Feeling Fat

Yesterday marked week 11 and I am feeling fat even though I have actually lost two pounds. How this works is beyond me. I definitely have a pouch, so I guess the weight has shifted. Anyhow, here's the latest and greatest.
We actually have the heartbeat as well, it is a soundwave I hope you are able to hear it.

Other than that exciting news, there isn't too much new going on. I was on Spring Break last week and all I really did was rest. It was AWESOME!

It's back to work, full force, this week though. We are preparing for AIMS and Terra Nova next week. Everyone seems to be on edge. I don't know what my deal is, but I am not stressed about it at all. I guess I figure that we have had them for 140-some days by that point, what more are we going to be able to cram into them in the last week. I guess that could come back to bite me in the butt, only time will tell.

We are also sidetracked at work with all of the budget cuts coming our way. Our district has to cut $4.4 million. Our school has to cut four positions. Everyone is talking and making predictions about what is going to happen next year. I had a meeting with our principal today before leaving. She is going to keep me in second grade as the team lead (for now). She hasn't completely closed out the idea of having me move up to third grade. I wouldn't mind that either. I just don't want to go back to fourth or fifth grade (too many hormones).

For now we are all just waiting for the final word from the Board. There is a vote on the 9th of April and contracts are supposed to be passed out no later than the 15th of April. I'm not concerned about having a job, but I did have hopes of job sharing with another expecting mom. If I were to do that at this point, I'd have to do it knowing that it could be more than just the one year. The economy being what it is, I don't know if I want to make that kind of commitment to part-time.

Kyle and I have weighed the options and we are really leaning toward full time for (at least) this next year. I won't have the baby until October, so I wouldn't go back to work until Jan. At that point, I'd only have a five months of school left (with a spring break and random holidays here and there). It's a tough decision to make but (again) with things the way they are right now, it is the best decision for us. If nothing else, it will help us to save money to move to Tennessee.

That's all Folks, this is Tommie signing off...

Not much to say

I don't really feel like I have too much to say, which is why my postings are so far and few between. Let's see, I am on my Spring Break right now. I am so very happy about this because my class is driving me crazy. I am not just saying this, the whole school knows that my class is one of the most challenging classes. Special teachers-art and P.E. mainly-will call in sick on my special day (they tell me that there are two other classes equally as "special" as mine that have specials on the same day as me). More than one person has referred to my class as the "Jerry Lewis" class.

We will be on the playground and a cry will rise up; we always know it will be one of mine. The cries range from howls, to screams, to wails and even a few whimpers; I have them all. I can honestly say that I don't recall any other second grader crying on the playground. That includes the two who bumped into each other playing basketball and both required stitches. Neither of them cried. God is preparing me, I'm going to have a cryer.

One day, about two months ago, I got a new student. He came in with his mom and she happened to have a birthmark on her forehead. My Mildly Mentally Retarded student pointed it out to her (in case she didn't know I suppose), laughing and trying to cover it by putting her hand over her mouth. When the mother explained that it was a birthmark, the student immediately wanted to know all about that and how that happens on HER forehead and not anyone else's. After I direct her back to her seat, I return to the parent to find that one of my "gifted" students has analyzed the birthmark and is telling the mother that it looks as though it is a hot-air balloon drifting off of her head.

I was so embarrassed and thought this poor lady probably thinks she is leaving her child in the special ed class. That feeling passed quickly. It was only hours later that my new student began howling. I don't mean crying loudly, but howling like a coyote; at least that is what I though was happening because we were in the middle of a lesson and there is nothing that could have caused him to cry at that particular moment. I though. Well, apparently someone looked at him for too long. Yes, that is what I got out of him after the howling (no tears) stopped. The teachers on either side of me came running in certain something was terribly wrong. I explained that I got a new student and they commented that he sounded like a perfect fit and went back to their rooms. Sometimes I hate them...I mean I love them, but I hate them...

Anyhow...these are just a couple of reasons that I am glad to be on Spring Break. I also have the child who likes to choke other students for no particular reason, one that is sneaky and conniving and constantly out of her seat, the one who can't sit for his life (he actually asked that I take his chair away), three speech kiddos that I can hardly understand, and an autistic child.

On a brighter note...I am in my ninth week of pregnancy and all is going well. I am very tired (all of the time) and not really sick (knock on wood). I have determined that I can't eat ANYTHING after 5 at night or else I get a really full/bloated/painful stomach ache. One night I ate three crackers after four hours of not eating anything (hoping to help the nausea) and felt like I had just walked away from an all you can eat steak house. That feeling only happens at night though, so I have fixed that by not eating at night. I still get a little nauseous later at night, around 9:30. Fortunately, this is my bed time, and I quickly fall asleep so it doesn't bother me too much.



We have our next appointment on the 25th and we should be able to hear the heartbeat(s) (still hoping for twins) then. I have added a picture of my nine week belly for those of you that have been asking. It may not look big, but it is bigger than before. No weight gain though, weird.