Shopping from 1/24

The Blogger App has a few glitches.  I'm going to try and type quickly before it shuts off again. 

This post is from 12/24/14

I spent most of the day shopping for Christmas presents. The twins were home alone and I was a little worried about this.  Henry told me that he taught Hayden how to play 5 songs on his viola and Hayden told me that he gave Henry a keyboarding lesson. 

They were actually teaching each other something. Pretty cool!! 

12/24/2014

I spent the first few minutes of Christmas at Walgreens in Martinsville. I was looking for a snuggie for Hayden and I finally found one. It's a Spider-Man snuggie.  He better love it. 

My new favorite sandwich:  bacon and peanut butter 

12/20/2014

The twins got phones for Christmas.   They are nothing like Harrison. They both still talk to me and they didn't send 65,432 texts in the first week of having their phones. 

12/31/14

I spent NYE with hockey people. It was fun. We played a game that was really fun, but as soon as the ball dropped, I wanted to go home and go to bed!! 

12/25/14

Spent some quality time with the Grant family. I got a new Cubs hat. I think it's my favorite gift. It would be nice if the Cubs didn't suck this year. 

At some point during break Harrison came over. He was looking for some pants. I gave him some of his jeans to wear and he just shook his head and said "I don't know....   Jeans are shady."   What??  My kids refuse to wear anything but sweat pants.  

I got to watch Elf, How The Grich Stole Christmas, Home Alone and Christmas Vacation, but not A Christmas Story.  I'm not sure what to do. I might watch this on a snow day or something 

I have an amazing new job in Indy.  I'm teaching math and science to 6th graders. It's so fun and the administration is so supportive and nice. I have questions and they answer them. It's a perfect fit for me. It took the students about 2 weeks to get to know me and test all of the boundaries, but we are getting there.  The 2014-2015 school year is going to be a good one for me. 

Thanksgiving

I forgot to blog about Thanksgiving.   It was a great one, so it needs a little blog space.  It started with the BBC turkey trot. We were a tiny bit late so we had to walk/jog that first mile to catch up to all of our friends and my mom.  BBC provides free bagels to all of the participants and the run is free, so it's a win-win. 

After the run, I went home and took an epic nap.  I rarely use that word.  My niece woke me up at 12:12.  I know this because she was poking me and saying, Aunt Karen, it's 12:12. 

We headed out to my mom's house to watch football and celebrate.  The Bears were losing so I took another nap.  My brother told me that I was snoring. 

I got up to help my mom prepare some food, but mostly she did it all. The food was great and all the kids had a good time. 

Sydney even helped granny wash the dishes. 

It was one of the best Thanksgivings that I've had in a long time. 

Time for another top 10

1.  Harrison's surgery went well.  He said the shots really hurt.  He had to get 4.  They are going to do another biopsy.  I'm hoping for good results.  Now he has to let it heal.  No running for 2 more weeks. 

2.  We just spent 12 hours in the car driving back and forth to Charleston, West Virginia.  The boys played and won two hockey games.  Henry was the goalie and he did an amazing job.  I took one picture while I was there.

3.  Henry loves playing his viola.  He's had two concerts this year and they have both been fantastic.  

4.  Harrison made first team in XC! 

5.  I graduated from intensive outpatient therapy.  Intense is the key word here.  I learned a lot and I have a new outlook on life. 

6. We tried to clean the ducts.  Never try this.  Always, always, call an expert. We clogged up 3 furnace filters and the furnace stopped working for awhile.

7.  The Bloomington Bagel Turkey Trot is super fun. We are going to try and do it again next year.  Henry walked with us this year instead of running. His knee was bothering him. 

8.  I can't wait to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  I've usually watched it twice by now.  

9.  We booked our spring break vacation.  A lot of fun people are going with us. It's something to look forward to. 

10.  Hayden almost broke his toe kicking a ball across the room.  He's had 2 pretty serious asthma attacks in the past few months and now he's sick again. I need to take better care of that kid. 

IU part 2

See what I mean people?  Only about 100 days left of high school.  It's almost over.  I hope Harrison starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.  

IU

We got some great news today.  Harrison got accepted into IU and also ISU.  ISU wants him to run for them.  I don't really care what he decides to do, I'm just so proud of that kid right now.  He has hated school since about 2nd grade and I've been a nervous wreck about whether he would go to college or not.  He seems pretty happy right now with life and I'm slowly crawling my way back to enjoying the little things.

