Post Disclosure: Do NOT view if you don't want to see gross pictures of my foot

So Thursday morning wasn't a typical morning-I won't go into details-so I was walking down a few steps to the van carrying Hank, when I missed a step and fell.  Hank was fine.  I said 'trent I think I broke my foot!' he said 'you just need to walk on it'  I got to work and about 30 minutes later it looked like this-pay close attention to the ankle region.

 

So the school psych drove me to Duke Urgent Care clinic.  After X-rays I was told there was NOT a break, but a severe sprain :) SUPER I said

She gave me 2 choices.  A splint with crutches or a boot.  I went for the ....

It's a good look I've decided.  Gus' teacher said that it looks like it should make a robotic noise when I take a step.

Did I mention that I went back to work when I was told not to ?  I should have listened...

So Day 2 looked like this:

Again I went back to work because I had an observation

Day 3:

Today:

MUCH better today!  Never in nearly 32 years of being alive and playing all kinds of sports have I ever experienced anything like this.

Best Weekend Ever!

 (This pic was taken Saturday in the Tobacco Warehouse District.  Hank was working on ice cream from the Cuban restaurant)

So I took Friday off because mom and grandma drove down Thursday to see us!!!!  I haven't seen them in nearly 4 months!  I was more worried about them leaving than them actually visiting!  It was nice though.  We had gone to Surf City the weekend before and Gus loved it because there were jellyfish!  Trent was told that it's their season...so we went back there with mom and gma on Friday.  There are a few pics on Facebook...my mom is HOOKED on Facebook! So she insisted that I send her pics for her to post right away.  So the beach was perfect-for sitting on the beach.  Gus however wanted in the water and it was cold!  Mom got her feet in a bit, but I thought they were nuts!  I like seeing how you've found a favorite beach.  Is it still really warm there???

So the my mom's highlight was walking downtown Chapel Hill and passing a Gigi's Cupcake store.  We didn't get any right away.  Instead I forgot that mom wanted to go there and after dinner she asked if they were still open.  Trent drove her back downtown where she ended up buying a dozen cupcakes for like $40 bucks!  She was nuts about them (they are rather tasty) .  So I looked up Gigi and she has this sappy story on her website--and she happens to have 4 locations in Indiana.  So mom was pumped that Keystone had one and she planned on going once she returned!  They did end up leaving early this morning and made it back in record time.  I think we're going back for Thanksgiving but we've been back and forth about it.

So Hank Heffernan is getting so big!  He is loving building and stacking and sorting. He's so inquisitive about how things work.  We got a membership to a hands-on children's science museum in Durham and he can't get enough!  it's really interesting how different those two kids are!

Gus has been a mess...Since switching schools he's growing leaps and bounds! His teacher is phenomenal!  He was reading a Rigby level M tonight for his nightly reading.  Where his teacher at the other school said he was at a level C.  So that's super positive!!!  Here they do the written comprehension so that I believe hinders his overall instructional level on mClass.  Oh well, we're getting there and I'm super impressed!!!!  The "mess" part of him is that he's failed 2 hearing tests in his left ear; One at school and one at the dr's office for his 8 yr check-up.  That's right, he'll be 8 on the first!  So we were referred to an ENT and went last week.  Because there was clear fluid behind his ear drum, they could assess his hearing so he goes back next Wednesday and hopefully they'll figure this all out.

I am still liking my gig pretty well-  I miss Goodman and how we would work together to tackle situations and paperwork :)  but I have a good team that I like.  I have my first "announced" observation on Friday.  I'm a little stressed about it but I received 2 complements from teachers today on the work that i've done their kiddos--Can you guess how I teach my small groups???  Fluency, Voracious Reading and independent conferences :)  My kiddos are loving the songs and poems.  We are now beginning to track and make goals.  I'm feeling pretty good about how that's going-THANKS TO YOU!!!!

