.....almoooooooost........

I know I know.......almost only counts in horsehoes and hand grenades........

...but I am almost done with this school year...........the giddiness is creeping in.........the weather is nice.......popsicles need to be eaten with kindergarten classes..............my reports are written..........field day is coming........they yearbooks will be delivered on Monday.....soon I will kill my alarm clock....

I had an amazing day on priceline.............got a cheap hotel for the baseball weekend and it's one of our favorites from back in the days of dance.........I pressed my luck and pricelined a rental car for our Chicago trip.......woot.......it's just money, right?

I surprised the principal, asst principal, and counselor today with DQ blizzards.........it seems like no one ever surprises them with treats.......they are always bringing in Sonic drinks or donuts or candy minis.............it was fun to turn it around.........of I course I got one out of the deal too...........let's just say it was lunch today...........I'll aim for a sensible dinner.........

today my speech kiddos got to spend their "speech bucks" at the "speech store"......I don't do treasure box or stickers at each session........they earn a speech buck each time and save up for the store which is open twice a year.........they are so serious about their shopping......mechanical pencils are a hot item......and my kids stuffed animals they never touched that I have sneaked into work......they keep their bucks in a pocket on the wall that has their photo on it........so after they shop....I take down the picture and it goes home with them too......the empty wall is sad.....some of them have said they will move....some of them won't need me next year......some of them will be gone without a trace......we're a military district so we're used to hellos and goodbyes......that doesn't mean we're good at it......
Good Luck my Speech Monkeys.......

.....choir concert.......

....my daughter had her last jr. high concert last night.........she blows me away.......that girl can sing.....she didn't get it from me......it's all her.......I wonder if the high school has any idea what is coming their way......I hope they use her wisely........I wish I had input into the musicals they choose for the next four years........Hairspray, Annie Get Your Gun, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, Wicked.........they did The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee this year.......if I'd known I'd have asked if a rising 8th grade star could audition......she did I Speak Six Languages as a solo in competition so she could have walked on for that part..........and yes.......I know I want it all.........it's just that she really has something special...........I cannot wait.......
I sometimes wonder if her birth family deserves to know how talented she is..........but then I remember they had their chance.....they could have stepped up and had her at any time but didn't.....

Part of the foster/adopt program is returning to a training to tell your story (happy or sad).......I took my beautiful two-year-old daughter to a training and needless to say........everyone was smitten.....my message to the newbies was simple.........don't make a choice based on paperwork...........Abby was not an easy sell.....mixed race, Dandy Walker Cyst with a shunt.....2 neuro surgeries before she was even 3 months old......late with motor/balance skills........endless therapy that turned into dance for 10 years.......incarcerated birth parents.....tons of siblings placed all around........I didn't know any of that....I just knew that a round-faced baby was pounding her fists on the desk in the waiting room of my workplace......she pounded until I looked at her ........and then she gave me a twinkling smile.......she was tucked under the arm of her foster mother (a nurse) and was only along for the ride...another foster child in the home had therapy........that's all it took........I asked.....I got........I'm not forgetting all of the roadblocks and tears ...just not focused on them unless I'm telling someone the dangers of foster/adopt........I have a happy ending.......I got....she's mine.....that can't change.....

I guess I should not snap at her when she pounds/taps on every surface when she's bored or antsy......it worked magic once....why wouldn't she keep pounding those fists?......

......mothers' day weekend...

..here it comes..........it's my weekend.........no baseball as of 9pm tonight.......of course coach threw in a practice at the batting cage late tonight............oh well.........I'll get the grocery shopping over with then............
I would really like the weather to clear so we can work on the yard.......the grass is greening up ...but so are the weeds..............this is the weekend we always plant flowers.......which means I plant flowers and the kids come out later and say "did you plant flowers"...........I am a lazy gardener.........I start off with a bang but it grows tiresome..........some time in the summer I have to wrestle the rose bush.........it grows like wildfire...........my mom had a rose bush smack in the middle of the yard........it got mowed weekly.......and she would squawk and squawk........"who ran over my rose bush?".........well.........in  my defense, it was hard to see it once it was run over weekly.............she also had purple irises..........and lilacs..........and now I know I'm allergic to lilacs.........so that was pretty mean of her to have those bushes everywhere.............we used to take a branch of blooming lilacs with the stem wrapped in a wet paper towel and aluminum foil to our teachers..........did they even like that?
Teacher Appreciation Week is coming to a close.............PTO bought us bbq today.........I wasn't at that school today and I don't love bbq so it's all good.......there was a Hershey bar in my mailbox.....woot.....
my dog has been sleeping through the night this week..........I suppose that will end now that I have two days with no alarm clock.........oy........now I'm already annoyed with her.........I could use some Zzzzzzz's

....softball.......

...I've activated the sequence for coaching softball at one of our jr. high schools.........that means I've asked the SPED director if it's possible for me to leave early for those 8 weeks...........we'll see........
being around the high school softball team has made for an explosion of my glory days and those feelings...........dang, I was good............I miss it...........I missed part of my junior year season after surgery (kidney removed to share with my brother).........that was recruiting year......probably kept me from playing college ball.....hmmm...........no regrets though....he lived another 25+ years because of it...........I played community and tournament ball until Jackson learned to walk and wouldn't sit in a stroller in the dugout........recently there has been rumbling of getting our team back together.........I think it would be safer to coach........I don't think I'd handle tournament recovery as I head into AARP land..........

