Neti Pot

If you're eating or have a weak stomach, you may want to turn away. No, I'm not going to go into the worst of the grossness, but believe me I could get graphic here.

I have been fighting off a sinus infection by taking my allergy medicine every day, but even with the meds I've had quite a bit of congestion, hacking and coughing especially in the mornings. One of my friends at work suggested I get a neti pot. She said she has been using one for a couple of years and has only had one sinus infection during that time. She said she used to get them all the time.

The neti pot kind of looks like Aladdin's lamp to me. You can click here to see one. I've seen the strange contraption before on tv and heard about it from friends, but I was always scared to get one. It just didn't seem natural to me.

Basically, you fill the thing with lukewarm water and a salt solution. Then, with your head over the sink you stick the spout in one side of your nose and turn it up to pour it in. In a second or two, the salt water solution comes out the other side of your nose. Afterward, you blow your nose. Sounds gross, I know, but it's supposed to clean our your sinuses and help get rid of infection.

I finally broke down last night and bought a neti pot for me and one for K since we both have been so miserable that it seemed like the right time to take a chance...to be brave. Wow, after using it just once last night it seems to have helped tremendously. I woke up at 4am and was so excited not to have a huge amount of congestion (in fact almost none) and I could breathe through my nose! Only problem was that the excitement kept me from getting back to sleep...lol. Not a problem, since I had slept SO much better during the time I did sleep.

Sometimes it really pays to be brave.

My 100th Post and My First Meme

I've finally reached the milestone of my 100th post. Since I got tagged by Jenn at Casa de Castro to do a "Six Random Things" meme and since I could not come up with 100 things about me like the amazing HisGirl (I couldn't even come up with 50..), hopefully you'll all be satisfied with this. Otherwise, feel free to ask random questions and I'll answer pretty much anything else you want to know. So here goes...

1. I love to type, which is a good thing when you love to blog. :) I'm a pretty good typist, partially because I have a habit of tapping with my fingers on the sides of my legs (typing) things I say out loud or things others say to me. It can be a little embarassing when people notice me doing it. Weird is a good thing, right?

2. I have a fear of lakes or any body of water that has fish or other water creatures. Not being able to see to the bottom of the lake makes my imagination run wild wondering what's down there and if it might graze me swimming by. I also can't stand the thought of the dirt and germs or other icky stuff that could be in a lake. My mom says that even when I was a small child, I didn't like lakes and would cry if we would drive over a long bridge over a lake.

3. I have traveled very little in my life, but my favorite place I have visited is Alaska. My family spent the summer there the year I was 12. I would absolutely love to visit there again. It's also interesting that it was the only time I've ever seen the ocean and it was the Arctic. I still have never been to the Texas coast even though it's only 5 or so hours away from me.

4. I love Tex-mex food. I could eat it every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner and sometimes do. And it must be spicy hot! I buy salsa in the institutional size container.

5. I have a loud voice. An old lady at a party once rather rudely told me that my voice was going to be the only thing heard on the video tape of the party. Having a loud voice isn't always bad though. If you need someone to yell across a crowd to get another person's attention, I'm your girl!

6. I went by the name Susan instead of Suzanne from the time I was 12 till I was about 30 because a boy made fun of my name in jr. high school. He would yell "Shazam!" down the hallway. Anyone remember the tv show Shazam? I also thought Susan sounded more "normal". I love my name now and I'm glad it's not that common.

Well those are my Six Random Things.

Ooooh, now it's my turn to tag someone to tell their Six Random Things. Hmmm, let's see. I pick:

Susan at Lila's Journey

Jess at Mourning Into Dancing

Tracy at Our Journey

Joan at More God = Less Me

Oy vey! What a day!

Wow! I am just about wiped out today. Last night was the homecoming football game. We had fun even though our team lost, but I was a little disappointed that I didn't see anyone from the class of '83. Typically at the homecoming games every year I will see a few people that I knew from high school and this being our 25th year I thought I might see a few more. Does no one follow tradition any more? Oh well...if I didn't have kids there, I'm not sure I'd have been there either.

I was up till 2am because we didn't get home from the football game till 12:00 and I have to have time to wind down. After about 6 hours of sleep (I need at least 2 hours more), I got up and took T to drama rehearsal. Then I stopped and picked up donuts to take to the fundraiser garage sale that K was doing. I helped with the garage sale for several hours till time to pick up T from drama rehearsal.

I went to pick up T at 1pm, but they weren't finished rehearsing yet. So I rushed to Kroger to see if their floral department had any mums left over for homecoming...the dance is tonight. Nothing like waiting till the last minute! Thankfully, they had two left and one looked really nice. Sixty dollars poorer, I walked out with something kind of like this, only with our school colors (didn't think of taking a picture of the one I did get).