Did I tell you that Trent has agreed to travel????  This means that he could be sent anywhere for a period of time.  I told him that if he leaves the state, I'm moving in Hank's sitter!  It's really been a transition for me to put my job as secondary.  I can't go back to school at night and work or even go in regularly on the weekends because teachers don't have access to the building.  It's just been hard to figure out a balance, but I'm maintaining for now :)

I keep telling Trent I need a vacation and I really would LOVE to come see you...I'll look into it, if you're up for a visitor!

How are your kiddos??? Is your house still in one piece?

Oh I miss you!

Oh let me tell you!

It has been a while since I've written and checked my email for that matter.  Why you ask?  Well let me tell you....

Gus has really struggled at his new school.  He said that he liked his teacher but was getting grief from the class aide concerning what I packed for his lunch.  You and I both know what is in his lunch.  It got to the point where he'd come home to tell me that he had tried to hide his lunch so that she'd leave him alone.  This caused him to have a lot of unnecessary anxiety.  Then he was having issues on the bus.  I told him Nicole, Hank's sitter, would take him and pick him up from school, but he insisted on riding the bus.  So evidently there were 2 fifth grade girls that were being mouthy with him.  And being Gus, he wasn't going to take it.  So I guess one of the girls kicked him and he decided to take a rubber band and flick a broken crayon in retaliation.  The the other girl punched him.  So being me, I decided to email the principal and stated to her that I had reviewed the school system's harassment and bullying policy and was beginning to sense a pattern with the bus.  Who wants to deal with a parent like me--I'm turning into my sister!!!!  Anyway the situation was resolved on the bus however, Gus refused to go to school.  It got to the point where I was late 1 day and got a "warning" letter about being 15 minutes late (mind you I 'have' to be at school at 8:15 but kids don't come until 8:40)  and you may be wondering how would anyone know the exact minutes I was late? Well I have to clock in :) Super, I know!  So after this drama last Thursday night we decided he would go to school with me.  He began this last Monday.  He has a stellar teacher!!!! and I didn't choose the teacher, he was simply assigned based on numbers.  His teacher requires about 50-60 minutes worth of homework/night.  He has had no problem wanting to do it and he's actually surprising me at what he knows.  When it comes to the writing portion of it, he wants to just sit and write his stories.  He is SO happy!!!  Now he has already told me that he wants a blue teacher t-shirt so that he can be a teacher too.  And he yells at the kids that run down the hallway at dismissal, so some things haven't changed.  This has been a HUGE relief!!! 
Also Gus has found a nice group of neighborhood boys.  Every night they play and run around together.  Last night I had to go get him so that he could make jujitsu practice on time.  He refused to go and told me he wanted a new mom.  I'm still not happy about that, but I struggle because I know he just wants little buddies to play with and Trent's been getting home later than I'd prefer, so I don't want to fight with him...oh well.  Trent and him actually are out right now shopping for a new bike! 
Hank is happy as always.  Nothing to new and exciting with him.  He still loves his sitter.  Every time she leaves he says 'Bye Cole.'  He's talking so much more and she's been teaching him all kinds of fun things.
Trent still loves his job.  He's had a lot of positive recognition for what he's been working on so that's good.
I still like my school.  They really have great things in place-common lesson plans, everything posted in their rooms, 2 PLC meetings/week and they are required to plan together the other 3 days...I mean there is a LOT of expectations and additional work.  But there aren't teacher's unions here and I'm finding that really difficult.    I'm constantly being told that DPS is in litigation for this and that and it simply makes me nervous! And, there is a lot of things I'd like to change concerning my role in sped--I mean I am considered a 'resource teacher.'  That is just so 1979.  I don't like to pull kids out of whole group instruction.  But it's only been 4 weeks with kids, so I guess I'm just putting the horse before the cart right now.  Trent keeps reminding me that I need to keep my mouth shut, but you know me.  I'm not going to take someone not treating me like a competent professional.  OH WELL!!!  I do really like it and my principals and the kiddos are fun and sweet!

