90/365 Does it look like I give a?

Spirits up. Confidence down. As I left him in the hospital for a second night he can still laugh, but I'm ready to punch in a wall. 18 hours is too long to wait to see your admitting doctor. 25 hours too long for the first specialist (infectious diseases doc). Second specialist at hour 29 (neurologist). Right now he's on a strict regimen of Advil and plenty of water. Thank God we have a modern medical facility for that. And sometime tomorrow, maybe 48 or more hours after entering the hospital with double vision and difficulty tracking movement with his eyes, maybe within 48 hours the opthalmologist will examine him. Until then I will pull my 14 hour bedside shift, trying to find things to make us both laugh, running about to find some take-out to avoid the dreaded "nutrition" tray and ignoring the possibility that this could be anything serious. Advil and plenty of fluids?

89/365 Insert Photo Here

Had an apropos picture ready to go, but in the confusion of the day I think I may have lost my camera. I filled my purse with the hubby's personal affects, and maybe my compact digital cam fell out of the bag as we went from the ER to the room upstairs. The least of my worries today. I'm home with the teen attempting to get a few Z's. I'll put her on a school bus and then hunker down for another day of the giant, inefficient waiting game that is Health Care.

88/365 Audition Day

87/365 Just do it, indeed.

86/365 A few scenes from my day...

Why, yes. It does look like duct tape on the wing.

Lunch at a shiny diner. Mmmm. I wish we had a real diner here. Bad for the waistline but great for the tastebuds!

85/365 Calendar Confusion

So I'm starting my Kinderjob next week, but the calls for consulting work are trickling in. Some schools have called wanting me to do training next school year. But will I be in a classroom next year? If I knew that Bolles or LASOTA could possibly consider me for an opening, the answer would be easy. Can I turn away a consulting job and its $$$$ for the chance that I may be hired at the last minute in August? And if I have enough consulting work, do I really need to pull 50 hours a week Kinderteaching at a hair above minimum wage? Or maybe my Kinderboss will be flexible, allowing me to do the consult works as they come. I wish I had a better idea as to how the calendar ahead will be filled.

84/365 Lacking inspiration. Wishing I were a cat.

83/365 I Live Here

Taken in my neighborhood. A long way from Brooklyn, NY, isn't it?

82/365 The Votes Are In

The Orange Park Chorale's new Artistic Director is Mr. Bob Moore, local musician and composer. Finding a new director was a long and confusing process, especially for this new chorale member who only had the opportunity to work with Dr. Carole Clifford, the group's founder, for one semester. Fortunately, I still have the benefit of her expertise. She's my voice teacher! And she's phenomenal. Yep. Age 42 and I'm taking lessons again. I wish she were my teacher some 20 years ago. Who knows who, where, and what I'd be if I'd had this kind of guidance and instruction when I also had my youth!

81/365 Birds-Eye View

I guess the viewing is better from up there, some 8 feet off the ground. My heart was in my throat as he made his descent. As soon as he landed safely he was back up there again.

80/365 BFFs

IMG and KF have been buddies for 8 years now. Even though they attend different schools they're close as ever. They got all dolled up to go see a play at Theater Jacksonville, and they love taking pictures of themselves. I snuck into one of their shots.

79/365 Kinderteacher Intro Letter

Picked up the Kinderphonics, Kindercooking, Kindermusic, and Kinderschool-age aftercare Kindercurriculum materials today. Also picked up my Kinderpolo shirts. Next week I start my Kinderjob.

78/365 Day of Dichotomy

Started out with 6 hours in the ER. Cat scan. Complete bloodwork and spinal tap. Negative times three. We've ruled out menengitis, anneurism, stroke, blood clots, tumors and viruses. His severe headache pain that has kept him from sitting or standing since Tuesday is heretofore attributed to the muscles in his neck, likely injured by the stubborn mule deciding to move chorus risers by himself. After a horse dose of morphine, he's feeling much better.

