Thursday, November 29, 2007

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

38 Years of Marriage! Wow!
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! They are out in Las Vegas this week enjoying the Strip and the night life.
I love ya's!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Spirit Week Pictures of the Class of 2010

Welcome to Grease!


Kids in my classroom trying to get ready for decorating the halls!

Look . . . .it's Bat Girl!

Morgan, Audrey, and Michael posing for me!




Marquis and Nayroby decorating the cafeteria scene in Grease.


Balloons add to the scene!




Marquis and Lindsay at the Kissing Booth of the Carnival scene.


Michelle and I striking a pose - don't we look exhausted???? :-)


Class of 2010 at the Pep Rally in the Field House.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

A weekend of work and not a lot of play for M-Dawg!

It has been a busy yet productive weekend for M-Dawg!

I worked all weekend at Paws. I instantly went back into the swing of things - it's like I hadn't left the store. Which is a good thing since the transition went well. It's great to see the dogs again.

Sold tickets at the high school football game for extra money on Thanksgiving. The extra money will be nice! :-) My school lost but the weather was actually quite nice - foggy in the morning but the sun came out and the temps got up to the 50's. I've worked football games before on Thanksgiving in New England and I can attest that this day was one of the nicest weather days ever! One year, the weather changed three times: it started raining, then sleet, and then snow within one hour! Wow! So, I'll take a 50 degree weather game any day! :-)

Did a few loads of laundry, school work, paid bills, did the budget for the month, caught up with my filing (there's been this huge pile of "to be filed" for months!), applied online for refinancing for my mortgage, cleaned, grocery shopping, and tried to breathe! :-)

Friday, November 23, 2007

Be thankful!

I know this post is one day late. I was a tad bit busy over the past few days.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day . . . .

A few updates:
*Survived Spirit Week Hell. Almost killed all the 10th graders on the night of Decorate the Halls because they kept screwing around and not working to get the hallway decorated. My co-advisor lost her voice from yelling at them. They drive me nuts but I do adore them! :-) We got last place in Spirit Week. I'll post pictures over the weekend. I still need to get the pictures off my camera and onto the computer.
*Still in limbo over the job situation. We don't know when or how the cuts will occur. The School Committee and Superintendent is still looking over all budget items. They froze all non-essential funds (school supplies like paper, etc). I'll keep everyone posted.
*Had a field trip on Tuesday during the day. Took my local history classes to see the Witch Trial Stuff. They enjoyed the trip. I took some photos of the kids so I'll post those pictures at some point.
*Worked the Thanksgiving Day football game at my school. Figured the extra money would be good.
*Spent Thanksgiving at my friend Michelle's house with her family. Had a nice day and good food.
*I'm back at Paws for the holiday season. I really could use the money so I asked if I could come back.

My thankful list:
*My family for always loving and supporting me in everything I do.
*My friends for always being there for me.
*My job.
*Ellie the Cat.
*My health.
*Having a home.
*Our troops stationed all over the world - thank you for protecting my freedom.

Happy Thanksgiving to all . . . . .

Monday, November 19, 2007

This is my week from Hell!

OK folks . . . my week of hell has officially started! Spirit Week!

If I'm not answering emails or commenting on blogs, it's because I'm in hell. Technically, hell started last week with meetings and planning. Late nights for M-Dawg! :-(

Try working with 365 plus teenagers (they are sophomores this year) and decorating a massive hallway with a theme?

The theme this year: Grease (the movie).

I'll take some photos and post later.

I'm off to die now. :-(

Friday, November 16, 2007

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

What can I say about Joela???? She's a crazy lady (in a good way)! :-)

Throughout my life, my Mom has been my strength and support (for both my sister Mandy and I). She listens to me rant and rave about my students or my school. She's a survivor of breast cancer - she is my hero!

Mom has always supported my decisions (good and bad) and is always there for me. She's funny and silly - she always makes us laugh. Her passion for life is amazing to me.

