The Meeting

So, I met with the President of the University yesterday. Since I only had a half hour with him, I knew many of my points would either not be made, or lost since it was was so hurried. I put together a five page letter that outlined the reasons why he should not go with the Committee's recommendation not to grant my Sabbatical.

Two of my main arguments were that there are no examples of successful petitions available to look at. When I went up for tenure, there were several examples of successful tenure packages in the library. I could look at them as a guide to give me an idea of how much information to include in my package. There are no such guides when it comes to letters requesting Sabbatical. But, I felt my strongest argument was the fact that the Committee's reasons for turning me down had nothing to do with what is listed in the Faculty Handbook as reasons to grant Sabbatical. Their reasons all focused on wanting more detail about why I chose Australia. In the Faculty Handbook, there is no reference to the fact that I need to justify the location I choose.

I still think it was an inside job and I have a pretty good feeling who led the charge against me. I am not at all confident that he will go against the Committee, though. I just don't think he has the spine, even though I tried to give him plenty of easy outs in my letter. I have a strong feeling I'm going to have to file a grievance on this one. I still may not be successful, but I think I need to scream loudly on this one...

Ready For The Good

My new backsplash

I think it's true that bad luck comes in threes. My first bit of bad luck is still a little personal to discuss here, but number two and three came quickly thereafter. The Faculty Personnel Committee denied my petition for a sabbatical for the Spring of 2011. This REALLY pissed me off because they did not deny it for concrete reasons like we don't have the money, or we can't cover the classes while I'm gone. They said there was not enough information in it. So why the f#@k didn't they ask for more information!? They wanted more information on the research that I will be doing, why I chose Australia, and why this location helps with internationalism. Okay, isn't the answer to that last question fairly obvious? And I did tell them what research I'd be doing and why I chose Australia. All legitimate reasons. But, even if it wasn't enough information, why wouldn't they just come back and ask for more? That just really pisses me off. So, now I have a plan to meet with the President of the University. The Personnel Committee just makes a recommendation to him. Of course, he's never overturned their recommendations, but I'm hoping there's a first for everything. His decision is final. If he doesn't overturn it, I plan to file a grievance. This is so trivial, yet it could lead to such dissatisfaction on my part.

Number three....E got a little rash on his head last week...it turned out to be a fungus. So, I just put some antifungal cream on it and it was gone overnight. I broke out in a rash on my back and side at the same time. So, I figured it was the same fungus and treated it the same. Only mine got worse. I finally went to the doctor yesterday who confirmed I have shingles. If you've never had it before, I hope you never do! It feels like a constant jellyfish sting...itchy and stingy pain at the same time. She gave me some medication to help control it and some vicadin for the pain...apparently, I just have to let it run it's course since there is no cure.

I'm ready for more GOOD news!

Proud Mom

e and E at Homecoming

E and e for Halloween. E was a ninja and e was an angel...but also a goldfish for trick-or-treating.

I met with E's teacher yesterday to get his grades. Academically, he is doing outstanding! He got A's in 15 of 17 categories. In kindergarten, A's mean "Advanced." There were a couple areas where he needed work, but even between the time the report card was filled out and I met with his teacher, one of those other categories had been mastered. I was SO proud of him! When we got home last night, I gave him a very serious look and told him that I needed to speak to him. I told him that I had met with his teacher to see how he was doing. E looks at me and he says with a big smile "I did goooood." I laughed and told him he didn't just to good, he did GREAT! So, I gave him $5 to put in his piggy bank and told him he could go anywhere he wanted for dinner the next night. So, tonight we are going out for Japanese. He wanted to pay with his $5 but I insisted he put it in his bank.

While we were at the mall last night, e said she wanted to get her ears pierced. So, off we went! She hardly flinched when they put the earrings in. I just hope she keeps them in! They really look adorable. E said he wanted to get his ear pierced, too, but I told him he can do it when he turns 18. It sounds like a double standard, probably, to him...and very hard to explain why he can't get his pierced when e can. Of course, there are also other boys his age and younger who have their ears pierced which makes it even more difficult to explain. Hopefully, he'll get past this one quickly!

