End of the Year Blues

It's the fourth quarter. Kids are shutting down, and I've got news for you, teachers are shutting down to. This doesn't mean that we're giving up and not teaching or doing our jobs, but it is getting harder to do them.

We don't have an easy job. We have to be "on" for at least eight hours a day and then go home and grade or make lesson plans. Yes, we may get time off during the summer, but I'm pretty sure I put in more hours during my nine months of work time than are in those 2.5 months I get off. But, when you keep those hours up for that long of time, your body starts to rebel. It's time for a break, it keeps yelling. We need it - physically and mentally.

But, the end of the year is rather bittersweet.

Sure, there are those kids that I'm ready to not have in my room again. But there are very few.

It's not easy to say good bye to those that I've really made connections with. Sure, I'll see them in the hallways, but I don't get to have those daily conversations or have them come up to my desk to chat about "THE BEST book EVER, Mrs. Knipper!"

So, I find myself drawing away from all of them. I think I do it to make it less painful.

I remember leaving Pensacola on my last day at school. My last class of the day was my favorite, and it was no secret. We had really bonded that year, and I loved all of them dearly. It was killing me to have to say good-bye and not get to see how they turned out and watch them on their life journey.

They felt the same way.

The bell rang.

They didn't leave.

Instead, they were still in a mass hug, clinging to me. And we were all teary eyed. I slowly shuffled with them to the door because I told them they couldn't miss the bus.

I wouldn't go out those doors with them, though. I couldn't handle it. I don't think they could handle it.

But, in all honesty, that's what  teacher lives for every year. Those bonds are worth our crappy paychecks and the weekends lost to grading essays.

And it's what I need to remember every day when I step foot in that classroom and start the lesson for the day - no matter how hard it hurts at the end of May.

Musings on a snow day

All weekend, they have been forecasting a huge snowstorm to move through the state. Polk County is going to be in a blizzard warning starting at noon today. But, the county my district is in (one over) isn't - just a winter storm warning. I still figured last night that this would at least get us a late start this morning before I went to bed because we are a rural school district. No dice. 

So, I got up this morning, cursing, because I was going to have to drive to school (although my route to school isn't typically horrid) and back when it was going to get bad. I'll be honest; I haven't gotten used to the stress of winter driving since we moved back. So, the thought of the 20-mile drive wasn't too thrilling. 

I double checked my email before I got in the shower. I had signed up for alert emails from the television stations even though we do have a phone tree. I usually get the emails before I get the call (just by a few minutes). No alerts. Poo.

I get out of the shower and see I have a voice mail. No school! The email got sent right after I got in the shower. The stinky thing was that I was up and awake. At 6:30. On a day when I could sleep in.

So, I've spent the last 2.5 hours being productive. 

• Caught up on The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
• Worked on baby blanket No. 3. I'm almost halfway done!
• Started the oven cleaning (I shouldn't take credit for that; self-cleaning doesn't involve much from me).
• Wrote a blog post! (We all know what an accomplishment this is for me!)
• Started a new book (Incindiary by Chris Cleve; he also wrote Little Bee, which was excellent).

And that's not all that's on tap for today. Sammy needs to go on at least one walk today, and maybe I'll bake something. I also need to finish writing a unit test.

But, now, it's back to knitting.

Writing again ... and a bit whiny

It's Sunday. I like lazy Sundays. The past few have basically consisted of Jeremy and I sitting on the couch and reading. (We live on the edge, I know).

They spoiled me because that's not really an option today.

Unfortunately, I procrastinated to the last minute (not such a big surprise, really. I also claim that being a copy editor only exacerbated this horrible habit of mine because you get used to working under the gun) and now I have to bang out the methodology (how I did my classroom research) section of my research paper for my master's. It really isn't that bad. I just don't want to do it. I should be happy because this paper is the ONLY thing I have to do for this semester (my last!), and the entire paper (about 40 pages) will be done (minus editing/revising) by the end of February. Then, I'll spend the next month and a half fixing and tweaking. The good news is that I will have it sent off by April 13. So, I've only got a little more than 70 days left of this master's thing. :)

I also need to get groceries because Sunday is the shopping day. I hate getting groceries, but I like food.

