Day 67

Thursday, August 29, 2013: I slept all night last night because I took some generic Nyquil and felt pretty good all day. Right now I'm still congested. It was a busy day.

The host mother of one of our international students had called and left a message on my phone on Monday. I picked up the message, but it was so crazy busy that I didn't call her back...all week. She never called again. Well, that student couldn't start school today because he had not met all his medical requirements. She was not pleased and put all the blame on me (of course) and had that tone to her voice that said to me, "I'm going to report you to the higher-ups." I owed up to my mistake and apologized.

Shortly after this conversation, David (our head of school) came to me to help with a student who was upset about something, so I took the time to tell him what had occurred. He blew it off, knowing that stuff like this happens and that it had been really crazy busy this week. I also told Jeanne. She didn't get upset about it either. She, more than anyone else, knows how busy I have been.

So...when I spoke with that host mother a little later, and she used that tone of voice with me, I just told her that I had already told David and Jeanne, so she did the next-best thing, and called Stacy (she works for the organization that brought all these students here). I spoke with Stacy about something else a little later and she understood and it didn't bother her a bit. We only have a few students that have not been completely medically cleared. Those that haven't been will definitely start school no later than Tuesday (Monday is the Labor Day Holiday). A few will start tomorrow, though. Oh the drama of the workday!

And it was a busy day.

After work, I picked Peter up at TRCC and we went to dinner at the Old Tymes Restaurant. I had the special (chicken pot pie) for $6, and he had a chicken Caesar salad for $9 and then we shared a piece of pie. We had a very nice time. Then I dropped him off at school and I went on to ECSU in Willimantic for my first class, Fundamentals of Music. The traffic on 32 was jammed, and I found out why later on the radio...there had been an accident and the road had been closed. I got to class just as our teacher was handing out a pre-test. Thank goodness it won't be graded...whew! The class goes from 5:30 to 6:45, and today he let us out at 6:15. That was nice. I stopped at Dairy Queen and got a small pina colada smoothie and then filled up my tank at the Shell station. I cleaned up emails, did two loads of wash, and went to bed.

After Jay got home, he had the light on and hadn't closed the bedroom door. I was in a deep sleep and I started to wake up, thinking first that it was Sunday and Jay was already up. Then I forced myself to think again, and I said to myself that it was Friday morning and Jay was already up. Then I forced myself to think once again and realized that it was about 11:30 or so at night. I struggled out of bed, folded some wash (strange thing to do), couldn't sleep, so here I am. I'm going to read some more of my book (Birthmarked by Carragh M. O'Brien). It's excellent. I hope I can go back to sleep easily after that.

Day 66

Wednesday, August 28, 2013: I was up reading in the wee hours of the morning and went back to bed by 3:30, but I don't think I really fell sound asleep after that. Work was less stressful than it has been, and I started working on the UCONN ECE project.

On the way home from work, I stopped at WalMart to see if they were able to get replacement frames for my glasses....the ones that fell off my face last Wednesday during my piano lesson. Well, they didn't have those frames, but the guy gave me an even better frame...made out of titanium and they are very lightweight and bendable. So that's cool.

We had a light dinner and now we're relaxing.

The other day, the guys who were working on the landscaping at school told me about a documentary called Life After People. I rented it from Netflix, so we're going to watch it tonight. I want to go to sleep early so that I can wake up early feeling good and ready to go. I'd like to make sure I can play piano.....

Day 65

Tuesday, August 27, 2013: It was a long day...all of it at work. There's nothing else to say because that's all I did. I left the house by 6:20 a.m. and got home at 8:40 p.m. We had our ID photos taken, and I had an awesome photographer. I was at the end of a not-very-long line and he called over to me. So I went and had my picture taken, no problem :). We also had all the "required topics" training--blood borne pathogens, sexual harassment, etc. This is my last day of working late, though, so that's good; 3:00 p.m. sounds good for today!

Day 64

Monday, August 26, 2013: What a great day it was (with the exception that I began to feel bad...I think it relates to the rabies shot I had on Sunday morning and the muffin I ate for breakfast). This was opening day, so we had a "breakfast" in the Atrium. I put breakfast in quotes because it was fruit salad, muffins, pastries, coffee, tea, and juice. I had a muffin and fruit salad. After I ate it, I thought to myself, "I wonder if this is a cranberry orange muffin?" because it had cranberries in it. I really didn't taste orange, but the way I felt later on makes me believe that there was a bit of orange in it.

