With gas prices so high, do you think the moped will become cool again?

Finally Friday and I couldn't be happier about it. The weather is still complete crap and it will be crap tomorrow and Sunday but next week looks to be awesome.

It is a bit easier to take this weather when it is Friday and the outlook for the next week is good.

Life is always full of little dramas but I am going to put it all behind me today. I am not waiting until Monday to have a better attitude. The attitude change starts TODAY!

Last night it thundered and lightninged (is that even a word?).

There are no meetings on the schedule for today and I have some office work I need to do that will keep me busy. My car is fixed and runs well so besides the weather, it should be a good day.

This weekend Jess is supposed to have a track meet but I am pretty sure it will be cancelled. Other than that, we really don't have plans so I should be able to get things done around the house. Jess has a volleyball tournament in Minneapolis next weekend. They will leave Friday night or Saturday morning and will be back Monday night late. She has a track meet Tuesday after she gets back so she will have to get plenty of rest in the car and try to eat well.

Drew has let his grades dip a bit as of late and I think it is hormonal. He is an A or high B student and he has a couple classes his grade has dropped to a C. I talked to his teachers and they say he has been spending more and more class time talking to the girls. Uh-oh! I grounded him and we are working on getting the grades backup together. I help him with his spelling words during the week so he should be getting back on track shortly.

Yes, I know mom. I had plenty of C's.

Ok, it is time to head off for the weekend. I hope things go well today.

Don't tell me anything, I don't want to know

The rain is coming down like the weather people predicted. A "massive" storm system is moving through central Iowa today with a chance of SNOW tomorrow.

So I have been working on my attitude lately and giving it the good ol' "college try". Postive thoughts and postive actions. I even donated blood yesterday morning. Then Karma ran up behind me and kicked me in the crotch!

I went to get lunch yesterday and started backing my car out of the parking lot and I heard this terrible sound. Come to find out, the rear spring, that holds the car up off the tire, had broken and the car was un-drivable. I had to call a tow truck and have it hauled to the mechanic. It should be fixed today sometime.

On the bright side, Jessica's car got fixed up yesterday so I will be able to drive that this morning. I have a meeting at the school administration center so I need a vehicle.

We are supposed to have track meets today but I think they will both be cancelled. The weather is just too crappy. We are also supposed to have a track meet Saturday and I would imagine it will get cancelled as well since it is supposed to SNOW THAT DAY!!!!! What the hell.

So I am really trying to have a good attitude. I really am trying. The thing I am hanging on to at this point is the weather is supposed to be nice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Sunshine and 60's.

Class went pretty well last night. I am glad I am done teaching for the week. DMACC asked me to teach in Perry on Monday and at West Campus on Tuesdays this Fall. I told them I would. It is good money and good experience. I guess they must think I am doing a pretty good job to ask me back again. That is good.

Two meetings today and then nothing for Friday. It will be good to have a day on my calendar that is blank.

My tenants keep calling me with little needs and wants. They are nice people and want to make the house their home but they act like I should just pour money into it because they want to make it nice. If I was going to pour money into it, I would have done it when I lived there. I wonder how many calls I will get in the next week.

Here's my plan. I will continue to complain tomorrow. So be ready! Monday, I turn over a new leaf and become more pleseant. The sun should help and I am going to try to work on relaxation this weekend. If all goes well, Monday will be only happy thought.

I have to go so I can put out the garbage for the princesses to pickup.

I think there's a duck under my chair

Today looks like the only day of the week that that weather is going to be decent. At this point, I will take what I can get.

I have two meetings today and teach class tonight. Only three more classes left and the last class is the final. Final night I really don't teach, I just give them the test. It will also be a very short night.

Tomorrow we are supposed to get rain and more rain and then.....more rain. This is supposed to go through Friday and even some snow flurries mixed in as the temps drop. Saturday we are going to ge a high of 40 degrees. Of course Jess has a track meet that day so I am sure on top of it being cold, the wind will probably be whipping around too. I try my hardest not to say bad thigs about mother nature but she must be pissed.

I watch this show called "Hell's Kitchen" and they always cook something called Rizotto. I think it is sauteed onions, white wine, chicken stock, cream, and rice. It appears to be pretty tempremental and there are a variety of ways to make it. Some have crab meat for example. It sounds good to me and I may try to make it one of these weekends. Other than that, there is not point to this story.

I have a cabinet meeting tomorrow. The cabinet is the management group of the district. All of the directors and principals are part of this group and we meet once a month to talk about district issues. We are doing a book study on having a positive attitude and blah, blah, blah. It is kind of a self help type of book. I would rather do something with team building or leadership but this is what the Superintentent gave us. Anyway, this week we are supposed to go on a Positivity diet. We were supposed to start last week and the first day listen or read inspirational material, second day work on positive self talk, blah, blah, blah.

