Day Seventy - Sunset

obsessive SLP

The summer is setting behind me. It has been relaxing, exciting, serene and beautiful. I worked part time, took some great vacations, spent tons of time at the beach, caught up on reading, and finished house projects. I feel rejuvenated, and I am ready to tackle the next phase of my career. I start my Program Head position tomorrow. I have enjoyed this summer immensely, and I look forward to the new school year.

If you have been reading this blog, I thank you for your time. I hope you have enjoyed your summer as well, and I wish you a happy fall season!

A bientot!

Day Sixty-Nine - Savor

Spent the day enjoying the ocean...the waves were high and you could hear the surf even back at the cottage. Dearly Beloved and I had a date night to celebrate my birthday again. It was beautiful watching the blue full moon rise as we drove to Chatham. We had to wait a while at the Impudent Oyster even though we had reservations, but it was worth it! Shrimp cocktail, chilled salad, Coconut Thai Mussels, and an ice cream sundae with maple rum sauce for dessert! Heaven! The company was fabulous, too! What a lovely evening!

Day Sixty-Eight - Sweet!

Today is my birthday. I love my summer birthday...it is the last hurrah between summer and school. I got to spend it with my Dearly Beloved and my Dearest Mother in one of my favorite places, Cape Cod. I received many phone calls and Facebook greetings from my family and friends. I had a lovely dinner in a favorite restaurant. Life doesn't get too much better than this!

Day Sixty-Seven - Score!

dreamstime.com

The call came at noon. My principal and vice principal phoned me, using very formal language (the goofs), to officially offer me the job of Interim Special Education Program Head. I am amazed, scared, excited, terrified, and I said YES! I will work 3.5 days as the Program Head, and 1.5 days as the SLP. A contracted SLP will be hired for the year, so that I can "try it out" and see if the job is a good fit for me.

I am thrilled with this opportunity! Just need to figure out the nuts and bolts, and away I go!

Day Sixty-Six - Sleepyhead

Called Dearly Beloved this morning at 9:30 to see what time he would be arriving; he had planned to get up at 6:00 to fine-tune some grill work, and then arrive here in time to make breakfast! What an excellent man! Unfortunately, he was still sleeping when the phone rang, and wasn't sure where he was. Hmmm...guess he will be making breakfast tomorrow instead.

At that point, he figured he would wrap up projects at home, then come along. He arrived about 6 pm. I was really glad to see him; he is always the voice of reason, and I really needed to talk to him about the brother/s-i-l issues.

Brother seemed better today; he will take each day as it comes.

Day Sixty-Five - Stunned

sodahead.com

My sister-in-law left my brother and their children today. A statement of "I'm done", and she drove away.  My brother is beside himself, my nephew and niece are heartbroken and confused,  and my mother is in tears. My mother has hopes that they will reconcile. In my experience, when someone tells you "I'm done", they don't return.

I am at a loss. All I can do is be a support for my family.

Day Sixty-Four - Seriously?!

Dearest mother asked if I would get a sticker on her minivan. No problem! It expires at the end of the month. I grabbed the registration before we pulled out of the driveway AND...it had expired in May. Really? The car that I drove 150 miles on the highway in June? Nice. NO sticker for you today!

After that little surprise, I decided I would get organized to renew my license since it expires next Tuesday. I got the paperwork filled out, but have to go to the Registry to complete it on Monday. Dearest Mother passes me her license and asks when it has to be renewed....wait for it...it expired LAST NOVEMBER. So, I have a lovely senior citizen driving around in an unregistered car with an expired license. How fabulous is that?!

I told her I would start saving up for her bail money...

LOTS of Registry things to do on Monday!

Day Sixty-Three - Savoir Vivre

Winding down... Time to head to the Cape to take a final getaway at Dear Mother's beach house. To begin and end the Summer of 2012 at the beach house is such a gift - I am very grateful to be here, to chat with Mum, to wander along the ocean, and to have the breeze pour over me as I sit on the porch. Joyful!

Day Sixty-Two - Synoptic

www.warrenharris.net

I wrapped up my final make-up therapy session of the summer. My almost-high-school-freshman finished all his Hunger Games questions, but it was challenging for him.  I barraged him with strategies, tips, techniques, word derivations, associations, sentence stems, skimming for key words, and anything else I could think up to help him remember how to analyze text and understand it. I know he knows these things, it is just that he only seems to use them when I am sitting beside him. Well, I am not going to be from now on. I am worried for his success, but he is going to have to take the things that I have taught him and fly away from our little middle school nest.

