Another cold in a month ugg.

I am taking my first sick day. I have another cold, thanks to my darling students. They think it is funny to cough and not cover their mouths. SO, of course, since I am over worked and over stressed my immune system is lower than usual. I did not catch the cold symptoms in time so now I have sinus pain. It is funny. I have worked so long where I had little or no sick leave that I feel guilty using a sick day.

Tonight, I got a sub and called my boss and did not have to go into any big explanation about how sick I was or anything. He did not even try to talk me into coming into work anyway. That is what always happened in my other jobs. I got to where I would just go into work no matter what because it was easier than calling in sick. But tomorrow, the world will have to do without me because I am taking it easy and sleeping/laying around.

I feel a little guilty but I know that is residual from my many years of working for nasty bosses. Okay not all my old bosses were nasty. Well I got to go to bed so I can get some rest and hopefully feel better before Tuesday. Stupid cold anyway. At least I do not have to face Monday and a cold this week.

By Popular Demand

Here are two pictures of the outfits I wore to school last week. The one with the shawl I was gothic and I had a sleave of temporary tatoos. These pictures are quick recreations so I have not sleave in this picture but you get the idea. The power went out before I could change into my 50's clothes and I am going to bed now. More to come.

God is soo GOOD

Let me tell you how good. I sacrificed and struggled for four years to get through school and graduated cum lada. I had no job or part time jobs that did not pay the bills. There were times when I thought I would have to quit of go to school and be homeless. But I never went homeless and somehow the bills were paid. Now I am reaping the benefits of my sacrifices. During Christmas my sons were up to visit and I had paid for their journey to Oregon. Well I bought non-negotiable tickets and for the first time we missed their plane ride home. It cost me $1,000 extra dollars to get them home in time to start school. I did not have the money so I borrowed a credit card and got the tickets. That was in December and the credit card has never been charged the money so my sons flew home without me paying extra. Thank you God. Then I get a bill from Verizon. I canceled my dsl in September when I moved but they never canceled and had been taking money out of my old bank account till there was not more money then they billed me for three months. I called and discussed it and it turned out they owe me a credit for the same amount of money they said I owed them. Thank you GOD. Then I actually got money back on my taxes and was able to start a savings account and retire my poor old lap top which was 5 years old with a fan that rattled like a death rattle. THANK YOU GOD.

Today was the third and final parent teacher conference this year. Now unlike most schools I know, students do not get the day off. We go to work at 7:30 am teach all day till 3:20 pm and then at 4:00 pm till 8:00 pm we meet with parents. The last two conferences I only met two or three parents. (I have 14 students). Today I had 11 parents. Oh am I tired. I didn't get home till almost 9:00. But it was worth it to be able to meet with parents and have some good things to say about each student and I could be positive. I will be glad when this week is over because it has been long and stressful. We are also having a spirit week so I had to figure out what to wear each day.

Monday was Warrior colors day Gold and Maroon that was easy. I went with my class for two hours ice skating. I did not actually skate but I had to chaperon for the PE teacher. We went to a hockey rink. It was inside but the indoors were colder than the outdoors and I froze. Thank God I bought a Mandaree Hoodie which kept me warm.

Tuesday was dress in your favorite decade day. I dressed in fifty's. I had to meet with the superintendent to discuss how I was filling in the gaps for meeting the standards in 7th grade for when they take the state standards test in 8th grade. It went better than I expected. I was well prepared and that made the difference. I also had a IEP meeting which is a meeting for special needs kids and their parents where we discuss what we are doing and what we can do to improve their education.

Wednesday it was wacky Wednesday dress crazy day. I made a sleeve of temporary tattoos, frizzed up my hair, put on black mascara and heavy black eyeliner and dark lipstick. I made my face pale with foundation and wore all black. I was the talk of my school with my Gothic style. A couple of the smaller kids said I looked real pretty. That scares me how bad to I look normally that I look pretty with raccoon eyes and messy hair. Then we had our wonderful parent teacher conference and I forgot a change of clothes so the all saw me in my wonderful weirdness. What an impression I must have made. I have this great long shawl that is black with flower on it. I wore that with a tank black tank top because the shawl is very warm. During my prep time, I took my shawl off because I was overheated and there was no one else in the room. When they started coming into the classroom the girls came in first and they circled me so the boys could not see me in my tank top and walked me to my desk so I could get on my shawl before the boys saw. These girls are 13 and 14 years old and a lot more modest than world fashion.

Tomorrow is cowboy/cowgirl day I have nothing to wear. Not even a cowboy hat. I have yet to figure out what to do about that but at least I do not have any extra duties or meetings for the rest of the week. Friday is my favorite day of spirit week. Pajama day!!! I get to not get dressed and wear slippers and a bathrobe. YES It will be a SWEET day.

Rantings

On the left is my house with the pile of snow in the front yard. The center is my new coat I made from a Pendelton blanket and on the right is a cool old barn covered in snow.

I think I need to rant today. I mean come on people. I put up the cutest picture of the cutest little boy in the world on my blog and get absolutely no comments. I mean how can you not comment on someone sooo cute and adorable and well dressed. What is wrong with the world today? America is going down the tubes when people cannot even stop and appreciate cuteness and let me tell you this little boy has cuteness pouring out of his pores. I just don't know if I am up to posting anything anymore when my cute grandson's cute picture goes unnoticed. I am truly wounded here. There that felt better. wooo. I almost put on the caps lock. It was real close but now that it is off my chest I think I've got it under control.

