Tuesday

My brain is almost too tired to post anything tonight, but since i'm here, I may as well go ahead!! I spent almost 3 hours in the staff meeting about a student today with about 15 other people! It's amazing what can happen when everyone works together and is willing to do what it takes to help a child.

After work, Walter & I had to go back to the Ford dealer and bring a check from my bank. My bank's loan was at a much better interest rate, so we decided to use it instead. Then we went to eat at Albasha! Yum!!! And we are eating out WAY too much again and will blow our budget if we don't get back on track. With my BIRTHDAY tomorrow, I know it's hopeless to start now, but Monday, the diet and budget are going to be enforced!!!

Monday

I had my bi-weekly supervision session with my social work supervisor today and I really LOVE meeting with her! I have to have 4 hours of supervision per month that I work (hence - no supervision over the summer) for 2 out of 3 years to become a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). I don't intend to leave my job once i'm licensed, but I would like to have a small private practice to work with kids in the afternoons a few days a week, but anyway, that's WAY off from now, but I do have to meet with a supervisor. One of my co-workers is planning to get certified to supervise Courtney & I, but for now, we are both using a former professor for supervision. But I do LOVE meeting with my supervisor and consider her to be my own personal therapist sometimes!!! Today I caught my supervisor up on all the changes and what I will be doing this year. She is going to do group supervision with Courtney & I, as well as my friend, Christine! Yay!

I am so proud of myself sometimes for using my brain! Cameron's school sends home an entire set of books for the students to keep at home for the year so they don't have to bring them back & forth every day. And that's great. And super convenient. Unless, your child lives in 2 houses! Cameron is with me 1 week and his dad 1 week, so that is a LOT of moving books back & forth. I figured out last year to go to Half.com and buy the books he has so that we can have a set at each house, then sell them back the next year! Yesterday, I paid $128 for textbooks for this year, and sold 2 books (YES, the SAME day I put them on there) for $95, plus there is one more that hasn't sold yet. Work it out, girl!

The cat is out of the bag, and for once, it isn't a cat in my house!!! I have been planning a surprise party for Walter's 50th birthday in September and trying to "feel him out" to see if he wanted a party or not, cause i'd really rather him be involved if he really did want a party, and yesterday while we were having lunch at the Grand Wall (yummmmy), he said that he would like to have a party. So I said, ok, well, it's on September 20th!!! I've been working on this for awhile, and my next door neighbor, Leon, was going to have everyone at HIS house to fool Walter, including Leon's brother-in-law who is cooking a huge pasta Jambalaya over there for the party. And all that's still on, just now, Walter can invite who he wants and plan what he'd like to have, which is great with me. He says I couldn't have pulled this off, but yeah, I could have!!

I got ANOTHER Land's End gift certificate today for my birthday (on Wednesday) from my mom! I guess that means the crock pot will have to go on my Christmas list, but i'm really excited about the Land's End stuff and ordered 4 really cute shirts today!! Yay!! I had just gotten an email for free shipping, so I hit the jackpot!! Woohoo!!!

Cathy & Brent came over last night to see the car and I took Cathy on a ride (top DOWN of course) to Popeyes to pick up dinner for all of us & Cameron. We watched a little of the Olympics (Walter's latest obsession) and had a fun visit. We are going to dinner Wednesday night for my birthday instead of Thursday (steak night), so i'm looking forward to that.

And hey...leave me a comment so I know that you're here!!! I'd love to come read your blog too!!!

Questions & Comments:

Kim asked if my car is a standard like my old one - no. It's an automatic transmission. And i'm betting Kayli's insurance is higher because of her age.

Sunny Sunday

I had so much fun last night with my friends!! 5 of us showed up, and most of them have stayed in contact off and on through the years, but I hadn't seen most of them since I was 16 or so. We ended up staying at Ninfa's Restaurant talking & laughing until 11pm, so it was close to 12 before I got home. It's amazing how much history we all have together and I know they all were a huge part of my life growing up. We are planning to get together for our birthdays and have dinner to stay in touch, so I'm really excited about that! My friend, Holli & I may try to get together once in awhile for lunch since we live so close to each other. Here are a couple of pictures we took last night - at the table: Darleen, Gail, me, Holli, & Tracy


And yes, Holli and I did take the new MUSTANG to dinner last night and it was so fun to drive!!! It's funny to see how much room there ISN'T in the back seat! Lesley - you are right that Lane & Ryan will love the car, and they MIGHT fit in the back seat, but i'm not even sure!!! I will have to bring it over one day and show it to y'all!!

I am planning to soak up some sun in the pool this morning and hopefully clean the house today!!! Walter's friend is coming to pick the boat up that we've been boat-sitting, so otherwise, not much more going on.

