A pretty good start

The kids came back to school this week, and the office has been hopping busy. Now that we have no virtual option and all of the students are physically back in the building, it's been a wild few days getting everyone properly (and completely) registered, bus transportation routes settled, a new phone system to learn about and adapt to (it's fancy and high tech: zoom capabilities are built in) and finally, a transition to a real middle school model that includes 6th,7th, and 8th graders instead of just 7th and 8th. I've been exhausted every afternoon upon arriving home and so haven't had the energy to read many blogs and certainly not to comment much. I'm sorry! I miss you all when I'm too busy to be here. 

The year has gotten off to a good start. The woman who caused me so much stress and irritation last year was apparently not invited back. What a relief! In fact, not a single person has even mentioned her name. It's kind of weird, but I'm okay with it! I have some new reports for the state department I'm responsible for this year, and there's a learning curve with that, but I don't mind. Already the year feels easier and better. Best of all, the principal had a meeting with the office staff yesterday and the first thing he addressed was everyone doing a better job of offering me support.....including a rotation schedule of who's responsible for covering a real lunch break for me this year! Things are looking up.

Here's a picture of some zinnias I cut for my desk at work. They reseed themselves beautifully in the garden bed at the entrance to the school.

Zinnias always look as if you've used some crazy Instagram filter. But no, these colors are natural.

I hope you're all having a good week out there! I'll be back over the weekend to catch up with you all.

The return of Hippo, and other miscellany on a Wednesday afternoon

 Oooh, the excitement in blogland today! Tom Gowans from A Hippo On the Lawn has resurfaced after going missing almost 5 years ago (with only one short cryptic post in 2018 that left many of us wondering if it was even him at all). After posting a video this morning that had everyone abuzz over whether he had really returned or not, he followed up with a current picture and a quick note to confirm that yes, indeed, he's alive and well! I sincerely hope he begins to post regularly again. We've all missed reading about his wild adventures in faraway Angola. Please don't ghost us again, Tom! :)

It's hot as hell here this week. Far, far too hot for the beginning of September. The heat index when I left work at 4pm was hovering around 104 degrees. It's so swampy that sometimes it almost takes your breath when you first step outdoors. Getting in the car is like sitting down in a furnace. Wearing a mask for 8+ hours a day means that my face sweats constantly even inside the air conditioned building. Speaking of face masks, we got new ones with our school logo on it the first day back:

The district is very serious about everyone wearing masks. We also have these temperature monitoring devices set up in the lobby that all staff have to pass through in the morning. You stand in front of it (it looks like a large camera up on a tripod) and it does a body scan and displays your temperature. Anything more than a point over normal body temperature requires a trip to the nurse's office. The health room has had a super sophisticated UV light sterilizer/filter installed in the ceiling, there's plenty of PPE for everyone, and there's an isolation room set up in case a student or staff member has a temperature and needs to wait for a ride home. With the students split into two cohorts and having virtual instruction every other day, as well as parents having the option to do virtual learning only, the class rooms will not have over 12 students at one time. In a normal year we have almost 1000 students every day; in the time of Covid there won't be over about 180 physically present in any given day. 

Will it be enough to keep us all safe? Who knows. A mother called today and asked about picking up her son's in-person schedule....getting to the school is a problem for her because she's sick with Covid....and it sounds like her son is coming to school next week! How are we to know if they've taken all the precautions at home that are needed to keep her son from being a carrier? We can't. There's all these gray areas, and it's truthfully very worrying. But I feel like the district is doing an outstanding job controlling what's within their power to do, and I feel as safe as I'm going to. We'll just have to see how things go. The teachers are under unbelievable stress, trying to prepare for the start of school next week with all these new challenges and a doubling (or tripling) of their normal workloads. I feel so bad for them! 

Back at home, I decided to welcome September by making an apple pie from scratch late Sunday afternoon. I'd never made pie crust before, always opting for the easy way out and buying premade crusts, but this time I decided to try. It turned out to be much easier than I expected! The crust turned out great for a first try. I even rolled out some of the leftover dough and cut out little tiny leaves to decorate the top.

Actually, the crust turned out to be the best part. The apples themselves were kind of bland. I grabbed a cheap bag of small Granny Smiths at the grocery store and they didn't have much flavor. Nor does the recipe I used call for very much sugar: only three tablespoons tossed in with the apple slices. With flavorful apples that would be nice, and I plan to try again this weekend. North Carolina mountain apples should be starting to arrive at the farmer's market by now.

We saw a beautiful full moon rising last night. We were out walking George just as it started to come up above the trees, and the three of us stopped and took in the sight of it for a few minutes. It looked so big and golden when it was only just above the horizon!

As for George, he's a little more sober these days, but he seems to be beginning to adjust to all the changes around here. And he's still such a handsome guy!

Last four!

I'm down to my last four days of summer vacation. When my husband was leaving for work this morning he said, "Better make 'em count!" and he's right. I'll be craving some time off in a month or two once we're back into the full swing of things.

