House Hunting

I’m not officially looking yet other than checking out things online and doing some drive-bys today.  I found a couple of houses that I really liked, but it’s still premature.  I’m hoping it’s a buyers market right now.  Hopefully we’ll get the ball rolling on selling my house back in Canyon soon.  I need that to be taken care of before I can actively look.  Matt went with me and he actually enjoyed it.  He wasn’t sure if he would.  We aren’t planning to shack up or anything.  He thinks his mom would disown him if he did that, but there is talk about potentially living together in the future – should we get married that is.  I think looking at houses has made him more interested in someday living in a nice house rather than his apartment.  We have an ongoing joke about having a “fish” room.  He has some mounted fish that he wants to put up in his house someday.  I’m of the mind that mounted fish do not really belong on most walls of the house.  But perhaps I’ll find a house with an extra room that can become his man cave where his fish can be displayed.  One of the houses we looked at was a foreclosure I think.  It’s been vacant since January.  It’s really spacious, but it has a large back yard.  I liked the community it was in though.  It wasn’t cookie cutter. 

Matt grilled burgers tonight and now we’re watching the Spurs.  Tomorrow we’re going to go to Six Flags and try the waterpark side of the park.  It kind of sucks that I’m not out of school yet.  Back in the Panhandle most schools are out already.  Oh, well, there’s still a lot for me to do.  It’s been a pretty nice Memorial weekend so far.  We saw MIB 3 on Friday, went out to dinner at Tony Roma’s last night, and enjoying an evening at home tonight.  It’s a busy weekend, but it’s been nice to spend it with Matt. 

Bad Blogger

I feel bad that I haven’t updated in a week.  The end of the school year keeps me busy and exhausted.  Last week I only got three days in the library.  Tuesday I had a meeting and on Thursday I went on a field trip with the 8th graders.  Matt came up and helped me on Monday.  Most evenings I came home and felt exhausted.  Tuesday I had band but only went to the 2nd half of rehearsal because I watched American Idol first.  Wednesday Matt came over and cooked kabobs on the grill.  Thursday I skipped Scrabble practice because I was cleaning out the back of my car.  I learned an important lesson on Thursday.  Don’t leave a 24 pack of cokes in your car on a hot day.  I was driving around a neighborhood checking out houses for sale when I heard a very loud pop.  I thought someone had shot at my car.  I was looking around to see if any glass was broken.  Then I saw coke on my back window glass.  Luckily it didn’t break the glass, but it did scare me when I heard the sound.  I saw some nice houses that are a possibility but mostly I am just checking out the neighborhoods.

Today I’m going to go to the library and turn in my books.  I have to pay for one of them because it was stolen at school.  I guess if a student is actually reading it, that’s a good thing.  Matt and I are going to church this evening and then to Tony Roma’s for dinner.  Not sure what we’ll do tomorrow, but on Monday we are going to Six Flags. 

And that’s all the excitement around here.  Most schools back home are out for the summer.  We still have a week and a half.  Then I work until June 13.  Josh gets home on June 9.  I think he’s ready to be back here.  He says it’s really cold and rainy down there. 

Survived UIL

It was an early morning when my alarm went off at 5:30.  I got to school by 6:45 but the bus was 20 minutes late.  I guess that’s par for the course for this district.  We got to the host school about 7:35 but then had to wait for the busses in front of us to disembark.  I went ahead and got off the bus and ran to get the speech stuff started.  It got off to a slow start because several of the judges didn’t show, but we managed to get things off and started.  There were a lot of student no shows as well which was frustrating as well.  At least I learned a few things and I know that I won’t schedule things so far in advance.  The speech events all went well and everyone seemed pleased with how things ran on that end.  And on another positive note, one of my students that I coached ended up placing 2nd. 

It was a long day but fairly successful.  Another student placed 2nd in science and then another placed 6th in dictionary skills.  The awards ceremony was a bit long and it took forever for it to get going, but I made it back to the school by 4:45.  The last student was picked up by 5:00 and then I headed home and changed clothes.  Matt is on his way over and he’s taking me out to dinner tonight.  We’re having steak, I think. 