Questions & Comments:
Kim said she would let the "bad kids" walk all over her if she worked with them in a school. I have to say that I have learned through my role in the schools that I can't handle a class of my own!!! Every now & then I have to watch a class for a teacher and the kids do walk all over me!! I either have to be really mean or I just lose control! I do great in small groups and with the kids I know, but i'm not cut out to be a teacher!

Saturday

Walter & I went to the Ford dealership today to test drive a car similar to the ones I want to consider, just different colors, and ended up buying a used '08 Torch Red (instead of Candy Apple Red) convertible that was on the lot! We were not intending to buy anything today, but this car was just what I wanted, plus $5,000 cheaper, still has 2 years left on it's original warranty, and had 12,000 miles on it. It is SO cute!! They had "wild thing" colored on the windshield and I saw it right when we drove up and I told Walter, "that car is calling me!!" They gave us exactly what we owed on the Honda and that sealed the deal! My note is LESS than the one for the Honda and i'd been trying hard just to get the note CLOSE to what the Honda was, plus I am pretty sure my insurance will go down (that seems backwards since the Mustang is a sports car - but it's true - the Honda is a theft risk). So anyway, meet my new baby!!!!


The dealership is going to detail the car whenever I feel like bringing it back, because they didn't get to it today. It really looks fine, but i'll bring it one day and they can do what they want to. Yay!!

I'm getting ready to go to dinner in Baton Rouge with 5 or 6 of my friends from high school that I haven't seen in probably 20 - 25 YEARS!! One of my friends, Holli, lives about 10 miles from me and we're going to ride together. I think the last time I saw her was when I was 16! I am 42!! I'm really excited!! We shouldn't be too late, so maybe i'll post some pictures when I get home.

I got a gift certificate to Land's End from my sister, Donna, for my birthday (which is Wednesday), so i'm excited about that too! I love to buy things!!! My mom is taking us to lunch next Sunday and I think she's getting me a cool crock pot that I told her I want!

Well, i'm off to see my friends! Have a great weekend!

Thursday

The lady at the Ford dealer has found a Candy Apple Red convertible Mustang in the price range I want, so I'm going to go test drive a different color one on Saturday and if I want it, she will go get the red one for me. I've already researched their inventory and had found the car myself in Waveland, Mississippi, but if there is no charge for them to bring it here, they can go get it instead of us having to drive there. But, the interior of the car is beige/tan and I don't think i'm going to like it, so I may look into the white one. Kim mentioned that she's started to like the white cars, and I do like some of them too, so I am going to consider it. I just hope they'll give me what I want for my trade-in! We shall see!!

Work went by fast today! I had to meet with the Office of Mental Health (OMH) people along with my supervisor and some co-workers at one of my new schools on the "west side" today. For privacy reasons, I don't want to give out the city or the name of my schools, so i'll refer to this school as "Elementary School 1" or ES1. I actually will have 2 elementary schools and 1 middle school this year, so this is 1. The meeting was to find the OMH social worker a private office at the school (something I don't even have), so that wasn't too exciting for me, but yes, of course they found one!!!! My co-worker who was at this school last year showed me where she meets with kids and it will work out fine, but i'd sure like to have my own office!!! Anyway, the school was WONDERFUL!! I don't know if i've ever been so impressed by staff at a school before. The principal hugged me several times and welcomed me "to her family." It is apparent how much the staff cares about the kids here. I am looking forward to working there and getting to know the staff and kids. Afterwards, we went to the high school in the area, which another co-worker is going to be working at, and got to see the OMH worker's office there! It's amazing how there really IS office space available, if you just make that a requirement!! So, then we went to lunch and then I picked up one of our new counselors to meet with OMH at her high school that I had last year, and yes, saw the OMH's beautiful office there!! Do I sound bitter? Just a little! I was working in a hot, stuffy closet there. Well, anyway, just a lot of meeting and touring and all that sort of stuff. I went over some forms & things with our new counselors and all in all it was a good day and it went by fast. And I love working with Courtney! My supervisor made me Courtney's "buddy," so I get to bring her everywhere I go for awhile. One thing though...those trainings I went to last week? Remember? One thing we did there was discussed the case of a boy who nobody can figure out what to do with. The experts asked us for 2 difficult cases for him to work on with us, and the boy was one of them. He is only allowed at school for 1/2 days and is still out of control during the time he is there. Well, now that i'm on the "west side," he's mine! And he's starting out the year only coming for lunch!! I am supposed to meet him (during lunch with the behavior team) tomorrow, so i'm really looking forward to that - seriously. I've heard about him for a year now, and to suddenly have him on my caseload is fascinating. It should be interesting, not to mention challenging!!!

Walter & I are taking Cameron & Bryce to their orienation at school tonight. They have already got their schedules and I'm pretty sure they are all 3 (them + Bradley) in all of the same classes. Last year they were in none of the same classes. I am wondering how long until the phone calls from the school start. Yikes. And because Cameron's grades were just average last year and he didn't do anything to improve them, there are some big changes coming. He wont be allowed on the computer until 8pm Monday - Thursday (here OR at his dad's - we agreed), and will have a set homework time daily (already did that here but his dad agreed to do it too), and hopefully he will get more done for school AND get outside and have some fun off of the computer. He knows this is coming, but I haven't reminded him about it in awhile. He wont be amused.

