My Week

Tuesday, March 17th found me at a local restaurant with Mom, Denny & Gemma. Went there for corn beef & cabbage which was absolutely great. The whole place was very festive--lots of people, green beer & green wine, lots of green clothes. Gemma captured the crowd with some of her Irish tunes. Then up to Mom's where Gemma made everyone an Irish coffee. It was great.

Wednesday (18), Thursday(19) & Friday (20) found me back teaching in a classroom at Centennial Senior High. I got a call that said they really needed someone to cover a class for those 3 days. OK - I said back teaching but there was no teaching involved. I was a warm body with a teaching license. The class was higher level algebra and I cannot even fake myself through that. I tried to make sense out of some of the problems that were assigned to no avail. The kids were awesome. They helped each other. They were so respectful, polite and courteous (with the exception of a little incident involving 3 of them) It was really fun to be back there. I got to see and visit with my colleagues and get caught up. Former students saw me in the hallway and seemed to be thrilled to see me. A few even stopped by the classroom to visit. The teacher whose class I was covering happened to be the coach of the girls basketball team and they made it to the state tournament so that was the reason for the 3 days that I covered her classroom. In fact they were in the championship game on Saturday but lost to Minneapolis South. That was really fun for me to watch because I had 90% of those girls in my class at one time or other.

Saturday, I woke up to sunny skies and warm temperatures. Oh boy!! That inspires me to get my windows open, wash clothes and hang on the line, scrub, vacuum, dust, polish. And I did just that. Tore into my bedroom. Every nook & cranny got it. There were no dust bunnies that were going to get by me. Every stitch of bedding even the pillows were washed and hung on line for the sun and wind to dry. Curtains were washed, starched and ironed and put back on my sparkly clean windows. Carpet was cleaned, furniture rearranged, walls washed, furniture polished. Everything that was laying about has found a place to live. What a pleasure to crawl into that clean, fresh bed. Now that is the way I like to clean. Enough of this giving it a "lick and a promise." Not sure what room will be next. I know I have to start prepping the kitchen and that is going to make everything messy. It will be one of those things where it will get worse before it gets better.

Sunday, went to mass, finished up the bedroom, visited with Mom & Mary Beth, went to Target and did some more mundane things.

I wonder what next week has in store for me???

"Might As Well"

I am in the "might as well" syndrome."

Too soon to clean carpets because we still have a lot of slop to go through. "Might as well" clean cupboards. Need to get ready for turnover of clothes but still just a little too early. "Might as well" get rid of some of the other stuff. Went to basement for laundry. "Might as well" tidy it up a little.

Now with home improvement it really starts. Nothing wrong with my faucet but as long as we are getting new sink & counter top "might as well" get a new one. New sink & counter top will make dated wallpaper look bad. "Might as well" get rid of it and start looking at paint. Now my curtains will look tired. "Might as well" look for new ones or material to make. Going to replace front door and get the wall fixed where it leaked. After consulting with the handyman who is going to do it he said he could replace door but it would not be as good because of the side lights. "Might as well" get new side lights also. Now I will bet you when these projects get started there will be many more "might as wells." I keep hearing in my head "ca-ching, ca-ching." Oh well, "might as well" spend some of our money on this.

Get the picture.

Movie, Friends, Wine, Cheese & Chocolate

Went to movie Doubt last night with Mom & Gemma. I really enjoyed it. It seemed like it only lasted about 1/2 hour and I was somewhat surprised at the ending. The name of this movie says it all. Now I wanted it to play out and come up with a nice clean ending but that is not what happened. I think the way they did it is what made it so good. It makes you think and it made for good discussion. Another thing I liked about it was I could so relate to a lot of the Catholic stuff. Being educated in Catholic schools by nuns and priests in the 50s and 60s this movie really bought back some memories.

