myself

Sometimes it is hard to get motivated to blog, but I think I've got it now....
The boys left with Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday afternoon and the biggest thing I've been doing is CLEANING. I'm doing one room a day and really cleaning things that haven't seen the light of day for an embarrassing amount of time. I worked on the kitchen tonight, scrubbed out the sink and behind it, under the toaster oven, everything is off the counter, it looks really good. Sunday was the living room. I bought new slipcovers for the chairs and pretty much just straightened and vacuumed. And washed the windows. Eww. Tomorrow is the bathroom. I hate the bathroom. Can someone come do the bathroom for me? The thing about the bathroom is that even if I scrub it from top to bottom it will be dirty again in just a few days. At least the living room and kitchen are relatively low-maintenance for a while.
Anyway, I also worked yesterday and today. It was traumatic- I had to break up 2 fights. I have never seen such violence from such young children. I think I have the rest of the week off, and Daddy might take a night off so we can do something while the kids are gone. He wants to do stinkin research and I'm really not into that right now. What else do grown-ups without kids do on a day off? We've gotten to where we just have no clue. Plus not a lot of $ to spend right now. But we did go to the 10:45PM movie Sunday night. Hancock. It was ok, but the best thing was just the adventure of going to a movie that late. And I met some girls at Tumbleweeds last night for dinner, enjoying myself without watching the clock for when I should go home.
So I'll let you know what we decide, and hopefully it won't be just to sit around at home all day, although my house is looking pretty spiffy right now...

The One With Lots of Links

I worked out last night! With this summer schedule (or lack thereof) I had been having a real hard time finding the right motivation. Before last night it had been almost 2 weeks since my last workout. Bad. Once you stop it's that much harder to get started again. So last night I had an hour before dinner. I plugged in my new Gym In A Box DVD (don't really like it, back to Jillian today), and did a 45 minute cardio routine. It felt so good. Why did I stop?

Also this week all I'm working is swim lessons. I smell so much like a chlorine tablet, even after showering. But the job is cush. Except today when my student didn't take his adderol before class. He was a bit on the wild side.

Friday it's zoo or bust! I bought the membership to Brookfield and I am going to get some use out of it. We have to get back to stingray bay, we didn't see the dolphin show the first time, and I'd like to see the monkeys again. (Hopefully we'll be joined by some friends, too.)

Today we went to see Circus Boy at Sinnissippi Park. The weather was beautiful, but the act wasn't worth writing home about.

Next week the boys are going camping with Grandma all week. Looking forward to the break. I hope I use my time wisely. Self, I say, please try to do something worthwhile with your time next week.

We got the school calendar in the mail the other day. The boys start school on August 20th! It's already coming up fast. Joey will go from 8:15 to 2:40 every day and Ben will go from 11:50 to 2:40 every day. Ben might also go to my school MWF mornings from 9-11. It sounds like a lot, but I think it will be good for him. The problem will be figuring out lunch in between.

I just finished reading Clean and Simple Scrapbooking The Sequel by Cathy Zielske. Yes, I started with the second one, but it happened to be at the library last time. Now I requested a whole bunch of books from the library (free is good) to get some new ideas. I really like Cathy's style and Stacy Julian (I have The Big Picture already). Anything that said Simple Scrapbooks on it, I requested. Now I'll probably overwhelm myself with ideas and projects that I can't get done. I already know that I need to take more pictures of the everyday stuff. And I'm doing more pages about myself, which involves not always being the one behind the camera. I did my page about learning the guitar the other night. Turned out real cute:)

A Week of Firsts

I've already written about Joey's first ambulance ride and my first new car in & years, but here are some more firsts we've had the last few days:




First time getting pulled over Yep, 15 years of driving and this was a first. The story: We were exploring the new car, kids sitting in the "trunk", wiping down the leather when Daddy had this brilliant idea of "Why don't we take it out and put some gas in it?" We hadn't registered the car yet because we got the title the night before and this was the holiday, but since we were just going to the gas station we figured no biggie. Daddy even thought we might not need car seats. Fortunately I ix-nayed that idea. Since I hadn't even driven my new car yet, I took the drivers seat and we headed out. Once we got on the road we decided not to go to the closest gas station but to go up 251 to the cheaper gas. First major intersection Joey says "there's the police." I thought nothing of it because they were several cars back. But when we turned onto 173, there she was behind me. She followed me onto 251, then went around for a minute, then pulled back in behind me and there went the lights. She just asked what happened to our registration and after we explained and she checked th VIN she sent us on our way. Thats the story of my first time being pulled over.







