News at Home: Lots of Ups and Downs
This was a fairly turbulent week for me with lots of ups and downs. At work it’s time for my annual evaluation – not a big deal really, but it does mean that my principal is going to come and observe my classroom for 45 minutes. Well she was supposed to come Monday morning – cancelled. Then Tuesday morning – cancelled. Then Wednesday morning – cancelled. Then Thursday morning – cancelled. Then Friday afternoon – cancelled. I’m not doing anything different because she’s coming – she’ll see what she’ll see. But it does put you a little on edge. So I was basically on edge all week. And it sucks that it’s not even over yet.
On the plus side, the class did pretty well this week. We just finished our 5th grading period and I had my grades submitted a full 4 days early! I was on top of my lesson plans and we even had a really awesome Earth Day activity for the kids. I had a parent comment on one of the pictures I sent on our Class Dojo class story about the activity “Can I just say Mrs. C—- we are so lucky to have you as our Kindergarten teacher. You really are the best.” It’s so nice to get appreciation like that. So definitely some ups. I found out I’m getting a new student on Monday, kind of a downer, except I already got his file and it looks like he’s going to be a great student. I was going to get another one eventually anyway, since I’m at 20 kids with a max of 22 and we’re never NOT full, so I’m crossing my fingers I’m as lucky as it looks like I am on paper. Plus my class could really use more boys – we’re girl heavy!
I was also on edge all week because I was studying for my GRE, which I took yesterday. This test really kicked my ass when I took it 8 years ago so I was nervous. My studying exhausted me and I overslept Thursday – not too bad – but enough that my whole day was off. It was funny, I woke up 20 minutes before my alarm and was like, “yay! 20 more minutes!” went back to sleep and woke up an hour later…! My day just kind of stayed in that vein. And then I was up really late Thursday night studying and my scores scared me because my math (quantitative) was exactly what I needed, no wiggle room! But I took it yesterday and made a 150 on the quantitative and a 162 on the verbal. I needed a 150 and a 152 respectively, so I did it! Phew! Lots of stress, but it paid off π
My grandfather passed away Thursday in the middle of the night (technically early Friday morning, I believe). As I told y’all a couple weeks ago when he entered hospice, this isn’t a difficult loss for me – because I really lost him 15 years ago when he (and the rest of my family) disowned me for not sharing their religious beliefs. But I’ve had phone calls from family members that I don’t want to talk to and it’s awkward as hell. They expect me to be grieving and I’m not. They expect me to make sudden changes and I’m not going to. So it’s been difficult. I don’t know when the funeral is yet, but it’ll be in NY and I anticipate more awkward conversations when I explain that I’m not planning to spend the money to attend.
Friday after work we did the car shopping thing again. Gah I hate car shopping. I knew it was coming though. Kiko has been driving Tauri (my old Ford Taurus) since I got Alia (Nissan Altima) in December – but we knew her transmission was going out, plus she has significant body damage. Well her inspection expires May 1 as does our current insurance policy. It just didn’t make sense to put money into fixing her so she could pass inspection, or renewing insurance. So it was time to get a new car. Kiko had been shopping around all week and we went to his top places Friday night – took us about 3 hours, but we got a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. It’s pretty and he really wanted an SUV so he’s happy. We got a good deal (we paid cash, no payments!), it seems to be in good condition, etc. It has heated seats, which I couldn’t figure out how to turn off while we were test driving, so that was interesting LOL! Figured it out and even put it to positive use Saturday when it got chilly. Of course new car means I had to spend Saturday morning getting insurance setup, but that wasn’t too bad. And it’s going to be about $50/month cheaper than Tauri’s insurance, so that’s nice. Cost us $100 to add it initially, but over the long run it’ll be good.
So yeah… it’s been a week.
Blog News
I’m continuing to do pretty well with my blogging goals. I didn’t do much Thursday, Friday or Saturday because of GRE prep. Thursday I overslept, which meant I didn’t have time to visit or work on the blog. Friday I purposefully woke up late because of staying up late to take a practice GRE. And then Saturday I just didn’t have time due to new car insurance and taking the GRE (5 hours!!). So I’m hoping to spend some real time visiting today and getting my routine back on track with the new week.
Can you read a series in a month? challenge
I’m going to make it! I’m done with the first two books in my series and about halfway through the third (and final) book. The first book was just okay, but the second and now the third have been quite good and I’m really glad I chose this series!
#FitReaders Update
This was a SUCKY week where my fitness goals are concerned. Which just makes a trend for April as a bad month so far. π I’m DETERMINED to get it together this week because I MUST reach my goal of 10 pounds lost this month. Otherwise I’ll be sitting at the same weight for two straight months and I can’t deal with that.
Here are my goals for the month and how I did:
- Do Yoga Monday β Friday: I did yoga 3 days this week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. not horrible not great.
- Drink 64 oz of water daily: I drank water well Monday – Thursday this week, Friday and Saturday were kind of a bust though.
