Weekend Update

My brother's wedding went off without a single hitch on Saturday. Other than the fact that it started snowing and was really cold (which resulted in my developing a lovely cold), things went really well. My sister won the award for the most messed up wedding gifts. She found some really tacky goblets covered in bling that said, and I quote, "Pimp" and "Ho". Good thing Roy and Jen have a sense of humor. At least they laughed in front of us when they opened them up. Don't worry, that wasn't the only thing she gave them. We all gave them money for their honeymoon. They are currently in the Smoky Mountains and from everything they have said, they're having a lot of fun.

Kenny and I left Malden after the reception on Saturday night. We made it back to Washington in the wee hours of Sunday morning and I got up and left for the Show Me Professional Development Conference at Tan-Tar-A. It was a very informative conference. There are several topics that Triola and I want to present to our faculty here at Clark-Vitt next year during PD days. Unfortunately, the chances of them listening to us and actually trying out our suggestions are slim to none. I think it's really sad that even though we take the kids they don't want to deal with off their hands for a considerable chunk of time everyday, most of them have the attitude that we're not "real teachers", therefore what we have to say has little to no value. Luckily, what I'll be presenting on, the better answers formula, has data to back it up from schools that are actually using the formula. I made quite a few contacts with principals and other teachers who said they would be most happy to share their data to help me get my point across. I find it's always nice when you can come at people with numbers from teachers in the field who are actually practicing what they preach. Hopefully some people will be willing to try it out.

My parents have come up this week to help pack up my apartment. I tell you, all of the boxes stacked everywhere are starting to stress me out! I am eternally grateful to my parents for coming up and helping. When we offered for the house, we were sure they would counter, at least on the closing date, and we'd have plenty of time to pack. Oh wrong! With the wedding, my conference, coming home feeling like I've been run over like a truck, parent/teacher conferences, and tutoring this week, I haven't had time to get all of the packing done that my parents have managed to do this week. As they said, it also gave them time away after the wedding. They have been a huge help. Big thanks go out to the folks! I'll just be glad to be in the house where we'll have plenty of room for visitors.

The Purchases We Make

Here is a funny story/warning to those who impulse buy. Triola, the lady I co-teach with, came in yesterday absolutely livid. A couple of weeks ago, her husband and his brothers travelled to Jupiter, FL for a week-long spring training and golf trip. When he returned home, he said he had a special surprise for her. He had purchased a swimsuit for her, which she said was a pretty two piece, but was nothing spectacular and nothing she would wear outside of their own home pool. Fast forward to Tuesday evening. Her credit card bill came in and her payment had jumped substantially and there were some charges on the bill from Florida that she couldn't figure out. She figured the swimsuit had cost around $30-$75, like most average swimsuits. Her husband finally 'fessed up. The swimsuit cost $300!!! My first response was is it made of gold? Kenny wanted to know if it was diamond encrusted. She said at first she laughed because she could think of no other response. Then she said the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She said she kept thinking about what she's wanted to buy but didn't because she thought the items were too expensive. I haven't seen the suit yet, but if I do, I'll try to get a picture so we can all see what a $300 swimsuit looks like! Needless to say, her husband is working overtime for the next couple of Saturdays to earn enough extra money to pay for the suit (they won't take it back). Everybody is calling the overtime "Swimsuit Saturdays".

Muscles hurt that I didn't know I had....

I am in the process of packing up the apartment. I did a marathon packing session last night, packing up and selecting books to take to our last IRA meeting of the year to give to our Habitat for Humanity bookcase that we're donating to one of the new houses being built this year. First of all, I know I'm a bookworm, but I never realized how many books I have! Good Lord! You would be surprised how heavy these books are. I am still not finished, but hopefully I will be this afternoon.

The downside of this packing adventure is that I felt about 100 years old when I got out of bed this morning. I have a feeling that Bengay and those Thermawrap heat thingies are about to become my best friends. I hurt from the top of my head to the soles of my feet! I don't remember moving being this painful the last time around. Maybe it's like childbirth. Everyone tells me you don't remember the pain once you have the baby, at least that's what all of the older teachers here keep telling me when I express doubts about whether or not I want to even go down that road. Somehow, I'm not believing them! I have a feeling I'll definitely remember how painful this move is!

