I'm Falling Back into the Bad Blogger Category again...(heavy heavy sigh!)

The past two weeks have been nothing short of the most frustrating work weeks I have ever experienced.  I can't go into details...just let it suffice to say that it's all about every member of the "community" doing his or her part.  When I have to put my tasks on hold to deal with things that I should never have to deal with...well...many of you have been there. Work takes over your life.  The buck stops with me. Taking two graduate classes on top of a rigorous work schedule isn't helping. And I don't have anybody to vent to.  Can only go so far on the blog.  Hank listens just fine but since we don't work in the same field it's hard for him to sympathize, although he said at least three times last week, "I'm worried about you..."

New school with a lot to prove...you know me, I want to be superwoman. 

Unfortunately, superwoman has trouble finding time to blog, much less read other blogs!  Spring Break is coming up soon.  I'm holding on...

This time it was fun...

Sitting here paying bills and the phone rang with an unknown number.  I decided to answer just for kicks....

Got another telemarketer on the line so I kept repeating,
Where you from?  Where you from?  Where you from? with a twangy kind of tone over and over until HE hung up on ME!!!

I know I'm no Florence Nightengale and other thoughts...

I know I'm no Florence Nightingale, but... ...do not mess around with me with one of my children is sick. Lorelai is back in her apartment after 24 hours at the Mommy Hospital. Can you say "room service?" I left her with new pillows, clean sheets, a full can of Lysol spray, a fresh box of tissues, a new toothbrush, Gatorade, chips, ice cream, hummus and chips, granola bars, microwavable meals, cough drops, and two more days worth of TamiFlu and z-pack.  No fever, thank goodness.  I've made my way back to the lowcountry and have been decontaminated...shower, potentially germ carrying clothing in the washer...and am DONE for the day.

The other thoughts...
I stopped in Columbia at Barnes and Noble on my way to Clemson yesterday to grab a book. While in the store my cell phone rang.  I don't even know why I answered it...I usually don't if I don't recognize the number but I was distracted.  It was a telemarketer. Generally, if I do answer, I hang up on them but this time...oh my, THIS time.  When the person on the other end with QUITE an accent asked, Is this Bell-lee?, I went TWINK...and that, my friends, ain't good. Right in Barnes and Noble I LOST my cool with a telemarketer.

I replied...NO, there is nobody in the world that I am aware of named BELL-LEE.  Who are you and why are you calling me?  The man started talking and I could not understand a word, so I got madder. You are making no sense at all...I cannot understand a word you are saying...SPEAK ENGLISH...get somebody on this phone who SPEAKS ENGLISH!!!  Please hold...he replied.

By now, I'd wondered to the magazine section where a woman perusing Vanity Fair nodded and said, I know how you feel...

Long story short...I went through two more male voices and the best I could figure was that the call had something to do with my gym membership (which I haven't used in months).  I don't know why I didn't hang up...I was SPEWING contempt and told the third one that I can't understand a bleep thing you're saying...what is WRONG WITH YOU?????  I know you THINK you're speaking English but you are aren't. SPEAK ENGLISH...GET SOMEBODY ON THIS PHONE FROM AMERICA!! (Yes my friends...this southern belle said bleep...I never say bleep...)  He said, Please hold...

The fourth guy had the audacity to say, I am from American, my name is Mark Jones from New Jersey.  By now I am back in the car driving and am coming to realize that I must be losing my mind.  I wheeled onto I-26 and said, Your name is NOT Mark Jones!!  Do you think I'm an IDIOT...(crazy woman, maybe...idiot, certainly not). 

Then I hung up. I sort of scared myself a little. I don't remember walking from the magazine section out to the car.  I've had a lot of time to think about it and have come to what I believe is a reasonable explanation of why I would go AROUND the bend with a telemarketer...

I deal with unreasonable people on a regular basis.  Some of them are extended family members. I have to try and solve their problems and comply with their requests. Parents may come into the building and be UGLY and I have to remain professional. People do not want to take responsibility for their actions.  I am the "fixer." I get frustrated but swallow my irritation and do my job.

I'm reckoning that I can only swallow so much irritation...then comes TWINK!  The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak.  So now we know my threshold...about six and a half months. 

Woe unto the telemarketer who calls around the first of September.

Any thoughts?

Things

1. Poor little Lorelai has the flu. She got doctored on today but I'm going up to Clemson in the morning to give her some mommy care. You need your mommy when you have the flu, don't you think?
2. Hank's mother likes Green Grove. She told Hank yesterday that she walked to the dining room for supper "with a man on each arm." OH my stars!!
3. Valentine's Day is upon us and I haven't put up the first decoration or bought the first card. How did it get to be the middle of February??
4. Less than three month's until Legare's graduation from law school.
5. I feel old.
6. Just a little more than three months until my first year as principal is over. I'm tired.

I haven't given you a student quote in awhile so here we go...

School Dance...as the dance begins, the principal goes to the microphone and says, "We want you to have a good time tonight but bear this in mind...you must remember to dance with decorum."  From the floor a boy yells, "I want to dance with her first...where's Decorum?"

...and so it goes...

Points to Ponder- A Three Quotation Thursday Tuesday

There are two ways to pass a hurdle: leaping over or plowing through... There needs to be a monster truck option. - Jeph Jacques

I'm loving this one today. I think that I actually use a monster truck option sometimes. It's just disguised as a "aren't you the nicest sweetest thing in the world and I am SO very sorry to bother you but I need your help more than you can EVER imagine and would be SO very GRATEFUL if you could find your way to assist me in finding a solution for this challenge." Then there IS the "I am a CRAZY woman and it would be in your best interest to fix this problem" approach.
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Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.– Source Unknown

I need to ponder this one
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You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down. ~ Mary Pickford
I really do try to practice this philosophy. I do best with "fresh starts" on Monday mornings but try really hard everyday. Some days I get it right and some days I not so much. That's just how it goes!
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Y'all have a FABULOUS day now, ya hear?

Weekend Wrap Up

1. So, I understand that there is some sort of big football game today.  What's that all about?
2. I found myself in meetings three days this week.  Three days OUT of my building.  Thank goodness for staff members and substitute staff members who keep things going.
3. Two days of meetings were in Columbia, our state capitol.  It's about an hour and forty five minutes away and I usually drive up and back but this time...I don't know...this time, I was TIRED.  The thought of getting up at 5:30 a.m. (even though I usually get up at 6 anyhow) was just overwhelming to me, so I stayed up there, traveling up the night before the first meeting.  What a BRILLIANT decision.  I went to bed early, slept until 7:15 both mornings.  Ate room service one night and with a colleague the other...good food...good conversation. If you're ever in Columbia, the relatively new Hilton at the convention center is better than fine and there is a Ruth's Chris in the lobby.  Guess what I'm going to do when I go back for another round of meetings later in the spring??
4. Hank's mother got all moved in at Green Grove and seems quite satisfied.  This is a VERY good thing. 
5. I've let the Valentine season sneak up on me. Money for the kids and sweets for the mothers is the way we're going.  Easy peasy.

Good grief...I'm boring myself.

Have a great week!

An Oldie but Goodie: What Do You Think?

When you base your life on principle, 99 percent of your decisions are already made.
--Unknown

Isn't that the truth?
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Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.--Margaret Thatcher

Some things just speak for themselves. This is a good one to share with our daughters and their friends.
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Be a good example. If you can’t be a good example then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.--Catherine Aird

As I was reflecting on this quote, I came to the conclusion that I've probably learned MORE about how to conduct myself by observing horrible warnings as I have from observing good examples. I guess that would be a "what NOT to do approach" to personal growth and professional development.