That is quite enough!

Ok... so I am actually having a decent week (worrying about life, job, and grandmother stuff aside) and now this evening I have a sore throat and a stuffed up nose.
Grumble :(

Happy Birthday Seuss!

If you haven't Googled today you definitely should... it's super cute :) Gotta love the Seuss. So in honor of this wise and wonderful man... some of my favorite quotes:
“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” (This one is especially dedicated to my Big Sis Bridget HaPPY BiRTHDaY!)
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose."
"And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed."
"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities."

And... in the spirit of trying to juice up the Optimism meter:
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
I care. A whole awful lot. :)

P.S. If you are a Seuss lover like me, check out these super-cute sheets.
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/ks535/index.cfm?pkey=cboys%2Dsheeting%7Ck
Marci was picking out stuff for Nathan's new big-boy room, and while she did not end up getting these... I LOVE them! Would it be too silly to have those on my bed? :)

Redirect the Warm Fuzzies

I want to thank you for the warm fuzzies you've been sending... but I need to redirect where they are going. My grandmother had an accident this weekend and broke her hip. She had surgery which went ok... but is still in the hospital for a while. If you could re-direct the warm fuzzies and send them her way I would appreciate it!

Low on Optimism

So today my optimism tank is running pretty low. I had a super-frustrating day at school and this week I also found out that the person who was my "in" in the Durango school district no longer has his position. Whether that was planned, or something else happened, I do not know. What I know is that my info got forwarded to someone else and they sent me a very generic "the economy sucks and we are not sure if we are going to hire anyone this year, but check back in April" email. Fantastic. Apparently a lot of the school districts in CO are facing some major financial issues... and while I don't think I was unrealistic about job prospects, when other people keep telling you that you will get any job you want, it is kind of a slap in the face to deal with a situation that is so opposite of what I was told to expect.

While I do not specifically have my heart set on one particular place, I am feeling a huge amount of pressure to get a job somewhere that I actually can see myself living for an extended period of time. Granted, this pressure is coming from myself... but I am so tired of moving around and not having a freaking HOME. I want to have an address that my friends can actually put in their address books (I am told that I am a post-it note because I have used up too many spaces already), I want to have a local phone number, I want to pay a mortgage instead of rent and know the people in my town. I want to have a group of friends and a boyfriend who I can be with for longer than a year or two that I happen to be in a particular place. I also want to have my own classroom that I can arrange and organize in a non-stupid way. I want to have colleagues that I can build a relationship with since I will be somewhere for more than a few months. I want to get involved in projects that I believe in because I work somewhere where I actually choose to be.

I wouldn't change the life I have had so far because my experiences living in different places and meeting different people have made me ME, and I think I am a pretty cool person because of all of that....... but I am ready to put down some roots so that I can start growing my branches and leaves and see what else I have in me. So anyway, the bottom line is that I am feeling very small, frustrated, overwhelmed, and sad. I know it's more about my perspective than about some all-powerful "right" answer... so if you happen to have any magic pickles (we read Aladdin and the Magic Pickle Jar this week in school... pretty funny!) or just some extra warm fuzzies hanging around.... Please send them my way.

Adventures of the Big Fat Grey Kitty

Since the fat kitty is often very jealous that he cannot go exploring outside like Sherlock does, every once in a while I leave my door open and let him go poke around in the hall. While this might not sound very interesting to you, it usually takes him at least an hour to come back on his own (unless a neighbor dog goes by, in which case it is .02 seconds).

Well yesterday I had kind of forgotten that I had let him out, realized that it had been quite a while since I had seen him, and then realized that I had not shut the door to the stairs before I let him go exploring. However, as I was about to start panicking, I heard some funny sounds coming from the laundry room:



I am wondering if he was napping in there for a while as it was still nice and warm from my clothes :) Goofy Kitty :)

Ode to Gatorade

So this week was not quite what I was hoping for. I woke up on Wednesday morning feeling like I had been run over by a truck... and it went down hill from there. Lets just say I have had a full body cleansing over the past couple days thanks to a very nasty stomach flu bug. Thank goodness for Gatorade.

Unfortunately my planned day off on Friday was spent being sick, but at least I already had sub plans done. It just means I am not really near being caught up on things like I had planned. So instead of a nice relaxing weekend, I am multitasking my nose off trying to get as much done as I can.

28 days until spring break.

Chapter 3... CHECK!

So as of around 11:00am I officially turned in the 3rd chapter of my masters paper! Wooo hoo!! Then I was super-productive sorting out the end of my Americorps term. I am eligible for their program because I don't get paid for teaching, and since my school is considered to be low socioeconomically, they consider my internship as community service. All I have to do is track my hours and write monthly essays, but it is definitely worth it!

Sherlock came with me to visit his favorite CC people (there are always doggy treats in the education house) and then we were off for a nice long dog-walk. Sherlock was very VERY patient with me while I was working for the last two days, so I made sure he got his play time today! After 2 and a half hours of mud and snow, we were both pooped! We stopped off at the grocery store, and now we are home. Sherlock is sound asleep on his bed, and I am considering a nap... but since I haven't done any planning for this week I figured I better get some of that done.

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever catch up?!?!