Be Careful What You What You Wish For

I was really wishing for a snow day - MONDAY. Now it is WEDNESDAY and guess what? We have a snow day.

On Monday if we had been off I had great plans. I was going to Curves early, and then come home and paint the bathroom. Today - I'm not in the mood. I guess I need to be more specific about my wishes. So let it be known . . . I want Monday or Friday snow days. A Wednesday snow day gives us an extra Monday in the week. Ugh.

Any way, I do have plans of sort. I'm going to drink an extra cup of coffee; leisurely get in my clothes (bluejeans) and then go to school. I'll be able to complete one big project, work on another big project, reorganize my sub list (some new names came down from CO yesterday), get another big project underway, Call Command this week's Friday School participants, type up the SBDM Council meeting minutes and prepare the agenda for our next (special) meeting on the 13th. If I still have the momentum I may start work on a January Sharp Deals - which in light of all my other responsibilities this month was not going to happen. All of this would normally take a week or so.

Tonight we are traveling to Augusta to go to the visitation of the mother of a good friend of ours.

So, even though my bathroom isn't going to get painted, I'll have a good (productive) day!

Good Day

Today was a productive day and those are the best kind.

I got up at 6:15 a.m. While drinking my coffee I worked on a new recipe from my new Rachael Ray cookbook. The chicken and dumplings look really good and I'm anxious for supper.

At 8:08 I left the house to go to Curves. By 9:30 I was working at school. Holidays when no one else is there is the best time to get a lot done and believe me, I have a LOT to do. Between the auditors and the oversight of central office regarding test scores, I've been overwhelmed.

Left school at 2:30 - not feeling nearly as overwhelmed. :)

Took a shower.

Looked for easy casserole recipes on the internet and logged some stuff on to SparkPeople.

Did a load of laundry.

Received a call from a sub who cannot two days for which she was scheduled. Made a couple of calls to find a sub for a sub. UGH!

Now I'm waiting for Jeff to get out of the shower so we can enjoy the new recipe.

New Teeth - Sort of

Well, here they are. The result of my dental appointment yesterday.

Yucky Day

Today I took my fourth sick day in 14 years. The other three were taken about ten years ago when I had an inner ear infection and was so dizzy I couldn't stand up. I did use two sick days when mom had surgery and two when Jeff had surgery, but for me personally, this was my fourth. I hate not being at school. It bothers me knowing that others get behind on their work because they have to cover the front desk. It really bothers me to know that I'll be a day behind on my administrative duties - these are duties that only I can perform. How some of our staff members can take off at the drop of the hat just amazes me. Perhaps I'm a little envious in their ability not to worry about it. I wish I was a little like that. However, my sub finding duties continue whether I'm sick or not. I had to find three subs this morning before I left for the dentist, which leads me to the main subject of this blog . . .

The Dentist

After years and years of grinding, most of my teeth have been fractured. The years of grinding has resulted in jaw problems, fractured teeth, and my pens at school being easily identified - they have teeth marks. :)

Today was the beginning of getting four porcelain crowns - top front teeth. I was in the chair for 2 1/2 hours. I really intended to go to school after this appointment, but my whole head felt so bad I wouldn't have accomplished much. As instructed I had taken two Advil before the appointment - thank goodness. When I left, the dentist told me to take four more when I got home. So, I got home, took the Advil, and hit the couch.

My dentist just called to see how I was doing. He advised me to take three more Advil now and three more before bed. The main reason for the Advil is to head off jaw pain. Right now my jaw is fine, but my gums are really sore.

Jeff got home around 5:00 and I was still on the couch. He insisted I not worry about supper - so far he has eaten 1/2 bag of pretzels with Easy Cheese. Since I'm not supposed to eat anything that requires my front teeth until I get the permanent crowns, I was really thinking of sending him to get us each a Blizzard for supper, but I don't think that would be a good thing to do since I'm participating in the Biggest Loser contest at school. I may eat soup.

To add to this wonderful day - last week I broke another jaw tooth. I told the hygienist not to mention this to the dentist. She said, "You know he's going to want you to have it crowned". I told her that I have so many crowns now that someone should be calling me Your Highness.

Well, that's the story of my day. I hope tomorrow is brighter!

Getting Back to Normal

Jody's recent blog inspired me to post this.

That being said, I don't really know how to begin - other than to say . . . I really don't like holidays. Christmas is probably my least favorite of all - maybe because it seems to last the longest. It's certainly not because I don't like being with my family, because I do. It's also not because I don't think the lights are pretty or because I don't believe in the true meaning of Christmas, because I do. I just think Christmas is stressful. Perhaps it's because I feel EXPECTED to decorate, expected to be jolly, expected to shop, expected to love doing all this. I TRY to be merry all the time, and I always love being with my family no matter what day it is. Perhaps I don't care for Christmas because I don't like winter and the lack of sunshine. Maybe I don't like Christmas because I'm afraid as hard as I try to do my part in making everyone have a wonderful holiday, that they won't, and I'll feel responsible. I do love Christmas in my living room, with my family, but that's about all.

I hosted Christmas Breakfast this year, just like I have for the past 22 yearsf. Mom, Wayne, Lila, Farrah, Jim, Jeff and myself enjoyed a sit-down meal at 9:00 a.m. Farrah and Jim were expected in Louisville by 3:00 and since they wanted to stop in Lexington on their way, they left about 11:00 a.m. (They had been with us since the 22nd). The rest were out of here by 11:30. To make a long story short, by 2:00 p.m., there was no sign of Christmas in our condo. The tree had been taken down, the decorations put away, the leftovers were in the fridge, and everything was BACK TO NORMAL. It was the best feeling I'd had in weeks!

December 26th is another story. For 22-23 years (we've lost track), Jeff and I have spent the entire day "out and about" the day after Christmas. We leave the house about 7:00 a.m. and return when we're ready. We go to lots of stores and shop or just browse. The only thing we always look for are Christmas cards and wrapping paper for the next year. Other than that we just go to where are mood takes us. Some years we have spent most of the day in the antique mall, other years we have walked through downtown Cincinnati. Thanks to our parents we have Christmas money, so we have the luxury of keeping our eyes open for anything that might strike our fancy. This day is totally stress free as there are no "have-to's". We just enjoy being together and seeing where the day takes us. It is our tradition, however, to have lunch at Red Lobster. We usually end our day at Perkins. This year we left the house at 6:45 a.m. and got home at 8:30 p.m. It was a great day!

So, I can't say I didn't enjoy Christmas, because I did, but I'm GLAD IT'S OVER.