Sub Plans

I am extremely grateful for Winter Storm Jonas because it was responsible for seven snow days, four of which I was supposed to have written sub plans for.

I know it's not the Powerball lottery, but it feels a little like what I imagine winning the lottery might feel like.  If you are not a classroom teacher, you may not realize just how fantastic this is, but if you are a classroom teacher, I know you're with me.

That's four days of plans in which I didn't have to aniticpate every moment of the day, every scenario that might arise, every specific individual set of directions for 50+ kids.  Who can't sit beside whom.  Who needs an escort at all times when they leave the classroom.  Who needs extra time.  Who will be the first to finish and what to do with them.  Which students are to be trusted.  What happens if there's a delayed opening.  What homework needs to be written on the board each day.  Where to find books, paper, manuals, handouts.  Where to find attendance and lunch count and morning announcements.  When to drop my students off at lunch.  When to pick them up.  When they eat snack.  What Encore class they have on a given day.  What to do if weather dictates indoor recess.  And about a million other things, like what actually needs to be taught on a given day.

Since returning to the classroom on November 1, I have written sixteen days' worth of sub plans.  SIXTEEN DAYS.  I knew this going in – it was part of what I signed up for.  But it was a ton of work.

And so NOT having to write plans for 4 days of the 20 I agreed to because a blizzard shut things down?  Nothing short of miraculous!

Please understand how very happy I am to be back in the classroom and how much I love my kids.  I know full well that I am incredibly lucky.  The principal and assistant principal at my school were willing to accommodate my crazy schedule and prior commitments between November and January and I can't think of another pair of administrators who would be so obliging.

I feel the same way about the rest of the staff, particularly those who support my students' learning in some way and who have been so flexible regarding my schedule.  They're awesome and I look forward to collaborating with them throughout the remainder of the year!

And of course, my subs!  I had two people cover those sixteen days for me, and I knew at all times that my students were in excellent hands.  They both did so much for me, and most importantly, they loved my students like their own.

But there are three magnificent people who have helped me survive the past few months:  my teammates.  To say they go above and beyond does not even begin to describe it.  These three fifth grade teachers are amazing educators, but more than that, they are phenomenal human beings.  They have supported me, cheered me on, made copies for me, helped me at every turn, answered every ridiculous question I've had, had my back in difficult situations, and at all times are willing to do anything and everything I might need.  They have welcomed me and made me feel like this was the best decision I could have made and I will never be able to thank them enough.  I don't think they even know how wonderful they are!  I love and admire them and I would not have made it without them.  I can't wait for Monday when I am FINALLY at school full-time and a full-fledged member of the fifth grade team.

Happy Tails to you!

Blizzard 2016

So I'm sure you're well aware of the blizzard that affected much of the east coast this past weekend… Snowmageddon, Snowzilla, and whatever other ridiculous names news/weather people came up with.  Let me say that even for me, it was a LOT of snow - especially since it all fell in about a 30-hour time period.  C and I shoveled our driveway six times – twice on Friday and four times on Saturday, which worked out well because even though it was tiring, each time was reasonably manageable.  Had we waited until the snow had stopped, we would have been completely overwhelmed and it would have been beyond exhausting.

Our road is private, so the county does not plow it for us, and given the volume of snow, we were not sure how long it would be before we would be able to get out.  Luckily, one of our neighbors found someone on Craigslist who was willing to come and plow our road and hill for us on Sunday morning, so all we had to do was dig out the end of our driveway and we were free!  I am very much a fan of winter and I love snow, but my goodness that was a lot of snow!

Overall I have no complaints because it resulted in seven snow days, and the snow really looked SO beautiful with the sun shining on it.  But one crazy thing did happen…

On Saturday night, I went to set our house alarm before going to bed and I got a message that there was an issue with the basement door.  C and I went down to investigate (with every possible horror-movie scenario running through my mind), and the French doors we have in the basement were wide open and there was a large pile of snow in our basement.  Yep.  Snow in the house.

Between the wind and the weight of the heavy, wet snow against the doors, they had been forced open.  As in the deadbolt on the right door was still fully extended!  The blustery wind and three feet of snow was just too much stress on the doors that they popped right out of place and blew wide open.

