Morgan left yesterday, headed back to her dorm room.  I guess Mom is too boring to live with for a few more days??  She said she needed to study and knew she wouldn't study if she stayed here.  True.  I suggested she study two or three times, but instead she chose to catch up on her favorite shows on Netflix.  Four days together.  That has to be a record.  We love each other to pieces but, don't usually get along more than a couple of days in the same house together.  We're both pretty stubborn.   She's nineteen.  Everyone keeps telling me we'll eventually get along great.  I'm ready for that day to happen.  Please, Lord, let me live long enough for that to happen.  :) 

It's awfully quiet in this big 'ol house now.  Funny how when she leaves, I get a little depressed, sad, and anxious.  I worry about her taking her meds.; I worry about her getting sick or her defibrillator going off as she's driving down the highway;  I worry about her making it from point A to point B, alive.  I worry way too much.  I always tell her "call me when you get there".  She almost always forgets.  Then I call or text her to make sure she made it.  I know God is taking care of her and always has.

I wish I could say "it gets better the older they get".  It doesn't.  I still worry about my twenty-nine year old that lives right next door.  He drives an hour one way to work.  While I'm getting ready in the morning, I have the Tulsa news on the television.  I listen to the traffic reports as I'm getting ready.  If I hear of an accident any where along his route, I have to text him to make sure he's made it to work alright.  He always does.  I know this probably annoys the living daylights out of both of my kids.  I just can't turn it off though.  I remember my mom did the same with me.  Every Sunday, as I was leaving to go back to college, she would say, "Call me when you get there, so I'll know you made it okay."  I would say, "Okay, Mom, I will."  Did I remember 100% of the time?  No.  Hardly ever, in fact.  She would end up calling me, and I would feel so bad that I had forgotten. 

Three more days of Spring Break.  Ugh...it went by WAY too quickly.  :(   I'm going to Tulsa this afternoon, meeting friends for a birthday celebration, not mine....my friend I've known since 7th grade.  Another friend, I've known since 9th grade will be there, then, a couple others.  I will stay all night with June Bug, the birthday girl, then, get up early in the morning and go see the much awaited movie "The Hunger Games", with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby, at 10:00 in the morning.  Then, I will drive to Stillwater, pick Morgan up, then head to OKC, to go to the Bead Show!!  Morgan needs to make me an OSU necklace, so I'm going to buy some black and orange beads!!  Of all the necklaces she's made, I only have two or three, mostly turquoise, and no OSU necklaces. 

Then, I'm driving home Saturday evening after the Bead Show, and rest on Sunday, before going back to school. 

I haven't seen my dad all week.  I didn't want to chance passing the flu on to him.  I have called to check on him and talk to him though.  Miss him. 

Enjoying spending time with Morgan.  Even though she's sick, which I hate, we are enjoying each other's company.  I've cooked more in the last two days, than I normally cook in a week!!  However, we're about to decide other than the chicken noodle soup, she probably needs to stick to clear liquids for another day or two.  She's still a bit nauseous after she eats.  Fever is better though.  Almost back down to where it should be.  Thank you, Lord.

We did find out today that she has Type A flu, or H1N1, more commonly known as the "swine flu".  Hmmm....she just finished up working/volunteering at OYE, the world's largest youth livestock show, right here in Oklahoma.  Guess what she worked with?  Swine.  Coincidence??  I must do research. 

I talked to my Dad today on the phone.  I had planned on visiting with him every day this week, since I'm out of school for Spring Break.  However, I wouldn't dare risk giving him the flu while he's doing the chemo and radiation.  I don't have any symptoms, but, being locked in the house with Morgan while she has it, I very well could get it, especially since I have Lupus.  I'm doing everything possible to prevent that from happening though.  We are washing our hands A LOT(of course, I'm almost OCD about this anyway on a daily basis), using Clorox wet wipes on everything she touches, I'm the only one handling food, dishes, etc. (translation=waiting on her hand and foot), Germ-x by her side at all times to use after she sneezes, coughs, blows nose, breathes, etc. ;)

Anyway, back to my dad.  He was able to hold a short conversation and it was coherent.  He stated that it was cold and rainy, and it is.  He's not as big a fan of the rain as I am, except when we really need it.  We actually do need it now, but, he doesn't quite understand that now.   He just knows that it's making him cold.  It was good to talk to him though.  Just wish I could spend more time with him, in person, this week.  But, he would want me to spend time with Morgy, and I am enjoying her being home from college.  It's been a long time since I've been able to spend this much time with her. 

Well, looks like I will get to spend some time with Morgy this week after all.  However, not under the best of circumstances though.  She spent the last three days working at OYE in OKC, then, drove to McAlester yesterday, to spend a few days with my aunt, whom she calls "grandma". 

