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Friday, July 31, 2009

I've been trying...

...really hard to let this go. I've been sitting on my hands all week to avoid posting about this, but I can't help it. The Girl broke up with Stud Muffin. And, I think she did it on Facebook!! WTF?? I know I should be minding my own business, and know I shouldn't be one of those moms, but it's killing me. Stud keeps saying they're just "on a break" ( a la Ross and Rachel!) but I'm pretty sure she's already got a new boyfriend, which is the reason she broke up with Stud. My heart is breaking for him. I'm afraid he's completely in denial about the whole thing, which is making it even harder to watch. I've been biting my tongue, as to not try and give advice, or words of wisdom. But, I feel like I should be saying something to my baby.

On a weird note, CSJ has been especially cordial lately. We've been talking a lot, mostly about this situation. Apparently, the honeymoon is over, and he's VERY ready to be divorced again. I'd be lying if I said that it doesn't make me a little giddy to hear that. (I know, I know, I'm already on the express train to hell, what's the difference now!) Unfortunately, that also means I've been getting a lot of "I really screwed up, I let a good thing go, we could have had it all, etc..." I seriously need all my Bloggy Buddies to say a prayer or two for me to remain strong. As much shit as I've talked (written?) about what a bastard he is, and how much I hate him now, I'm embarrassed to admit that I still love him. It's true what they say - there's a very fine line between love and hate. I'm afraid of letting my guard down, and getting my heart stomped on again. But, truth be told, if he said he wanted to come back home today, I'd probably welcome him with open arms. Naturally, there'd be some serious ground rules (#1 being NO GIRLFRIENDS!) but I think I could give it a go. Then again, that's how I feel right now, in this moment. I realize I'm in a weakened state thanks to him being so nice recently. It reminds me of what the good times were like, you know? Ah, well, he'll probably do something stupid this weekend to piss me off, and I'll remember how much I hate him, and all will be right with the world again. :)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Email of the Day

Divorce Cakes







These made me laugh out loud. Thanks to my BFF for sending me these awesome cakes!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Bridal Party from Heaven!

OK, apparently, I must be quite hormonal today, because this made me tear-up. I found myself thinking, "Wow, how much must your family and friends love you to do this for you?" and I just couldn't stop the tears.



Weird little side note: My good buddy, Smiley, posted the exact same video to her blog today. I saw it after I posted this. Weird, right?

***Ok, after posting this bright and early this morning, I decided to flip through the morning shows on TV. Literally, as soon as the TV came on, this video was playing on Good Morning America. They had the bride and groom on, also, and talked to them about it. When the segment finished, I flipped over to the local morning news show that I normally watch, and they were just talking about it, and started playing the video. Too funny! And, now, I've noticed that my Bloggy Buddy, Clippy, has also added it to her post today. How cool that one couple spread so much joy!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Just in case...

...you haven't had your daily cry and/or adrenalin rush:
Embedded video from CNN Video

Friday, July 17, 2009

Mini Update

Ok, so we had a meeting yesterday with our new principal. So far, so good. It was a VERY short meeting, far too short in my opinion, but she was able to touch on a few things that sounded promising.

One of the things I'm most excited about it that she going to be strictly enforcing the uniform policy. Like just about every other CPS school, our students will be expected to wear white shirts, WITH collars, and navy blue pants/skirts/jumpers. THAT'S IT! Big Cheese had decided that any white shirt would be acceptable, including T-shirts. He decided black or blue pants were ok, and hey, even jeans would be ok. WTF? You just gave the kids permission to dress in the neighborhood gang banger uniform - white T-shirt and baggy jeans. Nice!

Last year, he decided to try a couple of new things. White, yellow or blue shirts would be acceptable as uniform, and that every Friday (EVERY Friday!!!) would be dress-down day. Seriously?! WTF?! I had actually argued pretty strongly with him about that one. I don't see anything wrong with an occasional dress-down day, as long as the kids have to EARN it. Maybe the last day of each marking period, and you have to have worn your uniform everyday up to that point. NOT every week, that's ridiculous! I don't think any children were in uniform last year. Which meant I could easily tell you what kind of boxers every one of the boys wore, because their jeans hung down to the back of their freakin' knees. The girls were no better, wearing shirts that they probably took out of their kindergarten sister's drawers!

