Stress!

Well, I made it atleast physically through the first week back to work. It was pretty tough. Up at 5:30am, getting myself and two kids ready for the day, out the door, to daycare and to work on time. Not to mention the craziness that is my job this time of year. Attempting to schedule 78 children into the OT schedules for the week without taking them from their core academics, their specials (music, art, etc.), and avoiding lunch and recess...is no easy task. Then on top of it all, there are not enough OT hours provided by the school system to cover all the needs. So I have to be creative, and efficient in making three schedules, for this large number of kids getting OT and all seven schools! Have a headache? I do when I think about it.
I told myself that I wasn't going to think about it during this long weekend, but coming online today I got an email about another new student that we have to fit in. It sent me to www.careerbuilder.com to look for something else. I really had had it! I kept thinking there has to be a place where the administration would value what I can do as an occupational therapist and appreciate the difficulty that lies in dealing with 78 kids, two assistants, some twenty-five special education teachers, and seven different schools. ugh! I promised myself that I wasn't going to let all this get to me this year, but...

Now I've complained too much!

Stress! I know, I know we all have stressful jobs. I am not the only one. I think I just have a harder time with stress management than most. How do you all handle stress? It is said that stress can have negative effects on your body and life. Maybe blogging will help relieve some.
Deep breath!

(atleast the wedding last night was a good start to stress relief! Thanks Vicki and Scott!) :)

Vacation Nights

I have a really good friend who has coined the term "vacation night" for the night when he is off the next day. I love this term, especially from him because he has quite the way of delivering the "vacation night" phrase.
So, I am borrowing his coined phrase to describe the fact that I only have two vacation nights left. School starts next week. Back to the grind, as they say. It has been a wonderful summer, and I am definitely not looking forward to all the stress that comes with working full time, and being a Mom full time as well. As I've said before I love my job, but it is stressful.

So two more vacation nights left...hummm, how to spend them. Saying so long to a wonderful summer full of vacation nights and hello to an exciting new school year. How are you all spending the last few days of summer? And when is the next vacation night?

Oh no, they didn't!

When it comes to TV commercials, I used to become enthralled, now I don't have the time. I'm off to grab a snack, fold laundry--anything but watch 30 to 60 seconds of someone telling me I can't live without their product or service. But recently, one apparel retailer has stopped me dead in my tracks, as I stare at the television in absolute awe. The new JCPenney commercial actually stopped me mid-bite of a snack. And nothing gets between me and my food. Until now. Do not click the link, if you do not want the wonderfulness that is the 1985 Breakfast Club and it's innocence to be tainted.

Those of us who live for 80's music and movies, may find this commercial tough to take. Ok, those of you who don't love The Breakfast Club, like I do, may wonder why this is something I even need to post about. Maybe I am dating myself or causing some of you to think..."the 80's? yuck!", but I don't care!

The song in this new commercial has been one that I have loved since the day it was released. It is "Don't You (Forget About Me)", by Simple Minds released in 1985.
Here's what the song really is supposed to sound like (with alittle more of the movie to watch)...when it was done by Simple Minds. In my craziness of learning more about this commercial I have found out that this song was redone for the commercial by a group called New Found Glory. It's good, but nothing compares to the original.
Now, why post about this. I'm not really sure, except that it struck me so much. JCPenney? The Breakfast Club? Simple Minds? It just doesn't all go together in my head! Plus there is a girl in the commercial wearing a Nirvana T-shirt! I guess I just am having a hard time putting it all together. Ha!

I can almost hear the ad executives in the meeting about this advertising plug:
"Let's really alienate the youth and show them how them just how much we don't get it by re-doing The Breakfast Club film! You know - the cult classic that so many people hold so dear?!"

"The one with that cute Molly Ringwald in it?"

"Yes! And let's 'update' Ally Sheedy's character and turn her into an adorable girl with a pageboy cut who wears polo jumpers!"

"Let's eliminate the burnout character and instead turn him into a hipster who wears a cool cotton hoodie!"
UGH!!!

I love The Breakfast Club! If there is anyone out there that has not seen this movie. Shame on you! Rent it tonight. It is worth it!

As for the commercial, oh no, they didn't!

Which would you choose?