First time we got good seats and watched the fireworks uninturrupted It has really become quite a comedy in our house that we are never prepared with a place to watch the fireworks. The last few years we have driven towards downtown and parked on the side of the road then watched them from the car. Last year was the worst. We found a place at Sinnissippi and waited and waited, decided we couldn't see them and started for home only to realize that they hadn't started yet and we missed the whole thing. Well this year I decided not to worry so much. What will be will be. At about 8:30 we headed out and decided to try a cemetery I had heard about across from the park. We got there and parked at the top of a hill. The boys did sparklers for a few minutes, then we pulled out the chairs for the show. It was perfect. There was no one around (perhaps scared of a cemetery after dark) and we had a great view. Joey loved it, Ben ran around. Whatever.



First time at the driving range since having kids I've been begging for this for awhile. I really like hitting balls, but it involves a babysitter to avoid catastrophe (just use your imagination). So when grandma was over yesterday we decided to head out. I actually did pretty well, hitting consistently between 50 and 100 yards. Today though, I am sore. And I have multiple blisters on my hand. But it was fun and I can't wait to go again.



First time eating at Old Chicago For some reason we had never been there before. It was pretty good. The boys liked it.



First time working a 40 hour week in a year Sorry to all the full-time workin mommas, but I've been part time for a year now and really like it. My summer job is kinda crazy though and I ended up working 9 and 10 hour days all week. Next week sounds better- just 2 hours 3 days and 1 full day.



First time attending the Contemporary Service at Church I don't know what it was, but I was very emotional at church and just really appreciated the music we sang. It was beautiful singing with the very small group that was in attendance today.

Phew

I've been playing with my pictures on Photoshop Elements again. I really like how these turned out.

Saturday we had swim lessons, and I worked at the same time. Daddy came to watch and both boys did a great job. As soon as we were done we headed into Chicago for Daddy's brother's High School Graduation party. It was good to see his brothers and sister, but jeez do they have some ornery grandmas. There was lots of avoiding and complaining and I was ready to leave within an hour of arriving. The boys were obliviously playing on the trampoline the whole time we were there. We finally left at about 7, and got home close to 9:15. I realized at Belvidere that I had forgotten my camera. Grrr. So one of those ornery, I mean kind, Grandmas had to bring it to me Sunday. Phew. At least someone else had to drive out here. So when we got home I headed right back out to scrap night. I can count on one hand the number of times I have started my evening after nine o'clock. Used to be I was in bed by then. I'm glad I went even though I didn't bring anything to work on because there were all kinds of birthday presents waiting for me. Thanks girls for all the goodies. I had to take my gift cards yesterday and spend them. I just got some little stuff and some card stock. Also stopped at Kohl's because I was down to one bra that I liked. I hate bra shopping. After my shopping I came home and decided to organize all my scrap stuff. I stole a case with compartments from Daddy's fishing supplies and put all my small embellishments in one place. Then I played a bit with my cricut. I haven't finished a page, but I have lots of ideas swirling around for it. I also played on ebay for a bit (any longer and I'd be broke). I got a new cartridge and some vinyl so I can make stickers for the walls, probably mostly at school for now.

Today I had to work all the way on the other side of town at 7:45 so I had to leave at 7:15. I knew it would be hard to get up this morning because I'm used to sleeping in the last few weeks, so I tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour. And laid there for 2 hours. Then Ben woke up with an asthma attack at 3. Then I was awake at 5. And 6. Part of it was me being nervous because I was starting at a new place. I better get used to it because I am floating all summer. So I got there at 7:45 and got off at 5:15. Long day for a girl who has been working part-time (sorry Jacque). But I really loved working with my participant. He is such a sweetheart, just very delayed speech. Tomorrow and Wednesday I go back there all day. Tonight we're about to head to the library, then (possibly) to watch a baseball game. Tomorrow Daddy is test-driving a car for me. Not the car of my dreams, but managable. I'll give more details if we get it. I'm tired of getting my hopes up and then nothing, so I'm trying not to think about it too much. Look for a new post soon about Daddy and his ummm, craziness.

The New Job

Oh man, sorry I haven't been around lately. It's the summer bug. I started my job this week and just getting into doing something new is always stressful. The job itself is pretty easy- I get to play games with a bunch of kids for 4 hours a day. We played dodgeball, capture the flag, foursquare, ships and sailors, kickball, and camoflage in the last two days. I haven't had any specific kids assigned to me yet, but there is one that I think I'll be working with starting tomorrow. He seems like he'll be fun, just a ball of energy.
The boys started swim lessons on Saturday. They both did great, although Joey is a little short for the big pool.
K.. I'm actually at a loss for what else to talk about. We are heading out to Concert in the Park in a bit, so I'll try to think of something to add later.

