February 12 of 12

I remembered this month!...and actually managed to take enough pictures!

If you don't know what the 12 of 12 deal is go check out Chad's site. OK, you get it? Good. Moving on.

Jeanne's Feburary 2009 12 of 12

7:15 am - Off to work with my cuppa joe



7:15 am Starting odometer for the day (149.0)...and a balmy 38 degrees at home.



7:17 am Foggy morning - can't see the golf course across the street.



7:18 - The corn fields near our house.
Make note of this picture...there will be one later for comparison.


7:45 am - For the second time this month I ran out of windshield washer fluid. The roads are so nasty these days.




8:00am - Arriving at my first school destination for the day.



8:01 am - Odometer reading upon arrival (178.7) and a fair bit warmer when you get further south (46)!




11:45 am Arriving at my second school destination for the day.



11:45 am I obviously travel quite a bit for work some days. Odometer reading now at 214.2. And I have traveled back north to slightly cool temps at midday (44 degrees).



3:00 pm - Making a quick stop at the craft store for a birthday present for my soon-to-be 9-year-old!



3:20 pm - OK, remember the photo from the morning commute? Here is the comparison photo showing that it really was foggy this morning! (What? There are actually mountains over there?)



3:24 pm - The bus that my children are on is in the distance. It came a bit on the early side that day and I was not home to "catch" it! They do not let my kindergartner off the bus unless someone is standing right there. I ended up pulling up behind the bus and beeping but his engine is so loud he could not hear me and he was beeping his horn to let the non-existent person in the house know he was there. He finally realized what was going on and let my kids off the bus, thankfully! Drives me nuts when they get to my house early because I have a hard enough time as it is to get home by 3:30 on the days that I work!



Not a very exciting 12 of 12 - I know. I don't feel comfortable taking pictures while I'm at work (confidentiality for the kiddos and all that) so my work day 12 of 12 entries end up being not very compelling. Unfortunately, next month will also be a work day... Oh well, at least April 12th falls on a Sunday so maybe we'll be doing something more interesting that day!

Me again...

Yeah, I'm here. Still. I just don't seem to find the time to write about much anymore. Perhaps because I'm spending a lot more time writing other stuff (consults, progress notes, 10-page evaluations, etc...) over the course of the week.

This week's 'excitement' was the dreaded JURY DUTY...

Sorry if I just caused shivers down your spine.

I don't recall when exactly I was inflicted with the Jury Duty summons but at the time I had obviously decided that the date they wanted me to appear was not going to work out for me. So, I thought ahead and decided that icy, snowy January would be the perfect month! And I picked a Wednesday because I knew it would not be a work day for me since my girls only have a half-day of school each Wednesday. In November, I got the reminder that Jury Duty was fast approaching and I immediately called in the reinforcements to be sure I would have all my kids covered for the day.

All was under control.

That was, until I realized that since we are on a 1-day, 1-trial system I might actually be impaneled on a case that lasts more than just one day. Uh-oh. Thursday is our "evaluation" day at work and originally I had not been on the schedule to do an evaluation for this Thursday...however, we had some change of plans at last week's staff meeting and I offered to take on the evaluation. In doing so I had forgotten about that day's proximity to my Jury Duty day - and perhaps I just had my head in the sand refusing to believe that I could be unlucky enough to be impaneled, let alone be stuck dealing with trial that extended beyond the day I was asked to serve. So, I didn't even bother to worry my little head about it until Tuesday night when, in a sudden panic, I sent off an email to my coworkers telling them that I was hopeful that I would be able to do the evaluation but that I would be at the mercy of the courts on Wednesday. Eek!

