Quick Update

At least I'm going to TRY to make this quick! :-)

Happy 1st day of school for most everyone except me!  My kids start next Tuesday!  Woo hoo!  That means more meetings for me.  :-)  We have been having online meetings each day after I got back from my training.  How do we do online meetings, you ask?  Someone sends us a link to a "Blackboard" room, which is what we use to teach our lessons, and we log in and we can chat, talk, write on the white board, etc.  We meet as one big middle school group, then usually we go to "breakout rooms" as departments and talk about whatever we're supposed to talk about. 
I still don't have access to my curriculum (they haven't loaded it into my "Online School" website)...so that's fun.  But I finished all my online trainings except for the live sessions that are scheduled for today and Wednesday.  Now I'm trying to figure out how to get myself organized.  I have lots of folders made on my computer, but I'm trying to decide what I need to print for quick reference...I have a few ideas and once school starts and I get asked questions by parents and students that I don't know the answers to, I will probably start printing like crazy! :-)  I will eventually, whenever I make lesson plans, print those out to have while I teach.

Gabe had his 9-month appointment on Friday.  He was 21 lbs. 10oz and 29 inches long.  So since his last appointment, 3 months ago, he grew less than 2 inches, but gained 5 lbs. 10 oz!  He is now in the 35 percentile for weight and 85th for height.  :-)  The doctor said he is in perfect health and was very happy with how he is developing.  He said we can start giving him table food and he can pretty much eat anything, with a few exceptions.  And he said that since he still doesn't have any teeth, it is possible that he'll cut several at a time, whenever they decide to come.  I want to start giving him more foods that he can pick up himself, because he needs practice!  He actually got a puff in his mouth the other day!  And we let him sample our mashed potatoes at dinner last night.  He liked those!
Well, I should keep getting ready for work.  Hope everyone has a GREAT day!! :-) 

Let the Insane Busy-ness Begin!

Well, I'm home from my new hire training.  My head is not spinning quite as fast as it has been the past three days, but I still feel like I don't really know what I'm doing.  I DO know that I'm teaching 8th grade math (the course is called Math 8 and it's basically Pre-Algebra-ish), I will teach two 45-minute live classes a day, 75 kids in each class. Yes, 75!  I will have one section a week of a smaller group out of the 150 who need re-teaching or other remediation.  I have a live online orientation tomorrow morning and the other time as well as all day Friday is for me to start on the long list of online trainings I have assigned to me by K12.  I met my mentor today (part of the induction program) whose name is Mark and he is another 8th grade math teacher and is also the department chair.  He has a very goofy sense of humor, but very knowledgeable and helpful, and I'm sure I will be in close contact with him all year!  We are actually required to talk once a month, and he is supposed to come visit my "home office" after our staff development next week, and I'm supposed to go to him one day and "shadow" him during a class.  I have to do a self-evaluation and set goals for myself.  I have to enter and submit an expense report for the mileage and dinner I paid for while on this trip (everything gets reimbursed, which is nice!), and I have a list of other housekeeping things I have to do before I will feel like I'm "caught up".  I have that "trying to keep your head above water" feeling again like every new teacher feels, and notice I haven't even mentioned lesson planning.  As of earlier this afternoon, I didn't have access to the Math 8 curriculum, and even if I did, Mark told me that they don't really use K12's lessons that are pre-made.  They use them to know what to teach, but they create their own lessons in PowerPoint.  Lucky for me, in the past, the math teachers have already worked together to make PowerPoint lessons for each unit, and I will be getting access to those lessons.  I will probably be relying on them pretty heavily at first at least, adding my own personal touches and making sure it's how I would be comfortable teaching them, but why reinvent the wheel if I don't have to?  Plus, there are about 7 or so websites that I have to remember usernames/passwords for and how to use them and what they are for.  (I guess that comes with the "online" school territory)  And I have to remember to run my malware scan every week and to back up all my files (once I have them) on a regular basis.

So, I'm treading water pretty well right now.  It's a lot to remember and digest, but I keep telling myself that it will come...I will get the hang of it...if I forget something or need to know something, they will tell me (hopefully!). 
When I got home today Gabe was sleeping.  When he woke up I went in to get him, and at first he was frowning and fussing, but once he really looked at me, he started smiling and as I was changing his diaper he was just laughing and laughing.  I missed him (and Tim) so much!  The first night as I was going to bed, I was thinking about him and realized that before I left I thought I wanted a break from him, but being away from him, I realized I didn't want a break!  Yes, it's tiring, and yes, it was nice to do what I wanted, when I wanted but I missed seeing my baby!  His spit-up, by the way, has gotten WAY better!  He hardly does it anymore.  He's eating more solids, and his insides are maturing, which of course helps. 

