Yeah, I'm still around...

So... What have I been doing that last few weeks?

Well, I have started substitute teaching a bit. I was pretty scared at first but now it's old hat. I subbed for the junior high band teacher. That was fun. The kids were pretty good and did what they were supposed to do and it was mostly just babysitting. It doesn't take a lot of smarts to put in a movie. I did get to help with 3 periods of theory, though. They thought they could whine and complain that they didn't understand it but since I know theory, they couldn't get out of it.

Next I subbed for the choir teacher at the junior high where I went in 7th and 9th grades. It was so weird to walk past my locker and remember what it felt like to be in junior high. Yuck. The classes were awful and disrespectful. They wouldn't sing unless I yelled and got mad. When they called the next day for me to sub for her again, I told them no way.

The last time I subbed was for a 6th grade teacher at my kids elementary school. N wasn't too pleased to have me so close (next door to her classroom) but it was fun. The kids were cute together but they were very chatty. It was hard to tell them to be quiet because they were all having so much fun together. It is unusual to see even the "quiet" and "less popular" kids joining in on the fun so I kind of let them have a long leash. I hope they enjoyed it. I gave them a spelling test with the most unusual sentences I could think of. It ended up being a funny story about Larry, a gumshoe detective, bound by duct tape in a burning building... Yeah, lame.

I love, love, love my new furniture. I've tried to take a picture but they have been dark. Now that Frank Zigmunt has moved back in, there is stuff EVERYWHERE and I refuse to take a picture of that. He put stuff in every room, including the entry. I'm going crazy walking around and over all his stuff (junk). He brought home 5 TVs. Why would an apartment of 3 boys need 5 TVs, you ask? So they could watch 4 different shows and, with the aid of a camera, watch themselves watching TV--all at the same time. Frank said everyone thought it was so cool. I think they thought it was insane.

Now that Dilbert is home (for good?!), we will start tearing out the carpeting in there and put down the tile. I can't wait to have it done. It is going to look so amazing! After that, we just have to finish the upstairs bath and the carpets in the bedrooms and we have remodeled the whole upstairs. Then to the basement...

BNLFAN_1 passed her driver's license exam today. She was pretty excited. And Frank applied for a job as a 911 dispatcher for Weber County. He would really like that job but I think it is a long shot. But there's no harm in applying! I have to say I love having him home. He's been such a huge help, running errands, being the chauffeur and babysitter and lawn mower. He helped BNLFAN with her jazz band homework last night (yeah!!!) And I love just shooting the breeze with him. He's got everything done on his mission papers (including the passport) except the bishop and stake president interviews. They can't do that until his records are back in the ward so it is another waiting game. I am so frustrated about that!!!

Ugh... I feel sick!

I haven't been feeling like myself lately and it is driving me crazy. I have been sicker in the last 3 months since I was called to be Primary President than I have been in the 5 years before. I know it is stress and it is driving me crazy. I usually can just let stress roll off me but lately it has been sticking to me. Maybe it is the unusual level of responsibility I have taken on, but also, I think it is that Dilbert has been traveling so much. Whatever the reason, I am NOT enjoying it. Fortunately Dilbert is only gone until next Friday and then he will be home for a while. The fun part is Frank Zigmunt will also be home next Friday for GOOD!!!

Yesterday I had H home sick, too, although I think she wasn't that sick. I went and worked out at the gym, which usually helps me feel better, but I came home and pretty much crashed until I had to teach piano lessons. I also took BNLFAN_1 to Barnes and Noble to hand in her job application. She would love to work there. She reads voraciously so it is the right job for her interests. I am worried about the hours (until 11 p.m.) and Sundays but she said she wouldn't work Sundays. That may keep her from getting the job, but I was proud of her for sticking to her guns. I worked Sundays as a teenager and it wasn't a good situation. I wish I had had the option of quiting but the plain truth of it was I had to work. Things were pretty tight when I was a teenager. I don't know where all my income went... I don't remember spending it... But I bet Dilbert says the same thing now.

Today is day 1 of my career as a substitute. Well, actually, today is day 1 of my availability to sub. I should be calling to see if there are any openings and snap them up but I am hiding from responsibility today, I think. I am going to clean my house (shudder) and get mentally prepared for 12 giggling girls to sleep over on Friday. (shudder again)

N's pictures

Here's N...
Then:


and NOW:

BNL_Fan's pictures

Here's the pictures I promised... Then:

and Now:

Happy Birthday, big sis!

Today is my big sister's birthday. She's awesome. There's nothing she can't do. She plays the piano beautifully, bakes perfect bread, she knits, and crochets and quilts and sews... She plays basketball, knows everything there is to know about computers, writes books, gets published, gardens and bottles her own produce... She hikes and geocaches, she's a yellow personality so she's always looking for a good time (which is weird, being the oldest in the family... she should be red, I think, and I should be yellow), she likes to ride horses, especially when she can ride them fast with her hair down, she dreams of Scottish moors, lightly misted... She's fearless, a traveler, a great mom, a voracious reader...

I'm getting depressed so I'm gonna quit now and I'm only half-way through.

Happy freakin' birthday, elle_cosette!

N has braces

Scout survived getting her braces on last week--barely. You would have thought she was going to die of malnutrition before the pain subsided, the way she carried on. Poor thing... she had them a few years ago and thought she was done but beauty was not to be an easy path for her. It's not a cheap path, either.

Apparently someone forgot to mention to me that I have abnormally large teeth and Dilbert's family has abnormally narrow lower jaws. The genetic combination has made a brood of kid that are smart and but have teeth sticking out the front of their faces. Attractive.

Anyway, there is a 20% chance the braces will not work for Scout and she may have to have her jaw broken. She's trying to be the optimist. Me too...

So N got her braces on yesterday. She's got an expander and braces on the top and will get the lower expander and braces on the bottom in 2 months. She can't talk and she can't eat... It's pretty pitiful, to say the least. But my food bill will go down!

I had a presidency meeting this morning. I came home discouraged because I have 8 callings unfilled and there's not a lot of hope on the horizon. I have had to find multiple substitutes EVERY week! Now I hear (unofficially but reliably) that there will be a letter from church headquarters soon saying that every class needs to be team-taught, not just the classes with male teachers. Sigh... It's just more staffing issues... I don't think anyone who hasn't been in the Primary presidency understands the staffing problems in Primary. No other organization has as many positions to fill and it is a constant battle. Many people just "refuse" to serve there (they've apparently served their time in Primary? Like it is a sentence?) or they don't have cubs so they don't "have" to do it anymore... It seems to be the dumping ground for people who are only half-heartedly active. And then there are the ones who accept the call but then never do the job. I have had 2 Activity Days leaders do that! How can you say yes to a call and then just NOT do it --ever! Okay... I am done whining.

Recipe of the day: Fish Tacos Yummy! Try it! Mahi Mahi was $5 and some change at Costco and the portions were way generous.

Snacktime!

Hurray! Barenaked Ladies are releasing a new album--FOR KIDS!!

Here's a sample (with video)