It's That Time Again

These photos represent ONE HOUR of raking. So I guess I could also title this one million reasons to live in an apartment. This is only from the driveway and along the very front of the yard. Notice that in the last picture, taken up close to the house, behind those trees in the front, leaves are still a foot deep on the ground.

On another note, if you look through my old posts you can find last year's leaf pictures and compare the house. We got a new roof, new front door and had the siding capped in a non-ugly color.

So, now I am off to continue working on the kitchen. One day that may actually be finished.

Aly's Jeans

We have had this issue with Aly coming home with her jeans and arms written all over. I spoke to her a few weeks ago about the jeans and told her there was not to be any more jeans written on. I have never bothered to read what is on her jeans, stupid teenager crap I figure.

So last Friday she apparently wore a pair of these jeans with writing all over them to school. When I said goodbye to her I didn't notice. I generally check her top because she's usually try to wear something low cut or sheer, if she's wearing a skirt, I look at it, but she wasn't so...whatever. So around noon I get a call from the vice principal that there are "inappropriate things" written on her jeans. I told him we had already spoken about the writing on the jeans and asked what it said. So he told her she could read exactly what it said on her pants to me. He had her on speakerphone. So in a very shaky voice, because she knew she was in big trouble, she reads "I sucked Jessie's enormous dick". Lovely. Jess is a girl btw and apparently she is the one who wrote this.

So I told him we could not go get her because of where we work, he said she had to sit in the office for the rest of the day and if it happened again she would be sent home. I am fairly certain it won't happen again! She was bored out of her mind sitting in the office for 2 1/2 hours and she was bored out of her mind sitting home all weekend with no phone or computer. She had lunch detention Monday and was told that if it happens again she will lose the Hershey Park trip in the Spring.

So that's the story of Aly's jeans.

Bleh

I am not sure what is going on with me. All the sudden last night I started feeling really sad and all that nonsense. No reason at all. I am not sure if it is because of the cold weather, if I was tired or if it has reached the point in the year where my job starts getting to me. Of course, it could be all of those things.

I was thinking that I would stay at my job for a few more years, definitely next year while Brandon will still be in middle school, but then I was contemplating staying until he is out of high school because Rob and I are talking about moving out of this big house when both kids are out of high school. We have discussed moving into the city where we don't have to have two cars, can get a smaller place and not have to deal with yardwork and then I can either not work or just do something that I enjoy and don't necessarily require that income to eat. But after a few months I reach the point where I can't imagine coming into work for one more day, let alone six more years. I have also reached the point in the pay scale where I will be making a decent amount of money, especially since I really do only work half as many days as most people. I still think it's a harder job than most people have, but I do have off half the year with the holidays and summers.

So anyway, I am just doing chores and junk like that today. Things I have been blowing off for weeks. Which could also be what is wrong with me. There is so much to do around here that we really can't just blow off entire weekends and that is what we have been doing. We painted the kitchen and since then have done nothing. It would probably take one day to finish the kitchen completely, but we have just done nothing for the past three weekends.

This weekend we didn't even do date night. I think that was a bad idea. Things were going really well, Friday I was just really tired and didn't want to do anything but stay in and sleep. So we watched a movie together and then went to sleep. Then Saturday we slept late and went to my dad's for dinner. Rob had a bad allergic reaction to the new cats so he was tired when we came home. We were supposde to watch a movie but he fell asleep so I watched it by myself. After that was when I started feeling really down. So I think it was the combination of everything, and I was pretty tired too. I think I can deal with work this week since it is only 2 1/2 days, but the week after that could be another story. And once we come back from Christmas, I am really going to have problems dragging myself out of bed every day.

I guess I will go back to the original plan which was to research what else I can do with the education I have that will allow me to make at least what I am making now (which is not public libraries) and that I may actually like. Back to chores. Bleh.

Better Late than Never

or, as my pledge class motto, better late than pregnant. Either way...

Last Thursday Rob and I went to see Duran Duran on Broadway. I would have liked to go with my usual Duran friends but they had other stuff going on and it just wasn't going to work out. Beth pretty much summed it up in her email to everyone, just when you think you are going to see them because you *have* to, they go and put on a fantastic show. I am not really crazy about the new album but I like it better live. I have noticed recently that I like most music better live-Morrissey for example.

But anyway, the new music was first, then an electro-set or something like that. I was espcially excited by that because tey did some different songs. Last Chance on the Stairway and some stuff from Big Thing, which is my favorite album. Then of course were the obligatory top tens-minus Hungry Like the Wolf, which is always a plus. Rob and I had a good time and I am glad that I decided to go.

I am not however, glad that we drove. We sat in traffic for two hours. We went a half mile in that amount of time. It was a nightmare. I have also decided that being trapped gives me panic attacks. I have them once in a while and I had one after being stuck in that one spot for all that time and then having to go through the tunnel. The whole problem was that there was only one lane going into the tunnel. But once we got out of there I noticed that I was especially wound and on edge. Fun.

Nothing much else is going on. Things are going well here. I went to the NJ Assoc. of School Librarian conference yesterday and today. My assistant and I stayed overnight. Nothing exciting. I thought it was interesting that there was a hot tub there and she and I seemed to be the only people who took advantage of that. Bunch of fuddy-duddys! Whatever, we didn't have to deal with anyone else that way-so it was better anyhow. Neither of us really likes people.

Rob and I are trying to decide what to do for date night this week. One of the choices is dinner and a movie. We decided that even though the counselor said that movies don't count, we have been talking and spending a lot of time together so if we want to go to a movie, we will! We'll see. I am going to go hang with Rob for a while now since I wasn't home last night.

Date Night

Rob and I have been going out on date night on Fridays. We started a few weeks ago. It's good that we have kids who are now old enough that we can say "see ya" and just leave them home. So far we have gone to the Mutter Museum and to dinner one week, the next week we went to a concert, She Wants Revenge, on Thursday and then saw Rocky Horror on Friday-but according to the therapist, movies don't count. I had never seen it and it was playing at the IMax for Halloween. This past week we went on a ghost tour in Philly. It was ok but we went on one in Charleston before and that one was much better. I am in charge of planning this coming week. Thursday we are going to see Duran Duran on Broadway. I am also planning dinner on Friday because I am not sure the DD concert counts. Although it is something different than what we usually do. But since movies don't count because you can't talk and whatnot, I am not sure if concerts count either. Although we will have a long car ride where we can talk.

So that is really all that is going on here. My sister-in-law and mother-in-law are drving us crazy worrying about Alyssa's MySpace page. It would be nice if everyone would just let me parent my own kids. I don't bother them about their kids! Everyone can decide how to raise their own!