Might have a few days off

Right now, I am not scheduled to work the rest of the week.  That almost doesn't seem possible.  I won't work Friday because Catherine made the honor roll, and the breakfast is Friday.  Andrew doesn't think he can get anyone to cover his class, and I'm not missing this.  I'll be honest, I really do love being off on Fridays because it leads right into the weekend!  We'll just see if anything comes up for tomorrow or Wednesday.  I would love to pick up another day tomorrow, but it is out of my control.  I am already scheduled all four days next week (there is no school Tuesday) and four of five days the following week, so I'm not going to stress about the rest of this week.

I'm happy to report that Thomas is back in school.  He felt pretty good by the time that I made it home (Andrew left earlier to be with him).  By the time I saw him, I could tell that he felt much better.  He stayed down though, and we had him go to bed early just to get some extra rest.  Hopefully the rest of us don't get it...although if Andrew does I know where he can get a sub for his class!

I hadn't planned on it, but it worked out

I am working today, just as I do most days.  And what happened this morning is exactly why I love being at our high school.  It really is what works best for our family.

Right at the beginning of 3rd period, I received a phone call from the nurse that Thomas was in the clinic and had vomited.  He obviously needed to go home.  Not only am I working, but I am covering for a second teacher who had to leave unexpectedly so I know they would be really short if I left...or if Andrew left for that matter.  Fortunately, 3rd period has another adult in the room.  That meant I could leave and go check on Thomas.  He definitely needed to go home, but was running no fever.  I consulted with Andrew, and we decided he was old enough to be alone for a few hours.  I found another teacher to cover and I ran Thomas home.  The schedule worked out perfectly in that I was able to run him home and get back, all during that period.  I would prefer to be home with him, but this is a situation working parents deal with all the time.  I don't get paid if I don't work...it's that simple.  There is no fever, and it's actually going to only be about five hours, and Andrew could even be home about an hour earlier.  Yes, I am trying very hard to justify that I have left my sick kid at home.  I don't like it, but it will be okay...it will be okay.

Ultimately, I'm so grateful that our entire family is able to be in the same building.  It makes these instances so much more manageable.  I hate having sick kids, but this is going around and it happens, and we can deal with it!

Hopefully next time

Catherine didn't pass her driving test.  She was absolutely devastated.  She cried for almost an hour.  I felt so awful for her.  She had marching band this evening though, and I'm grateful she had something else to think about.  She will be able to take the test again next week.  Fingers crossed it goes better next time.

Ironically, this happened on the same day that our invitation to her honor roll breakfast arrived.  She worked hard, and really wanted to make the honor roll.  We are so proud of her!  She really is an amazing young lady!

The last Friday of October

The last weekend of October...I just don't understand how we got here so quickly.  I can't believe it has been four weeks since we've seen Robert at his graduation at the end of September.  It's really crazy.

The last Friday of October means the end of football season.  Normally it would mean the end of marching band is close, but we still have another two weeks due to the competition schedule.  This is not only an entire week later than normal, but swim practices are beginning a week earlier as well.  So while we normally go directly from marching band to swim with no break, this year we actually have two full weeks of overlap.  Nothing I love about that!

Catherine is taking her driving test after school today.  I'll be honest, I am absolutely terrified at the thought of her having her license.  Generally speaking I think she is ready, but I don't think I am.  While Robert often made poor choices in life, I was more confident in his abilities behind the wheel.  I am concerned that Catherine sometimes doesn't pay attention to the world around her.  I'm not necessarily hoping that she doesn't pass...I just can't imagine this whole experience!  My biggest concern is Thomas being in the vehicle with her and causing distractions.

It's really looking like fall around here.  The leaves are nearing their peak color (about a week late) and it's very pretty outside.  It's also been much cooler than average.  While I enjoy cooler weather, I miss the days of fall when it's the perfect temp outside.  We haven't had too many of those this year.

It's been a crazy week with subbing every day, and it's also the culmination of our band fundraiser, so I've been working on pretty much nothing but that in my "free" time.  I should be finished with that by tomorrow morning, and then I can pick up the house and take of laundry...and all those other "fun" things that are waiting for me!

Where did October go?

I can't believe we are in the last week of October...this time next week will be November!  I feel like October has just absolutely flown by.  It could be because the month began very warm and summer-like, and now it is almost early winter-like.  I felt like September drug on forever, and now October has flown!

Definitely not the answer

I have been attempting to make healthier choices.  One of the biggest changes I feel I could make that would be helpful is to stop drinking so many soft drinks.   I pack one each day that I have to work at the school.  I know it isn't overly healthy, but I really don't like water.  Finally this week, I saw numbers on the scale that don't make me very happy at all.  I remember being in high school, and my best friend's family always had seltzer water on hand.  I liked it at that time.  I did some research and it seemed to be a good compromise.  I thought maybe this would be the solution I wanted.

It is not.  At least, not the kind I tried.  I stood at the grocery earlier in the week and looked over the various selections.  I decided to give a go to the most popular brand name, although it wasn't the one I knew from my high school days.  Next I needed to chose a flavor.  This proved far more challenging.  I don't care for citrus flavors, and those were predominant.  I'm a much bigger fan of fruity flavors, so I finally settled on cran-raspberry. 

I took a can out of the fridge this morning and put it in my lunch bag.  First, having them in cans is a problem because they can't be closed up again.  That also means once I open it, it has to remain on my desk because I can't put it back in my lunch bag, and of course that means it is also going to get warm.  So, I need to keep looking for another packaging solution.  In the meantime, I opened the can and it smelled wonderful.  Unfortunately, it most certainly does not taste wonderful.  In fact, I kind of feel that it tastes like medicine.  I'll manage to find a way to drink this and the seven remaining cans that I've paid for, but clearly this is not the answer I was looking for!

We aren't going to be billionaires

Yesterday I had several errands to run after I was done subbing at the school, and I also had to go spend some time at the church at that job.  I was pretty exhausted during the day, so I stopped and grabbed a cup of coffee at a convenience store.  Since I was there, I decided to grab a Mega Millions ticket.  I know the odds, but $2 was worth the 24 hours of dreaming.  I wasn't even overly interested in winning the entire jackpot, but felt as though $100,000 would allow us to replace the van, take an ocean vacation, and still replenish our savings.

Alas, we don't live in South Carolina (where the winning ticket was sold), and we woke up this morning having not joined the billionaire club!