Back in the Swing

I have been back at school for three days now and I am glad. It went well and I really did miss the kids although they had a hard time believing that. We are back in the normal routine now and everything within my four walls is perfect, I love it! Now, as for the outside of the four walls, that's a different story! The school staff is a mess. The administration keeps changing things which is really hard on the kids to start new things and then change again. The staff doesn't react to well either so there is lots of griping and yelling behind closed doors. It is so frustrating to love what you do and then hate the climate you do it in.

T.V. has started again! It is exciting in our house. I am glad Sarah is back again to tape and keep things on track so I get to see everything and I don't miss any of the good stuff. Grey's Anatomy was wonderful, The Office was hilarious and the show after Grey's was not good. That's all I've seen so far because we both fell asleep while watching NCIS last night at 9 o'clock. ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!!! We felt sad this morning!

Today is a new day and we may do some shopping, Sarah got some new plastic and I need some new skirts and pants. I also need a new haircut. Have a good weekend everybody!

Do-It-Yourself-Surgery

At least that it what it sounds like from the bill I got from the hospital today. I paid for things like a scalpel and cath tubes and glue (skin adhesive) and face masks and sutures. There are all kinds of things on the list that is very itemized I must add. Anyone looking at the list would see a list of things needed to do surgery so why shouldn't I do it myself? I know, I can't. But it still doesn't explain why I had to buy the scalpel. All of this amounts to the grand total of $18, 375.44 and this has no charges for the private room I had either. The insurance hasn't paid their share yet so I have to wait and see how much I will pay but I am sure it will be a lot.

Word to the wise: If you have to have surgery it might be cheaper to get the supply list from me and then find someone who can do it for free. Maybe we should find some pro bono surgeons, they have lawyers, why not surgeons.

Thieves among us

I hate missing working. Now, I know most people don' t say that but I have a special job. See, the way I see it is that there is never enough time when you are a teacher. There are always benchmarks to reach and books you want to read and fun things you hope you get to. When you are gone there are not enough chances to do the rest. For this reason, most teachers will tell you they don't like being gone. Also because inevitably (not anyone's fault) things get messed up, stolen, dirty, unorganized and there is major chaos upon returning.

I went to school today to get lesson plans ready for the sub this week and I am distraught. But it will be my students who will be distraught when I return and they experience the wrath of Ms. Knapp for stealing my stuff. The stuff I buy. The stuff I allow them to use. I am very angry now so I will quit before I say things I will regret. Let me just say this, any bad day at work for me is better than missing work unless of course Mc. Dreamy whisks me away to Hawaii.

A Whole New World

I have entered a whole new world and please somebody take me back to the old one!!!! About a week ago, the 7th of September, to be exact, I had an emergency. Now, this is familiar territory for me but this one was a bit scarier as it resulted in surgery and the doctor removing something permanently from my body that I may or made not need later on (depending on the possibility of eating raw meat??). Anyway, I had my appendix out. They say I had acute appendicitis. The pain I had was not acute because two doses of morphine didn't even help a little. So anyway, for more on that refer to Sarah's blog linked to this page. She gives a nice blow by blow of the weekends events and my inability to save myself in even the most dire circumstances.

What I want to talk about or rather write about is the world. I have been watching a lot of news this week because there is not a lot to do when you are in pain and laying in one position. And I have decided that there is a limit to how much Law and Order I can watch in one day. The world scares me! In one day this is what I learned:

*Whitney Houston filed for divorce after 14 terrible years
*Brittany Spears had another boy who was supposed to be a girl
*Anna Nicole Smith lost a son and gained a daughter
*A 23 year old beautiful teacher is serving 3 years house arrest for sleeping with her 12 year old student
*No one did a news story on a very homely looking woman who also slept with one or more students
*People in South Korea are angry and chaining themselves to fences because the government is bulldozing their homes to make way for a new U.S. military base
*The Today Show spent way too much money making their studio high definition (I don't get that at all..)
*Brad Pitt won't get married again because same sex marriage is illegal...but he wants to marry a woman...he was already married once... this was always illegal...
*Barbara Walters thinks her dog spoke to her
*People are mutilating and killing sting rays because one accidentally killed Steve Irwin
*People are more upset that the new Survivor is segregated than that there is genocide in the Sudan
*600 + American civilians have died in Iraq as contractors under Haliburton since this drive for freedom started
*More soldiers and Iraqis died but whose counting....


This is an outrageous world we live in, how are we supposed to keep up and what is supposed to be important? All I know is that I need to get back to work where I know I can make a difference, a small one, but a difference still.

Thanks for all the well wishes that have flooded in, you guys are great.

Calm

Today I feel calm, it took me a while to figure out what I was feeling, but I think it is calm. Let me explain. Normally I feel tired, anxious, or ill. I know, I know, I am probably also insane but indulge me. We had a three day weekend and didn't do very much, in fact I talked Sarah into staying in bed until 4 p.m. yesterday watching 24 season 3. Then I cleaned the house and we cooked and hung out and then today I read a book and made tuna casserole and hung up a sun outside. It was very quiet and nice. Then a little while ago I was painting Sarah's toenails and watching season 1 of Grey's Anatomy and I thought something was wrong. I had this weird feeling in my stomach. At first I assumed it was anxiety but this was a new feeling.

Then I got to thinking, what if I have finally reached a point in my life where I am happy, clam and enjoying myself, not always trying to catch up or figure out what is next. I am content to go to work and teach my kids and come home and cook or watch T.V.

This is a good feeling and I hope it lasts for awhile. And for those of you who are wondering, I didn't even have to take extra meds to write this! Night!