The subject makes about as much sense as life has recently. I’ll start from about the last time I posted. I had my girls night out. We started out at Buca di Beppo in St. Paul. I was so glad that we made reservations. Our wait was about 5 minutes. Walk-ins were told 45 min to an hour. So anyway, we got our table. Our waiter was HOT!!!!! He is from Mexico, and one of the girls I was with is a Spanish teacher. Even more convenient, she is single (the only one out of the three of us). So they started chatting a bit in Spanish. It is revealed that his nickname is Sexy Mexy. It fit very nicely. 
We had fun with him the entire time we were there. We also finished off a 1.5L bottle of wine. It was good stuff. At the end of the meal, he told us that he would pay for our meal if it was allowed. However, it is against the rules. Oh well. We all had fun. We also slipped our friend’s number in with the bill when we paid. I doubt he actually called, but it was fun. After dinner we were going to go to the Kitty Cat Klub. Google maps failed us and we never found it. Instead, we decided to try out The Freight House. It was pretty lame. We won’t be going back. After being there for a little bit, we decided to call it a night.
Then I worked 3 days the week after (last week). The first day was at Trinity. I loved it. I enjoy subbing for that teacher, and she has a good group of kids. Tuesday was 5th grade at Viking Middle School (Baldwin-Woodville). That was a little bit more of a challenge, but nothing horrible.
Then came my worst day of subbing I have ever had. I was subbing for a music teacher. I had subbed for her before, so I didn’t think it would be too bad. Boy was I wrong. Since there weren’t any plans that I could really do, I decided that the 6th and 7th grade choirs would watch Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and answer some questions about it. I had been warned that the 6th graders were a challenge. I had them in 3rd grade when I did my student teaching. I thought I could handle them without too much difficulty. WRONG! I had 7th grade first, and they were fine. 6th grade came in. There were about 60 kids. They said they had already seen Joseph and didn’t want to watch it. I made them watch it anyways since (a) I didn’t have an alternate plan in place and (b) I am the teacher. I decide what we are doing. They were talking non-stop during the movie. I stopped the movie and had all of them fill out behavior reports. That didn’t phase them. They were still out of control. I tried to give out lunch detentions. No go. I ended up calling the office and the principal came down. The entire choir had lunch detention with him. They had to write one letter addressed to me, their regular teacher, and their parents telling what happened, why, and an apology. I doubt I will ever see those letters, but the fact they had to write it was comforting. They had to take the letters home, get them signed, and bring them back to the principal the next morning. I had two 5th grade classes after them, and they were fine. A part of the teacher’s job I was there for is to do lunchroom supervision. According to her binder, I was supposed to be done with that at 12:42. I didn’t get out of there until 12:50. Normally not a big deal. I had 20 minutes to pump and eat before I had to leave for the elementary school. Oh yes, I got to teach kindergarten music in the afternoon. As a result of the short lunch, I didn’t get to eat. I ate some crackers and chips on the drive. I thought that I would have had a few minutes to figure out what I was doing with the kindergarteners, but I didn’t get there soon enough. I had to get to the classrooms as soon as I walked in the door. They weren’t too bad, but I did end up kicking a kid into the hallway during the last class of the day.
When I went to go pick up Laura, I was telling Lita (daycare lady) about my day and how I hadn’t had lunch. She told me I could leave Laura there and go unwind at home if I wanted. I told her that I was just going to hang out with her for a bit and unwind there if that was ok with her. She made me a sandwich to eat with a banana and trail mix. She was so sweet. I was going to head back home at 5, but Laura had fallen asleep in my arms so I waited until 5:30 when she woke up.
Thursday I did not work. I was ordered by several people to not work. No calls came in, so I didn’t have to worry. I stayed in my PJs all day. I edited some video, but didn’t do anything else. It was a nice low-key day. Laura napped great and didn’t give me any trouble at all. I loved it.
Friday we headed to Appleton to visit some friends. Robert was off work at 11:30. My goal was to have lunch and then hit the road right away. Yeah, that didn’t work. I didn’t have everything packed when he got home. Then we had lunch. Laura went down for a nap while we were eating, so we waited for her to wake up. We finally got on the road around 2:30. The drive went pretty quick. We stopped two times for her. The weekend was fun. I got a haircut Saturday morning. I was in desperate need of one. After the haircut (friend’s mom gave it to me), we all went out for breakfast/lunch. Laura again cooperated nicely. She was fussing while ordering and waiting for the food. A few minutes before the food arrived, she crashed and slept in her car seat while we ate. She woke up at the end of the meal. Sunday was a nice lazy morning, then we left around 2. We made three stops on the way home. One of them was a very quick diaper change (done in the car on the side of the exit ramp).