Abby got new cleats last night..........and of course I tried them on...........cleats have come a long way since I bought my last pair........I guess I knew that from Jackson's team........they are totally Boombah......I've always been a Nike girl so that's what Abby got..........if she makes the team in the fall I promised her we'd look into custom Nike ID cleats...........I'm a sucker for the costuming in sports.........that's not a secret........

it's raining.......that makes me tired.............only two weeks left of my diet soda addiction..........do your magic super double big gulp.....

......high school.......

I'm adjusting well to the thought of my daughter going to high school in three months.........what I'm not handling is thinking of my baby going in two years......I don't know why that freaks me out more......I just had a meeting with a parent whose son is probably going to need support the rest of his life.........he's also heading to high school where he will learn to count change, ride the city bus to a job where is is supervised constantly by Goodwill Industries.......
...that is sobering..........and I'm pleased that my kids aren't headed in that direction......and then I realize that no one is going to drive them to work, budget their money, or supervise their work further than a yearly evaluation...........Can there please be a middle ground?
phew.......I've pulled myself back into the now......Abby has a nanny job lined up for the summer......2.5 days a week with two sweet little girls.........she's got a line on a hostess job at a restaurant my friend owns....and she's playing softball with the high school team this summer.....I remember those summers.........I lived for softball........I think I started getting ready at 2 for a 7:30 game...........of course, back in the day there was nothing on TV during the day but game shows and soap operas...........

Mother's Day Weekend coming up and we have no baseball.........I'm hoping to work in the yard.....it's usually flower planting weekend.........hate doing the work but love the results...........my kids are finally a helpful age.....and they are strong.....I forget that........there is no reason they can't haul the dumpster......I've just always done the heavy work.........times they are a changing.......Abby is a tough nugget and Jackson loves doing the power work or using power tools..........I'm getting closer and closer to being a porch princess....

...air freshener............

when in doubt...........use the air freshener in the staff bathroom.......other than the obvious (making me hold my breath while I'm in there).......there is also the problem of my exit...........when it still stinks, the next staff member thinks it was me..........it TOTALLY wasn't............I don't defecate in public restrooms.......even a hotel room bathroom is pushing it.......so I guarantee it wasn't me.......

as long as I'm on a disgusting topic........the baseball fields were in the boonies this weekend..........nice brick buildings with State Park toilets inside...........basically a metal frame over a hole full of other peoples' business..........I'm thinking those holes need to be deeper.......when I was a kid.....our church hall had those kind of bathrooms.......I was always afraid of falling in......I'm guessing my mother telling my sister to "go with her and hold onto her so she doesn't fall in" may have been the crux of that issue.........my biggest fear now is that my phone will fall in......big girls are not at risk for falling into those holes........maybe that's why it's hard to lose weight.....maybe if I were skinny I'd have to worry about falling into dung holes...........

okay..........today is clearly interrupt me by walking through my office day..............I've been at risk all year for this but people must have decided my stink eye isn't scary anymore.........a fifth grade teacher trouped her whole stinkin' class through this morning..........the story is "the other door to that room was locked"..........I'm sure it was.........so send one person through to open it for the rest...........that would be the considerate thing to do.......I wonder how the teachers would feel if I walked my speech groups through their classrooms every half hour.........you know.........that might be fun to do........it'll take some creativity to write that into a lesson plan but I think it might be worth it.....

on a side note...baseball is going well.........our team is awesome and everyone is valued........we are ranked 3rd in the state for 12AAA

.......published............

..not that anyone wants to hear my whining..........but I'm out of control busy right now........today I sent the Elementary yearbook to the publisher............that opened a tiny air hole to breathe..........not completely until I see the proof on Monday.........but for now, that's all I can do........

I am still at work...it's 5:30pm...........my kids don't remember me.........I have MANY eval reports to write.........with my beloved Mother of the Baseball Player weekends........working at home is not an option...........I will live........in a few weeks I will have no work alarm clock, no meal plans, no dress code.........nothing to do but water the grass and then mow it..........it's the life...........I always thought I wouldn't like working in the schools because I'd be a total crank arse in August when the fun was coming to an end.........turns out......I can handle it.....the years go by soo sooooo fast.........we rarely work 5 day weeks..........and when we do......we have no endurance for it...........

It's close to the clean out the fridge and buy better food time..........my daughter has been on a health kick and is doing great...........busy doesn't usually mean I'm packing fabulous lunches with healthy options.........my kids had the treat of pizza from a box last night since I was cramming to get the yearbook ready to roll..........box pizza is pretty gross unless you're starving .....or I suppose drunk......gone are the days...........

Maybe my mini-goal is to pack a loverly cooler for baseball weekend...........I'll take fitness kick Abby with me shopping during baseball practice tomorrow night........that's  win win for all.......