School's out for the summer!

Wha-hoo! Thursday was my last official day of school for this school year, and it came to an ignominious conclusion. The kids were dismissed at 11:30 and I hung around for some paperwork and chatting, knowing full-well that I'd be back for the next several days anyway. At about 12:30 as I was looking at my desk getting up the energy to actually leave, a parent came in. We'll call him "Sally's dad". Well, Sally's dad and I have been in email, phone, and personal contact for the last couple of marking periods because Sally, a very capable (even gifted) 7th grader is getting an E in math due to lack of doing any work. I've done my best to help out; she's had multiple opportunities to make up work, though I draw the line when we finished a unit 5 weeks ago so no makeup homework then. I have also emailed dad to tell him the status, he has the "parent internet viewer" to seem my constantly updated grades, and I have given her lists of what is due, the quizzes or tests she's missed, and all extra credit opportunitites.

So dad was supposed to come by on Tuesday and didn't show. I emailed him on Thursday morning and asked if he still wanted to see me. Well, he decided it was important to give me the following message in person: Because of ME, Sally now hates math and I am the worst teacher he's ever met. He went on with more info, but it was pretty much the same and more reiterations of "worst teacher ever".

I said that I don't think that because Sally didn't do her work and lied about it that it makes me a bad teacher. He stood by his opinion and I could only say, "I'm sorry you feel that way". When he left, I was pretty pissed and cried a little. Not necessarily because I believed it, but what a jackass! And my only consolation is that he's going to have to live with Sally for the next several years wheras I'll be done with her.

What a way to end the school year. Thanks, Jackass.

Baby Monkey Stuff

Here is the new bedding I got for the up and coming baby monkey.

Thanks to Dave, who helped me establish a photobucket, I'll soon be able to post pics of my garden and other stuff :-)

On a random note, my cat, Hobbes, just at a Dorito. Weird.

Long time, no Katie

Hello once again. Where have I been? Well, I finally feel well again and the sun is usually shining. So I haven't been in the basement blogging.

The nausea is mostly gone, though I still can't seem to stand meat. Especially grilled meat. Grilled chicken is one of the grossest sights and smells of anything. And yesterday I just about passed out in first hour. I was talking to the kids and I felt dizzy, so I sat down and continued teaching. Then a black haze swam before my eyes and I said, "I'm going to lay on the floor now because I'm about to pass out." Luckily, the assistant principal happened to be observing in my classroom. So he got me my raisins and some water from my desk. Then I felt better. I was pretty embarassed, though.

I can't say I miss dancing at this point, it is nice to have free time to devote to my garden and finally my house (as it wasn't cleaned much in the first trimester).

My yard looks great! I spread mulch last weekend and decided to get the cocoa shell kind. It smells like chocolate in my yard! I need a glass of milk everytime I go outside. Plus, it looks great and it was easy to spread.

School gets out Thursday, we have a half day. It can't come soon enough. I'm done, the kids are done, we're done with each other (til next year). Next year I'm slated to teach 7th grade math, 8th grade science, and 8th grade math. I'm not exactly thrilled about getting a new prep in the year that I'll be 7 months pregnant, then gone, then have a new baby. But I'm under the illusion that I'll be doing loads of work to prepare this summer.

On the baby front, things are going well. I'm into maternity stuff. All of a sudden, I couldn't button anything. I love maternity wear; no buttons or zippers, just elastic and ease. I think I've felt the baby kick. Actually I know it. Something inside me kicked (a real John Hurt moment) but it was cool. Dave is happy to see me getting bigger (of course, my breasts are no exception and he's thrilled about that). I've ordered a crib set that I love and hope to paint the room soon this summer. I'll post a picture if I can figure out how to do that. I'm also planning on staining or painting the doors downstairs and putting up the molding. Oh, and math camp the week of June 19.

And, I'll try to post more often and try to say intelligent things instead of just baby stuff (though it is hard to resist).

Making new friends

I thought I was feeling better so I stopped taking my anti-nausea meds. Whoops. Monday I felt terrible! So I'm back on. The good news is that it must be working.

Last week I was spotting a little and went to the doctor. No activity for two weeks. I'm not too worried because the doctor found the heartbeat right away. Maybe I should worry more, but I know that this occasionally happens.

Jen just found out that she's having a girl :-) My prediction has always been boy for Mary, girl for Jen and for me. So I'm feeling pretty confidents as I'm 67% correct. Actually, I'm 9 for 9 of the baby gender predicting.

I did this search for genetic disorders looking for what exactly the deal with Jamie Lee Curtis is and I got a link to this guy's blog. I went to it and it had good info and I read more and I thought, "wow, I like this guy. I agree with everything he says". Cool. It's good to find other people who think like you. So I looked him up to see his profile and sure enough, he's a physics grad student in Texass. It's almost kind of funny how nerds just click no matter where or when. It's like nerd-nerd particle interaction is what connects you. So I agree with all his ideas and read most of the books he has posted as library and it made me miss the last years of college when you take classes with other people in your major and sometimes it's like they're the only people who "get" you. I miss my physics geek friends. They aren't exactly a dime a dozen. Luckily my husband is in the nerd family and can satisfy my need for nerd. It's just nice to have someone who'll laugh at something like "nerd-nerd particle interaction". Oh, and Red Dave would like him too as there seems to be a strong interest in cooking.

Showing? Or just getting fatter

I have now gained five pounds, bringing me back to my pre-pregnancy weight. However, it is not my pre-pregnancy appearance. I'm finding that I'm more vain than I thought. My little belly is getting jigglier. I know this because we had a dress rehersal for bellydance on Sunday and I was at the studio with all the mirrors and there was more to my shimmy than there used to be.

It isn't that I think "I'm fat". It's more about the changes to what I'm used to. Pants feel tight and not as comfy. I'm in permanant "thanksgiving dinner" mode with my top button undone.

I'm trying to prepare for the out of control experience of gaining weight and inches, however appropriate it is. Pregnancy is one of those things where you think you know what it is like...and then it hits you. Reality. It's kind of like teaching. You think you know what it'll be like, but somehow it is so much harder. And you think, "wow, no one appreciates what teachers do, how hard they work... blah, blah, blah". Same thing with pregnancy. Man, it is hard to do and most people have no idea (and 50% of the population never even could know).

On a more positive note: Dave comes home Friday :-) I am lonely and I do love him. This is good because at about 6 weeks I hated him! Ah, hormones.