Anyway, we had our usual opening meeting, and it was wonderful with reports about summer school, ELL Academy, STRIVE, and Step-up, all accompanied by pictures. That was nice. It was all very upbeat. Then the interns were introduced, the new teachers, and then the tenured teachers, and then staff with 10 years of service. And that would be ME!!! It was so excited to go up there to get my apple. I love those marble apples! I've never been in one place this long except for my own business-family home day care, which I called "Sunbeam Family Home Day Care." I loved that.

Anyway, the rest of the day was busy with the rest of the international students coming in. There was a motivational speaker that I had to miss. His name is Dick Hoyt. I can check him out online. He wrote several books, and I bought one called Devoted. I was on my way to Bradlaw to pick up a diploma for someone when Marie J. from the library came running behind me telling me about it. I went into the auditorium but didn't have money with me. Fortunately, Marcia R., also from the library, had enough extra cash on her to loan me for a book, so I bought it.

Then Mary-Anne Hall, who works in the museum and with the art students, had written a book that just got published this summer called My Cleocatra, so of course, I bought a copy.

I had to work late because our last student's appointment was at 4:30 p.m. I had sent a text to Steve to tell him that I probably wouldn't have my piano books with me because I would probably go straight to my lesson from work, but he called and said why not change the time of my lesson to 6:30 (he had an errand to run in Putnam), so I said okay. At least I was able to go home and change beforehand.

Piano was really good. We did more improvisation...I like doing that. I have to keep doing it on my own so I can get better.

I had cereal for dinner and went off to bed with my book and was asleep by 9:00.

Days 62 and 63

Saturday and Sunday, August 24 and 25, 2013: We worked in the temple on Saturday morning; and as usual, it was a wonderful experience. Jay and I stopped at Panera Bread on the way home to have some lunch. Jay had tomato soup and I had tortellini with a cheese sauce. I only ate half (I'll have the rest for lunch at work) and had a piece of crumb cake for desert. I was really yummy. Then we stopped at the Market Basket to buy some groceries and had wonderful lamb chops cooked on the grill for dinner along with a vegi mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. We visited the Horne's with the sister missionaries and had a great time. The sisters came over afterwards for ice cream with freshly sliced strawberries on top (yummy). After they left, we watched one episode of our show and then off to bed we went.

Sunday has been a beautiful day weather-wise...a little cool in the morning. I wore the new dress I bought at Kohl's yesterday. Actually, I forgot to mention that above. I bought a pair of capris, a cute knee-length summer dress, a nice top, and the maxi dress I wore to church today. I also bought Jay a white shirt. Everything was on sale and I had a coupon for an extra 20% off. That was neat.

I had the last rabies shot today...that was number nine. The nurse just jammed the needle into my arm. It was the worst shot of them all, although except for her jamming it into my skin, it didn't hurt.

Church was very nice. Sofia came with me to Scituate because after Sacrament meeting, we left for the airport to get Peter. When we got there, we discovered that his flight wouldn't be landing for another 1-1/4 hours! It was really cold in the airport, so we went outside and took two of the blankets I keep in the trunk and found a lovely grassy area to lie down on. Sofia dozed and I read my book. It's called Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien, and it's very good. We were just getting ready to go inside (it was 1:00 p.m.) and the phone rang. It was Peter. "Where are you?" Sofia told him that we were outside. His flight wasn't supposed to land until 1:09, but it arrived a little early. His suitcase came off the plane early, so we didn't have to wait too long for that. I am glad that he is home safely.

Peter asked me to bring some salt and vinegar chips and a bottle of water that had been frozen in the freezer for him to snack on on the way home, which I did. We went home a different way, and I like it better. We avoided the Johnston area. We had a dinner of marinated steak for Peter and me and salmon burgers for Jay and Sofia, boiled potatoes, and peas. It was good.

I was very tired, so I took a nap...for a bit because Peter woke me up to talk with Alexandra. I tried to go back to sleep, and I did. I slept until 6:00 or so and now I'm ready to go back to bed. I am really tired.

Just a note...

I will upload all the photos that are still on my phone and will put them in their appropriate days sometime this weekend (I hope). I also have to pull out some photos from Brazil to print and put into a little book to show people. Maybe Sunday? Peter is coming home then so who knows!