She may look cute, but application of the make-up almost caused a battle to the death.

The play was... is.... complete. Looking forward to the productions at DASOTA!

77/365 Owiee

He said he had a headache yesterday, but I thought it was just an excuse to avoid his turn making dinner. His head, neck and shoulders hurt so much he hasn't been able to sit upright for more than 24 hours. Tension headache, the doc said. They gave him a shot in the butt (literally) and some horse pills. Physical therapy, heating pad and a bunch of Aleve. He's still hurting. Must be. He's taken 2 days off work, and he doesn't miss. I hear that men aren't good sufferers, and he usually does make a paper cut out to be an amputation, but I think that he's really hurting this time.

76/365 Surprise Find

At the UNF Library today I needed to check the score of Fiddler on the Roof for the full version of "Matchmaker." We have 5 girls in the Musical Theater class we co-teach at the dance studio, so this number is perfect. Tucked into the middle of the famous dream scene I found this paper, which I think I may have put there 8 years ago. It deals with Jaxwrite, Institutes, TC (Teacher Consultants) and 3 gals named Morgan, Renee, and Judy. Though it isn't in my handwriting, I could swear that this is a copy of notes taken at a planning meeting for a new writing training we were developing. We developed this during the same school year I co-directed Fiddler. I'm going to clean off the magnifying glass and sharpen my detective skills to try and determine this paper's origin. Or maybe I'm crazy and it's just a coincidence...

75/365 My Idol Pick, In Spite of Myself

I said I wasn't going to watch it this year. Three judges were obnoxious enough, then they added the fourth. The chit-chat goes on longer than the singing. I was suckered into watching the "Top 36" weeks because I happened to be on hotel fitness room treadmills when they occurred. Boy, the talent pool has thinned. Then I heard Adam Lambert. The guy has pipes, showmanship and savvy. My 14 year old daughter thinks he's hot, and I do too. He's so delicious that it makes me wish I were a gay man. I'm growing out my hair so I can have HIS emo-scene haircut. I can't wait for Tuesday nights so I can hear him sing again. I'm so ashamed.

74/365 No Pooping in the Pool

After sweeping the deck, brushing the sides and skimming the top of the pool I was none too amused by the little bits and pieces of tree excrement sent whirling by the breeze. EG calls them "helicopters," but I call them a pain in the neck.

73/365 Busy Saturday

Today I finished two loads of wash, the mowing, edging, weed whacking, and leaf-raking, returned a pair of too-short pants at Old Navy, and I am ready to sing in a concert with the Orange Park Chorale. Oh, and I finished the 15K Gate River Run 43 seconds faster than last year (would've been better but I was restrained by a brainless and chipless running partner who sustained an IT band strain at mile 7). Not a bad Saturday.

72/365 Ready for the River Run

Nike shoes. Check. Timing chip. Check. Cushioned, wicking socks. Check. Shoe pocket with car key. Check. Running shorts. Check. GPS-enabled phone, body glide, heart rate monitoring watch, caffeinated shot blocks. Check, check check check. Ear buds and iPod shuffle loaded with up-tempo music. Check check. 2 sports bras, race number, pins, sweat-wicking shirt, biofreeze pain reliever. Check check check check check check. Sunglasses and hat are in the car, so I'm ready to go.

And they say that running is a low-maintenance sport???

71/365 I <3 The Northwest

Not the clearest picture of Mt. Hood, but I did shoot the photo as I was driving a windy mountain road at sunrise. I visited a school that was in the little town of Estacada, Oregon, on the banks of the trout and salmon-rich Clackamas River.


Gorgeous scenery, a majority of progressive people, amazing local wine, produce and seafood, and the ever-present espresso hut. What's not to love?

70/365 Professional Footwear

Needed some comfy kicks to go with the casual khakis and the collared golf shirt. These Nike Air Lites were $28, tax free, here in Oregon. I've been jonesin' for a funky ride, and rolling with the pre-K set is the perfect excuse.