I really am not a fan of this stuff and just didn't do it. My guess is, nobody did it. We are discussing it tomorrow and I am curious to see what kind of BS comes out of the mouths of everyone. "Oh Yeah!, I feel so much better with this positive thinking...."; "I can't believe the change in my stress level now that I am thinking positively"....PUKE!!!!! What a croc! I will tell you how it goes tomorrow but I am sure there will be plenty of ass kissing and smoke blowing. Whatever!

By the way......Let's give the Olypic torch runners a hand gun. Stupid bastard protestors want to take their misplaced anger out on a symbol of unity.......say hello to my little friend....pop,pop,pop. Ok, maybe that was a bit harsh. How about a tazer?

I am just a little ray of sunshine lately. The good news is, I can feel my mood shifting and getting a bit better. Monday was rough. Tuesday rough, today a bit better. I hope putting out the garbage tomorrow in pouring rain doesn't make me back slide.

Ok, I am off to make the world a better place.

My interest rate dropped again today

I think I need to be on a beach somewhere.

This week has started out rough and it doesn't seem to be getting any better today. I am sure you could tell by the post yesterday that I was a bit grouchy. Well, day two same attitude.

It is the little things in life that have the most impact. We don't always have big events that change our lives but it is the little things that shape your attitude. A nice sunny day with the birds singing, green grass and a mild breeze. These are a few of my favorite things, as the song goes.

Well, the opposite it true. Phone ringing, needy people, childish behavior, irrational behavior, yada yada yada.....bad attitude.

I think I need a vacation.

If truth be told. I can handle all the stuff that is occuring around me. What I am having trouble dealing with is the CRAPPY WEATHER. There is something called SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), maybe I have that. It looks like the sun may be showing this weekend.

Jess had a track meet last night. I was teaching class so I didn't go. She won the long jump and they put her in three relays instead of her normal 400 and 800. I think they were trying to see if they could get more team points by having her anchor some relays and then catch up after the first three sucky runners got way behind.

It didn't work out so well. They got 3rd in the distance medley. I think that is the first time all year she hasn't gotten 1st or 2nd in an event she was in. They got second in the 4x400 and 1st in the Sprint Medley. That relay broke the meet record. She should to to state in that event, the 400 and the 800.

I am kind of irritated with the coaches for putting her in the crappy relays. She would have gotten 4 golds if she would have run her normal events. She had a shot at breaking the meet record in the open 400 if she would have run it.

Drew is practicing high jump and the hurdels this year. He has his first track meet Thursday. It is supposed to rain, thunder and lightning. Stupid weather!

Looking ahead. Nothing tonight. Wednesday I teach in Des Moines. Thursday both kids have track meets, weather permitting. Friday - nothing. Saturday - Jess has a track meet at Saydel.

Off to start my Tuesady.

I don't even know where to start

So there is NO WAY, I can stay in the midwest when I retire. This weather completely and utterly SUCKS!!!!

We have a nice day then three days of crap, then another nice day then back into the sewer. If it is warmer, it is about 100 mph wind and then it gets cold, or rains, or both. PLUS, it is Monday for God's sake. Not the best way to start my week.

I teach class tonight, Jess has a track meet and Drew has track and baseball practice. I still haven't recieved a game schedule for baseball yet and that is a bit annoying.

The weekend was pretty good. Friday night Jess had a track meet. She ran the 400 and set a meet record at a time of 59.5 seconds. She also ran the 800 and got first in that. She ended up second in the longjump and they got first in the Sprint Medley relay. Three golds and a silver.

Saturday, we cleaned her car up and then went to Nancy's. Nancy had to help her parents move and they had her son's dog (long story) so we went over and puppy sat for a few hours. We played Wii and Playstation 3 and enjoyed their HDTV. It was nice outside and we spent most of the day inside playing games but thats ok. We watched a movie Saturday night and it was kind of stupid but the kids watched with me and that was nice.

Sunday, I worked a bit, went to the store with Jess. She had volleyball practice at 2. Has anyone noticed the price of coffee these days? For crying out loud!

Dang! I think I have a really bad attitude today. Notice all the exclamation points?

This morning I have a meeting with the Superintentent. I will try to tone it down for that.

Here is the weather forcast for the week. Ok today and then rain tonight and tomorrow. Wednesday, mediocre but at least no rain. Rain - Thursday and Friday. UGH!

Maybe I need to go to a tanning bed just to get the sensation of warm sun on my face. Maybe that would help my mood.

