Paul McCartney Can You Spare a Dime?

Well you may be wondering about this title. And let me say a lot has gone on since I last blogged. First off we moved on 3-14-08. It went well and we were thankful for the help from our friend Bryan, my brother Ed, and my cousin Rick. They all worked really hard to help us pack and unpack our portable storage unit. We are also thankful for the help from my parents, especially my mom who finished cleaning my old house while I was closing on the new one. So things were going fine,continuing to put stuff away and unpack boxes. I was on Spring Break and the kids were riding their new bus to school and a back. Then came the RAIN. In St. Louis it rained non-stop for about 48 hours. Heavy rain, pouring rain for 2 days. During which time my new house's basement flooded. Yes that's right, a mere 4 days after we moved in the basement with it's nice family room, 4th bedroom and extra bathroom proceeded to flood for about 24 hours. And guess what the previous owners claim they NEVER had water in the basement ever before and insurance doesn't cover HYDROSTATIC water pressure. So we are out of luck!! Our basement is wet, the laminate flooring in the boys' bedroom is ruined, the baseboards had to be taken off, the carpet is soaked and a restoration company charged us $2500 to remove the water. Everything will need to be re-painted, the bedroom needs new flooring, we had to move out all the furniture. Adam's dresser got wet and may be ruined. It is literally a nightmare. And now just when I thought I may have an answer in the form of FEMA, they are only giving assistance to public agencies in the affected flood areas. Not individual households. So WHY DO I HAVE INSURANCE?

All this may lead you to wonder about the title of my post. Well I heard on the news that Paul McCartney finally settled his divorce and had to pay his former wife $48million after only having been married to him for 4 years. And thought to myself, wow what a rip off, AND how can I meet Paul McCartney, after all he is my favorite Beatle. Then another idea occurred, maybe Paul would loan me the money to have the repairs made to the basement which is probably going to include a new sump pump system which is the neighborhood of a $10,000 project at which time they have to tear up the entire basement. So Paul, Mr. McCartney, if you happen upon happen to read my little blog, and you would feel it in your heart to loan a few dollars to a poor St. Louis teacher and her equally poor policeman husband, just comment, or call, or send a telegram or a wire. THANKS!

For Tricia

As you may have seen I am a fan of a blog called Confessions of a CF Husband. I am posting this list for Nate's wife Tricia who is awaiting a lung transplant and just gave birth to a preemie girl 2 months ago.


Mommy things to look forward to:

* Dropping her off for her first day of kindergarten and having the tears cloud your vision as you drive away.
* Her first great hit at a softball game that makes all the other parents cheer and give you high fives
* Selling Girl Scout cookies to the next door neighbor, dressed in her Brownie uniform
* The first time she comes home with a boy's name written on her hand with a heart under it.
* When she slams her door and yells "You are the worst mom ever!"
* Hearing her say "Hi Mom!" as you walk in the door at the end of a really long day.
* Watching her play the same UNO game with her little brother for the 14th straight time just because he wants to.
* Shopping for her first training bra.
* Checking in on her at night to find her sleeping peacefully with IPOD headphones blaring in her ears.

Isn't Motherhood amazing!

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Teachers Gone Wild

Here is a sneak peek at the wild side of the Monroe teachers. More pics to come as soon as my friends email them to me. But you can see from these shots that we teachers had a BLAST at Kristen's Wedding! WOOO HOOOO!





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TOO MUCH SNOW

Well we have had two more snow days. That makes a total of 4.5 snow days. There were record snows in St. Louis on Tuesday. It was crazy to see 10 inches of snow fall in 4-5 hours time.

