Wednesday

My end of the year meeting at work went great and I am now "checked out!" And yes, Lesley, it is a lot like turning in your books at the end of elementary school! My boss said that she is very happy with the way I have gone out of my way to connect my students with community resources and she said that doesn't happen a lot. It's nice to be recognized for hard work, and I have had some very challenging situations to deal with, but honestly, some kids just need more than a school counselor can give them. If they can get their psychiatric problems under control, it is a lot easier to work with them and help them. We have to submit a Personal Growth Plan each year, so I had to turn in my completed one for this year and my plan for next year. My plan for next year is to have contact with all my students' parents every 9 weeks and I will have to keep documentation on it. I really think the communication would help SO much, but the joke is on me because a HUGE amount of my parents don't want to be bothered with their kids at school!! I am really hoping to change that where I can. We work tomorrow and then it sounds like we just go in for an hour or two Friday until the principal announces that the teachers are all "checked out" and can leave. Yay!!

I worked out last night and will be going again tonight. So far, I'm still at 5 lbs. lost so far, but I'm going to keep going! The cruise is in 38 days! I am really going to do everything to lose 5 more lbs. I'm sure I'll gain them all back on the cruise, but I'll deal with that when I get home!

The backyard cats are both at the vet and have had their surgery, so I will pick them up tomorrow. Afterwards, I will try to find the kittens next door in order to socialize them, and then have 2 more CAAWS vouchers to fix that momma cat and another stray living out there. It feels good to put an end to this cycle of breeding and starving cats just because my neighbors are selfish people. I wonder if they'll notice that their cats are all fixed! Probably not!

Cameron & Bryce are finished with exams and don't have to go back to school. Bryce and his family are moving into a house about 5 houses from us, so he'll be able to go to the same school next year, but wont have to come here every day. I love him and have enjoyed having him here, and am really glad that we made it possible for him to come back to school out here, but it's time for his visits here to be just to hang out with Cameron. Cameron has actually gotten his bike out and fixed up knowing that Bryce will be down the street, so that will be awesome for him to have his best friend so close by.

My niece, Daphne started walking! She is 10 months old and is a really cute baby! I am hoping to make a trip to Atlanta to visit this summer, but I may not have the time to fit it in. Here is a cute picture of my brother & his girl.



I cooked something tonight that turned out really good! I found the recipe in Cooking Light magazine. You marinate a 1 lb. flank steak overnight in a ziplock bag in 3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup chopped scallions, and 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil. When you're ready to cook, remove the steak from the bag and throw the marinade away. Grill steak 6 minutes on each side, then remove from the grill and cut diagonally across grain into 1/4-inch slices. Yum!