The ISTEP is coming...the ISTEP is coming!

It's another Sunday night and I eagerly?? anticipate the coming work week. Don't get me wrong...I like my job. I love the interaction with students and my fellow co-workers. I just wish that I could do it when I wanted to. I guess that would be considered independently wealthy! I have been dreading this coming week because ISTEP testing starts. Grumble...grumble. It's bad enough to subject our kids to the stress of the test-taking, but the fact that special-ed students( whom I work with) are tested on their grade level instead of their functioning level just makes me crazy! I'd like to see the "great minds" that come up with the hoops that we must jump through come and give these students the tests. They have set this group of students up to fail, then wonder why our schools don't pass their rigid standards when the special -ed departments don't pass. I'll say a silent word of prayer (although that's probably not politically correct anymore) for the kids and educators. It's going to be a long week!

It's been a while...

Well, I finally got the time and notion to write a few lines to my friends. With school starting back, the disease, and my otherwise laziness, I have not been a thoughtful blogger. Not a whole lot going on here lately. We did just change our tv/internet/phone this week. My new e-mail is : valvey@wowway.com I'm excited about being able to get some of my favorite channels in the kitchen when I'm cooking supper. On our other service it was a pay station only on our big tv and bedroom set. Hey, don't get the wrong idea about our "pay for service " channel...it is Discovery Health. You never know when you might need to diagnosis a brain tumor, birth a baby, or solve a mysterious disease!
The only bad thing about the new e-mail thing was I somehow lost my old address book. This is the 3rd time I've lost it! The other 2 times I gave Ed such grief over it ( it was his fault both timesand I threatened him with bodily harm if it happened again!) that he was sneaking and trying to type my address in again before I found out that it happened again. Interestingly enough, he NEVER loses his! I really do appreciate his concern( or fear) and the fact that my addresses are ready to go. I barely have them all in from last time. Oh no...sounding bitter again...must change subject!
We have a new automatic cat litter box and you would think that Ed had given me a priceless gift. I've been positively giddy about it. You can only imagine my disappointment when the "clumps" were too heavy for the motor and didn't work correctly. It make this loud slapping noise while the motor made a grinding sound. Poor Roxy may never potty again! Imagine if your potty carried on like that. Anyway, we emptied the litter, packed it up, and promptly took it back and got a different model...so far so good even though I've had to coax Roxy a bit. I'm cleaning the litterbox...I'm cleaning the litterbox...

Near Death Sickness from the depths of Hell

Oh my gosh......Whatever mutant form of the plague was that hit my family was incredibly wicked! I don't remember being so sick from a virus in my entire life. Poor Sammy walked around (slowly because her joints all locked up) with an actual shade of green to her skin color. I don't think I've ever actually seen that happen. I didn't know a human being could puke such vast amounts from 1 tiny little sippie of sprite...you can imagine my surprise when a tiny chip of ice brought on another bout of the screaming pukes. I call it the screaming pukes because I do not vomit daintily. You could hear me retch clear on the other side of the house with the doors closed! I'm talking bucketfuls!
If I sound like I'm feeling sorry for myself, well I am! Monday, AKA known as Pukefest 2007 by my other heaving daughter, was our 25th wedding anniversary! Ed sent me lovely flowers at work( I haven't seen them for 2 days because I'm currently using several of my hard earned, greedily-saved sick days in the first week of school!) and Sammy, Meg, and Mike planned to make us a lovely, gourmet supper and serve it to us. They worked on the menu for days, shopped, the whole bit. Well, none of that happened! Instead, all of us except Ed have been curled up in the bathroom wrapped around the "throne" in one capacity or another. I'm sure you all know what I mean! I traded my menu of bacon wrapped cream cheese jalapenos, wilted spinich salad, roast chicken with potatoes, lemon and asparagus, and mini lava cakes ala mode washed down by a chilled glass of champagne for tylenol and ice chips that I couldn't even keep down! Waaaaaaaaa!!!
When we started to recover Sam and I ate olives like crazy to get the salt. I had become very dehydrated and my skin is hanging loose and bruised. The bags under my eyes stay all gathered up when I rub them and makes Sam gross out. The worst part is the soreness. Our joints, back, and rib muscles are so sore! It was during this phase of the disease that I got a good look of the picture of me when Meg jumped out and scared me and took my picture. Thanks Meg...just what I needed! The laugh just about killed me.
The one good thing about being soooooooo sick is that you really appreciate the little things in life so much more when you start feeling better...the slightly tinny taste of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, the clean smell of your toilet bowls since you had to practically sterilize them, pets who think that they are sick because they have been lying in bed with you for 2 days, and Sprite. Who cares if it is left over from an early June wedding and the fizz is long gone!
I'm trying to think about going back to work tomorrow. If not, Meg is on stand-by to sub for me and I will have a few more bonding days with Sammy before she goes back to college this weekend. I can almost make myself say(not really believe) that the disease has been worth having to get that extra time together. Next time, we need to come up with a better plan, Sam!

