Category: Emily

I was all on my own that day and it went surprisingly well. Well, except for the internet already being excruciatingly slow on the actual first day back. I had to use my psuedo manual check out worksheet on Excel, which meant that later, before I could do anything else, I had to add them into the system manually. I shelved all the books that I’d checked in and started checking in the huge stacks of dictionaries and thesauruses they’d brought to me the day before. Mr. Murphy helped a bit, even though he left half the books I gave him to shelve because he likes to talk about world events (the depressing ones), but he did push the cart of dictionaries for me to the shelf so I could put up. He had to leave so I couldn’t get him to help with that.

We had a meeting in the library that lasted about an hour, so I had to enter some stuff manually again. One of the top things on my to-do list was getting another bulletin board up and ready. We I have a total of 4 that we’re I’m in charge of. During the meeting Robert, Juan and Rudy showed up. I put them to work after they got permission from their teacher. They helped me staple most of the star border, which I’m grateful for because everyone kept scolding me the day before when I’d been reaching up to staple the letters on the other board. I asked why, what would happen? And the response I got was that the baby would wrap her umbilical cord around her neck if I stretched. What? First time I’d ever heard of that one!

I couldn’t get my darn letter of resignation printed out because the version of Word I’d used to type it up was different from the one at work. All I had to do was install the compatibility patch but of course we don’t have authorization to install anything. I e-mailed and asked Mary if she could print it for me and she did one better: sent it as a .PDF file so I printed a few copies out right away.

I went to lunch and a sub was sent in right when I was coming back. She was a lot of help. I found it the perfect opportunity to turn in my resignation. I was so nervous. I had to control my shaking limbs before I got up to go to Vero’s office to borrow an envelope and turn it in. I spoke to Vero, who was sad that I’m actually going to leave and then I went in to talk to the principal.

He was walking out as I was walking in. I felt my face flushing as I handed him the letter. He looks down at me with a curious expression and asks, “What’s this?” I’m following him into his office as he’s unfolding the sheet and watch as his face turns from a smile into a look of shock. He said it was coming completely left field, which I found weird because I could have sworn I was present when Mrs. V. had mentioned it and I know she’d mentioned it other times. He shakes the letter and with a smile on his face says, “You don’t have to do this!”

He asked if she’d tried to convince me to stay and I said yes, she did since the beginning but eventually she conceded. I said something like, “I don’t want to, but I have to,” and he held the letter in both hands and said, “I can still tear this up!” I almost ran forward and said, “No, no! I’ve made my decision. And I thank you for allowing me to work with you and all the wonderful people here. It’s been a great experience.” That seemed to calm him down and we started walking out of the office. I shook his hand and he says, “You still have 10 days to change your mind.”

I was so proud of myself. I did it without crying!

I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. And because I turned it in that day it was exactly a two-week notice. I picked the boys up and had them start working on their homework. I cuddled with Alaethia and as we were watching Noggin’ Sally called asking if Mario and I would like to join them for dinner to celebrate their anniversary since I was there for their very first date. How sweet of them to remember me :). I’m still so thrilled I got to be a part of the birth of their relationship. I quickly got ready, left the kiddos with Mom and the in-laws, who were already outside getting ready to bar-b-q, and picked Mario up (late-ish) from work. We were meeting Pete and Sally about an hour later so we went to Barnes and Noble to kill time. I wanted so many books, but I only walked away with the Lolcats one. Now I can look at it and feel happy instantly :P.

We had a great dinner. I ordered my usual spinach and artichoke dip and had the Shrimp Alfredo. Yum. As we were getting comfortable and had ordered our food, I told them, “You know what guys? It’s funny: I was pregnant exactly two years ago with Alaethia when you guys first got together and now on your 2nd anniversary I’m pregnant again!” Hilarious.

We had some laughs and I love our marriage talks LOL. We told them about Alaethia’s poop story and they couldn’t stop laughing. Sally says, “So that’s what we have to look forward to!”

I don’t remember what we were talking about—probably about how Mario’s out all night while I’m asleep—but Mario said he was thrilled when I called and asked if he wanted to go to Chili’s with Pete and Sally. He says that’s one thing he’s looking forward to when I stop working: spending more time together.

I can’t wait to get together with them again. I love our conversations!

It was our first day back at work with the kids and back to waking up at 5:20. It was hectic, especially in the morning like it usually is, but I kept my cool. Lots of kids were enrolling in school, so every-day tasks took longer than usual. During one of the influxes of new kids Mrs. V. asked me to make a list of my “tasks” for the new assistant; it would be my new project. Great. I already typed up the procedures having to do with new students, and will add a few more things, but I’m not going into full detail. It’ll take too long! Besides, I can’t remember every single step, and I’m sure the next person will want to establish their own routines.

The custodians brought me a whole bunch of dictionaries that they’d used during testing. I had to scan them in and then I had to find a way to get them on the shelf. There was no way I’d be able to lift or push them on the cart. Luckily one of our students, Krystal, came in to help. She checked a bunch of them in and took a few to the shelves. Even so, there were tons of piles left. I got so frustrated with crap being strewn all over the place that I pushed a cart-full of them to the shelf on my own before lunch. It was heavy, but I pushed it with my legs as opposed to using my back or belly. Still, I shouldn’t have. Mrs. V. actually got after me but I figured she would have wanted me to move it anyway. She wasn’t feeling well and went to see the nurse. Her blood pressure was high and she was going to have dental surgery the next day. Before I left that day she told me I was officially on light duty. She asked Estella from the office to please send subs in to help (like they’re supposed to) because I’d be on my own the next day. Estella said for me, anything. Aww :).

