I was pretty much down and out all week with a bad cold.  I didn’t miss any work until Friday, and even had to go swimming Thursday with 16 preschoolers.  By the end of Thursday, I was pretty much toast!  I stayed home yesterday, and am quite a bit better today.

Since I hadn’t done anything productive other than crawl to work, and back for the past week, and since I was feeling better, and it was nice outside today, I went outside early this morning and hauled out all our lawn furniture, and cushions and things, and pressure washed it all.  Then I washed the patio, picked up the yard a bit, and called it good.  Then I went in and tackled the main floor and vacuumed, dusted, and then shampooed the living room carpet.

I took a brief break, and then started some laundry, and putting things back together.  Then I decided to go clean up the balcony.  I got that all spiffy, and headed in for a shower. I was tidying up a bit more outside, and at the same time, wondering where the pups were, and why they were being so quiet.  I discovered that they were out on the balcony, happily chewing and digging in the beautiful pot of tulips that Sarah gave me for Mother’s day!  Hmmph!  I guess this year, I won’t be putting any pots on the ground in th backyard!!  Guess it’s good I found out now!

Now I’m just resting my bones, and trying to get up the energy to work on my online course, which got sadly neglected during my disease! I knew it was supposed to rain tomorrow, so that will be a better day to do schoolwork!

Sarah drove down to the farm yesterday to spend a little time with Jay before she flew out to Kelowna to visit Ben and Jess!  I hope they’re having a nice time.  I know the weather is WAY warmer than it is here!  When she gets back, she’ll spend a few days down at the farm with Jay, and work in Drumheller a couple shifts.

I’m counting down the days until work is finished, and anxiously waiting to see what my assignment is going to be.  Should be very interesting!

We’re finally getting some semi-warm (read:no snow) weather, so it’s starting to feel a bit like Spring. This also brings on Spring Fever for me, and the annual school countdown. I have 38 days left FYI!

Sarah was out yesterday since she won’t be around for Mother’s day, as she’s flying out to spend the weekend with Ben and Jess. This will be my first Mother’s day without any of my kids around. Oh boo hoo. I guess I’ll go out and visit my Mom since hubby works on Sunday too.

Work is getting really busy and a bit crazy, and even though I love the kids I work with and the ladies in the room, I have a lot of trouble dealing with the condescending attitude of the in charge teacher. If I say black, she says white. Getting on my last nerve. Last year if you recall I got reassigned (for this year) and started the year in grade 3 in the mornings, and my current job in the afternoon. That only lasted one week, and then I got moved back where I am, full time. I’m very interested to hear what she has in store for me this year. See if she’s going to screw me over again….. or not. Should be interesting, since I’ve worked with her granddaughter all year, and we’ve done GREAT together! Quite frankly, while I love the kids in this program, if I get moved out, it won’t blindside me, nor will it upset me as much!

I’m loving learning to use my new camera. Don’t know much at all, but once I finish taking my course, I’ll have more time to play around.

Well it’s getting to be time to head out the door. Seems to be a nice day today.

As I mentioned in my last post, last week’s weather sucked the life out of everyone. The stress of driving on the roads was unreal! On top of that, I had to go to the rehab hospital with one of my kids for his preschool assessment screening. He was being screened for autism, which they determined he does not have. While that’s a good thing, he was diagnosed with having an anxiety disorder, which was pretty much what we expected. The problem is, autism comes with all kinds of funding. Anxiety does not, and it’s just as debilitating!

I turned 50 this week. That was a bit “unsettling”, as to me now, that officially sounds “OLD”! I got a beautiful Sony A350 SLR camera from hubby for my birthday. I got a nice bag and some other things from Sarah and Jay. We went out for a really nice dinner with Sarah and Jay as well. I had a really good birthday.

Jay is coming out shortly to pick up Miles, who’s been here for a couple of months. He is moving out to the farm today. Once his sister, her hubby and new baby move out of the little farm house to their new place in Huston, Sarah will move to the farm too. Going to be awfully quiet around here without any of the kids around.

I’m taking an online course on Floortime (a method of play to engage kids with autism) and it started Friday, so I best get busy with that. I’ve been putting it off most of the weekend!

We got a big, bad, ugly blizzard this weekend. Today we set a new record for low temperature for this day. It was 11 degrees F this morning. Brrrr Not only that, but the roads, were the worst I’ve driven on in 30 years! Absolutely glare ice. NASTY! Last weekend we set a record for warm temps. Go figure!