I arrived at the courthouse at 8:00am to check-in and made it through the metal detectors without issue. I had decided it was the better part of valor to leave my knitting needles at home in case I were accused of bringing potential weapons into the courthouse. When I walked into the lobby I scanned the room to size up my potential fellow jurors and I couldn't believe my eyes! I actually recognized one of the people in the room - a former coworker from my days working as a secretary in the Psychology Department at UMass! Small world, indeed. Tom and I got caught up on each others' lives and I found out that he continues to work at the university (but in a different department) and that he still has co-ownership of a bunch of sheep, goats and bunnies. He and his friends raise the animals for their fiber and they spin their own yarn and use it for different kinds of fiber art. You can probably guess why Tom and I were good friend when we worked together! I still have a great little snowman he made for me one year for Christmas - it's body is made of raw wool, he has a little black felted wool hat and his 'coal' eyes and mouth and 'carrot' nose are made of polymer clay. I think of Tom every year when that snowman comes out of storage for the Christmas season. :-) (Side note: Tom informed me that my plan to leave my knitting at home was a good one - apparently, the last time he had jury duty they made him return his knitting needles to his car!)

Shortly after I arrived and started to chat with Tom a woman came into the courthouse and she and Tom seemed to know each other and she joined our conversation. We chatted for a while before I finally introduced myself and found out that she is actually the friend who owns the farm where Tom's menagerie lives! I had heard many things about her in the past but had never actually met her. Not knowing just how long we might be stuck in the small, windowless jury room, I was more than thrilled to have a friendly face (or two!) to suffer with. At least I wouldn't have to suffer in silence!

As it turns out we were in that small room for only about 25 minutes - and 15 of those minutes we got to watch the horrible, low-budget Jury Duty Service Informational Video. Once the video ended the bailiff and judge came into the room to give us some information about what the day looked like. The judge reported that there was a trial that was continued from yesterday and that there were also negotiations going on between lawyers and their clients which might result in scheduled cases not actually making it to the courtroom. She did not know if we were going to be needed at all but she wouldn't have more information until later in the morning so she allowed us to leave the building until 10:30. The bailiff released us with a warning not to loiter in the lobby or outside the building because, as he pointed out, "we don't want you mixing with the kinds of people that are out there...and I mean that in the best way possible." LOL That bailiff was actually pretty funny.

Tom, his friend Kathy, and I decided to hightail it to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts for a cup of coffee. We hung out and chatted for the next hour and a half. They filled me in on the latest happenings in their departments (Kathy actually works for the Linguistics department from which I received my undergrad degree) and it really just seems like not much changes when it comes to office politics and "The Way the University Operates" (or doesn't, as the case may be). They grumbled and groused about this and that encouraged me to "come back to UMass!" so I could join in the fun. ;-) I said "thanks, but no thanks" and told them that in many ways I work for an equally dysFUNctional company and had my share of office politics to try to avoid.

We headed back to the courthouse to settled ourselves back in that small, windowless room. I was tense and had called to give my coworker an update on the situation. I promised to let her know by 4:30 if I was going to be out of work on Thursday. She made some phone calls to let people know that the evaluation was "on hold" pending more information about my jury service.
I was really hoping that I wasn't going to have to cancel. The families who employ our services usually wait a good number of months for an evaluation date and I would not want to make them wait another few weeks or possibly a month or more!

About five minutes after we got back to the jury room the bailiff returned and gave us the status report. The case that was continued from yesterday was the "court case from hell" (His exact words! I told you he was funny.) and it was taking a lot longer than anticipated. Apparently, it related to a fight that broke out among some frat boys and there were approximately 15 witnesses who needed to give testimony. Boy, am I glad I didn't get impaneled for that case! In addition, there were a few cases that were negotiated outside of the courtroom (guess some of the parties got cold feet once they arrived and realized what might happen next?). Finally, the bailiff said "that's just my long way of telling you that you are free to go home and we thank you for your willingness to serve. And by the way, just a piece of information I'd like to pass along...the card that I told you about that you will be receiving in the mail and serves as proof of your service today? Well, let's just say that your employer will know what day you served but it will not state the time that you were released. For all intents and purposes you could have been here until 4:30pm. Ahem. So, that's all I want to say about that. Have a nice day." (see! funny AND nice!)

And there endeth my Jury Duty story for 2009.