My therapy group was cancelled today, so I went to the Iron Pit gym with my mom.  We sat in the sauna, walked on the treadmill, and I showed her how do some of the weights.  Little Piper is getting big and my mom is going to need to be able to keep up with her!  

more meds

I saw my doctor today after therapy.  I have been having nightmares, so he put me on more meds.  This PTSD thing kinda sucks.  I am now taking 4 different prescriptions every day.  My head is pounding from crying.  Group therapy is hard because I care a lot about all of the people in my group.  I also worry about them.  I think I was just born to worry.  I can't shut it off.

Harrison got to talk to Joe Smith

Tonight is Harrison's last cross country awards banquet.  These four years have flown by.  I can't believe his senior year is almost half way over.  

Pre surgery visit

I took Harrison to his pre surgery visit this morning.  They are only going to use a local anesthetic, so that was good news. He's not allowed to run for 6 weeks after the surgery. I'm pretty sure that's going to make him crazy. When the doctor finished talking, the nurse came back in and asked me to sign all the paperwork.  And then she said, "unless you are 18."  Harrison said, "I am 18."  So, she handed the paperwork to him and then after he signed it, she handed it to me and said, "ok, now you can sign it."  Harrison rolled his eyes.  He slept all the way home. I wanted to sleep too.

I missed Henry's veteran's day concert today and my group therapy.  I cried a ton tonight for the first time in a few weeks.  

Hiking

I went hiking with my mom and the boys yesterday.  My legs are so sore today. Going down stairs is the worst. I need to get out and walk more. 

I just wanted one decent picture. Not gonna happen. 

This week is going to be crazy busy. 2 Viola concerts, 3 hockey practices, XC Awards night, 2 hockey games.  I'm exhausted and the week hasn't even started. 

Harrison has his pre-surgery visit in the morning. I hope it goes quickly because I want to get back and go to therapy. I really need my group tomorrow.  It's been a long day.  

Used to be....

I used to think that I was a good teacher. It's funny how one person can walk in and make you feel like the worst teacher on the planet. All the good feelings, your self esteem, just gone, in an instant.  How does one get this back?  What can I do to prove this person wrong?  Take a class?  Win an award?  Perception is a scary thing. I've been told that evaluations are subjective. 

I stole this off the internet....   Common subjective criteria include personality, attitude, appearance, demeanor and social interaction. 

I have a lot to work on. I'm hoping therapy is helping.  I'm giving it my all. 

My dad showed up at Harrison's state XC meet. He was drunk.  My therapists have a big job.  Years and years of trauma, abuse, and bullshit. Someday it will stop. 

XC season

The season did not end like it was supposed to for Bloomington Norh.  They finished 6th.  They expected to finish in the top 5. Harrison didn't have a great run and his friend Phillip was carried to the sideline again. I think he broke his foot. I stood behind these two and watched them cry. I took off my coat and gave it to  Harrison and then I took off my hoodie and gave it to Phillip.

  I didn't say one word to either one of them.  It was freezing and I could hear the boys talking, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I'm so proud of them. I'm proud of their fight and the friendships that they have made.  I watched my son carry his teammate to the sideline and wait for the cart to come and pick him up. He just waited.  After the cart came, we walked back to the tent together.   Most of the team was there.  They were eating and some were celebrating.  Two of the North boys medaled. Griffin and Fergus had an amazing race.  I will miss watching these boys run.  

Halloween

I skipped Halloween for the first time in 17 years. I made sure the twins had friends to walk around with and their costumes still fit and then I went to a party.  It was a small group of friends and they were all tired because it was Friday and the end to a very long week. We chatted, drank, ate, and watched a movie. 

It started to snow at one point.  I ran outside to take pictures.  I'm not sad that I didn't walk around this year. I think Halloween is my favorite holiday, but there is more to it than walking door to door saying trick or treat. 

Henry organized all of his candy and bagged it up in little ziploc baggies. 

Group Therapy

I'm spending 3 hours a day in therapy.  Most of it is group therapy. I found it quite strange at first, but now I'm starting to see the benefits. I'm also starting to feel the benefits.  My blood pressure was 110/70 today. I haven't had a panic attack in over a week. My body is calming down. Next week I'm going to learn some coping skills. I've been running from my problems for years. Running is not an option. I always ran when I saw my dad pull up in the driveway.   I've never stopped running.  

