Summer Lovin...

First Monday of Summer Vacation and.... mmmmmmmmm... I'm in love.....

• Loving getting up at the crack of dawn and being able to run, get a load of laundry on the line, clean my house, and check emails and Google Reader all before 8:00AM.
  
• Loving making a To Do list, and actually checking most things off.
• Loving the heat and humidity.
• Loving working in the yard and reading whatever I want, when I want.
  
• Loving my summer uniform of bike shorts, sports bra, tee-shirt and flip-flops.
• Loving seeing my family more than just in passing.
• Loving being free of the Net-Nanny and having access to whatever I want online.
• Loving feeling like the whole summer is in front of me.

• And loving..... my new baby girl.... sigh...

Summer Life

First day of my Summer Life!!! It's been a long time coming...although on one hand it seems to have flown by. It was a very good year despite the dreaded Alternate Assessment and lots of major decisions to make regarding kids.

I'm totally geared up to start my SL in my most favorite way: A cup of coffee, a load in the washer, and an early morning run. Consuming coffee now, load of wash started, and run will take place soon. My To List is made and I'm totally psyched to dig in.

There's just one little, itty, bitty addition to my summer life... introducing baby Bella! (Yes, she was up 4 times last night, but getting up is part of being a new momma!) It was time to bring a new puppy into our lives after losing Nigel 2 years ago. The kids have been begging me and now that I'm home for the summer, it's the perfect time.

One week to go....

I'm beginning my final week of school before starting my long awaited summer vacation. It's hard to imagine squeezing everything that I have yet to do in before next Wednesday but I know I'll make it. This has been the week of the 8:30 meeting and lost prep periods. Major decisions are being made this week (and next) and I'm anxious to have them behind me. Summer life is calling me.

My yard's been neglected, my book list is a mile long, social media... what is that? I've got many a project "on the back burner" and look forward to diving in. Right now, my mind and energy have been dedicated to work and Autism education. I've also started running again and pledge to dedicate ample time to develop a good fitness routine that I'll be committed to through the summer and beyond.

Time to head out.. I've got an IEP to work on before the kids come in, a meeting at 8:30 and a full day ahead. Just needed to mind dump before starting this day.

Stretches

I'm in the home stretch with work, with the school year winding down to dismissal on the 20th. Unfortunately, there's tons of things I still need to do before heading off for the summer. There are some major placement issues and meetings that have been on my mind a lot and decisions to be made. (Dealing with people, most specifically other people's children, and knowing that your decisions impact their lives is a big responsibility and is not one that I take lightly!) Just as in everything thing I do, I can't do a half-assed job so it's weighing on me.

We've also instituted and online IEP process using a service called TIENET and I have a few to do before the end of the year. Just finding time to sit down and figure it out and input everything has been a challenge. This is the time of the year for many field trips and twice this week I'll lose my prep period because the kids won't have Art. Add to that, the myriad of other issues and things that I do on my prep and I'm getting behind the 8 ball. I've been taking them home every night but haven't been able to sit down to work on them during "my time".

Part of the reason for that is because I've been having back pain with my sciatica acting up so I've been mostly offline this week. I've also been busy with my class and catching up on lots of reading relating to Autism. I've also been out of touch with the social media world pretty much over the past couple of weeks. I've got a ton of things to think about and do, and need to sit down with a pen and paper (yes, lists still work best for me the old fashioned way) and prioritize. I've got many things that need my attention but definitely need the back to cooperate to allow me to sit here for any length of time.

Off to work now, and deciding whether or not to call the doctor. (I've been able to sit long enough to make this post so perhaps it's waning.) It's a very busy week both in school and out, and Kelsea graduates on Monday so there's a party to plan and prepare for as well, not to mention the usual house and yard work, and exercise.

Thinking....

This morning was a rare morning for me. Rather than being up at the crack of dawn before the rest of the family, jumping into my To Do list, I actually laid awake in bed for a good hour, eyes closed, curled up with my pillow, listening to the spring rain through the cracked window, just thinking.

It's not often that I'm not actually DOING, rather just THINKING........ (I even tried my best to not think about things I had to do...just think) I thought about my family, thought about that first mouthful of coffee and how good it would taste, how comforting the rain sounded hitting my roof, the feeling of the sheets against my skin, the smell of the earth coming through my window and the fact that I should slow down sometimes and do this more often.... What do you think about?

thinking To+Do+List

Little Changes...

