Holiday

This break was super-busy. (I seem to be saying that a lot.) Here's the down-low:

Last Tuesday Michael and I had our own Thanksgiving at "our" restaurant. They actually were already serving the traditional meal, and we had a very nice time.

Wednesday before Turkey Day I went with Michael to visit his Dad. After hearing that the traditional meal before Thanksgiving is pizza, we decided to get in on some of that action and had a pie before he went to NJ to see his little girl.

I stayed home, cause I knew I'd have to take a kitty to the vet Friday morning. More on that in a minute.

Thursday evening I went and saw Rent, which was great, talked to Amy in Texas, and my aunt on NV. All very fun.

I took Lena to the vet, 'cause she seemed to be having problems using the litter box. (I know, this may just be too much information for some, but the rest of you all have cats, too, so you'll understand how the kitties are family.) Anyway, turns out she's a tubby girl (although I already knew that and had been making an effort to play more with her) and that her big 'ol butt was getting in the way of peeing properly. The solution? A kitty butt-lift. Not kidding. Apparently cat urine is so acidic that after continued problems of peeing on herself as she tried to go potty, she was ending up burning her own legs. So, on Friday, I dropped her off in the morning and picked her up about 6 hours later with a shaved fanny and a RX for pain meds and antibiotics. It's now Tuesday, and she seems to be doing really well and is swatting at the boys again already!

Saturday I watched movies from Netflix-"Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" (I was surprised to see "Moaning Myrtle" from Harry Potter as the lead actress, and yes, that really IS her voice!) and a personal favorite, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Then, I ordered Thai food. Yum.

Sunday I finally got into the swing of the cleaning thing and cleaned my bedroom. I still have the rest of the apartment to go, but hey, it's a start! Then, I ordered Indian food. Again, yum!

Today, I registered for next semester's grad school classes and I have a doctor's appt after school.

What am I thankful for? The retroactive money from the teacher's new contract is scheduled to be distributed on Dec 15, and our regular paychecks are supposed to reflect our new raises! Finally, I should be getting paid for Saturday school, too. (I've been working there since Oct, and haven't seen any money yet!)

Hope everyone is well...

Movie madness

Ooh, ooh, it is the beginning of movie season!!

I am anxious to see:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Opening: Today
I just finished reading the book for the second time, as I am now helping with the HP book and movie club at school, and cannot wait to see all of the amazing special effects. I have read many, many reviews already and believe this will be the best of the series so far. I am hoping to see it in IMAX over the weekend. However, I will be seeing it alone, as Michael in such a Muggle.

Walk the Line
Opening: Today
The biopic of the infamous Man in Black himself, Mr. Johnny Cash. I'm not much of a Joaquin Phoenix fan, but looking at the trailers, he's done a great job. He does look the part, and, after much coaching and learning to play the guitar for real, actually does do all of his own singing. A great addition is a brunette Reese Witherspoon, who rarely has done anything but exceptional work as June Carter Cash.

Rent
Opening: Thanksgiving Weekend
I'm "over the moon" (haha) about the movie adaption of this fabulous Broadway musical. Love that they were faithful to much of the On-Broadway cast. Am preparing to sing along, cry, and then go search the city for filming locations used in the film.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Opening: Dec 9
I just finished reading this aloud with one of my classes. The Stone Table scene makes me tear up just reading it. With Tilda Swinton looking frightening as the White Witch, I am afraid I might have a wonderfully deserved breakdown watching the movie. Even the trailer was choking me up!! Yay!!!

Will let you know if or when I see these films, and since it's my blog, I'll be telling you whether or not I think you should go, too!! :)

Thursday's Friday

Yay! Today is the "Friday" of the workweek! I am in such dire need of a 3 day weekend.

Michael's surgery technically went well. He went in on Monday morning at 9:30 and was not released until after 3 o'clock. They had to take a sample, test it, come back, take another, deeper sample, come back, etc. So, it was a very long and laborious process. At first he told me he was fine, but it's now Thursday and he has not come back from New Jersey. He is staying with family there, and has not felt well enough to make the 2 hour (sometimes longer) drive back into NY. In a later conversation he admitted that they found the beginnings of a tumor and had to remove it. I have not seen him yet, so I can't give an update on how he looks just yet. He's very critical of himself, so I have to take his descriptions with a grain of salt. He claims to now look like Frankenstein and has a 10-inch scar across his face...whatever.