Last week the landscapers started working on our front yard. This picture is after they removed the old grass. Last year we had 2 giant spruce trees that had taken over the yard, removed. We also had the house reshingled. Since it took them most of the summer to get to the shingles, we never did, do the lawn. They managed to get everything finished with the landscaping project except for the sod, which of course is not ready yet. Once I can see my front yard again, (snow melts), I’ll take “during” pictures.

Some things at work are really ticking me off, and I’ll post about those at a later time. Right now I’m too pissed off about the weather to complain about work too!

The other morning, I was just getting ready to leave for work. I had put the pups in their crate, and closed the door, and noticed that the linen closet door was opened a bit, so I looked in there, and this is what I found. Stanley and Miles cozily sleeping in there! As you notice, they messed it all up too in the process of making their beds!

I cleaned ALL day today.  Needless to say, it’s left me tired, sore, crabby and wondering why I thought I wanted all these goddamn pets!! I had to have been out of my ever-loving mind!! That said, I just got out of the shower, and opened a beer, and that’s all I have to say about that!

I’ve just had a whole week off.  My goal for the week was to go through all the closets and storage areas and get rid of the crap! Did I do that? Nope… not a bit. In fact, my house is in need of a cleaning after a WHOLE WEEK off!  Geesh!  It didn’t help that hubby was off all week, and he had exactly as much ambition as me!  I also blame my laziness on the big snowstorm we got yesterday!  yuck!  I want Spring!

Actually, Ben moving so far away, has really kind of thrown us old saps for a bit of a loop!  We’re slowly getting used to it, but it’s quite an adjustment!  He is probably going to be offered an on-air weekend position at a radio station down there.  He’s thrilled, yet it’s almost coming a couple of months too soon.  He’s been working 7 days a week for the past 2 years, in order to get his foot in the door with radio, an on air position being his ultimate goal.  BUT… he was really looking forward to taking a break from 7 days/week for a few months, so he’s really torn!

Jay’s sister had her baby.  One and a half hours past being born on Sarah’s birthday.  She had a little girl.  Cute as a button, with the longest legs, and biggest feet you’ve ever seen on a baby! Now they have 3 nieces!

I’m watching the Junos, and the backdrop of the stage looks like a recycling center.  Seriously, it looks like a bunch of giant tin cans laying around.  It’s bizarre!

Well…. back to work tomorrow.  Pfffft!

Miles is finally making himself at home, and not hissing at the dogs much anymore.

Today is Sarah’s 25 birthday. How did I get kids so old?? We’re leaving in a half hour to meet her and Jay, and Grandpa and Grandma at the Olive Garden for lunch. I haven’t been there in years!

Sarah is anxiously hoping that a new little niece or nephew arrives on her birthday, as one of her sister-in-laws is in labor, as we speak! So, we’ll all be thinking of her today, and hoping for a speedy and safe delivery.

Ben has been having ALL kinds of grief transferring the registration on his truck to BC! The problem was that his Alberta registration expired on the 31 of March, so he was just going to register it in BC instead of renewing it here. Turns out, if it’s not registered here, they won’t register it there?!? So, hubby and I had to do a mad search to find all the paperwork to go and register it here. GAH! Then we had to fed-ex all the paperwork to Ben, so that he can register there. What a PITA! Damn government red tape!

My poor Oilers are toast. They have nothing to be ashamed of, as they played fantastic for the past 2 months, and made it exciting, and gave it there all!

I met one of the teachers I worked with for lunch today. She’s off on maternity leave as a result of this little doll face! We had a really nice visit, and he was really good and happy the whole time. It was fun to catch up with her!

I’m anxiously awaiting the Oilers vs Flames game tonight. It’s the second last game of the year. They still have a tiny chance to make it into the playoffs, but not a very good one. The Flames could have beat Colorado and Vancouver for us, and we’d be sitting in a totally different situation. hmmmph

Ben and Jess are slowly getting settled in Kelowna. He started his job today, and it apparently went well. Jess has been going to interviews, but no job yet.

Tomorrow is Sarah’s birthday, so we are going to take them out for lunch. Hubby’s parents are going to meet us there. Then tomorrow night, hubby and I are going to the horse races and out for dinner. Good times!