Like, Stuff

*The boys started gymnastics last night. Ben is in the Little Stars with 5 other girls, which I think is better because he has a better role model. He did really, really well. He listened to his teacher and when he did get distracted and start to wander, he came right back when she called him. Joey is in Boys Sport Readiness with 2 other boys. I am so glad I put him in this. He gets lots of one-on-one, he's already doing new things, he loves it and so far wants to do it forever, and hopefully he can make some friends in the process.
*This morning Ben got screened for preschool. He pretty much refused to do anything for a while, wouldn't separate from me, and even when he started participating he refused to do anything he wasn't sure he could do right. So based on that, he was admitted to Parker Center for the fall. Mostly I am very happy that he got in because I know he needs the extra help and I've faced the reality that I am not providing it. I'm just a little sad that my baby needs extra help and I can't solve it by myself for him. We haven't been able to get him in for the psych eval, so this makes me feel a little better that we are taking steps.
*Last night the whole staff at my school got together to discuss what we are going to do next year. We know now that Carol will not be back, so we can start to figure out who is going to take her place. Some of the ladies who have been there for 25 years or more feel very uncomfortable having someone new or young take over. This really is directed at me since I am the only director-qualified staff right now. The whole situation is just very difficult because no one wants to hurt anyone's feelings, but they also don't want anything to change. I actually don't have hurt feelings over being told that they don't want me to take over. I can step back and see their point, plus I really don't feel prepared for the position. One solution we are talking about is having 2 people be co-directors, but there are issues that go along with that too.
*On the subject of birthdays: I wasn't really going to talk about it on here because I don't want to be like "It's my birthday, please acknowledge!" But tomorrow I will be IN my thirties. Last year when I turned 30 it wasn't a big deal to me. I felt like I was in a good place in my life and doing the things I wanted to do when I was 30. But now I'm going to be IN my thirties. Thirty-one. That's old. And these past two weeks I've been in training for my summer job with mostly 16 to 18 year olds. They are babies. Seriously. Did I act like that? I don't think. Oh man, now I really sound old. But these kids were born when I was in high school. They were born in the 90's. Oh. My. God. I need to stop. No more thinking about it. Goodbye.

Summer Changes

I just got reprimanded for not updating my blog in a while...sorry. Daddy got home Thursday night, and it has been an adjustment getting used to all of our new schedules. I have been training for my summer job along with stopping by my school job every couple of days to check mail and messages. Joey had his last day of school Friday which was bittersweet. He's getting so big and he really enjoyed Kindergarten. I hope he loves First grade just as much. Daddy started working nights today so we are really messed up on time right now. To me it feels like early afternoon right now even though it is almost 6. We're not really sure what we're going to do for dinner during this time because I don't really like cooking for just the three of us and I don't want him eating fast food every night. Wednesday the boys start their gymnastics classes and Saturday is their first swimm lesson of the season. I noticed the pool was open when i drove by today, so hopefully we'll be able to go soon for a swim (maybe when all these thunderstorms and tornados finally go away).
I just want to briefly talk about my training today. It was crisis prevention and intervention training, and I got some great tips for dealing with situations that I'm sure I will encounter this summer. But...I was a little distracted. The instructor told us from the beginning that she talks really fast and boy does she. She would tell us some thing, then finish with "Know what I mean?" except it came out "knowdmean?". Once I noticed this quirk I also noticed that she said it alot. Like every sentence. At one point I started counting before I decided that would be too obnoxious. But I really had a hard time focusing on what she was telling us because I was waiting for "knowdmean?"
On another topic...I did it again. those of you that have known me for a while know that I am "slow to warm up." I'm shy and I have a hard time starting conversations with people I don't know. Pretty much every job I've had, once I get to know people they tell me that they used to think I was a b**** because I didn't talk to them. Well, I'm not a b*** at least not intentionally but I apparently don't give good first impressions. I thought I was getting better, and I know I'm getting better about confrontations, but one of my coworkers at my school job sat me down today and had a very (brutally) honest conversation with me about how I came off to her in the beginning. She said she eventually figured out that I didn't mean it, but in the meantime she thought I didn't like her. I just wish people would talk to me sooner so I can assure them that my intentions are good, but I'm still working on my communication skills. I need to wear a sign: "beware- personality may appear meaner than true self." It sucks-I know that I have this flaw and I don't seem to be able to fix it. Baby steps. I'm still trying. Also, I am very tender. I know you are saying "Really?" in this really sarcastic voice right now. But really, I feel horrible that this person was offended for that long and I didn't know and I didn't fix it. I'm going to dwell on this for a while now.

So was that a good update? I'm still here, just trying to adjust to lots of changes.

And if you haven't seen Carol's updates: they seem to be getting ready to say good-bye to her. Her whole family is back in town and they have taken her off life support. She is being kept comfortable. It is very sad, but her family is so strong in their faith. They know that she is going to walk with Jesus and she will be waiting for them when they get there. Please still help me pray for strength for the family for these next days and weeks of grief.