I have to admit though that I am SICK of it. I mean, yes as a teacher, I usually LOVE snow days but this is getting ridiculous. We will have to go to school forever at this rate. Justin, Hannah, and Adam's school sent out an email that said that school will not be out until June 10th. That's 6 days longer than the old ending date of June 4th. We were planning a vacation that week which is the week before I would start teaching summer school. Not sure what SLPS will do about all the snow days. Hopefully they will take professional development days away. Because I mean really, honestly, teahers don't really do anything productive on those PD days or teacher workshop days. Don't let us fool you non-teachers into thinking we are hard at work on those days. WRONG>> it's really just a much needed break from students. However, I would rather give up those days now and still get out of school on May 30.
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My Talented Cousin

My very talented cousin, Rebecca, has created her own online clothing store featuring name brand apparel at discounted prices. She is also in the production phase of her own line of clothes. She will be featuring boys' t-shirts that are comfortable, good quality, eco friendly, with creative designs in early April. As soon as I can I will post a sample t-shirt. I hope that all of my readers (oh you few but faithful) will check out her store. You can find it at www.310apparel.com I will also have a link to it at under my side bar.

I am very proud of my little (1O months younger) cousin and hope that she will have much success.

FYI> Attended my friend, Kristen's wedding this weekend and had a blast with all my co-workers. Shower and wedding pics to come shortly!
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elfingo.com

An old friend of ours, Bryan, has recently created his own online auction site to rival eBAY. It's called elfingo.com. I hope that you will take a look at and give it try, it is much cheaper than eBAY and currently receiving 4000 hits a day. Plus it was all created by a local St. Louis Dad. Which I think is pretty cool! Bob has listed a few items and done very well in the sale. There was even a little online article about the new site.

I am adding the link to my friend's blog list at the right.

I also wanted to note that I have added links to a couple of really inspirational blogs that I read from time to time. Both are worth investigating!
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Moving, Moving, Moving

New house pics!


It's official, we are moving. We finally sold our house (after 2 years). We put a bid on a house in Affton yesterday and we are 98% sure that we will be moving there. The only thing that may affect it is the building inspection. But we definitely have to be out of our house on March 14th. Not much time but I think we can handle it.

I'm excited, nervous, apprehensive etc but I look at as a new beginning and some much needed change.

The house is kind of small but very well maintained and upgraded. It has a really nice finished basement with a 4th bedroom and nice fenced in yard for Sparky. The kitchen is small but very cute and the 2 full baths have recently been re-done. The kids are excited and have already talked about the friends they know in the neighborhood. It will be a nice change for them to all be able to ride the bus to and from school everyday. (plus the savings on gas)
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Busy Weekend Over, Boredom Sets In

I have been dreading/looking forward to the weekend for quite a while and now that it is over, I'm feeling bored.

On Friday, I hosted a shower for my friend Kristen from work who is getting married in March. The dread came in worrying about preparing the house and making the food etc for the party the looking forward came in wanting all my friends and co-workers to come over for a really great time.

Well, it was a really, really fun shower. The house looked great, thanks in to the big help from my hubby and kids. They even made themselves and the dog scarce all evening so we "girls" could have fun. And fun we had, a little too much fun probably. It gets kinda scarey when grown woman contemplate Teepeeing their bosses or co-workers house. Everyone said how much fun they had and how much they liked my food etc. Kristen was very appreciative about everything.

Then on Sudnay night we had her bachelorette party at the Lumiere, a new casino on the St. Louis Riverfront. It was also fun , but I must say not as much fun as at my house.

But now, it's Monday, another day off work and I am a little bored. I guess I am actually looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. (Did I really just say that?)

CHECK IT OUT!!

I just noticed on my cluster map that I got a hit from someone in Australia and in southeast Asia. COOOOOOOOOL!!

Keep hitting the blog, I love it! (and feel free to comment)

Love is in the Air

Yeah I guess you could say love is in the air, cause it's Valentine's Day. For us that means a card with two monkeys dressed as man and wife sitting on a couch watching tv. The outside says "Honey, with you words aren't necessary" and the inside says "neither are pants." (Cause the monkeys are not wearing pants)

GET IT?? I thought it was hilarious! Here's hoping you spend your Valentine's Day with someone you love enough not to have to wear pants!

TOO COLD!!

ARGGG, I am really sick of this cold St. Louis weather. I know it's only mid February but DANG! It's just too cold! I really need a nice, warm vacation right now.