Dinner at Hilltop was SOOO good last night!!! It wasn't steak night, but I just made it my own special steak night and ordered it anyway! They have an all you can eat catfish special on Wednesdays and that is pretty good too, but I couldn't resist my steak!

Saturday night is my dinner with some friends from high school. I haven't seen some of them in 25 years, so i'm really looking forward to that!!

Back to work!

While I wasn't happy about having to get up SO early, getting back to work today was good. We got back to find that our office (which is actually a VERY old t-building) had gotten a good makeover during the summer, but EVERYTHING that was moved to replace our floors was still sitting on top of desks, so we spent the morning putting things back where they go and figuring out what was missing and where to find it!! We all went to lunch at Chili's (eating out is my favorite hobby), so that was fun, and Courtney & our other new co-worker, Tammie, seemed to fit right in and everything was good. Our school superintendent & central office employees came out to talk to all the schools, and we had our meeting with our supervisors. I also found out that we got another raise! Gotta love that! That is the 4th pay increase in the year i've been working there! Apparently our wonderful Governor, Bobby Jindal, was able to get the $1,000 per year pay increase for teachers approved. I can't complain there!!

So, anyway, we got our school assigments and I was assigned to 3 of our 4 schools that are in our most troubled area and I feel that it is a huge compliment that I was the one chosen to work with these schools and i'm really looking forward to it. I am also being considered to go to some trainings with our behavior team and to then be able to work with other schools to make some changes. I will get to go to one of the schools tomorrow and meet with the Office of Mental Health employees who are putting a school social worker in 2 of my schools.

Walter & I have been discussing the car situation and it's pretty clear that nobody is chomping at the bit to buy my car, so we are planning to trade it in. As long as I get what I owe on it, i'm ok with that, but I really wanted to sell it and have a down payment on a new car, but whatever works! I am just wasting money on the Honda now because I do not plan to keep it, so it's better to just trade it in and move on. We applied through our bank for a "Blank Check Loan" and we were approved, so the check will arrive here within a few days. We can take the check to a dealer and buy what we want. The interest rate is 5.09, so that is going to be good. I have my eye on 3 convertible Mustangs. The one I really want is Candy Apple red like my old one, then there is a bright red one, and a white one. Any of them would be fine, but I really loved my Candy Apple red one! The white one is the least expensive, so I emailed the dealer to see about getting a red one with the same features, so we'll see what happens.

Steak night is coming early this week because Cathy has a meeting tomorrow night and Cameron has orientation at his school, so we are going to Hilltop tonight. I ate a VERY bad lunch today, so I will most likely have a VERY bad dinner too, but I've been doing really well and have only gained back 2 pounds of my 10 and am doing pretty good at maintaining my weight so far. I am looking pretty good, if I may say so myself, and was even told how skinny I look today. That's all I want - to not be hanging over the sides of my pants, so it's all good.

Atlanta bound!

Well, I'm all packed and ready to go on my weekend trip to Atlanta. Walter is dropping Cameron & I off with my mom & step-dad at a midway point between their house and ours at around 6am. I really do hate getting up early. Blah. But, it's for a good purpose, so i'll manage! I will have my laptop with me, so I wont be gone completely, assuming my cousin Edna has wireless internet!!

Guess what??? And no, that is NOT a guess!! Guess!!!! Ok, i'll tell you!! I used to have a '96 Mustang GT that I loved with all my heart! Seriously!! When I got the car, my ex-husband accused me of loving the car more than him, and well, look which one was still with me 6 months later!! So, anyway, my Mustang died on the interstate in 2006 and I was forced to get a new car. At the time, Walter had a small pick up truck that was rough to travel in, and I was a student without a job, so I thought I should do the right thing and get a "family car," so I got an '06 Honda CRV. It's cute and all, but it makes me feel old. And i'm really not old. So anyway, last year, Walter got a new truck that is full sized and VERY comfy to travel in, so I got to thinking to myself..."hey self....maybe you should get rid of this thing before you spend too much money on it and get a new Mustang." I like myself when I think like that!! So, it took some convincing, but I finally got Walter on board and we put my Honda up for sale. Nobody called. We put it in the News on Wheels. Nobody called. I decided maybe the time wasn't right, so i've just been driving it with my pouty face and waiting for the right time. Last week, I decided to put it back in the News on Wheels since the '09 Mustangs just came out and maybe I can get a good price on an '08. Well, tonight, somebody called!!! A guy actually came out and looked at my car, test drove it, and went home to talk to his wife about it! Yay!! I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!!!! I have my heart set on one like this:

Have a great weekend!!!