He is a good kid...I will miss him and I wish him well!

Day Sixty-One - Squirrelly

Beautiful day...Very little traffic driving by the house. Nice breeze. Spent some time de-weeding the garden - an endless task, but very satisfying when you finish. My little family of white squirrels was bopping around, running along the top of the fence on their way to where ever it is that they go endlessly each day. This little fellow decided to take a rest on the powerline above the fence. He posed long enough for me to get some great shots of him.

Day Sixty - SIXTY?!?

Day Sixty - wow. I am treasuring every second of this time. Each breeze through the window, every leaf and tree branch that sways in the wind, moments to sip lemonade and read, working in the yard, random trips to the beach with Dearly Beloved - all of these things add to the fabric and joy of my days. I am truly grateful for this time.

Day Fifty-Nine - Smooth

Perfection of a day today - low humidity, nice breeze...let's head to the beach! Off to Maine we go! It was a relaxing drive up (mostly...we stopped to pick up a grill! The grill owner was a psycho, but that is a story for another time...).

We took an excellent walk along the beach at low tide with Dixie. Finished up with a Mexican dinner at Guac. Love days like this!

Day Fifty-Eight - Stellar!

Nice, low-humidity day...perfect for cleaning my sadly-in-need-of house! Since the dog got de-furred, it seemed like a good time to do the same in the abode. Vacuuming, deep-cleaning carpets, fixing the vacuum when it decided it had had quite enough of me and my type of fun! Do I know how to spend my Saturday or what!

I also made some delicious Lemon Coconut Bread, a variation on Nourished and Nutured's Lemon Coconut Muffins. Very delicious...I highly recommend it. Instead of using a muffin pan, I oiled a loaf pan, poured in the mixture, and cooked it for 35 minutes. Yummy!

Day Fifty-Seven - Sereneness

Still carless...no problem! Nothing like a day at home to calm the mind, and exercise the body. Did my leg/ankle routines, and even did a little badass boxing session via my iPad. Shadow boxing gets rid of some the AGGRESSION I feel towards the timing belt in my car. Done now....

Day Fifty-Six - Stinko

While driving home from a wake, minding my own business, my little car gave a little "POP"...and stopped running! Stranded. Nothing.

Thank the Universe for AAA! They promptly sent a flatbed truck which hauled my car the 11 miles to my mechanic. The verdict? A timing belt. Oh, you gasp in horror! NOT the timing belt! That will cost a FORTUNE! And you are right in your assessment of this.

The only thing that makes this even more infuriating...I replaced this timing belt LESS THAN 8000 MILES AGO! Something is stinko with this scenario. The mechanic and I will have a chat tomorrow...

Day Fifty-Five - Surprising!

Double Nickel Day! Have to expect something interesting on Day Fifty-Five, right? Weill, I got a phone call out of the blue from my principal. The job I interviewed for still has not been filled - no shock there since they changed the criteria for the position! Well, he had a proposition for me...which depends on the stars lining up, bigwigs agreeing with his proposal, and a blue moon appearing - but wait - there IS a blue moon at the end of this month!

Anyway, he is interested in hiring me for the job (3.5 days) while I continue in my current job 1.5 days. He would hire an SLP on an interim basis so that I could try the position for a year and see if it is a good fit for me. This sounds excellent, and exactly what I wanted!

We shall see what this Blue Moon brings me!

Day Fifty-Four - Spa

No, the spa is not for me. Miss Dixie Doodle Dog was in dire need of some TLC. Her nails were too long, she looked like she needed a good haircut, and she definitely needed a bath! She was not at ALL pleased to be staying at the groomer's...of course, she had never been there before! When we rescued her last Fall, she had lost most of her fur due to heartworm treatments (a cruel thing for a dog to have to go through!), so we would just put her in the tub and wash her ourselves.

Suddenly, in mid-winter, she grew this massive coat of fur which was fine with us! It was cold here! We kept her brushed, but as she started to shed, which she did copiously starting in May, it was hard to keep up with the knots and matting. We needed professional help! Dog groomer to the rescue! I liked this place; they let the dogs roam freely while others are being groomed. The dogs get to socialize, rather than being caged.

Miss Dixie looks like her lovely self again!

Day Fifty-Three - Sorting

Tick-tock...is that my summer clock ticking away! Where has the time gone? So many projects planned, so little motivation to do them. No painting done...no clothes final sorted...Summer, slow down!

I did spend some time going through my clothes, with Fall in mind. I am trying to cull my clothes so I have a cohesive color palate, with outfits that work with each other. I did get a nice donation pile pulled together. Now to get it out of my house, and to the donation store!