I also found out today that this therapy is super expensive, almost $2,000.  I'm going to turn my cable off and eating PB & J is going to be the new norm. 

Being a mom

I felt like a mom yesterday for the first time in about a month. Yeah, I go to games, practices, concerts, banquets, feed them, wash their clothes, and I take the twins to school most mornings, but life hasn't felt right for awhile.  

So while Henry was at school, I went into his room and started cleaning it for him. It was disgusting. Under all of the dirty/clean clothes, there were a bunch of old sucker sticks and they were stuck to the carpet.  There were also little, round, yellow lemon heads everywhere. I found the empty box under his bed.  

I washed all of his sheets and made sure that he had plenty of blankets on his bed to stay warm at night.  The other night he was looking for an extra blanket and I was so tired that I couldn't get up to help him look for one.  I've been falling asleep around 8:30 every night and I think Hayden has been staying up until midnight. 

I also went to the store and bought the twins some pants that actually fit. They've grown about 6 inches in the past year and all their pants look like capris. 

Target

I went to Target in my pajamas tonight. I saw someone that I knew. I didn't even care. I've stopped caring about a lot of things lately.   Life is rough sometimes, but these past few months have taken the cake.  

Thank goodness my boys are all doing well and surviving this situation.  I'm not making the top ten best mom's list these days.  

Sleeping

Yesterday, I got up at 5:45 in the morning to take the twins to their bus.  I was making peanut butter crackers in my sleep.  I handed them their uniforms and told them to get dressed.  When we got to Tri North, Hayden told me that he forgot to put on his jersey and his shorts. This is typical Hayden. I said, ok, I'll go back to the house and bring your stuff to Brown County. I went home and crashed.   I must've turned the sound off on my phone off or something.  I woke up at 4 in the afternoon.  I totally missed their meet and Hayden didn't get to run.  I did get caught up on some much needed sleep.  This has been a very long and stressful week. I wish tomorrow was Wednesday. 

My brother took a great picture of Henry during his run yesterday. 

Update on Hayden

Hayden looked a ton better on Wednesday night during his run.  It was about 20 degrees cooler and he did his inhalers before the run.  He finished a whole minute faster than his PR. He screamed, yesssssss! When Allan gave him his time.  I still can't wait for this to be over for him.  Next year, he will be back to soccer. 

XC #2

The Bloomington North XC team is having a really great year. There are 5 seniors on the team and they are fast as lighting. They've won 3 meets in a row now.  They beat Columbus North twice and according to Harrison, that is the team to beat. Harrison PR'd yesterday. He ran a 5k in 16:06.  He was so happy and his team was so excited. These boys are coming together as a team and they can all feel it. They work together to get around other runners and they run in a pack. I love watching them run.  4 weeks until sectionals.  

XC

I went to Henry and Hayden's XC meet tonight.  It was blistering hot outside.   The meet started about an hour late and it was in Columbus.  Henry did really well.  He finished fifth overall and was the #3 runner for Tri North.

Hayden struggled.  He was last and when I saw him coming up over the last hill, I knew something was wrong.  He looked awful.  I ran over to him and he told me that he needed his inhaler.  He was in the middle of an asthma attack and still running.  I ran to get his inhaler out of his backpack and my mom snapped pictures of him.  I freaked out because he couldn't even take a deep breath to use his inhaler.   I poured water over him and sat with him while he calmed down.  The coach was trying to tell me his time.  I didn't have fun at this meet.  I want to be happy for Henry, but this is hard.  How do other moms of twins do this????

Walking

Henry and Hayden had practice this morning at 7am. Hayden didn't want to go. He said it was optional and against the law to make him go. So I let him sleep. Henry and I had to fib to everyone and tell them that Hayden wasn't feeling well. 

This afternoon my mom and I took a walk. I made Hayden go with me. He grumped amost the entire time. I raced him a couple of times to motivate him.  He liked that but I could only do it a few times. Granny even took off running with us.  I hope he doesn't skip anymore workouts. 

Smiling

I think I had fun at work today. I actually got to teach a little bit. Some of my tougher characters are starting to say ok and think about doing it right away.  I hope that this will be the toughest class that I ever have because I don't think I could handle anything more. I'm not actually handling this situation very well. My body is shutting down.  I slept all day yesterday.  I didn't even wake up to eat until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. But today was manageable.  Today was better.  I smiled. 

