chochiyo_sama

I am pleased to announce that I am in the process of enjoying an unexpected but much relished four-day weekend.

I took Thursday off as a personal day so that I could have the electricians come and figure out why I wasn't getting electricity upstairs in the bedrooms or in the stairwell. (The bathroom was fine, which allowed me to run an extension cord across the hall so I could plug in my TV and my alarm clock and phone base.)

I expected there to be a problem in the basement with the breaker box, but it was in the other suspicious place--the attic. I expected that the attic would be the source of the problem if the breaker box wasn't because the damn squirrels think my attic is the Hotel California...they check in and don't ever want to leave. And believe me, from the noises I hear coming from up there at all hours, I think it is probably some form of bdsm squirrel brothel. I try not to put mental images to the noises I hear. I'm too young for that sort of knowledge. Ugh.

It turns out that there were some bare wire splices up there, and that was causing the problem. They fixed the issue but said that there is a lot more potential problem material up there and that I should really have it taken care of soon. Ugh. Fortunately, the issues that they resolved on Thursday, including fixing the three-way switch for the stairwell light, cost me only $166. I was expecting it to cost an arm and a leg. I was so relieved when it was such a small amount. Whew. Dodged a bullet.

While they were here, one of them told me that the deputy sheriff had pulled up next to their van to tell them that the roads were getting treacherous and that a lot of schools were dismissing early. I texted one of my homeroom kids and asked her if they were getting out, and she texted back that they had been released at 10:45. So, not only did I get a day off, but I can continue on, mostly unimpeded, with my curriculum. It's always a pain to have a sub because they literally cannot go on with what you were doing because (a) it isn't their area of expertise, (b) I have my own unique ways of presenting material to the kids so that they "get it" and I also have my ways of checking in with them to be sure they "got it," (c) you have to come up with detailed activities that are educational for the kids, fun enough for the kids to be willing to do them, simple enough for the sub to comprehend and perform without a lot of previous knowledge about the subject area, and extensive enough so that the sub has material to keep them busy for most of the class period. It's a lot of work to get ready for a sub, and it's a lot of work to pick up afterwards and finish off the activities with the kids, and it takes a big bite of time away from what I *was* doing with them, which requires some revisitation of what we did before before we can move on again.

Sigh.

Only another teacher can really understand the woes of having a sub.

And the subs, God bless them--they have the toughest times of all...

So, anyhow.

I began Thursday by tossing all my laundry down the stairway. They came earlier than I expected, so my house was still sort of a wreck. I had a ton of dirty dishes. So, while they were here, I did dishes and assembled my new vacuum cleaner. I still haven't used it yet, but today's the day.

I was freezing cold all day because of the godawful temperatures, so I turned on the oven and baked chocolate chip cookies and something that Shane Lesley told me about--cornflake macaroons that his grandma makes. I looked them up on the internet and found a recipe. It is my plan to gift him with a little baggie of them on Monday. Assuming we do not have some freaking blizzard and have another snow day!

The recipe did not make a very big batch, and I believe I overbaked one pan as they are like little rocks. Sigh.

However, the ones that turned out are very chewy and tasty.

In the event that you would like the recipe--here it is:

Cornflake Macaroons

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
5 cups cornflakes
1 1l/2 cups flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla
Mix in flour.
Stir in cornflakes and coconut.

Drop by teaspoonful on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

You have to watch these carefully as they go from really raw to over baked in seconds.

Next time I make them, I will be using some pecans as well, as I think they would benefit from that.

Brad Paulson came by to plow my driveway while the first pan of chocolate chip cookies was baking, so I hooked him up with a big plate of fresh, warm cookies. The man had the look of bliss on his face as he was leaving my house. LOL.

I did not really anticipate a snow day on Friday as the storm was supposed to blow itself out in the night. I was hoping for a late start so that I could at least see clearly when I drove to school. However, while I was watching KTTC news, I saw that many area schools were already posting late starts. And after a bit ROC popped up as closed for Friday. I didn't cry too hard at the thought of having another day off--but I did miss my kids.

Current Location: kitchen
Current Music: the sounds of clothing tumbling in the dryer.

Yeah.

We had a snow day today. It was nice. As soon as I saw it on TV, I texted all my homeroom kids (and a few others whose numbers were in my phone), then I went back to bed and went to sleep for a few more hours. When I got up, I went down and had lunch and took my morning meds about five hours late. Oops.

Then I did up a lot of dishes and put away some clutter in the kitchen.

After that, I sat in my chair and sewed doll clothes for about four hours. I watched two episodes of "A Haunting" this afternoon. One episode I had not seen before, so that was coolio.

The bad weather didn't really start till closer to 11 am, but when it did begin, it was pretty intense. There was thunder and lightning during the snow storm and it was snowing fast and furious for a while.

It is highly unlikely that we will have another snow day tomorrow, unfortunately.

I'd love to have an extra long weekend again. I could use a couple days off.

Today was nice, but I didn't really accomplish much. I had hoped to sweep and scrub the kitchen and perhpas clean the bathroom.