Counting

Well, I think I'm finally starting to see the end of this stupid flu. Almost two weeks and my chest is still congested and I'm still tired. UGH! I don't know how people with chronic illnesses do it. All I want to do is rest. I feel so bad that I just can't keep up with the kids. Thank goodness I'll be back to full energy soon.

e likes to count....a lot. I don't think it's an obsession in an autistic way. I think she just likes to count. I have a hard time getting her to go to sleep at night. At daycare, they still let her nap for a couple hours during the day. I have asked them to not let her sleep, but the most they will do is wake her up early. On days when she has an hour nap, she'll go to sleep around 9:00 or so. On days when she takes the full two hour nap, I can't get her to go to sleep until about 10:30. So, when we all lay down to go to sleep (I lay down with them until they fall asleep), E is out pretty quickly and e just wants to fool around. She knows she has to be quiet so E can sleep, so she always asks if she can count "in her head." Well, she hasn't quite gotten it that "in your head" means silently. So she whispers.

At her three year check-up, the doctor seemed really surprised that she could count to 12. Now, she can count really well. She can count to 29 without help, and then she just needs help figuring out which set of numbers comes next. She'll say ...28, 29...then wait for me to give her 30. Then she'll count to 39 and wait for me to give her 40. When she says her 30s and 40s they sound the same, so she always says "again?" when I say 40. I keep trying to tell her that 30 and 40 are different, but I guess since she can't hear a difference when she says it, she doesn't get that there is a difference. When we get to 100, she has figured out that we need to start again. I wonder if all this counting is helping her math skills. It appears to be helping her logic skills at the very least.

The Birthday Party That Was...And Wasn't

Well, last Wednesday, I started to come down with something...feels like the flu, but I'm being told it was not H1N1...but he didn't do a swab. I had the fever, the sore throat and congestion, but not the aches...with all this paranoia about H1N1, when I went to the doctor's on Thursday, I was given a mask to wear in the office. I kind of felt like a leper! He gave me an antibiotic and some (really great) cough medicine to help me sleep at night. Here it is Monday, and I still feel like crap!

The two most challenging parts about being a single mom are trying to keep an eye on my children while in public places, and being sick. When I don't have the energy to keep up with them, or even get out of bed, for that matter, things are really tough. I slept all day Thursday and Friday...luckily, one of my friends picked up the kids from school and kept them for an hour or so before dropping them off at home. It's good to have good friends to help out when things are tough!

Saturday, I was still having trouble getting out of bed, but E's birthday party was scheduled for that evening. I put E in the shower and e in the tub to get them clean. E is finally doing everything for himself in the shower, so I didn't have to worry about him, but once I got e in the tub, I didn't have the energy to get her clean! So, I just laid down on my bed and let her soak for awhile. Then E comes out of the shower and says that he'll wash e's hair for me. How sweet. He got her all washed and dried and even helped to get her dressed.

Then E started complaining that he didn't feel well! Oh no...not on party day! He was running a temperature of over 102. I had no way to get in touch with all the party-goers, so I had to let the party go on. I decided to just tell people as they came in and let them make their own decision as to whether to stay or not.

E gets to the party, puts his bowling shoes on, and is all excited to get going when he breaks down and says that he wants to go home and that he's just not feeling well. And he was still running a fever, even after giving him some tylenol. So, I packed all the presents into the car and told everyone to please stay for the party even though E wouldn't be there. I had already paid for the lanes and ordered the pizza, so they may as well enjoy it. That was that...E had a wonderful birthday party (so I hear) without him. Poor guy.

His fever broke yesterday and was feeling fine, so he went back to school today. Phew. Glad he's feeling better. Still keeping my fingers crossed that e doesn't get what either of us went through!

