I was pretty worn out after visiting all of the K-6 classes yesterday, although I sure had a blast.  The kids get so excited when they see me, and hopefully it's helped get them excited about learning their vocabulary words each week.  

However I was pretty wiped out, and napped some in the afternoon.  So did Tom (the strep test at the doctor was inconclusive, so he's on antibiotics until we get the results on a more definitive test next week.)  This morning he's feeling considerably better (let's hear it for modern medicine!) although my back is definitely squawking after being on my feet yesterday for 3 hours.  

So this morning I took a nice long soak in the hot tub with the jets on high;  

that mini-massage helped some, at least temporarily.

The kids will be doing AIMS testing next week, so the classes have been reviewing this week.  I loved how Diane had the Olympics theme playing as motivation when each class entered her classroom.

  

Of course all three of her classes pounced on their vocabulary words, but one 2nd grade class and one 3rd grade class got totally stumped by their words ('contribution' and 'advantage').  They were lucky I had left my froggie magic wand in the car by mistake, or I might have turned them into frogs... <G> 

This morning is my final appearance (for this school year) as the Word Wizard.  Tom is up early this morning (although he's sick - I HOPE I DON"T CATCH WHATEVER HE HAS!!!) so after my shower when I'm all regilia-ed up I'll try to get him to take a picture and post it later this afternoon.

This morning started out with a good laugh.  At one time or another we've all said/thought, "Where's a police officer when you need one?"

So check out one of the best Lone Ranger stories around.  Jay Thomas told this story on Letterman's show. It is about Clayton Moore [he played the Lone Ranger on television] who was known for taking his role seriously and never breaking character in public. Sound On? Click below... after emptying your bladder!

http://stg.do/0N3c

And while we're on the subject of police -

I got a chuckle out of this, from Diane:

When I woke up at 3:30 this morning I was afraid I was up for the day. Happily I went back to sleep on my own (too late to take something to help) but then slept until 8:00, so I was a little rushed to get out on time. As a result, I was halfway to chemo when I realized I didn't have my iPad with me. 

At least I was able to buy a puzzle magazine at the Walgreen's in the lobby to keep me occupied. That did come in handy, especially since this was the first time in a long while that the Benadryl didn't knock me out (although I did take a nap later once I got home.)  

And guess what?

Tom is cooking dinner, and shortly we'll be taking it over to Ben & Estera's to eat with them.  Alex should be joining us also.  (He went to dinner with us the night we ate at Valle Luna, and said it was the best meal he's had since he moved into his own place.) 

Being a mom is hard work - and sometimes it can be overwhelming.  

Last night around 9:00 Estera called to see if I could come over; she sounded upset so I headed there immediately.  Julianna was crying (and apparently hadn't eaten or slept since lunch time) and Ben wasn't home to help.  (I remember when our kids were babies and Tom was working out of town and only home every other weekend.  It's draining!) 

I was able to soothe Julianna a bit, and give Estera a chance to walk away and try and relax.  Because of J's medical issues with feeding, and the fact that the doctors are concerned because she's lost some weight recently, there's more than a little stress.  I was glad E called me (I know I would have loved to have a 'stand-in grandma' across the street from us in Kingman) and hope they all have a better day today...maybe something like this!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=522135807837068&set=vb.136336876521150&type=2&theater 

I've been working on the backing for the quilt this morning - I will get it done today - but had to take my own breather and walk away after I discovered I sewed two (very long pieces) together front-to-back instead of front-to-front (hard to see the seams on the black fabric.)  In a bit I'll go rip and start over, but for now I'm giving it a rest.

Today is the day I was scheduled to sit around to wait for my meds, to be delivered 'sometime' between 8 am and 8 pm.  This is only the second month's delivery, and last month it arrived around 6  pm.  But about 9:30 this morning the doorbell rang, and now I'm no longer chained to the house for the rest of the day.

Check out today's op ed article by columnist Thomas Friedman from the NY Times.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/opinion/friedman-my-little-global-school.html?_r=0

I was very proud to read the part about Lisa's school, BASIS Tucson North!

“BASIS Tucson North, a nonselective high school serving an economically modest middle-class student population in Arizona, outperformed the average of every country in the world in reading, math, and science,” the report said. 

So what’s the secret of the best-performing schools? It’s that there is no secret. The best schools, the study found, have strong fundamentals and cultures that believe anything is possible with any student: They “work hard to choose strong teachers with good content knowledge and dedication to continuous improvement.” They are “data-driven and transparent, not only around learning outcomes, but also around soft skills like completing work on time, resilience, perseverance — and punctuality.” And they promote “the active engagement of our parents and families.”

Have a great day! 

After my visit to the lab this morning I picked up what I needed to finish up Mom's birthday gift, and this afternoon I got it done.  Here it is:

(C'mon, Mom.  You didn't really think I'd post a picture of it here before I give it to you, did you?  You'll just have to wait for Cinqo de Mayo.)

After I picked up the quilting frame from Teresa this morning, I delivered it to its new home just a block away, at Mary's.  She and I had a great visit together: she heard some of my stories that she'd never heard before (I know some of you are shaking your heads over that one!) and I got to see the book and templates for the Angle Play class she's taking.  

She's having a great time with the class, and I can see why.  I really like the blocks she's already made up, and looking through the book (which is chock full of great blocks!) I found the perfect idea for the Foothills 2013 Challenge.  We also made plans for a 'field trip' Monday, lunch and a shopping trip to QUILTZ (she has a gift certificate burning a hole in her pocket) at their new location.

Also mailed off some tax stuff, gassed up the car, make a quickie stop at the grocery store - so it was a pretty productive day!  Tonight I'm grilling steaks for dinner, and after that may watch a Netflix and relax after my busy day.

This morning I picked up our taxes, 

and have to say that we got very good 'bottom line' news.  

Alex was not quite so happy with his - while the Grand Canyon State is giving him a small refund, Uncle Sam wants more money from him.

This afternoon Bella and crew cleaned, which means these guys have been (temporarily) banished:

  Tom got new filters for the air ducts although he hadn't yet gotten around to installing them.  Every time he changes them I 'get' <g> to clean the vents, which always a messy job.  And I certainly did not want to do that after the house was nice and clean.   So I 'let' the ladies clean the vents while they were here today.

This afternoon I also got a phone call from a 99-year-old woman named Gertrude.  She and her daughter Teresa are moving out of state, and want to donate their large quilting frame to someone who will use it.  It seems Gertrude got my name/number from someone at the hospital where Foothills Quilters holds our monthly Sew Day, and of course I am more than happy to find it a new home!  (If it turns out that none of the Foothills ladies want it, Busy Bees is planning a quilting yard sale in a couple of weeks.) Teresa even offered to deliver it (!) but I'm going to pick it up tomorrow.  Turns out it's not far from here; in fact it's about a block from Mary's house, so I 'might' have to pop in and say 'hi' to her.  

Today I worked on Mom's birthday gift, but unfortunately I was prevented from finishing <sigh> because I ran out of ribbon on the roll.  I'll just pick some up tomorrow after I get my pre-chemo blood drawn (the lab is right down the street from Michael's) and then I can finish up.

And that was my Monday.  

Hope YOU also had a good one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h9RfuD1Im4U