Then I went back to the school to pick up T, who by now was finished rehearsing. Next task was to go shopping for something for him to wear to the dance. Again, nothing like waiting till the last minute. About 10 stores later and 80 dollars poorer (not bad really for suit pants and jacket, plus tie that had to match the girlfriend's dress), we finally had his outfit. Not bad really, compared to the cost involved for getting a girl ready for the homecoming dance. Oh, by the way...K has no interest whatsoever in school dances which is why I wasn't dealing with getting two kids ready.

Whewww...I'm starting to realize why I am so exhausted.

Next up on the agenda, T and I had to go help pack up the leftovers from the garage sale with K. Woohoo! K made $111 toward her trip to Philmont next summer with Venturing Crew. Good thing, since it's going to cost over $800 total. More garage sales are planned and probably other fundraising events too.

Later back at the house, I got a chance to sit down and rest for just a few minutes while T took a shower, before ironing his shirt and tying his tie for him. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten how to tie a tie (used to do it all the time till D learned how to tie his own) and since D is gone on a camping trip with the scout troop, I had to figure it out. It took a while even with the picture we found on the internet, but we finally did git 'er done.

Once T made sure he looked perfect to go, we went to pick up his girlfriend and a couple more of their friends. I got lots of pictures of the lovely couple and of the group before driving them to the dance. By the way, we did pick out just the right tie because I heard T and his girlfriend say it looked like they had shopped together because the color match was so good. Score!!

I dropped off four giggly kids at the dance and then stopped on the way home to pick up dinner for me and K and now we're watching a catch-up soap opera marathon from the ones we have recorded. Can I just say, I love my recliner... Now if only I could fall asleep while watching, but I can't. T won't be home for about an hour and a half and I'm one of those moms who has to stay awake till the kids are all home.

When I finally get to go to bed, I will sleep well tonight!

Starting to Feel Like Fall..and a Few Other Things

Daniel 2:21 (New International Version)
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

Ahhh, this morning when I went to get into my car it was so cool I thought I might have to wear a sweater soon. Lovely weather we're having here! Sometimes I wish it was like this every day, but then I guess we wouldn't appreciate the great weather if we didn't have the bad weather to compare it to.

Next subject, my hubby and I are really not enjoying some things about the high school experience for our kiddos right now because of one particular teacher. It's so irritating when a person seems to love the "power" of being in a certain position while doing as little as possible of the responsibilities that go with being in that position. Plus, there have been a few occurrences. that are just unacceptable. Unfortunately, what used to be a very good program has deteriorated because of this individual. Several parents are contacting the principal, so we'll see what happens...

And onto my final topic of this post, I am SO glad that I don't work as a substitute teacher every day. Every so often, I will be called from my regular job to cover for a teacher that is absent and today was one of those days. The class where I was a sub today was just awful. Usually I think I'm pretty good at managing the kids, but today I just couldn't seem to keep them under control.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day...and it's supposed to be another beautiful, cool day too.

Dear Lord, please give me the wisdom to handle the situations I encounter in a way that brings You glory.

We Were Spared By Ike...Pray For Those Who Weren't

Thankfully, here in Dallas we just got some much needed rain from hurricane Ike. Since we thought we were going to get much more, we canceled the fundraiser garage sale that we were going to have. That gave us a weekend with very little else to do, so we managed to get the house back in order. Hallelujah! While I wouldn't want someone to look closely and see the dust that is still there, at least I would no longer be completely embarassed for someone to come into my home.

I also had time to catch up on blogging. I think I had about 40 posts to catch up on from my favorite blog-sisters. It was great reading what everyone else has been up to. I also finally had time to post the recipe that I accidentally published and then took down because I was missing part of the recipe (3 weeks ago!). So now it really is there if you click on my recipe blog.

Unfortunately, Ike wasn't so kind to other areas. I called my dad in East Texas last night and he said they had a pretty good storm and their power had been out for hours, but there wasn't a whole lot of damage that they could see so far. Then I saw on the news all the damage in Houston and they said they might not have power back for weeks! I feel so bad for all they're going through...

Praying for those who have lost so much this weekend that God will give them comfort and restoration.

Friday Night Lights

I grew up in the land of "Friday Night Lights", but I didn't really have much school spirit. I guess maybe I just had too many things on my plate to care much about other things that high school kids are supposed to be doing. I don't have those memories of camaraderie that come with being part of the band or the football team or the cheerleaders. I was in choir, but even that was done halfheartedly. So many times I have wished I had those memories, memories of being part of something.

It's interesting how God chooses to heal our hurts, how he gives us something that will fix even the unfixable. For me, being the co-crew chief for the band crew is helping to fix that part of me that didn't get to experience school spirit. Even greater for me is that my kids go to the same school where I went, my alma mater.