Coming up on spring vacation from school, I'm determined NOT to spend the entire thing working on the dreaded ASSessment so I've really put the pedal to the metal this week. I'm happy to say that I've actually made some progress :-) So, this is my last night that I head to bed knowing that I have to get up for work for another day. As I sit here typing right this minute, my 15 yr. old is begging me to skip school tomorrow (Day Before April Vacation = National Bunk Day) but to no avail. I'm hearing sounds of "I'm feeling ill.. I may puke tonight, just to let you know!" (God.. I love that kid!) hehehe

Anyway, I ran the blog feed through feedburner tonight, so if you're not subscribed, you can easily do so by clicking the rss icon on the right. I also went back to the white background because it looked better with some icons and pictures on the site. I'm going to attempt a switch to Wordpress hosted on my site next week, with the help of friends.

I've also mentioned to a web designer that I would like to talk to him next week about the "big picture" and getting some guidance so that's on the agenda. In addition, I've got something new and totally cool for the podcast and will unleash it with the next show.

So... I am making a dent in my wish list and making progress.. one little baby step at a time!

Good Friday Plan

What is that yellow, unidentified foreign object in the sky that I see? Wow... although it's cold at least the rain has stopped and the sun has emerged. I'm off today so I'll get some clothes on the line and start working on my ASSessment once I finish reading what's dropped into Google Reader over night.

I still have lots of things swimming around in this head about where to go with the site, podcasts and blogs but ASSessment and homework are top priorities right now. Of course, it's hard to concentrate on that boring stuff when creative thoughts constantly sidetrack me. I must really try to focus and stick to a time schedule and allow myself 15 minute breaks from work for something fun. :-)

First 15... chatting on Skype and catching up on Twitter, while finishing my coffee, then on to work.

Must Do's for today:

• Enter rough assessment info into computer for at least one student so there is an online copy (God forbid the paper copy that I've been working on gets lost!!)
• Laundry (not a problem since I love to hang out)
• Exercise
• Shop for nephew's birthday gift (yuck... hate to shop)
• Catch up on email, blog posts, Pats news
• Take some time for play :-) (mess around with photoshop or research the WP blog to work on some of my To Do list .. yes, that's fun for me.. god I'm such a geek!)
  
• Club tonight then movies with my husband
  

Time Crunch

While I'm thrilled that it's April and time is flying by, I'm really starting to feel the crunch! My huge ASSessment project deadline is fast approaching and I'm not even close to being done. I've still got tons to do with it and I've got homework to do for my class as well.

I've been making an effort to unplug more which is good for the family and body (by going to bed much earlier) but it does nothing to help my To Do list and the things that I listed here The 25th Hour: Multi-tasking Mayhem. I have done a few things on the list but there are so many that I've yet to work out. I think it may be time to enlist the help of someone who's more experienced than I am for some advice and assistance. (Although that generally goes against the way I usually do things by being self taught.)

No work tomorrow for Good Friday but the weekend will be busy so it won't really be like a bonus day for me in terms of getting things done, more like a regular weekend due to the loss of Sunday.

This weekend is PodcampNYC and I may try to catch some things online if they stream like they did in Toronto but I've really got to NOT allow it to distract me too much if I'm working on homework or Assessment stuff. How I'd love to take part in things like that but it's another story for another day.... sigh...

I changed the color scheme of the blog but not sure if I like it and may go back. What I really want to do is change the whole thing completely to Wordpress hosted on my site but I'm not sure if my host will support it (will be changing hosts anyway) and also just how to do it so it'll have to wait.

Time to head to work soon... a quick check of the email and feeds then I'll be off!

Weekend Warrior

Getting a late start to my day but so happy that the weather has changed and the temperature is in the 40's as opposed to the single digits that we've experienced this week. I'm in dire need of getting outdoors and taking a walk or two during my breaks from "plugged in" work today. I've still got tons to do and I'm still behind, especially in my HTML class, but I'm set to get started on homework as soon as I finish this post. Starting off my day by stating my intentions and making my To Do list grounds me and gets me set to focus.

