The audible prayer for help.

I was completely at a loss in one of my classes today.

Nothing seemed to be going at all ok.

This class is a group of children who basically need the ratio of one adult per child. Truly. Yet for some reason, I receive all 14 of them at the same time. At least - AT LEAST 5 of them are either autistic or severely delayed. Two of them speak a native language other than English at home. About 3 of them are known to be physically agressive on a regular (every day) basis.

Their teacher, bless her heart, walks them out to my barrack with the most war-torn look on her face, and then ejects like a human cannon in the opposite direction for her only moments of solace from this ridiculous nightmare of a class.

(It might be fruitful to mention that this is the second teacher this class has had this school year. Their first teacher had to resign due to the unrealistic needs of her class and her apparent inability to accomodate those needs. Her recommendation at the time of her resignation was that the school acquire "several special ed. certified teachers to assist the new teacher." It is the second teacher's first week with these students. I truly fear a repeat...)

I am a loving teacher. I have never felt this way about a class in its entirety, but this one trumps all special needs classes I have ever dealt with. Ever.

I get them completely by myself, in a building separate from the rest of the school, with a telephone that has no dial-out option, only incoming calls. I don't have a cell phone. So this is definitely a situation that is up a creek without a paddle on days that go terribly awry.

Today was an awry day. There are no words in the English language to describe the mayhem that took place in my music classroom today.
Let's just say, "What happens in Vegas..."


At one point, I actually cried out, "Help me Jesus!"

It was at the name of Jesus that the whole world stood still. Every child in my spinning-out-of-control class stopped and looked at me.

It wasn't long-lived, but I saw the power of His name and it was enough to keep me going.

So tomorrow, Help me Jesus!

And the day after that.

And so on.

Lesser-day.

It doesn't matter when it happened. It could have happened 5 minutes ago or two months ago - Avery's description is always the same - "lesserday."

Today Avery informed my dad of something that happened 'lesserday.'

If you touch Bonnie (our new dog) even a little bit, "you have to wash your hands because of that worm that crawled out of her poe-poe lesserday."

I promise our dog no longer has worms crawling out of her hiney - but according to Avery, as of lesserday, she did.

d-a-t-e

I am trying my luck at seph's 4-letter word post because I am itching to go on one.

What would I not give for a night out surrounded by adults?

Especially an extra dreamy adult.

I wish my hunny would come home from his 'man expedition.'

Unfortunate speech impediment.

****** Caution: This blog contains some language that could be construed as profanity******

I keep a prize box in my Music room. Every Friday, if you have been top-notch in my class - you will receive a prize.
Really. You should come try it out.
Hey - it works for 4-years olds....

Anyway, there is this boy who has a really cute speech disability - as a lot of pre-schoolers do.
He was so excited last Friday that I had Smarties and little packages of Skittles in my prize box!

He said, "Oh my! Faahrties! You have Faahrties! And Shittles? I love Faahrties and Shittles!!!"

I really had to act mature at that moment.

I saw his mom (who has a good sense of humor) at pick up time and told her that her son really made me smile that day. She wanted to know why. I told her that I had Smarties and Skittles in my prize box.

She immediately knew the rest.

Is it wrong?

Let's get one thing straight - I already know that I'm wrong or else I wouldn't have asked.
:)

I find myself annoyed that there really isn't anything on TV other than the VP debate.
I sat down with the intention to watch the debate but found myself lacking the necessary attention span to watch it. My vote is already in the bag and I really don't feel like connecting deep thoughts tonight.
So I am looking for something that will soothe my very numb mind and all I can find is Hannah Montana.

So not soothing.

I guess I should try counted cross-stitch or something...

It's a good thing.

Lots of good things are going on.

My grandmother had a surgery to repair the broken hip she sustained over the weekend, it went well. They said she would be feeling much better soon.
see? A good thing.

Bonnie looks like she is a real trooper and will beat the Parvo odds. Another good thing.

The tummy bug that has plagued our home is over. Officially. Another very good thing.

Tonight I will get one full night's rest - no sick babies or sick dogs to nurse back to health. A good thing.

Chris will begin a vacation tomorrow. He is going camping without us, but a happy man makes for a happy home. He has looked forward to this camping trip since last October when his dad called to invite him. It has taken a year to get everyone's work schedule and lives to cooperate - he is like a little boy about this trip and I am excited for him! A good, good thing.

I walked outside to a crisp, chilly morning. It is fall. A terrifically good thing.

It might be an entire 6 months or so before we even really need our A/C again. That gives us several months to save money. Yet another good thing.

So many good things, so little time to share them all.
Isn't it a good thing, to have so many things to be thankful for?

Who knew Debbie Downer was in your blog community?

Ok so last week started out with doggie tapeworms.
Then a zoinked A/C inside and out at our house.
After that, an interview which threw us into the possibility of a move.

This week started off rocky too.
A tummy bug which kept us home Monday.
I filled out a job application for Chris that I was really excited about while I was home yesterday.
I checked out the listing today and it had been removed from the website so I called about it. The person who had previously given notice for this job had decided not to leave after all. So after spending almost 4 hours yesterday doing the online application, nada.

