Egg rolls... eye rolls... and ROFL...

With the goal of arranging family gathering times that are more consistent, rather than few and far between, the tag was made by my youngest brother-in-law to me/us (Ole, too) after seeing my brother- and sister-in-law off to Russia with the last one. We thought April might bring Rachel home to us, or Shallece in for a visit, but when one or both of those "reasons" could not happen, we just decided we didn't need a reason. So, the word was sent out to those in the near vicinity...to see if and when people could gather on relatively short notice.

And responses came back. Some would be able to gather this time... others were definitely with us in spirit as they celebrated other things, traveled, were in other locations or were working hard. This time, the group ventured to Moy's Restaurant in Elkhorn, which has not lost much of its original appearance even after the renovation.

I ordered an egg roll (and sweet and sour shrimp)... and was kind of worried. Since the Cantonese restaurant closed in Fort, we haven't been able to find a place that makes egg rolls quite like theirs. However, tonight we had success!!! The egg rolls are wonderful! Garlic shrimp, moo shoo pork, General Tsao's chicken...sesame chicken..... etc... were other choices made from the menu.

Much laughter, teasing, and story-telling occurred for the roughly hour-and-a-half we were able to spend together tonight. After talking for a bit afterwards on the steps outside Moys, we headed off, once again, in different directions, with talk of where and when the next gathering would occur being bantered about.

Hopefully, we will be able to continue this plan of action with people joining the group whenever their schedules and lives allow.... let someone (Jamie, Ole, Mary, Charlie, me...) know what works for you, so all who want to know get the word. We'd love to see everyone from time-to-time...

P.S. What? No visuals you say? Ask Kate...:-)

Spring Break, Part 2 - The Trip to Menomonie

Kate and I headed off to Menomonie to visit Molly. Charlie broke his tooth and had to stay home to get it fixed to knock down the irritation. After he got that settled, he went golfing, took the antenna off the roof, watched a softball game, and did some school stuff...

While we were up at Molly's apartment, we took her to work on Thursday so she could be "teacher" at a tile workshop at The Home Depot...a "Do-it-herself" seminar. :) Then Kate and I went to MOA in search of walking/traveling shoes and were finally successful! Though we didn't go to EVERY shoe store in the place, it seemed like it.

On Friday, we hung around the apartment (mom cleaned) until Molly got home from classes, then we went to lunch at the Acoustic Cafe, before walking to some little shops on Main Street. We also went to Pic-a-Pet... Walmart.... the grocery store and back home to make dinner and Rice Krispie Bars! We watched a couple of movies ....

While we were in the scrapbooking shop on Friday, we saw a sign for a farm that had lambs! Last weekend and this weekend, people are invited to come to the farm to see baby chicks, and lots of lambs... and other animals including three Great Pyranees.. We decided to go for a while before heading home to beat the SNOW storm that was predicted...

We witnessed the birth of this set of twins!

We got home just as the snow began to fall..... it is still falling..... Spring in Wisconsin.

Spring Break!!

Ok... spring break in Wisconsin. Not sure if I should wear my winter coat or my fleece jacket... heat or no heat in the car... Frostie Freeze is open... but.... seems kind of cold to eat it. A few days away from the school building... a break for all before the last couple of months of getting everybody ready to move to the next level, and preparing IEPs for many annual meetings.

Some things on the agenda for spring break:

a. Hosted book group at my friend's house. The book Oryx and Crake was the topic of discussion so the food I prepared was all mentioned in the book at some point.

b. a stop at my mom and dad's house in East Troy... and a hug for Sophie.. who has been with them nearly a year already...

c. a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum....

d. several days at Molly's place after she spent several days of her spring break with us...

e. shipping some of Kate's photos for entry in an applicant art show...

f. reading...

g. scrabble...

h. watching a few movies..

i. a little cleaning...

j. playing with the dogs and the cats...

k. completing the list of things I told Kate we would deal with over break... :-)

l. and whatever else comes up....

Who has it out for me?

Who.... really.... does this to a teacher of students with special educational needs?

- Daylight savings time... time change...
- Barometric pressure change...
- Full Moon....
- Two days of training for two of the one-on-one aides... so subs with two of the most involved kids....
- Friday, the 13th...
- A Lock, Hold and Secure Drill, on a day with tons of subs in the building...
- and solely in charge of snacks for the lounge all week (Martha Stewart, I am not.. )

Poop... puke (indirectly exposed to that several times this week)... spat on.... wrestled with... snot......

Why?

+ payday on the 10th... so I can contribute to the well-being of others...
+ hearing the I love you ... you love me.. song.... even after the worst puke experience...
+ pure entertainment
+ watching those around me and the material they provide me for later sharing....
+ believing that somehow.... I can make a difference.

Cupcakes!!

One of the educational assistants in my program brought me CUPCAKES today to share with my class and a b-day survival kit! How thoughtful was that?!

I also got treated to Texas Roadhouse.. and chocolate cake on Sunday. :)

I can take it....

Yeah, yeah.... I know. I am not the most prolific blogger, but I can take the flack BECAUSE I know I don't have youngsters around my house providing a daily dose of amazingly cute photo opportunities for me to capture (even then... ONE of them has at least one child who probably pushes her mom a little closer to the edge on a daily basis, so keeping her alive probably takes precedence over blogging... like THAT's an excuse..lol) OR athletic events that would provide action videos IF the back-in-the-game blogger posted them... so, I can take it. :-)

Recent action in my world has included visiting, worrying and thinking about my mom and her recent foray into the health care system. She wasn't feeling right... but thought it might be the flu or a cold since so much of that was going around, but when she was short of breath after walking halfway across a parking lot on the way to see a movie, she thought it might be more than that - so went to see the family doctor. Monday's blood work revealed a hemoglobin level of 4... and led to Tuesday's declaration of "Get to the hospital NOW... not after breakfast...not after letting the dog out/ok let the dog out but be quick about it." So, five units of blood later.. along with a myriad of tests later....she had surgery on Thursday for what she had told them it was all along... literally a pain in the butt (sparing you the TMI portion of the update). So, she dodged a big bullet this week, and is now home, though not in time for her birthday on Friday, and with temporary equipment that she would rather have done without. So, Ruthie has some recouperating yet to do, but at least can be home with her beloved pets while she does so, without being poked and prodded every four hours.

School continues to be interesting and will continue to be through the end of the year. This past week, especially on Friday (not even a full moon, which I get to look forward to on the 11th), several of the students were "ready to rock" as it were.. and at times I felt like I belonged on the next episode of WWF. I just keep repeating the directions, "When you are ready to work, I will stop holding you... but you cannot hurt yourself or others... " Every time there seems to be a miniscule lull, another evaluation is initiated or a new child enrolls .... my co-worker reminds me, "Nature abhors a vacuum."

Here is a little of what you might experience at our house...

Kali peeking in the back door as she hangs on the frame wondering if anyone is there to let her in....

The heavy duty dog toy..... that is "not a chew toy" for obvious reasons...
Here is the replacement version....Though not an action shot... it wouldn't be much different... :-) One of several of these guys we have hanging around here. This is one of the group that came home from the kindergarten room last year...and may not go back because this year's class is not quite ready for another distraction. :)
So.. that's what's happening in my little corner of the world. Happy birthday to me.

Hat trick

procedure with bonus plus a nasty cold tacked on for the fun of it.... makes for a wonderful Valentine's weekend..... :(

and I missed book group.