Thursday, August 28, 2008

Utterly exhausted

I know there hasn't been much blogging action as of late. Sorry 'bout that. This going back to work thing is really kicking my hiney. Caleb also started flag football practice the same week I went back. They practice three nights a week for an hour and a half at a time. Needless to say, I often have a pile of laundry and a stack of dirty dishes laying around. And I don't care because I'm too tired to worry about it. On a positive note, Friday night is Chris' last night on the overnight management rotation. Hallelujah.

And speaking of Chris...his big 3-0 is Sunday. He can stop pointing out that *I* am 30 and he's *only* 29 now...

Okay, I'm packing a lunch, putting some clothes in the dryer and going to bed now.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Pictures from the first day of school





Monday, August 18, 2008

First Day of Pre-School and Thoughts on Returning to Work



After a week of hanging out with Daddy, the boys started pre-school today. I was worried about Cole, since this is a totally new experience for him, but he actually did really well. Considering I jerked my sweet boys out of bed at 6:30 this morning, we all deserve some sort of medal. Caleb had a brief moment of "don't leave, Mom" followed by a short burst of tears, but I quickly reminded him he needed to be a good example for Cole and to show him that it would be really fun. It worked. I'm proud to report that both boys found toys to occupy themselves and I made an easy exit before my own tears started to fall. This afternoon, I was greeted with a smiling 5-year-old waving "art" at me and a shrieking 2-year-old that didn't want to go home. I also found out that Cole used the "big boy potty" today. Yay! Pre-school virtually potty trained Caleb for me, so I'm crossing my fingers for similar success with Cole. Sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing, I guess. Caleb is bursting with excitement, as he gets to go on a field trip to the movie theater tomorrow to see "Wall-E".

Last week, I had a full week of "New Teacher Orientation" (although I'm neither "new" nor new to the district, just sat on the sidelines for a while) and today began the district-wide Orientation for all teachers. Personally, I think both need to be renamed "Death by PowerPoint". I don't want to ever see another PowerPoint presentation in my life. Alas, tomorrow is another day on the campus, so I'm sure I'll see at least seven more. After six days, I'm ready to share some of my observations with you...

1. Real shoes are cute, but not fun. I'm currently nursing three different sets of blisters and am out of the more adult-like cloth band-aids. I'm trying to decide between sporting Clifford or Spiderman band-aids tomorrow. Decisions.

2. Wearing a bra for longer than a standard grocery store excursion also sucks. Sure, it creates a better silhouette, but you better believe that baby is coming off in mere seconds after I walk through the door.

3. A shiny, new campus is pretty. I have new appliances and don't have to worry if anything is broken or that I'll have the "eclectic" look of hand-me-down chairs and furniture.

4. A shiny, new campus is also a challenge. There isn't a vast supply of excess materials for incoming teachers to use. My walls are pretty and clean, but completely bare. Until I got my "new teacher supply box", my desk didn't even house the smallest paper clip. Sadly, my nutrition classroom (which consists of four kitchen labs) will have to survive on one small 13-gallon trash can until after September 1st. Honestly, that will be okay since labs won't start until after then anyway.

5. There are a lot of rust on these wheels. I walked away from teaching just over two years ago, boxed up my "teacher life" and didn't truly think of it again until the reality of last Monday arrived. I am completely and utterly overwhelmed...even though this is my SEVENTH year teaching.

6. You may now refer to me as KRG or KG. Everything else has an acronym, so why not?

7. I honestly do not know where five days of my life went. Between going back to work and Caleb's flag-football practice starting last week, I'm pretty much a zombie.