Just for showing up today and being so 'willing' to serve (ha) I am relieved of any Jury Duty for the next three years...so long as I keep the card that shows my proof of service. If I lose the card the bailiff was nice enough to point out that my "punishment" would be that I would have no choice but to serve if my name happened to randomly come up again within the next three years. Yeah, well...that precious piece of paper is going directly in my fire box as soon as it's in my hot little hands.

Oh, and all was well for the evaluation, thankfully. I was able to call my coworker back about 20 minutes after my first call to her to let her know that I was good to go. I did the evaluation with another coworker today and it all went well. Now, we just have to finish writing up the report!

Time for me to sign off and get Youngest girl to bed. It's been a long day and I still have some work to do before tomorrow. Not to mention lunches to pack and laundry to do - it never ends, does it?

The 12 of 12 that wasn't....

I only managed to take a total of 7 pictures on Monday. Not nearly enough to attempt to throw in one or two last boring end of day pictures to post and actually participate. Sigh...

Maybe next month. (And maybe someone other than Rick will actually read the blog again if I post a link on Chad's 12 of 12 site!)

I guess I was silent for so long that even my few "regulars" stopped checking in! Not that I blame them. It's been a very long draught around here.

Today is normally a "no-work" day for me but once a month I have a Wendesday meeting to attend. Today is that Wednesday. Blah. Youngest girl normally goes to daycare two days a week but on my meeting week she goes three days in a row. Although she is finally getting better about going to daycare she still has a tough time when she has her three day week. Her dropoff routine is to snuggle on the couch with me or Rick and then we let Lauri take over with the snuggling and she is fine. Today I sat with her for a few minutes and then, when she was seeming sullen, I asked "How are ya doing?" Her response: "I'm still not happy." And then she broke down in tears. Sigh.... She was not likely to 'be happy' unless I suddenly decided it was not a Lauri day and she could come home and hang with mom. I finally encouraged her bribed her to be good by promising to buy more M&M's today so she could have some this evening IF Lauri reports that she had a good day at daycare. Naughty mommy...I just have a hard time saying goodbye to tears.

This coming weekend we are headed down to my hometown to visit my family. We are also invited to a party at my good friend S's house. She was my next door neighbor growing up and she was a year behind me in school. I think that many of the invitees are alumni from our high school -- many of whom I may not know (or recognize!) because they were in her graduating class. But, I should know a few of them and I'm really looking forward to hanging out with everyone this weekend! Something that I find neat and kind of funny about the party - most of the invitations were sent out via Facebook! I have become a regular user of Facebook Fanatic. I check in with my Facebook 'gang' whenever I'm at home checking email or just wasting time on the computer. Facebook can be such a HUGE time waster! I had to laugh when I read this post over on Notes to Self about the FB experience. Although I don't have any pothead ex-boyfriend's, my mom is actually on FB and I find myself second-guessing myself before I post anything because I start to remember that not only can my MOM read it, but a former professor of mine, co-workers past and present, and even my nieces and nephews are my FB friends. I do love it though. I feel that my relationship with said nieces and nephews has been strengthened by FB because we can have these little inconsequential but fun conversations that would not have been possible, or likely to ever happen, otherwise! I'm also chatting with certain other people that I would not have made the time to call or to email. I notice they are online and I send a quick "hello" which is sometimes not much more than that and sometimes it turns into a lenghty catch-up conversation. I am proud to be a Facebook Addict. No need to send me information on a 12-step program. I'm good.

Working Mom

Phew.

Made it through the first couple of "prep" weeks at work. The real down-to-business work starts this coming week. And it will be my first three-day week. The last two weeks I have worked two days a week and even that was exhausting and required some scheduling forethought and planning.

I have not yet found my work groove. The transition back to work is harder than I had thought in some ways, although I do have a significant amount of support and help in making it work. At times I question my sanity over my decision to become a working mom. Having two girls in school full time makes it more doable but it still requires orchestrating the day so that there is coverage both in the early morning and in the late afternoon. My work schedule does not allow me to be here at both ends of the day - and on some days I can't be here for either time and need to rely on Rick and his mom to fill in the blanks. And I need to make sure we are all on the same page so everyone knows who is responsible for what. I am hoping that it is just a matter of time before we become accustomed to the busier pace and the schedule is just part of the fabric of our lives with only a little stitch here or a patch there to keep it going smoothly.