The world's most boring blog!

I've been waiting for a few days to blog because I thought by then surely I would have something worthwhile to blog...WRONG! I stay busy, but I can't say doing what. A typical day of mine consists of doing stuff all day, but nothing really gets done. Example: When I get up I make my bed. I go to take my medicine, but I see how awful my hair looks so I have to tame it before I walk outside in the real world to take the dog out. I take Buddy out for his potty. I fill up his food and water and think that I should do it for the cats as well. I decide I might as well go ahead and sift the cat box so I go to the kitchen to get the new litter. While in the kitchen, I see that the table needs to be cleaned off. I grab an armful of stuff to take to their proper places. As I reach the bathroom I notice that I need to start a load of towels. I gather them up and stuff them in the washer and see that I'm out of detergent so I head back to the kitchen to get the new bottle. While I'm in there I decide i should test my blood before I take my medicine. As I finish up that task, I can't bear to look at the remains of last night's pots and pans that have been soaking. I finish the pans, then see that my counters are a mess. How can this be? I straightened them after supper last night! As I work on that, the dog has to potty again. While outside I straighten up the deck furniture and decide to water my plants. That brings on a game of dog vs. hose. Buddy loves to be squirted! Now the dog is wet and must dry out a little before we continue our chores. I sit for a while until I feel the need to talk to my neighbors who ply me with bounty from their garden. I go inside and plop them on my counter and pick up where I left off straightening them. I spy my blood tester and quickly head over to it, but am distracted by what I need to get out of the freezer for supper. I grab my new handy-dandy LIVING HOPE COOKBOOK and peruse through it for a tasty dish for my family. After picking a recipe I find that I need a few ingredients. I go comb my hair and put on some make-up in case I see some of my students at the store. While cleaning up, I remember my medicine. I gobble all 12 pills in one gulp (yes, I said all 12) and go to the kitchen for the elusive blood tester. After doing that, I have to eat something or my pills will make me sick and then I'll be done for the day. While my bagel is toasting, I get the laundry going. I can't go to the store now now because I don't leave my washer/dryer on while I'm not in the house. (Bad experience one time) Maybe I'll vacuum the living room. I probably should sweep the kitchen first. Hey, there's the kitty litter...better do that first. Anyway, you see what I'm talking about. It got too late to go to the store for my supper ingredients so we had whatever I could fix quickly. My laundry got tumbled 3 times before I was able to unload it wrinkle free. I go from room to room never quite finishing anything. But, on the good side of things, my family is great. They would rather me go out and do something fun than me to worry that I didn't get the floor vacuumed. Hamburgers and tater tots are ok. We can always scoot the clutter over on the kitchen counter over a little more when kind friends share their garden with us. ( praise be to green tomatoes) I guess what I am trying to say is I don't always get caught up in details. Things get done eventually. Some days I don't even try...yesterday I left the house with the intention of playing at a friend's house all day. Funny, I got more done when I got home than I did the previous day when I was home all day. Go figure that one!

Funny Games are the Best!