Day Fifty-Two - Sookie

http://truebloodfansource.com/tag/lorena/

Spent the evening catching up on four out of five backlogged True Blood episodes. Is it me or are these latest episodes uberbloody and depressing? Where is the fun? Vampire wars and a Sad Sookie are just bringing downer energy into my space, and I can't have that! Perk it up a bit, Vamps or I am going to stay in my happy place and not tune you in!

Day FIfty-One - Sizzle

Hot and Humid by Nancy Eckles

Still in the middle of a sticky, high-heat week. Not an official heat wave...it has to be 90+ for three days in a row for that - but icky enough at 88 degrees that I don't feel like doing anything. There are rooms to purge, clothes to organize and an office desk that is a disgrace. I am going to be kind to myself and make lists of future plans. Having a power session with my iPad and a fan sounds very good to me!

Day Fifty - Self-Care

www.amazon.com

I am reading Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfillipo, another tool I've discovered on my grain-free, gluten-free journey. The author provides excellent rationales for why eating wheat and grain products are bad for our health. Having followed this lifestyle for four months now, I can honestly say, I have never felt better. I feel so much healthier. I have no more physical ailments or joint pain! I can never imagine eating any other way!

Day Forty-Nine - Scrumptious

Decided to make an easy, low-key dinner on this hot, humid evening. Nothing like a salad to accomplish that!

This one has arugula, baby lettuce, mint, cucumbers, watermelon, avocado slices and grilled scallops, topped with extra virgin olive oil and lime juice.

It was excellent!

Day Forty-Eight - Stop

Final day of Summer School... Whoo-hoo! Progress reports are filed, materials are packed up - time to kick back and relax! (Briefly. Before I kick butt and get going on house projects!)

Day Forty-Seven - Shiny

Did something totally superficial today...I got my teeth whitened. I had discount coupon that I had to use, so off I went. It was an excellent experience! The gel they put on your teeth was not all that offensive. Nothing hurt. I actually fell asleep during the procedure! As part of the special, I got a gel pen to touch up my teeth every couple of nights. I don't look like my mouth is full of Chicklets, and I am delighted with the results.

Day Forty-SIx - Stalwart

Vacation's over - back to summer school for the final week! Getting to bed at 1:00 am after the late flight made getting up in the morning a challenge. The kids were all in good moods, and so was I!

Day Forty-FIve - Stinker

We had a lovely time on vacation. Even our flight home was pleasant overall. The only issue was... The Stinker at the flight gate!  We wanted to tuck ourselves into the back of the gate area, as the whole room was really crowded. We walked down a narrow outside row with our carry-ons and - the guy at the end of the row had his bag across the aisle with his feet propped up on it.   "I'M not MOVING!", He snarls at us. DB stepped over him. I came along with my rolling bag. "Excuse me," I said.


"I AM NOT MOVING I TOLD YOU!"

I passed my bags over his head to DB, then climbed over his suitcase and feet. The Stinker then started to berate us, loudly, shouting about how selfish we were...why didn't we go on the other side...who the hell do we think we are... blahblahblah.

DB got up to use the restroom prior to boarding. As he stepped over The Stinker's bag again, The Stinker shot his foot out AND TRIPPED HIM! DB recovered nicely and kept walking. I said to the jerk "That was unnecessary!" I said it three times. Each time, he denied that he did anything...what is wrong with you people....you are selfish bastards...

And then he picked up his junk and walked away.

Still yelling things at me.

Glad I am me and not him.

Day Forty-Four - Snorkle

Our last full day of vacation... Breakfast at the Marina, and a visit with the Chum Fish. They hang around the docks waiting for tourists to feed them frozen fish chunks that they have just purchased from a vending machine, or until fishermen chuck innards overboard. They are huge, and amusing to watch.

Day Forty-Three - Stormy

It was a beautiful morning here today...overcast and cloudy, just the way I like it!  But as the day wore on, the clouds turned dark, the winds whipped up, and skies opened. Nothing like a tropical storm at the beach to make the day interesting!

By five o'clock, the rain had stopped, the clouds had lifted, and we were back in the pool. I love Florida!

Day Forty-Two - Skeletor

This interesting ship sailed by early this morning. It has been dubbed it "Skeletor"...it looked like skeletal parts were rising up and floating on the water.

Day Forty-One - Sky

Parasailing is the most freeing experience in the world. You are above the noise, the bustle, the craziness. It is one of my most favorite things to do. It is a chance to step into a meditation. Weightless...ageless...endless!