CHRISTMAS LEFT OVERS!

Well, Santa made it through the ice and snow to deliver Ryan's gifts! Here is a before picture:

And here is the after photo! If you look closely you'll see many Transformers. Ryan is still a big Transformer fanatic. (This picture also has some gifts that belong to Bill and myself.) Over all Christmas was a complete success. Keep in mind, these are only the "Santa Gifts"!

We then headed over to my brother's house where Ryan received more gifts! The boys were extremely surprised by their final gift that suddenly appeared out of nowhere! A Wii Gaming system from Grandma.

The weather has been very "wintery" lately. Ryan has been making a small fortune this winter with his "new business" of shoveling!

Along with the snow it's been very icy. Everything has been covered in ice, making it difficult to get out and about. Thankfully we haven't had to travel too far!

Bill continues to be "off" work. This week he is painting my brother's house which gets him out of the house! We keep hoping that things will turn around very soon! Anyone looking for a good painter????

It's hard to believe winter break is 1/2 over.........one week from today were back to the old "school routine" again! UGH!

This Year's Christmas Ornaments

Each year, Ryan receives an ornament that represents something significant that happened in his life that year. This year he received two ornaments. I designed an ornament with his high school emblem on one side and the football mascot on the other side.

The other ornament is a Transformer ornament from Hallmark. This entire year Ryan has discovered the wonderful world of YouTube and has been creating "stop motion" videos and uploading them to YouTube. One evening, while on the computer, I located the ornament on sale at Kohls. So at 11:30pm Bill and I headed over to purchase THE LAST one! It was hidden and we nearly left without it - but I spotted it tucked away! Since the store closed at midnight, we didn't have time to search or try to locate it at another store. It was nice to avoid the crowds so late at night - we were in and out in 10 minutes!

Notice the shoveled driveway and sidewalks below??? Ryan has started a little "business" and has been shoveling neighbors driveways and sidewalks. He's been doing very well and has been putting most of his earnings into the bank for his "dream" car! (2010 Mustang) Yesterday, while driving past some million dollar homes - he says: I think I'll start putting 10.00 a month of my allowance in the bank because I was thinking I'd like a house like that someday! I guess he still doesn't realize how much big ticket items cost!

While at the mall this week, Build-A-Bear had elf crowns similiar to the Burger King crowns. I was able to get enough for the entire class and they were very excited to where them all day on Friday!

~Lisa~

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Well.....at least it's beginning to look like Christmas OUTSIDE. We haven't put up the tree yet - however, we got the outside decorated just in time for our first snowfall!

The forecast is calling for several inches of snow to fall starting tomorrow. It is such a strange feeling not to have to worry about the commute to work! My 2 minute drive may take a whole 3 minutes!! I most definitely will not miss those hour long commutes sitting on the tollway going nowhere!

This past week was the football awards night ceremony. Ryan received his "numbers" and an award! The ceremony was nice - but since the auditorium isn't completed yet, it was held in the commons area - which made taking pictures a little difficult.

Ryan looked handsome in his leather jacket and Metea tie that I designed and had printed - it is the school crest and reads CLASS OF 2013 - Many people suggested I make a bunch and sell them at the games....hmmmm!

I was clearing off my camera and found pictures of Ryan washing my car and Bill's truck a couple weeks ago - although it was November, it was warm enough outside that you didn't need a jacket! I actually think he thought it was too hot and needed to cool off. Either that or he secretly wants to become an egyptian! I captured these pictures from my kitchen window without him knowing! What a goof ball!

Wednesday is my first holiday party of the season - We are headed to Luigi's House for a gathering and grab bag for the supported education staff. These next few weeks are going to be loaded with different events with school both for myself and Ryan. Ryan has semester final exams next week - so he'll only have 2 full days of school and 3 short days right before winter break! We both are looking forward to our 16 days off!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by - Lisa

TIME FOR A CHANGE!

It seems as if high school football has just ended and now it's time for the holidays! So, time for a blog makeover!
Literally, we are just "wrapping up" our Thanksgiving extended weekend. Five days off in a row - I forgot how nice it is not having to go between the two different jobs and never really getting an extended vacation. Tomorrow, back to the "real world"!
I finished up addressing all my Christmas cards and wrapped almost all the gifts I have bought for Christmas. I've actually been wrapping for the past month - to avoid a huge overload! I'm pretty close to finishing up my shopping - I only have a few people left. This year I don't have as many people to buy for; as I will not be buying for the staff at GOGO and my brothers and I will not be exchanging. So the GRAND total of people is 21 plus 23 students. I only have to finish about 5 people - so I'm right on track.

Ryan has made a choice not to join wrestling this year - he has elected to wieght lift/train 4 days a week for the off-season. He's hoping to try out for baseball in the spring. He will be experiencing his first "semester/final exams" in a couple weeks - It's hard to believe his first semester in high school is coming to an end! Time sure flies!