I also have to work out today. I'm just too lazy to want to do that.

Luckily, I have a fantastic husband who offered to go grocery shopping. My paper is almost done (and it's not even noon!). I will leave to go run eventually.

The problem is I just want to get to work on the scads of baby presents that I need to get done. From last September until this June, I know 15 (FIFTEEN, wth?) people who had/will have a baby. It's getting ridiculous.

So, I'm now procrastinating some more by writing a blog. See, I'm really good at that...

Environment

Right now, it is my planning period.

The weird thing, I don't have much to do. I'm caught up on grading; my plans are done for next week (and I've got a skeleton for the week after that); no administrative stuff needs to be done.

And yet, there are many things I could be doing.

I could be working on my master's project. This would means more time to do what I want when I'm surrounded by all of my stuff at home, when I have the freedom to do what I choose to do.

But yet, I'm not.

I need to have a specific environment to write - or at least write well. My desk and my classroom aren't it. I need noise -- and not the white noise from the classroom next door or the geese/birds outside. I need TV/radio. I need Sammy putting his wiggly beagle body between me and my laptop.

It's too still here. My thoughts will be jumbled, and I won't be doing quality writing.

Plus, it's morning. I do not make quality stuff before noon.

This makes me think about the parameters I put on my kids. They have to produce a product on demand. It may not be the best environment for them.

Heck, I never wrote in class when I was in high school. I made it look like I did, but I did all of my stuff from the comfort of my couch or my bean bag.

It just makes me think a little more...

Well, um.... no excuses

I always tell my students there is no excuse for being a slack ass. (OK, so I don't say slack ass, but I'm most likely thinking it.). And here I am being a slack ass. I'd rather not think about how long it has been since I've really blogged. I could list my normal excuses: school, work, sleep, sickness, having a life, the insane amount of baby knitting I have to do (7 by June. Only one of those is completed. Also: STOP procreating people!). But, it boils down to that I haven't made the time to do some type of writing, and I need to start making that a priority again.

I guess it doesn't help that I think I live a pretty mundane, uninteresting life. I read, work, sleep, run (which is just insane to think I do that), watch shitty TV, and knit.

Nothing exciting in that list.

But, then again, the popular memoirs are kinda about mundane things. They're just written funny. And I bring the funny. (As well as the punny, much to Jeremy's chagrin).

I also think that Twitter has possibly hindered my desire to blog. I basically say what I want over there, and all in 140 characters or less. That has seeped into my writing; my professor told me last semester that I have a lot of great quippy, short one-liners in my papers. I counted them. Yes, all 140 or less.

I'm cool like that.

So that's my 2 cents on my slack-assery.

I'm hoping it is a thing of the past.

um...yeah...so....

Life has kicked me in the butt, and the blog has gone to the wayside.

I will post a brilliant entry soon, though. I have to get down my thoughts and memories about the fabulous homecoming weekend I spent in Columbia last weekend. It was a truly magical thing.

I love that town and my alma mater with all my heart. As fellow alum, Jon Hamm says in the ad, "Z-O-U, forever."

Excited!

Today I took a load of crap into my classroom. Sadly, I don't think I even got half of it in there, but it is a start.  And, what I did take in is already unpacked (amazing, I know).

Anyway, I was very pleasantly surprised by my room!

It's very decent sized; I have two desks that form a wrap-around desk, a HUGE counter, lots of cabinets, a closet, two bulletin boards, and four big bookshelves and one small one. Plus, I've got a lot of natural light thanks to the big window and door by my desk.

Here's what it looks like:

This is from the front looking toward the back. My desk is next to the door and window.  All of the boxes on the desks have textbooks and novels. The teacher in the neighboring room had her daughters put them there so they could install my bookshelves.

 

 

FOUR bookshelves!!!! The small one is behind my desk.

Look at that counter!!! There are cabinets and drawers under it. The whiteboard is bookshelved by two matching bulletin boards.

My vantage point.

Sam says: I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's just a room. Now leave me alone. I've gone into sleeping bag mode, and I shouldn't be disturbed.

