Got your attention right? I know, I know ... it's dramatic. Feels that way though. The past three months have been rough for so many reasons. You know those actions movies where the hero is dashing through what basically looks like the apocalypse and stuff is coming at them from all directions? Kind of like that, except that instead of the hero, I am probably the road kill off to the side of the frame.
Number one - health problems with my mom. She had what was originally thought to be heart issues (turns out her blood pressure is very erratic), so we have been dealing with that. Lots of visits to the ER, doctor appointments, and now we are finally working with home health. They come in to monitor her blood pressure and are doing physical therapy with her to improve her balance and help her deal with her osteoporosis. Folks, this woman is the poster child for osteoporosis. Honest. She is seriously a nightmare when it comes to bone density. Our neighbor read a set of her x-rays and seriously freaked out. Yup, it's that good. So we've been really busy with her health issues and Medicare.
This was also the time that my computer decided it was time to have health issues of its own. It started by doing weird little things, then moved on to major freezes and issues that had me screaming. I have a kid whose textbooks are online, which was maddening for her. I talked to a computer geek friend of mine about taking it in and basically had my face laughed in. "Babe, it's five years old! It's operating system can't handle what's out there anymore. Why throw good money after bad? Buy a new computer and send that old relic to Valhalla." Am I the only person who sometimes wants to smack their computer geek friends? So, sniffing and crying over my check book (not to mention feeling betrayed by my little green Dell ... something that may require therapy in future), I drug myself into Staples and threw myself on the mercy of my C.G.s (computer geek ... yup, I do acronyms) there. They commiserated (at least on the surface) with my trauma over being betrayed by my Dell's operating system etc., then led me by the hand to the display area. Knowing me as they do (she's a teacher guys, don't take her over to the BMW section), I was led to the sale area. "It's the last Lenovo Ultrabook of this model. They've got a new one coming out, so we've marked them down 50% to clear them out. This is the last one. You're going to save about 70% if you take this floor model though." Luckily, I'd done my homework and knew this to be a highly rated computer. So, I clapped my little hands and did the dance of joy. Gotta tell you, they love me at Staples. I think I amuse them because I like them so much. I like them so much because they take such good care of me. Always.
So, I went home with my new laptop loaded with Windows 8. I was busy with all the things you need to do when you get a new computer of course. I also had lots of end-of-the-year school assignments to do, plus several writing assignments. Suddenly, I found myself fighting over the computer with the other members of the family. No actual battles or preemptive strikes, but we did do our share of glaring over our own personal DMZ, accompanied by growls of "I need the computer now. Are you done? Yet?" That's when my daughter who is going into high school next year signed up for the school's Fast Track system. She can take online college courses (eight) the school will pay for, and get a leg up on her general education requirements etc. Okay. I went online to see if Dell had any promotions going and found a laptop for 50% off. Yup, I was feeling totally golden. So, the new baby arrived and there was peace in the land once more.
My school year ended, mercifully. This has been one of the hardest years ever. So much ugliness went on. I may post about that later, but not on this day. Our school district, like every other school district in our state, is being seriously underfunded by our state legislators. Therefore, we went to our patrons with a levy to help get us through. It was crushingly defeated by our patrons. Many of those who voted no did so because they are unhappy with our superintendent, administrators, and school board. They wanted to "send them a message." I don't know if they got any "message," but the ones left to bear the brunt of the massive cuts that had to be made were the kids and the teachers. One of the things they did was fire all the school librarians. So ... the year didn't end well at all. We keep hearing about more cuts as the summer is going on.
I made the decision that I would stay through the 2013-2014 school year (unlike many of our other teachers, who pulled up stakes and left for greener pastures), because I felt I needed to stay there for my team and finish our transition to teaching Common Core standards. I'm the curriculum member of the team, so it's pretty much my baby. It seemed cruel to walk out the door right now. So, I'll see the transition through. But, like many other savvy rats, if this ship continues to sink I am out the door.
June is ballet summer intensive month, which means driving a van load of ballerinas to Pocatello every day, My daughter got her phone stolen the second week (we got it back), which made for three very bad days. However, she loved the actual classes and she did a wonderful job in their presentation of "La Fille Mal Gardee." Can't believe they actually pull together a full scale ballet in that amount of time, but they do and it is incredible.
Said dancer then had the toenails on her little toes partially removed. Very long story involving a three year-old, jumping on a couch, springs, and nastiness. Her toenails have been deformed ever since, and we'd reached the time where they needed to be dealt with. Having dealt with them, we are now doing wound care and putting up with a dancer who is sure she is going to die because she isn't dancing.
So, that's where I've been. I still have a great deal to say about these past 3 months ... but that will come later.
Right now, I am just thankful for the AC unit we bought yesterday. When your house is 90 degrees inside, life becomes pretty grim and depressing. Everyone devolves into whiny slugs. Not pretty. Today the household climate is much better. Only the injured dancer continued to sigh deeply while lolling about. Please insert a deep sigh of my own here.
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