Day 61

August 23, 2013. Today is my mother's birthday. I miss her. On the 23rd of every month I think about her and say to myself, "If this was August, it would be her birthday." Funny, hu.

Last night when I went shopping at WalMart, I found a dress (nothing fancy...just long, grey, and sleeveless). It was marked down to $5, so I bought it. I could always take it back if it didn't fit right. But it fit just fine. It was a little too long, but it hid my boot well :). I wore my peach sweater with it.

I got to sleep late last night and woke up early...around 4:00 a.m. I think I had only four hours of sleep.  I was tired but not able to go back to sleep so I did my usual stuff (minus the piano) and took my shower a little early. We had breakfast (oatmeal for me) and then off to work. I actually got there a few minutes early! It was an extremely busy day because a whole bunch of international students had arrived and we had appointments scheduled every half hour almost all day. Suddenly it was past my time to leave. I mentioned it to Jeanne and she said to stay and get what I had to get done done. But...in addition to getting things done, I had to take care of four walk-ins...two withdrawals, one moving to a different sending town, and another one, but I don't remember what I did for him. The day flew by (fortunately...if it had been a slow day, I would have struggled to stay awake).

On the way home I stopped at Aldi's and bought a few things. I had dinner (Jay had a large lunch, so he just had some leftover soup when he got home). Now the dishes are done, I'm sitting here with my feet up and relaxing. I'm going to bed early tonight because tomorrow is temple day.

Day 60

Thursday, August 22, 2013: I woke up extra early, said my prayers, read my scriptures, wrote the blog that precedes this one, and then practiced piano. Work was so busy. I never completed any one big task. I spent the whole day answering the phone, attending a training meeting for Power School (which I left early), and went to TRCC to pick up Peter's books during my lunch break. It was amazing. I only hit one red light on the way there, there was no line, and I got done pretty quickly. It was pouring rain out. When I got back someone had taken my parking space, but I was able to get another one no problem.  Peter gets back from Brazil the day before classes begin so that's why I helped him.

Did I write down what happened to my glasses yesterday during my piano lesson? They just fell off my face! One of the side things just fell off the glasses! I couldn't use them because they are trifocals and they wouldn't sit straight on my face, so I couldn't see clearly. So, Steve and I did improv...he played guitar and I played some made up melodies. Some were good and some were not. Regardless, we both had fun.

I visited Anne with the sister missionaries and didn't get home until 8:30. I was so tired. Peter wanted to Skype, but I just went to bed.

If this post is a little redundant...sorry.

Days 51 - 59

Tuesday, August 13 through Wednesday, August 21: I sure have been behind in posting...I've been just too busy and too tired at the end of the day. There are just too many things to do. Here is a smattering of what's been happening this week. I have photos, too, but they're still on my phone. I'll upload them and add them later :).

• Worked every day. Very busy with international students, ECSU Dual Enrollment Program, UCONN Early College Experience Program, and so much more.
• Still working with the bank to get the rest of the money that was stolen from my account bank. The same for Peter, too.
• Worked at the firehouse, paying bills
• The new fire truck arrived last week. Yay! Also paid the first payment on the loan. :)
• Visited Matt's mom, Michelle.
• Had an allergic reaction to something in my office on Tuesday (8/20). Don't know what it was, but had a rash on my arm and my face swelled and was tingly. Had to go to the Medical Center for some Benedryl and then could hardly stay awake at the end of the day
• Got my allergy shots on Tuesday
• Got my hair cut on Tuesday, too. :)
• Steve texted and left a voice message for me, which I didn't get. He wanted to know if I was home from Brazil. The volume on my phone was off, so I didn't get the message. I went for my lesson...no Steve. I saw him on my way out...
• Make-up double piano lesson on Wednesday (8/21). Right at the beginning of the lesson, my glasses broke, so I couldn't read a thing. We had a great time improvising. Steve played some chords on his guitar and I played stuff on the piano. I'm not really great at this yet, but every time we do it, I get a little better.
• One of my biggest fears is not being able to read.
• Had a rabies shot on Wednesday last week and Sunday morning at 8:15. One more to go...
• Visited Anne with the sister missionaries last night. I also took the sisters to Wendy's for dinner. We ate in the car on the way to Greenville, RI.
• On Sunday, Jay and I were sitting in church, having partaken of the sacrament and listening to the first speaker. Suddenly Jay leans over to me and says, "I think you're supposed to be speaking today." Oops! Jay had a program, which he hadn't opened. We looked, and sure enough, I had to speak. I had no idea what the topic was, but the first speaker was talking about redemption so I tried to piggy-back on that theme. I looked in the topical guide and used the first scripture I saw: Exodus 6:6 & 7.  6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will ^abring you out from under the ^bburdens of the Egyptians, and I will ^crid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
   7 And I will take you to me for a ^apeople, and I will be to you a^bGod: and ye shall ^cknow that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
  I spoke about various things, including forgiveness and repeated the theme of "with a stretched out arm" throughout my talk. It felt pretty choppy to me, but no one else noticed that.
  This is cool: An investigator came to Scituate, and we met her in the parking lot. She sat with us. This person is Anne, the person I visited yesterday with the sister missionaries. This is the cool part: she said that when I shared the story of "forgive my father," she almost fell off her chair because that was something she needed to do.
  Here's my hypothesis: Heavenly Father made Jay forget to give me the information about the talk because he wanted me to speak from the heart rather than a prepared talk so that what I said could touch Anne's heart.