Tim is at an elder's meeting right now, and Gabe is in bed, so I think I'll do a little work and try to get myself organized and get a good night's sleep for my full day of online training tomorrow!

Word of the Day: Exhausted!

I am in Mechanicsburg, PA for my new hire training for Agora.  It's been a long day, and my brain is exhausted!  I got here at 9 this morning after an hour's drive.  It didn't start till 10 but I left early because I didn't know how traffic was going to be.  So I put gas in my car and by the time I went back, it was 9:30 and lots of people were going in.  I was pretty nervous, because I had received so many emails from the HR person about paperwork to bring and they all said, "If you don't have this paperwork, we will not be able to hire you."  Then on Friday afternoon, I got another email from him with a letter attached from the "head of school" which I guess is like the superintendent, that included my [vague] job description and responsibilities, and I had to sign saying I got it, and as I was reading the first part of the letter again, it listed a bunch of things they needed like copies of my clearances and certification, which I already emailed to them, and then as almost an after-thought, it said, "You will also need a physical form."  And it said that this letter super ceded any verbal or written agreement that has been made prior to this.  Well, no one had mentioned anything about a physical, and now it is too late to get one by Monday morning so I emailed the HR guy and asked if that was needed by Monday and never got a response, so instead of being calm and excited, I was scared they weren't going to hire me and turn me away or at the very least that I was going to be embarrassed that I didn't have all my paperwork.  Well, I go into the room where we are going to have our general session and I'm sitting with a few other people and a lady from Insperity (the company that handles our paychecks and benefits) comes by asking for the new hire paperwork.  As we are getting out the packets, the lady next to me asked if she needed "this" which was a "Standard Teacher Application" for Pennsylvania and she was told no, that was something from Agora, and she didn't need that.  So, now I'm freaking out MORE because I didn't print out an application. (I had to fill it out to apply for other jobs and I have a copy saved on my computer, but didn't remember being told I needed one for Agora).  So I look at my letter again from the head of school, and sure enough, in the middle of the list of copies of stuff that they need, is "Standard Application" blah blah blah.  I just missed it because I was reading too quickly!  So I say to myself, "AHHH!"  Now I really AM missing paperwork...great!  Well, my first session is about benefits and paperwork, and the HR guy who had been sending all the emails was there, so at the end, I went over to him and handed him my letter and said I didn't notice about the Application (and didn't even get to the physical) when he said, "Don't worry about it."  Whew!!!  Talk about a load being lifted!  I could finally relax! I had my picture taken for my ID right before lunch, then after lunch I had a session where I got my laptop and set up my email, then the last session was information about the induction program and virtual training.  Every new employee at Agora is required to go through a 10-month induction program, which means we have a mentor, create a portfolio, and are required to answer a journal reflection question once a month.  In June we "graduate" and get a certificate.  This is actually a requirement to get my Instructional II certificate, which is my permanent certificate.  And then she showed us the website where we will have all our online trainings for K12.  It was a long day and tomorrow will be even longer because we start earlier!  (8:30-4) Wednesday is 8:30-3.  Tomorrow is more general info and Wednesday we will be in our departments, and hopefully I'll find out what exactly I'm teaching!  Apparently nobody knows any specifics.  One person was told what grade she was teaching because she's not going to be here on Wednesday, so I'm assuming that is when we'll find out!

We have a full-time crawler now!  Up until today, Gabe would switch between army crawling and hands-and-knees crawling, and when I was talking to Tim this afternoon, he said he is staying up all the time now.  We got a play yard gate that is a hexagonal shape and gives him 18 sq. ft of play space.  Sometimes he fusses because he wants out and we do play with him outside of it, but it is nice to have a place to put him and all his toys where we know he can't get in to anything.  Sometimes, if he's just sitting by gate, looking out, Tim will sing, "Nobody knows..." You know from the etrade commercials with the talking baby who is being punished in his crib for riding the dog?  He says that's what it reminds him of...haha.  Only 10 days until his 9-month appointment!  I can't believe it!  Still no teeth yet...but I have given him Cheerios, which he still doesn't know how to put in his mouth, but he likes them.  He makes a very serious, questioning face while he's working on gumming it or figuring out what to do with it, and sometimes he looks like he gags as he swallows it, but then he just smiles, and gurgles like he's so happy.  I will have to try to video him when I get back. 

