This Past Week

This was pretty much a typically busy week, nothing special or notable.

At school, I am beginning to wrap up the end of the 2nd marking period. I assigned a lot of stuff that needed grading, which unfortunately means I will be very busy this week, grading all of that stuff, and will also be busy next week, getting everything ready for marking period 3.

My other big project of the week (month, next two months), is the yearbook. Now, don't get me wrong, I really enjoy doing the yearbook. In my last post when I mentioned other careers that I would enjoy, desktop publishing would definitely be one of them. I love coming up with the layouts, and working with Adobe InDesign. Every page I work on, I discover more that can be done with the program. I also get more creative, and come up with better ideas. I can't wait to compare this year's book to last year's, as I know already it will be much better. But on the other hand, doing the yearbook is a lot of work, and it is difficult to find time to work on it. Thursday, I stayed at school till 6:30 proofing and submitting a bunch of pages. I am pretty much going to have to pull one late-day a week until the yearbook is done (mid-March).

I also keep getting myself roped into things, which is mainly because I have a lot of trouble saying "no" to people. Back in October or so, a parent asked if I could help out with this year's musical. Traditionally, the musical is run completely by parent volunteers (there is no teacher stipend for this, at least not one that pays enough). I explained that I had a kid on the way, and had a full schedule. I was told they just needed someone to plunk out notes in the beginning of the rehearsal, since none of the parent volunteers, including the director, can read music. This was originally four rehearsals, and now has turned into 8, maybe (I can't seem to get a straight answer out of anybody on the exact schedule). I also told them I am not going to work any later than 4, because I have a baby at home, and will need to be working on the yearbook.

Well, we had an early dismissal followed by an in-service on Thursday, and I had assumed that since there was an early dismissal, there would be no musical rehearsal. I was looking forward to this extra time to work on the yearbook. Well, the director decided to bring in the male lead to work on his solos--well, of course, she needed me to plunk out notes, which I did, and left at 4 to work on the yearbook. I am not giving them any more time than what I already agreed to. And I have plenty excuses--band, baby, yearbook, etc.

My week at home was also very nice. I am starting to find more of a balance of school, housework, and spending time with Maddie and Meggie. Unfortunately for Meg, I don't help out on the housework end of things as much as I used to. She is actually happy about this, as long as I get time with Maddie. I still feel bad about it, and wish I could be more helpful. Meg wants me to spend as much time as possible bonding with Maddie when I am home. So Meg makes dinner, cleans up, makes lunches, makes the bottles, etc. all while I sit around and feed/play with Maddie. As long as Meggie is happy, I am happy.

This weekend was a lot of fun as well. Saturday, we actually went to Peter's with Maddie. We went for breakfast, since she is much more pleasant in the morning. It went very well. Maddie was quiet and even cheerful in her carrier. I had French toast and Meggie had pancakes.

The rest of Saturday was a little more annoying. I sat down to do money stuff, and got involved in a side project--entering all of our bills in to our bank's bill-pay website. After doing this, I discovered that MS Money is very closely integrated with our bank account and began putting all of these transactions into the ledger automatically. I was initially happy about this, as it would be a major time saver. So, I continued with the process, and then suddenly, MS Money couldn't connect to the bank's website any longer. I spent the next two hours troubleshooting the problem, to find out that my Money data file was corrupt (fortunately, I back up frequently). I fixed the problem, but then had to enter in a week's worth of receipts AGAIN, since my backup was from last weekend.

Saturday night, I was on baby duty, and Meg cleaned the house. We went to be kinda early, because we had to get up even earlier than on a weekday.

Meg and I played bells at church Sunday morning. We have to play at both services, and our at the church from 7:45 - 1:00, typically. This is way too long to have Maddie there, so my parents watched her in the morning. This meant we had to have the three of us out of the door by 7:15. This actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, which is a good sign, since this will become a daily ritual when Meg goes back to school.

Our morning at church was actually enjoyable. I am not a very religious person (despite the fact that I do hold somewhat of a church leadership position--the handbell director). I used to be much more religious in high school, but I went to college, and just began to view the world differently (more liberally), than before. Also, my church ended up changing a lot after graduating, when our pastor unexpectedly resigned. We had several interim pastors, none who impressed me. We now finally have a permanent pastor, who we are still getting to know.

I still don't know how I feel about my belief in God, and have been trying to figure that out. I am sure I am not the only one. What I do know for certain is that any religion which preaches intolerance towards others is not the right one. Therefore, I am very critical of any Christian leader (or any person in general) who condemns people because of their cultural background or lifestyle choices. So far, I haven't gotten that vibe from this guy. His sermon yesterday (though a bit long) was actually more about being open towards others rather than condemning.

Our handbell performances went well too, considering that we were down a ringer. The bell choir keeps shrinking. We keep losing people, and are having trouble recruiting more ringers. I have been doing some bell arranging for our small group (which everyone seems to be impressed with), put ended up purchasing music for the rest of the season because, despite the fact that I enjoy arranging, it is a lot of work, and there isn't a whole lot of time for it.

Meg and I were also asked by the choir director if we would be willing to run music at VBS this summer. I am actually looking forward to this. I will have the time for it (it's in the summer), and it will be fun to work with Meg. My dream is to have Meg and I someday work together in the same music department at the same school.

So, with having good performances, being complimented on my arranging skills, looking forward to a summer project, and hearing a good sermon, it turned out to be a great morning.

The afternoon was spent cleaning, as we were having my family over for dinner. My mom's birthday is Tuesday. We were supposed to go out to brunch at Adelphia's, but that got rescheduled to next week since my brother had to work. So, we decided to bake my mom a cake, and have my parents over.

The evening was enjoyable, with cake, cookies, a fire in the fireplace, and Jim Gaffigan on Comedy Central. Unfortunately, I had a horrible sinus infection, so I did not completely enjoy it.

I decided after my parents left that I would take off Monday, since I was feeling so crappy.

Once I got over the guilt of taking a day off (long story--I'll save it for another post) I had a really wonderful day today. I stayed in PJ's all day, and did not go anywhere. I spent the morning doing as much school work as I could do from home, so that I don't get behind. The rest of the day was spent hanging with Maddie and Meggie, and pretty much doing nothing.

I am a little sad, because it is 9, and my "3 day weekend" is pretty much over. But now, I only have four days till the next weekend. It's weekends that are going to get me through the rest of this school year. PLEASE let me find another job.

Okay, I gonna surf the web, put Maddie to bed, and hang out with Meggie till bed.