Day with Aunt Beth, Part 2

Taylor's choice for our day together was going to the Science Center of Iowa. So, we went to lunch first, and I made sure to time it so she had the option of being on the Channel 13 weather forecast at noon. But, she didn't want to do it, but at least I gave her the option.

I basically let her go on her own and just trailed behind. It's a hands-on museum, so I let her play with what she wanted to and added in my knowledge when necessary. This resulted in us blowing through the place in 32 minutes.

Taylor may have had the most fun in the toddler section of the science center.

Here she shows off her brute strength.

I had her for the rest of the afternoon, so I had to quickly think of an idea of what else to do. I suggested we go to Barnes and Noble, and she was thrilled. I had to put her on a limit of two books, otherwise she would have walked out with 20 (not that I would know anything about that). She was reading one as soon as we hit the car, and she curled up on the couch to finish it when we got back to the house.

But her dorkitude didn't end there. Last summer, I had the girls Kool-aid dye some yarn, which they then used to knit a bookmark. Taylor really took to it, and she had actually finished a dishcloth for her mom a few weeks before that. So, I had given her some needles and two balls of remnant yarn I had so she could make herself a scarf. I can't describe how proud I was when she showed me this:

It doesn't look like much, but there's only one error in there. That's pretty good considering she did all of that on her own. 

We finished the day with a trip to the mall to get some ice cream. I also let her window shop for a bit.

So, we had a nice dorky day. The dork gene runs strong in this family:)

Goal updates:

Um, the no new yarn thing, still not working. The shop got a lot of new sock yarn. I came home with two skeins - one for me, and one for Jeremy. I also heard that my favorite sock yarn will be coming in soon. Plus, I'm on the search for the World Cup sock yarn; I'm going to have obnoxious German knee highs for the next one:)

I have read a book a day so far. I've also been reading on my Kindle while I work out. It makes me less cranky about the entire thing.

A truce?

Sam and Miho haven't gotten along - ever. This is not Sam's choice; it's been Miho's. If he comes close to her, there's a lot of hissing and batting. And then Sam looks confused because all he wants to do is be her friend. It's been this way since we first got him:

So, imagine my surprise when I turned around one day and saw this:

I thought it was a fluke, and then the next day, it happened again:

It is a small step, but it's more than we've seen in the 3.5 years we've had Sammy (who manages to always look brilliant in photos).

Randoms

*Sorry for the blog silence. I was without  my laptop last week. My technology curse continued, and one of the Web sites that I visit had been hacked. This resulted in me getting a virus. The "humorous" thing about this virus is that is actually from a antivirus company. Basically, they hold you hostage because they pop up their antiviral program, and then they disable yours. Then, they say your computer is riddled with spyware and horrid virii. It meant we got to wipe my computer and start over.

*I broke down and got a new Zune. Mine took a bath in the pets' water dish (Jeremy knocked it off the counter). I'm very glad I got the new version. It's so light. And after loading it up with my favorite 90s music, I now have a better idea of why my dad thought I was addicted to heroin (nothing else, mind you -- just heroin) in high school. I listened to some angry stuff.

*Staying with the technology theme, thanks to my curse of gadgets hating me, in the past 3 years I have managed to kill 3 laptops (one was a work one and it was actually Sam's fault -- he stepped on it), render 2 Zunes useless, kill 2 or 3 phones, and the wii went kaputt, too. I say it is because of my electric personality; Jeremy doesn't buy this.

*Jeremy and I joined the Y. I've worked out every day since we joined. I have never liked exercising, and I still don't. It makes me hot, sweaty, and smelly. And I hate smelling. However, the nice thing about already being a stick means I get to see results quickly. My egg (what I've always lovingly called my bicep) is now more of a large lemon. I can see my calf muscles again, and my thighs are rocks. I'm now preparing to run my first 5K in October - The Race for the Cure. And I'm making Jeremy run it with me because I need a buddy.

*It's been a wet summer in Iowa. This makes me miss Florida - if only because people in Florida can drive in rain. People in Iowa, not so much. I've had practice driving in insane rains thanks to various tropical storms and hurricanes. Just keep plowing ahead, there is no need to slow down at random points or hit your breaks suddenly.