And tonight was even better. My twins ran in their second XC meet.  Henry came in 11th and Hayden ran 4 minutes faster than last week. He was smiling and he even said, "I can't wait until my next meet."   I couldn't believe my ears. They are looking forward to next week's meet against Jackson Creeek because they'll  be running against a few of their friends.  

When the coach from Columbus called Henry's name to come up and collect his ribbon, she could not figure out how to say Streib. She asked Henry's coach and he didn't know either. So they just called him Henry S.  We are used to hearing Harrison Streeb, but just the S. Is new and a little strange. 

I'm horrible at my job

Nobody listened to me today.  We read a book about Animals of Asia. I made, what I thought, was a great plan.  Two kids raised their hands to contribute answers. Everyone stared at me. It was awful. I don't think anyone will remember one thing about Asia or that they even have animals when I ask tomorrow. 

Henry and Hayden had their first middle school XC run tonight. That was fun to watch. Harrison came to give advice and cheer them on. It was nice. Henry finished 11th and Hayden, well, he finished. 

Tomorrow, I'm gonna bring my A game. The animals of Asia are going to be fun and interesting. Somehow. 

Spike is home

I went in to write lesson plans for tomorrow and my classroom was trashed.  Paper, crayons, books, and pencils were everywhere.  The wagon that I brought in was on its side.  I spent about an hour cleaning and two hours writing plans for tomorrow.  Spike watched me while I picked things up.  He had a little piece of lettuce hanging out of his mouth the entire time.  I made the decision to bring him home.  I have a few kids in my class that refuse to keep their hands out of his cage.  He's a nice lizard and doesn't mind the little hands and fingers on him, but I don't want to worry about him when I'm not there.  He's been an amazing class pet.  He let all the kids hold him and he especially loved all the worms that the they fed to him.  I called a friend to come in and help me take him home.  He fell asleep as soon as we got home.  I think he's happy to be home and Henry and Hayden are very happy to have their pet back.

Spike

My voice is gone

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow. I'll probably be out for 3 days this week. My classroom will take a serious hit.  I'm worried about my students, but I can't talk. I can whisper, but even that hurts. 

I made myself go out on the boat with my boys and friends yesterday.  I haven't spent much time with my twins this week and it's making me feel horrible.  Work is so stressful. I'm having trouble sleeping, eating, and now I'm sick. 

Next week has to get better. 

My taco boy

I went downstairs to work on laundry and I found Hayden sleeping like this. 

Face down, folded over like a taco. He's been doing this since birth and he's almost 13 now. This kid is so flexible. He can still put his feet behind his head. 

I wish I had a printer here. I really want to print some stuff out and do some work.  I bought a fun writing book and my 4th graders are going to make pop up books to go along with their story. 

new shoes

I bought some new shoes tonight.   I'm wearing them to school tomorrow.   I've had it people.  I'm walking in tomorrow with a smile on my face and no one is going to take it away.  No one.  Stay out of my way.

My headache is back.

It's almost one am and I can't sleep. again. My head is pounding and the to-do list is double parked in the front of my brain.

I am excited to go to school tomorrow. Yep. Excited.  I have a bunch of super fun activities planned and I set up a class dojo. I can't wait to show my students how it works and the rewards that they can earn.  The rewards are awesome.  And they are free!!  

We are going to play around with the Aurasma app tomorrow too. I can't wait to show these kids how everything in the room can be a trigger!  They are going to love this. 

Writing Prompt for tomorrow

Day 3 was a little better

But I still have a blistering headache. I haven't cried yet today, well except for about 3 seconds when I was telling my class how nice they were today. I avoided the scene by telling them to get up and go shake someone's hand and tell the person that they're awesome.  I'm not sure if I'm going to make it this year. 

this job

I doubt that I will be going anywhere with anyone for the next two months.  The to-do list for this job is a mile long and my head is spinning.  I packed up 90% of my books today because I had most of these students last year and I want them to see all new material.  We also have a new reading series, so there's that.

My mom, Kelly, Katie, and Whitney Thomas were all helping me set up my room today.  The new guy does not like clutter and that's kind of my trademark, so it's going to be all hands on deck helping Streib through this school year.  Mary Wicker patted me on the back during the meeting and said, "I will help you."  It's nice to have friends like this.  