I'll have to do those things on the weekend instead.

I was very happy to realize that Gran Torino is in Kasson now. If I am able to, I will watch it tomorrow afternoon on my way home from school.

Apparently, someone's house was struck by lightning in Rochester today. I suspect that is pretty unusual for this time of year.

Apparently it is much worse up in the cities. I hope Jay is able to drive to school safely tomorrow.

There is nothing else to report, I'm afraid. I was pretty much a dud today.

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: KTTC news

It's nearly 11 am and I am FINALLY getting up.

I fell asleep last night before posting my previous entry--I woke up with a dead battery on my laptop. When I plugged it in, my livejournal entry popped up with a long line of -------------------------------------------------------------------------- in the tag section. LOL.

That's where I apparently passed out. Heh heh.

Ultimately 40 schools in this area (SE MN, NE Iowa) closed. Wow.

I'm going to get up and do some laundry and possibly make cookies. We'll see.

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: Judge Joe Brown

At about 8 pm, Cody, one of my homeroom kids called me and asked if school was closed for tomorrow--that Tanner had called him and said it was closed. I said, "I haven't heard anything about it." Then I had him hang on while I called Susan on my cell and asked her. She said she had heard nothing. So, I told Cody i would call him back if I heard anything. I turned on KTTC, and surprise, surprise, school closings and late starts were scrolling across the bottom--and our school came up as one of them!

So, I called Cody back and let him know that we were closed, then I called all the kids in my homeroom and let them know. I don't want them walking to school in the awful frozen winter weather.

So far, 33 area schools are closed for tomorrow and 6 have late starts.

I'm glad we called tonight because now I can sleep in tomorrow. Ahhhhh. I really wanted to sleep in today, but I had to get up and go.

School went okay. I made some hot chocolate when I got to school and it made me feel really sick. My stomach rolled and ached for over an hour. Then I went down to the teacher's bathroom and puked. I felt much better afterwards.

We were supposed to have a board meeting at 5:30 pm, but we cancelled it because it was so freaking cold. I was very happy to be able to come home while it was still light out.

It is -16 right now, and tomorrow we are supposed to have -40 to -50 wind chills. BRRRRR.

I'm glad I don't have to go out in it. I'm going to stay snug and warm in my house. I'll finish my laundry and maybe bake some cookies for Jim and DeAnn since Jim blew out my driveway, God bless him.

I'm really tired, so I think I am going to hit th hay for the night.

***YAWN***

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: CSI New York

I got up, took a bath, and got dressed. I still felt a little punk, but better than last night. Susan called and asked if I was going. I said I was because I didn't trust the kids (especially the seniors) to WORK. She said Jay could go in there and crack the whip, but I said poor Jay has had enough stress the last few days. So, I went downstairs and ate a piece of bread so that my meds would digest. Well, the bread seemed to stick half way down my throat. i could breath--it wasn't blocking the airway--but it was stuck. i took a drink of water, and it hurt like hell and did not push the bread down. It hurt really bad--the water sort of oozed around the bread but the bread remained lodged there. I hiccuped a few times, then I started throwing up. Ugh.

So, I called Susan and told her I figured I better stay home. She agreed. She stopped and picked up the movies I borrowed from kim to show my writing skills kids.

I went back upstairs and slept till noon after calling in and sending an email to Tracy telling her what to do about my classes.

I left channel ten (KTTC) and saw that a lot of schools were closing.

Austin, Blooming Prairie, Byron, Caledonia, Chatfield, Dover-Eyota, Fillmore Central, Goodhue, Grand Meadow, hayfield, Houston, Howard-Winneshiek, Kasson-Mantorville, Kenyon-Wanamingo, Kingsland, Lanesboro, Leroy-Ostrander, Lewiston-Altura, Lyle, Mabel-Canton, NICC Calmar, nicc Cresco Center, Pine Island, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, RCTC, Riceville (IA), Riverland Community College, ROC, Rushford-Peterson, Southland, Spring Grove, St. Charles, Stewartville, Studio Academy, Triton, Wabasha-Kellogg, Winona, and Zumbrota Mazeppa.

ROC closed at 9:30--so I should have just gone. i didn't throw up any more after that time in the morning. I also hadn't eaten anything until just now (about 4:30). I've heated up a can of chicken noodle soup. My stomach still hurts and my back aches. My heart is doing that little flippity flippity thing it does when i have an anxiety attack. I don't see why I'd be having an anxiety attack, but nothing really makes much sense.

i came downstairs and watched a couple episodes of the Outer Limits. i talked to my mom on the phone. She told me that Owatonna had also closed, though it didn't appear on the KROC website. NRHEG also closed at 10 am. i saw that on TV. it isn't on the kROC website at all. I then decided i would attempt to do a little laundry. The second load is washing and the first is drying at the moment. i don't know if I can make another trip down the basement steps tonight or not.

My stomach is cramping up and feels horrible, but it isn't rejecting the soup--yet. I suspect that i am going to go to bed very early tonight. again. I am going to just sit here for a while and let this soup settle. Then I will take my meds and maybe have some juice. after that, I will probably carry the clean laundry upstairs and put it away and just read or sew or crochet in bed for a little while. I HAVE to go to school tomorrow because the senior sem kids start their presentations tomorrow.

