Feelin' Old

Want to know what makes you feel old?

Having a former 7th grade student of yours walk on to campus as a student teacher.*

Yep. That will do it.

What to know what makes you feel older?

When you tell him that he's officially an adult now and he can call you by your first name and he replies, "OK, Mrs. X."

Sigh.

Once upon a time, I was this boy.

I was the new teacher walking on to campus while my former teachers taught in the rooms next to me.

I was the one told to call my former teachers by their first names while inside I cringed at the thought.

I'm not sure how to handle this new turn of events...


*This isn't even a student from my first year of teaching. Cough, cough, sputter...Ouch.

Leftovers

So I have successfully made it through the first week back to school. Classes are still huge, but at least they are slightly smaller than last year, so that's something. (Only one class at 39 students this year instead of last year's two classes.) I do have the most notorious student in school, but he seems to like the class at this point and has been calm and participating.

All in all, things are going well there. Whew.

~~~

I did end up taking the boys to my mom's house. Is.aac got in touch with the pediatrician (while she was still on vacation even). Thankfully she confirmed what we heard from one of the public health officials. My mom is most likely not positive, and even if she was, she would not be contagious. My brother was still ifffy because of the description of his symptoms, so he will have no contact with the boys or my mom until we hear the results from his further testing.

This whole situation certainly highlights that we need to have back up plans for childcare.

I get ten days off a year. Period. I could theoretically take family leave, but the issue of the loss of income comes into play as my check pays the mortgage. And well...yeah.

There needs to be a backup plan.

~~~

The transition from summer with mommy to school year with grandma is not without its bumps.

Sh.awn has decided that he will not pee at my mom's house at all. We've recreated his bathroom setup as close as possible, but he just won't go on the potty. I'm trying really hard not to worry about all of our summer progress in this area being lost. We had the same issue with Ja.son going at grandma's house after I had trained him.

The earlier mornings have made for some grumpy boys for my mom, too. We've moved their bedtime up some, so we'll see if that takes care of it.

~~~

Jack is going through his first hunger strike. He wants food, but he only wants certain foods. And those preferences change every.single.day. It's maddening.

I also think that Jack is teething his 2 year molars. Not fun.

Oh, and I hate teeth.

~~~

We went to the park today. It was so much fun! Look at my guys...

He is getting so good at climbing up slides!

Loving the swing.

Sh.awn standing with his daddy.

Smelling a dandelion.

Mommy and Jack walking to the park.

Making a wish on a dandelion.

~~~

Stop by Danifred's for more Leftovers.

I Think My Head Is Going to Explode

because seriously, people. This is getting old.

Grr. Skin tests for both my mom and brother were negative, but because my grandmother had a negative skin test and my brother is a fucking hypochondriac and thinks he has all of the symptoms for TB*, they both got chest X-rays and blood work to double check that they are really negative. They won't get the results back for 2 weeks.

(I'm like, um? you didn't ask for sooner because we're like stuck without childcare here at the worst possible time for us and it would be really nice if we knew one way or another officially before I send my kids to you and risk exposure to a contagious lung disease in their 12 week premature fucking lungs?)

So...now we send the boys to my mom's without an official negative or try to figure out some way to provide childcare for them for these next two weeks until we get the all clear. Which, you know, is challenging for me considering I start teaching students tomorrow and all.

My mom feels strongly that her additional tests will be negative. Who knows for my brother. When they talked to public health while at my grandmother's, they were told that even if their skin tests were positive, they would be considered "latent" and not contagious. My research confirmed that that would most likely be the case if their x-rays are clear. So, Isaac feels like it will be okay to send them. I was all set to agree once they got the negative skin tests.

Only...how can I really be sure now? The public health official in our county thought there was enough doubt to do further testing on them both. And 6-9 months of medication (at what we've been told is $300 a MONTH per person) for the boys because I was wrong is just not acceptable to me.

That means today I am fucking angry about all the whole situation. It's probably irrational and self centered and who knows what else, but I don't care anymore.

All of this should just be done already. But no...let's prolong the drama for a little longer because we don't have enough shit to deal with on a general basis.

Then, for added fun, Jack just threw up some cheese puffs through his nose (only? maybe? because he hiccuped and laughed?). That's just what I need. Let's have him aspirate on some of that and get pneumonia.

Which will probably be diagnosed as TB in a chest x-ray because Hey! Why not?!

Sigh.