My aunt kept her while I worked the first four or five years of her life.  My aunt and uncle are solely responsible for spoiling her rotten.  They took really good care of her.  Since my mom had already passed away before Morgan was born, my Aunt Retha took over the role of  "grandma" for Morgan.

Morgan arrived in McAlester yesterday afternoon and started having some symptoms of a sore throat, coughing, headache, etc.  She felt worse this morning, developed a fever,  and decided to come on home, so as not to pass it on to my aunt. 

We met in Owasso, and I took her to the doctor.  With her heart conditions, Morgan's "cold symptoms" turn into the flu or pneumonia almost overnight most of the time.  We were able to walk in and get an appointment by 2:30.  Unfortunately, she did test positive for the flu, even though she'd had a flu shot.   She drove on home, while I stayed in Owasso to wait for the results and get the medicine if it did turn out to be the flu. 

When I returned home, I made another batch of chicken noodle soup and began pushing the fluids.  She has taken her flu meds., heart meds., drank water, orange juice, hot tea, and is resting.  I'm so glad she made the drive back home okay and is here instead of at school.  Thank goodness for Spring Break!  At least she is not missing classes, and I can take care of her.  I miss her.  She's growing up.  I can't believe she'll be twenty in just a few short months, and have two years of college under her belt.  How time flies. 

Speaking of growing up, she is still growing in height!!  She is actually 5' 8 3/4" tall!!  She has passed me up, big time.  I am only 5 '5" if I'm really stretching and standing as straight as possible.

Getting LOTS of rain.  They are issuing flood warnings.  Lots of thunder and lightening....good sleep tonight.  :)

I made some homemade chicken noodle soup for my dad this morning and took it over around noon.  I sat with him while he ate quietly.  He didn't talk much, just shrugging his shoulders sometimes when I would ask a question.  He did eat a good sized bowl of the soup, and for that, I am very thankful and happy.  He has lost so much weight.  I am just thankful that he is still doing the radiation and chemo, and not getting sick because of it.  I am thankful for his hugs and an "I love you," every time I see him.  As soon as he finished his soup, he got up and went back to bed. 

My kids and I went to the Oilers game this afternoon, in Tulsa.  It was my second game and their first.  They loved it!  I can't believe I've wanted to go to a hockey game all these years and just now finding time to go.  I love every minute of it, and I've never been a huge sports fan, unless I know some of the players, such as some of my students or nieces or nephews.   I also love to watch when OSU plays OU, and sometimes, maybe even when OU plays Texas.  I think I've found my new favorite sport!! 

The last two days have been extremely fun and eventful.  My eyelids are very heavy.  Goodnight, all.

Oh, me, oh, my!!!  It's a "hurts to move night"....Five hours of painting the exterior of a house with a....get ready.....PAINT BRUSH!!!!  NO rollers in sight.  Wow!!  I am one tired puppy!!  It was fun getting to help Ashly though.  Also, got to see another massage therapist friend at Ashly's painting party...Miss Amanda B.!!  We had ourselves a little mini-reunion!! 

Then, I braved the crowds of Wal-Mart to get veggies to grill.   So glad I went to a Wal-Mart out of town, as I had a good portion of Ashly's paint on my jeans, Eskimo Joe shirt, my feet, and my hands.  So, if you see me in the next e-mail with all the crazily(is that a word?) dressed people, I'll be right there with them! Anywho,..... I bought asparagus, kale, bell peppers (on sale for fifty cents each!), Romaine hearts, nectarines, and some strawberries.  Yum, my two favorite fruits!! 

I had planned on taking a shower as soon as I got home, however, it was getting late, and my son (who happens to live next door) was ready to start grilling.  When he plans to grill, he always offers to cook whatever I want to throw on the grill!!  I take advantage and always cook lots of veggies to last me at least a few days.  I already had a head of cabbage, so, I prepared that and the following: two bunches of asparagus with a little tiny bit of Lovera's Italian salad dressing drizzled all over; the Romaine hearts w/a wee bit of extra virgin light olive oil; and the bell peppers.  Will figure out how to do the kale later.  I was being rushed... ;)

While Jake was grilling, my daughter-in-law decided to mow my lawn and their lawn!! :)  Thank you, Amanda!  So, while Jake and Amanda were busy, I put Jakob in his little red wagon and took him for a nice long walk, up and down the street a couple of times.  He loved it.  He is definitely an outdoorsman!  We walked, well, actually, I walked, he rode, for at least thirty minutes.  The weather was beautiful.  A little cloudy, but, just the right temperature, and a little breezy.  Perfect walking weather.  Perfect grilling weather, well, maybe a little too breezy for that. 