I have a bird’s nest built right above my door and today I saw baby birds in it.  I will try to get a picture of it at some point.

Already tired and it’s just beginning

I’m ready for school to be out.  Well, not entirely – I’m too far behind to think I might get caught up, but that’s another story.  I’m just ready to get some decent sleep.  This has been my hell week of sorts.  At least it’s not like in the past where I’ve had to deal with Koobraey and a speech tournament.  Our middle school UIL competition is this Saturday.  I’m running all of the speech events (all three of them).  Thankfully, I’m able to use the software that we’ve always used for this.  It’s good that I’m friends with the programmer/owner because he’s letting me use it for free.  This week I’ve entered a whole bunch of data and then used the program to organize the tournament.  I have all the judges down for their events, the students are sectioned into their rooms, and I’m just waiting for the drops that will come in tomorrow and make adjustments as needed.  In the midst of all of this, I’ve been working with my UIL students and coaching 4 different events.  I’ve put together three poetry collections and written introductions for them.  I’ve administered listening tests, quizzes over maps, charts, and graphs and helped figure out the dictionary skills contest.  I’ve set up spread sheets, assigned duties, completed our lunch order for subway and have only just gone a little crazy.  I even made Matt supper on Wednesday night. 

Tonight I went to the Goodwill store to see if I could find a top for one of my students to wear that was more dressy.  She only has school shirts to wear so I wanted to find something that she could use.  Our students are pretty poor so I figure that I could help out a little.  I found two tops that might work so I’ll take them to school tomorrow and see if either one works.  I also bought a new shirt for another student who never seems to have clean clothes.  I told him I’d give it to him tomorrow and he can wear it on Saturday. 

Tonight I picked up a few more items for decorating our tables at the competition, bought some new underwear (since Mollie keeps eating mine), and a new pair of flat black dress shoes.  I even managed to get to Scrabble practice and play a game. 

I didn’t get to watch American Idol so I don’t know who the top two are.  I’m sure it will be spoiled for me since I probably can’t keep away from facebook.  Oh well.  It’s going to be a busy weekend and I won’t have time to watch it until maybe Sunday.  I’m going to check on the Spurs game and then head to bead.  It will be a long day tomorrow and an even longer day on Saturday. 

House Hunting

My aunt and uncle are going to buy my house in Canyon so as soon as that is taken care of, I will start house hunting here in San Antonio.  I got a letter from my real estate company last week about renewing my lease.  I really didn’t want to do that for another year so I got in touch with my aunt and uncle and they told me that they would be willing to buy the house. 

I really need to start talking to a lender in order to run some numbers and see what I’ll be able to afford.  Timing will be tight.  I may have to rent for an extra month after my lease is up, but hopefully not more than that.  The plan is to get the house sold to my aunt and uncle by the end of June, house hunt in July and then move sometime in August.  Of course that will be at the beginning of school next year, but it shouldn’t be too bad.  It will suck to move again, but hopefully this will be the last time for a long while.  The problem will be deciding where to move.  I kind of want to be more centralized, but to do that in a decent neighborhood, it will cost more.  I can get more house for the money if I stay on the fringes.  I like the neighborhood I’m in because it’s quiet and almost in the country.  There’s four other houses for sale in this community.  It will be a lot to consider. 

I had my orchestra concert on Saturday so rehearsals are done until fall.  Matt took me to a very nice restaurant for dinner.  On Sunday we went to the local church again.  I wouldn’t mind that church so much if the choir didn’t hurt my ears.  Perhaps when I move, I’ll find something more decent.  Matt mowed my lawn on Sunday and I spent all day working on the UIL contest which was a lot of data entry. 

Today was another full day.  I was so busy that when I finally looked at my watch at one point, I realize that I hadn’t eaten lunch. I almost always eat during first lunch and it was almost over by the time I realized it.  At least I can choose when to eat for the most part.  I mostly worked on UIL stuff today and finally got to work with some students on their poetry.  Matt came at 1:00 and started scanning all my inventory for me.  He made a huge dent in it for me.  He is simply the best boyfriend I’ve ever had.  In the past I would have had to hint or suggest that he help and he always volunteers. 