*I may have downloaded a widget to my phone that is counting down the days to Disney (153, if you were curious). I'm worse than a kid, and Jeremy is about as bad. Once we have mini-Knips, it may be hard to distinguish who are the adults and who are the kids.

*I have two weeks left of summer vacation. Thanks to my stupid classes, I feel like I have not accomplished enough laziness. But, I will finish the last class this week, and it is my goal to read a book a day in that time.

Yarn diet update: I fell down and went boom last Friday. I went to a yarn shop in Altoona that I haven't been to before. I got some yarn for a present (so that was a necessary purchase), and then two skeins that were just for me. But, I also finished two projects last week. I'm calling it even.

I have a problem

Last year, I put myself on a yarn diet.

It worked for a while. I had a lovely spreadsheet, and I was actually coming out ahead of what I was using to what was coming in.

I'm not sure what happened, but two months ago, I took this photo:

That's Sam, being pushed into the middle cushion of the couch. By just my sock yarn. And after I took this photo, I realized I had another basked filled with sock yarn.

So again, I'm on a yarn diet. I have been winding yarn so I can easily grab yarn to start a new project. This way it will be out and in my face, and I won't think I have to get more yarn. The only caveat to this is I do have a few Christmas presents in mind (although I already have 2 done!). There is a big chance I will need to get yarn for at least one of those.

I may admit to this issue, but I won't touch the towering stack of books I've bought over the years or the stack I have from the library...

Summertime

One of the fantastic things about moving back to Iowa has been getting to spend time with the kiddos. Even though they're my cousin's kids, they've always called Jeremy and I uncle and aunt, and we may be guilty of spoiling them a bit. We try to go to at least one of their games and some of their events. I also have made sure that they get a "fun day with Aunt Beth" during their vacations(I may use these as an excuse to get to do kid things that I want to do but not look like a weirdo. For example, it's how I went to the Floppy* documentary; I conned Em into going with me and relived a great childhood show. This is also how I'm going to go see Romana and Beezus later this summer.

But, since the end of May, the kids have kept us busy with all of their events (OK, it slowed down after June - but there were a few busy weeks). We got to see Em and Taylor at their dance recital. I enjoyed it more because a lot of the kids I had at Waukee were in it. Jeremy admits he snoozed a bit during it.

We had Parker's little league game. He's improved a lot since last year when he hopped up and down on third base yelling "Aunt Beth, Aunt Beth! Look! Look!" He even did this while a ball rolled right past him (the unobservant part is apparently a family trait). He's become very serious about it, and he's informed me his favorite position is catcher.

 Look at that concentration. 

He really is a peaceful kiddo (as well as absolutely adorable).

 Clark, on the other hand, is a hellion. He managed to run onto the field
as well as yell "diarrhea" across it. Spitfire doesn't even begin to describe him.

Em's our little soccer player. Uncle Jeremy has informed me I'm not allowed to tell her how to play dirty. I do think she needs to learn how to celebrate goals though.

Em, center, looks pretty serious (and looks a lot like a young Aunt Beth).

 "No, no, Jeremy!" is Sam's favorite phrase. And that's always good for laughs.

 Okay, so they ALL might be a little hellionish.
I have NO idea where they'd get that from:)

So far, I've only done one Aunt Beth day with Parker. I scored us some great seats at an ICubs game, right to the right of first base. Parker even got a foul ball that some older gentleman was nice enough to make sure the player gave it to the kid. He was thrilled.

 He was so excited to be that close to the field. I may be biased,
but he's the cutest kid in the world!

I did take all 3 kids to see Toy Story 3 the other day. I even braved 3D for them, and we were "cheaters" as Em said and snuck in our goodies. That seemed to be very exciting for them. After the movie, we met Uncle Jeremy at the park for dinner. They played tag while I documented the entire thing. Parker was so excited that Jeremy was chasing him, he ran by me laughing hysterically. You can't help but be happy with moments like those.

