The Blue is Back!

Back in 2018, I decided to color my hair blue; I loved it and I kept it that way for about 18 months. Then the pandemic started, and I decided not to "color" it anymore - I mean, I got it colored to cover the gray roots, but there was no fun color in it.

I decided today that it was time to go back to blue and I am obsessed! It takes a lot of work to get my dark hair light enough prior to coloring, so my hair appointment today was almost four hours long, but the results made such a lengthy appointment totally worth it!

post bleach,
pre color

I seriously cannot
get over the color!

I think I was meant
to have blue hair!

Happy Tails to you!

Trip to the Vet

I took Ginny to the vet this afternoon because she had a growth on her chest that we first noticed about six weeks ago. We didn't think much of it at the time, but it continued to get bigger and bigger, so we made an appointment to have Dr. T. look at it.

Although it looks pretty gross, it really didn't seem to be bothering her whatsoever. I'm convinced it actually somewhat ruptured on its own because I noticed yesterday and this morning that it seemed slightly smaller and less inflamed than it had been over the weekend.

Dr. T. aspirated it and looked at the cells under a microscope, and the good news is that it doesn't appear to be cancerous in any way. We came home with ten days of antibiotics, which we're hoping helps it to shrink and heal. If not, we'll have to take her back for minor surgery to remove it. Dr. T. expressed as much disgusting material from it as possible, which caused it to bleed pretty heavily, but despite all of that, Ginny was so well-behaved!

I'm not kidding when I say I don't know who she has morphed into over the past year or so, but I don't recognize this cooperative and pleasant dog! When it was only the two of us in the room, waiting, she was her usual nervous, panting self. But as soon as a tech or Dr. T. came in the room, she was absolutely perfect. It reminded me of all those times when I had conferences with parents and would tell them how wonderful their child was in class and they would look at me like I was crazy and tell me how their behavior at home was anything but wonderful! LOL!

The worst part of the day was the drive home because she panted heavily and cried the entire time. If she'd only been panting, I might not have found it noteworthy, but the crying? She never does that. It was clear she was in a lot of pain. As soon as I got home with her, C have her some pain medication and that definitely seemed to help.

She was able to sleep comfortably for most of the evening, and generally seems much more like herself now, so those are definitely good signs!  I'm sure I've said it before, but I hate how animals can't speak to let us know what's wrong or what's hurting them! I feel so helpless sometimes!

We have a little tradition that whenever one of our dogs goes to the vet, they get a cheeseburger for dinner (and when we had multiple dogs, if one dog went to the vet, they all got cheeseburgers for dinner that night!). Ginny was thrilled to gobble hers down earlier tonight!

Happy Tails to you!

Summer PD

After two weeks of posts about travel, Walt Disney World, family, and our engagement anniversary, it's time for a post about teaching.

could not agree more

I had six hours of professional development today. I have more tomorrow and more on Wednesday.

I looked at my calendar and during my NON-CONTRACT time in June, July, and August, I have 60 hours of PD scheduled.

When I add in a very conservative, lowball 10 hour estimate of the number of hours I will also have to spend reading as part of those PD sessions, the total is 70 hours.

70 hours is equivalent to TEN full days of teaching.

I can count two of those days as my two required flex days that are part of next year's teaching contract.

But that still leaves eight full days that I will be working but not being paid.

What do I get? Recertification points.

But guess what? I don't need them, which, for all intents and purposes, renders them useless for me. Throughout my entire teaching career, I've always taken enough college classes to cover the state requirements for recertification many times over.

Let me be clear that this is very important professional development and all but ten of those hours are by my own choosing. Specifically, all of the morning sessions this week are part of a year-long project that I am super excited about!

I'm not complaining about the PD. Not in the least.

What I do take issue with is not being paid for my time. Based on my salary, those 8 days are worth a tidy sum. The fact that rather than a paycheck, I'll get 60 recertification points I don't need makes me feel as though my time is incredibly undervalued.

I'm committed to my profession and happy to take classes to improve my craft and deepen my understanding whenever possible. I just don't like thinking about the fact that after I've willingly dedicated those eight days of my summer, I'll have nothing tangible to show for it.

Will I still attend of the PD and will I still enjoy the learning? Yes! Without a doubt!

That's not the point.

Teachers already spend too much of their personal time and too much of their own money, but just because it's common practice doesn't make it right. It's not greedy to want to be paid for my time. There's an attitude out there that teachers should just want to do their jobs because they love kids. I cannot roll my eyes far enough into the back of my head whenever I hear that nonsense. I certainly knew that becoming a teacher would mean earning less than I would have in other fields. And yes, of course I love working with kids because I wouldn't have chosen this profession if that weren't the case. But to expect teachers to just give and give and give is ridiculous.