Working the first three days of this week during registration was super easy--not like my regular job at all. Sitting in the gym with a book, selling a t-shirt or two here and there, was actually pretty fun. And I ended up selling over $2000 worth of shirts so it definitely wasn't a waste of time! I got to meet a couple of new teachers and the two new additional guidance counselors joining us. I spent an hour catching up with the band director and hearing about his summer wedding and honeymoon trip to Holland. The science teacher/4H leader/beekeeper that I buy eggs and honey from gave me some advice on my plans for landscaping our small property (I want to make it pollinator friendly) and that was an interesting discussion. Here's a new photo of the zinnias her students planted in front of the school last spring, still going strong in August:

I must plant some of these lovelies here at home next year. They're bright, cheerful, and seem to require very little in the way of care. Plus, the bees and butterflies love them!

On a less cheerful note, the office assistant who spoke Spanish has found a new job and will not be coming back this year. That puts me back in the hot seat when dealing with our many, many Hispanic parents in the front office. I've neglected working on my Spanish this summer and need to spend the next week before the students return brushing up on it as much as possible.

Yesterday afternoon when I got home it seemed like our air conditioner wasn't working very well (again). It was 80 degrees in the house (82 in a couple of rooms that are always warmer) even though the thermostat was set on 76. Folks, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I nearly had a panic attack over it. I'm not sure if I blogged about the last night of the last time our a/c went out, but it was...dramatic. It was during a sweltering heat wave, the temperature in the house that night was 87 degrees, there was no breeze to catch in the open windows, and the humidity was so high the air felt like thick soup. We had brought in our portable a/c and had it running in the den to try to get some relief, but it wasn't helping much at all. Sleep was impossible. And then about 1:30am I discovered the portable unit was leaking water all over the rug, which led to a mad dash to move furniture, take up the rug and move it to the porch, mop up the water, and resolve the leakage issue so we could continue using the only source of cooler air we had. "Miserable" doesn't even begin to describe it. I suppose I'm a little traumatized by it all. Thank goodness that last night the a/c cooled down to where it should be. What a relief! I suppose because it got so hot outside yesterday it just had trouble keeping up in the late afternoon. I'll be glad when summer is over, honestly. I hate being sweaty all the time. I hate worrying about the a/c. Next summer, we need to just replace the damn thing and be done with it.

Well, off to find a way to "make today count". :) I tried to sleep in, but Marco had other plans. After only three days of me working again he decided getting up at 6:30am is now our "thing". The dogs have already gotten up, eaten breakfast, and are now starting their midmorning naps. What a life, huh?

The crepe myrtles are still blooming, too.

Extra cash

Yesterday I got a text from the secretary of the school where I work. It seems that our superintendent has done away with "comp time" this year. Basically "comp time" was when you worked extra hours off the clock that could be used later as needed. I guess it was too easily abused. So instead of a bunch of people getting in comp time next week during registration, anyone who works will be clocking in and getting an extra paycheck for the time worked. The secretary asked me if I wanted to work any or all of the 3 days of registration, and when I found out that I could make some extra money, I decided to work all three! So on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week I'll be working from 8am-3pm and earning a small extra paycheck. And after that I'll still have Thursday through Sunday off before I start back for real. I'm happy for the chance to make some extra cash.

Speaking of extra cash, Gregg is getting ready to sell almost 200 pounds of old dried coral skeleton we've had sitting around in buckets in the garage. One of the nursing homes where he maintains the aquariums is switching their 180 gallon tank over to African cichlids and they're totally redoing the aquascape, and coral skeleton will be perfect for it. Gregg has offered them a deal on the coral: $1.50 a pound, when it normally sells for at least double that (if you can find it at all). So that will be another extra check for us. We decided yesterday (when I was considering whether or not to sacrifice three days of my summer vacation) that we could combine the extra money we'll be earning to buy a piece or two or furniture we still want for the house. We still need a desk, two barstools, and a new chair for the living room. This will give us the chance to knock an item or two off that list.

I don't really mind giving up the three days. Last year during registration my job was to sit at a table and sell school t-shirts. For part of that time the band teacher hung out with me and we had a good time trash talking Donald Trump and exchanging funny student/parent/school stories. It wasn't really like work at all. I was already planning to work a day or two for comp time, so getting paid is a nice surprise! The last few days off will fly by no matter what I do, anyway.

Today I'll be hosing off the coral Gregg's about to sell and letting it dry in the sun. It's been in the garage for so long it's a little dusty. I'll have the house to myself until 7 or 8pm because Gregg has two aquarium jobs to go take care of after he finishes his shift at the pet store. I'm trying to decide if I want to meet up with some friends this afternoon for coffee and conversation. It's something I do fairly often on Wednesdays since that's his day to work late. I haven't spent nearly as much time with friends this summer as I'd planned to; somehow with one thing or another I've been busy with other things. The new house has been the focus of almost all my energy this time around. I imagine that by next summer we'll be more settled in and I can turn my attention to other things. Not that I mind pouring time and energy into our new home! I love it and want to make it as nice as possible.