~~~

*Of course he has the symptoms of TB because he has chronic lung disease (hello smoking!) with some other decidedly non TB issues. And he's a nut.

~~~

Please forgive any typos and/or grammarical and spelling errors. I am too ticked to go back and attempt an edit.

I Just Don't Wanna & an Update

I go back to work tomorrow. I just don't want to. Ugh.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy my job once the school year gets underway, but I have to admit that each year it is taking me longer and longer to get into the school mode.

Which is the simple way of saying I am not ready. Most of that stuff I had left to do on Friday is still not done. I did go in and finish my room. That's something!

~~~

Mom and my brother still have no reaction on their TB tests. Here's hoping it stays that way until tomorrow at 1. They do have to go back in 10 weeks for a retest, but we have been told they are likely not contagious if they do ultimately come up positive.

We still have not been contacted by our public health for out testing. If they haven't gotten things squared away by the time the pediatrician comes back, then we've decided to have it done there and get it over with.

I'm definitely feeling a lot calmer about the whole thing now.

Friday Night Leftovers

Three days. That's all that's left of my summer break. I am beyond sad.

With my mom gone, and the fact that I work in the hood and it isn't safe to go at night, I haven't really been able to go set up my classroom. I went one day last weekend, but I have at least another 5 or so hours ahead of me before I'll feel finished. Plus, I have to lesson plan.

I am dragging my feet on all of it.

We have yet another principal this year also. I think there is the misconception by the staff that they are going to love her. They are in for a world of shock once she starts shaking things up around that place. (I am all for the shaking part. I am not, however, looking forward to the growing pains the staff will go through while the shaking happens. They bitch enough without having something to bitch about--I fear when they actually do have a reason to complain it is going to be unbearable.)

There is also that little tidbit about me liking being home with the boys and I will miss being a stay at home mom. Le sigh.

~~~

We have not had our TB tests yet. Good grief this whole mess is a fine example of horrible timing and bureaucracy at its worst.

Wouldn't you know that the boys' pediatrician is on vacation until the 27th? Of course she is. There is not another ped in her office (they'd refer us out), but with our boys' rather ... intense fear of anyone in a white coat, I don't really want to do that either. That left going to the public health office.

However, we can go there but we'd have to pay about $150 to get us all tested because my grandmother's county, which is in another state, has not yet released the information to our county. Having to pay that much is annoying, but dude, I just want this over.

Except, the timing of when we test will determine if we have to have to be retested again later.

My mom and brother were supposed to get their tests today (in the other state) so we'll be able to know our chances of testing positive by Monday when theirs get read. If they are negative, it is pretty assured that we will be too. If theirs are positive...well, then I'd say we would be as well.

I don't want any of us to be positive, okay universe? Please?

Is.aac continues to struggle with this whole situation. He will look over at me and just sigh. While I am trying to laugh my way through it, he is just upset.

I can understand where he's coming from, as this is the second time we've fallen victim to my family's friendly fire. (The first time being when my mom went to Michigan and brought back shingles and Lyme disease. We think the shingles gave the boys chicken pox about two months before I could get them the vaccinated.)

But still, my family's cooties are no match for his family's crazy. His family wins, hands down. Just saying.

~~~

The boys were challenging today (for some reason Friday's end up that way). Is.aac's came home for two hours before heading to his friend's house for the evening.