I fully understand that school budgets are limited and that I don't work for a Fortune 500 company! 

However, I will not apologize for believing my time should be valued more than it currently is.

Happy Tails to you!

28 Years Ago...

...two kids decided to get married! Today is our engage-aversary!

There was no over-the-top planned proposal, no photos, no fanfare of any kind. Just the two of us, discussing the future, and deciding we were all in.

All these years later, it is still very on-brand: just the two of us planning a grand adventure together.

C gave me two gifts today, although he would say there was only one gift.

People who know me are well aware that "Up" is my favorite movie. I had wanted a particular bag several months ago when it was released, but it sold out before I could buy it. Guess what I opened today:

I was thrilled and surprised and this bag is what C would say was the gift.

However, later on, he gave me something else. A list of where the state signs are located on our upcoming trip.

Alaska is unknown at this point because
just like Hawaii a few months ago,
we are flying in, not driving!

We were discussing travel plans and it was not related in any way to the anniversary of our engagement, but when I saw it, I was so overwhelmed with love for this man. In addition to planning almost every aspect of this trip, he took the time to research where state signs are located so we can take photos with our number cards.

Therein lies the second gift...the time he devoted to this undertaking. Countless hours spent reading travel sites and scouring google earth images. The reason he wouldn't consider this a gift is because this is simply one example of what he just does; it's no big deal to him and yet it is a profound gesture to me.

If you ask me which gift I like more, I'll tell you it's that list.

I don't know what I've ever done to be worthy of him, but that decision 28 years ago to get married was the smartest thing I've ever done.

Happy Tails to you!

50 States in 2021: 13

Today was a wonderful day! My mom and I got back to her house from the airport around midnight, and as I wrote in yesterday's post, I decided to spend the night there because I was too tired to drive home. There was a second reason for that decision, which was that we had plans for today! Had I driven home last night, I wouldn't have arrived before about 1:30 am, and then would have had to be up and ready to leave before 5:30 am, so staying at my mom's allowed me to get a couple extra hours of sleep!

the first time seeing this
beautiful face in more than a week!

C and Ginny got to my mom's at 6:45 this morning to pick up my mom and me, and then we drove over to B1's house, which is literally one minute from my mom's, and we picked up B1 and my dad, who is visiting from PA for the weekend.

The five humans and one dog drove up to NY to visit family for the day! You'll notice that I'm only counting NJ in this post, and that's because I was all the way in the back of the car with Ginny, and I had fallen asleep, as had my mom and B1, so C did not stop for a photo of the "Welcome to NY" sign. We'll be back in NY in September, so I will take the pic and count NY on our 2021 state list then!

My parents have been divorced for almost 20 years, but obviously there are always many family events and everyone gets along, so it was nice to spend the morning with both of them!

The purpose of the trip was to visit my YaYa after a very long stretch of not being able to see him due to the pandemic. He is 91 and lives in NJ, but we actually all met up at my aunt and uncle's house in Tuxedo Park, NY for the day. B2 and S2 also came, along with S2's parents who happened to be visiting them this weekend, so it was really like a mini family reunion, although we missed S1 and little my niece and nephew, who stayed home to avoid a very long and tiring day!

so happy to be in the car with these people

my aunt is an amazing cook!

Ginny was extremely interested
in the buffet

my loves

Bailey

Arya

Ginny and I had a nap and
C took a pic bc I was holding her paw
(I was super tired from the long week!)

Family is everything and any day where I get to be with both of my brothers is my favorite kind of day!

I love them more than I can say!

Happy Tails to you!

Summer Disney Adventure: Day 8

Our final day was long but pretty great! We spent the morning in our room packing up, and bell services came just before 11:00 am to pick up our luggage and all of the medical equipment my mom had rented. 

Our Magical Express departure time was 1:00 pm, so we just spent a couple of hours hanging out at the resort. As I previously mentioned, Disney Transportation is utilizing a lot of random charter buses, so we didn't get a cute Magical Express bus for our ride to the airport, but we were both ready for some of the comforts of home, so we didn't really mind.

We got the to the airport, checked our bags, and made our way through security. We had even decided to have my mom not use a wheelchair, since that seemed to set off some red flags last week, but it turns out that the wheelchair was not the issue, but rather just the usual nonsense of TSA. Both my mom and I got a full pat down and they swiped/swabbed just about every surface possible on my mom and her portable oxygen concentrator. So absurd given the obnoxiously lax "screening" going on for others.

Once we got through that aggravating experience, we went to the gate area, and ultimately lined up in the pre-board section around 3:40, having been told boarding would begin at 3:45 for our 4:15 flight.

Long story short? That flight left almost three hours later.

Why? The daily afternoon thunderstorm! The bane of our existence this week!