I'm part of the team now. Along with other parents, I work hard on Friday nights to make sure our band kids have what they need. I help to fill up hundreds of water cups and pass them out, passing out sodas at half time (shouting "only take one, only take one!"...lol), and passing out plumes for their hats. It may not sound like much, but it really takes a lot of effort and cooperation. It also satisfies the need to be part of something, something I never really experienced in high school.

Standing there holding up my index finger (we're #1!), as I sing my school song I do have school spirit. I have something I longed for when I was younger.

Whatever it is...whatever your "unfixable" thing, it doesn't matter that you can't go back and do it over again. God can fix it. He finds a way. Believe He can. And He will.

9-11-2001 Never Forget

I didn't want to forget that day. So I journaled how I felt. Reading it today, I can see that I was unable to convey my emotion through my words on a page. I was so much more upset than these words seem to tell. I am glad I journaled it though. Here is what I wrote that day:

September 11, 2001

Dean and I walked the kids to school this morning. I chased Tyler while he laughed, trying to catch up with him. I thought to myself, at the time, that I knew I would cherish that memory forever. What I didn’t know is that this would be such a defining day in my life for another reason. We dropped the kids off at school, kissed them goodbye and went for a walk. It’s such a brilliant beautiful day today. Dean and I both talked about how wonderful a day it was…how cool it was…so much cooler than it usually is this time of year. We really enjoyed our walk.

When we got home, Dean went and turned on the shower to get ready for work. I went into the bedroom and turned on the TV. That’s when I saw it…The World Trade Center…both towers in flames. Peter Jennings was just telling the world about how two planes had crashed into the buildings, an apparent terrorist attack. I called to Dean to come listen. The shower still running, we both stood and stared at the television in horror. Then the report that the Pentagon had also been attacked. The magnitude of all of this is beyond belief. I keep hoping that I’ll wake up and this will all have been a terrible nightmare.

How do I explain this to my children? I think of the times that I’ve prayed for the parents in war torn countries and hope there are parents in other countries praying for us now. I pray that God will give me the words to tell my children. I pray that my children will not be made to live in fear.

I walked outside in the front yard and looked up at the sky. It’s so quiet. There are no planes in the sky. I talked to my mom on the phone. She works near Love Field Airport. She says that it’s strangely quiet there.

My imagination runs wild with thoughts of how our lives might change in the months to come.

I pray that God will touch the hearts of those involved in this attack on our country. I pray that they will come to realize what they have done.

God Bless America…those words never meant more to me than they do today.

Smile!

I've mentioned before that I love working with kids who have Asperger's Syndrome (I'll abbreviate to A.S. for the rest of the post) and I've mentioned that it's because we're 99.9% sure that my 16 yr. old daughter has Asperger's Syndrome. Those kids remind me of my daughter whom I love dearly and I find it to be very amusing when they say something that sounds just like something she would say. The things I hear from my daughter and from the A.S. kids I work with sound a little different because they think differently from others.

A.S. people don't read the emotion on a person's face in the same way as most people do either. My daughter K has pretty much always had a problem with the fact that I smile "too much". She doesn't understand why someone would smile most of the time. Then there's the girl I work with who calls me the Joy Fairy (and she means that I'm annoying to her that way). And then there's the boy I worked with a lot last year...

The boy I worked with last year is the one who led me to believe that my daughter has A.S. because the meltdowns he would have at school looked very similar to the ones that my daughter has at home. I got along with him better than most people at the school (probably because I've had years of experience dealing with someone like him). I know he likes me because he will make a point of coming to see me this year to let me know how he's doing.

The same boy walked up to me the other day and smiled. I asked him how he's doing this year and he's doing much better. It seems that he's doing well in all his classes. This made me smile and of course it was a big smile because I'm so proud of him. That's when he said something that didn't shock me at all considering I tend to understand the way A.S. kids think...

"That smile of yours....it's kinda creepy", he said. He pointed to his lips and told me how I show all my teeth when I smile. "Just creepy", he said. It was just a matter of fact to him. He didn't mean it in a rude way at all, I'm sure of that. All I could do was laugh.

...Sigh...

I'm frustrated about some things right now, including my current work schedule and the raising of teenagers. And I don't like to sound like a whiner, but...

Initially, it seemed as though my schedule at work was going to be extremely busy. Then I found out that for multiple reasons it's actually slightly boring. The majority of the kids they have me paired up with need very little help. I love the teachers I'm working with, so some of the time I could just sit and chat, but I just feel like I could be doing so much more.

The kids in the original class where I was need help all the time, some of them with every math question they have and I like being busy with them. At least I can see the kiddos who really need me and help them some, since I keep my things in their room and stop off there often.