I'm so excited about this one little change, it's crazy! She already has the marquee outside of school stating that uniforms are required on the first day of school. Yay, New Principal!! (I need to get to know her a little better before I can come up with a clever nickname.)

I had thrown out a suggestion to her regarding something we did at my last school. On the first day of school, all the teachers dressed in "uniform" to let the kids know how important it was to adhere to the uniform policy. Well, she got all excited and said, "I'm so glad you brought that up. I was going to tell you all this later, but at my last school, the teachers did this every Monday, and so we'll be doing the same." Oh, and she added, "If we were off on a Monday, then we did it on Tuesday." Woo hoo!! That's seriously one less day that I have to worry about figuring out what I'll be wearing to work. I think it's great!

She has already made some big changes in the past week and a half regarding the appearance of the school. There must have been a cleaning frenzy going on! She basically gutted the front office, threw out about 60% of the furniture, and rearranged what was left. It looks amazing. Our payroll clerk, who used to basically sit in a vault all day, is having a very difficult time with the new boss, however. She's been told that she will be expected to move out of her "closet" and sit out in the office. She also is expected to actually do all clerk duties, not just hide away all week, and only do payroll. Now, those of you who either work now or have worked in the past at the Hell-Hole realize what a huge thing this is!! Apparently, she tried to tell the new boss that, no, she's just the payroll clerk, and that's not her job, but that went over like a lead balloon. I can't wait to see what fireworks come from this!

The school looks so different already. There are REAL flowers and plants all over the place! Not just in the office, but in the hallway. I was amazed to see vases of fresh flowers beautifully places around the entranceway. Someone has gone down the hall and covered all the bulletin boards with fresh new paper and borders, and bright, pretty colors. New Principal told us in the meeting that she loves to see color, and she plans to keep adding it to the school. For as long as I've been there, the entire school has been the same shade of...I don't even know...dirty beige? There were some volunteers that came the week school ended and painted murals around the building. There's a HUGE one directly outside my door that is beautiful. I love it. The only problem I have, though, is it's on a wall that I used to completely cover with my babies' work. I'm going to have to figure out where to hang their beautiful papers and projects now. I was told that there are other murals on the second and third floors, but I didn't venture up there yesterday.

She told us she plans to "beautify" the bathrooms, and enlisted the art teacher to spearhead that project. She said she wants to have a "theme" for each bathroom (i.e. Mickey Mouse, Spiderman, etc. Possibly a copyright infringement, no?) which I'm hoping will help cut down on all the graffiti.

I stepped out the front door to talk to a parent (Mrs. G., who you all know I love!) and literally gasped when I saw what's changed already. We have grass in our courtyards! AND flowers! It looks like a completely different school. Somehow I got sucked into being on the School Beautification Committee (or whatever the hell it's called) and we are going to be applying for a grant to get landscape materials. Specifically, we will be turning our front courtyards into butterfly gardens. I think it's going to be magnificent. Most years I try to do the whole butterfly thing with my babies, and now we'll have the perfect place to release them. Our engineer has promised to bring me some caterpillars when school starts so we can do it right away. (I suppose that one advantage of starting school so early. Hey, I'm trying to find the silver lining here, people!)

I'm really excited to see how these changes all come together, and what effect it will have on our students. I hope they get on board with the new program. Although, she seems like a tough cookie, so they may have no other choice! The school she came from (where she was for over 20 years) is not too far from our school, but is directly across from one of the biggest projects in the city. She said the demographics of her last school were comparable to the Hell-Hole, but I have a feeling it was a bit rougher. I assume that means she'll be able to handle anything (student, parent, teacher) that tries to stand in her way. Yay!! Finally, an administrator who has a spine!!!! I'm so excited!

Well, I suppose "mini"update isn't all that accurate now, is it? I'm going to stop right here, before you all fall into a coma from boredom. But, hey, I'm excited!!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

It makes perfect sense!!

