Catch Up

On Thursday, I went into to the doctor due to unusual pain. I struggled through the night and morning so I headed in to get checked out. It seems she has moved down but I am not dialating. I went home and rested then went back to school around 5:30 for intrumurals.
Friday was a hectic day with students and parents. I must admit I was pretty frustrated with some students. I heard things like "I'm trying!" but I'm thinking they're full of it. I also had a parent who caught her daughter skipping at her boyfriend's house! UGH!! It's tough being a kid these days but sometimes the decisions we make lead to our own ignorance:)
On Friday night I went to watch our boys basketball team. I figure I better travel now because I am not going to be doing it later. Unfortunately, they lost by 1!! The sectional tourney starts on Tuesday and our kids actually get to play at home. But for the administrators, that means we have to work Tues, Wed, and Fri nights plus Sat. afternoon. Aren't we lucky?
I go back to the doctor on Monday where she will decide if I have to stop working early, hopefully not. And on Monday my mom and grandmother fly in. Hopefully I will deliver while they are here otherwise they will miss it all.

What a day

Tuesday kicked my butt!! I got home at 9:45pm after getting to work at 6:30am. It is fair to say I was exhausted and felt like I had been hit by a truck. The basketball game is all standing around so although I enjoy watching our kids play, standing is the worst.
I am always fascinated with kids these days, especially boys. I sware boys were not built like they are today when I was a kid. The team we played and lost to had an average height of 6'9! and they had a 16 year old 7'0 300 pound junior. Where do these kids come from? Rick Pitino from Louisville was in the gym to watch the game. He has verbal commitments from 3 kids on the team we lost to and 1 verbal from 1 of our kids. I think because I am all of 5'4, tall people just fascinate the heck out of me:)
Tomorrow will be another long day but at least that will be it for the week. Also, tomorrow I am meeting with our superintendent and Indianapolis mayor. I will be responsible for giving the mayor information about our students and school; should be interesting.

Doctor's appt

Well, it seems my daughter will take after her mother in the "stubborness" department. I went to the doctor and I have not dialated at all and it seems that March 9 will be the date; Dang! I was hoping that we had made some progress today but she seems to be taking her time:) On the other hand, I am feeling well so I can make it through another two weeks; it's not like I actually have a choice.
This will be a busy week; I have intramurals on Mon., Wed., and Thurs. night and tomorrow night our boys team have a big basketball game and on Tues and Thurs afternoon I have ISTEP remediation supervision, wheww! what a week. Tomorrow will be the worst, I am taking a change of clothes because I won't have time to come home between the ISTEP and the basketball game; (a 6:30am - 9:30pm day). Oh the life of an administrator.....fun, fun. Maybe all this walking and working will help speed things along....MAYBE.

A Friday of 2 Extremes!

I will start with the good news: The department chairs and administrative staff gave me a surprise baby shower! (although I almost missed it.) We had a student around 1:15 have a seizure and he seizured until the ambulance got there (about 20min). I thought I was going to have to go with him to the hospital but the other assistant went. So, I was able to enjoy the surprise. I received lots of wonderful things that she will be able to use. All the clothing was 12 - 18 months so they will come in so handy later. They had some great cake and punch and the best gift came from my fellow assistant principals and principal......a 100.00 gift certificate to a spa along with babysitting services provided by the principal's secretary, now how cool is that! I really am amazed as to how great the people that I work with are. I really am very happy to be at this school surrounded with these good people, and not because they give gifts but because they genuinely care.
Now to the downer....I got home and checked my email only to get a two page email from one of my professors explaining I had failed all 3 parts of the comprehensive exam, the portfolio, the presentation and the 45 minute question and answer! Now my first reaction was tears (I am pregnant) and then I was pissed! Now my pride and ego haven't taken a hit like this in a looooong time so I made sure I caught myself before I decided to make a phone call to this professor. Here was my main reason for calling, I had a professor from this program look through my portfolio and say I was in good shape. Unfortunately for me, he wasn't on the 3 person committee that I had yesterday. Also, I went through a "mock presentation" last May where I was told and given written feedback that all was ok. So how did I go from being acceptable to not? Needless to say the phone call was just a way for me to vent. But I wanted this professor and the committee to know that I had received conflicting information and if that is the case how would I know I was below standard. He commented that about 70% of the students who have taken the comp failed. As an educator, I pointed out that that comment does not prove well for their program! We are products of them!! The other thing I addressed was a comment he wrote in the email. He stated," This must move beyond your comfort zone of public education," Well, I am a teacher...public education is my profession so why would I be asked to move away from the area I exhibit leadership. He listened empathetically and I tried not to be rude.
I am going to take a hard look at whether I am going to move forward with this. I have always started what I finish but I dont know that this is really worth it. I am sure part of what I am feeling is the "rawness" of feeling inadequate about failing so maybe my feelings will change. I had an assistant principal tell me this morning(he has his doctorate), "Maggie this is an endurance race....you just have to outlast them. hang in there." Of course he said this before I knew I had actually bombed all 3 parts! Well the bottom line is..."it is what it is" now I have to decide if I am going to keep going or bow out gracefully. Only 3% of doctorate degrees are earned by Hispanics, that statistic is brutal so it nudges me to keep going being that I am so close. Who knows what I will come up with....I think of the example I need to be for my daughter, if this were her coming to me and asking what to do...I would tell her to suck it up and finish it! I think I have my answer:)

