What a nasty, gloomy day.

Stephen woke up today with a fever, so at 6:45 this morning I began calling substitutes. We have to do our own calling of subs for work, and we have a list of about ten people with varying days of availability. They're all parent volunteers; that is to say, they put on a form with their children's registration that they can sub if we need them.

Of course, no one is able to sub today. One woman even said she had to work. Okay, maybe I misunderstand..but doesn't availability mean that you are actually available?? Most everyone had one appointment or another. Freak thing, I guess but it didn't help me this morning. Thankfully, we're still in the first stages of the school year, and two of our teachers (reading and music) don't have anyone in their classes yet, not until next week. Miss Linda, our reading teacher, is in my room today. So that worked out.

In other news, my ultrasound appointment is today. I'm nervous, and a little scared; not of the appointment but what they might find. I truly do hope it's nothing more serious than a simple cyst and we can get rid of it and be done with it. I'm not particularly fond of hospitals but that's where I'm going today.

Hopefully I'll know more soon.
posted by Steph at 8:47 AM[edit]

Tired, tired, tired. I've gone to bed early lately but maybe staying up late over the summer is catching up with me. Or maybe it's just that time of the month, I don't know. I've got the blahs, which are different from the blues in that I don't really feel sad, just...kinda out there somewhere. There are days when I love being a woman, and there are days when I hate it.
posted by Steph at 8:43 PM[edit]

I went to the doctor yesterday. Yearly checkups are a wonderful thing, when they've been done every year. Unfortunately, it's been three years since I had my last checkup, and now I think I'm regretting that.

The nurse midwife (they are qualified to do almost as much as an ob-gyn, and when there is a shortage of such, can do yearly exams with no problems) did my physical, and she found something she didn't like. I may have a ovarian cyst, which is probably not serious and usually should resolve on it's own. It's those small chances of it being serious and not resolving on its own that has me worried. When something inside is wrong, your mind runs away with you and all sorts of scary thoughts begin to flood your mind. What if it's more than a cyst? What if they find something dangerous? Endometriosis? Cystofibric disease? Cancer? It's hard not to let these thoughts consume me, though I'm trying to stay positive and upbeat.

TriCare has given me a referral to a specialist, and I should find out in a few days who that will be. When I do find out, I will go and have further tests done so that we can see what's going on in this little body of mine.

Pray for me, please?
posted by Steph at 6:54 PM[edit]

Someone should shout out to me whenever I go too long before updating. I always intend to update two or three times a week but when it's as busy as it's been lately, this is not something that comes immediately to mind.

Life is good and getting better. School with the toddlers is proving...interesting to say the least. Yesterday, we had three that cried all day. Today we had only two, and one of those finally stopped crying at 11:00. (We're done at 11:30. Natch.) I think, though, that once all the children see us, get used to us, and settle down some, things will quickly become easier. I find myself wondering, though..why is it that some parents think that a child can be attached at the hip for two years, and then suddenly be independant? It's not a possibility. It's so important (in my humble opinion) that a parent should promote independence as soon as possible. I don't mean letting the child do anything they want. I mean, allowing the child to be with other people than parents, in other places than home, as often as possible. Children need socialization as early as possible..if nothing else, church nurseries give a short break once a week. Playgroups are chances to interact with others on a safe level with mama close by. Library reading clubs, mother's mornings out, even a neighborhood teenager coming over once a week or so. Anything to start a child on the road to independence.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

In related news, Teddy was moved from the three-day program to the five-day program, which means, among other things, that he doesn't have to come into my class two days a week. I'd love to have him in my class..he's one of the sweetest boys I know..but he'd be the oldest one by over a year. Talk about out of place. Miss Shea is his teacher now, and I have to say I couldn't have chosen a better one. She is so sweet and so loving, and Teddy adores her already.

Eva got the exploratories at school that she wanted, and she's thrilled. Orchestra and art. Those two words could be a definition of Eva. She'll only have art for four weeks, but orchestra all year. She gets her cello in four weeks.

My life is such a rollercoaster...
posted by Steph at 4:11 PM[edit]

And terrible to worse. Just when I think things can't get any farther down, they do. I'm nearly at the bottom of this well and it's full of mud. If something wonderful doesn't happen soon, I'm gonna drown.
posted by Steph at 4:33 PM[edit]

Ugh. I hate it when things go from terrific to terrible. This weekend was one of those times.

