Yesterday I woke up feeling heavy, sad, bad.  I struggled through the day.  Today I woke up perky, energetic and happy.  I have no clue what caused the radical change from one day to the next.  I'm not sure I finished more tasks today than yesterday, but I have a feeling of accomplishment.  Yesterday was sunny and warm.  Today is sunny and warm.  Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm.  I hope my spirit is also sunny tomorrow.

I pulled weeds in the flower/herb beds along the west side of the house.  The iris have bloom buds starting.  

Tomorrow is May Day!  

Today was one of my two least favorite days at work.  Scoliosis screenings of the 6th grade girls (during PE).  Half were screened today; half will be screened tomorrow.  It was also a Monday and a busy day without adding the screenings.  Added to that, there were students who were just bound and determined to get into trouble today.  A girl brought in her morning medication that she takes at home.  Instead of being upset (breaking school rules by carrying medication on the bus and then pulling it out of her backpack half way thru the morning and setting it on her desk) when I called her mom to come pick up the medications...the mom decided to leave it at school and I can start giving it to the student every morning after she eats breakfast.  No wonder this girl has a lousy attitude.  UGH.  On Wednesday the non-stop field trips, movies, in school and away from school rewards activities start.  Tomorrow after school, I'll be double checking all the e-mailes with my calendar to be sure I've got them all accounted for...and can provide the needed medical supplies.  Wednesday half the 5th grade will be gone all morning; the other half all afternoon.  Oh, boy.

One of our Rolla school nurses is quitting at the end of the year.  Her husband got a promotion and transfer to Florida.  It will be sad to see her go.  Unfortunately I cannot feel too bad for someone who is moving to within an hour of Disney World.  LOL  It looks like I'll be at RMS for at least one more school year.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing.  

We had a beautiful sunny day; temperature got up to 80.  I got to enjoy a bit of it after school.  Our yard and garden are still water-logged.  It's kind of like walking on a wet sponge.  The rhubarb is looking good...sure hope our neighbors come pick some and make a pie to share with us.  HINT HINT.  I hope it will dry out enough to do some thinning and weeding in the garden before the next rain storm comes thru.

Too tired to read or knit or do anything productive.  Early to bed tonight.

Dennis dumped 1.5" of rain out of the gage this morning.  It's been gray and dreary, in the 50's but no more rain.  Sunday school lesson was about counting our blessings.  With so much to be grateful for, it's hard to complain about the weather.  And yet we do.

The last of the BBQ for lunch--with cottage cheese & pickled beets.  Shrimp scampi and steamed broccoli for supper tonight.  spaghetti with salad & garlic bread tomorrow. The rest of the week's menu will sort itself out, according to the weather and my mood.  Laundry done; clothes ironed.  House mostly tidy.  Looking forward to watching "Mad Men" tonight. Not the most exciting weekend ever, but a pleasant one.

That sums up the weather here in south central Missouri.  A boring day of cleaning, organizing and getting ready for another week of work. I took a break to watch the NCIS episode I missed last Thursday when I was at a library board meeting.  Sometimes life is as dull and gray as the weather.

Living a good part of my life in the Ozarks, where we have both kinds of music, Country AND Western, I listened to a lot of George Jones (and Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings...).  I think he sings the saddest song in the world, "He stopped loving her today".  It always brings tears to my eyes.

I'm reading an interesting Steampunk series by Shelley Adina.  I guess I'd label it "Devices" since all the titles have that word in it.  Lady of Devices kicks the series off.  Set in a steam-powered Victorian England, it is Dickens meets Sci-Fi.  I downloaded the first for free, and have found the others for 99c on Pixel of Ink.  The books seem to rotate thru that site.  I'm almost finished with the 2nd book, Her Own Devices.  There are 2 more books, and if they are as good as the first 2, I'll be sad when I finish them.

It's been gray, raining and 50 degrees all day.  I was happy we had left-over navy bean soup to re-heat when I got home tonight.  A good night to stay home, do laundry...and read a book. 

The moon was big, orange and rising about 8:15 PM as I was driving home from Rolla.  I was coming home from a Turkish dinner.  My friend Martha told us about it...she's been to several.  You make reservations and show up at Penelope's restaurant (a Greek restaurant) and sit at the tables in the back room.  The meal includes salad and a main course.  Tonight it was chicken & beef k-bobs with a spiced meat patty and rice.  Grilled green pepper and onions.  Very tasty.  Followed by hot tea and dessert---I had baklava, and was introduced to "Turkish Delight".  It is a gelatin--this flavored with rose water I think, and dusted with powdered.  It is not cold like Jell-o but a texture between gummy bears and jello.  It was interesting.  After dessert was served, a young man played guitar and sang some traditional Greek songs.  About 1/4 of the people (I heard there were 45 there tonight--almost double the usual turn-out) were singing along.  There were a few people there I knew from RMS.  I'll have to ask about the songs that were sung.  

