I'm not Super-Teacher...Thank goodness.

So this is my 5th year of teacher. For the past 4 years, I've been busting my booty trying to do everything.

One of my many projects was taking over my school's UIL program. It's a competition between schools in different academic events. I've been the coordinator for 3 years. I had to pick out coaches, recruit students, arrange for transportation and meals, manage the students and collaborate with other schools. It's a pain in the butt. And the only perk is the paycheck. It's an extra $900.

I even did this last year. Our big meet last year was in February. I was 7 months pregnant and miserable, but I got through it. (You should've seen my legs after that. I was so swollen.)

Anyway, this year I am already stressed about it. Last night I went to bed thinking of everything I had to do. I even got up extra early to get to school early to get some things done. I had to leave my baby and husband in bed to go. Well, on my way to work I decided that it's not worth it. Yes, $900 would be great, but it's not necessary. I'd rather not have to stress myself out about it. I got to work and asked my great friend, Ada, to take it on and she said yes.

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, I felt this huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Ahhh.

I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I have a 6 month old. I have a husband. I have my students to worry about. I'll focus on them, not extracurriculars.

2 weeks left

I have two weeks left of my summer. I start back at work on Aug 18th. This is so hard for me. I didn't imagine that it would be this difficult to leave my baby. He's starting daycare on Aug 25. (J's taking a week of vacation when I start back at work so Goob doesn't have to start at daycare yet.)

I cry everytime I think of someone else holding him, feeding him, changing him, seeing his smiles and just being with him.

(I want to stay home so bad but right now it's just not financially possible. J and I've done some major talking and we've worked out that I'll be able to be a SAHM in 2 years if we stick to our budget.)


Any advice for me?

Getting back to work

So I've got about 5 and a 1/2 weeks until I return to teaching. I've got a bunch of new ideas that I need to work on. Yesterday I kept trying to find the time to sit down and organize some things but never did. This morning I've managed to make a partial list of stuff I need to work on. The only reason I found time to work on things is because Goob woke up at 5:30 to be fed and changed. Well, he went back to bed and I didn't. (By the way, Goob slept from 9ish until 5:30. He did get a dream feed at 11:30 but he wasn't awake so it didn't count!) Now I figure I've got about half an hour to work on things until he wakes up.

Here's my To Do list:

• decide how to decorate the walls
• morning folders
• homework: to have or not have?
• writing folders
• wednesday folders or graded work binders?
• journals
• parent contact binders
• turn in area
• classroom jobs
• supply list
• behavior managment system
• classroom economy
• STARS binder

I know I'm forgetting something...

36 weeks and in pain!!

I was having a wonderful pregnancy so far. I had no complaints. Things were great.

Then I hit 35 weeks. Ugh. Here comes insomnia, back aches, pubic bone pain, major cramps. And each day they've gotten worse. Now I'm sitting at 36 weeks and a day and I can barely stand up without having pain in my pelvis. I feel like Goob is gonna pop out anytime I'm on my feet. I've gotten kind of worried.

Thankfully, I have my check up tomorrow afternoon so I'll be sure to get all my questions answered. It's the start of my weekly check ups. So she'll be giving me internals and we'll see if I'm making any progress.

You know, with all my aches and pains in the past week, I've experienced no contractions. Or at least none that I'm aware of. I mean, I could be having contractions and just not realize it, right? Who knows?

Now it's just a waiting game. And pretty much everything is coming along:

At school: all my lesson plans are done. I've put away pretty much everything that I dont want a sub routing around in. I've made all the copies my kids will need. My lesson plans don't start until April 7th so no baby until then!! Plus I still need to get the paperwork straightened out with my leave. Hopefully that will be done on Tuesday.

At home: Goob's room is all ready. I've got tons of clothes, plenty of diapers, and most of the supplies that I'll need. Plus J and I've spiffied up our bedroom since that's where the little guy will sleep most of the time. We rented a Rug Doctor last night and have cleaned the carpets. (Our carpet was horrible!!!!! You should have seen the dirty water. It was black!!!!) We moved the furniture to make room for the pack and play/bassinet. I bought a little cheapie night table. It's kinda crazy. Our room looks more homey. Before it just had a bed and a tv. Seriously. Now it's more cozy.

With family: It seems like everyone is ready to drop everything and head down here when they get the call. My parents were here last weekend and my mom was here this weekend. So the next time I'll see them is when I'm at the hospital getting ready to deliver. We haven't seen J's parents since early February. And we got a phone call from them last night, that they want to visit us next weekend. Why? Why now? Why come when I'm 37 weeks pregnant. It's not like I'm gonna wanna to be entertaining. Jeez, I can't barely walk and they want to come and visit. Why not just wait until the baby's born? It seems strange to me to drive all this way to visit next weekend and then they'll have to come back up in a week or two for the baby's birth. Weird.

I hate TAKS testing!

This was the most boring day of my life. But thankfully I'm done til next year since I'll be on maternity leave during the Reading and Math TAKS.