So there is one of those puzzling questions out there, "Which would you rather lose, your sight or your hearing?". I've always thought that I would rather lose my sight because the thought of not hearing music or my loved ones words, seemed the lesser of the two evils to me.
But now, I just don't know.

I recently have had some issues with my eyes. I am ok, so no one freak out out there. I was seeing floaters in my vision. It was pretty scary and began happening at the end of my pregnancy and lasted into the first few months of Ian's life. I initially thought it was the lack of sleep, but then it kept going. I have gone to a couple of doctors and had my eyes dilated twice now. (if you've never had that done, it is a pretty nerve wracking experience) I basically had trouble seeing the whole day after having that done. Yikes!
The bottomline is that my eyes are pretty much ok. They did notice one tiny thing in my right eye, that is "probably nothing", but I have to go to one more doctor to rule out some other things. It's good news.

So back to the original question...Not being able to really see for two whole days, I can't choose.
Could you?

Time

Time has become something that is important to me and is a burden as well. How many times do we hear what time is it? Or do you have time? Or time flies! Or Time is precious. And finally, where did the time go? There are appointments, dates, show times, and such. Everything revolves around time!

So many people look at time differently. In my life there is "Gordon Time" and "Linda Time", which are not that different, actually. There is nap time, supper time, bedtime, etc., etc. I wish for quilting time, vacation time, but hate to think about losing time, or work time.

I also am feeling like time is running out on my summer with my children. I know, I should be thankful that I have a job that allows me this time with them, but somehow I want more.

It is funny how we are all either wishing for more time, or wishing time would move faster, but we never seem to be quite content with how time is moving.

Last week I had a meeting with our Director of Special Education about the amount of time the town has allotted me and my assistants to do our job and the amount of time that is needed to do the job. Never mind the time that is needed to do our job well. Since last week I have been back and forth with her about time. How our time is spent, etc.
Nowhere else in my life, except my professional life, do I have to account for every minute of the day. How it is spent, what I am doing, who I am talking to, where I am, etc., etc. It is nerve-wracking! Don't get me wrong. I do love my job. I had posted before that I love being an OT and working with children. It is just this part of my position in this particular school system that drives me mad. I am sure there are people in this same type of position that take advantage of the time, or the fact that we are travelers, but I do not. I think that's why I am so annoyed by having to justify any and all time that I am at work. Plus there are school-based OT's that do not have to justify time like this, it just so happens I am in a town that requires it.

Needless to say this meeting and now all this "time" conversation has me thinking. Why do we wish it away some days and wish it would stop on other days?

When I think about my kids growing up, I think I want time to slow down, but when I am sitting here waiting for them to wake up from their nap, there are days that I wish time would speed up. I want them to grow and change, but at the same time I want them to stay little forever. Does that make sense?

I find myself thinking about my Dad too. I have always felt that his time here ended way too early. Is that just my selfishness because I want him still here?

Friends and family that I don't see that often...I want the time that we are together again to come faster, but when we are finally together I don't want time to move.
I was recently with a group of friends where we lost track of time. Normally we are only together for a few hours, but before we knew it the night was gone and it was almost midnight when we said goodnight. Guess we were having fun... :)

Time is a funny thing. I guess it boils down to when we are happy and when we are not. When we are able to appreciate the time we are in at the moment is when we don't want time to move, but that's when time flies. But when we are wishing we are somewhere else, time stands still.

I guess the old saying is true..."Time flies when you're having fun". I guess the lesson here is to appreciate the time we have when we have it. Live in the moment. Those little moments can be so big!

Check it out!

I finally figured out how to add the slideshow of all my quilts and things that I have quilted to this blog. I guess you could say it is my own way of showcasing some of my work. It's not much, and I know you can tell which were my very first quilts. Pretty much all of them I have given away except for my very first one, which is this green sampler one and my guestbook quilt from my wedding. I hope all of you that have them love them as much as I loved making them.
I need to make one for us. I do love it. It is just now with two small kids, finding the time is tough. As it is, right now, one is trying to crawl up onto my lap....

A new blog...

Based on my last post a good friend told me about Heather Bailey, who is another fabric designer. She also has some paper packs and embellishments! I fell in love with some of her fabrics and her overall creativity that she showcases on her blog. I had to add the link to my blog as well. Wow! There are some really talented people out there! Check her out if you have some time. I got lost in the blog....