Mom has passed on to Mandy and I her love of animals. Mom loves animals and will always help a pet in need. She's Ellie the Cat's grandma!!!! :-)

Mom's love of traveling was passed on to me as well. Growing up, we would go on these family trips all over the country. Because of my parents, I realized that there was a big world out there besides Dalzell, IL (the town of 600 people that I grew up). Next summer, my parents are going to follow their retirement dream of selling the house and traveling across the country in a 5th wheel camper (the photo above - Mom and Dad in front of their soon-to-be new home) full time.

Mom will do anything for "her girls." She protected us when we were little and took crap from no one! For that, I love her more than words could ever say.

Mom - Thank you for your love and support. Thank you for being the "bestest" Mom a girl could ever ask for. Happy Birthday and enjoy your special day!

I love ya Momma! :-)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

All sorts of stress going on in M-Dawg's world . . . .

I'm the first one to admit that I haven't been very happy at my school. However, for now, it does pay the bills and as long as I'm in the classroom with the kids, life would be a good thing.

Due to recent developments in my school system, the 2008 school budget is short $1.8 million (the odds are pretty good that the number will go up after a week of back tracking the books). Why? Because some idiot for the city (the Business Manager) was being "creative" with the books and moved money around and decided to pay last years bills with this years budget money. Oh, he longer works for the city - he left in September.

So, who will suffer????? There needs to be some drastic cuts within the next week and the decision has been made to start cutting "in areas that cost the city high amounts." Teacher salaries and benefits is a part of that high cost. So, the Superintendent will be making a decision of who will be cut ASAP.

Oh, guess who is low man in the seniority of her department and has a high chance of being laid off and cut?????????????

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Respect to the Vets!

The history of Veterans Day is located here. The average American doesn't even know how or why we have a day for our Veterans. If you see a Vet today, walk up to them and thank them. They are the reason why YOU HAVE YOUR FREEDOM!!!!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Long weekend for M-Dawg & Random Thoughts . . .

Gotta love long weekends.

On Friday, I had a professional day (which was a total waste of time). A professional day means no students at school with us. Sat in a ton of pointless meetings most of the day. The assistant superintendent of my district arranged for my department to go to a local middle school for a demonstration on Smart Boards. The interactive white boards are amazing but costly and my school doesn't have the money to spend on something so high tech. The best part of the day was going out to lunch with my department at Kelly's Roast Beef - a Boston area tradition! I've never eaten there so it was very yummy! :-)

I don't have a ton of plans for the long weekend. I do have a ton of correcting to complete since grades are due for 1st quarter on Thursday.

Oh, there was an article in the local paper about our school system. You can read it here. It doesn't look too good for my job. Since I'm the low man in the department, I have a good chance of being cut. Not a good thing for M-Dawg since I'll be in my tenth year of teaching. No school would hire me since I'm soooo expensive! So, on top of everything else going on at school (no contract, working illegal hours - a grievance is being filed by the way, no support in SPED, etc.), we've got this horrible economic situation going on too.

Be thinking happy vibes for the next few months for M-Dawg . . . . who knows how this situation will play out! :-(

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

I took a personal day today

If I didn't take a day off, I would probably kill someone! :-(

It's been one of those weeks followed by one of those life times . . . .

The plan for today:
*No school work.
*No thinking about anything related to school.
*No financial worry stuff.
*No human contact.
*No plan! :-)

I'm just going to hang out with Ellie the Cat and enjoy not being around teenagers for the day!

Sometimes, M-Dawg just needs to breathe . . . .

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Want a beer?

Having a beer at a Beer Garden in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my trip to Russia this summer. Remembering the good times and the not so great times.
This picture was a good time. Our group had just finished touring the Hermitage and did a canal boat trip. We were given some down time for the evening so a group of us went out for drinks and dinner. The above photo shows me drinking my first Russian beer!
Budem zdorovy ("Let's stay healthy" in Russian)! :-)