Somehow, the people that are renting our house in Hampton managed to break the garbage disposal. At least that's my assumption, since the disposal was less than five years old when we left that house. Almost two hundred dollars was taken out of the rent by our property manager for installation of a new disposal and pipes. No word to us that it had been a problem, no explaination of anything. And two hundred out of our pocket for something that shouldn't have needed replacing.

John seems to feel that I was a bit too loose with our money while I was buying school supplies and lunchbox items, but I didn't get anything that wasn't needed. It really bothers me when he fusses like that...it's not like I'm extravagant. It's not like I'm taking off on the weekends to go on a shopping trip to Cleveland, like one friend of mine. Or deciding I need a new car, despite the fact that I already have one, like another friend. I just started a new job, but I won't see any money from it for almost a month because of Teddy's registration fees and monthly tuition.

Someone buy me a lottery ticket.
posted by Steph at 3:53 PM[edit]

What a terrific morning!!

Yesterday was busy, but it was a wonderful busy. Two school open houses and a teacher's meeting were the main things. I have to admit to being wonderfully excited about the coming school year, not only because I'll have two in school this year (HOORAAY!) but because of the class I'll be teaching.

You might have seen before when I wrote that I wanted to get back into child care. I really do miss working with kids. Yes, I work with my own kids every day, and I do need to get away from them from time to time..but they all know that they are loved absolutely. Now I get a chance to love even more children. I'll be in the Playschool room, which is older ones and younger twos. I go today to buy borders and room decorations!

As I mentioned, we went to meet Eva and Stephen's teachers yesterday. Eva will have Ms. Maddox for her homeroom teacher, and we also met her orchestra and art teachers. She'll have the basics; reading, language arts, social studies, math and science; one musical class, orchestra being her choice (she wants to learn the cello!!) and another elective (or exploratories) that she'll take for nine weeks at a time, four sets in total. For this period she can choose from Art, Home Ec, Technology (computers, robots and lasers), PE, In-Tech (no clue what this is) and Health. She thinks she'll choose Art, Home Ec, Technology and PE. I think PE is required for one of these nine week sessions.

Stephen's teacher is Ms. Lomax, and the aide in his room is Ms. Bartlett. They both seem really sweet and caring, and I think Stephen is really going to thrive there. He gets to ride the bus for the first time, and he hasn't talked about anything but kindergarten for at least two weeks. He's really excited.

Teddy's going with me to the Academy that I'm teaching at, and he'll be in the three-day K-3 room. The other two days of the week he'll be in Playschool with me..he'll be the oldest but it won't be a bad thing.

Isn't it exciting???
posted by Steph at 10:26 AM[edit]

Everytime I try to post something new, my computer locks up, so I haven't posted in a few days. Some updates are in order.

My bestest friend is getting back on his feet after a terrible breakup, a makeup, and a short trip away. I find myself worrying about him all the time but he is much better.

My kidney infection is gone, but now there is the possibility that I might have kidneystones. Kidneystones?? I thought those were for old people. (Um, Steph..you're not exactly a spring chicken.) Shaddup.

School starts a week from today...HOORAY!! All the parents of the world with school-agers celebrate this day. It's also my first day of work..I'll be a working mom! (Aren't all mothers working moms? 24-hour a day on call...) What is this, comment from the peanut gallery day?

Great...I'm going nutz....but insanity's fun, don't you think?

They're coming to take me away, haha,
They're coming to take me away, heehee, hoho, haha...
To the funny farm, where life is wonderful, happy and free.....
(That's all I can remember, Vic...I can even hear you singing it in my head...)
posted by Steph at 10:55 AM[edit]

It's Wednesday. I had more than enough reason to worry about my bestest friend. Not long after I posted on Monday, I saw him again online. All I can do is stick by him through this tough time.

In other news, I had a bit of an adventure this morning, if you want to call it that. Waking up at 4 am in excrutiating pain *can* be an adventure, I guess. A trip down to Henry Medical Center was in order, and after two hours in the emergency room (very fast, considering that I'm used to military emergency rooms that make you wait that long before even seeing a doctor) I was on my way, medicated and with prescriptions in hand. I have a kidney infection, serious but certainly not as life-threatening as it seemed when I woke. Easily cared for with a good strong antibiotic, so in two or three days I'll be right as rain again. I'm not quite comfortable at the moment but it's certainly bearable.
posted by Steph at 4:27 PM[edit]