I've got laundry in (almost time to start hanging out!), dishwasher running, and a picked up house so first on my list is:

• checkbook and online banking
• homework (until iPod finishes charging)
• WALK (or run depending on how I feel)
• email/google reader/surf favorites
  
• more homework...

Usually I start with the email then get swallowed up, but I need to jump in to my assignment first and realize that all that other stuff will still be there waiting and it's not really the end of the world if I don't keep right on top of it ASAP, or at all... (Here's an excellent post by a friend Ed Roberts experiencing new media overload and some of the very things that I've been feeling this past week as well.)

So, a banking I will go.... then cracking the books, wish me luck!

Technorati Tags: To+Do+List Google+Reader homework Ed+Roberts

Podcasting gods hate me this week...

In a funk and feeling it all caving in on me... the mountainous list of things To Do that just keeps growing.... sigh.. I did finally get a podcast up tonight although it took a couple of days due to technical issues beyond my control. Two separate software clients had issues that prevented me from podcasting. Then, when I finally got things up and running, the usual issue of podcasting in the heart of my home and having to find the precise (quiet) moment is always an issue.

Yesterday, I was so upset because I really wanted to podcast; it's Free Agency and the Patriots have been totally active and had some BIG signings so there actually was news! I came home from work, and put all other things aside to make the show my first priority. Naturally, doing a podcast like mine, there's some research involved so I spent some time reading articles online and deciding what was most important.

Knowing that family would likely be in and out, I decided to record in Audacity because it offers easy editing and can be recorded in pieces. So, I finally got to record, got the whole spoken part done and went to listen and the cursor was stuck so it wouldn't play all of those beautiful looking waves. It had happened last week too and I needed to re-record. I had downloaded the newer version after that problem thinking that it would be ok. So... wasted time, and by then the house was so noisy I couldn't do a thing. I felt horrible too, because nothing else had gotten done because I had pushed it aside for the podcast. I jumped in Second Life for 20 minutes to hang with some podcasters, unplugged and got things ready for work before bed.

Today, I decided to record as soon as I got home and once again pushed everything else aside. Mistake #1 ... downloading the new itunes update the minute I walked in the door because I had to wait. (Don't forget, I'm running against the clock for limited quiet house time...) Got that all set then tried to fire up my usual recording software of choice, Castblaster. I had downloaded the newest Beta and lo and behold, couldn't open the program... grrrr. So, I re downloaded the prior version which did work. I was ready!!

I recorded for about 10 minutes then heard the infamous garage.... meaning that the family was home so I stopped. A couple of hours later, I tried to record again and although I said "append" it overwrote my prior recording so I had to start over. I was interrupted by kids coming in and hit "pause" but grrrr.. .it kept recording so I knew I would have to edit. Castblaster is a "live" recording experience and doesn't offer much in terms of easy editing. When I finally finished I tried to delete the selection that was messy but it wouldn't work.

So, I was forced to run the whole thing through Audacity (thankfully that worked) to chop out the crap but encoding takes forever. I tried to encode via itunes on the advice of a friend but it didn't offer an easy way to write shownotes. So, encoding through Audacity via Lame is what I needed to do, but then STILL run it through iTunes to add my photo and change the genre to Podcast since Audacity doesn't offer either of those...

Sigh... see where I'm going here? Hours and hours and hours for a 19 minute show! Then add on writing the shownotes, writing the rss feed, uploading to Libsyn, posting notes to Blog and myspace and updating the website. (sheesh, just realized I forgot Technorati tags but screw it now!) Crazy isn't it?!

However... I love it and don't want to give it up. I do wish for an easier recording solution though.. something that would allow me the "real" feel of Castblaster and the one stop show notes writing and fast encoding that it offers but would allow for easy editing if necessary. Let's face it, there are always far to many ummms and such in everyday speech but with CB I just leave it in because it's not an easy fix to edit out.

Although... right now.. I'd settle for anything that would work consistently.

Technorati Tagspodcast patriots patriotworld mrsb audacity castblaster libsyn To+Do+List funk

Sunday Plan of Attack

Putting the pedal to the metal this morning as I got up late (must have actually needed that sleep!) and it's already Sunday. Since we went to PPAC and also watched a movie last night, I didn't get a chance to work on any homework, podcast, or my website. So, today, I'll be trying diligently to stick to my list.