I wish I had a photo, but our focus was on getting the snow out of the house and figuring out how to get the doors closed, since they were askew in the door jamb.  We basically had to force the doors shut after shoveling some of the outside snow away from the house and getting all of the snow inside the house scooped up.  Thankfully, C was able to fix the doors the next morning and everything is fine now, but what a crazy ordeal!

And it's worth noting that our dogs don't particularly care for snow!  

Maddy's paw print in the driveway

snoozing away while the storm raged outside

Ginny

Sadie

Ginny & Maddy

Ginny

Maddy

Ginny not impressed with the snow

Ginny even less impressed with the snow

our deck buried in snow

Maddy running as quickly as possibly to get back in the house

our mailbox

Maddy stealing my mittens

Happy Tails to you!

Sadie's Surgery

I took Sadie to the vet the day before Thanksgiving because she had been acting a little strangely and we just weren't sure what was wrong with her.

Our beloved Dr. T. was not working that week, so I made the appointment with another of our favorite vets, Dr. B., who is sweet and amazing and we love her.  She decided to keep Sadie for the day after an initial examination revealed a mass in her abdomen.  She aspirated the mass and sent the sample off to be analyzed.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and we had to take her back for an ultrasound and a biopsy because Dr. B. suspected Sadie had cancer.

Finally, at the end of December, we found out that the mass was indeed cancerous and we had to decide whether to do surgery or not.  On one hand, the tumor on her stomach would be removed, but on the other hand, she is 13 years old, and surgery is not to be taken lightly.

After weighing the pros and cons and chatting with Dr. B., we decided to go ahead with surgery because we didn't want the tumor to worsen, and once that decision was made, we wanted to get it scheduled as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately, we were traveling for 11 days, and the next available surgery slot fell during our time away.  Fortunately, we have the world's best Fairy Dogmother to care for our girls when we are away and she assured us that she would handle everything.

Sadie had surgery on January 13, spent two nights at the vet, and came home with 17 staples on her belly.  She healed very nicely and had her staples removed on January 25.  We are so pleased with how everything went and she seems to be back to her chill, relaxed, happy self.  And her two little sisters have been snuggling with her even more than usual since her surgery.

Sadly, the pathology came back with an official diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma, which was not really a surprise, but apparently the margins weren't clear, so Sadie still has cancerous cells on her stomach.  We are not going to put her through another surgery, and we hope that whatever cancer still exists will progress slowly and allow her to live out the rest of her days without it being a major issue because her quality of life is all that matters to us!

Huge thanks to Dr. B. and to my mom who took such outstanding care of our girl way we were away!

Look at this beautiful frosty face!

waiting patiently at the elevator at the vet

after getting her staples removed

before and after staple removal

the Maddy & Ginny inspection upon returning from the vet

hanging off the couch in a blanket cocoon

timber!
:-)

Happy Tails to you!

Winter Trip to Europe: Stockholm

Friday, January 15

We took the Magical Shuttle (same idea as Magical Express at WDW) to the airport, checked in for our flight to Stockholm, and lined up for security.

I took my shoes off when we got up to the x-ray machine, and the security agent gestured toward my purple Chucks and said, "I can tell you're American."  I smiled, thinking he meant the actual shoes, but he clarified that he was referring to me taking my shoes off, because apparently you don't have to over there unless your shoes have metal in them.  Sure enough, as I glanced around, most people were walking through the metal detectors with their shoes on.  Live and learn.

I had grand plans to take photos of Paris from the plane once we were in the air, but if you have read any of my other posts, you will not be surprised to learn I was asleep before we even backed away from the jetway.  I was able to snap a pretty cool photo as we were approaching Stockholm, though!

We landed in Stockholm and took a train from the airport to Central Station.  Our hotel, the Radisson Blu Waterfront, was less than 100 steps from the train station, which was incredibly convenient!  Obviously we'd be using public transportation to get around, but the train station was also really beautiful and there were many places to eat there, so it really could not have been a better set-up.  After grabbing a bite to eat at train station, I FaceTimed with Ginny once again.  Technology is so fantastic!