Well, I think it's time for me to relax now.  I have a couple of things that I was told to make sure I have on my work computer, then it's time to do nothing!  I can't wait! :-)

Strange Things Are Happening

Sometime last week, I put a load of Gabe's laundry in the washing machine, and later when Tim was putting the clothes into the dryer, he stopped, looked at me and said, "What is this doing in here?" I looked at him and he was holding a diaper.  Not sure if it was dirty or not...haha.  I have no idea how it got in there!  The dirty clothes hamper is in between the storage shelf next to his changing table and the chest of drawers.  Sometimes I put the diaper I'm about to put on him on top of the shelf until I need it, and maybe I did that and it got knocked down into the hamper and I just didn't realize it? 

Well, today when I was doing Gabe's laundry again, when I got to the bottom of the hamper, there was a dirty diaper!  What is going on?!?  I am baffled by how that got in there.  I was just glad I saw it before I washed it!  Once they were done, I opened the washing machine, and find something very odd on top of the clothes: the hand sanitizer pump bottle from his shelf!  What??  It didn't look like any had come out and his clothes didn't smell like hand sanitizer, so I threw the clothes in the dryer.  Obviously, it got knocked into the hamper, but it is sooo weird!

Another new thing that has happened is Gabe started crawling on his hands and knees today!  He doesn't do it all the time, but he did it several times this evening, and I'm guessing we'll see more of that in the days to come. 

He moves so much, I put up our gate to block him from going down the hallway because he likes to go down and check out the door stop and take the rubber cap off the end of it.  He didn't really like the gate.

Gabe woke up at 7 this morning and I gave him a bottle and put him right back down and he slept until almost 10.  It was nice to sleep in!!  Time to go to bed because I don't think we'll get that luxury again tomorrow!  :-)

On Tuesday I went back to my chiropractor friend for her to make sure the swelling went down on my wrist, which it did, and she said she wanted me to come back on Friday, so I did and it still looked good.  But I still have a bump from what she thinks is a cyst, so she put a piece of medical tape on it to hopefully send a message to my brain to pay attention to that spot and hopefully get rid of the fluid.  I'm supposed to wear it for 5 days in hopes my brain gets the message.  The tape itself actually does nothing besides brings attention to the spot.  It hasn't been hurting so that is good.

Well, Gabe is as active and cute as ever.  He really likes the dragon rider/walker that his Uncle John and Aunt Melissa sent us. (A hand-me-down from cousin Rachael)  He was bouncing on it yesterday and I took a video just because his face was so serious.

His naps have been really off recently.  I think yesterday he only had one kind-of-long nap in the afternoon because he never got fussy for a morning nap, and then once he did sleep, when he woke up, it was too close to bedtime for another nap.  The day before that he only slept 30 minutes for his morning nap and fought Tim for an hour while I was out with Patty for his afternoon nap, but eventually went to sleep for a couple of hours.  I'm not sure what's up with him.  His schedule was a little off today, of course, because it is Sunday, and he actually got up earlier than normal so I put him back down right after his first bottle and he slept for about an hour.  Then again for about 35 minutes on the way home from church, with a stop at Wal-Mart.  Then maybe 30-40 minutes after we ate lunch.  But he got to bed a good time, a little after 7:30. He's also been waking up again around 3ish in the morning.  Friday I knew it was because he was hungry because he didn't get his last bottle before he went to bed, but last night he got all his feedings and he still woke up.  But as I entered the room I smelled the reason for him waking up.  I changed his dirty diaper and rocked him a little and put him back down.  I think he may have cried a little, but went back to sleep pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I don't go back to sleep as quickly.  I was up for over an hour both times, almost 2 hours the first time, worrying about if he was going to cry again, and just not able to relax.  So needless to say, I've been pretty tired these last few days.  This past week he has started looking at us after we put him down and crying.  He used to do this but a couple of weeks ago he changed and would just roll to his side as I walked out and never cried, but just went to sleep.  I guess I shouldn't say "never".  There were times I would have to go in a few minutes after putting him down and "re-set" him as Tim calls it and put his paci back in and then he'd be fine.  Now he's back to rolling over and looking at us and crying as we walk out of the room, especially during naps.  Bedtime is easy, but daytime is getting harder again.

 We ate at Texas Road House today and he sat in a high chair, which was really just a booster seat they put in the booth, but it had a rail all the way around so he wouldn't fall out.  He loved it.  Since they keep the menus on the table, those kept him occupied the whole time.  He had lots of fun.