And please God, don't let anyone get sick. I have already suffered a head cold this past week and actually went into work thereby potentially infecting my coworkers. In my defense I was unsure whether I was suffering from allergies or a cold but now that Eldest girl developed the exact same symptoms I can be reasonably sure that I spread my 'joy' throughout the work environment last week. Anyone who is sick this week is going to blame me for it (rightly so). But me being sick is one thing - having to decide how to manage a sick kid (or two) at home might get a bit dicey because it will be the double edged sword of mommy guilt vs. work guilt with a sprinkling of guilt over leaving my sick kids in the care of another. Here's hoping they continue to be the hearty and healthy souls that they have been in the last few years.

I had other reasons for going in to work last week even though I felt like absolute crap. I am still unclear on my itinerant work schedule and was waiting to find out about a particular classroom where I might (or might not) be working. I had waited a reasonable amount of time for someone to get back to me on the issue and I had left her a voice mail message on her cell phone. But, if you followed my previous blog posts about this workplace you can probably already guess that the message went unanswered. So, I was left still wondering about my schedule and figured the best way to get the information I needed was to show up and get the answers face-to-face. It seems the only way to get any answers from certain individuals. Upon arrival I found out from a different source that I would not, in fact, be working in that classroom. I was relieved to hear this answer but a bit annoyed that someone else was given the information days before and yet no one felt it necessary to clue me in. I am still unclear about just what my third day of work will eventually entail but it is looking promising that I will be in a school district not far from my home. I will hopefully find out more this week.

The girls seem to be mostly adjusting to the fact that mom is working more now. It actually hasn't impacted the older girls greatly. Sometimes I am not here to get them off to school but usually I am the one getting them off the bus on those days. Youngest girl is having the most difficult adjustment because she is spending two days a week with my good friend/neighbor/walking buddy/daycare provider Lauri (just how many hats can one woman wear?). She is being very brave but she has let it be known that she is not thrilled with the arrangement. She becomes easily upset when people unexpectedly arrive at the daycare (even Lauri's daughter coming off the bus was seen as an unexpected intrusion by Youngest girl. Lauri explained that her daughter LIVES in the house so it's OK for her to be there which seemed to help Youngest girl calm down a bit! LOL). I am hopeful that this year her adjustment will increasingly improve (as opposed to last spring when things started out great and deteriorated over time). Last spring she was only there sporadically whereas this year she is there twice a week so the regularity might help the situation.

Today is Monday and one of my days off. I think I will like having this day to hang out with Youngest girl and get some errands done for the week. It starts the week off on a good note.

Speaking of getting started, I really need to take a shower and get dressed so Youngest one and I can make the most of our day together!

Home Again.

We've been home for almost a week actually. Just have not had the inclination to write about the vacation. I think I've been enjoying the lingering feelings and not really ready to share them just yet. We had a wonderful and relaxing time. I promise I will post some choice pictures soon. As soon as the mood strikes.

I had dinner with a good friend last night. It was a lovely dinner and I enjoyed getting back in touch. We haven't had time to get together in many months. She shared with me some stuff she is going through right now and my heart aches for her. If you want to say a prayer for "Jeanne's friend" I'm sure she would appreciate it. I know God is keeping her close right now and will know she is the one who needs the extra prayers.

We are getting yet another insane thunderstorm this evening. The sky has been rumbling on and off all day and the skies are randomly letting loose in torrents of rain. This has been the Summer of the Thunderstorms. Somehow we lucked out last week and had fair skies for most of our vacation and very little rain. But, now that we are home again, the rain seems to be making up for lost time. And if you believe the weathermen there is plenty more rain in our future.
Geesh - enough!