*For you non-Central Iowans, the Floppy showed aired after the noon news from the 50s to the late 80s, when it changed to a Saturday afternoon show. Floppy was a beagle in a box, and there were corny cartoons and jokes on the show. One of my childhood favorites, and yes, that is how my beagle Floppy got his name.

Chicago

A little more than a month ago, we took a weekend trip to Chicago. Neither of us had been, so we decided it was a good, quick getaway (which is sad considering I grew up 7 hours away and a decent number of people I went to college with were from Chicago. Instead in college, I took the day road trip to Texas - I'm not kidding).

True to our typical form, we hit the ground running (we have yet to plan a relaxing vacation; we're not good at just sitting all day). So, after the giddiness of realizing that we were staying at the hotel the NHL was using as its HQ for the Stanley Cup in Chicago, we decided it was time to eat. Right next door to us was Miller's Pub, which is apparently a famous spot (these are things we did not research).

After running back to the room to get a sweatshirt, we went on a walking tour to see the sites from Ferris Bueller.

I check out the map and realize how much walking we're going to be doing.


I managed to not have a panic attack on the Skydeck. I think this was because I was so excited to see the Adventures in Babysitting building.


The Chicago Board of Trade is a pretty cool building.


It's a flamingo.


The hotel.

I managed to get blisters after this walking expedition, but that didn't slow us down for the rest of the weekend.

We started off the day walking on Saturday. We tried to get to the Shedd Aquarium, but the wait for tickets to just get in was 2 hours. We were going to the Cubs game that afternoon, so that wasn't going to work. Instead, we tootled around on the lakeshore, and we went to the Field Museum instead. Neither of us were that impressed by it.


It's Soldier Field. And me with way too bright hair.


The Bean.


the closest I got to any Chicago Bulls.


The town had gone Blackhawks nutty. These are the lions out in front of the art institute (where I was happier than a pig in poo because they had many Monets).


I may have jumped up and down when I saw this. it was a gift from Paris, and I may have declared that it was time to move there.


Wrigley - unfortunately the White Socks weren't playing in town that weekend, otherwise we would have gone to both parks.


Sue!

On Sunday, we took it a bit easier. We managed to get into Shedd, puttered around the art institute, and then meandered around Navy Pier while waiting to go see Taming of The Shrew.

We had a good time, but my feet were ready for a break when we got back.


I represent and show my Iowa pride wherever I go.

It's a pretty good year

In April, I found out that there was an opportunity for me to get my teaching certificate in Iowa from doing a portfolio instead of finishing up all my classes (which I'm doing anyway because I'll be done with my master's next May). So, a few short weeks later, I had my "non-traditional transfer license." I still needed to take a few classes for the English portion of my license (hence speech since I'd never taken it for undergrad), and I also needed two years of experience teaching in an Iowa school.

This meant I started furiously applying for jobs. It's not such a great time to do that. Each position is getting hundreds of applicants, and they typically only interview 3-5 teachers. So, when I got a phone call 2 weeks ago to set up an interview for a 9th grade English position, I was thrilled!

I had my interview last week, and I felt very confident after leaving it. The counselor, who was on the hiring committee, personally knew one of my references and had called her directly. I had an inside track from another friend on what they were big on, which was actually something I had gotten experience with while doing my long-term jobs in Waukee (professional learning communities). But, I had to wait five days to hear anything.

Yesterday I had planned a day with Parker. We went to the Iowa Cubs game. I managed to get us pretty decent tickets, and he managed to get a foul ball. He had a great smile on his face the whole day, and he had told his mom that morning that he was just excited to get to spend the day by himself with Aunt Beth. I will admit there was several moments of me checking the phone to see if I had gotten the call that I got the job.

I figured by the time 3 p.m. rolled around, I was going to have to wait until today. Nope! As I was driving Parker home, the principal called. I called back, and left a message. It was a very long 10 minutes while I waited to get the call.

But, I got the job! I start August 9! I'm very excited!

So excited, in fact, that I agreed to go to Disney during my Christmas vacation.

Excitement finds us

It's been a busy two weeks for me. I got the brilliant idea to take a speech class that was 3 credits in two weeks. Not exactly so much fun when I was taking four other classes, but at least it's done!