Ok so I'm wrapping this up so I can go check out what you've been up to these last few weeks.
Before we left school today, Gus found that little bee you gave me a few years ago.  I had it on my desk and he was asking about it.  I told him not to lose it because you gave it to me and it makes me think of you daily!
Love you so much!!!!

Fabulous First Day

Look at these lovely ladies!!!!  I sent my formal resignation letter to MCCSC last night and decided that I had better run through my email for anything that I might want.  This photo from Sandy was a keeper!

So a brief run down of the day's funness

I get home and ask Gus how was school? his reply good.  I mean come on kid!  I need details.  He said that there was 1 naughty kid that got on yellow (whatever that means).  He also shared that he made a friend.  This friend told Gus that he had a girlfriend.  Gus said he told him to go tell his girlfriend that he loved her and to show her his muscles.  My kid is SO smooth-gets it from his dad.  So Gus proceeds to tell me that this kid's girlfriend had a friend that Gus likes.  I asked him what she looked like and he says she's tall like him and blonde.  I mean REALLY????  We'll see how this all pans out.  He said his teacher is really nice and that they share the same birthday.  He wasn't too happy about not riding the bus.  I tried calling transportation 3 times today and got nothing.  So he's once again upset about not getting to ride the bus tomorrow.  He told me he would get on yellow tomorrow so that he could be sent to the principal and then talk to her about this bus situation.  I told him he had better be excellent and that I'd write a note instead :)

Hank=Happiness!  Had a super terrific day with the new gal!  You can tell she's a natural with kiddos.  This makes me feel happy too!

I have hall duty in the 4th/5th grade hallway before and after school.  I tried my best to interact with all kids that would indulge me.  It was weird not to know any of them.  I sat ALL day in an office with the other "EC" teachers trying to finalize our schedules.  I finally had to get some interaction with kids so I wandered down to the cafeteria and talked to some 4th graders about their day.  They seemed cheerful.  I  tried calling HR several times and only left messages.  I'm really wanting to wrap all this paperwork business up!

ok so it's 1030 and Gus has yet to take a bath...Hank is clean and now playing with toys :)  I'm exhausted and I didn't even have kids today!  Hopefully we'll all quickly get into a better routine!

It's been a LONG week!

This is that sculpture in downtown Chapel Hill (Hank running from me).  Don't you just love my photos and that I always have to explain them???  This is what I was taking about on your blog.  You and Goodman put me to shame!

So it's been a ridiculously long and wild week.  I'm still very excited about my new job.    I have still not signed a contract due to additional drama with HR, but I'm not complaining-well I will be next Friday when I don't have a paycheck...  Anyway I met the you of this school.  She even types extensive notes during meeting on her MACbook and wears fun earrings!  It's very weird.

We had Gus' open house last night.  His teacher is very sweet and she has 2 aides in her room!  I noticed her CAFE board and mentioned it.  She said that this year is the first year for the school to go to this model but she's been using for a few years now.  After talking to her for a bit, we went to find out bus info.  That was a mess.  Still not sure what bus he's riding or pick-up times.  I then made him go back to the front door and show me how to get to his class.  This school has 900 kiddos so it's rather large.  Luckily for him, his room is down the first hallway.  Overall I think he's excited.

After Gus' open house, I had mine.  Trent was to be home by 5, but wasn't.  I had to take the boys with me.  I was hoping that my open house assignment was NOT at the front door because I was nervous about the boys running around.  So I arrive to school with the boys and guess where I was to stand? FRONT DOOR.  Luckily for Trent, he arrived right after 6 when they opened the doors.  The kids were so excited and happy!  I hated not knowing any of them, but I tried to talk to as many as I could.  There is a large hispanic population in this area, thus we have a lot of families that speak spanish.  I told Trent I really need to take a course or two and learn some of the basics.  Overall I'm very excited about getting started working with kids! NOT excited about paperwork.

