still alive, barely

At least that is how it seems. The job I had the last two days was not a good one, really. Thursday was awful, the kids were not listening, they were very young, and neither I nor the poor para seemed to be in control of them half the time. I managed to get through the day and limped out of there, feeling barely competent, and although I drooled at the thought of a giant glass of wine, I had to skip it for fear of being struck with migraine in the middle of a repeat of that day.

I woke up the next morning feeling determined to make it better, so I told the para, don't worry about the kids, don't worry about me, just do whatever it is that you normally do. Because the lesson plans were sketchy, and when you walk into a K class and someone just writes "morning meeting, morning message" and this is supposed to take up 40 minutes, it's kind of hard to understand what this group of creatures of habit is going to expect, and in what order. And if there are 22 of them, I will get 22 different volunteers. I had thought the para would know, but most mornings, she does clerical work and doesn't really pay attention to that part of the day.

So I put my best foot forward and put the koala puppet on my hand and off I went. I actually held their attention throughout the entire morning meeting and morning message, as well as calendar, which was truly amazing. We finished our "writing" activity as well, and got through the morning virtually unscathed. Not so lucky in the afternoon, but what the heck, after that it was the weekend anyway, and a three day weekend at that.

Anyway, with all of the above, I am just really tired so I will be brief. Today the Doll needed attention, which we gave her after the kids and I participated in the second annual Chiari Walk sponsored by conquerchiari.org. It was a fun walk, but the weather could have been a little milder. Kevin couldn't come because he had to work the bagel table at the Y to raise funds for the April trip to Florida.

But in other news, the dogs were happy because I took them both evenings of my work to the dog park, to assuage my guilt over having left Wilbur in his little pen for so many hours. On Thursday it was muggy and buggy, but last night was beautiful and someone came with a pom who looked just like Wilbur! So that was funny. Poms aren't like goldens, who all look the same anyway, so it was really cool to see one who matched him so well. Wilbur had a longer nose, though, and is already larger, although the other dog is full grown. Speaking of full grown, Wilbur will have to be neutered soon. I hate that part of pet ownership!

And last night was Brian's first high school dance! He seemed to have a great time, but he really isn't telling us much about it at all. He is very happy with the school so far, but it's about to kick into a higher gear, as he has several tests spread out over a couple of weeks. And someone told us tonight that at the end of the marking period, they pile them on them all at once. I have to impress upon him a billion times the importance of reviewing his notes on a nightly basis, but I don't know if he is doing so. He takes them on the computer, which could be a mindless typing exercise if he is not careful. And now I am exhausted and really must turn in.