I love my new school.

My new school, Crenshaw, is turning out to be wonderful. It is really small. Each class is less than 10 kids except for my theatre class which has 15. Of course there are a couple of kids who are challenging, but you can deal with them! I mean that you can figure what's going on with them and help them. It is a luxury to have the ability to do that. I also found out that our school secretary is a Breast Cancer survivor - yay Cindy. I hope this continues to be what I think it is. I'm in love.

My sciatic nerve thing is getting somewhat better. I have been taking my meds and staying off my butt. The doctor said it was probably caused by too much sitting at once - INSERVICE!!!

My Occupational Therapist has released me. I'm not happy about it, but Chris gave me a lymph massage today and it really helped. I sure wish it was something I could do to myself. The area under my mastectomy scar gets swollen and hurts. Once again I thank God for Chris...

And so it begins...

School starts tomorrow. I went in today (Sunday) to get some more "getting ready" done. I saw my schedule and freaked! I have 8 different classes to prep for! Language Arts for 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Theatre Arts, Reading Lab for 5th grade, Writing lab for 7th grade, reading lab for 6th!!! I am trying to be calm and think of two of them as extensions of the regular class... I guess I'll just do my best. One of my classes is Theatre Arts, so I don't have really any planning to do for that... I choose to look on the bright side. Hey, I have a job.

Went to the doctor on Saturday and she thinks I have either one of two things, both of which are treated the same. It's either a swollen muscle or sciatica. She gave me a muscle relaxant that won't make me drowsy and put me back on the ibuprofen. I tolerate it pretty well, but I've been on it forever. I am to take one of each every 8 hours for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. Also, I am to sit as little as possible - not hard for a teacher.

I just got my "compression garment" that I had ordered and it seems to help with the lymphatic swelling that I get around my mastectomy site. I will have to wear it at night and if/when I fly again. It is basically a long line bra with only one cup. I must remember to take it to my physical therapy tomorrow. Vickie has been eager to see it. We're hoping that it does the job and I don't have to buy a more expensive, custom-made version.

I don't think I mentioned it but I have a couple of friends at Crenshaw (my new school) already. I am right across the hall from Jesse Minter, who teaches Science. We became friends at a writing workshop a couple of years ago and now we are neighbors! It's nice to go into a new school with a friend or two to help you along... She is very kind and has invited Chris and I to stay at her mobile home on the beach if we need/want to. Her house was destroyed in the hurricane. Everyone has been nothing but nice and helpful. Jackie, the building engineer (custodian) is GREAT.

It's the weekend.

Today we sent Coinin, one of our bunnies away to another home. We are very sad. He and Haas became unbonded and have continued to fight so it is very hard to have two bunnies in the house who don't get along. We decided to keep Haas because he is the older of the two and in less good health. Coinin is just more adoptable. Sad. We've had him since he was a baby.

I finished up a week of in-service today. I'll be spending my weekend getting ready for Monday. I still have work to do in my room and planning. I did get my ferry pass today!!! I also got my door access card. Much of the last few days has been spent trying to get reconnected to all the systems. My accounts had been frozen or stopped for: Skyward (gradebook program), CareHere (health care), Eduphoria (help desk and training), and others.

I have been having a weird sciatic nerve thing since we spent 2 days sitting in these hard plastic chairs. I went to get a massage and that helped a bit, but I am still having trouble walking sometimes ( it comes and goes)and it HURTS. I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning to see what is up.

Tomorrow it begins

Tomorrow is the first day of in-service. We have a convocation at 8:00. My school will meet the superintendent earlier in order to be introduced to our new assistant principal. I went and worked in my classroom on Friday and got a lot done. I have 6 student computers in my room as well as a lcd projector mounted in the ceiling! There are no windows, cause I'm in an interior room, but there is a locking storage cabinet and the desk locks!!! Joy. The custodial staff were great and I met/hung with the librarian. There are a few empty classrooms because not all that many people have moved back to the Bolivar area since the hurricane. The fire department is still working out of the band hall, so we are sharing a building. The school is nice new and well maintained. What a difference.

We finally got our phone fixed today. The Comcast guy came out. I KNOW - Sunday?

I have been watching Tru Blood and reading the Sookie Stackhouse books AND enjoying them thoroughly. Thank you Michael for sending me the set! This week begins the "everything I read is for work" part of the school year. In fact there are hundreds of books, mostly class sets of novels in my classroom and many/most of them I haven't read. I guess I need to get on it.

My chest is feeling a little tight, but I know I would be far worse if Sandy hadn't given me a massage. Thanks Sandy! She also did a little energy work on me on Wednesday before I left Bradenton. I have a Physical Therapy appointment tomorrow. My very kind therapist, Vickie, has volunteered to stay late for me. Usually by 4:00 she has wrapped up for the day. I am very fortunate that so many people have gone out of their way to help me.

Florida

Yes, Joel, I'm close - Mum says we're "right over the bridge." I'm in Bradenton. Call me. 409-750-1823 My flight leaves Tampa @ 4:10 Thursday.

