I have been working really hard this summer to improve my eating habits and to be more active. so far I think I’ve lost about 12 pounds. I’ve been doing wiifit for my workouts. I was thinking about wiifit today, and I think one of the reasons I like it is because I’ve created avatars of family and close friends. I think it helps me a lot to have those closest to me cheering me on throughout whatever activity I’m doing. plus, it will sound stupid, but I like seeing ricky via the game because I hardly ever see him any other time. :D

there’s only one more week of summer break before I start back at work. we are going camping this tues/wed for our last chance before the school year. then the first weekend of the school year, ricky and I are going to seattle for my brother’s wedding. the following weekend is thegathering’s camping trip over labor day weekend. busy, busy.

last week ricky’s dad joe got into a motocross accident. he broke six ribs, and his shoulder blade is in three pieces. ricky didn’t go to work last week so he would be available to check on his dad. it was so nice seeing him all this week. I can’t wait until his schedule changes to days or he finds a different job.

we got a cat and a kitten last week. we lost mow about a few weeks ago, and ihs was having $10 cats/kittens. the cat is named max, and the kitten is named simon.

...

got up early this morning to do some yard work. I hate yard work. I had to pull a bunch of weeds. ricky left early this morning for music practice at church. I feel bad for him. he got home from work at 3am last night after working since 3pm. then he had to get up at 7 this morning. and then he has to work a full day again after church.

i'm sure i'm oblivious to what's going on in other people's lives, but i really don't think most of the people we know at church are aware of our opposite schedules and how little we actually see each other. the only time I am going to see ricky during the school year is tues/wed evenings, and i won't get home until about 6. any other time we "see" each other, the other person is asleep. people ask me where ricky is when he's not with me and HELLO. he's working. he has been working nights for over a year, people! pay attention!

not ever seeing your spouse really affects your relationship. he's been looking for other opportunities, because he needs to be making more money and have better hours. he's thought about going back to hardwood, but there's no way he could give up his medication again.

oh and i forgot to mention that i lost our cat. i let him out july 19th and he never came back. i feel like an asshole because r loved that cat. first pet he loved since zipper, i think. the day before he mentioned that he finally had a "dog" again (we called mow a dog). hoping he will turn up at the shelter or maybe even come home. he is the best cat ever so someone probably took him in. hope he's happy, healthy, and safe.

today feels like it has been a productive day, but i haven't done much at all. i worked out and washed the dogs. i think i feel like i've done more than i actually have because i have this huge to-do list written out. i haven't crossed hardly anything off yet, but thinking about all the things i need to do seems like a project in and of itself. i need to clean the house. and i need to freeze the zucchini from our garden. i've been putting that one off for a couple of weeks, and i think if i don't do it soon, they're going to go bad.

my mind seems like it's constantly consumed with thoughts related to money. i am optimistic about us paying off our debt as soon as we can. we chip away at it every month, but it seems like it never gets smaller. r and i aren't really that great with communicating about money. we are getting better and that's why i feel better.

school will be starting in just a few weeks. i have been thinking about this a lot too. i'm presenting at our sped training days which is flattering and nerve-wrecking. i'm reading teaching books right now so i can kind of get back in the mindset of teaching. i've been reading YA novels all summer. reading the ron clark story right now.

excited about the gathering camping trip. not as many people as i/we anticipated have signed up on facebook and on the sign-up sheet. hopefully more people plan on coming so we don't have to cancel any spots. r and i are going camping aug 10/11 as well. last week in the summer we can go on his days off because i start that next monday.

I need to become better about blogging more often. that way I won't always feel like I have a billion things to share when I actually do sit down to share. well, this summer has turned out to be less eventful than I anticipated. right after school ended, ricky's scheduled changed to 1-10pm thurs-mon. BOO. as if I didn't see the guy little enough. this schedule is fine during the summer but will suck in the fall when I go back to work.

I don't know why I'm complaining. having summers off is awesome. not having to work but still getting paid is in and of itself a pretty great summer. I have had so much down time, that the irony is the majority of my thoughts have been about, what else, SCHOOL. I have plans that are a'changing for next year, and I think that, if I don't get them out of my head somewhere, I am going to drop all of the thought balls I have been juggling (that's what she said).

SO... I'm thinking of doing more life skills in my class. Since so many of my students are missing out on one or more of their electives because they have to "take my stupid class", I thought it would be good to at least teach them some real life skills they can use in their... real lives. I am thinking of incorporating cooking, crocheting (which is ironic, since I have 90% boys), and I'm not sure what else. I am going to do more journaling this year than I did last year. I am going to vary class activities more, because we spent WAY too much time not doing a whole lot of being productive.

The weekly schedule I am thinking is:

m: social skills (we have a curriculum to use for this)

t: study skills (homework catch-up and/or maintain current assignments)

w: life skills (cooking, etc)

t: study skills

f: store/life skills finish/reward time (store is every other friday; finish cooking project or whatever; good little boys/girls can have game time, etc)

My thoughts as far as WHAT TO COOK are things that don't include knives (safety first, people), can be prepped and/or prepared in one class period, are things kids like to eat, and are easy. My list so far is as follows: cookies, mac n cheese, brownies, ice cream, pizza, and ask the kids for suggestions.

The reason I thought of crocheting is because I was trying to think of some way to teach the kids about giving to the community and maybe help think outside themselves. The idea for crocheting starting with thinking about making blankets for the kitties at the animal shelter. I thought that they could work on this skill when they have free time after we've all learned HOW to do it. We could also crochet for Christmas, if they wanna make gifts (scarves, pot holders, etc.)

And then, like I said, I want to incorporate more journaling. Kids with emotional and/or behavior disorders often have deficits in their expressive language skills. I want to make opportunities for them to draw and/or write out their feelings.

Some ideas for prompts:

"Draw or write for five minutes how you're feeling today."

"What is a goal you have? Draw or write about it."

"What is your dream? Draw or write about it."

"Name at least two ways you could (say, tell a person, do)..."

Things I need to do to prepare for next year (to get this out of my head)

Learn to crochet (:D)

Put together/organize recipes

Order WhyTry Journals (that go with curriculum - running low)

Talk to Brandon about his SS curriculum

Print out monthly schedules to write lesson plans in

Draft course schedule per quarter

so many thoughts going through my head at the same time today.

I love this weather.

it's a good thing I'm not barbecuing.

I wish I had propane for my grill.

my plants are loving this weather.

I guess I'm not going to finish planting today.

I need to start my sunflower seeds.

I don't have to water my flowers today.

I want a BLT.

I'm happy I'm home today so I can make whatever I want to eat.

nanny mcphee is on.

I like watching nanny mcphee.

I am cold.

I am going to make some coffee.

mmm, this coffee is good.