I'm half-way through the last Hunger Games book!  I can't wait until the movie is out on Netflix on the 18th!  I have it saved in our Queue so I can get it the first day! :-)  On a totally different note, the women's group this fall at church is going to be doing Beth Moore's Daniel study.  I heard it is really good, and I really enjoyed the last one we did, so I am looking forward to it.  Apparently some of the ladies had said that they had a hard time getting the homework done every week last time, so the two women who are leading it decided that we'll meet every other week to give everyone more time to do the homework.  On one hand I don't really like that because it's not that hard to do the homework, and I feel like I'm going to forget what I did and it won't be as fresh on my mind each time so it will take away the impact, but on the other hand, I will be teaching full time so I may need the extra time to get the work done.  However, I plan on doing what I did last time, which is do it in the morning before everything gets started for the day so I don't have the "too busy" or "too tired" excuses to use at the end of the day.  

I'm getting pretty excited about my training next week.  I'm ready to learn about what I'm going to be doing and how it works.  They have reserved hotel rooms for us if we want them, so I took one.  I'm not sure if I'll have a roommate or not.  They didn't ask me if I wanted one or not.  I don't really care if I have one.  It would be good to get to know another new teacher and maybe make a friend that I can keep in contact with.  I'm also looking forward to having a little break from Gabe.  I hope that doesn't make me sound like a horrible mother.  But I haven't had a break ever.  Yes, I was away from him during the day when I was working, but I haven't had a day where he didn't dictate when I got out of bed.  Not that I'll get to sleep in at my training, but at least I'll get to go to bed when I want and sleep ALL night with no interruptions and get up with my alarm, not a crying baby.  I love him so much, but after Tim being gone, and him not napping well lately, I could use the time off.  Hopefully it will refresh me and give me back some energy. 

Time to read and go to bed!  Good night!

Happy August!

Or should I say, "Happy Chick-Fil-A Day!"  Tim and I went and proudly ate at Chick-Fil-A today. When we got in line, we started right outside the door, but it moved quickly, and we got our food to go.  The drive thru was really crowded, and there was a police officer directing traffic.  I happened to be wearing my Oklahoma Christian University shirt Jason gave me, and the man in front of us in line asked if I went to "OCC" or just have the shirt.  I had to look down at my shirt because I forgot what I was wearing, and told him I went to Lubbock Christian, and my brother went to OC.  It turns out the man was the preacher of a local church of Christ and once they asked what Tim did, we found out that the guy's friend was baptized at Hillside back in the 80's and knows Shelley.  Small world!  :-)

When I went in to get Gabe up from one of his naps, this is what I found:

Time to lower the crib mattress?  I think so!  He is on his knees, not standing, thank goodness.  During his next nap, his monitor started going crazy (or so I thought) by giving off annoying static noise.  When I turn his sensor off after each nap, it does the same thing if it's on, so I went into his room, and he's up on his knees again, hanging his arms over the side of his crib and his monitor, which sits on the top of his crib has been knocked down, and the switch is off.  Stinker!  Now his mattress is lowered, and hopefully that will not be happening again any time soon!  This guy is so cute, but he is soooo active!  No sitting still for him! (Or his parents!)  He will sit and play with a toy for a few minutes, but it's not long before he is off, trying to get to something he's probably not supposed to have: his car seat, his swing, his diaper bag, computer cords, Wii remotes, or the white shelf on the floor.  He likes playing with the swing, but does not like sitting in it anymore.  He will be learning the meaning of the word "No" real quick!  Today when he started crawling toward the entertainment center with his eye on the Wii remote cords that were so enticingly dangling from the shelf, I said his name, and he stopped and looked at me.  Then continued.  I said his name again and he stopped and looked at me.  Then kept going.  We did this probably 3 or 4 times, but I could see he was determined, so I had to pick him up and move him back to his blanket.  I can't wait till he starts walking! :-/