This morning I went to work for an organizational meeting to get ready for the upcoming school year. I can't say we got incredibly more organized but it was fun catching up with everyone and getting a slightly clearer picture of what my schedule is going to look like for the new year. I will be starting the year off doing two days a week, but the understanding is that I will increase to three days once the schedule begins to fill in. I also found out that I will be getting (hopefully sooner rather than later) my very own brand-new laptop. Talk about feeling officially official! I nearly bought myself a laptop last spring but really couldn't justify the expense since most of my hours were on-site in our office where I had access to a desktop. Any other computer needs were easily met here at home on my desktop. But, starting next month I will be out in the field most of my work days and a laptop is going to be a necessity, not a luxury. Thankfully, I did not have to plead my case too strongly. The SPED director does have to justify the purchase but I didn't have to go into much detail because she realizes that a traveling "assistive technology specialist" needs to have a portable computer. Apparently, the organization is in general trying to move away from laptop purchases because they don't last very long and many of the other specialists do not have laptops. But, in our area of expertise the technology really needs to travel with us wherever we go. Period.

We have a few more weeks left before school begins. My brother-in-law and nephew are arriving on Saturday from Virginia for a week's visit and at the tail end of that visit I have plans to drive to the Cape with the girls for a mid-week visit with my parents. I am sorely missing the water and the smell of the ocean so I'm trying to fit one last beach visit in this month. Rick has to work so he's going to be staying home (and probably enjoying the peace and quiet of an empty house...I think I may have to figure out a way to work out a deal like that for myself some day!! I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be alone in the house for a few days...and how I would make use of all that free time!).

My birthday is coming up at the end of the month and although Rick has asked what I would like to do I have no really great ideas. In fact, at today's staff meeting I found out that orientation is three days before my birthday and we ended up scheduling a planning day ON my birthday. It just so happens that my birthday is also Eldest girl's first day of school (which seems way too early for me because school always started the Tuesday after Labor Day when I was growing up). So, I'll be busy getting her on the bus, getting the other two off to some kind of yet-to-be-arranged childcare situation (Middle girl's first day of Kindergarten is not until the following Tuesday!!), and spending the day getting prepped for our first full week of work. I also made plans to out for a quick drink with my coworkers to celebrate my birthday!

Life is flying by. Summer has been great so far and I can't believe that the need to go shopping for school supplies and clothing is essentially upon us. But, as much as I'm enjoying summer I have to say that autumn is my favorite season and I am looking forward to it. I love crisp blue skies in the morning, apple-picking followed by warm apple pies, walks in the woods with leaves crunching underfoot, and all the goodness that is autumn in New England.

What was that? Something just whizzed by....

Zzzzerrrrooooosh!

That would be me - in my fly-by posting mode. I've been a bad, bad blogger of late. Life is just going full-tilt of late and not leaving me much time to ruminate, much less write about my ruminations.

Some of the stuff I'm doing these days:

• working 2-3 full days a week

That is going very well and I'm loving my job. I love the techie side of things and learning about all the new and exciting stuff in the world of augmentative communication. And I've met some really great kids who are an inspiration and a challenge all at the same time. My co-workers are amazing. Even though I've been dealing with a fair bit of chaos and certain conflicts among members of the team, I would not want to work anywhere else at the moment.

Eliza is dealing (mostly well) with the transition to my status as a WOHM. She has her moments of not dealing so gracefully but I have two capable and loving people who care for her (her Grandma and Godmother, no less...) and she is just having to make that adjustment of not having me 24/7.

• Getting more involved with the Parent/Guardian Organization
  

I have not been as involved as I feel I should be in the past couple of years - I'm making that more of a priority and looking ahead to next year. They have lost quite a few of their highly involved parents over the course of the year and they are down to bare bones and looking at the dissolution of the PGO if people don't step up to the plate. I certainly don't want to see that happen.

This week I'm trying to help out by typing and binding a few books for R's class. Each year the K-3 graders write and illustrate their own books which the PGO volunteers to type and bind so they look more professional and official. I went to the Ice Cream Social with Rick and the girls last week and while families were enjoying a bit of musical entertainment I went to the community room and learned how to bind the books. I have a bag sitting in my kitchen just waiting for my attention. Must find time! Soon.