I don't need to start by saying that I'm going to actually make a To Do list because that goes without saying! That's just the kind o person that I am and it's how I wade through all of my busy days and live my life. There's something inherently pleasing to me to be able to actually cross something off (although I'm a check-marker not crosser-offer...)

The key for today though is to limit my time doing certain things so as to not get distracted and run out of time. Naturally, I'll underestimate how much time every task will take but at least I'm making a point to be cognizant of the fact that I've got a shortened day with an incredibly long list of things To Do.

Priorities for today:

* Finish and submit Assignment 1 in my HTML class (yes, it's about time that I finally learn how to actually code!)
* Write a letter of recommendation for summer camp grant for one of my students.
* Do some show prep (get the facts) for a podcast since there's been so much happening this free agency week.
* Actually record if I can find some quiet time in the house.
* Update my website with recent Patriots transactions.

Of course... the usual, laundry, cleaning, reading of email, scanning of blogs, etc. goes without saying.

I need to avoid the tremendous suck of my Google Reader then jumping over to the actual sites and clicking on every link that interests me. I literally could spend hours and hours bouncing from place to place reading to my heart's content. It's amazing how I can start out on one blog and end up miles away from where I started, and wonder where the hours went. I think I may have to even resort to setting a timer today and use my GR experience as my "break time" treat.

I'll give myself liberty with Twitter while working though since short messages won't be much to deter me but will keep me connected to my world.

So, with a full cup of coffee by my side, a load of laundry in the washer, podcasts in my ears, I'm jumping into my inbox first then will chip away at my list. Wish me luck!

Technorati: To+Do+List patriots patriotworld mrsb Google+Reader homework
podcast Twitter

Final day of vacation...

Wow... where did the week go? It totally flew by. Today will be a day of changing gears and getting ready to adjust to the work week. Next week, I have lots of appointments and meetings after school so I'll be jumping right in with both feet.

Today, I've got more ASSessment work to do and I'll likely be "attending" more Podcamp Toronto sessions online as I work. Yesterday, I took in quite a few great sessions right from the comfort of my own home via the streaming video.

I also had the pleasure of enjoying two online podsafe concerts within a week. On Tuesday, I checked out Podsafe Music Live while at the U-Turn Cafe in Second Life with a bunch of other podcasters. It was an AWESOME show featuring Matthew Ebel, David McMillin, Geoff Smith Codaphonic and Kevin Reeves.

Last night, Uncle Seth performed at C'est What in Toronto and I was able to listen via the stream. I could have jumped into SL as well but decided instead to unplug the headphones and play it on the speakers so that I could get some other things done around here and get out of this chair! I spent wayyyy too many hours sitting yesterday and needed to get up and get moving.

So, with my powerwalk already under my belt and my To Do list by my side, I'm getting an early start and look forward to a productive day. I need to hit the market later to get stocked up for lunches and healthy snacks for work. God... I'll be so relieved when this ASSessment is off my back, especially since I'm taking a course and also because I'm looking forward to moving in a new direction with my website and podcast(s).

Technorati Tags:
assessment, codaphonic, david mcmillin, February vacation, geoff smith, kevin reeves, matthew ebel, mrsb, patriotworld, podcast, podsafe music, music live, second life, To Do List, uncle seth

FREE HUGS!!

Thanks to Chris Brogan's Twitter post for sending this along just when I needed it.



It's been one of those long, emotional weeks for variety of reasons and with a To Do list a mile long, I been bit by the stomach bug. I spent the night being sick and don't feel much better today. So.. FREE HUGS are something that managed to bring a smile to this pale face today. School vacation has flown by and I'll be back to work before I know it. But.. the heck with that, I'm going to watch again :-)

Sunday Check-In

Not sure where the weekend went... seems to have flown by and although I got tons of cleaning done (Kitchen completely spring cleaned!) there still remains tons of things on my list that I never got to this weekend.