Then, I found out on Wednesday that my great aunt had died, so it was going to mean a trip down to Eddyville for the funeral on Saturday. By the time I got home that afternoon, I was just ready to crash and be a bum.

Nature had other ideas, though.

Jeremy took Sam out to go potty, and as he opened the door two ground squirrels/grinnys/chipmunks/whatever you call them ran at him and one actually ran inside. (Side story: I usually call them grinnys. The first time I saw one was at my granny's, and I got a kick out of saying "Granny's got grinnys!" My odd little sense of humor started early). I was sitting on the couch trying to get homework done, so I was a bit confused at why Jeremy was making odd noises outside of the door and why it was still open.

Then, I looked over and saw a little grinny, scared to death, staring at me from the kitchen. Miho also quickly spotted it and cornered it. I've never seen my tubby little cat run so fast.

I jumped up and grabbed two plastic containers to attempt to trap it to release it back in the wild. This did not go as planned.

It first ran behind the trash can, and I got it out, but it then ran over to the box pile. Sam then came in, shooed out Miho, and got the grinny to run back over to me. We tried this a few times to no avail.

I decide to get a lid to shoo it in to the box, but Sam got to it first. He grabbed it in his mouth, and Jeremy quickly moved him outside. (Sam does have a toy chipmunk; he grabbed onto the real one exactly like he does the stuffed one. I don't think the thing had a chance).

Unfortunately, the grinny didn't make it. I took one of Sam's poo bags and disposed of it in the Dumpster. Sam and Miho kept trying to refind it all night long, and I think Miho was a bit upset that she didn't get to finish her hunt.

I later saw the grinny's little friend, and it looked sad and depressed. I told it to blame Sam.

Now Sam has gone nutty and wants to really chase after everything he sees. I'm not looking forward to this.


Sammy's first kill

What We Did Last Summer - Entry 1

I always said one nice thing about Pensacola was that it was close to a lot of interesting cities. Of course, we only made road trips to New Orleans, Atlanta, and Destin. Apparently, I just blanked on the idea that Des Moines was close to quite a few places, too. Omaha is 2-3 hours away, Kansas City is the same, Minneapolis is 4 hours, Chicago is 5, St. Louis is a day's drive, and Mizzou is about 4 (I couldn't leave CoMo out:).

So, about a year ago, I realized Green Day was playing in Minneapolis in July. I have loved them since 8th grade. So I begged Jeremy (and it really didn't take much arm twisting), and we decided to make a weekend out of it. The only downside was that my friend Lois was leaving that week to go visit her family in California, so we wouldn't be able to meet up with her.

We drove up on a Friday afternoon because the Twins were in town, so we decided we'd go see them, too. We found a hotel right across from the Target Center, which meant the Metrodome was within walking distance.

I had been to the Twin Cities several times as a kid. My dad's best friend from the Marine Corps lives there, so we took several trips to visit. I had never thought that it was that great of a place. And when I went to visit Lois a few months before the wedding, it was January and cold, so we didn't do much exploring. I was very surprised at what it has become.

We had a decent walk down and back to the Metrodome. Not once did I feel unsafe. Downtown Minneapolis is really clean and safe. There were several cops and security patrols around. And, there were a bunch of bars and restaurants around. I was really impressed. If I were just out of college, I think it would be where I would want to move.

It was nice to go back to the Metrodome one more time to see a Twins game. It's the only ballpark that I've been to where I was on the jumbotron. Granted, I was passed out, but I was on there - mouth hanging open and everything. It was a good game, and I was very happy to find they had microbrews there. This resulted in me not realizing it was the bottoms of the 9th and that the game was over.

The next day, my dad's buddy came and got us for lunch. We got to see Dinkytown and part of the campus. We also started the search for Jeremy's hockey stick. Fun times.


We also explored some of downtown. I was a little bummed that I did not have a hat to throw next to the Mary Tyler Moore statue. Downtown is basically a shopping area with the typical shops and restaurants. But, that also meant we got to have a good choice of where to eat for the concert - and we ended up going with Hard Rock.