I think I may have just discovered why I have such a high tolerance for pain*. Check it out.
(*For example-I have endured both a 19-hour labor ordeal, which ended in near-emergency surgery, and several root canals without any drugs.)

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Melissa comes through again!

This is seriously one of the cutest things I've ever seen! I've watched it about 3 times now because I keep checking out the cuties in the background. There's no way you watch this without smiling. Or nearly wetting your pants, like me!!



Ok, my ovaries and uterus literally ache right now...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Here's something interesting I found today on Melissa's page:

Michael Jackson -- #7
Posted Jul 7th 2009 4:10PM by TMZ

Get ready to have your mind blown. Ready? Here we go ...

-- Michael Jackson signed his will on 7/7/02.
-- Michael Jackson's memorial was on 7/7/09 ... exactly 7 years after the will was signed.
-- Michael Jackson's two biggest hits -- "Black & White" and "Billie Jean" -- were each #1 for 7 weeks.
-- Michael Jackson's three biggest albums -- "Thriller," "Bad" and "Dangerous" -- each produced 7 top 40 hits.
-- Michael Jackson was the 7th of 9 children.
-- Michael Jackson was born in 1958 ... 19 + 58 = 77
-- Michael Jackson died on the 25th ... 2 + 5 = 7
-- Michael Jackson has 7 letters in his first and last name.


If you're looking for lottery numbers tonight, we recommend something with the number 7 in it.

Also, this. It's probably a hoax, but weird, nonetheless:




I haven't watched the entire memorial service yet, but I plan to later today. I've seen tons of clips, though, and it seems like it was just beautiful. Although, every time I watch the clip of Paris, it breaks my heart. So, so sad...

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Just for the record...

...our 4th of July that was supposed to be in the 80s and sunny has been in the 60s and rainy all day. Now, if you know anything about me by now, you know I LOVE it!! Plus, it's been keeping my neighborhood from sounding like a freakin' war zone!! I hope the rain keeps up all night, so the nutballs around here won't feel compelled to blow all the fireworks off the second the rain stops!

I think I'm going to go turn on the oven and bake a cake for my wonderful neighbors. (For you new readers, my neighbors are a brother and sister pair, he's 80, she's 83, and they're in 10 times better shape than I am!!) Sadly, the brother was in the hospital this week, and had to have a few stents placed in his arteries. He's already losing his mind because he isn't allowed to drive, or really do anything just yet. Monday, Stud actually cut the grass for him and when his sister came over to tell me what was going on, she told me that her brother was all worked up about not being able to cut the grass and that they want to pay Stud to do it! Um....HELL NO!! I know I've mentioned this before. That man has been taking care of my house for the past 15 years. Hell, even when CSJ lived here (for the short 11 months that he made it!) my neighbor would cut our grass and shovel our snow. He always told CSJ that he should just let him do it, because he worked all night keeping us safe (again, for you new readers, he was a Chicago Police officer) and besides, "what else do I have to do? I'm retired!" Over the years, he's trimmed my bushes, edged the lawn, brings in my garbage cans every week, and so much more. All I've done for him is bake (or cook). I actually have been feeling really terrible that past year and half since we've opened the bar because now, with 3 jobs, I just don't have the kind of time I used to, and I've really been slacking off on baking for them.

I think I'll be whipping up a cake, some brownies and cookies this afternoon. The bar isn't open tonight, so I have nothing but time on my hands. And, beautiful COOL weather to enjoy!! Let the baking commence!

Email of the Day

One of my favorite cop friends sent me this today, and it cracked me up!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Updates

Ok, it's been a bit busy around here since last I posted. After receiving that very exciting news yesterday, I had to get over to my Daddy's house, as he left for Italy yesterday. Stud needed to say his good-byes, and then I drove him to the airport. My niece came along for the ride, and we spent about an hour hanging out with Grandpa at the airport and had lunch together. When it was time for him to go to his gate, she was NOT happy. She kept telling him that he should sell his ticket to someone else and just stay home. Thanks to the NEVER-ENDING construction on our expressways and tollways, it took much longer than anticipated to get home. I had just enough time to get in the shower and get ready for an appointment with the "girly" doctor. Nothing like having your naughty bits poked and prodded to end your day on a high note! (Truth be told, without really putting all my "bid-ness" out there, I really did have a great appointment, and was able to by-pass a procedure that I was dreading.)

