Possum!

Ok, I'll get to the animal story in a minute....

You know that place between excited and exhausted? That's where I am right now. I had my Issues Management class tonight - which I absolutely love. This is really what I so want to do. We talked about Michael Vick (there's some brand equity down the tubes!), Shell's dominance of Deer Park, Exxon, Disney, Mattel (big story there, but handled really well!). Anyway, the class was awesome, but after lecturing my heart out all day, and stressing over other stuff, I'm so tired I can't think straight. Driving home I realized that my shoulders really, really hurt, just because of stress. Not good, with a long semester to go.

So, I get home and sit down to eat dinner. Snuffy (the dog, for those of you who don't know him) is sniffing around the window behind me like crazy...It's a big picture window looking into the backyard. I thought he was trying to get into my purse, which was on the floor there, so I turned around to shoo him away...and...who are you? Pink pointy nose....white fur...beady black eyes? Oh my! A baby possum was on the window sill, sniffing back at Snuffy! They had a great staring contest for about 3 minutes, then Mr. Possum turned and climbed down. I still don't know why Snuffy didn't go out the dog door and chase him! (And I'm really hoping he doesn't decide to come IN the doggie door...yeah, I need something else to worry about!)

Andrew, Sit Down!

Oh dear Lord, this is why children are for young people! So Hannah is babysitting Andrew tonight. We decided to go to dinner at Chili's first. Hannah and I thought Morgan should sit next to Andrew (that probably wasn't very nice - hee, hee, hee). The next hour consisted of Morgan saying "Andrew, sit down. Andrew, don't color on the table. Andrew, sit down. Andrew, stop. Andrew, please sit down." It's not that he's bad - he's just 2.

And he's smart, and curious. He likes corndogs at Chili's, but he likes the hot dog separate from the "wrapper". So when you cut it in pieces, he has to poke each piece of hot dog out of the center of the wrapper. Then he had broccoli, but Morgan's corn on the cob looked better....
Then we went to Starbucks. There are no pictures of that excursion, but fun was had by all. (Well, maybe not the other patrons - Andrew wanted to play with the stuffed animals they have on display for Arctic Circle.)

Next, Target, where we ran into Andy Stubbs shopping with his family and getting ready to leave for college. I finally figured out that Hannah and Andy have the same thing going on - they both look like they are about 11 years old. Why are we sending these babies off to college??
Right now, Morgan is helping Andrew put all of his crayons back in the box (pointy side UP - that's a skill you have to LEARN). He just wanted to color on the paper, and somehow ALL the crayons were dumped on the couch. Wow, I just heard the phrase "Andrew, don't EAT the crayon."

OK, I better go help out!

Time....what is it good for?

Grrrrrr! What was I thinking? Ok, obviously I wasn't thinking when I signed up for a Monday night class. I can't take class on Monday night, I have to TEACH a class on Monday night. That's when we have the PSAT prep class. And I can't afford to give up that $$. Soooo, when I finally realized that (about 3:00 this afternoon, yes, after I already wrote the first paper!), I went to see the dean of graduate studies. That was interesting. Anyway, the upshot is, I switched to a Tuesday night class (Issues Management), and as long as no one in real power "catches" me, I'll probably be ok. Technically, I should be taking the Comm Theory class first, but I'll just have to take it next fall.
Then, the dean introduced me to their guru of PR - that was great. She still has her own agency, and I talked with her about the program I'm doing - MA in PR and certificate in IR, and she had some recommendations. She agreed that this is the right way to go for marketability to the companies I'm interested in, but she said I'll need a language. So, what do you think? Dust off the high school French? Try something new? All 3 of my kids speak German, but I don't know if I want to work in Germany....And the Disney park is in France...Of course, she suggested Chinese - Oh my!
Anyway, then someone in my PR management class tonight had the syllabus for the Tuesday night class I'm switching to, and I think it's going to be more fun! There's only one major paper, and two presentations. I like that a LOT better! I just wish I didn't feel like I'm playing catch up all the time.

Sick Baby

So school /work started today for all of us in Deer Park. Thank goodness for a "work-day" to ease back into things. Inservice tomorrow - are we excited?

Spent part of the day playing doctor - no, not that way! Andrew has a virus, probably his first ever since he doesn't go to daycare, and his mommy is worried. So who does she call? Her mom...No, a fever of 102 isn't that high in a 2 year old. Yes, I'm sure. Ok, he threw up his Tylenol, stick with water for a while, try Tylenol later. Yes, it's going to take 2 or 3 days for him to get better, not hours. No, really. Poor baby - I remember those days, but I don't really want to relive them!

As soon as I get to the other computer, I'll post a picture of Andrew feeling better...

Here I Go Again...

So, school started last night. For the first hour, all I could think was..."I can't do this again. I've forgotten everything I ever knew, and I'm never going to get it back. " But then I started to breathe, and I realized that 12 years of dormancy probably hasn't melted all my brain cells. I made it through one master's program, I can survive another!

The papers worry me a bit - I really haven't written a paper, and certainly not a 20 page paper, in about 12-13 years. And with debate, and the tournament, and travel, it is going to be challenging. Time management, that's going to be the key! Oh, right, that's the thing I keep making New Year's resolution's about. Hmmm....No time like the present. Let's see: lesson plans, host tournament, write papers, go to class, clean house, cook meals, do laundry, exercise(?!?), teach students...no problem!

I think I'm tired already!