Today we went out to visit with Audrey, Mum's nail tech, and have her do a little pampering. Mum had a pedicure and I had a mani/pedi and had my hair cut. This lady Mum uses to cut her hair is really good with curly hair!

Tonight we - Mum Sandy and I - went to Outback for birthday dinner. Mum's birthday is the 15th, but I will back to Galveston by then. She had (no surprise) a yen for prime rib. It was yummy. Afterwards Sandy came back to Mums and helped me out with some lympedema massage and a little Reiki energy boost. I feel much better and the swelling has gone down.

Today was a terrible day. I couldn't get in touch with Chris and was very worried. Our home phone has gone out.

Greetings from Florida!

I'm in Florida with Mum. She had carpal tunnel surgery on her right arm today and came through it fine. She's in bed with a pile of pillows to keep her arm up and still drowsy from the sedation. The clinic where she had this done has a battalion of nurses and they do A LOT of these surgeries, so I'm confident it will come out fine. She doesn't have her followup to remove the stitches until 10 days from now. I'll be here to help her through the first few days; I hope that it's enough to get her situated. Since she's right handed, she has a lot of trouble not using her right hand.

The flight out was REALLY CROWDED. The airport lines were unbelievable. I waited in line over 45 minutes to check a bag, and then the security line was about 20 minutes. I reached the gate just as they were paging me. Then, we sat on the runway for about 40 minutes while they fixed some mechanical problem... The fun of air travel: rush and wait, rush and wait... I was a good girl and did arm exercises on the plane to make sure I didn't get lymphatic swelling - since I had lymph nodes removed during my mastectomy I will be at risk for developing lymphedema in my arm for the rest of my life. Air travel can activate it. I already have a little lymphedema in my chest, which is what I have been seeing the therapist for. Unfortunately one cannot massage one's chest in the middle seat of an airplane, at least not easily or discretely. When I landed it was hurting a bit so I took a pain pill. I am running out, even though I don't take them very often. I have misplaced a prescription that Dr. Silva wrote for me, which is LAME, because doctors are so stingy with Hydrocodone. I am not in danger of getting addicted, but how do I explain a need for a new prescription?

I intend to go to the pool later today and enjoy a little swimming. I haven't decided if I will baptize my new prosthetic or leave it at home. I don't have a pocketed swimsuit, so maybe it wouldn't stay in place anyway. I'll have to experiment. Doesn't a hot tub and cool pool sound great?!

New Boob

I got a prosthesis today! After much adjusting and trying I discovered I'm a size 12 teardrop. I also got 3 bras. I drove to Becky's Mastectomy and Wigs in League City to get this done. $450+ later, I look normal. It has weight to it, being silicone so it doesn't ride up. Yay. I figured I needed to get it early enough so I could get used to it before school starts.

Chris and I drove over to Bolivar peninsula, where my new school is, on Friday. They have made a lot of progress with rebuilding, but it is still terribly sad to see the state of the area. Something like 3,000 houses JUST DISAPPEARED from the area - swept out to sea or torn up by the storm surge. Sad. It took a long time to get there and back, even if you don't account for the driving around we did. 2.5 hours or so. I must get a pass for the Ferry soon. I was promised a "priority pass" so that I don't have to wait in the line.

Tomorrow I'm going to Florida for a few days to help Mum out while she has carpal tunnel surgery. Becka provided the Southwest Voucher - thanks! I come back on Thursday night. I wanted to have at least one weekday before school starts to get my act together.

Never mind...

Turns out Patrick, my brother in law (the dentist) is overscheduled for the next couple of weeks. So never mind about the frequent flyer miles. I'll have to do it later.

Packed up all my belongings at school today. It only took about 3 hours.

Frequent flyer?

Today I start packing up my room at Weis. A very nice guy from the warehouse found me some boxes and will give me some tape AND may drive the stuff over to my new school on Friday! Daniel Sanchez, Thank you! You may guess that it's not even his job...

I have almost two weeks to go before I start work and want/need to go to El Paso for some dental work. Anybody have frequent flyer miles or vouchers they might be willing to donate? It can't hurt to ask. Since I had to wait 'til I had a job to even think about leaving, the prices are "last minute." On Southwest the price is over 400 bucks... It's still cheaper than having to stay and get this stuff taken care of here. Guess I'll have to suck it up. I will get to visit with my friends and family in El Paso!

It worked

The new letter to the superintendent worked! E-mailed her last night. Today I went to HR, to drop off more resumes and letters of intent. My intention was to hang out and annoy them until they gave me a job, and I didn't have to! I interviewed and was hired (yes, I signed papers and everything)for a 6-8 language Arts teaching job at Crenshaw, a K-8 school. It's located on the Bolivar peninsula and I'll have to ride the ferry to and fro each day. It's a new, nice building and sounds like a great working environment. Classes are small, 10 students or so... I am SO relieved!!! Papers have already been signed to continue my insurance and everything!

Thank you for the prayers and support!