Weekends

I wish the weekends didn't go by so fast. It seems like a blink between leaving work on Friday afternoon and going to bed on Sunday night. I can't wait for the long Labor Day weekend coming up.

Are there any other Dexter fans out there? I've been watching the new Dexter Resurrection and it's so good! * At first only getting to watch a new episode once a week bothered me (if I like a show, I'll binge watch given the chance) but it's become something to look forward to on Friday nights. We have pizza for dinner and then I have a drink or two to unwind while watching the return of one of my all-time favorite shows. The only bad part is there's only 3 episodes left, and I'll be sad when it's done. It's lots of fun!

Yesterday morning I met up with Marla for brunch. We do that once or twice a month, and it's also something to look forward to. There's a place in town that makes really good Eggs Benedict, and that's usually where we go. This time she brought Carsen with her, since her husband was busy with something out of town. She's growing up fast, and is a real cutie.

When we were leaving, I said, "Thanks for coming to breakfast with us, Carsen!" and she replied (with a cheeky grin) "It was my only option." haha!

*This new series is so well written, it reminds me of the first several seasons of the original. Peter Dinklage, Uma Thurmond, and Neil Patrick Harris are all guest stars, David Zayas is back as Angel Batista, and Michael C. Hall is amazing as usual. 

A step too far

What a week this is turning out to be. I'm still not feeling my best thanks to the lingering effects of this virus (or whatever it is) that I've had. Mostly I've just been very tired, but my mood has been pretty low, too. 

This morning in an effort to cheer myself up, I decided to check my upcoming direct deposit paycheck stub. It's going to be my first paycheck after getting a raise and a "step" * increase for the year, and I was eager to see how much of a difference it would make. I'd already made plans to squirrel the extra cash from each paycheck away to help save for a trip we're planning next spring.

Well, imagine my surprise when I pulled up Friday's paycheck information...and my net pay for two weeks was actually five dollars less than before. I mean, what the actual f*ck?!!!!!

After I rubbed my eyes a couple of times to make sure I wasn't seeing things, I looked a little closer, and it quickly became apparent what had happened. And I can't even be mad about it.

You see, one of the benefits our district offers is that they cover the cost of health insurance for lower earning employees and their families. There's a salary scale that pays 100% of the cost up to a certain number, then 50%, then 0. At my last school, my insurance was covered completely. Then when I transferred to my current school and position three years ago, I got a pretty good raise--even taking into account that that bumped me up to paying 50% of the cost. And now after a couple more salary increases, I'm finally on the hook for the full cost of the coverage. It's eaten up all of this year's gain.

I'm very, very grateful for the years of free medical insurance, and I don't really mind paying up now that I'm making more money. My salary has doubled from when I started eight years ago, and the state employee insurance rates are very reasonable. I have no reason to complain, and I won't.

But it was really disappointing at first.

*A "step" increase is the extra pay you get from each additional year of service.

This time of year

It's become something of a back-to-school tradition: the children return from summer break, and a week or so later I get sick. 

The kids came back two weeks ago, and seven days later I started to feel poorly. Sneezing, itchy throat, a burning in my chest. By that night I was coughing and aching all over, and my asthma began to flare. I ended up missing two and a half days of work last week and having to see the doctor. I'm still not 100% but definitely on the mend.

Yesterday a more recent back-to-school tradition took place: I had to go for jury selection. This has happened for the last three Augusts since I transferred to my current school. After missing half of last week, I hated to miss yet another day of work, but jury duty isn't negotiable. I'm just grateful that I didn't get selected, because they pulled jurors for cases for four hours. Almost everyone in the room got chosen for a case or two, so I guess I lucked out. 

This morning I'm finally back to work. Hopefully there won't be any further interruptions for awhile, because I have a lot of catching up to do.

Spoonerisms

 Just for fun. 

Good weather, lucky find

The weather this weekend has been wonderful. Friday saw the arrival of a cold front that blew away the "heat dome" that made July so miserable, and the air has been delightfully cool and dry since. The highs are only around 80F (26C) and the lows are in the mid-60s (18C) at night. According to all the forecasts, we're due for a full week of this reprieve. I sure hope they're right! It's actually been nice to go outside, and a few rain showers have made everything seem green and fresh again. 

Yesterday I went to Tractor Supply to buy dog food, and I noticed a shipment of trees off to one side of the parking lot. On closer inspection, I saw that they were young Crepe Myrtles, and wouldn't you know it, they had the "Muskogee" variety that we've been talking about planting beside the driveway. We already have five of them down the property line on the other side of the house, and we've been saying for months now that three more would be perfect. Not only did Tractor Supply have the variety we wanted, but they had exactly three! They were all sizeable, healthy, and an absolute bargain at $19.99.

Of course, they came home with me. How could I resist?

Since today was cool and overcast and that's supposed to continue for the next week, we went ahead and planted them this afternoon. Finding the trees was a lucky break, but so is the perfect weather for transplanting them--in August, no less!