I rushed home and went to my prenatal appointment. I figured they’d take an eternity calling me in like always, so I took my laptop with me and started typing out my tasks. When they called me in 15 minutes later, Laura asked me about what I was doing. I explained how I was leaving and my boss wanted me to type out my tasks and procedures. She said it was a really nice thing I was doing. Little did she know I didn’t want to LOL.

I weighed 140.1 lbs. Woot! I’m pleasantly surprised at how I’m hardly gaining any weight, but the baby’s still growing beautifully, thank goodness. My blood pressure and sugars were fine. Elizabeth asked how I was doing, and I told her about my feet hurting all the time, but not necessarily swelling. She said I just needed to elevate whatever chance I got. I’d been in such a hurry that I forgot my camera to take video of the sono, but she let me take video with my phone. She did the measurements and said she gives me 6 weeks, which is actually 5 because they’re a week behind. The nurses all asked about the baby’s name and just about freaked out when I told them her name would be the cute but common Emily. That was the fastest I’d ever been in and out of the doctor’s office! 1 hour and a half!

I got home and went over to Mary’s to type up my letter of resignation. The boys were taking forever doing their homework, but they eventually finished. They slacked off the whole time I was gone, so instead of finishing their homework around 4:30-5, they didn’t finish till 6:30! I decided that since the doctor was estimating my time of delivery for 2 weeks before I thought they would, I was going to turn in my resignation for a week earlier. I hadn’t gone over it with the boss, but she knew the end of January would be it.

I typed up the letter and saved it to my pin drive and said a little prayer for the next day. I had to be courageous and, for the love of God, try not to cry when I turned it in the next day.

It’s so sad that it’s my last day of vacation today. I’m so not looking forward to going back to work; not because I feel lazy but because I just don’t see how I’ll make it through the day since I’m exhausted by the end of the day and that’s because right now I’m at home! Granted, I’ve been sort of overdoing the housework and am constantly on my feet, but I’ll probably be on my feet and running errands all over the place at work, too. We’ll see. I just have to keep telling myself it’s only 4 days this week, then 3 weeks and that’s it!

I didn’t want to go anywhere today but, like I mentioned in my previous blog, I have to visit Gramma, have to deposit at the bank for my online bills, have to get milk and a few other things like trash bags, and as for home: I still need to do laundry, sew the valance (at least) for the kitchen window, and mop. Although I didn’t get to paint Alaethia’s room pink like I’d wanted to, I can always get that done during the almost-month that I’m going to be off before I have the baby. I’m hoping to finish painting the trim (white) for the kitchen and all the doors. I feel pretty darn good about everything I managed to accomplish in the last week.

Later…we visited Gramma and she’s doing just fine. She was laughing with the kids and we even talked about Aunt Sylvia and some stuff Aunt Nora told her about when she visited. Mom had seen me searching for sometime a few days before and I got the guts to tell her I’d been doing research and found out what her father’s name is and I was going to get in contact (again—she doesn’t know about the first time). She told me no, that I had the wrong name, but when we were at Gramma’s she asked her and Gramma gave me a knowing look. I nodded inconspicuously and she told her the real name. And Mom took it well!

We stopped at H-E-B for a few groceries and then I rushed home.

When we got home I left all the kids with the in-laws and then rushed to the salon to get my hair cut. It was down to my waist and the pregnancy hot flashes were becoming unbearable—I HAD to get it cut. They let me in even though it was late and I asked the lady to hack my hair up to my shoulders. It’s still a little longer than I wanted, but it’ll do.

I had so much to do before I went to work the next day and I was so tired. I still had to shower and straighten my hair and Mario decided that he was going to go to sleep early. How convenient. I hate when he does that. He fell asleep on the sofa and Alaethia sat on the other sofa watching Noggin’. I asked her if she was okay and she said yes. I told her to pound on her daddy’s head if she needed something. I took the quickest shower in history and when I was done I peeked my head out the door and told her I was almost out. She said okay and turned back to Wa-Wa-Wubzy. She starts knocking on the door while I’m drying myself and I ask her to please hold on. She knocks two more times and tells me something about her diaper. I’m thinking the worst. She starts jiggling the door handle and I finish putting on my clothes. I come out and look down at her and she gives me that sweet smile that only means she’s up to no good. I lift her pajama top and sure enough: she’s naked…and the most putrid smell starts wafting in the air. I scream, “OH MY GOD!!!” and Mario, of course, is woken from his sleep. But does he move? No. I’m running around cleaning her up (hands, feet, butt) and realize the offending diaper’s nowhere to be found. I ask her, “Where did you take your diaper off? In the living room?”

She tilts her head to one side and says, “I dunno….um, yes!”

I ask again, “Or did you take it off in the kitchen?”

She smiles again and says a happy, “Yes!”

Gosh. I had no idea where it was. There wasn’t anything on the floor in the living room, but once I’m in the kitchen I see little toeprints of poop. Lovely. I lug my tub of Lysol wipes around with me and clean up the whole floor. There’s a trail all the way to the trashcan. Thank goodness, the diaper’s in there, but it’s empty. Upon further inspection I notice that she’d shaken her poop into the trash can and managed to drop some on the floor and scooped it back into the trash. I re-washed her hands for good measure and remembered that she’d been messing with the door handle so I wiped that and re-washed my hands as well. It was now 10:30pm. I was so angry. And Mario just sat there all drowsy looking not saying a word!

He got up and took a huge drink of water. I wanted to hit him, but quietly blow-dried and flat-ironed my hair. What a night!