Then back to my house where Denny and Mary Beth showed up. I poured glasses of wine (made a pot of tea for mom), started the fire in the fireplace, put out a cheese & fruit platter. I also made some homemade truffles which were really good. I am on a mission to use up a lot of my things in cupboard & freezer. I happened to have some Baileys Irish Creme that had been in pantry for awhile. Went on line and found a recipe for truffles that called for that. Of course, I had to go to store to get other things for it but it did turn out well. There is nothing better than good chocolate and wine. Not to mention good cheese which I splurged on. It was funny to me that several of my guests liked the cheap cheese from Aldi's and did not care for the expensive cheese. I was the opposite. Loved the expensive stuff. Random thought--I hate to waste food. People that know me can attest to that. I will eat leftovers for weeks on end just so I do not have to throw anything away. I will make concoctions of stuff just so I do not have to throw it away. If something does need to be tossed it breaks my heart and often I have to have Pudge do it because I can't. If I do have to throw it I have to grit my teeth and just do it without thinking about it. I am never happy to do it. Now where does this come from I ask myself. I think from the nuns (I can tell you stories about how they would not let you waste anything.) I am also going to blame my parents and others who surrounded me while growing up.

So while we are all visiting and solving the problems of the world I bought out a time capsule that some of us were involved in New Years Eve of 1999--it was the millennium. We went through the articles that were put in there and had some very good laughs and many memories. Now that was a very nice evening for me.

Side note--hockey at this point in time is very intense for Pudge. They are in the playoffs to see which team will go to state. So far his team has made it through one game and have 2 more today. He left at 5:30 am and will not be home until after 10:00. He will probably be gone tomorrow also. So the title of "hockey widow" is very fitting right now. I would probably go because playoff games are exciting but to spend 14-15 hours in an arena does not appeal to me. Also I would be by myself for all of those 14-15 hours. I realized years ago I cannot compete with hockey players.

Another Cruise

I am going on another cruise!! I will be sailing the Mexican Rivera April 19th-26th. Lucky me!! There will be stops in Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. We (Pudge & I) will board in Los Angeles. The plans are to go a couple of days early and do things around there. We have been to LA a couple of times and love it.

Now do I have some concerns? Yes, I do. I hope Pudge does not get bored and stir crazy on ship for 2 days. Now I cannot fathom someone getting bored. Those of you on the Alaskan cruise know how much I got into it. I loved all the activities and fun things to do on the ship. Pudge will not like most of the activities and he absolutely will not sit and read a book or sun himself or swim. That to him is a fate worse than death. Also, he may have a problem with the gourmet food in the DR. He griped a little bit about having to dress in slacks for dinner. He is thinking that all there is for him to do is walk from one end of boat to the other for 2 days while sailing. I am hoping some of the activities may grab him. One thing I got going in my favor is that this was his idea. Yep, I was surprised. Also the good deal that this cruise is may have something to do with it also. The price was phenomonal and too good to pass up--$500 for each of us. Then I have a airline voucher that I got in Seattle from the last cruise. This is pretty economical which makes it easier for Pudge to take. Then again he may really surprise me and love everything about it. I can only hope. He is getting somewhat into it. Went shopping today for some new things to take with him. I am going to go down in record saying that if he chooses not to have fun doesn't mean that I won't have fun. If it is anything like the Alaskan cruise having fun will not be hard to do. There was not one thing that I did not like about that cruise. This is on a different cruise line--Carnival vs. Royal Carribean. It will be fun to compare boats, programs, food, etc..

I sure am having fun in my retirement. Feeling a little guilty sometimes about it. I mean getting paid for not working and doing all these things. I said to myself the other day, "nobody should be having this much fun." But then I thought, "no, EVERYBODY should be having this much fun."