As you all know, it is ground hogs day. Big whoop. It's a good thing I put my faith in God and His weather creating abilities because that stupid hedgehog saw his stupid shadow and because of that I am suppose to suffer through an extra amount of winter. I don't think so. Who started this stupid holiday anyway. You don't even get candy or jewelry on this day. Just the dashed hope of a shorter winter. It never bothered me before but then again my winters never lasted until May before and I am cold and tired of being cold and dealing with this white crap on the ground that keeps falling from the sky and you can't even build a stinking snowman or snowball. There aren't any mountains around so you can't ski in this powder crap. Not that I ski. I feel the uncoordinated, like me, should not ski. Why tempt fate. I know that I will find the hardest, rockiest ground to fall and break something if I tried to ski. Plus I would be cold, not my favorite condition.

My sense of direction has been warped since I moved here. My house faces north and in the winter the sun rises and set in my front window. The sun also does not rise very far in the sky. It is very hard to tell north, east and west in the winter. But I have sunshine almost everyday so I can watch it and try to figure out which direction is which. This gives me lots of entertainment. While I am sewing my new coat and sweat dress I can pause and see where the sun is in the sky. It is real fun for an Oregonian. You see in the Willamette Valley we don't see the sun from November to hopefully April. So watching the sun in the winter is a real treat and learning experience.

I think I am done ranting for now.

Finally a snow day whoooo hoooo !!!!!!!

Isn't he adorable my cute little grandson.

I am kicked back, wrapped in a snuggle blanket, toasty warm. I just finished making fry bread, one of my new favorite Native American dishes, and I am watching a movie. All this on a Monday morning. We finally are enjoying our first snow day of the season. It snowed hard on Friday and the wind picked up and the temperature has dropped. All around me there is a white out and blizzard like conditions. We are in a pocket that is just getting the tip of the storm. Although the wind is blowing the snow around, it is not white out conditions here. Just cold and windy. But no school!!!

So I am using this day off unwisely. I am lazing around and doing nothing when I should be catching up on grading and correcting papers and studying up for next week. Nope not me I am resting and being lazy and nothing or no one is going to stop me.

And now I go back to enjoying my snow day and will write to you later.

I am surviving

I came home from Oregon to below zero temps. This past Friday it was almost 40 below zero. I went out with my neighbor to dinner and a movie and caught a cold as well. Now I am cold and miserable. My students were wonderful and told me how horrible I looked today at work. Just what I needed for my self esteem. "Miss Fry you look awful.. "Miss Fry your nose is all red... "Miss Fry you sound funny.." and on and on all day. I truly would have taken the day off except there were no subs available and half the work for today was at my house for grading. What fun today was, stuffy nose, sore throat, sneezing and seventh graders.

I live under God's favor right now, one of the maintenance crew came over with the bobcat and dug out my yard. Now I have a walkway and a driveway and half my yard is snowless. I don't own a shovel and I am glad for men who are bored and need to play with their toys. Bobcats are fun little machines, I think I want to learn to play with that toy.

I need to go and figure out what I am planning for next semester which starts on Wednesday. SO I had better get planning before I fall into be exhausted. God bless and God rest.

I am back from Christmas

I left for Oregon on December 18. It took 24 hours on the train. It was a long, long ride but worth it. My sons flew in from Houston and I got to see my grandson. I had an art day with my artist sisters, visited with family and friends. It was a bitter sweet reunion. Man do I miss Oregon, my friends, family, and church. I am back now and on the home stretch. Five more months and my first teaching year is over. I am learning a lot on classroom management. I also have discovered what I already knew, I don't like teaching 7Th grade and I don't like cold weather.

Which, brings me to my homecoming in North Dakota. I arrived home on January 1, to a wonderful pile of snow. The roads are clear on the highways which is good because I had to drive to Bismarck today (1/2). We had a high today of 0 degrees F and I did what I never thought I would do, when I went in the store to get supplies after my meeting I left my car running, locked but running. I was afraid it would freeze-up if I turned it off because the car didn't have time to heat up between my meeting and the store. Half the parking lot had cars running while people shopped. It saved me time because I did not dally in the store all I could think of was my contribution to global warming and the dollars of gasoline being wasted as my car sat idling in the parking lot.

The drive to and from Bismarck was scary in spots. Not because it was slick but because the wind blew the snow around so I had very little visibility. It was like being in thick fog. I couldn't use my brights because the light reflected back from the snow blinded me. It was crazy but I am home now with a hot cup of tea, candy bar, cozy blanket, and a movie. Ahh, chocolate makes everything better. I think I am ready to begin teaching again on Monday.

My sister gave me the neatest present. She had my friend design the outside of the box for me. It is a personalized blessing box. Inside it has a tablet and a pen. I write what God has blessed me with each day and put it in the box. Then when I am homesick or down I can pull them out and remind myself not only how far I have come in my life but also how God is faithful, loving and always there for me. Coolest gift in the world. Plus the money she would have spent on Christmas presents, she donated to a special fund at church where part of the money went to digging wells in Nigeria and the other part went to gift cards for homeless teens to buy clothes. I love the idea and think that is what I want to do next year. I have a year to make everyone homemade gifts and save money to donate somewhere. We will see what I accomplish. LOL (Note to Karen, I did not use LOL as a punctuation but a note to tell you I am being funny. (LOL)).