So it's Hank's turn...He's been happy and cheerful mostly.  We've had major unnecessary drama with the sitter.  I like her very much, but she was significantly late Tuesday which caused me to be late for my meeting.  I get home and they are still in jammies or next to nothing.  And on Wednesday Gus ate nothing all day and Hank only ate marshmallows and chocolate milk.  I don't mind the pjs as much as i mind the not eating thing.  So Trent and I have been interviewing more people-I finaly told trent last night that I think she'd be fine if we simply talked to her about these things...I mean I have, but not to the extent that I really should.  So not sure what's going to happen there.

Jill, Andy, Layne Nhi and the Chinese exchange student will be here NEXT Friday!  I'm thrilled about this!  It will be nice to see them.  When I talked to Layne Nhi last week she told me that 6th grade was hard.  I told her that's why I don't teach it!  I've talked to Jill every night this week.  Her car was broken into Monday night.  Evidently it happen all around the neighborhoods near cascades.  Jill is freaked!  She's now getting a security system installed.  We lived in 3 houses down for 2 years with the house unlocked most of the time and nothing.  She moves into the neighborhood and 3 weeks later, this happens.  She stressed this to me a few times.  That's her luck though.

Well I need to head out :(  But at least today I get to be in my room ALL day!!!

Keep taking gorgeous pics and making me jealous!

My New Digs

So I've been MIA.  Everything that could have gone wrong, has :(  My paperwork for DPS has been a mess.  I still don't have everything completed with HR.  The 'HR technician' assigned to me evidentially quit at some point last week.  I am not even going to tell you about it because I don't want relive it again.  So I am to report Monday at 8:30 for my first Bulldog faculty meeting.  I went in today just to wander around.  Fortunately I ran into the right people ( Sped facilitator, RTI coach, assistant principal and the day custodian)  and they were helping me figure my room situation out.  So this is a pic of my new room.  The few bits of furniture that were in there are older than me, but I'm NOT complaining!  I'll have this room all to myself.  It has a door that opens out into a good sized courtyard.  Through discussing my room situation, I found out that the other sped gal is grouchy and this will be her last year of teaching.  Super excited about that...  After being there today, I finally am beginning to feel excited about teaching.  I've been having dreams about FV folks lately.  It's just so sad to have to move on.

So onto the other mess I've had- We enrolled Hank at this 5 star preschool several weeks ago.  We were told there was not a wait list for his age group and just to call a week prior to him starting.  I called Monday and guess what? They have no recollection of him and now have NO openings!  After freaking out for a few days, plan B is now to hire someone to stay here with Hank and help get Gus on and off the bus.  We are interviewing a girl tonight and one in the morning.  I PRAY this works out!!!!!  It's going to cost nearly twice as much as we were paying before, but it's worth it to me!

I haven't even been reading your blog or checking up on you through FB.  I promise I will today! Sorry to be out of the loop

My first experience working for DPS

No I have nothing to share yet...I'm heading out shortly for an "Intake" session for new employees.  I have such mixed emotions.  I miss FV so much.  After talking to my sister and getting texts from friends about how weird it is that I'm not in the building, it just makes me so sad :(  And there are some kiddos that I feel like I abandoned because I didn't get to at least tell them I was leaving.  I have yet to have closer I suppose...

So the big question is who in the world is keeping the boys while I'm at this ridiculous thing?  I was freaking out trying to think about what we were going to do...I even asked Trent if he was already allowed to take a day off of work.  So after talking with a really nice family at the pool, they said they use care.com to find sitters.  A total stranger watching my kids? NO! ... Well we had no choice.  After reviewing some, we found this great gal, Amanda.  She came yesterday and met the boys.  Gus is so pumped for her to come today!!!!  She happens to be a 3rd grade teacher with DPS.  So we talked about that for a bit too.  Overall, I feel good about this.  My only concern is whether or not the boys will be good for her.  I'll let you know how this goes...

Are you beginning to feel better?  getting on a normal sleep schedule? 

I miss you so much!