Saturday, January 16

Sunrise was at about 8:30 and sunset was at about 3:30, so we had somewhat of a longer day than we'd experience in Reykjavik, so after breakfast at the hotel, we ventured out into the city to do some sightseeing.  Our first stop was the Vasa Museum, which is home to a Viking ship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628, was all but forgotten before being re-discovered in the 1950s, and was ultimately salvaged in 1961.  The museum had seven floors, if that gives you a sense of how huge this ship is, and it is a pretty fascinating story.  One description referred to how impatient the King was during the ship's construction and how he threatened "His Royal Majesty's Disfavour" if the ship was not completed on time.  I love those words so much!  I feel like I need to adopt that saying and tell my fifth graders that if they don't turn in their homework, they will face "Her Royal Majesty's Disfavor."

we thought this looked like a medieval Jar Jar Binks

From there, we went to the ABBA Museum.  Yes!  There is an entire museum dedicated to ABBA!  We weren't really sure what to expect, but I was really looking forward to it because I have memories of my mom playing "Dancing Queen" on our record player and spinning me around and around when I was young.  Let me tell you – the museum was so awesome!  We spent a few hours exploring the artifacts, watching videoclips, and being surrounded my ABBA music.  Fabulous.  Just fabulous!  Their music is so infectious – people of all ages in the museum were dancing, bobbing their heads, clapping…the music is impossible to resist.  I have been happily singing ABBA songs to myself ever since.

After dinner, we took the metro to the Hard Rock Café to buy a shirt and then walked around the city admiring the lights and window shopping.  Even though it was freezing cold, the weather clearly doesn't stop anyone from going out on a Saturday night because tons of people were out and about.

Sunday, January 17

We again had breakfast at the hotel, and then took the metro to the Nobel Museum. There was a track that ran around the ceiling with Nobel Prize winners hung almost like laundry on a clothesline that rotated around the museum, which was pretty cool. It was an interesting place, with many different displays to look at.  One of them was in the category of Economic Science, and on one hand, I could appreciate the message, but on the other hand, all I could think about was that it reminded me of a ridiculously long CVS receipt.  Maybe I was overtired, but I really amused myself with this thought, and the austere setting only made my silliness worse.  Luckily no one was around to witness me giggling to myself.

After the Nobel Museum, we went to Kungliga Slottet, which is the Royal Palace.  Oh.My.Word.  Beautiful.  I really love castles.  Frankly, I wish I lived in an old castle.  I was in heaven wandering around this castle.  We spent many hours there, first exploring on our own, then observing the Changing of the Guard ceremony, and then taking a guided tour.  Each room was gorgeous, from the furnishings and decorations to the artwork to the carpets and wall coverings to the ceilings and moldings to the chandeliers.  I have a little bit of an obsessions with chandeliers – not just in castles, but generally everywhere I go – and I especially enjoy taking photos from underneath to capture the chandelier's symmetry and design.  As you will see from the photos below, there were countless chandeliers for me to admire (and the photos included are only about a quarter of the chandeliers I photographed!).

Monday, January 18

Monday was our departure day, but since our flight was not until dinner time, we requested a late check out so we could do a few more things in Stockholm before we had to head to the airport.  In the morning we visited the Stockholm Library, which was #1 on a Conde Nast list of the world's most beautiful libraries that was on the Huffington Post webpage. This was definitely on my bucket list of libraries to visit, and I was not disappointed!  After the library, we went over to SkyView in hopes of getting a spectacular view of Stockholm, but unfortunately the gondolas were down for maintenance and we did not have time to return later in the afternoon.  Maybe next time!  Our final stop was lunch at a restaurant called Akkurat before checking out of the hotel and taking the train to the airport.

Not Up / Up

Our flight home was uneventful and we landed at JFK at about 8:30.  We were through customs in a matter of a few minutes with our Global Entry cards, but what took forever was the baggage from the plane, so we didn't get out of the airport until well after 9:30 and we still had a very long drive home!  When we finally arrived at 2:30 am, we had some very happy pups greet us!

What an amazing trip!  11 days, 3 countries, and a lifetime of memories!  We picked up the "You Are Here" Starbucks mugs in all three cities, and I bought one of the cutest Disney mugs I have ever seen when we were at Disneyland Paris, but the best souvenirs are the stamps in our passports!

Check out my other posts about this trip:

Oslo
Paris
Disneyland Paris

Happy Tails to you!