Live Theater

This morning, most of our school went to see the local community college's production of Beauty and the Beast. Since it was most of our school, and some of the comments heard from the backward bumpkins riding my bus was, "This is gonna be stupid, this is so dumb, this is gay....", I was pretty well prepared for mass mayhem during the performance. I was already planning out my apology letter to the drama department as we all took our seats. What I forgot to take into account was that even though our kids are pretty jaded, there is power in live performances that can calm the most savage beasts. All of the students around me were mesmerized for 2 and a half hours. I couldn't believe it. From talking to the other teachers, the kids around them were speechless as well. I had to smile on the way back to school; some of the earlier naysayers were the ones who were talking about how cool all the costumes and sets were, how they liked the explosions, and how in the world did the actors not fall into the hole in the middle of the stage (the pit). For all of my drama and theater friends, your field of work and study gave me hope that maybe some of my kids are human, or have the capability to appreciate the finer things in life, after all!

Charlie Brown Christmas - Performed by the Cast of Scrubs

Even though it's way past Christmas time, Kenny found this online and since Scrubs if my favorite TV show, I figured I'd share the laughs.

Check out this link!

I just happened to stumble upon this link and it cracked me up. Check out Celebriducks, I guess for the person who has everything!
http://www.celebriducks.com/shop/newducks.htm

Birthday Meme

Events:
1820: Missuour Compromise signed into law by President James Monroe allowing Missouri to enter as a slave state, but making the rest of the Louisiana Purchase Territory slave-free
1981: After 19 years presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
1853: Guiseppe Verdi's La Traviata opera premiers in Venice

Births:
1475: Michelange, Italian artist
1806: Elizateth Barrett Browning, British poet
1946: David Gilmour, British musician of Pink Floyd fame

Deaths:
Louisa May Alcott and John Phillip Sousa

Holiday/Observance:
Feast of Saint Colette, founder of the Colettine Poor Clares

March 6

House Pictures, I hope!

Okay, I'm going to attempt to add a link where people can go see the pictures of the new house. If it doesn't work, let me know and I'll try againhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/7231400@N03/

Deb's about to kick some apartment manager butt!

Get this- I went yesterday to tell my stupid, jerk apartment manager that we were moving out at the end of the month. First of all, this idiot was standing outside while there was a worker using some kind of sander that sounded like a lawnmower when I walked up to him. I had to yell to be heard over the thing and when I told him I needed to talk to him, the idiot ROLLED HIS EYES! If you are a teacher (or the parent of a teenager), you know this is the one thing that makes most of us crazy. He then very rudely said, "What?" I had to yell again that perhaps we should go inside the office so I wouldn't have to yell at him. I went in and told him, "We've bought a house, so we'll be moving out at the end of this month." He looked me straight in the face with a little smirk and said, "Well, you can't." Wrong thing to say to someone whose last name is German. Now, I'm generally a calm person when dealing with idiots (after all, I teach school and a class where people regularly poop their pants), but this guy has ticked me off one too many times with his condescending attitude (translation, I usually have doormat written on my forehead). For some reason, I saw red and wasn't able to censor what came out of my mouth. My first thought was, "Oh hell no, you did not just say that to me." I managed to not say that, but I put my hands on my hips, did that head roll thing that all of the African American girls I went to high school had down to a tee, and said, "Watch me." His response was, "Well, you can move out, but you're going to have to pay the rent for the entire month of April." I'm sorry, when I signed my original lease, I had to sign for the entire first year. After that, rent was on a month to month basis. It said that they liked a 30 day written notice of moving out, but that rent would be prorated if it was under half of the amount of the month left. He says the company doesn't do that now, and I'll have to pay for the whole month. I wanted to tell him that I should only have to pay for the first week since I went for three and a half weeks without hot water at the end of November and into the coldest part of December. I guess they don't think it's necessary to "prorate" hot water. I will be so glad to out of this place and never have to deal with this complete a**hole again. I'm seriously considering contacting the main office and telling them I'll pay them for the first couple of days, but no more since I went without a hot water heater and because I'm sick and tired of dealing with this jerk who does nothing to benefit the residents who aren't his "party buddies" and who never cause him problems. The only thing that I've ever had a problem with was the hot water heater. I am always early on my rent, usually to the tune of about two weeks. Right now, I'd like to take my rent check and shove it where the sun doesn't shine on this guy. So, if I get put in jail for going postal on this guy, it may be a while before you all hear from me. I have a feeling that I'm going to still have to end up paying for the whole month since it's corporate America, and believe me, customer service has went down the drain with Trident Corporation, but still, I'd like to kick this idiot's butt. At least it would make me feel better.

