Indoor Plumbing....and a weekend!

So...nobody had to use the portable potties.  THANK goodness!  The compromised water main was repaired by the time we got back to school on Thursday morning.  The bathrooms were all nice and clean and the only reminder of the hullabaloo was that the water fountains were off limits...bacteria or some such nuisance.

I've stayed true to my promise to leave work AT work for the weekend.  I woke up around 7:15 a.m., enjoyed a couple of hours of coffee and reading the newspaper and a few magazines and catalogues that had piled up...paid some bills for mother and Ned, and decided to make a pedicure appointment.  Did a little shopping...nothing spectacular.  Cleaned all of my make-up brushes...gathered some things for Goodwill...watched a couple of episodes of Say Yes to the Dress-Atlanta.  Merciful days...the Atlanta version is SO much better than the other one at Kleinsfeld's where most of the brides look like they should be on Jersey Shore.

Sue called...then Meg called.  I tried to call Lorelai but she didn't answer...nothing like your kids screening your calls.  (By the way, who is paying for those cell phones?  Wait, that would be your parents so you might want to answer sometime.)

Deer season opened on August 15 and Hank has been about to die to go hunting so he went over to the farm this morning.  He picked up Ned and let him spend the middle part of the day with him before he went to sit in the stand.  Ned loves the farm.  It's dark now and I haven't gotten a victory call so I'm imagining that the "big one" kept his distance this afternoon.  I reckon Hank will roll in in a little while. 

In the meantime, I think the perfect ending to my relaxing day would be a nice hot bubble bath. 

Sorry I don't have anything spectacularly interesting to share...considering that I'm still in the throes of the start of the new school year, a quiet weekend at home with no work IS spectacular!!

The 7th Day of School

So...about 11:00 AM, just as I'm checking my e-mail, a student comes to the office to say that there is no water in the bathroom.  One of the e-mails (sent at 10:30 AM) is from the college notifying us that there has been a break in the water main, courtesy of the highway department.  It might take two hours to repair...or maybe six hours.  SO, the decision is made to send our high school kids home. 

Mark it down...on the 7th day of school (and a full moon apparently), I sent out my first AlertNow message to all parents and successfully, with the help of the staff, got each and every student on his or her way home three hours early.

I'm just praying that we don't arrive at school in the morning to find port-a-potties in the parking lot.

Port-a-potties are JUST for tailgating...and that's a stretch.

Speaking of tailgating...TEN DAYS until the Tigers ROAR in Death Valley!!

Back in the land of the living...I seriously DO NOT LIKE Best Buy

Oh my...I'm off the Lortab and back at life full steam ahead this morning.  Last week is a little bit blurry.  Who, but ME, would have to deal with root canal business the first week she was a "real" principal with students and all?  I'm pretty sure that Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer came by to see how we were doing, although I should probably confirm with my secretary as I could have been hallucinating from the severe pain in my left jaw.  I'm joking...they did come by and were very complimentary.  Shoot...once I got the Lortab on Monday afternoon, I was coasting until Friday afternoon.  Except for the crying thing...

On a positive note, it seems that the TMJ I thought I might have could have been the stupid tooth all along.  Time will tell.  Upward and onward...

One thing I know for sure...aside from the stupid tooth, I've been burning the candle at both ends for a couple of months now.  Very little time for rest and relaxation, even on the weekends.  Let me just DECLARE that as of now and barring some kind of unforeseen circumstances, I will work like a crazy woman all week but come the weekend, I'm taking time for myself and my family.  A couple of months ago, Hank said, "don't let this make you sick" and to tell you the truth, I think I just about did wear myself slap out.  (But things had to be done and I was the only one that could do them!!!)  I don't regret it because we had a good start, BUT, I've got to change my ways because, if for no other reason....

THE FIRST HOME GAME AT CLEMSON IS LABOR DAY WEEKEND!!!!!

The seasons tickets and parking passes arrived two weeks ago!  Former hometown high school football star Andre' Ellington is going to pick RIGHT up where one of the great loves of my life, CJ Spiller, left off. (I'm also now a Buffalo Bills fan, in case you're interested...they're from NY, right??)

At some point I need to fill you in on our Best Buy hullabaloo.   If you know a person in upper level management at Best Buy, please tell them that one of the managers in one of our local stores  is a first class number one NOT very nice person.  She needs SERIOUS training regarding customer service.  I'll be happy to divulge the store location and name of the manager if anybody can put me in touch with somebody who can actually do something about this, as opposed to the BB middle management do nothings we've talked with off and on over the last six weeks.