One week down

I slept almost 10 hours last night, and woke up at the newly-late hour of 9am this morning. It was the first week of school for all teachers and staff members, and I had a really hard time falling asleep before midnight every night. Next year I'll make an effort to start going to bed early a couple of weeks prior to our start date, because I was increasingly tired as this week wore on. I slept like a log last night and felt so much better when I woke up today!

It was a fun week even though we all worked hard. The students in this district don't start school until this coming Monday. This week was devoted to late registration for office staff like me and the guidance counselors, and meetings, workshops, and classroom prep for the teachers and administrators. Our school has almost 1000 students, and we're one of three public middle schools in Florence, so the amount of work it takes to get everything ready for the new year is considerable. Still, we had fun. Our APT (parents' organization) provided us with a nice lunch one day, a nearby church (that some of our students are bused to for an elective religion class ) sent over a couple of sweet little old church ladies to cook us a wonderful breakfast in the school cafeteria one morning, and our new principal and a couple of the male teachers grilled out yesterday afternoon. We had a picnic of hotdogs, potato chips, baked beans, coleslaw, watermelon, and lemonade. New staff t shirts and collared shirts had been made for us all, and everyone was in a good mood and excited for the new year.

The last few days of this week the work really amped up for me and the rest of the office staff, as well as our two wonderful guidance counselors. So many parents waited until the last minute to come get their kids registered, and there's a lot of necessary paperwork to be dealt with, particularly if the student is new to the district or needs to be assigned to a bus route. Then there are the schedule change requests, which too many people waited until the last minute to address and must be a huge headache to the guidance department. Those ladies earn every cent that they make!

Speaking of guidance, the 8th grade counselor is my favorite of the two. She's been in education in this district for almost 40 years and she's really good at what she does. My major in college was Human Services, and I've always had an interest in social work. I've been watching Ms. Long for over a year now and I've been incredibly impressed by her skill in interacting with middle school kids. I also admire her compassion for them, even the troublesome ones, paired with a good dash of practicality and humor.

Yesterday afternoon, Ms. Long actually asked my advice about a situation with a student she was grappling with, citing my experience as a Guardian ad Litem. I was incredibly flattered! We sat in her office for a half hour at the end of the day and talked. It was a serious situation which involved her role as a mandated reporter, and she wanted another opinion about the course of action she was planning to take. It had never occurred to me that my experience in helping see minors through the family court process might be valuable at my job at the school! I'm really glad to know that I have something small to contribute beyond my role as receptionist.

Monday is going to be a busy, tiring day. I'm going in an hour early, because the first few days are always chaos. This weekend is going to be devoted to catching up on laundry, shopping for and prepping food for lunches next week, and a whole lot of relaxing.

One week down, thirty seven to go!

A good day

Today was my first day back at work. My first official day back will be on Monday, but teachers and other 190 day staff (like me) had the option to work today and/or tomorrow to help with registration and to accrue some "comp time". I volunteered to work both days; since personal and sick days can only be used in half or whole day increments, it's handy to have a bank of hours to draw from if you just need an hour or two off here and there. 

I'm really glad I decided to go in today. I was reminded again of how lucky I am when I got there this morning and saw so many friendly faces--I genuinely like most of the teachers and staff and it was a pleasure seeing everyone again.** When I saw the new principal I congratulated him on his promotion (he was the 8th grade assistant principal last year) and told him how glad I was for him. He thanked me, hugged me, and said, "Mrs. Barlow, I think we're going to have a really good year!" The staff thinks so, too. Everyone was happy when we got the news that he had been offered the job; he's universally liked and respected. I enjoyed chatting and catching up with some of my especial friends among the staff this morning, and I have an easy job these two days: sitting at a table selling t-shirts with school logos to the students getting registered for classes. Easy, easy. The volleyball coach and the music teacher sat at my table most of the day today and we all talked in between selling shirts. It didn't feel like a work day at all, really.

I did see lots of returning students, now 8th graders, who astonished me with how much they had grown and matured over the summer. At my age, 10 weeks or so feels like nothing, gone in the blink of an eye. I had forgotten how much you can change over the course of a summer when you're around 13 years old. It was all interesting and the time went by quickly.

Tomorrow will be the same thing, selling t-shirts and hanging out, and then I'll have a three day weekend to close out my summer. I'm trying to think of something fun to do this weekend to mark the end of my vacation. And after that, it's on to another new (school) year!

** One of the best parts of seeing everyone again after so many weeks was how many of them noticed my weight loss! I don't think it's all that noticeable if you see me every day, because I've been losing at a slow (albeit steady) rate. I asked Gregg early on if he could see a difference and he admitted he couldn't, and I've not asked him again. It felt so good to have person after person say, "You look great! Have you.....?" One of the career counselors, who has been working on losing a lot of weight herself this year, approached me with a big smile and her arms out for a hug, saying "Look at you! Look at you!"  I still have a good bit of weight left to lose, but today was a huge morale boost!