My 37 th birthday

This is a pic of me and my kids. I had a pleasant day even though it started out with me scrubbing one nasty toilet. LOL!! The day before I had gotten the main floor clean, including my office - which hasn't been cleaned in ages. And I'd also filled the fridge, freezer, and pantry, too. So I woke up on my bday and got ready for the day immediately. I came downstairs for coffee and opened my gift from Sky - Bvlgari Rose! Love that perfume! A little later I started cleaning the boys bathroom (very scary!) and Joshua's friend, Tyler, came over so he didn't have to go to his sisters' swim meets. They played well and stayed out of my hair and didn't make any big messes. The other boys and sky worked outside in the garage and raking leaves while I cleaned up some more, fixed a healthy lunch and in general - had a slow paced, getting things done, kind of day. I took my Tyler to his guitar lesson and when I returned my mom and Gordie had just arrived with cake, ice cream, and gifts! Completely unexpected! They got me a pretty picture I hung on the wall in the foryet, another decorative plaque, and a really nice GB Packers cooler bag. When they left about an hour later I took Tyler home and came back to change for dinner out. Justin got picked up by a friend for a sleep over and me, sky and the two boys went to Red Robin. Sky went to bed early, I did laundry and read from a book I bought with bday money from granny. Robbie came home with some very comfy socks - one was a GB packers pair (I'll be wearing those today!). And - my day was done. All in all - a very pleasant 37th birthday!

And The Hours Keep Adding Up. . .

Let's see - I'm at 51 hours prior to this post. I haven't posted PTO stuff in a while so let's see how this adds up. . . Since setting up for the book fair I have had to work with some Hansen's Fundraiser stuff. I thought it was a one-woman job but as it turns out I could've used a helper or two. Thankfully, the rep put all the catalogs, order forms, and envelopes in individual bags ready for kids to go out selling. I, however, had to divvy them up, meaning I had to have 22 packages for this teacher, 17 for that teacher, and so on. You know - those individual bags are slipery! As I was counting out packages they were slipping and sliding every way and really caused my quick and easy job to become rather frustrating. I spent about 40 minutes getting those separtated by teacher. I placed them in the teachers lounge with their names on the bags I put them in - for the teachers to grab so I didn't interrupt class time to deliver them or crowd the office. Then, I rounded up that hour printing stuff in the office for the book fair. I printed wristbands for the kids to color as a reminder of our online book fair. I printed book fair wish lists - and cut them out. I also printed classroom wish list slips for the teachers. I got going early one morning to pick up bagels and muffins for the teachers from Big Apple Bagels. I had bananas, too. I didn't think to ask the cafeteria for water, juice, or coffee - next time. This was placed at the book fair for the teachers to come through and fill out their classroom wish lists. I have to be honest, though. Last year there were teachers who complained that their names had been left off the classroom wish list display board. So, I was very careful not to forget anyone when making the new board (that took me about 1 1/2 hours). And, only two or three 'special's teacher's filled any out. ??? Not going to harp on it. All that took about 45 minutes - getting the food, setting it up. Then, back to Hansen's - orders turned in and I had to separate the top order form from all the money. The only thing that made this job tedious was the fact that so many people didn't fill out the top portion of their order forms and their envelopes. So, not only did I have to write in the kids' name I had to verify the amount inside the envelope equaled the amount of all the sales. I did not have to do this for every single one but - another job that should've been easy for a single person - was actually a job for three at least. It took me about an hour and a half to accomplish this. I tallied the totals twice and had a very different outcome the 2nd time. But, even so - we probably profited about $4-5 thousand dollars (and our treasurer only budgeted us making $700.) See my big grin. . :). Now - on to the book fair itself. So, using signupgenius.com was fabulous! I had all but three slots filled in a week and a half. I didn't worry about those three slots thinking some people were waiting to see if someone else would fill them. Well, come Saturday before our first LWALO (Lunch With A Loved One) I decided to send out a 'hail Mary' email request - no one could fill the slots! And, I was supposed to have lunch with Joshua on that Monday (one of the open slots). I wound up having a very quick 15 minute lunch before running back to the library to work. LWALO is crazy busy. There is almost no walking room! And, the lines were sooooo long! I jumped in and the 1st customer I had - - - I had an issue ringing up two books -10 minutes later and they were on their way. I, on the other hand, was so busy (as was my other worker) I couldn't wipe the beads of sweat dripping down my face like I'd been standing under a sprinkler! My clothes felt drenched! But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy ringing people up. I was prepared to have the book fair closed that afternoon during the 4-6 hours for conferences b/c I had only one worker. She brough her son, though, and all was good. No problems from my 6-8 shift workers. LWALO on Tuesday was run by two old timers so once I knew they showed up for their shift - I was able to sit at home and relax! The evening crew did well and I came in at 7pm for Joshua's conference (He's doing great by-the-way!) and made my way to the library for packing up at 8pm. Our principal helped, too. I really like her - she's new to us this year and I think she's going to be around for a while. Anyway, I had another helper arrive at 8pm and with our 6-8 crew - we had the whole thing packed up and put away in one hour! Jenna arrived at 8 to run the reports. And - I - totally forgot the whole reason we ended the penny wars the day before the bok fair closed was so the librarians could order books! So, we have to do it the hard way - but they get to spend $699! All in all, I think we did fairly well, even if we didn't make as much as we have in the past. So, how many hours am I up to???? I think about 58 (and I know I'm being generous!)