My realtor has gotten promoted within the company, so now he will be handling corporate properties and not working with me anymore. My sale is being transferred to another agent within the office. Apparently they are still showing the property on a regular basis and have not recommended lowering the price yet.

School is still overwhelming. I have a ton of stuff due today, which is why I must end this post and start organizing and printing. (Yes, it's all written I just want to make sure my copies are clean and neat.)

End of the Week

Once again, I am thankful for a Friday.

Yesterday was really tough with the kids (they always are rowdier at the end of the week) and my Master's research class was horrid. The prof refuses to fully explain the assignments, telling us that he just wants us to do them and then wait for individual feedback to tell how we need to revise. For a bumch of teachers who don't want to be researchers, telling us to "trust the process" is a bunch of crap. No one in there has the time or energy to do the same assignment several times to tweak it to his expectations (because you have to be editing and revising as the course continues and he assigns more work). We'd all rather just be given the expectations and do it right the first time! Anyway...

After my bad, tiring day, I went home and took a hot shower. Then, I got a call from the realtor. The people orignally offering on the property withdrew, but we got another from someone else. It's a lot less than we were asking, but we just found out that there's a big possibility that the city is going to try and run a 4 lane highway down the center of the land, so that changes things quite a bit. I went ahead and accepted the lower offer, because I know that we wouldn't get that much from the city, and really, who else would want a road going through their front yard?

So, I finished talking to him and then gave Michael a quick call. He was on his way home. The next thing I knew, he was telling me to wake up. Turns out I had fallen asleep with my phone in my hand, wearing only my towel. He wonderfully set out some clothes for me, then took me to dinner (I had only eaten a Luna bar all day...things were crazy!!) at a place nearby, which was really nice.

So, the week is finally over and it's time to celebrate...the NYC teacher's union agreed to ratify our new contract, so basically, I'm going to be spending an extra hour at school Monday thru Friday, but I'm also going to get paid retroactively for 2 or 3 raises that didn't come because of the contract stuff and get a general increase in salary. (Hey, I was already staying after school almost every day anyway, now, at least, I'll feel like I'll be getting paid to do it!) I don't know exactly when all of the changes are going to be put into effect, but I hope we'll get at least some additional money before Christmas.

Not traumatized

Just a quick update...

1) Michael had a small lesion on his forehead and finally had it checked out. He has been diagnosed with skin cancer, but his docs have told him not to worry. His surgery is scheduled for Nov 7.

2) There's been an offer on the house. The prospective buyers have now entered the limited time where they may have apprasials and surveys done on the property before backing out (if desired) with only a small fee.

3) My super came over Sunday and informed me that the water pipe that runs below my bathroom floor and into my kitchen was leaking and they would be coming in Monday to tear up my whole floor to repair the pipe. However, when I came home yesterday, there was only a small section torn up and it already had new cement poured into it. There was no note, and they didn't leave the extra set of keys, so I don't know if they're finished or not. I guess I'll find out today...

4) Assume I got the nearly 5,000 grant from AmeriCorps for completing my million-plus hours of service in a high-needs school. (I had some trouble getting my forms in on schedule, so there was some question as to whether or not they would revoke my money. Looks now like they accepted everything.)

5) Started teaching 5th graders at Saturday School. They were so cute! (Of course, I only had 10 of them to deal with, but still, they're not like my 8th graders, that's for sure!!!)

6) Signed up to attend an after-school enrichment course in how to teach writing better, for a training rate paycheck. (Even though we have a contract, teachers have an estimated pay rate per hour -about $37 before our triple taxes here-and another rate for simply training, or listening to someone drone on and on.) At any rate, it's extra money.

7)Wanting to make a trip home, but not sure if or when that's possible. Very tired and have much lack of moolah. However, am hoping that when funds from other house come in, I may have some cash to have visits with some of my favorite people.

8) Turns out I was not at all traumatized from the lack of a high school reunion. I was very busy sorting out kittens and vet appointments and cleaning and grading. Am now very glad I used that weekend to my best advantage instead of immersing myself back into "been there's and done that's."

9) That's all for now. Love and kisses!!