Day 50

Monday, August 12, 2013. I had to stop by the hospital to switch out the shoe that they gave me yesterday because it was too small (my toes hung over the edge) and then stopped at WalMart to get a few things. Then came the hard part...Peter's and my accounts were hacked (I'm sure via one of the ATM machines we used in Brazil), and I had to call the bank to get those things taken care of. It took hours.

Jay got home from work early because we had an appointment in Hartford. We got there just in time (traffic was perfect both ways...perfect timing!) and on the way home we stopped to get something for dinner, something that would fit his new dietary restrictions. We had a lovely dinner together out on the deck (swordfish, sweet potato, and broccoli). I think the broccoli bothers Jay.

Then we took our other son's car to his house. And then it was relaxing time. Sofia had recommended a movie called "Monster in Paris." It was a cartoon. It was so well done and cute. We really enjoyed it!

Once again, I fell asleep right away, but now I'm up really early (it's Tuesday morning). I'm going to read for a few minutes and then try to sleep for another hour or so.

Day 49

Sunday, August 11, 2014. Continuing my journey home. All flights were on schedule, and I was able to get bulkhead seating because of my ankle almost all the way home. I managed to sleep a little on the plane from Rio to Atlanta. I watched the movie, "42," and highly recommend it to anyone. It's about Jackie Robinson and is so well done.

Jay was waiting for me when I got at the airport. It was wonderful to throw my arms around him and hug him tight (not to mention getting a few kisses in there, too!!!). What a great guy I'm married to! My luggage got off the plane early, too, so we didn't have to wait a long time in baggage claim.

We drove to pick up Sofia because the car she's driving across country is at our house. It was great to see her too! I gave her a "crown" for a belated birthday gift, and she really liked the one I picked out for her.

After we got home, Sofia headed back to her house, and I had to go to the hospital to check out my ankle injury. It turns out that I have an avulsion fracture of my left ankle as well as a sprain (or strain)...it's all the same to me. It's very swollen and very sore. So they wrapped it with a wide ace bandage and gave me a shoe. They also recommended that I see an orthopedic physician, but what else can he do? Give me an air cast? What I have now is sufficient, I think. They can't place the bone back where it was. I'm sure it's not a big thing. I'll just hobble around like I am for several weeks and then be back to normal.

I mentioned to the nurse that I was bitten by a dog in Brazil also...right in the butt...buttocks!! Tore my pants and broke my skin. The nurse was praying that it was within ten days, and it was! Whew! Rabies is a big issue, so now I'm getting rabies shots. They gave me one shot in my left arm, three shots in my left leg, and two shots in my right leg. They hurt going in, but the nurse was amazing. They didn't hurt at all after she was done. I'm scheduled for additional shots on Wednesday, August 14; Sunday, August 17; and Sunday, August 25. Then I'll be done.

We came home, I elevated my leg with ice on it, took four Ibuprofen, and watched the movie, Legacy, with Jay. We went to bed; I read about three paragraphs in my book, and Jay said I was asleep before my head hit the pillow, and I didn't wake up until 5:00! I slept like a baby. I love my bed!!!

Days 39 through 49 - BRAZIL!!

August 1 through 10, 2013 - In Brazil. Kept a detailed journal,  will share some notes here later, and will upload photos!