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"No day but today..." Sheepishly steps out and waves �hello� to everyone. How are you? Me? I�ve been�busy�overwhelmed�trying to stay afloat� I made the mistake of having so much to say, and no time to write, so I just kept telling myself that I�d get to it later, or tomorrow, or hopefully over the weekend, or�well, you get the picture. The result is that the job got so BIG that I just never did get around to it. This morning I decided that today I was going to put something, anything, in this diary. So, here I am! Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, Chicago� Surreal. That�s the only word I can use to describe the trip back �home� for my grandfather�s funeral. First, we weren�t even sure we�d be able to fly out in time. O�Hare was closed due to �thunder snow� and all flights were delayed. We boarded our plane. We got off the plane. We were told it would be several hours. We were called to re-board 30 minutes later. No one really had any clue what was going on. The good part, however, is that with all the delays our flight ended up being really empty and there was room to spread out. That�s always nice. I realized as mom, dad, Alisa, and I were waiting for the rental car that this was the first time that I�ve flown back to Chicago and not had Grandpa pick me up at the airport. We moved to California when I was almost 10 years old. That�s 25 years of trips. Sobering thought. As strange as this will sound, though, it really was great to have all 7 of the cousins together. It seems that often one of us is missing when there�s a family gathering, so having all of us there made for some special bonding time! As someone pointed out when we went out Friday night, we�re all (just about) old enough to �finally have alcohol served at the kiddie table.� Hee hee! Alisa and I flew back on Saturday. I can�t say that either of us were sad to be leaving the 4-degree temperatures. For the first time ever, I was on a flight that actually lost time in the air due to ferocious head winds. I walked into my house, hugged the guys, and then ran upstairs to repack my suitcase. Repack? Yes. Less than half an hour after I arrived home, we were in the car headed to Anaheim for our Disneyland vacation. Easy drive until we reached the grapevine, where it was snowing. It wasn�t bad snow, but it was enough at the end of a long drive to just wipe Ryan out. We stayed about an hour south of Disneyland that night. The vacation is another story in itself. I will post about it later this week. The short version is that my kids were amazingly well behaved. I was a bit, uh, emotional, at the beginning of the week (lack of sleep and burying your grandfather can do that to a girl) but after a good nap and an incredible night�s sleep, I bounced back. We arrived home on Thursday, just in time for me to catch my Astronomy class. Literally, Ryan dropped me off at school on the way home and had to pick me up after class! The next 3 days were spent in major cramming mode. We had a midterm that covered 4 lectures�and I�d missed 3 of them with the 2 trips! EEK! Somehow I pulled it off, though. I did get my lowest score of the quarter and it ended up being the grade that got dropped (he only counts 2 of the 3 midterms on your final grade). However, that �lowest score� was still a 95% (go me!). I thought I�d get a break now that the cram session was over. I thought wrong. Turns out that somehow progress report deadlines did not make it on our master calendar at work. So, I returned from the week off and the 3 day cram-fest to discover that I had to prepare grades. This is usually not a big deal for me because I learned (the hard way) several years ago to stay on top of my grading. But, I missed three days of work right before vacation. I had a huge pile of grading to catch up with. Somehow, I pulled that off too, and got my grades in on time. So, now I can relax, right? Oh, of course not. See, in catching up on all that work, I got behind in my reading for Astronomy class. And, of course, there was another midterm coming up. Once grading was done, I had to once again catch up on Astronomy class and rush to prepare for another exam. Vicious cycle, I tell you. So, I studied and studied, pulled off another good grade (96% this time) and was ready to sleep for a week straight. Uh, no. We�ve now managed to hit the week that 2/3 of our 8th grade class took a trip to Yosemite. I was the only science teacher to stay on campus, so I was in charge of the 8th grade curriculum for that week. I put together a pretty fun Forensics unit and the kids had a blast, but it was still lots of work. At the end of that week a bunch of family arrived in town for my sister�s Bridal Shower. I did my best to keep it low key and fun. We played a couple of games that didn�t embarrass anyone, had a small luncheon, and opened gifts. Somehow during all the chaos of the two weeks before the shower I managed to make a scrapbook for Alisa. I had everyone that was invited email me some �words of wisdom� for her and I had those all printed out and in the book, too. Now, if I can just get around to printing the photos from that day, I can give the book back to her! ROFL Alright, are you still with me? In this saga it�s now mid-March. It�s also the last week of Astronomy class before the final. Any predictions on what I�m doing now? Yep�intensive studying again. There are 2 new chapters to cover for the final. I�ve got scores of 95%, 96%, and 97% on the midterms. I have already signed up for another class with the same teacher for the next quarter. I cannot bomb this final. And, I didn�t. I rocked it with a resounding 99%! Yet, my insane schedule continues! I�ve gotten zippo done in the lesson plan arena lately. In some strange fit hyper-intensive planning, I managed to finish up my lesson plans for the school year. I even got all of my photo copies ready to go and turned them in to the parent copy group. I have no idea how I managed this, but I did. OK, now? Now I can rest? Nope! Once again�it�s time for grades. The quarter here at work ended the same week. That means it�s time to do report cards. I was prepared, but it�s still a little time consuming. Finally, last week, life was almost quiet. I had the week off from college classes. I had two weeks left of work before spring break. I decided that I really want to enjoy my spring break this year. So, I started �spring cleaning� the house. Major reorganizing. Bags of recycle, trash, and donations are ready to go. But, it�s done! I finished on Sunday night. And, my new Astronomy class started yesterday afternoon! During the 2 month saga of insanity we managed to break all sorts of weather records here in the Bay Area. It snowed. More. Than. Once. It rained. More. Than. Twenty. Days. In. March. It�s still raining today, in fact. Let me tell you, when I�m already stressed out, major storms do nothing in the way of improving my emotional state! Finally, after 8 weeks of being chronically behind in every aspect of my life (honestly�even my period ran late those 2 months!), I feel on top of everything again. Of course there is work to do, and studying to do, and housework to do. But, I�m no longer playing catch-up. Looking forward�. I�m on spring break from work next week. I�ll have my Astronomy class, but all I have to do is show up. The material for the first midterm exactly mirrors the material for the first midterm from last quarter�s class. I�ll have to study, of course, but the reading is done. The flash cards are made. It�s a little bit of coasting time for me. I intend to scrapbook, and read, and watch DVD�s. At the end of break is Bridal Shower #2. I�m ready. Prizes are bought, menu is planned, game is planned, things are running smoothly there. The Bachelorette Pleasure Party is booked for June. Alisa�s wedding is in July. I�ll be taking one summer school class this year. I won�t be teaching this summer. Oh yeah, and I�ll be making two trips to SoCal in July and August. Lisa is taking me to see Rent and Wicked this summer. Life is good. Busy, but good! past | future1 comments Listening to: Silence...it's my prep period! Reading: Rereading actually, The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown Eating/drinking: Venti Soy Cinnamon Latte Do what to me?!? - April 24, 2007 Wicked funny websearch - April 05, 2007 Trot out the dogs 'n ponies - March 31, 2007 Almost done... - March 20, 2007 Who am I? - March 12, 2007 READ ME |