This week is the awards banquet for football and I've been chosen to help with a literacy night at school. Bill is still not working much - we're hanging in there! He is barely working a day or two a week......he's had a few side jobs and has one lined up for the following week - it makes for a long day.

Yesterday we decorated the outside of our house - we will wait on putting up the tree for a couple weeks.

A couple weeks ago my cousin and her family came in from out-of-town and we did a quick photo shoot.
My nephew also had a birthday:

With the holidays right around the corner - I'll be sure to post a little more often......I'm counting down the days until our 2 weeks winter holiday break!!!!!!

Lisa

LONG TIME - NO POST again...

WOW! I guess it's been close to 2 months since my last update. . . . School is back in full swing - as a matter of fact we are almost done with the first quarter! Ryan only has two more football games and then the season is over. Since the school is not official in a conference due to the fact there is not varsity team this year - they will not be able to go onto the play-offs. They have only lost one game (so far) - so it would have been interesting to see just how far they would go! I became the "official" photographer for the team - the coach has posted hundreds of my photos on the teams official website. Ryan continues to do very well in his Freshman year. His grades are amazing and we are hoping he will continue working hard. **with much encouragement**. Since Metea Valley is a brand new school and doesn't have a varsity football team, there was not official homecoming. However, there was a fall dance. Ryan went with a group of his friends and seemed to have a good time. His tie was a big hit with his teammates! I designed it and had it made with the school mascot design printed on it!

Like last year, I am in second grade. I have a very high needs student and another with ADHD. Things are going well and I'm enjoying the second grade curriculum again.

Last week Ryan was diagnosed as positive for H1N1 (90% positive). Thankfully, he was treated quickly and the symptoms were under control within a few days. Although I know several people who have had the swine flu, it was still an uneasy feeling to be told your child has it! Especially since a freshman from a neighboring high school died that same day due to complications from the H1N1 virus. Although he still is not at 100%, he returned to school after the long three day weekend and has been participating in football practice all week.

Bill has been working on and off - hoping things pick up again really soon! I've been teaching a kickball enrichment class with my friend after school on Wednesday's - the PTA pays very well! I've started Christmas shopping because it will be here before you know it!

Hoping to update again soon -

Lisa

Daily Herald - Multimedia Center

Daily Herald - Multimedia Center

Summer's Over - Back to Work!

It's that time.....again.... School starts this week. After enjoying the last 7 weeks off, I'm really not looking forward to starting the morning routines once again. Most of our summer has been spend shuttling back and forth to football camp. The camp ran all summer long from 7:30am - 11:00am and the team is currently doing double practices for 6 hours a day.

When summer started, I made a set of "goals" to complete prior to returning to school and have finished them all - including the "extreme makeover" of Ryan's bedroom.

I made all 3 of these valances and the curtains - the red valance was made by piecing together a table runner and adding on some fabric - I love the way they turned out.

I took a condensed sponge and die cutted a star shape. I then sponged the accent wall with three different colors of stars....It looks so clean on the bright white. I then put the wallpaper border on the remaining 3 walls - it all came together very well.

Ryan absolutley loves it. He picked out the loft bed - although I think it's to close to the ceiling - he's been doing fine during the night. I purchased a small refrigerator that sits on the desk below - which he stocks with milk chug bottles, pop tarts, string cheese and bottled water. He's got his own "dorm room".

It was time to say good-bye to the "truck" theme! With his buddies coming over-and as they head over to high school - this gives them some extra space to hang out!

Speaking of High School....Freshman Orientation took place last week. The new high school is amazing. Everything is so new and clean. The facility is big, however only Freshman and Sophomores will attend this year - as only 60% of the school is complete. Here are some pictures from our visit:

Ryan is actually on his knees - the lockers are not very tall

This is one of the classrooms he will be in.

Here is the football field - it is all artificial turf - it's beautiful

This is Ryan's football locker - nice and big!

Ryan was very impressed by the "MV" in the bleachers.

GO MUSTANGS!!!!!!

So Long GOGO - Hello Summer!