- Track food and hit goals of 37P, 27C, 36F: 3 days this week, which is better than last week (only did 2 days last week) but really isn’t enough. I’m not tracking because I’m making bad food choices and I know it. I am not overeating, still eating small portions. But the stress has me craving carbs – sweets and salty alike. And the more you give in to those cravings, the more you want them. Going to have to do a reset this week to clear my body of the crap I think.
- Take 40 classes at GRIT: Missed 3 classes this week that I had originally planned to take. After two today I’ll be at 25 for the month. I think I’m short 1 now for my plan, so I may add just 1 more today and get back on track.
- Lose 10 pounds, and only weigh every 4 days (Iβve become scale obsessed): Well I’m doing good staying off the scale, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I think the daily accountability helped me with my food choices. I’m down 4.2 for the month, meaning my goal isn’t completely out of reach, but it’s not going to be easy either. I’m debating whether or not I should go back to daily weighing.
- Find one NSV (non-scale victory) a week: When I did my C25K walk/jog last Sunday my pace improved to around 17″00′ average for a mile. That’s a 5″00′ improvement from where I started! My goal is a 10″00′ mile, so I’m getting closer.
Last Week on the Blog
- [16 Apr] Just a Few… In Death AGAIN π
- [16 Apr] Innocent in Death by J.D. Robb ★★★★
- [16 Apr] Born in Death by J.D. Robb ★★★★
- [16 Apr] Haunted in Death by J.D. Robb ★★★
- [17 Apr] Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard ★★★½
- [17 Apr] Task it Tuesday | Getting 1 Month Ahead #taskittues
- [18 Apr] Just a Few Book Club Fails and a Win! #review
- [18 Apr] Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn
- [18 Apr] Sleepless in Manhattan by Sarah Morgan ★★
- [18 Apr] The Scottish Duke by Karen Ranney ★★★★
- [19 Apr] Star Wars: Jedi Academy (Jedi Academy, #1) by Jeffrey Brown ★★★
- [21 Apr] Books From Kinderland | Letter Studies!
- [21 Apr] No More Teaching a Letter a Week by Rebecca McKay, William H Teale, Ellin Oliver Keene, Nell K. Duke ★★★½
- [21 Apr] No More Letter of the Week, PreK-K: A Framework for Integrating Reading Strategies and Cueing Systems with Letter-Sound Introduction by Patricia D. Lusche ★★★
- [22 Apr] Sunday Post with Berls | Lots of Ups and Downs
Coming Next Week From Me
Sunday
Sunday Post with Berls | Lots of Ups and Downs
Monday
Just a Few.. you guessed it! In Death!
Tuesday
The Problem with Forever #review
Task it Tuesday #taskittues
Your week was rather “hilly”, wasn’t it? I’m happy for all the up’s and sorry for the down’s and I hope this week is going a little more smoothly. Don’t let it get you down, girlie! I’m sure you rocked the GRE! And congrats on the new car! That’s awesome and I have to say that heated seats are the bomb! Even if you won’t use them quite as much as I do. π I hope your principal has come to do the evaluation. I understand how that would stress you…the waiting. It’s the hardest part. π
I miss you! {{{big hugs}}}
It really was! So far this week is better – principal cancelled observation again yesterday… except she didn’t actually cancel. She just never showed, never said anything about it, etc. So who knows. *shrugs* maybe I’ll just never get one… The heated seats could definitely be something I love. Especially considering I get cold so easy. This way, when I’m the only one cold I can get warm without everyone hating me π We won’t use this car as much, but I’m thinking when it’s really cold we’ll have to!
Hope you’re having a great week Brandee ! {{BIGGEST HUGS}} Miss you!!!
Sorry the week was so stressful. I hope that this week is better. I’m sorry about the deal with your family. Sometimes, I really feel it is a shame we can’t pick our family. Well, we can, but it you are still related to some no matter what. Have a great week.
LOL! Exactly! I’ve totally chosen the people I consider family, but sometimes – like right now – the “real” family surfaces and the toxicity about smothers me. But it’s almost over.
Hope you’re having a great week Melanie π
Those evaluations sound exhausting and that sucks it’s not over yet! I think you’re plan is definitely the way to go but yeah I think I’d be on pins and needles too. Car shopping sucks! The last two cars we’ve bought have been through CarMax so at least there’s not that oily haggling thing that happens at dealerships. But even then it’s still not fun. That’s great about the insurance though. Hope you’re having a great week!
The car I bought in December we got from CarMax and I so agree, it was the best car buying experience I’ve ever had. But with this car we wanted no payments — we were shooting for something under 3500, which CarMax doesn’t do. We found one for 31 (tags and title included) and Kiko loves it. So I’m happy and it’s over.. which is a big par t of why I’m happy lol!