Set up for book fair (add 3 more hours)

Bagels & muffins fresh from Big Apple Bagels for the teachers as they make their classroom wish lists. It took 3 hours to set up. When I did this last year with Kris, who has been setting up book fairs for over 6 years, she could get it done in an hour. (I think she had a magic wand up her sleeve).

The Reaper Hits the Jackpot!

That's Justin's friend, Will, as the reaper. Robbie didn't make sure the scene was safe when the EMT unit showed up at the middle school massacre, (Tyler's friend Justin). Two dead of unknown causes and one vehicular homicide.

We all volunteered at the Zoo Boo with mama & Gordie.

I have a Cricut problem!

First, my sister came up with a brilliant idea that I'd use my hobby room more if it wasn't in the basement - so, here goes: She moved into the hobby room, my hobby room moved into Tyler's room, Tyler moved to Justin's room, and Justin moved to my sisters room. Four room changes! I painted my new hobby room lavender and purple - very girly; I love it - seeing as how I have no girls, I really must embrace MY inner girl!________________________So, I sat down to use my Cricut to cut a design to overlay on some of the white circle Wall Pops on my wall - and it won't load the mat! I did the factory reset THREE times! Nada. Sky did take it apart and couldn't find anything wrong - it doesn't take fuses.____________________I may have to buy a new one - I suppose this is going to be an early birthday present. It really bugs me because this is NOT what I wanted for my birthday. I'm very upset but what can I do? I can choose to have a fit and feel sad and on the verge of tears. OR, I can choose to settle down knowing I'm going to have to purchase a new one and spend money I really don't want to - and just move on. . .

Yay. . .

I have someone taking on Teacher Conference Dinners AND I now have a homeroom parent coordinater!!!! I am very excited and pleased. A ton of weigh has been lifted!

Oh, the drama! - Hopefully I've nicked it in the bud. We Shall See . . and let's add 3 more hours!

Is it really too much to ask? I need a homeroom parent Coordinator. Ugh. It's just emailing, people. I know I'm sounding crass and not very positive. But, there comes a point where one just has to throw up their hands and say 'to heck with it!' There are plenty of volunteers - what I need now - are LEADERS! ________________ And the drama. . . one of our parents sent out an email to teachers with their requirements for our math night. I can't get mad at her, though. She was under the impression the plan had been shared with the principal. She's taking her position seriously and I applaud that. She's a new parent, too - so I definitely don't want to cause her any drama. So, I've spoken with the math night coordinator and email the principal with the 'what happened,' 'what's supposed to happen,' and my humble apology. There shall be no Drama, There shall be no Drama, There shall be no Drama (that's my mantra), There shall be no Drama. . . _______________Onto other things, SignUpGenius.com is GREAT! I've gotten a lot of repsonses for the book fair. And, I have a mom working on teacher conference dinners. So, I guess the only thing I'm still having to work on besides the book fair and newsletter, is the upcoming Halloween parties. I am a great delegator - just need someone to delegate.

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