It's official, my final day at GOGO was on June 26th. You think with all this extra time on my hands I would have posted sooner! You think after almost 27 years of working there I would have been sad.....but I wasn't - actually I was quite relieved. Ever since Flight Center bought our company a year and 1/2 ago things continuously changed - and always for the benefit of the stock holders and not the employees. Everything from the 401K employee match benefit, to the paid time off policy, to less insurance coverage for a higher premium, a new computer system with no training, and 2 days prior to my departure and entire new phone system allowing phone calls to be monitored and impossible to receive an incoming personal phone calls, and the topper was the announcement of a downsizing our office space which requires a move to another office building. The day prior to my final day they emailed over my separation package documents. I found an error on my accrued vacation time - by 2 weeks! We were able to keep 2 years of vacation time (which should have totaled 8 weeks.) However, each month they kept banking more hours into my benefits package so I had a total of 10 weeks..........they agreed to pay the entire 10 weeks! In addition I received a very generous total of 35 weeks gross pay. Net pay is close to a full year - as insurance and 401K will not be deducted. In addition, I qualified for the stimulus COBRA insurance which will only be 100.00 more than I was currently paying and I qualified for unemployment. My insurance through the school district kicks in September 1st - so since August payment for COBRA isn't due until August 30th - I most likely will only need to pay one month of the COBRA rate. Things worked out so well, I definitely made the right decision on not taking another position and leaving on the terms of position elimination! No regrets at all! However, I do feel sorry for the few employees that remain - most told me to put on my running shoes and keep running and not to look back. I have kept in touch with a few coworkers and they are miserable. I have actually been doing some "side work" at home for the team leader for some extra money. I've been asked to come in for a few hours next week to work some reports for a little extra cash also.

Summer is flying by - as you can see from the countdown clock above the posts showing how many more days until school starts up again. Ryan has been in football camp along with strength and speed training all summer long. It starts very early in the morning, so we've been getting up earlier than we had to when school was in.

I took Ryan and one of his friends to Raging Waves in Yorkville. I have free passes and thought we'd take advantage of them. It turned out to be a great time - they had a lot of fun.






Tomorrow Bill is off and we are planning another water park visit - we were thinking Great America but we aren't up for the long ride.

This past week I've been doing a lot of running around, renewing drivers license, getting service done on the car, luncheon with a friend, bike ride, cleaning windows, deep cleaning, and I purchased a Netbook. It only weighs 2 lbs and I got a pink snap on cover - it's a fun new toy - and the best part is it was 1/2 off at my favorite store - TARGET!!!!


Hope to post again soon - - Lisa

Middle School Graduate

WE made it through Middle School - YES, I mean "WE"! It seems like just yesterday that Ryan was having such a diffifult time transition into Middle School and now it's over. Listening to his fellow classmates speak at the recognition ceremony was such an eye opener. When looking back at their middle school "careers" many mentioned all the fears and anxieties they had going into 6th grade. Unfortunately, the kids didn't share those feelings with each other at the time and Ryan would have benefited knowing he wasn't alone.

What a growing experience middle school was for Ryan. Remember that timid immature boy, who for months needed to be led through the front doors of the school by myself, Bill and even the Assisitant Principal? That boy who had tears rolling down his checks as he left the house each morning. That boy who could not walk to school because his legs were too weak from fear. That boy who would vomit every single morning from all the anxiety he was feeling........ And now.......that boy, he was holding back tears because he was sad that he was leaving the school he had grown to love. WE too learned something, Ryan may need to be pushed; but in the end he just may surprise us!




Now he's off to a brand new high school - a school that will only have Freshman and Sophomores. An opportunity to participate in activities that are usually only available to Juniors and Seniors. Leaving the oldest and smallest middle school in the district to the newest and largest school in the district. As I watched Ryan "graduate" on Friday, surprisingly, I was not sad, not scared, but proud and content. Thinking back to when he graduated preschool, kindergarten and then left grammar school, I was very sad and full of uncertianty and fear. (I even got a job at his elementary school to make sure he was well taken care of!!!) So, in the end, middle school was not only a growing experience for Ryan, it was a growing experience for me too! I know, without a doubt, Ryan will do just fine in High School. I am grateful to feel that sense of confidence because it puts my mind at ease!

Speaking of school - - BIG NEWS!!!! I will be working at Brookdale full time beginning August 19th! GOGO will be a part of my past! After trying to get official word of when my position would be elimiated I had finally received a response that as of July 1 the PLAN was not to have any support in the branches. The day I received the email was the EXACT day I had my review with the principal at school. I explained the situation and his exact words were: DO I WANT YOU HERE FULL TIME - ABSOLUTELY. CAN I MAKE IT HAPPEN - WELL, I DON'T KNOW!?!?!?! The district is restructuring the special education program and making deep cuts. Instead of laying off any personnel, they are shifting aides from schools that have too many aides to schools that will need aides. So, for two LONG weeks we waited.....and waited....and waited. On Monday, there was an email that stated the district was retaining all TA's BUT you would not know your assigned school until summer. Of course, I always assume the worst. I'd only be part time and I'd be at some other school. On Tuesday, the principal came down to ask me to come into his office, as he needed to speak with me. His face, along with the head of the student service department had a "serious" and "sad" look on their faces. When I went into his office he said: LISA, I'VE SENT SEVERAL EMAIL'S, MADE MANY PHONE CALLS AND ALL I CAN SAY IS.........YOU ARE COMING BACK TO BROOKDALE FULL TIME!!! Full time means full benefits!!! Actually, better benefits than GOGO and much cheaper. What a relief!

