I guess we've switched...

Opened up Blogger today and found myself in a new, updated interface. Can't decide if I love or hate yet but definitely makes me feel OLD.

I have begun a new cross stitch this week. One that will take MANY months, if not for complexity but for sheer size. (See feet below for reference)

It is going to be a California Gull and a sego lily, the state bird and flower of Utah. I must say I was little surprised and disappointed that something as commonplace as a sea gull was the new state bird when we moved (they are referred to as rats of the sea in WA sometimes) but I like the cross stitch and we will see how things go.

I have never worked with such a big piece of aida before! The hubster ordered the pattern offline and I wasn't too pleased considering I usually choose kits that include all the materials. Shopping at the craft store I couldn't find some of the thread colors that I needed so I'll be crossing that bridge when I get there.

In other news I've had TWO meetings about work this week with my partner teacher and a SPED teacher regarding the assessments that will go on in our Senior English courses. It's been nice talking to adults and even though I still feel like we're not prepared and little clueless, it does help talking about things. I'm still plunking along trying to develop as much content as possible and get it all online. 

Tomorrow I have an all day training and I'm a little worried about my stamina. Today I woke up and felt like hell despite a pretty decent night's sleep. I'm going to start getting up earlier next week for my trainings then (M-Th) and then the week following our contract starts so we'll be in our rooms and getting ready. I'll have to talk with my partner teacher about when I should be in that week considering I'm part-time I don't know if I do part-time prep week or what. I don't mind putting in extra time as long as I don't get symptomatic and it gets me more prepared.

Also need to figure out when to pick up my teacher lappy...

OH! I have begun calling the snail Kosmo. My husband had a bottle of beer from a brewery we like and the brewer's name was Kosmos, and so I got Kosmo from it and have liked it as a snail name so far.

Needs a Name

I drew a big snail for my classroom and I need help naming it... I like the way it turns out except for the small antennae :/ Permanent markers  and an ironing board! Hahaha

Some Utah Pics

Today marks a month since we moved to Utah!

Yesterday we took a hike up to Catherine's Pass and saw some wonderful wildflowers. BB hiked all the way up and back, even enjoying some rock climbing along the way. His feet got "tired of hiking" partway back but we made it without any piggy back rides!

BB made a new friend in a rather large zucchini he dubbed Squashy Squash. He carried it all around the house like a baby and even put it to bed in a little Spider-Man mask sleeping bag and miniature pillow. Oh, and of course they watched some TV together too.

RSVP'd to a meeting about back-to-school and Covid-19 at my high school. It'll be my first time on campus but I'm not very excited for hours of talk and probably tears. If the board of education meeting I watched was any sort of predictor, it might get wet.

Sod! Finally!

What to write? 

I'm lying on the floor, trying to shake my brain up a bit and shake out some words.

We are doing pretty well. I'm still fighting anxiety-found a wonderful post by Brene Brown of Elizabeth Gilbert's post the other day that helped me:

I copied and pasted that so it may or may not show. It says, "You are afraid of surrender because you don't want to lose control. But you never had control; all you had was anxiety."

I sure have a lot of that and it's precisely because of a lack of control around the school year starting and not having a lot of curriculum down or having a clue how things are going to work.

My school district voted to return to school full-time, in-person. The district just north of us voted to do the opposite: full-time, online. So we shall see where we each end up in a couple months from now. School starts the 17th. WHOA that's exactly a month from today! What were the chances?

Anyways. We've being doing pretty well. I had one of those days that just seems "off" when you're driving and almost hit a ped or cut someone off accidentally and get  honked at... or both. (Nervous halo emoji here). It made me feel scared of myself. Like some accident or punishment was on the horizon. 

Oh, not to mention the anguish after the hubbo left a $1 tip for a pizza delivery person that did a poor job. 20 minutes past quota and stayed in car fiddling on phone before bringing us the order. Still, I feel bad for not tipping. He argues it's for service and bad service gets bad tips. Somehow I felt scared of being black balled by the pizza service Gods.

So school and tips. That's been my agony the past few days. And landscaping. We've been waiting for the lawn and the landscapers had originally thought it would be Saturday, Monday, or maybe Tuesday but here it is Friday. We didn't know when they would be showing up but we gave up after Tuesday. Then they showed up just to dump things in the dumpster they left here. Not any work on the uneven lawn or unweeded garden beds. 

To make it worse for everyone involved the sod guy had said he'd be here at 7:30 when he didn't show up until after 1:00. The landscapers skulked about all day waiting. I couldn't feel too bad for them considering all the hours we waited around for them, afraid to leave and lock them outta the yard accidentally. 

Oh well. It's all small potatoes but a little rotten and obnoxious.

I'm working on curriculum for "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Lottery" now. My co-teacher is going to share materials with me once our learning management system is up. But for now I'm trying to soothe myself with work. A dose of control I suppose, even if it's an illusion.

Hot here too. I sweat even between the car and a building and yes, my pits are still are a well of bacteria ridden stench. My chemistry is just not conducive!! A weird looking word that one...

Wishing wellness to all and no pit stains either <3

The Boys Are Back In Town

***Yes, that's a Thin Lizzy reference and also a nod to "A Knight's Tale" (great movie if ya haven't seen it).***

Anyways! My boys are back home after a journey to Yellowstone and my brother-in-law's in Idaho. They left Wednesday and got back Sunday. It was rejuvenating to have some time to myself but definitely a little lonely. I stayed at home after having my big panic attack/episode and being bedridden on Tuesday. They took some gorgeous pictures and while I feel like I missed out, I also feel like we made the right decision. A few days with not a lot of sleep and lots of car driving may not have been best for me.

Instead, I spent a lot of my time reading and working on some training for school. Ironically the Canvas program that freaked me out so bad after my trip to the district office! I'm feeling better about it even though I'm still intimidated. I think most of my anxiety around school is the lack of curriculum right now. I don't know what books we are doing (outside of "The Hate U Give" but we're not starting with that) and I have intermittent freak outs about it.

In other news, we are liking Utah. I've been taking walks through our neighborhood to a local park that has a nice ring around it for walking. It isn't particularly exerting though. I need more exercise for sure. That said, I'm not sure that I'm ready to walk into a gym. The idea makes my Covid senses tingle and I'm not a huge fan of working out alone. That said, my backup plan is getting a rower. I know the hubs likes to row and I used to love it too.

BB is doing well. Only a few "I miss Grandma" moments but mostly excited to play with some other boys on the street. There is a 10 yo and a 4 yo and they both play with BB really well. Little difficult when it's so hot and relationships are just blooming. Sometimes we have to tell BB that he can't just run over to the neighbors at all hours! He also enjoys the park up the hill too. His school is even closer than the park but we also have to get him enrolled in an afterschool care program at La Petite or KinderCare etc.


SO. We are doing pretty well overall. Some freak outs, and I missed a vacay... but we're good. :o)

Sending hugs and good vibes :o)