I'm sitting here with a cup of tea, hoping to quell the queazy stomach that's been nagging at me all day. I'm hoping that the feeling will go away and that I'm not coming down with something... Tomorrow's schedule is a good one at school with gym (our planning period) and a long free period! So, I'll have lots of time to work on that dreaded ASSessment and will also get to take a walk to the library to return some overdue books. I'm so in need of getting out of the building for a bit on my unassigned periods like I'm accustomed to but have been chained to the computer trying to get that @#^$&*@# done.

Well... time to get things ready for tomorrow and jump in the shower soon as I just may be hitting the hay early tonight depending on this wave that's rearing it's ugly head again... sigh...

Sigh....

Sometimes looking at your To Do list, it's time to just say "Screw it!" Today is one of those days... nothing sounds better to me than the hottest shower I can bear then crawling into bed with a book, and it's only 8:45pm. This from the girl who rarely gets in bed and shuts the light before 12:30 on most work nights.

Call it lack of motivation, call it the effects of an extremely emotional week beginning with the anticipation of the game and the butterflies leading up to it, to Jake's concussion and the worry and concern, then relief at the outcome, to the highs of the game to the very lows which followed... Call it what you will.

Loss... I'm numb

So on this cold, cold night, I'm going to be daring: leaving the list untouched and heading in with a cup of tea and a book surrounded by nothing but down for a great big emotional hug....

Sigh.....

Assessments Suck....

Whoever was responsible for developing the RI Alternate Assessment for kids with significant disabilities obviously doesn't have a life and thinks that people who have to do them don't have lives either. I can bitch about all the reasons why I think the assessment itself is wrong and bogus but that's a topic for another time... (I'm already ripped enough about it so don't want to bring myself down even more by drudging it back up right here....) Point is... I'm in over my head right now because of it and although I've done a great job this month of getting back to writing out my lists of things to do and sticking to it, I'm so behind and feeling the crunch.

Random things I would love to be doing right now instead of this crap:

• yoga
• podcasting
• reading some fiction
• knitting a scarf
• cleaning (yes... a clean house makes me happy!)
• working on my website
• surfing message boards and reading up on my AFC Championship game bound Pats!
• cutting some clutter (goal for 2007... pare down the "stuff")
• chatting in Second Life
• a soduko or crossword puzzle

So... my strategy to make it through is to schedule in a set time each day for Assessment and also some of the good stuff listed above so that I don't totally freak out! At least there is some good news for the weekend which will help. Nothing on the agenda except the Club on Friday night, church Saturday night, and usual errands. Other than that, I don't have to leave the house! Have I ever mentioned that I love being home? I'll settle in to watch my boys win the AFC Championship then get online to book a flight to Miami on Sunday night and go to bed with a smile :-)

Busy, busy, busy!

Back to the grind and well into My List for today.. Our return trip from Nashville was filled with delays and flight changes so we got home 5 hours later than expected. I'm back to work this week and thankfully, it's been going very well. The kids have been behaving and the schedule has been a good one.

On the homefront, I'm being diligent about planning out my days and making The List for the following day. I'm committing to getting things ready the night before and getting to bed at a decent hour during the week... now of course, decent hour is relative and for me it means if I'm asleep by midnight that's early. So far so good on the lists and schedules....

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get much accomplished on my website and podcast this week as I've had lots of other commitments such as Mommycab Duty (ie driving the boys to Wrestling practice), shopping, cleaning, and meetings. It's already Thursday night and I still haven't even updated since before going away. So, I HAVE to do an update tonight before going to bed so it's possible that I'll be violating my bed rule tonight. As for the podcast, it breaks my heart but more than likely it's physically impossible without pulling an all nighter. The only slight chance would be to pull a quickie tomorrow right after work... probably not feasible though, since I've yet to prep.

This weekend is chock full: The Madeira Club to eat on Friday night, lunch at Casserino's on Federal Hill in Providence, Wicked at PPAC on Saturday afternoon, then shopping and cooking on Saturday night for Sunday's game at Gillette against the Jets. Thankfully, that game is at 1:00 so we'll be home around 7:00pm.

Then of course, there's coming home with the mess and work next week and a pretty full schedule as well. At least next weekend's calendar is empty and (hopefully) will include just a playoff game on TV. With Monday being MLK Jr. Day I won't have school so that's a bonus day. YIPPEE!! Maybe by then I'll be able to take down my Christmas decorations... sigh....

Now... if I can just make it until then...