Charlton Heston died this weekend. I guess we can pry the gun from his hand now.

I had a flash of anxiety last night for no apparent reason. As I sat in the living room watching an episode of "My Name is Earl" (Tivo). I am trying to figure out why I feel this tightness in my chest and a rush of anxiety. You know the feeling you get when you are about to give a speech or do something that makes you realy nervous? That feeling. It might have been indegestion but I am not sure why I had the feeling of anxiety. There really isn't anything going on right now that makes me anxious.

Maybe I need to start meditating or something.

I will try to provide more sunshine tomorrow in the blog.

I made a manacotti bake thing and we had salad and bread.

I need some SUN!

I could not be happier about today. Well, I guess that is a bit of an exaggeration but it is a pretty good day anyway. The weather is going to be great. High 57, sunny and did I mention...FRIDAY!!!!!!!?

I know Friday is mom's Monday and that sucks for her but for me..............WHOOOO-HOOOO!!!

It is too bad that I live so far away from the restraunt because if we were close, I would have all of the department parties there. Of course it might be a litte awkward having my mom sell me beer in front of my department. I am sure I would get over it.

Jess has a track meet today. She is running the open 400, the open 800 and the Spring medley relay, which she runs the 400. It is good because that is what she will run at conference and regionals. She has a shot to go to state in all three of those events. The 400 and 800, she is either 1st or 2nd in the entire 3A class and the Sprint medley team is 1st in class 3A so it is promising. She went to state in the 400 and sprint medley last year.

Drew is enjoying baseball practice so far this year. I think he really likes the coach and the other players are his friends so he is having a good time. He is also trying the hurldes in track. He said he likes that so we will see how he does. It is hard for him to have to follow Jess in sports. He does well but when Jess is in the paper all the time and breaking school records and everyone talks about her, it is hard for him.

He will do well in sports but doesn't have the drive or some of the natural ability Jess does. He is more of the social one of the two. He has lots of friends and is always busy and rarely has drama in his life. Jess isn't as fortunate.

I really like spending time with Drew. I like spending time with Jess too but Drew is just more of a softy. Last night we were watching "My Name is Earl" and Earl was in a coma and was about to die and his brother was with him holding his hand and talking to him and I look over at Drew and he is covering his face. He was crying. Not drama, crying out loud but a few tears down his cheek. Of course he got really pissed when I noticed and said, "Drew, are you crying?" Apparently it is easy to touch Drew's heart.

He is a good boy who will never hurt a fly and will be very good to his family when he grows up.

Drew's first track meet is Thursday. He is away and Jess has a home track meet that night. I hope the weather is good, I am doing the timing again. Might as well get paid $25 to watch Jess run.

There is a new restruant in town called "The Smokehouse". It is smoked meat and kind of a BBQ place. The actual building they are in is kind of crappy but I hear the food is really good. The lady in the office told me they can't get ribs in fast enough to smoke and cook them. They had to shut down one day because they ran out of food. Today, Nancy and I are going to give it a shot. If I remember, I will tell you how it was on Monday's post.

I got my car fixed yesterday and Jess' car goes in today. They fixed my breaks and gave the car a tune up. The window was a bigger issue than they could do, they said I would have to take it to a body shop.

I hope your weekend goes well. The only plan I have is to sleep in tomorrow.

What the hell..That's not yogurt!!!!!!

Things are on a bit of an upswing right now. It is Thursday and I am done teaching class for the week. The weather, although crappy today, is going to be nice Friday and the rest of the weekend. I have two meetings today and then nothing scheduled for Friday. Whoo--hooo!

I am taking my car in today for repair. I need new brake pads, my passenger side window doesn't work and it needs a tune-up. Jess' car goes in tomorrow. It has an issue where it wants to die when you first step on the gas. Once you get past that, it runs fine but it is just taking off that it has trouble. It needs fixed before she can use it so it is going in Friday.

I really don't have any plans for the weekend so it might be a great time for me to work on my grill. I think the regulator is messed up because I get a little tiny flame but that is it. The tank has plenty of fuel so I am guessing it is a regulator issue.

I also need to clean up the yard a bit. If the weather is nice, I am going to want to be outside. Yard work in the Spring seems kind of fun. Yard work in the Summer is a pain in the butt.

I am not sure why but I really have nothing else to say this morning. I guess there just isn't anything going on today of note. It is kind of a sad thing when I think about what is going on in my life right now and there is just a blank. So picture this: I think to myself, what should I write about today.....(crickets sounds in the background, complete silence....duuuhhh!) I guess that's it.

Hopefully something tomorrow.