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February 27 lotta stuffWhere to start...
Well, first off - Jamie had enough financial aid AND money from her 2-3 jobs she keeps on top of her full time schedule at college that she was able to get herself on a trip to Nicaragua with her Glocal Economics class. They are doing a packed scehdule. Visiting an ogranic, free trade coffee farm, having lectures on neolineralism and economics, staying with host families, visiting an organization that helps street kids.... the whole thing is unbelieveable. I cannot tell you how proud I am of her. She had been wanting to do something like this for the longest time, honestly since about 7th grade. She's always had an awareness of how there are folks in the world who have things far worse than we do and has always wanted to help in some way. I have never been off the East coast of the US. My darlin daughter got her own passport done and touched down in Managua at about 2:35 this afternoon. She had never flown before today. She somes back next Friday. Will try to list more what she is doing. Today was an overview and instructions, orientation, health tips, culture briefing, explaination of their roles, dinner and a lecture on the history of military and economic violence and time line. Tomorrow is a talk on Nicaragua and neoliberalism, socioenomic contrast tour, meeting with an economist about power and privilegde, a visit to a street kid rehab organization and a benefit concert. Whew.
I have settled into a sort of ruetine at work. When all students are there, I am busy nearly every period. One made a face today when I said I would "only" give him/her half of my time during my prep period to interpret for a ctach up session. Absenses are a problem... and unfortunately I cannot wear myself out because of it. If I were to end up out on disability from repetitive motion injury that does no one any good. It's either feast or famine. So, some days I can catch up on reading. Some days I barely have time to breathe. Go figure. Not at all optimal.
Liam is settling into his new job. He got a salary and benies position with a catering co who serves meals to a large industry in our area. After busting his butt for about 6-7 years as an elecrician's helper, then line cook or expeditor at a fancy restaurant... he is finally getting paid every 2 weeks, actually having a lunch break and will get benefits after he has been there for 90 days. Halleluiah! With some of the crap his past 3 employers did - shorting him 5 hours pay on a Holiday, shifting pay days 3 days then giving IOUs for about half his earnings and expecting him to be there from open to close it seems he has finally found a decent place. I am so happy for him. One of the first days he came over and told me a bit about the job. He has good knives, a nice work station, etc. Said they had a break for lunch - he grabbed whatever he saw quickly to eat, sat down with a bunch of co-workers and wolfed down his food. Looked up and realized the other guys were eating at a normal pace and still had half their lunches left. One asked if Liam had been in the military because of how fast he had eaten. Liam said no, I'm just used to having to eat between orders and not really taking a break. He was thrilled though. Has an ID and the whole nine yards. Yay
Colleen was made shift lead at her coffee job. Yay for her. They were firing people right and left, but she got a promotion. :-)
Me... working and looking for a job for mid-June. Bites here and there but nothing solid yet. Have had contacts from places like Aflac and Citigroup for jobs totally unrelated to what I do. Weird.
Oh, and the big certification test I took on January 16th? Yeah, I passed it! Got the notification yesterday via email. Almost yelled and jumped up and down in the middle of an accounting class. (the kids were all working on a project on the computers so I was checking email) Big relief. Wish I had scored into the advanced or master level, but I made some mistakes. It was fair. All in all I am proud of myself. February 16 brrIt's cold - I think 27 f. So of course we run out of oil. Have 2 calls in to the oil guy, so we should have oil by then end of the day today or tomorrow. Makes for a "I don't feel like doing anything other than staying under the blankets kind of day. Guess I would rather be at work of all places.
With the new schedule, I was pretty wiped out last week. Technically, the agency only has to give me a one period respite. With the classes I have though, I am hoping I am not always this tired. If so, I'm going to have to take sick days just to stay healthy - if that makes any sense. Six classes now - Accounting, Geometry, Biology, English and Public Speaking. Finding out I am not superwoman after all. Also finding out that I am less likely now to drag myself into work when exhausted/sick. I have 57 sick days left and about 76 days of work. Unless I get hired by another education provider I will lose all those sick days. Argh. Not so jaded though that I would take all of them and say "too bad" for the kids.
Enjoying my day off, even with the cold. I still have to finish Eddie's taxes so Jamie and I can work on FAFSA applications. Oh joy. Nessary thing. Going to go try to get warm and make myself take a shower.
Happy belated Valentine's Day!
from a card Eddie gave me:
"THANKS FOR EVERYTHING MOM, YOU'VE BEEN SUCH A GREAT MOTHER TO ME. YOU'RE MY HERO, MY GREATEST INFLUENCE AND I LOOK UP TO YOU SO MUCH. I LOVE YOU, MOM. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. LOVE, EDWARDO"
Maybe I am doing something right. Thank goodness. What a neat kid. (remind me of that next time he'smaking me a little nuts!)
February 12 First bornMy First ChildSee how much you remember about your first born, copy and paste, change the answers to reflect your experience: Really kind of easy for me since he isn’t that old!
1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Umm.. sure, just not that soon lol 24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Only when they were stitching me up after ward cuz I kept jumping. The needle in the back scared me alot more than not taking meds February 10 Still here!I am still around. Didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted til someone asked hellllo? Are you there? Yes I am. Things have been a bit crazy.
My darlin' son has toyed with going/not going to classes, so that has been an on-going battle. He seems back on track with that now. If the grades will follow that will be very helpful. If they do not, he will not graduate. Crunch time so to speak. He's quite capable of doing the work. We shall see if it comes to pass. These are the times that make me yearn for when he was little and I could make him do things. Now the only thing that seems to work is taking away the x box he bought... yep, it's not "fair" but he is living in my house. Fair is what I say it is.
The other major occupier of my time is work. My buddy and co-worker, C got a job in another school system that has lots of signing deaf students. She satrted there yesterday. So... I have been knee deep in her send off and trying to change the schedule to accomodate what 3 of us used to do when we now have 2 in the position. It's not like we can put off a job til after hours. The kids are out in classes when they're out in classes. There has been no replacement and it looks like none will be hired. The agency is thinking of sub-contracting for a period and pulling and interpreter from another building to do a class 2 days per cycle but all of that is not in place yet. They had notice. If they sub-contract out through another agency, I think it will cost more than hiring somoene part time. What I think does not matter though. (do not go into soap-box mode....) Anyway...
I have also been looking for another job. It is very clear that I have been silly to wait til these kids graduate to have another job in place. There are a few kiddos I would love to see through to graduation, but I have myself and my own kids to consider first. Wish I had seen that a while ago. Hindsight is always so clear. There are a few possibilities, and I am very lucky that way. A few mean a small cut in pay to almost a 40% cut. I have to be smart about this, so it's a tough decision to make, assuming any of these places would hire/need to hire me.
So, that is my life right now. Oh... and the pipe that decided to desentigrate that I've tried twice to fix. Keep cutting one pipe too short. Not a good thing. I think I need a drink or three. Just kidding... three would knock me on my butt! |
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