I should also say that our hotel was extremely fancy -- but we got an amazing deal on it. However, I also realized that Green Day had the penthouse for the night. This may have resulted in me trying to figure out how to sneak up there. But, considering that the lobby was three floors up and around a corner, I didn't think it was going to be that easy. I was a little bummed that I realized when we were packing up that there was a pillow menu. But, I did keep our Hermes soap -- even though it reeks.

Since we stayed right across the street, it was really easy to get to the concert. The amazing thing was that as we walked out of the hotel, we ran into two people I went to high school with. With all of the people that went, it was an amazing feat.

We had pretty decent seats, but that was a minor thing. The concert was absolutely amazing. They played for about 2.5 hours, and they played the old stuff and the new stuff. The kid next to me thought I was weird as I was belting out the old stuff - I shouldn't have been surprised -- it came out before he was born. I'm very glad we went. It was fabulous.



To finish out the weekend, on our way home, we stopped at the Mall of America. That wasn't too exciting. It's just a big mall. Ikea was lovely though. Des Moines needs one. We also spent quite a bit of time at Hockey Giant - a department store of hockey stuff. I was not so excited; Jeremy was like a kid in the candy store.

So, it was a good weekend. Both of us were very happy with it. It was a nice little mini-vacation.

Not a good way to restart the blog

I'm going to skip the fact that I haven't posted on here in a while and get down to the bad stuff.

Last week, Chewy started acting weird. She wasn't eating, she looked skinny, she was quieter, she was clingier, and she wasn't cleaning herself very well. She got better over the weekend.

Then Monday, she started acting odd again. On Tuesday, she wouldn't headbutt Jeremy. So, I decided I'd cancel my job for today and take her to the vet. Both of us figured she had a sore throat. It made sense.

I got up early and called a vet to see when I could bring her in. By 9:10, we were waiting for the vet.

I knew it wasn't good when the tech said Chewy didn't have a fever.

I got even more nervous when the first question the vet asked was if Chewy had been tested for Feline Leukemia.

By 9:30, she had used the cancer word. Lymphoma to be exact.

After feeling her neck, the vet found two massive lumps. Lumps that I couldn't believe how big they were. I had no idea they were there.

So, they took some cells from one of the lumps. These will actually be sent off to a cytologist to look at closer. The vet looked at them to make sure they were viable and weren't just red cell matter. She said she was pretty sure there were lymphocytes.

She asked if I wanted X-rays. I said yes. I wanted a clearer picture.

The X-rays showed that there are two massive lumps in her neck. They're pushing Chewy's trachea all funny. They're not pinching it. But the fact that it is no longer straight explains why she's been coughing, why she'll only eat wet food, and why she hasn't been eating much. She has to keep her head down to feel comfortable. Luckily, her other organs look basically okay. There do appear to be two masses on the lymph nodes around her heart and lungs. But no tumors on the actual organs.

The more disturbing thing was that Chewy has a BB stuck in her back. She's 13 now; she hasn't been an outside cat in 9.5 years. I was pissed. I was ready to drive to Eddyville and just start beating the shit out of people. But obviously, it's not bothering her since it's been there that long. It's still wrong.

Anyway, we are supposed to hear back about the cells by Friday at the latest. They may not be able to get a solid diagnosis from it. That would mean getting a biopsy,which means cutting a big chunk out of Chewy's neck.

I asked the vet what she would do if it were her cat. She's actually gone through this with her 13 year-old-lab. There is no cure for lymphoma. They can possibly put it into remission with chemo. But that would only prolong the inevitable by a few months.

Jeremy and I have decided that's not an option. We're already pretty anti-chemo because of our personal experiences with our parents. Not being able to explain it to Chewy makes it even worse. This also means that we're not going to do a biopsy either. We're just going to be monitoring her, and when she starts to get worse, we know what we have to do.

I have been a mess all day. It's hard to know I'm going to have to say good-bye to my buddy. We've been through a lot together: moving, sickness, college -- she even gave approval for Jeremy. She's never acted like she's gotten older. It's weird to see her actually act her age.