Comp Exam

Today was comp exam day and I have arrived home feeling like I might have passed 2 of 3 parts. The 45min question and answer session was my weakest; Of course I knew it would be but it was grueling going through the process of getting tough questions and not knowing the answers!
The presentation went ok, I had 5 minutes to spare. My portfolio will probably pass with conditions meaning that I will need to clean up some areas before I get the final approval. I will know tomorrow via email what the final verdict is. I am just glad it is over. I am planning on taking a school break until about July. I am tired of it and I knew today would be a struggle because of my lack of motivation.
I will be sure to post the final word tomorrow:)

NESTING

Saturday morning I went to a breastfeeding class that started 30 minutes late, needless to say I was annoyed. Then to top it off, the class consisted of 19 pages of a powerpoint!! As an educator, I know I can be very critical of teachers but this was ridiculous. Needless to say an hour and 15 minutes after talking at us, she gave us a break. And what did Maggie do, I left!I just couldn't bare another hour and a half. It also didnt help that the carpet cleaners called and said they would be early. Back in late November I created a monthly to do list and this weekend I pretty much have everything checked off. The carpet looks great. The cats didn't appreciate their paws being wet for most of the day but they got over it.
Today I woke up totally exhibiting "nesting" at its best. I have been cleaning since 7 am and I am not finished yet. I had to move some furniture back into place and vacuumed the newly cleaned carpet. It is interesting to me how all of a sudden I am on a mission to get everything cleaned. Not that I had a messy house before but this is ridiculous. Later this evening I will spend some time studying and tomorrow will be spent calling and visiting some daycares finishing up with some studying. I am definitely glad we didnt have to make up a snow day tomorrow; I need the time to get things completed.

Finally Friday

Today our students had a half day and a convocation to attend which meant this day would be even more tiring than a regular day. I went to work prepared with tennis shoes on! And yes, the day was extremely busy. The convocation was very good but there was no sitting down between 7am and noon.
Tonight our girls basketball team played the #1 nationally ranked team Ben Davis in the sectional tournament and yes they kicked our butts by 35. Their season is over but they played hard; honestly there wasn't anything they could have done. The other team was just that much better. I had a mom tell me tonight that she thought I would have the baby over the weekend. I dont know what it was about me that made her say that but that's her prediction:)
This weekend will be spent at breastfeeding class, getting the carpets cleaned and cramming for my oral comp exam that is on Thursday.....Fun, Fun!
And the icing on the weekend cake is.......it's supposed to snow tomorrow; you just gotta love Indiana weather:)

Surprise!