• Board of Christian Education (CE)
  

I'm a member of the CE board at church and we are in the process of trying desperately to hire a new director for the youth/family program. It's not been easy! This week things have come to a head and we are in the process of scheduling meetings and interviews. I'm sort of the coordinator by default since I was the only subcommittee member at the last committee meeting. It's been a bit hectic and crazed pulling that bit together in a very short time. I am also the board secretary and still have the minutes from the last meeting to type up -- which is probably what I should be doing instead of updating my pals here on my blog? Nah....

• Preschool Graduation

A's second, and final, year of preschool is coming to an end. I am so sad to say goodbye to her little schoolhouse for the next year but E will start there the following year so it's more of a 'see ya later' than an actual goodbye. And it's truly a bittersweet transition because while I say goodbye to her preschool days I'm thrilled for her as she enters the next phase and becomes one of the big kids who rides the yellow school bus and look forward to all that she has ahead of her. Ask me in a few years if I'm as excited for my 'baby' to be heading off to Kindergarten and you might find that I'm in a completely different mindset about that 'last one heading off to the big kid school' -- or maybe not. Both A and E are October babies and I'm sure E will be just as eager and ready at nearly six-years-old as A is right now. A is chomping at the bit for bigger and better things and seems to want to be older NOW.

I've stepped into the role of coordinator for the teacher gifts for the past two years. It's not a huge deal but it is one more thing that needs a bit of attention. I am collecting money from the families to present (along with flowers and cards) to the teachers to thank them for their hard work. The check will be used to buy something for the school that would not ordinarily be purchased from their budget. For instance, one year they replaced the clothesline/clothing pin system with an honest-to-goodness drying rack for all the beautiful artwork the children create each day. I had honestly not even realized until last week that the graduation date was fast approaching. No one else mentioned teacher gifts so I just decided to take the bull by the horns again and get it done. Everyone is usually very appreciative of the effort and I don't really mind doing it because I love our preschool....but I won't be there next year so it is time to pass the torch along! And with everything else going on I'll be glad when I can check one more thing off my list!

• Birthday/celebration central

Over Mother's Day weekend we celebrated on Saturday night with Rick's parents and had a nice steak dinner here at home. On Sunday I drove to Boston with R and A to meet up with my two sisters, one niece, two nephews, my brother-in-law and my parents. We all went to see one nephew in a HS production of West Side Story (which was amazing and fabulous and funny and heartrending). Then we all went out for a Mother's Day dinner at a restaurant in the Back Bay section of Boston called Fire & Ice.

This week is not only Rick's (40th!) birthday (today!) but also his mom's (Saturday) and my mom's (yesterday). Happy Birthday to all the special people in my life! Tonight we are doing a very quick dinner and cake and ice cream with my in-laws (because of my 6:30 meeting at church regarding the CE director position - see above!) and then on Saturday we are doing a full-blown cookout with more family in attendance. Burgers! Hot Dogs! More cake and ice cream! (And to think that life is creating a perfect storm of late that is keeping me away from the club and my morning walks! eek.)

• Head cold or tree pollen?

Every year since the year of R's birth I have suffered from a 'seasonal' (April and/or May) onslaught of cough, itchy throat, and sinus congestion. It lasts for a few weeks and from the best I can tell by googling symptoms and allergens each year at around this time, I think I'm allergic to either oak or birch trees (or both). It's a total drag. And it's really not a convenient time - particularly this year - for me to be dealing with this nasty crap. I'm giving Claritin a trial but so far, three days in, I'm not noticing any difference. A friend recently told me that the 10mg that is the OTC Claritin is not actually clinically beneficial and that I should give Zyrtec a try. Another friend suggested Tylenol Sinus. I was very glad for those tidbits and will likely make another trip to the drugstore to give one a try. I'm trying to be patient and wait another day or two with the Claritin before I toss them and try something else. But, something has to be done. And soon.

• Was there anything else? Or perhaps that list is the exhaustive (and exhausting) list at the moment. It is certainly plenty to be juggling and I'm hoping that I've not forgotten something... What a crazy month this is!