There is a silver lining, however…our flight was oversold and Southwest was looking for two volunteers to give up their seats, receive compensation, and be put on the 8:30 flight. I quickly realized that was only about 90 minutes after our original flight was supposed to finally leave, and for the money that was being offered, I suggested to my mom that we volunteer!

We were put on the 8:30 flight and we did get a very generous amount in compensation, so we are calling this day a win! Our flight left about 30 minutes late, but we had an empty middle seat between us, which were absolutely would not have had if we'd stayed on the original flight, and we made it home safely! B1 picked us up and although I had plans to drive home tonight, I've decided to stay at my mom's because of our late arrival time and the fact that I am pretty wiped out from the trip!

last passengers off the plane!

I'm not going to lie – there were challenging moments and we faced limitations and situations that I've never considered for people in wheelchairs and scooters. It was an eye-opening experience for me. I'm impressed with how accommodating WDW is and I am so proud of my mom for facing any challenges head on: getting answers as to what was and wasn't allowed; navigating machines and equipment; planning, planning, and more planning so she was always prepared with what she needed; and dealing with the heat and humidity which makes breathing so difficult for her. Honestly, she was a rock star and I'm beyond lucky to have spent all of this time with her!

love her!

Happy Tails to you!

Summer Disney Adventure: Day 7

It was an interesting day to say the least!

I have been making the
same joke to C for 25+ years...

every time I see a squirrel
at WDW, I say,
"Is that you, King Arthur?"
which is a reference to
The Sword in the Stone...

so of course I texted these
pics to C today with the
caption "Royalty" and yes,
I do fancy myself pretty hilarious
with this one joke that I know
C never tires of hearing ;)

We had a late breakfast at the resort and then left for Epcot. We did not get far.

The strap on my mom's backpack got wrapped around the wheel of her wheelchair. I mean really wrapped, as in the wheel could no longer rotate. It was completely locked in place.

I had my mom get out of the wheelchair so I could try to unwind the strap. I flipped the wheelchair on its side and then upside down and I tried and tried and tried, but no avail. Of course it was very hot out, and I was exerting a ton of effort, and I was getting very frustrated. Not a great situation.

Luckily, there was a cast member working not too far away and I'm sure we looked pretty pitiful, with me flipping the chair over and over and yanking on the bag and the wheel, and my mom sitting on the sidewalk with her portable oxygen concentrator.

He kindly came over and asked if we needed help. He tried to loosen the strap and couldn't do it either, which made me feel slightly better because I would have been pretty embarrassed otherwise. After several minutes of him working and me contributing nothing more than a steadying hand on the wheelchair, I asked him if he had scissors or a knife. Luckily, he had a box cutter! After getting it out of his work vehicle, he sawed the strap to get the bag free; this left the piece of strap wrapped around the wheel, which was much easier to unwind and remove with two free ends!

Fortunately, it was the "waist" strap that had to be cut, so the backpack itself is still perfectly fine. All of this took almost 30 minutes, and all my mom and I could do was laugh once we thanked him profusely and were back on track. Never a dull moment!

Our afternoon at Epcot was great! We went to the Beauty and the Beast Sing Along, which I hadn't been to before, and to be honest, I thought it was a bit strange for them to have reworked the story to showcase LeFou as the matchmaker. An inexplicable and unnecessary change! We also went to the festival center, which was beautiful, and listened to a lovely performance by a very talented pianist. We were sitting right at the front, so he could see how we were responding to the music (obviously many tears from me because, well, it's me and I always cry at music, and because one of the songs was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"). After he finished playing, we were gathering our stuff up to carry on with our day and he came over to chat with us and to thank us for listening! What? We thanked him for sharing his gift with us! Such a nice way to spend some time today!

not really sure what was happening here

We noticed that right on cue, a storm was rolling in. When we were at Epcot the other day, we were forced to go all the way to  the front of the park to take a bus because the SkyLiner doesn't operate during inclement weather. We wanted to avoid that scenario today, so we made our way over the the exit and the SkyLiner Station. We got on a gondola just fine, and traveled from Epcot, through the station at Riviera, and stopped at Caribbean Beach where we had to transfer to a different line to get to Pop Century, We hopped off the first gondola and went right over the the wheelchair accessible loading area for the second gondola. At that very moment, they announced that the SkyLiner was ceasing operations due to the storm. We were moved over to a different queue, wear we waited for almost an hour before a bus arrived to take us over to Pop Century. Thankfully, the cast members at the station were very kind and chatted with those of us in line, which helped the time pass. I was still relieved when we were finally on a bus and ultimately back at our resort!

After all of that, we decided to have a quiet evening, so we ordered dinner and watched hockey in our room. At least we got a couple of good stories out of the day!

Happy Tails to you!