I hope this sickness doesn't last too long.

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: living room
Current Music: NCIS

We're closed.

YAY!!

ok going back to bed now.

Current Mood: jubilant
Current Location: bed
Current Music: advertisement for "Lord of the Dance."

Yup--we were the second school to close today. Whoopie!

One of my former colleagues from Triton called me and asked if I wanted to go out to breakfast with her. It was our tradition, back in the day when I worked in hell...er...Triton, to go out to breakfast to celebrate all snow days and late starts. There is a little cafe in town that used to be run by Al and Rita G. who were AMAZING. Everyone always said Al was "grumpy," but he was never grumpy to me. I always loved both of them. Rita was the best cook in the Universe. Her bread pudding could bring TEARS to your eyes. And she was a kind soul. While other business people in town were talking about putting out poison for the stray cats, she was feeding them scraps out the back door of the restaurant.

Anyhow, they sold the restaurant a while back and are on to other things. It was bought by some other people who don't cook very well and don't seem to have a clue about cleanliness. Needless to say, I don't eat there. But, on a snow day--how much damage can they do to eggs and toast?

So, we went. We stopped at the post office first and the mean post office lady was nasty to me, but I got my mail.

Then we discovered the restaurant was closed! Apparently they've sold it. Hurrah. Maybe someone with a brain and a knowledge of scrubbing tools has bought it. Vicki and I decided that we simply must have breakfast! So we drove to Dodge Center (which is only about 10 miles from West Concord). THEY were open. So, I had two eggs over easy, whole wheat toast, hash browns, bacon, and tea. Ahhhhh. It hit the SPOT.

Now, of course, I'm sleepy.

Just like a pig--I eat. Then I want to sleep. Then I have the overwhelming desire to find a pit of mud and jump in it....

Well, maybe not that last one! Heh heh heh.

Now, i'm going to get to work on some stuff--I think I'll sort through my email first, though, so I don't have ten thousand emails building up again.

TTFN

Current Mood: full

IT'S A SNOW DAY!!!!!!

I am so happy.

Unfortunately, I have wasted most of the morning on the phone. I talked to my mother for over an hour on the phone--then I talked to DeAnn who is supposed to be flying out of the Cities today to visit her friend Pat who lives out in the desert. Poor DeAnn said she was feeling cranky about this whole situation because she really wants to go and get exposure to some sunshine!! So far her flight is still scheduled to go.

It is unbelieveably nasty out there right now.

The loud crash of thunder woke me up this morning at about 4:30 am. Rain or sleet was pelting against my window, and I was disappointed because I figured rain meant that a snow day was out of the question. "Ice," I thought, with a little hope, and went back to sleep. I woke up again at around 5:30 am and checked the internet. I saw that Byron and Kasson were 2 hours late, so I turned off my alarm and went back to sleep. When I woke up at about 7, I saw that nearly everything, including ROC was either two hours late or closed. We were closed. YAY!!!

The snow must have come down really fast and thick. It looks like there is at least five inches out there--it was so high up on my door that I couldn't get my door open! I'll get my digital camera and take a couple pictures out the door so you can share in my amazement at the snowy situation.

There is a lot I want to accomplish today, including cleaning the bathroom and paying my bills, so I better get at that stuff. I'll be back later to post an update of my accomplishments. I also want to thoroughly clean my bedroom because in the next two weeks, I will get my income tax refund and then I can have my new bed delivered. Hurray!!!

I'd like to just BURN the old one--but I think I will set it up in my spare room in case I have any overnight company.

That's it for now.

TTFN

Current Mood: bouncy

I am most likely not going to be building any snowmen, but they seemed lovely avatars to represent my joy at having this snow day.

After I write this brief entry, I'm going to get dressed (partially anyway) and head down to the post office to get my mail and mail off my Valentines swaps (late) to Desiree and Kathy. I am also going to mail the hat and scarf that have been finished for almost two weeks to Beccak.

When I return home, I am going to eat something, do laundry, tidy up my kitchen, water my plants, dust, and vaccuum the down stairs. I will also try to figure out why the electricity does not seem to be working in the devices that sit next to my chair. SIGH. It's probably something wrong with one or both of the outlet bars that are hooked up to it.

Then, I will probably need some kind of lunch. I'd like to bake some cookies as well. (We'll see.) I promised Kvetch cookies eons ago--so today would be a good day to make them. I have bought some containers that should keep them fresh until they get to England. I would, of course, send them priority mail, so they'd get there as rapidly as possible.

I'll probably send some to my nephew Matthew up at college too.

The only other thing I REALLY want to do today is get my wretched bedroom cleaned up. It's horrible.

Then, if any time remains in the day, I'd like to just sit and sew for a while.

I am already greedily hoping that tomorrow will be a snow day too. What bliss it would be to have a 4-day weekend!!

Okay--I have to get to work now--but I will be back.