I was happy that Michelle won Project Runway.   I like her style and would wear several of her dresses.  

It was sunny and 64.  I had to enjoy it thru my office windows.  Rain returns tomorrow and Saturday.  

Tomorrow is Friday.  And I'm ready for a weekend.

It was 34 degrees and snowing when I went to work this morning.  Of course it melted as soon as it hit the ground, but it was seriously coming down for a while.  It warmed up to almost 60 this afternoon; sunshine with a cool breeze. Near freezing again again tonight, but no snow.

We brought the hanging basket of petunias in the house last night.  Will bring it in again tonight.

The dogwood is in full bloom. The late afternoon sun makes the leaves & flowers look like they are almost glowing.

The lilacs are starting to bloom. 

I was sad to hear that over 100 more garment workers in Bangladesh were killed when their factory collapsed.  It was just a few months ago over 100 died in a garment factory fire.  I came home and started looking at the labels in my clothes.  The majority were made in China, with a few "assembled" in Haiti, Mexico, & Dominican Republic.  One t-shirt said Made in Viet Nam.  Some labels were so worn that I couldn't read even read the brand or the size. The only garment I found made in the USA is the old (pushing 20 years old) plaid "barn jacket" (that's a style--boxy with pockets) from Coldwater Creek.  The shirts I bought last spring at JC Penney's were made in Bangladesh.  I don't know if this will change my buying habits, but I will look at labels on clothing again.  

Today's humor was a boy who came in with a real medical emergency at lunch.  His friend spilled spaghetti sauce on his new shoes with WHITE shoelaces and his mom was going to KILL him.  

Somewhere in a galaxy far far away from actual classroom teaching, someone made standardized tests to measure learning, and deemed it important.  In an effort to get cooperation from students, schools began using "rewards" (read bribery) to  encourage students to do well on these tests.  The display case at RMS is full of items students might "win" if they show up to take the MAP tests this week.  Not do well on them.  Just be present.  

I was never rewarded for my grades.  I did not reward my children for good grades.  I expected them to do their best.  You don't get rewards for doing what is expected. None of my children are rocket scientists, but all of them have jobs and work hard...do what is expected of them, and even more.  I have a job.  I do what is expected of me, and when I see a chance to do more, I do it.  It is what we are supposed to do. I think we are doing a disservice  to children when we tell them they are great...for doing the minimum.  The Beatles said it so well:  And in the end, the love (reward) you take is equal to the love (effort) you make.  Fortunately, in spite of seeing others rewarded for doing the minimum, there are still those who go above and beyond what is expected.

I blame part of my gloomy mood on the weather.  It rained most of the day.  The temperatures have been dropping all day.  There might be snow tonight. A good chance of freezing temperatures.  Fortunately I didn't get all my winter sweaters packed away...and my winter coat still hasn't made it to the cleaners.  I need some sunshine!

Even though I like my dentist (for a dentist) and I want to keep my teeth, I always dread visits.  Today was not exception.  It might have been even worse because I had to have a filling replaced.  But it was not 1/10 as bad as I feared.  The novacaine has not  yet worn off, but it only took 20 minutes from injection to paying the bill.  He also said very little novacaine was needed, so I'll be able to eat a regular supper and chew on that side of my mouth.  So I am preheating the oven for a frozen pizza.  Not thinking I'd feel like eating, I made no plans for cooking.  

Back from a quick family reunion trip to Branson.  We headed over Saturday morning. We had to scrape frost off the windshield when we headed out.  By the afternoon, I was a bit too warm in my sweater & jeans.  My parents, my Aunt Celia & husband George, Aunt Mary, Matt, Sara & Jax all got together.  Matt, Sara & Jax headed home later Saturday afternoon, but the rest of us spent the night.  We all ate supper at a Chinese Buffet.  The food was average but the fun was excellent.  The fortunes were also hilarious.  My mom's was "your charm has inspired a secret admirer" but Celia only (mis)heard "Your charm has expired".  There was no fortune in my cookie which lead to speculation on whether this was a good thing or not...perhaps I have no fortune/future awaiting me.  

We started the day with a wonderful breakfast at I-HOP; we then hung out until noonish.  Dennis and I had to head home, since we both work in the morning.  I'm sure the rest of the gang will eat a few more good meals and maybe take in a show tonight. Some are just staying til Tuesday and others until next Saturday.  Bob (Mary's son) arrived this morning.  It was nice to catch up with him before we had to leave.

As we were leaving Sunday, Mary gave me a fortune cookie to open & read.  She'd gone to someone at the restaurant & explained that I didn't get a fortune in my cookie.  She asked him if getting a cookie without a fortune is significant.  He said, no.  Not unless you get 3 cookies in a row without a fortune.  He wouldn't say if that was a good thing or a bad thing.  Fortunately the 2nd cookie had a fortune, so I don't have to worry.