ok, so I am exhausted beyond belief…..stressed to the maximum and tired as hell (oh, I guess I already said that!) so I am going to have a small pity party here for myself this afternoon. You don’t have to read on…..I just need to get a few things off my chest.

I. am. tired. as. hell.   I haven’t been to bed before midnight all week…. Here is a summary of my week:

Monday – Staff Development Day…there are so many words that pop into my head about this day…the least offensive are boredom, purgatory, etc… The morning was ok, until we had our breakout session and I became irritated! Teachers are the rudest audience at these things! I won’t go into details…it was just frustrating. THEN, I went to my afternoon session! OMG….it was awful!   We sat through the most dull presentation.  I hate when presenters present to teachers in the most INEFFECTIVE teaching style……lecture!

Tuesday – Our classes carved 41 pumpkins today!  Yep…..our special education 7th and 8th grade students carved their pumpkins in class.   After school, I spent 3 hours roasting pumpkin seeds and drinking a bit of red wine!

Wednesday – Our classes were awesome today (for the most part) but it was a LONG day!   Staff, administration and students walked through our pumpkin rooms.  Our kids explained all the activities they did over the past 2 weeks and then gave them a tour through their work.   The guests judged the jack o’lanterns, tasted our yummy seeds, ate cookies and indulged in hot apple cider (with whipped cream and caramel on top!)   Each of our kids had a job to do and they just beamed when people walked through!  It was a neat day……BUT again….very long!

This night was fun as we went trick or treating with PUnky.   He had a blast.   It was neat to watch him!  We went over to my father-in-law’s house to show him Punky’s costume.  We called and called and got no answer, which we thought was odd.   He always gets into how many trick or treaters come to the house.  We thought maybe he went out for supper….which he does often.  Still no answer, so we drove over.   Hubby went in first and turned on the light while calling, “Dad.”   My father in law jumped out of his recliner.  He had been sleeping in his recliner and hadn’t heard the phone ring.  We soon learned that he also didn’t have anything for trick or treaters…I should have brought candy over for him, but I didn’t even think of it since he is always counting the heads that appear at his door each year!  He opened a bag of cookies and gave them out to the kids who came.   That made me sad….as I know that those cookies would quickly be thrown away since they were not wrapped…  I really worry about him.

Thursday –  My uncle was brought to the hospital as he wasn’t keeping water down.   I think hospice has been contacted now.   It’s so unfair.  He’s such an exemplary person!  He’s been so strong, courageous and determined to fight this battle…  It’s so sad as he is only 50 years old and has a wife and 8 kids!  I feel so badly for them, for my grandma, and all of the siblings!  (My mom is the oldest of 10)

I told a student today that if he wanted to continue to be a “smart-ass” he could remain in the hallway.   Ugh. I’m losing it.

I went to Weight Watcher’s….hadn’t been there in 3 weeks.  I gained 4.2 lbs!  😦   Pissed me off.  (Halloween festivities in my classroom didn’t help matters!)

Drank a bit more wine…

Friday – grades are due next week……..I am behind in grading all this pumpkin stuff.  Progress reports also need to be written for the kids on my caseload.    I have 10 meetings I have to schedule for the month of November for my caseload kiddos.   I have called about 5 parents and none have called back.  My email inbox  keeps filling up…it’s the “end of the quarter mad-dash” for my kids to bring their grades up.   Ugh. I am seriously thinking of a career change.  My poor sister was pregnant but started bleeding earlier this week and went in for an ultrasound today to find that she had miscarried.  no more news about my uncle.  i just want to be home with my guys (hubby and Punky).   But, I can’t…..we have our Alpha retreat tonight from 4-8 PM and tomorrow from 4-8PM.  I think another glass of wine is calling my name…then my bed is calling me!