All I could think was wtf? Then I thought I am so going to pretend I don't hear the boys in the morning and make him get up with them. Seriously.

~~~

Highs and lows from the week:

• The whole TB thing? Low. Definitely low.
• The end of summer? Low.
• Talking to an awesome online friend for an interview on infertility was a High! I'll write more about that soon.
• Walking into Jack's room to find him mostly naked and smiling like a goon was a High! (Kids pull off their clothes?! I did not have to deal with that with the big boys. If anything, they were begging me to put more clothes on them, not take them off!)
• Seeing a shooting star with the big boys. :-) High!
• Letting the boys swim in our kiddie pool. It was work for me, especially keeping Jack from biting the side of the pool and the big two from throwing water in each other's faces, but they LOVED it. High!
• Ja.son lost his second tooth this week. I love the tooth fairy. It is so fun to watch their excitement over it all!

Stop by Danifred's for more Leftovers!

So My Mom, My Brother, and My Grandma Go to Michigan

where at least one of them comes back with an active case of TB and exposed us all! Possibly all three of them! Yea!

Seriously, people. I wouldn't believe it if it didn't happen to us. Then again, all kinds of crazy shit happen to us so why why wouldn't I believe it? I should just automatically assume that there will be something crazy around the corner so I'm not surprised.

Did I mention I don't really like surprises much?

Sigh.

Guess the whole family gets to go get tested at the public health office. Doesn't that sound like fun? I know you're jealous. Too bad I didn't add "Test for infectious diseases" on our Summer Bucket list. We would have nailed it.

If am seriously going to cry if my mom and/or brother test positive. She wouldn't be able to watch the boys for 2-12 weeks...

Because there's that little matter of starting back to work on Monfuckingday.

And my boys go to my mom's house while I work.

And we have no backup except missing work.

And she's had an annoying little cough that came after my grandmother's visit in DECEMBER

Which could totally be the allergies/sinus drainage we (and her dr) thought it was,

Or that pesky TB thing. No biggie, right?

We'll know soon enough seeing how the C D C is now on the case and hunting us all down.

Is.aac's a tad upset. He just apparently had a Tom Cruise a la Rain Man moment. You know that part where he stops the car in the middle of the road, jumps out, and screams "son of a biiiiiitccchhh!"?

Yep, he's handling this well, too.

I'm trying to laugh. It's either that or cry.

Friday Night Leftovers

My 90 year old grandmother has been having some issues with wheezing and pneumonia. She was given inhalers and antibiotics, but the cough and fatigued lingered. On Wednesday, she had a bronchoscopy to check her airways after they saw a suspicious ... something ... in her airway on a CT scan.

Apparently, whatever the "something" is, it is ugly. They did a biopsy on it, but the doctor is thinking it looks like the big C. They also found she has a staph infection in her lung, so they put her on antibiotics to clear that.

Then yesterday, she called my mom (in another state mind you), freaked that they were moving her to ICU and told her she had TB.

Sigh.

Apparently, some doctor somewhere thought that maybe she could have TB, so they needed to isolate her just in case. It's all so frustrating, because of course the TB test she had done this morning had absolutely no reaction. They still wanted to test her every day for the next 4 days...

It reminds me of that time they hazmatted my room on the maternity floor because I had diarrhea. I was in isolation for 4 days (couldn't see the babies!) while they tested me to make sure I was not in fact a diseased threat to the safety of all. In the end (ha. no pun intended) I was allergic to the IV antibiotics I'd been given mega doses of. Nice huh?

Anyway, my mom and one of her sister-in-laws are now there. It looks like they will release my grandma tomorrow should she continue to not have a reaction to the TB test. Results on the ugly thing in her airway will come next week.

I'd appreciate any good thoughts you could give for my grandma.

~~~

I go back to school in 10 days. The students arrive in 11 days. I have done absolutely nothing in preparation for this new school year.

Oh wait. I did do something. I went to a three day training this week. That was something.

I had a rough time with it, though. It was all about being sensitive to the differences of our students and providing a safe place for each and every one of our kids. It was all theory, which wasn't so bad in itself, but I was surrounded by some pretty annoyingly ignorant people who said some pretty ignorant things. (The words that came from their mouths make me really worry about the state of education in some places. Yikes.)

It didn't help that I got quite a few of the "Oh you work there..." comments.

Ugh. I didn't do much relaxing, and I certainly didn't learn much while I was there.

I did however go with some really great people from my school, so the nights were fun. :)

~~~

Jack tried a lemon today. He did not like...

80 year old man in toddler body...

Heh heh heh. He then threw that sucker as far as he could.

~~~

Today is National S'mores Day! Ja.son fulfilled his s'more eating duty.

S'mores are sticky little suckers...

~~~

Sh.awn has a new found obsession with getting dirty. It doesn't matter if he "only" has grass, he'll try to cover himself with it...

Heaven forbid if he has actual dirt...

~~~

Those of you on FB have already seen this, but I wanted to add this last little conversation for my records:

Commentary from the boys watching the Olympics (wrestling) :

J: So we want the blue guy to win?
Me: Yes, he's from the USA. We want him to win.
J: Uh oh. That red guy looks like he wants to win, too. How come they both can't win?
S: Yeah. How come?
Me: Well, that's not how it works...
J: In my games everyone would get a medal!
S: yeah!
Me: (happy sigh)

~~~

Stop by Danifred's for more Leftovers.

~~~

Holy Hell! Today is Friday! I finished my Leftovers on a Friday for once! Whoot!