This morning I arrived to find my office door decorated with a pink banner and pink footprint ribbons hanging all over it. The guidance department which consists of 8 counselors, guidance secretary and registrar put together a "secret santa" baby style. Each time I left my office, I would come back and find a baby gift in my office. It was a wonderful surprise and gesture. The staff has been great and I feel very fortunate to find a place to work that I really love. They have accepted me into the family and it feels like I have been here for years. One of the sweetest gifts I received was from the guidance secretary; she knitted a blanket, socks and a cute little hat. It is so cute! and she definitely put some time into all that knitting.
Today was a really special day and I was really surprised....... and very thankful:)

Fast Track Labor Class

Today I had an emergency doctor's appt. I honestly did not feel well...nausea, dizziness and extra swelling but I got checked out and I am ok. I was told to increase my water intake and decrease salt and processed foods.This part of pregnancy is so NOT fun.
Tonight we began fast track labor class from 6-9:30pm and we'll go again next Wed. It was pretty informative but honestly the coolest thing was taking this class with Dallas Clark and his wife. He plays for the Indianapolis Colts. Although I am not a Colts fan, I am a Clark fan. Tonight he and his wife were just ordinary people experiencing the same nerves and fears we all were. And I think our group made them feel "normal" not gaucking over the Colts player:) Of course I am sure that tomorrow we are all going to go to our jobs and tell everyone who we are taking the class with:)

OMG!

Ok so Sunday night was one of the worst I have had being pregnant. I was up every hour! I just could not find a comfortable spot. Needless to say, I was pretty tired at work. On the positive side, the weather was good and the day was pretty uneventful. I hope tonight is better; it is fair to say this little girl is kicking my butt right now:)

Baby Shower

Today I spent with former colleagues at a baby shower that was hosted by a couple of my girlfriends. It was awesome seeing everyone and catching up. I spent 10 years in my former building so these ladies became a part of my extended family. We ate, laughed, shared and caught up with each other. It was really fun! The hostesses gave out these baby shower partying gifts that I thought were super. They had these little "cookie jars" filled with pink m& m's in them and the jar lid was pink and said "Maggie's Baby Shower. Then one of my friends burned CD's that had children's songs and music relating to girls so each guest received a pink covered CD with 18 songs, too. I am always in awe of the creativity of others because I have none! The food was great and had a very enjoyable time. I am very thankful and feel very fortunate to have a very strong group of friends. I am a pretty lucky lady:)

elephant feet

I am desperately trying to recover from yesterday. I had intramurals from 6:30 - 9:30pm which made for a 12 hour day on my feet sooooooo that meant that when I got home today my feet were ginormous!! The swelling is pretty bad and I am not sure how I can curve it since I am on my feet all day. Today was the first day it really affected my walking; a couple of kids teased me about it. If they only knew just how bad my feet felt and looked:) Just 1 more day of work and I will use the weekend to regroup and get my feet ready for another pounding next week.
They are coming to clean my vents tomorrow and the carpet is getting cleaned next week. The last couple of things on my to do list are getting checked off and we'll be ready for the new arrival.
My biggest excitement is on Saturday it is going to get up to 50!!! I can hardly wait:)

Pile Up

What a day...this morning started with a quick moving snow storm that caught many people off guard. There was a 32 car and truck pile up on one of the interstates. We got 3 more inches of snow and it feels like -1. All after school activities were canceled again and it is fair to say I am so over this weather. It is going to be another really cold day tomorrow but the warm up starts on Thursday and we could make it to 50 degrees on Saturday!
Today I was able to get several daycare referrals; my coworkers have been great at sharing information. I hope to get a couple of more places and then begin visiting them in order to make a decision by the end of the month.
Think of us if you're basking in any weather above 10 degrees:)

Finished Baby Room!

Well, I survived Friday's 16 hour day and was pretty miserable when I got home around 10pm. My body was so tired and my feet were pretty swollen but I made it through. The worst part was our kids got beat by 25!!

On Saturday, two of my very good friends (they're really family to me) came over and put baby furniture together. Thank goodness because I can't put anything together. So, now the room is officially ready. It's funny because having everything in the room made it that much more real. It won't be long before she's here. In the meantime, Sam and Anthony think the bed and changing table are great! We are going to have to work on keeping them out of that room.

This week will be busy. I have intramural supervision 2 nights this week and on Saturday I am having a baby shower in my honor at one of my friend's house. I am looking forward to seeing old colleagues and catching up.

Have a great week everyone!