Then there's the raising of teenagers. I get so frustrated with them at times. Between K's meltdowns and T's lackadaisical attitude , I'm just about tired of raising kids at the moment. Well I'm exaggerating, but I do wish someone else would step in and deal out the discipline, handle the arguments and make sure homework actually gets done. Then I can just be the cool mom I want to be and my children will adore me. I can dream, can't I?!?

Wordle

I liked Jenn's so much, I had to make one of my own. That's it on the right. Click it to big it.

Open House

Well I made it through the first day of my new schedule and tonight was Open House. I didn't have to be there since I'm an aide, but I decided to go to get credit for extra curricular activities for a grant that I may be able to get. I didn't get home till 9:00pm, but it was so totally worth it to get hugs and smiles from kids I knew from last year that came back to visit.

Feet.hurt.bad. Back.hurts. Head.aches.

Still, LOVE.MY.JOB.

Don't Get Too Comfortable...

Just when you do get comfortable, things change again. That's the way it is with life in general, and that's the way it is with my job too. I thought I had a "permanent" schedule for work, although I know from my experience last year that things can change from moment to moment. The principal has decided to shake things up considerably. So instead of being in one classroom for most of the day, tomorrow I'll be back to doing what I did last year.

I'll be traveling from classroom to classroom to classroom and so on. There are 8 class periods in a day and I'm responsible for helping kiddos in 3 classes 1st period, 2 classes each of periods 2-7, and 5 classes in 8th period. Needless to say, I'll be walking A LOT... I guess that's good since I could use the exercise. It just seems a little harder to build good relationships with kids when you have SO many of them. And because of the huge number of classes on my schedule I may not see some of the kids for over a week at a time.

I just realized that the last paragraph sounds like a math word problem (shudder). Well actually, that's because it kind of is one. I still haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to work it out either. It's pretty much insanity...but I found this one the web, so I'm good:


HOW TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY LEVEL OF INSANITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Wear them one day after your boss does. This is especially effective if your boss is of a different gender than you.

Make up nicknames for all your coworkers and refer to them only by these names. "That's a good point, Sparky." "No, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Cha-cha."

Send e-mail to the rest of the company telling them exactly what you're doing. For example: "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom."

Hi-Lite your shoes. Tell people you haven't lost them as much since you did this.

While sitting at your desk, soak your fingers in Palmolive liquid. Call everyone Madge.

Hang mosquito netting around your cubicle. When you emerge to get coffee or a printout or whatever, slap yourself randomly the whole way.

Put a chair facing a printer. Sit there all day and tell people you're waiting for your document.

Every time someone asks you to do something, anything, ask him or her if they want fries with that.

Send e-mail back and forth to yourself engaging yourself in an intellectual debate. Forward the mail to a co-worker and ask her to settle the disagreement.

Encourage your colleagues to join you in a little synchronized chair-dancing.

Put your trash can on your desk. Label it "IN."

Feign an unnatural and hysterical fear of staplers.

Send e-mail messages saying there's free pizza or donuts or cake in the lunchroom. When people drift back to work complaining that they found none, lean back, pat your stomach and say, "Oh you've got to be faster than that."

Put decaf in the coffee maker for three weeks. Once everyone has withdrawn from caffeine addiction, switch to espresso.

Help! Weekend..why are you leaving me so quickly?!?

I am so thankful to have a three day weekend. It is just going by so quickly! I still have SO much to get done before this day is over. Energy. need. more. energy. That's part of the problem. Both D and I are looking the what we wish we could get done this weekend and feeling tired a bit overwhelmed. There is just too much to do.

I did get the grocery shopping done on Saturday. That was a priority since we were out of pretty much everything and I was getting really tired of fast food (not to mention that it's terribly unhealthy). T mowed the lawn and D vacuumed the pool. K and I finished painting her room (or got it as finished as it's going to be). D fixed the faucets that were leaking terribly (although he couldn't get the right part and had to make multiple trips to Home Depot and now one of the faucets has to be turned the on way for off and the off way for on..if that makes any sense). The house has been straightened up a little...and whew! Maybe we've done more than I thought.

It's just that there is so much more to get done. The dishes keep getting dirty and the laundry is still piled up and the dogs have torn up something and...and...I could go on, but feel the need to stop. I need to stop because I am just stressing myself out even more.

So I will make a priority list and a chore chart. I will threaten the loss of cell phones to let my children know how important it is that they do their chores (because that's the only thing that will work sometimes). I will start a load of laundry and a load of dishes. And I will get done what I can get done before this weekend comes to a close. Then I will try not to worry about how much more there is left to do...

Now I need your help. The whole time I've been typing this post, I've been wondering what scripture would be most applicable to my situation. I can't think of one. What do you think? What scripture would you offer to me now? I know that you will have great ones to offer and I love you and thank you in advance my dear friends!