When Jakob and I got back from our walk, his moma and daddy were carrying all of the food over to my house.  Yum!!  Jake is great as a grill chef!  I'm so stuffed full of veggies, it's not EVEN funny.

If that wasn't enough for one day, I decided to whip up a batch of my homemade laundry detergent, homemade fabric softener, and homemade liquid bath soap.  I kind of roped Jake and Amanda into helping me with that project!  However, it's quick and easy to do, and even faster when you have a couple of helpers.  I've made the laundry detergent before and LOVE it, but, this is my first time to make the fabric softener and the liquid bath soap.  I'm excited to try the two new things out!! 

Now, excuse me while I got soak in a hot tub with lavender scented epsom salts!  Yes, I'm officially an old lady!!  OUCH!!  Then, it's off to bed.  I have a hockey game to go to tomorrow!!  Can't wait!!  :)

Thank you, Lord.  Spring Break, finally!!  Nine days  out of school.  I'm so ready for this break.  I'm ready to do my spring cleaning!!  Wow, it's pretty sad when I get excited about cleaning house.  I normally schedule my spring break away and end up traveling here and there to doctor's or dentist's appointments, going to visit family/friends.  I don't mind the visiting, but, at the end of the week, I don't feel like I've accomplished anything. 

I'm so excited about going to help a friend paint her brand new house tomorrow morning.  She is a young, single mom, who was given the opportunity to help build her own home through Habitat for Humanity.  I've always wanted to help on one of these homes.  This is an item I can cross off of my bucket list.  However, I still want to help do some of the actual construction of one of the Habitat for Humanity homes.  So, I may wait to cross this off my list until I get to help to some of the actual building!

Another very busy day at school.  Lots of paperwork to go over before Spring Break!!  ONE MORE DAY!!!  I'm going to go in at 7:00 a.m., in the morning, to see if I can get everything completed before I walk out of the school building at 3:15 p.m. tomorrow!!!  Looking forward to NINE days off!!  :)  My kiddos were extremely good today and I was able to go through all of my Confidential folders in order to see what still needs to be done before ending the year in May.  Too bad I don't own stock in Post-it notes!!  I used a ton of them today!!  The shredder is also my best friend. 

I was really excited a couple of days ago to find out that since we didn't use ANY of our snow days this year, we will get Good Friday off, then, every Friday in May!!!  Four day work week!!  Yes!!  Not too shabby.   If I had my druthers though, I'd love it if they put all those days together and just let us out a week early!!  Oh, well, beggars can't be chosers, eh?  I'll take a few three day weekends!!  I think I can find something to keep myself amused and or busy.

Oh, my, I really need to hit the hay.  Early day tomorrow, and one last IEP meeting squeezed in before Spring Break!!

Success!! I've been trying to do the mobile blogging from my phone, but, for some reason, it just wouldn't work. I FINALLY figured it out!! Woo-hoo!!

Testing...1, 2, 3...

TWO MORE DAYS!!!  Spring Break, here we come!!!  Absolutely cannot wait!!!  Fourteen more class periods.  Less than 48 hours.  No, I'm not anxious!!!  Of course, I will miss my babies!!!  Those precious little pre-teens, gotta love 'em.  No, really, I'm not being sarcastic, I promise.  :)  This year has just flown by.  Testing, lots of testing after Spring Break... the remainder of the year will both fly by and drag by at the same time.  Only a middle school teacher, principal, counselor, or staff member could possibly understand that concept.  God Bless 'em. 

My Dad has had two really good days this week.  He called me yesterday after I got home, and told me all about his day!!  It was so good to hear him being able to convey his thoughts without struggling with his words.  I went to see him and ate a little supper with him while I was there.  He's losing so much weight.  I'm startled at the weight loss each time I see him.  It just breaks my heart.  Dear Lord, please protect him from any pain he might experience from the chemo.  Praying for more good days.  Praying for a miracle.  Praying for time.   He still calls me "baby" and still tells me he loves me several times while I'm there.  I don't want to think what it will be like if I lose him. 

We had another beautiful day today!!  Oh, how hard it is to stay inside the classroom when it's this gorgeous outside.  The day started out cloudy and I thought we'd get some more much needed rain, but, it turned out to be a sunny day later on in the afternoon.  Either way, I'm good.  I just love the many faces of Spring!