Tonight I need to write some introductions for the student poetry pieces and start a book that Matt gave me to read.  I also need to do laundry, dishes, and some house cleaning that I didn’t get to this weekend.  No promises though.

Finally Rain

We’ve finally been getting a LOT of rain.  It rained Saturday night and then I went ahead and watered my yard on Monday (my one day of the week with the water restrictions) so of course that evening it rained again.  It rained yesterday and tonight we have a pretty full storm with lots of rain roll through.  I was at the bowling alley with teacher friends and they had two power surges because of lightning.  Luckily I headed home after the storm rolled through. 

Work has been insane.  I’m almost done with fixed assets and am down to three missing items.  Next, I have to work on my library inventory and getting list of items for teachers to check in at the end of the year.  Matt was off today instead of Monday so he came and shelved a whole bunch of books for me.  That will make it easier for me to start doing inventory. 

I got my end of year evaluation from my principal on Monday.  I got a perfect score on it.  She was very complimentary about me and I was very happy about it all.  I’ve been getting compliments left and right lately.  The assistant principal told me today that I’m doing a fantastic job.  She said in my job interview that they had a good feeling about me.  As much as some of the extra duties that I have can be frustrating and the students are often trying, I love my job.  I enjoy what I do.   Becoming a librarian and moving to San Antonio has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. 

The students are going crazy right now.  Yesterday there was a stampede of about 80 6th graders but I missed it because I was checking band instruments.  Today there was a fight between two boys and one came away with a pretty bloody nose.  I think both students and teachers are anxious for the end of the year to get here.  I’m just worried about getting everything done that I need to. 

It’s past my bedtime so I’m going head that way.  Hopefully the storms are done so that I’ll get some sleep tonight. 

Matt gets a make-over

Matt finally decided it was time to get some new clothes.  Like a typical man, he hates shopping.  He usually orders his clothing through a catalog.  Since he was off yesterday, I told him that we would go shopping.  He wasn’t really looking forward to it, but it had to be done.  We hit the mall and went to Dillard’s, Penney’s, and Macy’s.  He was able to find several pairs of pants and a couple of shirts.  It turns out he doesn’t wear the size he thought he had – or at least the clothing in the mall is cut differently.  Luckily it was to his advantage that he could get clothing in the “normal” men’s sizes rather than the big and tall sections – of which only a few stores had a handful of items.  I bought him lunch and we even looked at other stores checking out Spurs items.  After the mall, we went to Sears where he found several shirts.  We went to a couple of other places, but discovered that  one store was much too pricey (Pants cost $97 each and shirts were about the same).  I thought he had enough by that time, but he decided to go to Kohl’s since that is one of my favorite stores.  He found a few more pants and another shirt and then was kind enough to let me shop.  I found several tops to try on and he was patient enough to wait and offer his opinion on them.  I ended up getting three blouses and a shirt for Josh.  I think in the end, he was happy with the experience though it was exhausting.  He kept telling the sales people that he was getting a make-over.  He knew it was time as his pants and such were getting pretty ragged. 

After we finished with shopping, we came home and took a nap.  After that we ran to the store and then I ordered wings from Wing Stop and headed to his place to watch the Spurs game.  Thankfully the Spurs won.  We finally got some rain last night so that was great.  My lawn needs it.  We have water restrictions right now and I’m only supposed to water on Mondays before 8:00 a.m.

Today I slept in and then went to the central library where Matt works and got my library card.  I found a few poetry books that I might use to find some poetry for a student in addition to a few other things.  When Matt got off work, we went to church and then he came over and we had some pizza for dinner and watched Sherlock Holmes – the modern version. 

It will be another busy week at school.  I’ve got to get a lot of my inventory stuff done this week. 