Update

I have a ton of things to tell you guys, so bear with me on the long posting.

1. Dad: Dad's surgery went great. He was sent home the next day and is doing very well. All of your prayers and thoughts were really appreciated by all of the family. In true German spirit, there were many moments of hilarity, even in the hospital. On the way down the night before in the lovely snowstorm, Kenny and I decided to take a trip, ala a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl for all of you carnival fans, in his car. About 5 miles south of St. Genevieve, we hit a patch of black ice, he lost control, we spun across the median, and ended up facing north in the northbound lane. Think of the scene in Tommy Boy where the deer wakes up in the backseat and they loose control of the car. I'll leave it up to you to decide which one of us resembles Chris Farley or David Spade. Luckily, there was no deer in the backseat! Dad saw all of us before he went into surgery. When he came out, they had him on a wonderful drug cocktail of Fentanyl and something else that was going through his iv. He didn't remember seeing any of us before surgery, and he kept asking things like, "Where's your mother?", "Did ya'll just get here?", and our personal favorite,"How's the food here? I'm hungry." He kept dozing off and waking up, at which point he'd ask the same questions. We thought about making up different answers each time, but Mom said that was just mean and that we should behave ourselves. We also had a dramatic reading of his new "instruction manual" that comes with his defibrilator/pacemaker. We learned such tidbits as he can no longer weld things (Thank the Lord!), he can still use the microwave to pop popcorn and heat up contraband honey buns, and that if he and my mother are having "relations" and his defibrilator goes off, my mother may receive a shock. Only my family could find humor in an otherwise humorless situation. In any case, he is doing well, but he still needs to quit smoking. He's been smoking since he was 13, and I've watched him try to quit numerous times over the years, but he never manages to stay quit.
2. Life in Apartmentland: Our days in apartment land are numbered. Kenny and I have just joined the adult world of being "homeowners". We have purchased a home here in Washington. We've been looking for about a month. We've seen so many houses that they're all starting to blend together. Our closing date is March 30th, so once again, it will be a moving marathon. The new house has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a large kitchen with ceramic tiles, a finished family room in the walk-out basement, new berber carpet throughout the house, french doors in the main level kitchen that go out to a deck, french doors out of the family room in the basement that go out to the underside of the deck that has been made into a screened porch, and a two car garage. Needless to say, we're excited, but a little sick at the same time. As long as we don't think about what we've done, we're happy, but this is a huge committment. It's saying not only am I committing to living in this place for quite a while, but when you buy a house with someone, it's a big committment in that you're saying, yes, I'm going to stay with you for the long haul, which sounds really weird coming from me since I've always been the one who wanted someone to commit, (not to a mental hospital, but that may happen if they stay in a longterm relationship with me!). Sorry about the run-sentence there! It's just that now I'm at that point, where we've bought a house, are considering getting married, etc. and I'm kind of freaked out. I'll be okay, but it's like a cold slap in the face from reality. I'll try to figure out how to set up a Flicker account and upload the other pictures so you all can get an idea of what the inside and outside looks like. Don't worry guys, I'm happy about the purchase, but it's taking some getting used to.
3. The slap me in the head part of the post: As if all of the above weren't enough to make me insane, I've decided to return to graduate school and get my degree in library science, which is what I originally wanted to do anyway. I had to get reading certification to keep my job and it was only another three classes after all of the certification classes to earn my master's degree. I went that route so I could move up on the pay scale. In any case, I'm in the process of applying to Mizzou and will only be taking 1 class per semester. I'm trying to avoid taking out any more student loans, plus finishing a master's degree in four semesters is the definition of stupid. The new degree is a total of 42 hours. With taking one class per semester, I think it will take me anywhere from 4 and a half to 5 years. Keep in mind that math is not my strong point! Wish me luck!
4. Since I'm going to be meeting people about a mortgage, getting inspections and appraisals done on the new house, and packing like a crazy person (hopefully we'll find enough boxes), posting may be spotty for a while, like it typically is. I'll try to get pictues uploaded so you all can see the house. We'll send out new address and phone info in the near future as soon as that all gets straightened out.