Tuesday, today - if you're counting - we got sent home from school early due to the tummy bug that keeps on truckin'.
I had to take our new adorable puppy back to the vet for removal of her sutures and to get her parvo vaccine.
She has been feeling pretty bad and I have called the vet several times to ask about it, but considering the fact that we have been dealing with a tummy bug for several days with Jaron, it had been back-burnered.
Anywho, I took her in today. They ran a test. She has parvo. I had no idea it could have been a deadly virus or I definitely would have taken her in sooner. The vet and I figured that she was still under the weather from all she's been through the last week or so.

They gave me the option of admitting her to the doggie hospital, spending at least $500, and then she has a 70% chance of survival. If I didn't go the expensive route, her chances are 50/50.

How do you tell your kids who were just given their very first puppy that a week and a half later, their dog is most likely gonna die?

I really like Bonnie. She's a good dog. Already she has proven that she's smart and sweet, and since we've had her, she's never even felt well - between her hysterectomy, tapeworm, and parvo. And all in about 10 days. Don't even get me started on the vet bills. OY!

We decided to bring her home and give her the best care we could. That means I am waking up every two hours to medicate her. I am hoping that our love and my consistent effort will actually put her at better advantage than sitting in a doggie hospital with an IV. We'll see.

For now, please let me urge you not to adopt any puppies from the animal shelter if you were thinking about it. Puppies are more susceptible to the ugly stuff that gets passed around in there and is the reason for all of Bonnie's anguish. Try to get an adult dog because they stand a better chance of survival if they contract one of these awful sicknesses.

It is no fun to tell your kids that when they wake up tomorrow morning their brand new dog might be in doggie heaven.

If anyone has any parvo expertise, bless your heart, please elaborate - I am at a complete loss.

Stuff.

The interview went well. It was in Big Spring.
It went so well, in fact, that Chris decided to have an opinion about whether he wants to move or not. I have been trying to drag it out of him for a while now to no avail. I guess it took a good interview to get him to talk.

He said that unless he finds an unbelievable job there, he'd rather not move.
WOO-HOOooooo! Lord knows I didn't want to go there...
Anyway, it's not completely ruled out because the way the whole thing kinda fell into our laps makes us feel like we should wait it out and see - but for now, neither of us really want to go there. There would have to be some pretty major changes in both of our hearts for it to happen.

We haven't gotten a new A/C yet.

The kids are well enough to go back to school tomorrow.

Cowboys lost. So bummed about that.

I was going to check my email today. I was kinda in the midst of a prayer-ful time because of some things I have been seeking God about. I have really been praying and praying and feverishly seeking. If you know me - it's borderline obsessive. 'Borderline' would be a generous descriptor. Anyway, to my inbox I went, hoping for some poignant job offer or other unsolicited answer to life's questions...
To make a long story short, when I went to my favorites list to pull up my email, I must have hit the wrong thing and this is what I pulled up...




It is as if God is trying to tell me something. Hmmmm.........

Sick day number two, week 4 of school.

I had to call in sick today because yesterday afternoon Jaron got real sick. He had a pretty high fever that was consistent in spite of ibuprofen and he kept complaining of a tummy ache.
Avery had a tummy bug last weekend, so I didn' t think that could be the problem.

In the night, Jaron confirmed that he did have a bug. Several times he confirmed that.
And today we are all at home with nothing to do but hang out in our jammies, clean up messes, and cuddle. It's not all bad, kinda nice really - except that my kids are sick, that part's not so good.

I wanted to blog about it, not just because I like to blog about mundane things, but also because several of my readers go to church with us and unfortunately, your kids were more than likely exposed to this bug too. I am sorry if your child gets sick.

I am just now remembering that I blew up a very slobbery balloon after Jaron when he couldn't blow it up for himself... (Not that I expect him to blow up his own balloons - he just wanted to try and be a big boy.) I hope I don't get sick too.

I have so much to blog about. Maybe today is the day for updation. We shall see.

The Belly of a Big Fat Whale

I have an interview on Friday morning.
An out of town interview.

I realized when I began to think about all the hassle of making sure I have appropriate childcare, constructing lesson plans, etc. - I may not be as 'jive' about the whole thing as I thought.

Then the realization hit me. If I get this job, we will have to find Chris a job in a little less than two weeks, switch the kids out of their school, their home, their town, their lives...

I won't be able to go to the Women's retreat - which ranks very high on my personal list. Stupid, I know - but legitimate to me.

I won't be a stone's throw away from my parents anymore.


I hate that town - the town where the job is. I said to my husband (and I quote) "I have a job interview for the PERFECT job. It is perfect in every way - EXCEPT that it would require me to reside in the belly of a big, fat whale."

So what happens when "perfect" turns out not to be so perfect after all?

This is where you start singing the theme song to FRIENDS, begin swaying, and bringing over plates of cookies.

I bet 6 of you comment and say something like: "sounds to me like you already have your answer..."

Being inside my head is no cakewalk lately, I tell ya!