Like Trying To Herd Cats

For my own sanity, I try to make sure the weekends are full of activities...especially in the winter. Around here, there is very little to do once the snow falls and the days get shorter. The kids have swimming lessons on Saturday morning...this weekend was the last lesson until after the new year. Saturday afternoon, e started her dance class. She loves it, but it's a challenge to keep E occupied for the hour while we watch. Before her class, we spent a couple hours at my office to get some pictures of the kids. A friend of mine needed to take some medical looking pictures of kids getting shots to help promote her company. So, she asked if E and e could be the models. The kids had fun, but were well sugared by the time we finished!

Finding things we can all do together and where I can watch them to make sure they are safe is a challenge...I can't be in two places at once. I avoid taking them to amusement parks by myself because E is a runner...I turn my head for a split second and he is off. I can't run after him and watch e at the same time, so those kinds of activities have been off limits for awhile. E is starting to get better at staying close to me, but he still runs off. Only once have I had to call security (at a mall) to help me find him, but there have been plenty of other times that I was REALLY thankful I had a second set of eyes watching him and keeping up with him.

So, after e's dance class on Saturday, we went to a small local Fall Festival. I should have known the kids would be tired and that the sugar would take effect. Usually, they don't have bad reactions to sugar, but I think the fatigue was starting to kick in, too. As soon as we got there, we got some hot dogs and pizza for lunch. e ate half of her hot dog and them gave it to me. E looked at his pizza and said he didn't like it...these kinds of things make me crazy. I just bought the pizza...couldn't he have told me he didn't want it before I bought it rather than insisting that that's what he wanted? I waste enough food in a week to feed Somalia, I think! Actually, he is getting better, but it still makes me nuts! So, I gave E e's half of a hotdog. Then e claims that she wasn't done with it and she wants it back. But, E dropped it on the ground, so then neither one got it. Then e didn't want to share her french fries with E even after I told her that they were for everyone. So, E and e started fighting over the fries. You know, of course, what happens next. Yes, all the fries end up on the ground, too. So, after all the arguments about the fries, the hotdog and there were some arguments are who is sitting where, I said it was time to go.

Well, you would have thought I had just cut up her favorite stuffed animal. NOOOOOOOOO, I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME! The two of them started to run away from me as I was trying to get them into the car. It was like trying to herd cats. E is running in one direction while e is running in the other. I finally catch E and put him in the car while keeping my eye on e (luckily, the car was close by!). e continues to cry and scream that she doesn't want to go home. I go back to get her and chase her around the pizza stand a few times before a finally catch her. You can imagine how entertaining we were to everyone sitting and watching. Me running in one direction and then the other, trying to catch a screaming three year old. I found it pretty funny, too, which makes it more difficult to discipline them!

When I finally get her back to the car, E is hiding. So, after finding him and calming them down, we had a little talk about behaving and hiding and left the festival. Phew.

Sunday mornings we have Sunday school. When e is in the more advanced class, this will be a great time for me to have a couple hours to myself. Right now, though, she likes me to stay with her. So, I help around the temple. We tried another festival after Sunday school with much better success. The kids had a great time, then it was off to rock wall climbing (a regular post-Sunday school event) for a couple hours, then to a reptile show with a gourd hunt. A very busy Sunday but the kids were great. E's birthday party is this coming weekend, so that should keep them busy on Saturday! I got more RSVPs but still only about half at most.

Oh, and Bugsy died...he is now buried next to Redhead...maybe my flowers will grow better in the Spring.

Party-Goers

Okay, E's birthday is coming up next week and I'm having his party next weekend, the 17th -- a Spongebob party at the bowling alley. I sent out about 30 invitations. The RSVP date was today and I think I've heard from about five people so far. WTH? How am I supposed to plan a party when people don't RSVP. Do I just assume they are coming? Assume that half of them will come? Now, I know people are busy, but come on! All they have to do is send me an email or give me a call. Maybe I sent the invitation out too early, but I figured three weeks was about the right time. I guess it's also enough time for people to forget about RSVPing. Maybe I'll have twenty phone messages on my machine when I get home. Ugh. Well, the good thing is that instead of goodie bags, this year, I got Target gift cards. I bought 23...hopefully, that will be enough. If it's too many, I can always use them myself. Ordering the pizza will be a challenge, though....