November 14, 2017
12:08 AM
My computer says 12:08 AM so I guess technically it is diary day. Up WAY too late working on a form from hell- CSS Financial Aid Profile. I thought the FAFSA was bad. This is worse. Plus it has the added benefit of costing me $$$$$ to submit unlike the FAFSA-the one big virtue of which is it’s free. FAFSA is done but this CSS is due by midnight 11/15 to a couple colleges to which my son is applying. Still need to find the answers to a couple questions. How much DID we pay for this house in 1997 (Why is this so hard to find and or recall???) and why is the field for entering information about our vehicles way too small to accommodate the information asked for? I want to ask my husband if he knows the answer to that house cost question but he is at school grading and lesson planning. Everyone in this house is up way too late working way too often.
12:20 AM
Finally in bed with a bowl of cereal-Special K Protein/almond milk-and a Northern Exposure DVD to soothe the soul. Have to be up at 6:00 to get ready for work. Too many late nights in a row, that won’t be pleasant.
7:45 AM
Got out of bed late at 6:20, had to write this once I was at work. Up 20 minutes late but only 5 minutes late to work. Arrived 7:35-whew. Everyone in my house is self-sufficient in the mornings thank goodness so I had only myself to get ready. We have one large bathroom plus one extremely small ½ bath for the four of us though so one person off schedule can throw the whole morning out of whack.
Eating breakfast-homemade Greek yogurt, yum-in my classroom waiting for my first speech/language therapy group to arrive. They should be here at 7:50-7:55 so I need to get the materials out for their lesson while finishing breakfast. Most groups are going to be doing Thanksgiving vocabulary bingo-they will be excited! If they win bingo they get to be the “teacher” which means they get to sit in the teacher chair and be the caller for the next round of bingo. They LOVE this no matter if they are in kdg or 5th grade so this should be a fun day.
7:55 AM
Morning announcements on PA, reminder to kids and teachers about 2 hour delay for professional development. . .arrrggggggg. . . tomorrow morning then on to pledge of allegiance, moment of silence, and the school pride pledge. “We will show our school pride today, we will give our personal best in whatever we do, we will show respect for ourselves, others and property. . .”
8:25 AM
Answer e-mail from sister L about birthday dinner out tonight at Applebee’s for our mother. Text to mom’s hair dresser we share to tell her I will cover mom’s hair cut as a birthday present. I heard from another sister she has an appointment today and I know she doesn’t have much money for that but wants her hair to look nice. On to first grade then kindergarten therapy groups.
11:05-11:55 AM
Morning groups done so time to make any therapy notes I got behind on during lessons, cleanup things left out from early sessions and organize for afternoon groups, check school e-mail and eat lunch-leftover turkey breast I made this weekend and pita chips with yogurt/feta dip-in my room while taking care of all that. And for today, a diary writing task. I used to have one more session with one student at this time but his classroom schedule was changed and I now have to try to squeeze him in later right before the end of the day. It is rare I ever had this much time between sessions. On the other days of the week I barely have time to eat.
I rarely take time to eat lunch with the group in the lounge and I miss out on some stuff. But I am here late working most days so I want to get done as much as possible which means I can spend more time at home later. Some days like today there is a lot to get done before the afternoon starts. Also the relative peace and quiet is helpful so I can be recharged for the afternoon. The kids have enjoyed the lessons but several of the kiddos have seemed a bit off today; overly excitable and behavior has needed lots of management which can be exhausting. Maybe my lack of sleep is also causing me to have a bit less patience?
1:35 PM
Finally was able to have the nurse give me my flu shot the school system gets for us. I love that they offer those for us at work now.
2:45 PM
Students are gone and now clean-up, planning, e-mail cleanup and paperwork. There is always paperwork. I have one case conference tomorrow to prep for and two Friday.
And a snack of guacamole and chips. Always need my after school snack.
5:15 PM
Closing up to head home and dinner out for Mom’s birthday. I have been here later than this most days lately so this feels like freedom! But I will probably be late as we are supposed to meet at 6:00
I spent time though filling out a request for feedback from our union representative on calendar options for next year. The superintendent has asked them to gather some feedback on several points. I have other stuff to do but I figure how can I complain later if I don’t take the time now to make my feeling known. Plus, I felt pretty strongly on a couple points, one of which was we started school this year with teacher work days on Friday and Monday then students started Tuesday. That Friday start I was NOT a fan of.
But I did not get that paperwork done! I will have to hope I can get it done tonight or during that professional development time in the morning. Ugh.
9:10 PM
Home after dinner at Applebee’s and a Target run. Put everything away from Target, laundry folded and put away, PJs on and ready to finish that CSS form!
But first. . .Applebee’s was fun. Turned out there was a fundraiser for the Feed My Sheep organization which we heard about while waiting for our table and 15% of our bill was donated to this great organization because L asked if we could participate although we didn’t have the flyer. When L asked our server about it she was overheard by a group sitting close to us who turned out to be Feed My Sheep representatives/organizers who handed us the flyer (the server was going to do it for us anyway-not sure we HAD to have the flyer), thanked us and wanted a picture taken with us. It was a good night. Mom was happy about dinner and her haircut. I did, however, forget to get her a card! Sounds about right, I forget everything lately.
Spent some time on Facebook trying to figure out the name of someone I was talking to at Applebee’s. I can recall all kinds of facts about her, our kids are both seniors at Delta, but can I recall her name? No. I was detective enough to figure it out though based on thinking her last name started with an “E” and I was right. Facebook is good for something; helping those of us with failing memories. NOT good for accurate election information.
9:36
I can avoid the form no longer. (I HAVE apparently memorized this darn login information for CollegeBoard after using it so many times in the last couple days! Glad some of my memory is still functional.)
9:59
A home from night class a little late, I was starting to worry. Glad she is home but she is all stressed out. She is a grad assistant at BSU and she is feeling she has a lot on her plate right now. Took a bit of time to talk with her about her plan to get everything done. She always wants a sounding board. I think talking it out helps her relieve some of the stress.
10:26
CSS SUBMITTED!! Finally. At least for the first two colleges. Those two don’t require the supplemental questions which is where the glitch is I can’t seem to get past regarding the vehicle info. I have submitted a question to them for clarification but they haven’t gotten back with me yet. The cost for submitting to those first two colleges. . .$41. This child’s college search may do me in.
10:35
Kids, well the young adults who live here, are making quesadillas before getting back to homework. Sounds like Mad Men is on in the background. Hubby is watching a football game-Ohio U and Akron. I am going to upload some forms to one of these colleges then get to bed at a better hour finally.
11:55
Well that took longer than expected. Probably because I got a little distracted looking into if another school needs the same info uploaded, I don’t have it on my list of things that need taken care of for financial aid but was it just an oversight? Or do they really not want them. For each of these schools the process is just slightly different for the financial information. Also, got a check written for my son who came in here while I was working on these forms; he said he has to turn in team suit order for swimming later this week. It is $27 bucks but he is not sure who to make the check out to. Which reminded me I need to look up the e-mail that came a couple days ago from the swim booster president. I have not yet signed up for what I can bring to the spaghetti dinner fundraiser. . .oy.
It was such an overwhelming thought in my current state, I put it off again.
Professional development in the morning from 7:30-9:30. I better get there early as our little school has NO adequate parking for things like this. All the elementary teachers in the corporation will be there.
But. . .FINALLY heading to bed. My husband headed there almost an hour ago and I had told him I would be there soon.