Monday of this week Mom and Dad came up for a short visit. They brought lunch, so we ate while Laura slept. Again, she is cooperating nicely with meals. *knocks on wood* She was happy for a little bit, but then got tired and crabby. After a short nap, Mom realized that she was cold. So once we got her bundled up and cuddled, she was very happy. It is going to be a challenge to keep her warm this winter.
Yesterday was another quiet day. I worked on award certificates for the pumpkin decorating contest that is happening at church Saturday. Once I had the signs made to advertise it, I went to church to hang them up. Pastor John and Amy were very happy to see us and visit for a little bit. It was getting to be Laura’s naptime again so we left. I had to make a quick stop at DQ to get gift cards (the awards for the contest). She was not happy. She wanted to be in her bed sleeping. The guy behind me in line tried to tell me that she was hungry. Nevermind that he didn’t know her at all. Even after I said that she is tired and needs a nap, he insisted that she was hungry. I just ignored him. Funny thing happened on the way home… she fell asleep. She also took a nap when we got home. She didn’t eat for at least another hour. Gee, I wonder what she wanted. I know my baby. I know when she is hungry and when she is tired. Granted, there are times that she throws a curveball at me, but in general I know her. If you are a stranger, don’t tell me what she needs!
Today I am home again. No calls this morning. That is ok with me. I didn’t really want to work, but I would have if they would have called. I have some errands I need to run. I would also like to work on Laura’s scrapbook some more. I also need to be better about taking pictures. I’ve slacked off this last month. Not much else on the agenda for today. I might try to get the kitchen cleaned up a bit, or some other areas of the house.
Looking ahead: I am working the last two days this week. It is for the same teacher (elementary music), so it should be fun. Saturday is the fall festival at church. I am planning on being there around 3 to get things set up. It is scheduled to go until 8. Sunday we don’t have much planned. Robert mentioned something about James stopping by to pick up his loft, but we’ll see. Monday I have a doctor appointment. I get to have t
he spot cut off my finger since cauterizing it didn’t work. Joy. Laura is going to daycare while I’m there. I didn’t want to worry about a cranky baby while getting that done. I am debating leaving her there for the full day. Although I hate to pay for a full day of daycare when I’m not bringing in any money for the day. We’ll have to see how it goes. I am really hoping that I don’t have to work on Halloween. As of now, nothing is scheduled, but things can change quickly.
Laura’s sleeping habits are getting so much better. Her naps are becoming a little more consistent. She may not have exact times yet, but she does have a set amount of time for being up before going back down. If I put her down within that small window of opportunity, there is no problem. At night she is getting better too. Sunday night/Monday morning she fussed at 4, 5, and 6. I just put her pacifier back in and she went back to sleep. Monday night/Tuesday morning she was up for 20 minutes at 12:30 to eat, and then got up at 6:30. Last night she woke up at 3 because she was cold. Once I added more blankets and got her head covered a little, she was back asleep until 6. I am really hoping that within the next few weeks she will be sleeping through the night without needing the pacifier put back in or anything. She has found her hands to suck on, so maybe she can suck on those instead of the pacifier in the middle of the night. We’ll see.
I had a thought on the way home from Appleton. I think this is the first time in a very long time that I have been truly happy where I am at. It seems like I have always been wanting to get to the next step. When I was dating Robert, I wanted the ring. I got the ring, I wanted the wedding. I got the wedding, I wanted a house. We got the house, I wanted a baby. I graduated from college, I wanted a full-time job. Right now I’m happy to be subbing. I like the flexibility and the lack of extra planning and work. I am happy with the house (I would like to paint and finish the basement, but it’s not urgent), I am happily married, I have great friends, I have a great baby, and I enjoy what I do. Life is in a good spot right now. I know that we want more kids, but I am happy to just enjoy Laura as a baby. This is the only time she will be the youngest and only child. Let her have her time.
So that is my novel. You can see why I haven’t updated in a while. Life just got crazy. Silly me thought having a baby would mean things slowing down a bit and not going out as much. Yeah right.
Today is a special day for me. 7 years ago I was told I was cancer free. I am hoping to do something to celebrate, but not sure how/what yet.
October 24th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Yeah!!
Congrats on the 7 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like the rest of your week is going to be busy so I guess its good you get to be home today!
October 24th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Great update! Glad you’re doing so well. I miss you!