8. I am completely boring. After about the third round of "Hi, I'm so-and-so from Whatchamadoodle ISD and here's an amazing fact about me", I have decided that I am definitely the LEAST exciting new teacher on my campus. I don't have a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering. I've never taught starving children in a third-world country. I don't speak any other languages. I didn't swim with sharks, para sail, or jump from any cliffs this summer. I've never had a movie, book or short-story released...or even almost. I've never run a race with an Olympic athlete. I'm not a vegan, Buddhist or past performer at Carnegie Hall. I've never even worked for Borden scooping Elsie the cow's poop. Hi, I'm Kristi and I'm intensely dull.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Friends are the best!

So, I've been moping (mope-ing, mopping - no that's not right...whatever) around all week...lamenting every day that I only have "x" number of days left. Chris isn't much in the sympathy department, evidently. BUT. I have to say that I have some very great friends that ARE very sympathetic. We hung out with Stefan and Nancy last night watching baseball/Olympics/Wipeout (have you ever seen that show? hilarious.) and eating Pei Wei take-out. Actually, the guys (and Caleb) went to the driving range, so it was nice to hangout with a girlfriend and just veg out on the couch. Definitely helped to keep my thoughts occupied on something other than going back to work.

Let's backtrack to Thursday. I had just finished watching "Enchanted" (which, by the way is a very cute movie with a gorgeous leading man) and went to put my Netflix envelope in the mailbox. I was surprised to see a big envelope with MY name on it!!! My friend, Kelci, sent me a fabulous messenger style bag with a cute card that said...

Kristi -
Thought you deserved a "sucks you have to go back to work" gift. Hope it lifts your spirits a little.
-Kelci

I totally stole this picture from her blog, since I can't seem to take a better one. Isn't it cute?
I have to admit, I had made it all the way through a movie without crying (yes, this is a huge accomplishment for me), but when I opened that package, I did tear up some. I've *known* Kelci for only a short while...and only online. Some people might call her an "imaginary" friend. But, to me, she's my real friend...even if we haven't ever met in real life.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Edouard was a wimp

Well, here anyway. I guess I should go knock on wood or something. Anyway, we got a good share of rain, but that's about it. I'm glad. As I was trying to fall asleep at our pajama party last night, I was beginning to get a little worried that I should be more worried. LOL. I guess the worst part of this storm will be the swarm of mosquitoes that are sure to follow!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Waiting on the storm

Tropical Storm Edouard came from nowhere, it seems. We heard nothing of an impending storm until yesterday afternoon. We aren't evacuating, but some people are acting a little crazy here close to Galveston...long lines at the gas stations, low cash at the banks, etc. Luckily, I bought water yesterday before I even heard about the storm, we have a gas grill in case we need to cook anything and I just changed out the batteries in the flashlights. Chris just left to keep the crazies in order at Wal-Mart tonight. Looks like the boys and I will have an impromptu pajama party in my bedroom tonight while Cassie sleeps in the garage. (Just to clarify to those that don't know, Cassie is our DOG...not a child.) Landfall is estimated for tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Click here if you are interested in keeping up with the storm's progress.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

A lesson in Customer Service

Earlier today as I was fixing myself a glass of tea, Caleb came into the kitchen. Being the good southern boy that he is, he asked if he could have some, too. I pulled out some lemon juice to add a little flavor and he asked for some of that, as well. Fast forward about 10 minutes... I'm walking through the living room and Caleb says, "Can you take this tea back and get me some more? I don't like the lemon stuff." I politely reminded him that it was the last of the tea and he had indeed ASKED for the lemon "stuff". I quickly got this as a reply..."Ummm...Mom. Don't you know that we are playing restaurant? But this time you are the chef and I am the CUSTOMER. The CUSTOMER can send stuff back if they don't like it."

Hmmm...no, son, I didn't know...

Saturday, August 2, 2008

This is not a happy blog entry...



The back-to-work countdown is on...8 more days. I'm not going to say that I'm happy. Honestly, I've been having a pretty hard time with it lately. Several moments of breaking down and crying. Plenty of headaches. However, I'm trying to be a big girl about it. It's definitely what needs to happen for our family right now. The extra income will surely relieve a lot of stress.