Stuff

It is close to midnight and I am tired from helping Gemma clean & organize her big storage area. Oh boy, people does she have the stuff!! Lots & lots of stuff. Nice stuff, junky stuff, odds & ends stuff, stuff you don't know what to do with, stuff that doesn't belong, stuff that belongs, stuff that means something, stuff that means nothing, stuff from when she was little, stuff from kids, stuff from yesterday, stuff she needs, stuff she doesn't need, stuff with a purpose, stuff laying around, stuff in boxes, stuff in plastic bags, stuff in a trunk, stuff in drawers, stuff from first husband, stuff from second husband, stuff from sister, stuff from mother etc.,etc., etc. Do you people get my point? Have you ever thought about your stuff. What is it about stuff? Any words of wisdom out there? Anyone want to talk about their stuff?

Warning!!!

OK --Dear Readers, I am going to give you a fair warning. If you do not want to buy stay out of the stores. The sales are just too incredible to pass up. I went out yesterday (Sunday) afternoon just to scout out the spring & summer fashions. Of course, one has to go to the sales rack. Now I need to tell all of you that I really do not need anything but OMG the sale prices were outstanding. I would say as good as the Goodwill. This is all brand name, very good quality, expensive items. Let me tell you about the little jacket I bought. Last November Gloria & I went shopping and I tried on this adorable little jacket for fun. It was really cute but the price was like $139. Yeh! Right! Like I would pay that! Put it back on the rack--never to be thought of again. Lo and behold--guess what--yesterday same jacket on sales rack for $17. Now tell me would any person in their right mind pass that up. Wouldn't you say that they are practically begging you to take it out of the store with those kinds of prices. Also, doesn't the economy need a boost. Now if only I had a bigger closet.

Making Decisions

I do not like making some decisions. I often second guess myself before and after making them. I have to think of my friend Nancy's words of wisdom which are, "you make a decision and you then you live with it. " That makes it seem so simple.

I have made a decision and I hope I do not regret it.

Here is the situation: Principal called and asked if I would teach next quarter for one of my colleagues who is taking a leave of absence.

Advantages would be:

• get back to the excitement and hustle/bustle of the high school
• be able to see my teacher friends and other staff members whom I miss desperately
• be able to see students whom I miss desperately
• beef up the savings account
• maybe I would get to eat lunch again with my lunch buddies, Nate & Eric.
• the thought of going back to teach energizes me.
• in spite of all the disadvantages it could be fun

Disadvantages would be:

• teaching 3 difficult classes. One is a beginning class with 33 students and this class tends to have very needy students. It would be frustrating to both me and students because of large size and not being able to get around to help. That leads to behavior problems because of frustration and down time.
• one class would just be seniors and anyone who has taught knows that having seniors 4th quarter is not a good thing. They tend to check out and don't think they have to work or turn things in. That leads to angry students and parents that have to be dealt with.
• the correcting for these classes would be phenomenal. I would never be caught up.
• 2 classes are Fashion & Design and dealing with broken sewing machines can take up a big portion of the day.
• no days off until Memorial Day.
• getting up in the morning and not being able to drink coffee leisurely.
• hubby hates the thought and does not want me tied down just in case something comes up
• weekends would once again be filled with chores and having to get things done. My time would not be my own.
• would have to keep caught up with grades for Parent Portal and also having to attend conferences.
• make phone calls to parents when there is a behavior/attendance problem which is not pleasant.
• projects planned for home would have to be put on hold.
• being so exhausted in the evening I can barely eat dinner and climb the steps to bed. (but then again there was something I liked about that)
• having the extra duty of packing up classroom at the end of the year.

My decision was not to take the teaching job for next quarter. I still have the ping pong ball in my head going back and forth--wishing I would have taken it/glad I didn't take it. Now is the time for me to stop it and live with the decision.

Another decision: new counter top and back splash and what to get--too many choices. I think I have narrowed down the counter top. The back splash is another story. I tend to always go for something similar to what I have. Salesman thinks I should come out of my box and go with something unexpected and trendy. HGTV also says that same thing. OK--bought home an "unexpected and trendy" sample. I have tried to like it but I am really not comfortable at all with it. It is very pretty but just not me. Decision: install counter top and then deal with back splash.