I sat on my front porch for a little while this evening and enjoyed the cool breezes and the jibber jabber of little Jakob, my twenty-one month old perfect grandbaby, who just happens to live right next door.  :)  I watched Miss Kitty, our outdoor grey cat, (who is at least ten years old) dodge the quick moves of  little Jakob, who doesn't yet understand the importance of an "easy pat" vs. "a rough pat".  Miss Kitty is very understanding and gentle with Jakob, but also thought my lap might be a safe choice for protection.  I'm going to miss Jakob when he and his parents move thirty miles down the road, but, I'm extremely happy that they are getting to build a new house.  This big, old house will be lonely this summer.   

Super busy day at school.  So much paper work.  I'm talking monumental piles.  Ugh.  Not my favorite thing to do, but, I tackled a huge portion of it, and am making steady progress.  I'm trying to get as much done before Spring Break as I possibly can AND still teach my kiddos a thing or two.  Ha!  ;)  No, seriously, I really am trying to teach them something important and vital to their future.  What, you say? 

The skill of Reading and all things associated with it!  Motivation?  "You must pass your eighth grade reading test, in order to obtain your driver's license."  Really?  Yes, REALLY!! 

For the first time, in a long time, I got into my truck when I left school today and it was actually HOT inside my truck.  The weather is just absolutely beautiful.  This weather makes me want to be outside.  Hmmmm....maybe my class needs to read outside tomorrow????  :)

I'm ready to break out the lawnmower!  There's not quite enough grass to cut, but, I can see green tufts here and there.  Maybe by the weekend there will be enough to mow.  I love the smell of fresh cut grass.  Isn't it funny how certain smells like that can bring back childhood memories?  I even like the sound of a lawnmower.  Something about it says springtime, summer, barefoot weather, watermelons and raspberry iced tea goodness.

A high of 78 degrees today!  I love my rain, but, I equally love 70s and 80s degree type weather.  Makes me want to get out and dig in my flower bed.  It's getting so close to Spring and I love the cozy sweater weather that comes with it!!  The trees are budding out, and my forsythia bushes that I planted last fall have a few beautiful, bright yellow blooms on them!!!!  I'm so excited!!  I didn't think they had actually even survived.  The rain this past weekend did the trick I'm sure. 

Can't wait to go pick out the plants for my flower bed.  Hoping that we don't receive any freezing temps from here on out.  I'm going to wait at least another week or two before I start planting, to be on the safe side.  Since my Spring Break is next week, it will be very tempting to go ahead and do some planting.  We shall see what the weather does. 

I'm also very excited to go help a friend paint her new home this coming Saturday.  She was the lucky recipient of a Habitat for Humanity home.  I'm so happy for her and her little boy.  I wanted to help with the building process, but something has come up each and every Saturday preventing me from helping with that.  I have cleared the books for this Saturday though.  I am bound and determined to help her at least get the painting done.  Call me weird, but, I LOVE to paint!!

Four more school days until SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ya....HOO!!!!  Can't wait!! 

I never sleep in.  Rarely take naps.  Rarely.  Until today.  I slept to the tune of the falling rain.  Quite awhile, in fact.  It was nice.  It felt good.  A good, long nap.  I needed that.  I guess I REALLY needed that.  Good sleep.  Rainy day sleep.  The best kind.  The only time I ever slept better was on a cruise ship.  BEST. SLEEP. EVER.  Period. 

Now, it's almost midnight, and guess what?  I'm WIDE awake!  Wishing I were just a tiny bit sleepy, especially since I have a meeting bright and early first thing in the morning.  Arrgggghhhh....hope I am able to get up on time.

So much to do, get done, finish.  So little time.  There are never enough hours in the day. 

I have a good friend who often says, "It's either feast or famine."  Boy, did she get that right.  Why is it always that way?  Hmmmmmm.... 

Time will tell.  Patience.  Trust in the Lord, always.

LOVE, love, love the rain. 

Remember the rain?  Remember?  Think about it.  One of my favorite things to hear, feel, smell.

I slept so good last night.  Fell asleep listening to the rain hit the window next to my bed.  What a peaceful sound.  Slept like a baby.

Walked through the puddles on my way to feed the horses.  The puddles.  I remember riding through them on my bicycle as a child.  The bigger the splash, the better.  Oh, the memories associated with rain.

Life-giving rain. 

Memory making rain...

Promises...

One massage given.

One pedicure received.

Horses fed.

Visited with Dad.

Saturday night. 

Waiting for the rain.

Missing you.

Went to Tulsa this evening with a couple of teacher friends to hear Temple Grandin speak.  She was very much as the movie portrayed her.  It was amazing, to say the least.  I respect and admire her, and was surprised to learn she has a great sense of humor.  I am going to have to get my movie about her out and watch it again.  I loved the movie.  What an extremely intelligent, unique individual.  I will add one of my pictures of her later.