This should be us!!

Terrible Tragedy

Those of you living in St. Louis have surely heard about the tragedy that unfolded last night in Kirkwood. Two police officers and three Kirkwood city council members were killed, two others including the mayor were injured when a gunmen opened fire at a Zoning meeting.

This really hit close to home for me as the wife of a Crestwood police officer which is Kirkwood's closet municipality. Needless to say I was glued to my tv all night and getting updates from Bob who arrived late because he was downtown with me at the school board meeting where I got the award for the slogan. Bob reported horrors too graphic for this blog but he and all of the St. Louis law enforcement community are taking this really hard.

I had a hard time calming the fears of my kids who where really nervous about their father's line of work.

Please pray for the families of the victims as they struggle to get through their grief.

Life is too short to hold grudges, worry about impossibilities, or keep blaming people for past mistakes. I am trying to find something postive in light of this tragedy and I hope it will come in a renewal in faith of God, family and friends.

Good News

I have a little bit of good news to announce. In our district, they were looking for a new slogan that would represent all the changes being made in an effort to get back on track. Well they had a contest for employees to submit slogans and I won.

Last night I had to go to a board meeting and they presented me with a certificate and a check for $500.

Pretty cool huh?

My winning slogan is: Building Our Future: One Community, One School, One Child at a time.

February Is Already Here

Can't believe that February is here already. This school year is flying by. As a special ed teacher, Feb. and March are our busiest times of the year. Most IEP's and re-evaluations are due at this time which means lots and lots of paperwork for us/me! Plus this month is the Pinewood Derby and The Blue and Gold Banquet for CubScouts, I also have a shower and bachelorette party for my best pal from work, Kristen. Her wedding is in March along with spring break, the hockey all star game, our anniversay, my mom's birthday, my parents anniversary and Easter. WHEW! This will really be a busy couple of months.

AND, the best most exciting event for our family is our beloved dog, Sparky's birthday on March 8th. Hannah is already planning the party!! She thinks she is going to bake a doggie cake and invite Petey, Bandit and Baby to Sparky's party which she says should be at a Dog Park. I rarely ever post about Sparky but I must admit he truly is man's or in this case woman's best friend. I know I am probably a little bit biased but he is the sweetest, best dog in the whole world. He is usually pretty calm, except when another dog walks by our house then he barks like crazy from his perch in our front window. He will sleep with me, goes everywhere I go, runs to greet me at the end of a day and is always ready for some love.


See for yourself what a sweetie pie he is>>>>>

I'm So Excited

Okay maybe I'm not that excited but I have a new link to put up and I noticed that I had a hit on my blog from Europe!! WOW, someone all the way over there is looking at my little blog, how cool. You will also notice that I changed the look of the blog. I'm not exactly sure if I will keep like that or not we'll see if grows on me.

Anyway, my new link is to the website of an old friend from high school, Jacki. She recently married another old high school friend, Brian Simpson, their story is really cute because they dated in high school then didn't see each other for 15 years. In the meantime both had graduated from college, gotten jobs, Brian had married had a child and divorced. Then just last April, they met up again, fell back in love, moved in together, got married in September, are expecting their first child in April and bought a new house in October. Their story is like a little fairy tale!! I am so happy that they both found each other again.

Jacki's blog is a fun little diary about her pregnancy and other events in her new life. Check it out!

New Link, New Blogging Family

I just posted about a friend WHO has decided to take a blogging sabbatical, well now I want to post about a new blog that I have checked out lately and find to be incredibly cute and funny. This is the blog of Pam Jordan, she is the sister-in-law to an old friend from high school, Leslie. Anyway, Leslie and I have lost touch as she and her family live in Cincinnati and we really only exchange Christmas Cards, the occasional phone call and here recently an email or two. I ran into Leslie's mom awhile back and she mentioned her daughter-in law's blog and from time to time I check and so I thought I would include it as one of my blog links. The Jordan's have two sons and are very busy with work and life just like the rest of us. But if the mood strikes to see pics of two little cuties or the grumblings, opinions, and joys of another St. Louis mom then check out their blog!