So, now I wait again.........and for those who know me........I don't like to wait!!!! GOGO is now playing a "game". When asking about my separation package and when my final day of employment would be - I was informed that they are now looking into a remote possibilty of a position created for myself! NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!! I believe they wish to wait and have me resign, so I am not eligible for the separation package or the stimulus COBRA package. I guess I can play the game for a little while.........as school doesn't start for a couple months........but I was hoping to have some of the summer off. I'm sure everything will work out in the end................

Speaking of summer, Ryan begins his "high school football career" on Monday! GO MUSTANGS! He will have football camp along with strength and speed training 4 days a week all summer long! It's a early morning start, so no sleeping in this summer! It's good preparation for the early morning start for high school!

That's all for now..........................more updates to follow!

FOURTH QUARTER ALREADY?

It's already the end of April and were in the final quarter of the school year......and in about 6 weeks Ryan will be officially a HIGH SCHOOLER! Although our school district does not have a graduation ceremony for 8th grade, they do have a "celebration" of sorts. Ryan's will take place on June 5th.

Since my last post, Ryan has joined the Track and Field team. His "specialties" are the 100 yard dash, discus and shot put, as you can see from the above photo. We also just enrolled him into the summer football camp for his new high school.

Speaking of school, this time of the year is so chaotic! We have so many projects going on and will be entertaining the parents with poetry this up coming week. We have also compiled recipes for a cookbook we will be using as a Mother's Day gift. On top of the regular curriculum and our field trip to Naper Settlement, I've been working into the wee hours of the morning to make these projects "extra special" !

Training has begun at GOGO for our new system. Unfortunately, it takes place in New Jersey. Once again, I have told them I WILL NOT TRAVEL. Apparently, this "new" company feels that everyone enjoys to travel and your job should be your first priority.....NOT.... I have mentioned several times my family and teaching position takes priority, and traveling is not an option. My "work-life" ends at 7:00pm and no amount of money will interfere with MY time.

My evaluation from the school should be within the next 2 weeks. (the union contract states it has to be done prior to May 8th) At which time I will mention to the principal the possibility of returning there full time in the fall - in order to receive the union benefits . I am hoping by mid -summer that I will know my options with GOGO and make a decision base on what is going on at that time. After turning down several offers of Future Team Leader, Area Accountant, ticketing agent and most recently Sales Consultant - I'm not quite sure what would be left! Then we have uncertainty with the school district as there will be budget cuts , due to the fact that Illinois is the state with the least funding for schools and is 3 months/15 million dollars behind in payment to the district! The superintendent is trying to change the special education program AND our union contract is up at the end of this school year and in the bargaining stages right now. So, I'm trying to be patient......because good things come to those who WAIT!!!!

Here's Ryan's Easter "basket" from this year -
We also just celebrated my Mom's birthday!




Hope to update soon!

Lisa

HAPPY MARCH!

Well, it's been quite some time since my last update.........actually over 2 months. Since my last post Christmas has past, Ryan turned 14, Bill has had some "unplanned" time off, we purchased a new washer and dryer, and a new car.

Bill is finally back to work full time - and we hope the trend continues. In the past, he may have had a day or two off here and there, put unfortunately he was off for 3 weeks. With that in mind, my afternoon job isn't look very stable at this time either. Offices have been closing, reduction in staff continues on a weekly basis, and our new computer system is scheduled to begin in May, which will eliminate most of my responsibilites. YIKES!! After 27 years with the company, I have mixed emotions about leaving. I'm hoping if it comes down to leaving, I can go full time to the school to qualify for the health insurance.

Health insurance is a big issue, as over the past couple months we've had a few urgent care visits and can only imagine the out of pocket cost! Currently, the doctor believes I have pinched nerves in both feet and may need several more visits to help relieve the pain. I'm just getting over bronchitis, Bill had to go to the doctor because an infection was going through his body making it difficult to move his arm. Ryan had to go do to some personal issues, and after falling in the parking lot of work, the numerous X-Rays of my skull that followed sure would have been a HUGE expense.

Ryan still made out like a bandit at Christmas:

Keeping with our tradition received his yearly ornament(s) in honor of what he was interested in or accomplished for that year:

wrestling:

and being class co-treasurer:

Ryan turned 14 - believe it or not! (All of the sudden his pants are WAY TO SHORT!!)

Here is our new washer and dryer - the older ones we getting way too noisy and couldn't stand listening to them anymore: nothing fancy - just plain white Whirlpools!

AND FINALLY - my new car. Of course, a GRAND PRIX. My fourth in a row - It's a year old and hope to have good luck with it!!! We were putting way too much money into the silver one.

Sure hope to update again really soon - keeping up the school blogs and slide shows seems to take priority of my personal blog!