The only bright side of today was I got some reading done. Unfortunately, I left the book I'm currently reading at home so I had to stick with children's literature. I read Becoming Naomi Leon and The Giver. Good reads.

Why?

My week started out okay.... I woke up on Monday, took a shower, got dressed, and then my phone started ringing. It's never a good sign when someone calls you before 7 am.

One of my really good friends whom I teach with was on the phone. She said that she's bleeding and her doc wants her to come to the office asap. Did I mention she's 20 weeks pregnant? I told her I'd cover her class and for her just to concentrate on keeping her and her little one safe. I assumed she was going to be fine. I was hoping it was nothing.

I didn't hear anything during the day until our conference period. Then I went to make copies and our asst. principal tells me that the secretary just spoke to my friend and that she lost the baby. What? I was totally confused. How could she just lose the baby? She's 5 months pregnant. There's a baby in there!!! What happened?

I decided to wait until afterschool to call her. But as I'm getting in my car, I notice I have 2 missed calls the Medical Center. It's my friend. She's been admitted for pre-term labor. She had been dilating and having contraction and that's what caused the bleeding. She said that she hadn't lost the baby yet. But the doc thinks that what's gonna happen. But for the time being they are trying to stop the labor. I tell her I love her and to stay strong and I'll call her tomorrow.

I get to school the next day and it seems like everyone knows that she lost the baby. I get pissed and let everyone know that that hasn't happened yet and that they need to keep her in their prayers. (I think my pregnancy hormones got the best of me!)

I called her at lunch time and she's already crying. The doc had just left her room and there's been no change in stopping her labor. He's ready to induce her. He told her that there's just no way that baby will make it. It's just too soon. She's gonna have to deliver her baby. She's losing it on the phone. I hear it in her voice. There are no words to say at moments like this.

She calls me Wednesday morning and tells me everything is done. She made it through delivery okay. She's already feeling better. She had her second beautiful son and he died shortly after coming to this world.

Why? What is the reasoning behind this? Why does anyone have to go through something like this? I just don't understand. I know that God has a plan for us all, but it's times like these that we've gotta have extra faith.


I did go by and see her today and she's doing amazing. I really admire her strength, and she's already talking about giving it another go. Wow.

The longest week!

Today marks my 31st week being pregnant. It feels like I'm coming down the hill. Before we know it, the baby will be here. It's getting kind of scary.

I'm feeling okay. The exhaustion is back. I haven't been this tired since I was 8 or 9 weeks pregnant. My back is starting to kill me all over. And I can't get a good night's sleep. It's not so bad...at least not yet.

Goob is still kicking away in there. He's exactly like his momma. He doesn't like any unnecessary touching. I'll put my hand on my stomach and he'll kick it away. J puts his hand on my stomach and Goob will kick it away. He's certainly gonna be a Mommy's boy.

This week marked the end of my tutorial classes. Thank goodness! I was having to stay in school til 5:30 three days a week and it was taking it's toll on me. I'll miss the extra bucks, but it'll be worth it to be home and take a cat nap during Oprah. :)

And the next few weeks are gonna fly by. Next week, we'll only have a 3 1/2 day week due to Charro Days. The next week is our TAKS test which will be an easy week. The following week J and I will be driving to Houston for baby shower #2 for me, and then it's Spring Break. The next week after that is Easter Weekend and baby shower #3. Then it'll be April.

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDNNNNNNNNESSSSSSSS!

Goob's room is coming along. We got carpet today. Hopefully, we'll be able to go pick up the crib tonite and order the dresser. Pics will be up tomorrow of the crib and carpet!!

Pet Peeve

Why do parents move in the middle of the year? I know that sometimes our jobs make us move and such. But I just had a new student yesterday. I spoke to her mom and she said that they moved because she just needed a change. Later, my new student told us that her mom was just tired of their old house. ????? Huh?



So now I have a new student

T.G.I.F*#^ Day!

(I've seen too many Sex and the City reruns cause that's the first thing that pops in my head when I hear TGIF.)

Anyways, today was a crazy busy day. J's car is broken so we had to take it to the shop this morning. The shop opens at 7:30 and I had to be at school by 8. School is about 30+ miles from shop. I don't know how we made it, but we did. I guess J does know how to speed. It was shocking!

My poor kiddos were worked to death today. Usually, Fridays are lazy days. We just take a few tests and work on a project or two, but not today. I had a whole list of things I wanted to get accomplished-and we did! This marking period is short cause of the Xmas holidays so I had to cram 6 weeks into 5. I know they were tired by the end of the day. They were also a little peeved at me cause I told them we'd have time to read our read-aloud (Little House on the Prairie) but we didnt.

I can't believe that I'm about to say this, but I CAN'T WAIT FOR MONDAY! Monday's our big u/s day. Will baby be a gal or a guy? I had such a life-like dream last night that it was a girl, so that's my prediction. J swears it'll be a boy. We'll see!!! This weekend needs to fly by.