Feeling Blue

The color of my blog exactly describes my mood lately, blue. Don't know why but I have been depressed lately. Maybe it's the cold weather and short days or maybe it's the holidays, they always remind me of how much debt I have. Or it could be the fact that nothing seems to go right.

1. We have had our house for sale for 5 months, 4 of those with a contingent contract. Yesterday we were informed that the other people can't sell their house and want to release the contract. GREAT, back to square one again. I am really getting fed up with selling this house. Someone please buy it!!

2. My job is really bugging me, the kids at Monroe are really wild and out of control. At Mallinckrodt the kids are good but the teachers are all nuts. Can't win on either account.. At this point, I am not sure if teaching is the right thing for me. Not to brag, but I am too smart for this. I should be doing website design or event planning or public relations or something. Is it too late for a career change?

3. My own children have been disappointing. Justin's grades have fallen especially in math, Hannah has become very willful and disrespectful. Adam has no interest in school. Anyone want to borrow three kids for a while?

4. My personal life has gone down the drain. It seems like all my old friends are gone. As we age, the stress of life and family pulls us away from our friends and that is what has happened with me. Bob and I have long ago given up doing things together so when you also don't have any friends, life gets a little lonely despite how busy and hectic I am. Any old friends who view this, hey where've you been?

I have never been one to like winter and right now I could use the spring. Maybe that's what I need to rejuvenate.

Those Crazy Cub Scouts

As most of you know, I am the leader of Adam's cub scout den. I thought when I volunteered that it would be fun, WRONG!! It is just plain work and the meetings are so chaotic with 14 second grade age boys running around. Last night we had a meeting and we were trying to complete some requirements to earn our WOlf Rank so I had the boys making paper bag masks, performing a skit, playing a game and making a chore chart. I thought this would take up the whole meeting. WRONG, it took up about half the meting because they don't care about sitting and making a mask or a chore chart or performing a skit. All they care about is running around and rough housing and yelling and screaming, this has probably added to my stress level this week. But I am posting a couple pictures of the rowdy crew so you can see for yourself.


The Cub Scouts with their paper bag masks. Adam is the one in the blue striped shirt.


Playing a game at cubscouts, whose the fastest at eating a doughnut dangled from a string without using your hands.

Long Week

This has been such a long week. I guess because it is the first full week back to school, but it seems like there have been 8 days in this week. I have so many things to do at school, tons of paperwork and assignments to complete that it has been really stressful. Going to two different schools is hard because I am constantly thinking that I left something at the other school undone when I am at the alternate one. Makes life frustrating.

To top it off I checked Justin and Hannah's grades online and noticed that they were both in getting a D in one class. The quarter ends next week so I was wondering why we never got progress reports in early December. Well after grilling both kids for a while we found out that Justin threw the progress reports away before we got home one day. Man I was furious!! The worst part is Hannah had no idea her grade was so low and it turns out it was mostly due to some missing assignments when she was sick with the Poison Ivy for a week in November. So now she is furious. But I did manage to talk to her teacher and she is able to make up the missing assignments so hopefully that will raise her grade. She got a B in that class first quarter and the rest of her grades are all A's & B's. Justin's other grades are all very good also, mostly A's but he is struggling gin pre-algebra. However he never brings homework home. But he is now grounded from his new xbox 360 until he brings the grade up to a B.

Anyhow, it has been a very long week!

Weird Weather

Can you believe the weather we are having in St. Louis for the last few days? Yesterday we had a high of 73 and it is currently 69 degrees right now. We turned off the heat and had the windows open. We bar-b-qued some steaks and took the dog for a walk. This morning Justin wore shorts to school and I didn't even need a jacket. Ofcourse Justin has a rule that he can wear shorts if the temp is above 32.

This is great but with St. Louis weather, it won't last, in facct they are forecasting for a chance of snow on Thursday evening. Crazy, but we are enjoying it while it lasts.