Hope you’re having a fantastic week π
Take the little successes when you can. It was an up and down week, but you had some ups, which is good. You are sticking to your scale only 4 days – just keep doing it through the end of the month. If it didn’t work for you, try something else next month. Oh – I got this app call HabitMinder (on iPhone) and it’s been helpful for me tracking and consuming my water. You may like it! Great job on the GRE – one step closer to your dreams!!
So I went back to liquids again Monday and I’m slowly adding food back in starting today – when I say food, I mean I’ll have scrambled eggs and/or cottage cheese. That’s the extent… soft food. Sort of simulating the beginning diet and trying to get rid of cravings. So far it’s working – I’m down a few pounds. I caved and got back on the scale… and I think it’s what’s giving me the motivation to keep going with the diet reset. I may need to figure out a different way to work out my unhealthy relationship with the scale – because without it, I think I lose motivation… *sigh* at least I’m losing again π Hope you’re having a great week Jen!
I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather and the rest of your family. You have to cut toxic people out of your life even if they are family. I know they cut you off first, but it sounds like you’re better off without them. Harsh, but oh well. It is not selfish to put your own welfare first.
Your principal needs to shit or get off the pot. Yeesh. Cancelling every day? That’s some bullshit there.
Omfg. Car shopping. *puts fingers in ears* Lalalalalalala not listening!
I hope this week flows smooth and problem free, Berls! XOXO
Hahaha I know! Would you believe she cancelled AGAIN yesterday?! That’s 6 cancellations now. She told me she’s not as worried because she knows I’ll do great and I’m like, “um, so because I’m good I get tortured?” WTF?!
Thanks – I agree, I am better off without them, even if it does sound harsh. Every time something from that world comes back into my life the toxic quality starts to pollute my life and I FEEL it. Will be so thankful when this over.
I HATE car shopping, but it’s done, hopefully for several years now! Kiko seems to love his car – and we didn’t add a car payment, so I’m satisfied.
Hope you’re week is going well π
What a busy and stressful week. As for your grandfather, you need to do what is right for you. I am sorry for your loss.
Thanks Kimba π I can feel things calming down this week, thankfully!
Hopefully this week is better! Hang in there.
Thank you Grace! Have a great week π
Sounds like you had quite the busy and full week. That that does seem a bit stressful when you know your annual evaluation is coming and it gets cancelled every day. I hope you get it done next week. That sounds great your class did so well this week and I hope the new kid you’re getting is a nice one.
Congrats on doing that GRE test so well! That does sound awkward that whole situation with your grandfather and the other family members who are calling you now.
That’s nice Kiko got a new car and you even save some money monthly with the new car. I hope next week will be a good one!
Thanks Lola. My eval is supposed to happen tomorrow morning, so fingers crossed it happens this time! And things go well π
Have a great week!
Yay for passing the GRE!! That test is TOUGH! Hopefully the new student is a positive addition to your class. I haven’t been tracking my food this week well either. I am such a stress eater and I am STRESSED! I was hoping to lose some weight before Jamaica but at this rate, that isn’t going to happen!
My admins do that too-where they tell you they are coming in to observe, then never do. You spend the whole week on edge!! Its awful!
Hope you have a great week!
Yeah it is! I can’t believe I’ve now taken it three times… I took it twice back in 2010 before getting my Masters and now the new version because those scores had expired. I did better on the Verbal than I had done in the past, but worse on the Quantitative… but I swear that got harder! Feels so good to be done with it and hopefully I’ll never see it again!
I wish they just wouldn’t tell you that they are coming honestly. I don’t do anything different because they are coming… except stress out. So just come and see what you see. *sigh* She’s supposed to come tomorrow. We’ll see.
Have a great week and good luck with the stress! π
I am sorry about your grandfather. I can see why you said it is an awkward situation given the circumstances.I completely understand you deciding against going to any service for him. We have your back. π I hope you like your new car! I hate car shopping too. It’s long and exhausting and such a hassle.
It would have been nice if the principal had been able to say they couldn’t come to evaluate you all week instead of waiting each day to cancel. How stressful! Hopefully the principal won’t keep you waiting much longer.
I hope you have a great week.
Thanks π I appreciate that! It really helps to know there are people out there who get my side of this whole thing!
Yes, the daily planning to come just had me on edge. I really wish she just wouldn’t have told me she was coming at all – and then she can just pop in whenever. Hopefully I get it over with tomorrow – the next time she said she’s coming. Have a great week!!
That would drive me nuts ha ha if I was being evaluated and they kept pushing it back. Every day for a week? Yeesh. Congrats on your GRE- that’s awesome! Go Berls!!!
Sorry to hear about your grandfather, and all the awkwardness there. Hang in there.
And yay for the car too! You’ve been busy. π LOL about the heated seats…
LOL yeah the heated seats really threw me for a second.
I’m so thrilled about the GRE – I was anxious as hell, which combined with the observation/not-observation back and forth just had be so stressed out last week! So at least 1 element is removed. now if she could just come and get this over with!
Thanks so much Greg – at least it will all be done with soon enough. Have a great week π