Samantha and I have been playing a funny game for months now...and it never fails to get me tickled! We have some little plastic dinosaurs that we hide in unexpected places to scare each other. Down in the bed under the covers never gets old. When you get into bed after a long tiring day and slide your legs under the covers....aaaahhhhhhh! Then the giggles start.
Samantha changed the game slightly a while back. She has a creepy little cut-out of a leprechaun that she hid to scare me. Not to be out-done, I made leprechaun into a life size figure and put it in her bed to scare the begees out of her. To top it off, I taped Harry Potter glasses on his face. I had great success with that prank!
Now, whenever he turns up he still wears the Harry Potter glasses.
Last night he made an unexpected appearance in my medicine cabinet. First, I went and got my insulin out of the fridge. Tucked cozily in the box was a little dinosaur that was wedged in tightly, keeping the insulin from coming out of the box. As I stuck my fingers inside the box to see why it would not come out, it poked my unsuspecting finger with its spikes. Aaaaaahhhhhh! Giggle Giggle! after we had a good laugh about it, I bid Sam a good night and proceeded into my bathroom medicine cabinet to take the rest of my nightly medicine. When I opened the cabinet...Leprechaun fell out on me. Aaaaaahhhhhh! Giggle Giggle!
As I'm recovering from that I reach over to get my glass to fill with water to take my medicine and there was another dinosaur in it! Aaaaaaahhhhh! Giggle Giggle!
Sam certainly was busy yesterday. She had planned on me being a creature of habit and was successful in all 3 pranks. I will get her back. She knows it and that is what makes our game so fun. This is just one example of why I miss her so much when she goes back to college.
I will prolly send Denny (the toy dino that i sent with her on vacation. She sent pictures of him through her phone of him sight-seeing)just to keep me caught up on things as well as a little entertainment. Now...where can I hide that leprachaun?

Happy Birthday to my Mom

Today is my mom's birthday. She would have been 69. She has been gone for 2 years now. Sometimes it seems like it was yesterday, but other times it seems like it has been forever.
It is amazing how much we all miss her for so many different reasons. I miss her just to talk to about the everyday things in life. And of course, I could do no wrong in her eyes. Everyone needs that in their life. Ed misses her because she instinctively knew when he needed a little extra boost in self-confidence. She was so proud of him and let him know that there was no one in the world like him. My girls were her girls! She was so proud of them. In a world that was filled with pain for her, they were what made her life worth living! Meagan was her special first-born grandchild and they always had a very special relationship. Mom held her before I did! I think that she would have added Mike to her collection of loved ones.
Sam was her very special "Little Sammy". Mom loved how she was so little, but always knew what she wanted and went after it. She would be proud to see that Sam has not changed in that!
When I think of mom I don't cry for her; I cry for us. She would be the first to say she had a good life, even with all of her illness. She got to love her family, inspire others in a positive way, and now live with Jesus. Way to go Nana! I love you!

Summer Break Is Going By Fast

I am going into the panic mode...summer break is dwindling. It can be counted down in days without much trouble. Do I love my job? YES! Am I ready to go back to school yet? NO!
Once we get back, the enthusium of a new school year will take over. I love seeing our old students and meeting the new ones. I still hear "Hi Mrs. Alvey!" from students I worked with years ago when out shopping or in the park. It tickles me to see students who have left our school and are making it in their current school or situation.
I am hurriedly trying to get Harry Potter #6 reread so I am fresh for # 7. It is amazing how much I have forgotten! We are looking forward to the last book, but sad about it in a way. It has been such a favorite of ours for so long now. Samantha thinks she has the ending figured out...actually it is a very possible scenerio. She is the queen of Harry Potter trivia...Meagan is the princess!
Our summertime birthday party time is almost here. My family is pretty scattered out and we don't see each other all together very often. We make it a necessity to gather for a Christmas celebration and once in the summer. I came up with the idea years ago to celebrate everybody's birthday all at the same time because it was getting difficult to remember to get gifts mailed at the proper time for the proper person. This has worked out very well. No person gets stressed about forgetting a birthday and it keeps us on track for getting together. With Mom gone, it would be easy to just drift apart, but this way we are all taking an active part in keeping our family close even if miles seperate us. We went to Huber's Winery one year, Holiday World, our houses, etc. This year we are heading up to Tracy's house in Indy and having our birthday celebration on Saturday night at Conner's Prairie for an outdoor picnic and symphony. Everyone gets a gift form the other family members...it is so much fun! The next day, Tracy's baby, Emily, will be baptised. Ed and I are the Godparents. I hope my family always stays in touch...that was my Mom's dearest wish!