Birthday #25 and Other Things

Hello friends! I planned to blog much earlier in the week, but life just kind of got in the way.

This week was one of the hardest I've had in a long time.

It started Monday, on my birthday, at about 5:30am. I was in the shower and heard my phone get a text message. I thought, "Oh! That's nice! Someone is sending me an early morning birthday wish." Well I got out of the shower, flipped my phone open and read what my message said. "Call as soon as you can. Ella needs to go to the vet." It was from my parents. Ella had been staying there because the fences at my house are down and my precious princess likes to run. So I called and they said she was crying in pain, shaking and couldn't jump up on things (which is abnormal for her - she is a kangaroo in dog's clothing). So my birthday started in tears and trying to figure out when I was going to take her to the vet in my already jam packed day.

So I went to work, all upset and wishing I hadn't gotten out of my bed this morning. Everyone was crazy at work because it was our first day back after or six day Hurricane Ike vacation (which I found out that we don't have to make up! woohoo!!). I asked my principal if I could take off a half day in the afternoon and very graciously, he said yes and told me they were my days anyways. Well I entered it into our sub system on the computer not really expecting to get a sub because subs don't like coming to our school because it is so far out from the rest of the district. A lot of subs don't like coming to Special Ed classrooms either, especially LIFE Skills. But I checked on the status of it 10 minutes later and someone had picked up the job. And as it turns out, she was fabulous! Sometimes the subs we get are AWFUL and should not be allowed to work with children in any capacity. So I left at noon and headed to my parents house. One nice thing was that my mom had time to take me to Chick-Fil-A for lunch before her doctor's appointment. So I ate lunch and then picked up Ella to take her to the vet. Poor baby. She was in so much pain. She was very good at the vet though. They determined that she probably had pulled a muscle in her back playing too much and sent me home with muscle relaxants and cortisone pills. That was a fun $200 trip to the vet (to be fair, half of it was the flea and tick medication I needed for her, so it was kind of my own doing). There went my birthday money. Ugh.

Well, I decided to bring Ella back to my house where it would be quiet and not much action. One unfortunate side effect of the cortisone pills is the increase thirst and increased need to pee. I've been limiting Ella's access to water (only giving her about a half a bowl every hour or so). And she has been peeing non stop everywhere! Sick! She's finally figured out that the towels in my room are where she is supposed to pee rather than on my shoes or directly on the hardwood floor. But then she has decided that even when I'm just in the next room, it is okay to pee and poo in the house still. So rather than telling me she has to go (which I take her every hour when I'm home!), she just goes. Argh.

Well on Tuesday, work was okay. Which was nice. My new kid has really started to adjust and had very few fits this week. However, when I got home from work on Tuesday, my power had gone off! What!?!? Now I know some people in Houston are still without power from Ike, but I had had power for a week! Its not supposed to go back off once you have it! Well, it turns out that the electricity people had taken everyone on the street down so they could get the people on our street without power the whole week up and running again. Unfortunately, I had a ton to do! Like go to the grocery store so I could eat. Like make a dessert for the next nights dinner meeting I was attending. Like do some work on my computer for work and for church. So I packed up my computer and headed to a friend's house so I could get at least one of the three done. Well, by the time I got home, power had fortunately been restored, but what a scare! I was moving back to my parents' house if it had gone on any longer!

Wednesday was also okay at work. I went to my dinner meeting (another girl who didn't have work covered dessert for me). That was fine. Until I got a phone call from my mom in the middle of it. She had had an MRI and other tests run earlier this week and still has some more next week. Without going into detail, my mom might be facing some pretty serious health issues in the near future. Just be praying for her and my family. Its a little scary. So that was another fun day.

Thursday, I got to work at 6:40am and left work at 6:40pm. They were having this parent's night for the general ed and other staff was required to stay and babysit the kids who came so parents could listen to the presentations in peace. Nice. It was a long day. My poor dog had to stay in my room for 12 hours. I felt horrible! Well, I grabbed dinner from Wendy's on the way home because as I said before, I hadn't been to the grocery store yet. And they gave me regular Coke instead of Diet Coke. Sick out! After dinner, I had to go to the grocery store. In the dark. Which I strongly dislike. Those are times I really get frustrated with being single. I just feel vulnerable and unprotected in situations like that. And the neighborhood I live in isn't neccessarily all bad, but there are some sketchy spots, so I just get nervous. After spending a lot of money at the grocery store, I came home and baked and made some Tzatziki (yummy Greek cucumber yogurt dip!) and crashed.

Friday was actually okay. It was early dismissal for the kids and they were really great with the schedule changes (sometimes schedule changes really make life difficult for my kids). We decorated some cookies for our cooking lab (both my birthday and one of my aids birthdays were this week so it was fitting) and they loved that and we had some extra recess which they really enjoyed and the weather has been fairly nice down here in Houston lately.

This weekend was okay. I had to work a lot yesterday on grades and other work things. But I got to bake yummy peanut butter cake (recipe that my grandma gave me - those are always good!) for my dinner meeting last night. Baking and cooking just relaxes me. I love it. I'll post that recipe

Today, I think I am relaxing a bit, working a bit, maybe walking Ella and then meeting my parents for lunch (sushi maybe - yum!). We also are going to get my birthday present. I finally decided what I wanted. So excited! Check it out!

I know you are jealous. Maybe if your nice to me, I will make you a cake with it!

So I guess its a good end to a not so good week. I would like a redo on my birthday week. And I still haven't celebrated with friends. Maybe next week.

But next week is a new week and God is still faithful. No doubt.

Hope y'all are doing well! Love you!