I know this is the right choice though. But, in the mean time, Chewy gets to eat whatever she wants. This means she gets to have a treat of Hagan-Daas every night. She's rather happy about that.

Iowa weather

Iowa weather is nutty. Today, one part of the state was under a thunderstorm warning while another was under a winter storm warning. We got the rain and hail.

Anyway, there is little to no grass in front of our apartment. This is where Sam goes out to go potty, but he is picky about his paws and doesn't like to get them wet or muddy. Both happen to him if it is raining out.

So, I tried to help him out today and made him some "rain boots." He was not thrilled at first:

You can even see the mud tracked in from the past in this photo up by the Swiffer.

However, the next time when we went out, I made him some bigger ones, and he actually sat patiently while I put them on and didn't try to rip them off. He even trotted down to the mail box with me and didn't seem to be bothered by them. I think he actually figured out that they kept his paws dry, warmer, and clean.

Something has frozen over...

So this week brought the weather I so hated growing up in Iowa in January. Damn cold is the only way to explain it. When the high is below zero, that's just ridiculous.

All week on the weather, they've been talking about we haven't had cold weather for this long of a period since 1996. I remember that cold snap. I holed up in my room the entire week (we had no school because it was too damn cold). My room had a floorboard heater, which I had cranked, and this made my room the warmest in the house. I'd stick my head out every once in a while, yell for some food and listen to my dad gripe that I was going to set the house on fire by dropping something onto the heater (he was paranoid about fire).


Anyway, I decided that I was going to get equipment to help beat the cold that manages to freeze your nostrils together in a matter of seconds (it hurts, trust me). So, while walking through my favorite store here - Scheels (it's a sporting goods store filled with all manner of cold-weather fighting gear) - I found this hat. It may look dorky, but it makes my head sweat. I kid you not. I can go out in this weather, and my head and hands (woo hoo for my fancy gloves) will be sweating. It's a lovely, lovely feeling.

Part of the reason that I got all of this gear was that one of the munchkins turned 8 this week, and we were supposed to go sledding this weekend for her party. Sadly, the stupid weather has postponed it, but my hat, gloves, snow pants (the boy even got some of those this week), and boots will be waiting.

I also gave into fashion and decided I needed a pair of Uggs. Now, I always thought they were ridiculous when the anorexics of La-La Land wore them in summer, and I didn't understand why they were needed in Florida. Here, though, they make sense. I have been coveting a pair since going back to work after Christmas break. I see all the girls with them on and all their fleecy goodness as my feet freeze in my cute flats or heels. So, I searched online and found these:


They aren't as ugly as the typical Uggs, but they're just as warm. However, the problem is no one here has the grey ones. And they weren't much easier to find online, thanks to Oprah making them one of her favorites of 2008. So, they got ordered directly from Ugg central, and I should have them by the end of next week.

The saddest story of the week was Sam Puppy. He had some issues with having to go outside to potty in the frigid weather. He'd submerge himself into drifts so his little belly wouldn't get hit by the wind. Of course, he still managed to look like an idiot because he hops around when his paws get too cold. He was thrilled today that it got up to a balmy 18.

Yes, I used balmy to describe 18.

A bit late

So these photos are from October. Oops.

It started with Emily, pictured below, deciding that everyone had to go to the pumpkin patch on the same day.



So, everyone went because it makes life easier if you just agree with Emily.

If you look closely at Sam's shirt (baby on the left), you can see a small bulge toward the top. He decided that his shirt made a good storage spot for his binky. Everyone thought it was missing, but he had just stuffed it down his shirt.

The pumpkin patch has a play area as well as a hayrack ride down to the patch. They even had a fire pit to roast marshmallows. Jeremy, as you can see, decided to join in on the trike races. I attempted to throw a football; I'm still not good at it, nor should I try to catch it.


All the kids picked out pumpkins. Emily took my advice and got what I said was the most perfect pumpkin in the patch. However, it was a bit too big for her to carry, so she held on to Sam's. Taylor chose to not carry hers at all, which is why she's the only one without one.





And of course, the kids seemed to be most excited about the farm cat that was hanging around.