A long week

This week seemed really long for some reason.  I still feel way behind, but am working constantly to try to catch up.  Hopefully I’ll have everything done by June 13th which is my last day to work.  The students finish on June 6th.  Yesterday I had a textbook meeting and then spent the rest of the time working on the school inventory.  I had to move equipment and stuff so I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home.  I tried napping a bit before Matt got here, but it didn’t work.  I got a call from Lens Crafters and found out that my glasses were ready.  After Matt got here, we went to pick them up and then went to Cheddar’s for dinner.  I had some kind of rum drink that was pretty good and then ordered ribs and chicken for dinner.  It was too much food so I brought half of it home.  Matt and I watched the latest Mission Impossible movie last night. 

Today Matt and I are going shopping to find him some new clothes.  He is dreading it completely.  He always orders his clothes online.  I could never do that.  I always have to try on whatever I’m interested in because it may look great on the rack, but when I try it on, it may not fit right or look stupid.  We have to look at the big and tall sections because that’s the only place we’ll find stuff in his size.  We’ll try Dillards, Penny’s, and Sear’s at the mall.  I’m looking forward to it, but he is a typical man that hates shopping. 

It takes a little getting used to with wearing the bifocals.  I don’t see a lot of difference in being able to read, but perhaps I just haven’t found the sweet spot.  But I think they look pretty good.  I can’t wait to try out my new sun glasses as well.  Well, I’m going to go get ready so we can get Matt stylin’ in some new clothes.  He is in desperate need of a wardrobe make-over. 

A man that cooks

I love having a man that will grill for me.  Matt actually thanked me for letting him grill tonight.  I just shook my head and said that he can grill any time he wants.  He grilled a couple of filets and I made pasta and some salad.  We watched the Spurs game as we ate and then went to Sonic for shakes.  The Spurs pummeled the Jazz.  I washed my Spurs shirt so that I can wear it tomorrow.  There’s a convenience store chain here in San Antonio that gives out free coffee the day after the Spurs win a playoff game. 

School was busy as always.  I finally got poetry collections together for my students that are going to compete in the UIL competition.  I worked with another student today on maps, charts, and graphs and then a third student on dictionary skills.  It’s going to be an insane few weeks.  I finally started working on my inventory in the library. 

Not much to share today.  My cold is starting to finally wane though I still have a bit of a cough.  It’s been two weeks since I’ve had it.  Now it may be allergies on top of the cold as I’m still sneezing and such.  My voice hasn’t been “normal” in a while.  Maybe another weekend of rest will help.  Matt is off on Saturday this weekend which is not normal for him, so I’m not sure what we’ll be doing.  We might go shopping since he needs new pants. 

I should be in bed..

but I’m going to write a blog post instead.  Matt will be calling me about 11:00 so I might as well stay up.  It was a busy day at school and every time I left the library, I caught student out of class and I ended up writing one office referral on one of them.  I have some girls that are going to do poetry reading for UIL and they are very excited about it.  I haven’t even had time to finalize their collections, but they are coming to the library to look in books every chance they get.  They are really cute.  I’m looking forward to working with them.  I also have two boys that are going to do poetry as well.  I have another student (or maybe two) that will do impromptu speaking as well.  I hope that I’m able to coach them so that they do well in the competition. 

Matt is the best boyfriend ever.  He mowed my lawn for me this morning.  (I haven’t mowed it myself in months now.) He also came up to school and helped me by shelving books for me.  I think I’m going to have to keep him.  He will come over Wednesday and grill some filets. 

I had orchestra rehearsal tonight.  It was a bit daunting as two of the clarinet players were gone so it was just me and another guy.  We managed pretty well in spite of the others being gone.  Thankfully I have the next two weeks off from band.  I really needed the break as I was getting kind of burned out.  I’m enjoying orchestra quite a bit. 

Tomorrow is another busy day with lots to do.  I guess I should get to bed.  Matt just called so we’re good for tonight.  It’s so nice to have a boyfriend who realizes it is important to talk to each other.  If we don’t see each other, we at least talk daily.