I've learned to make lemonade from the lemons.

69/365 Uniform Pants

I hooked up with these bad boys at Old Navy today. 3 pair, on sale. Good thing. I'll need them to go with my collared shirt. I'm the newest employee at the Kindercare, doing small group phonics, music, cooking and creative writing with the preschoolers and the Adventures program with the after-schoolers. Little pay but fun, fun, fun!

68/365 Spring is Busting Out All Over

The pollen is killing some but its affects are reviving me. This is one of a pair of bottle brush trees at the bottom of my driveway. There are more buds than blooms on it right now, so I expect a total explosion of color within the next week or so. Winter? Buh Bye!

67/365 I Wannabe

Nope, it's not a recliner for humans. It's a bunk bed for fraternal twin kitties. Is it wrong to envy one's pets?

66/365 Activist in Traning

We stood out in the sun for 2 1/2 hours today at a major intersection in Orange Park. Most of us wore red and held signs high for drivers to see as they stopped at the light. "50th No More!" Many shouted. "No More Cuts!" It was an attempt to raise awareness of the negligent underfunding of schools by the state of Florida, and our 14 year old daughter took part (pink blouse, black slacks, center). Will Tallahassee do the right thing? Will our sunburned faces and tired arms actually result in adequate funding for schools? Who knows, but the kids out there learned a lesson today. Sometimes believing in a cause means interrupting your social schedule, showing up and raising your voice.

65/365 Unemployment Benefit

I don't qualify for the financial kind, since I was self-employed and I terminated my own employment. Tricky, how they make you pay into the state unemployment fund but then keep you from collecting when the economy tanks. I guess I'll take the benefit of time. I'm usually too restless to enjoy it, but so long as we can hang onto it, this isn't a bad place to wait out the job market.

64/365 Always ready for a picture

Nothing struck me as photo-bloggable today. Too bad Miss I is so shy...

63/365 Others in the house with job drama

I interviewed for a job today. I may be considered for the position of Reading Coach at Grove Park Elementary School, a great challenge at this Title I school that is yet to make AYP. I spent more than 2 hours with the principal and reading teachers...but who wants to hear about that. I live with the most popular music teacher in clay county. We may need to get a larger house...

62/365 Research and Reinstatement

I spent my afternoon at the delicious, new UNF library, re-upping my lingo on the latest in Title I reading strategies. At tomorrow's interview I want to talk the talk, so I researched and read 3 years worth of IRA's Reading Teacher magazine. Fluency, leveled reading, phonemic awareness, reading club, engagement, inventory, running record, graphic organizer, response journal, echo reading, think aloud. I'm good to go. What a great facility! Chock full of comfy places to read, write, or just chill. It made me want to be a student again!

While at the library I had to step outside when my cellphone vibrated and danced across the table. Apparently, a little bit of politics at the school board office had the right intentions in mind, for a change. The music teacher stays and the principal has to eat crow.

61/365 Too busy to be his own defense

We were at rehearsal today until sometime after 5, working on the final scene of Disney's Aladdin. We made great progress, and even devised a clever way to turn Jafar into a tiny genie, stuck in a lamp for all eternity.

That's why neither EJG nor I could attend the board meeting at 4 PM to explain why the idea of cutting the music program at the school would mean so much more than the kids not having a teacher to sing with them during their teacher's 30 minute prep period.

60/365 Good Times and Good Timing

This afternoon we had the last visit with my "snowbird" in-laws. They have been in Florida since the first week of January, staying in their part-time condo. Our visits are full of laughs, political debates, good food and games. Their timing couldn't have been better. These past 2 months they have been an emotional safety net during some very difficult times. How wonderful it is to have parents willing to listen and support us, and share their wisdom. They love our daughter unconditionally and want nothing but the best for us. Really, how can I stick with the "why me mentality?" By the measure of family and friends, I am the richest woman alive.