Well, I have to vent a little.  As you know, I was "furloughed" on June 8th from the Reading School District.  I got a letter that day stating June 8th was my last day of employment, and that my insurance will end on June 30th.  All the assistants that were laid off got the same letter.  At the meeting, we were told by someone in payroll that we would not be getting paid through August; we would be cashed out of our contract, meaning we were able to apply for unemployment, and eligible to receive compensation starting July 1st.  I went home that day and filed, a couple of weeks later, received my letter telling me how much I am eligible to receive.  But at the end of June, I received a normal paycheck.  I called payroll and was told that I AM getting paid through August.  That means I cannot file for unemployment.  So I had to call the unemployment people to cancel my claim, which is such a hassle because they are so busy, you're lucky to get through at all, and once I did get through, I was on hold for an hour.  But that was done, and I thought my worries were over.  Because COBRA is so expensive, Tim bought some temporary insurance for July and August, and luckily Hillside's leadership team was committed to help pay for our premiums.  But two days ago I get a letter from Loomis, my insurance company I had through the school district letting me know about COBRA because my insurance runs out August 31st.  What??  I call the insurance company and the lady told me that they received a bunch of paperwork from Reading saying everyone's last date of employment was 8/31.  She said to call the insurance lady at Reading to make sure this is correct.  GRRRR.  If this is true, I've had insurance this whole time, and we wasted over $200 for insurance we didn't need.  I call Denise, the insurance person, but it goes straight to voice mail.  I leave a message but she never calls me back.  The next morning, I call back but get her voice mail again, so just call HR.  When I explain my issue to the secretary, she transfers me to the insurance department....duh.  But she transferred me to the Loomis person who apparently works in the Admin building.  But that went to voice mail too.  I left a message.  No return.  Tim called our temporary insurance company to tell them what happened and to cancel our insurance for August.  We just decided to believe what Loomis said, and assume we still have insurance.  Today I decide to try one more time, and call Denise, and she actually answers.  I tell her about the letter from Reading that said June 30th and the letter from Loomis that said August 31st, and she said that August is the correct date.  HR put the wrong date on the letter.  Perfect.  I really wanted to call HR and complain and tell them how incompetent they are, but I know there is nothing they can do, and I knew I wouldn't be able to be as mean as I wanted, so then I thought about sending a nasty email, because I really want them to know they messed up and that it cost us money.  And that I will never work for the Reading School District ever again.  But that won't do any good either, so I probably won't do anything....but it's nice to think about what I would say if I were bold enough.  Hopefully other people will complain for me.

I finished the second book in the Hunger Games series today!  I am a little addicted to these books.  It's not the nicest subject matter (people being forced to kill other people) but it is so interesting!  I think it's because it's so unpredictable.  The story moves quickly and there are so many surprises, I never know what's going to happen.  I started the third and final book today and I'm anxious to see how it all ends!

And lastly, I entered Gabe's picture in Gerber's photo contest.  Voting doesn't start until September 4th, so when it is time, I will post the link to his page so you can vote for him.  :-)  There are two prizes: the grand prize is $50,000 cash and a Gerber photo shoot, but that is not decided by the voting.  "Expert judges" pick that winner.  The other prize is for their $10,000 college fund program.  Gerber has different "stages" to label their food so you know which food is appropriate for your child (i.e. Supported Sitter, Sitter, Crawler, etc.) and they are giving away a college fund for each stage.  That is what the voting determines.  So, starting September 4th, vote for Gabriel!!

Well, I have to get back to my book, so good night everyone!! :-) 

 

Daddy's Home!

Tim and the mission team got back at about 4:15 yesterday.  Gabe was very happy to see his daddy.  I got pictures, but don't know what I did with the camera at the moment.  So when I find it, I will post the pictures.

Yesterday was pretty crazy.  Gabe woke up around 7:45 so I fed him his cereal and fruit, and put him back down and I had to wake him up to leave for church.  He was very fidgety during church so after the singing, I took him to the nursery.  I knew part of his problem was he was tired, but I also knew he'd be distracted in the nursery and would probably be fine.  I told the nursery worker that he would probably start fussing a little after 11 because he was hungry, and she did tell me she gave him his bottle when I went to pick him up after the service.  And then guess what she said.  No spit up!!  I was shocked but so proud of him.  Of course that did not become the norm for the rest of the day.  He actually did very well with not spitting up the rest of the afternoon until his next feeding.  We went out to eat with Shelley and his family and a couple other people and I put Gabe in a high chair.  He loved it!  He liked being at the table and was so interested in everything that was on the table.  I let him play with a menu until we ordered our food, and then one of the ladies that was with us let him play with her fanny pack, which kept him occupied for a really long time because you know how much he loves straps! :-)  Lunch took FOREVER just because the service was slow, and he started to get pretty fussy because he was getting really tired.  We left and he fell asleep on the way home, but didn't stay asleep once we got home.  It was time for him to eat again anyway, and shortly after he ate it was time to go back to the church to meet Tim.  So Gabriel was VERY sleepy by the time we got home that evening.  So I bathed him, Tim fed him, and I put him to bed.

I'm glad our family is all together again, and we'll have time to relax together before school starts back up!  

And don't forget to appreciate Chick-fil-A on Wednesday and eat there!! :-)