For heaven's sake, there are seriously talented people out there looking for jobs...BB needs to beef up their evaluation process and get rid of employees like that gal.  It wouldn't be very hard to find somebody better than her...most of my high school juniors could do a better job and are ALL of my juniors have better manners.  Don't know that I've EVER wanted to have somebody fired more desperately.

That's not very nice of me, is it?

Anyhow...have a great week and thanks for not giving up on me (and the old blog) over the last couple of months!

I don't know where to begin...

Let's go with a list...

1.  Legare got a permanent job offer yesterday.  After his May 2011 graduation from UNC School of Law, he will be joining the Charlotte office of a very prestigious Chicago law firm. 

2.  Lorelai just came of off a week of serving as a junior class student leader for the incoming freshman at Clemson.  She was responsible for 25 of them and to quote her on Tuesday afternoon..."they just don't listen..."   How did she get to be a junior so FAST!!!

3.  Lord love us all...Hank and I are so proud of our children that we don't know what to do.  God has truly TRULY blessed us beyond measure.

4.  This first week of our new school with our students.  I'll tell you more about it later.  As life would go, I found myself in the oral surgeon's office at 6:30 AM on Wednesday crying (and I am NOT a crier) because they wanted to do a root canal and I needed to get to school (it was only the 2nd morning for students).  I talked them into letting me leave but ONLY if I promised to come back before the weekend.  SO...armed with an antibiotic and Lortab, I made it until 2:45 on Friday afternoon when I was forced to return for said root canal.

5.  The bright side...they gave me " laughing gas" for the root canal.  What a great (really, I'm not being sarcastic here) way to relax after one of the most hectic weeks of my life.  I just chilled out in that chair for an hour and a half.  I'm smiling...at least with one side of my mouth...just thinking about it.  Good memories...GOOD memories...

6.  As I said, more on the first week of school later.  I think I'm going to take a Lortab induced nap.  BUT...nobody quit...there were no disciplinary referrals AT ALL...my staff is the best staff EVER in the history of education...and...I'm going to take that nap now. Oh...there WAS the skateboard incident but MY students were not responsible for that little dust up.

GO TITANS!!

Today, the Titans begin their RULE as the #1 Top Best Most Wonderful School in our district.

As Chief Titan...let me just say...

THANK YOU, my blog friends, for pushing me along and supporting me from afar during this grand adventure. 

If I have the energy, I'll do an update this afternoon.

GO TITANS!!

Keep me alive out there....

Sorry...no time to read, therefore no time to comment.
Haven't checked my e-mail in three days.
No time to post.
Decided on Wednesday that we didn't like the way we'd scheduled and decided to redo it.
Clearly not the smartest decision from a time management perspective but it will be better for our students.
That's what it's all about.

Don't forget about me...

I Didn't Know There Was Anything to Resolve...

Occasionally, I'll make a remark about moving.  Don't get me wrong, I love where we live, but we built our house in 1985 and let's face it...it's dated.  The ceilings are 8 feet, except for the two story foyer and in the den, which was added on later. The windows need to be replaced. I'd like to update fixtures in the bathrooms. We don't have a bedroom downstairs for when we get old and decrepit and can't get up and down the staircase.  Sometimes I think I'd really like to have a brand spankin' new 21st century house.  Or maybe a really old 19th century house 

Sometimes...

Anyhow...last night as we were heading home from dinner out and riding around in a very quaint historic neighborhood in a nearby town, I said, "You know...as much as I talk about the possibility of moving someday, I just don't think I'd ever be happy anywhere else...even in a brand spankin' new house or in a really old house. Maybe we just need to reconcile ourselves to staying put."   Hank said, "Yeah, I feel the same way."

This morning...Hank said..."I'm glad we got everything resolved last night, I feel SO much better."  Meanwhile, I'm looking at the paper and wondering what the heck the problem was that we got resolved last night. So...I said, "What the heck are you talking about???"

"Moving," he replied, "I've never wanted to move."   Poor guy, apparently for YEARS, he's been worrying about moving someday.

Hank doesn't like change.  Not one bit.  Although in return for my being SO agreeable about NOT moving someday, I was able to strike a deal regarding some upgrades once the kids are out of school.

Probably won't mess around with the ceiling heights, but to the following, I say, "COME TO MAMA!"

