Combat Training

I got the email this last Tuesday letting me know I would start my new position as an Intervention Specialist yesterday (Friday).  I did not hear anything from my new lead until Thursday morning.  I have no idea what to expect. She told me not to be too overwhelmed. She will work with me through it.

Two of the new IS ppl in the group I am in are teachers that I worked with last year. They are becoming IS instead this year.  Not sure why.  One of them, Nathan, told me, "you will be fine.  Think of it as combat training in the middle of a war in Iraq."  What a guy.

So, the Lead, Carmen, disappeared on my yesterday afternoon.  I spent my time looking through the documents in the school cloud.  She sent me an email after 7 pm. apologizing for disappearing. She took her son to the doctor and then just got caught up in 'stuff'.  In other words, she just took the afternoon off.  THEN TELL ME!  I could have gone grocery shopping!  Then at about 11 p.m last night she started dropping a ton of documents into my school email.  I heard the notifications going off as I was trying to fall asleep.  I woke up at 6 a.m. with a tightness in my chest.

I set up my classroom and added my students.  I downloaded and saved documents.  And I just basically tried to relax.

I did find out something rather nice about the class I am taking...that starts this Monday, also.  It is only 7 weeks long...unlike the 14 weeks that I had been originally told that it would be.    That means, I will have about 9 glorious weeks before I would have my last 7 week class.  And then...I am DONE!

However, Johna, the head of the Special Education Department and my new boss, told me that once I take my test to get my certification added to my license, they are going to arrange classes for me to get my clock hours to get my HQ certification.  HQ means High Quality...which is something you get when you have a certain amount of hours of concentration in a course.  So I get to choose...Math...Language Arts...Social Studies...etc.

More classes and studying.  Will it NEVER end?  I am really looking forward to retirement already.

As for my kids...Bethany went to a concert down by the Ohio River--an hour and a half away-- last Friday night with a friend and had car trouble.  I drove down there and met them when the concert was out. She had almost no coolant.  I filled it up and followed her home.  I had called the mechanic Friday night and he said to leave it there for Monday morning.

It turned out, as I had originally suspected, the water pump was shot.  I had thought that's what it was but her dad told me he had a new one put on about 4 years ago.   So, I thought...I am wrong. But, nope.  And he did not have a warranty.  He had it put on at a fly by night place so I am sure it was not a new one, either.  Anyhow, it is fixed now and she has a $470 bill to pay.  She is kinda pissed that she is having to pay for that replacement but as I told her, it is cheaper than having to buy another car.  I am very thankful that the head gasket did not crack or the engine did not burn up.

TJ and Brit took off for Myrtle Beach this morning for a week for their 1st anniversary.  I had to bug my son to get an oil change on his car before they left and to make sure to check his coolant level before he left.  Thankfully he listened.  Then they took off and not too far down the road, they almost got Tboned.  Not a great way to start a trip but at least no one was hit, hurt, etc.

Well, time to get busy.

The Good, Bad, and the Awful

Last Saturday night I spent with my 2 kids.  They came here for dinner, then we went to the Lifehouse/Switch Foot concert.  Afterwards we ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream and had some more talking.  It was a pleasant evening with a lot of goofing around.  My kids have my sense of humor...something their dad has never quite gotten.  In fact, it annoyed him.

Work started again this Tuesday morning.  It has not been a lot.  Mostly setting up our notes, adding students to our online class list, and doing a whole bunch of training.  Same thing...Blood borne pathogens, diabetes, crisis prevention, homeless students, etc.

I now have 2 more days to finish up my work for this class I have been taking.  Then, I have 3 weeks before my next class begins.  The next class is going to be a whole semester long.  The classes I have taken this last year were all 1/2 a semester long.  I am hoping that since this next one is spread out over a semester it will not be so intense.  yeah...right.

Every once in a while, I stop and look around and feel so very overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done around this house for me to be ready to put it up for sale and move next summer.  Most of the work is little stuff but the biggest share of it is ridding out.  I try not to get ticked off with the fact that 3 other adult people moved out of this house and left the stuff behind they didn't want anymore.   So, I get to figure it out.

blah.  Oh well. If that is the worst thing I have to deal with...

Bethany and I went to  local coffee house to watch Scott Patterson's band, Smithradio, perform.  In case you don't recognize the name, if you are a Gilmore Girl's fan, he played Luke Danes.  If you are not, he was in 4 of the SAW movies, but I do not know his character's name on those movies, since I do not watch them.  He named his band after Patti Smith.  He said he grew up in her neighborhood and knew her when he was younger, before she became really famous.  Her music, supposedly influenced his.  It was a good night.  Their music is pretty good.  The stories he told behind the writing of the song made it even better.   Afterwards there was a "meet and greet" but you had to pay $50 for that.  God bless my daughter...she takes after her mom.  I would not pay the money because frankly, I don't think I should have to pay extra to take a picture with ANYONE...I do not care what level of fame that person thinks they have.  I am not impressed.  Still a regular person...just recognized by more ppl.   I asked her if she wanted to pay the extra she said, "no...I don't care!"  ha ha!  Good girl!

However, she did talk me into stopping at an Awful House...I mean a Waffle House.  Since she has never been to one...and neither had I...I said, "why not?"  Now I know 'why not'.  She can mark that off her list.  yuck.  It is really an Awful House.  She said, "now I know why only drunk ppl come here after the bars close.  they won't remember it.  I wish I didn't"  Love that girl.