My mom bought Harrison a little red wagon for his 1st birthday and he hasn't used that thing for almost 15 years.  So, I called her and begged her to bring it in and help me out.  She grabbed the little red wagon and made a beeline for Fairview.  I hauled tons of stuff from my old room to my new room in that thing.  I'm leaving the wagon in my room this year.  The reader of the day will get to sit in it anytime they want during the school day.  That will be something new for my students.  I was so exhausted from all the moving and meetings, that I could hardly stand up for Open House. I took a quick look at my list and headed downstairs.  I talked to a lot of super excited 4th graders and honestly, there are a bunch of kids on my list that I just love to pieces.  

Henry and Hayden got their schedule today and their dad helped them figure out their lockers.  They don't have a single class together.  Hayden is very excited about this.  Henry is nervous about getting from class to class on time.  We also got their XC schedule today and with it, a list of parent duties.  So, if you want to see me this fall, come visit me at the XC course, the concession stand at North High School or Fairview.   I will seriously never be home.   

How I spent my day...

While every other teacher on the planet was prepping for the new school year today, I took this day to take a deep breath.  I slept until 11:30. I took my boys to the fair and Hayden to the doctor. I watched an episode of Modern Family with Henry.  I took another deep breath. I took lots of pictures. I went for a swim in the lake. I talked on my phone a lot.  I don't really like talking on the phone.  I took some more deep breaths. I helped sign a kid up for hockey. He was really excited. I petted goats, horses, bunnies, sheep and a turkey. A turkey has a snood and those things are gross. I took the boys to XC practice. Now I'm watching the Cubs play. It's the bottom of the 12th and they are tied at 3.

I'm going to get up in the morning and take some deep breaths.  And then I'm going in to work. I'm going to pack up my stuff and take it all down the hall. I might even unpack it. I don't know. I might just sit there and breathe all over it. 

First Day of XC

Dropped the boys at Tri North today for their first practice.  I made Hayden do his inhalers before we left the house.  During practice, I left for 45 minutes to run an errand and when I got back, Hayden was having an asthma attack.  He was bright red, but still running sprints and his chest was heaving.  I asked him if he needed his inhaler and the coach, said YES, and he was waving me over.

He did his inhaler and ran back to finish the work out.  He has another doctor's appointment tomorrow right before practice.  Dr. Moore is going to look at his burns and see if they are healing properly.  I'm going to talk to Dr. Moore about this running thing.  It's making me nervous.

Day 9

Even though I didn't get the job...

Henry is smart. He's witty, he's cute, he's athletic.  That kid has the whole package. Sometimes, I just sit back and watch him move through life in amazement. I was getting ready for my interview and I said...

hey Henry, what was your favorite part of 5th grade?

Family Life!

I was like, what's familllllyyyy?? oh, very funny!!!

No seriously.  

Ok.  Bradford Woods!  And we did this simulation unit where we were assigned a country and then we came to the new world and created a colony and details. Details. Details.  Every single detail.  

When I was done with the interview, I called Kelly and told her that she could bring the boys up to the room. Henry ran in and for some reason, opened up the closet door. He said, "Mom!!  Is the shirt you wore for the interview?"  I said, yes and he said, wow!  I bet you looked beautiful. I know you are gonna get this job now!" That kid. 

So, when I didn't get the job, he was my first thought. I've disappointed him. He had to listen to me complain all last year and it was ugly. I'm not giving up.  It's not August 4th yet. 

On the EL

When the game was over yesterday, Henry wanted to walk around downtown. Our ETA for home was midnight and if we stopped to walk around, it would've been 2am.  So I said we couldn't, but I promised to take him back up there in a couple of weeks.  I'm not sure when that will happen. The boys are starting XC practice on Monday. Free weekends to hang out with mom, are coming to a screaming halt. 

Every day that we were in Chicago, I asked Henry to move up there with me.  He told me no. I listed all the reasons:  better hockey, better sports teams, bigger lake, amazing skyline, delicious pizza, outside ice skating, the museums. No way. 

 I know he's excited to go to Tri North. Well, middle school. He can't really decide between Tri North or Jackson Creek.  I know he would be happier at Jackson Creek, but Hayden wants to go to Tri North and I want them together. 

We are home now and we're watching Frozen. Henry just sang the Let It Go song at the top of his lungs. The kid has it all.