Ok, so my point is, I didn't get a chance to share the little updates I received throughout the day. On the way to the airport, my friend, who originally broke the good news to me, called to tell me that some of the staff were in a frenzy. The two LLTs, and a few other teachers (who have been there the longest) were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, cleaning out files, purging closets, one was even filling out report cards (WTF?!?!? Shouldn't that have been DONE already?!) The business manager (the woman in charge of all our money!) was frantically SHREDDING PAPERS AND FILES!! Seriously, WTF?! Perhaps there's more to this firing than we know. However, NONE of us are shocked or even surprised. We've known for quite some time that there was plenty of dirty business going on in our office. For example, what happened to $60,000+ in Special Ed funds that mysteriously disappeared? (Could that have something to do with the fact that we were under a microscope this year surrounding our Spec. Ed. dept. and practices?) Or, where is the monthly check we supposedly received for having a tower on our roof (for some mobile phone company)? We've always assumed it went straight into the Big Cheese's pocket. The business manager is one of the shadiest people I've ever encountered. I'm really hoping she's the baby that gets tossed out with the bathwater!

Later, I received a call from another friend (the one who is supposed to be moving down to kingergarten with me next year) who told me she heard that the new principal is a woman. That makes me a little nervous. I hate to even say it, but I don't like working for women! They tend to be very controlling and bitchy. Sorry, I know, as a woman, I have a lot of nerve even saying that. But, it's been my experience. Anyway, she supposedly also heard that as of right now, none of us have to worry about our jobs. This was a concern, as sometimes principals like to bring in their own people. Or, at the very least, change everyone's assignments and shake things up. So far, it doesn't seem like that's the case, but then again, she hasn't even started yet!! I plan to go up to the Hell-Hole and meet our new principal on Monday.

This past school year, many of us laughed every day because The Big Cheese had this placed on our marquee when school started - "Hell-Hole School - The Happiest Place on Earth!" It was there all year. And every time we saw it, we laughed. Well, I'm hoping that maybe now, that will be true! I'm determined to go into this new adventure with a positive attitude and just hope for the best. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst....

Ok, on a lighter note, I just totally stole this from Happy Wife, Happy Life. It made me giggle!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

OH MY HELL!!!!!!

At 9 am (just a couple of minutes ago!!) one of my good friends at the Hell-Hole called to tell me----THE BIG CHEESE HAS BEEN FIRED!!!!!!! Oh, happy day!!!!! I'm so excited right now, I can't really write any more. I need to go check my CPS email to see the letter he sent us all letting us know he was canned. Woo hoo!!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Thanks, Missy!

I was checking out Melissa's page, which I haven't done in a couple days, and came across this amazing video.




This was also on her page. Do you see the resemblance? This artifact is at the Field Museum here in Chicago. Things that make you go hmmmm....

Ahhhh.....

After that ass-melting weather I wrote about last time, with heat index reading in the triple digits, the past few days have cooled off BEAUTIFULLY!!!! It's been in the 60s the past couple of days, and I couldn't be happier! It was so great to do my morning walk without looking like a participant in a wet t-shirt contest! It's supposed to warm up to at least 80 for the holiday, which bugs me a bit, but I'll have to deal with it.

Not much else to tell about around here lately. But, that's a good thing, because it also means there's nothing to bitch about! ;-) I've been pushing along with my Wii Active, loving every minute of it. I hit the half-way point of the 30 Day Challenge today. Yay! That means I got to watch an "inspirational" video from Bob Green. Yeah, it WAS a little annoying, thanks for asking! Today, after doing my regular workout, I did it all again, but at the next intensity level. Woo hoo! I was quite proud of myself, I must say. I hope it shows on the scale later.