New Master Bedroom Suite Downstairs (photo courtesy Southern Living)

Upgrade Current Bathrooms (photo courtesy Pottery Barn)

New Viking Appliances in the Kitchen (photo courtesy Viking)

One of the Most Successful Weeks of My Career

Planning for the past week made me nervous.  I'll admit it.  I get nervous sometimes.  Well...not really nervous...I don't know what the word is.  Is edgy different from nervous?  It was a control thing.  Teacher retreat on Monday...Junior Orientation on Tuesday...Senior Orientation on Wednesday...Open House on Thursday.  I desperately wanted everything to go well.  I wanted my teachers to say that they'd never been to a better teacher retreat ever.  Likewise for the students at the orientations and the parents at the open house.


I didn't hear any complaints (yet) so in the world of public education this is considered...



Of course, this is the last week of having "Friday off" so as you would expect, I'm getting ready to launch into WORK!  Must reconcile all of the college schedules with the high school schedules.  It would help if I truly understood what I'm doing.  I've got the high school scheduling part down pretty well...unfortunately our system does not interface with the college system so we have to do TWO schedules for each student.


Hank came to the open house for moral support. My goal for the evening, in addition to giving the parents a chance to meet our teachers, was to have each and every parent and child leave that auditorium knowing without a shadow of a doubt that they MATTER!  Even the challenging ones.  PARTICULARLY the challenging ones, because they've often lived years of thinking that they DON'T matter at the schools they attend.  It's a sin and a shame that any student, young or old, would feel that way.


I told my school community that with the exceptions of my family and my faith, NOTHING in this world matters more to me than the education and welfare of their children.  They can take that to the bank, and I expect them to call me on it if they ever feel like I'm not living up to my promise.


Did I mention that I have a DREAM TEAM staff?


OH...and the students chose their mascot....the TITAN!!!!
School Colors: Green and Black...we need to choose a nice shade of green.


Have a great weekend!

It's 4 a.m....What are you doing??

I'm sitting on the sofa in the sun room writing a blog post.  Our teacher retreat went very well on Monday...at least I think it did...nobody quit so that would seem to be a good sign.
Our Junior Class orientation was fabulous yesterday...the kids are SO excited which makes me very very happy.  Today the seniors will make their presence known.  I didn't realize how much I missed being in a school building.

So...enough about work.  Lorelai has been a roving bank teller this summer and her assignments have taken her all over the lowcountry.  People have been wonderful to her wherever she's worked...EXCEPT for one branch out in a WAY rural area.  Lor is her mama's daughter to be sure. Tell her what the rules and the processes are she by golly, she's gonna follow them.  Apparently, this little branch likes to follow their own processes, not necessarily the ones that EVERY other branch she's worked in this summer follows. 

For one thing...the first day (yesterday was her last thank goodness) at this particular location, she was told that if she wore a skirt or dress, she must wear PANTYHOSE!!!  PANTYHOSE!!!!  The child might wear pantyhose in the winter...if she went to a funeral.

Of course, another employee came to work one day wearing pantyhose AND socks with her tennis shoes.  She also wore a polka dot polyester dress with some sort of big flashy belt and dangley earrings that didn't match.  Sort of an Ugly Betty look.  I think we need to set that gal up with Miss Janice, who is an expert at putting together the RIGHT kind of look. 

When Lor came back from lunch one day, there was a Braun men's electric shaver...new in box...sitting at her teller station.  A customer brought everybody one.  A BRAUN MEN'S ELECTRIC SHAVER?  Does this strike anybody else odd?

Legare is home this week.  Bless his heart, he's cooked supper for us the last two nights...possibly out of good will but also possibly for self-preservation.  These days, I only cook on the weekends.

Ned recently had a little bout of gout.  (LOL...a "bout" of "gout"...I just crack myself up sometimes...even at 4:34 a.m.)  He's fine now.

OH....Join me in boycotting Best Buy, won't you?  Our 18 month old Sony Bravia TV has been on the fritz for SIX WEEKS.  They've sent somebody over here THREE times and they never have the right part....THEN they take an ATTITUDE with us when we get frustrated at having to wait ANOTHER two weeks while they order a part and schedule another time to come over.  Not to MENTION that they only do home repairs from 8 AM until 5:30 PM.  What are we supposed to do....take a vacation day every two weeks to sit here and wait for some INCOMPETENT to show up with the wrong parts?

We're at a loss to know how to handle it...when you complain they are rude.  So much for customer service.

BEST BUY...You need to get your act together.  I'm flabbergasted at your utter lack of professionalism and complete disdain for your customers when there are issues with products purchased in one of your stores.  We even paid for the four year service and replacement plan.  How long do we have to wait before you just replace the darn thing?

READERS....Do you know anybody who might have some powers of persuasion with Best Buy??  I need their help...

Have a good day!!