A Damn Good Friday

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The amazing goodie box that Annette sent me yesterday!
Raw selenite wand
Cute dragon hatchlings
Calligraphy script stone
Seal totem
THREE pieces of Chrysophrase
A BIG o’ bag of lavender buds
And what I’m guessing is Resin Incense?

I really want to do something nice to Annette. She’s sent me really nice goodie boxes in the past, but this one just blows them all out of the water. I’ll figure something out.

Work was a pretty damn good day – all of the kiddos were gone by 6:05 pm (we’re open until 6:30). I was able to stay until 6:30 and get caught up on paperwork and coloring sheets for the students. It was rather peaceful to be flying solo at the school for 20 minutes. I got so much accomplished with ZERO interruptions. It was amazing. ::chuckles::

I have the two assignments for my Diversity class done (due Tuesday). Yay me!
And I have two of the three assignments for the Storytelling class (due Sunday) completed. Yay me again! And man, lemme tell you. I HATE doing videos of myself. I had to do a test video (to make sure the image and sound quality work, along with ensuring I can upload videos) – nothing crazy difficult. Just a quick little intro. I did probably 100 takes on it before I finally settled on one. ::laughs:: But it is done and uploaded, so that’s off my To Do list. And I did my story re-write of a typical fable. I had to put my own spin on it. I’m not sure it’s of very good quality…but fuck it, it’s done. Now all that is left to do is my discussion essay (due Sunday) and then two responses to classmates’ posts (due Monday). Then I can get started on NEXT week’s assignments. Yay! ::grumbles:: Tell me again why the fuck I am doing this??? ::chuckles::

I found out my pay rate for this year – I got a 43 cent raise! Go me! ::laughs:: The school district gives percentage raises based on your pay and the pay of people in similar positions with similar background/experience. I’m in the top of my bracket, so my pay raise is always small. But hey, tiny pay raise is better than no pay raise! I’m just paid REALLY well….and that’s why I’m working so hard to get my degree done asap because I don’t want them to figure out they are paying me too much. ::chuckles:: Because, with what they pay me, they could almost afford THREE high school aides. ::chuckles:: But then again, none of them have my experience, background, or expertise…so you really are getting what you pay for here.

Advocating

written: August 30

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Our lovely crepe myrtle is having a massive growth spurt and blooming. I swear the week of rain we had a few weeks back has breathed new life into my plants. And with the amount of new growth coming in, we’ll have double the blossoms in a few weeks.

I had my meeting today with the Special Ed teachers about my new student Z. He’s a kindergartner but has some serious issues. And right now, he requires one-on-one supervision during the school year – he’s not even technically in a class at this point. He’s with a Special Ed teacher the entire day. So I contacted Esmeralda, letting her know, and again asking for another aide to help us out.
Esmeralda came out and we had a long talk about that particular student AND the other special needs students I have. I’m not sure what good it will do, but I have to advocate on the behalf of my students and my staff.

Annette sent me the most amazing goodie box today. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see photos of it. ::smiles:: Needless to say, I now have plenty of lavender buds to make some lavender bath salts!

Reading

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I have a tiny iris plant coming up! I seriously thought I had killed these off, but I have a new one growing! Hurray! Seems the rains we got a few weeks back have had a really positive effect on my plants.

I must say….reading about the mechanics that make a good story….very boring. I think this Storytelling class may be the death of me. Who knows? Maybe it will push me way beyond my comfort boundaries and I’ll find a new creative outlet. ::chuckles:: Shit, I just hope I don’t die of anxiety in the meantime. ::shakes her head::

Let’s see…what boring things can I ramble about? Work was pretty damn good actually. There are still way too many kiddos in my program and various staff members have to leave early or come in late due to class (Jess) or church (Emily). Which puts a bit of added stress on us, but hey, we’re surviving. The kiddos and the staff are finding their groove, so it’s a tad less chaotic. Like, we’re dying down to the “normal” levels of chaos is the best way I can describe it.

Fuuuuuuuck, I have so much reading to do for both classes. Like…soooooo much damn reading. Guess I know what I’m doing over the long weekend. ::grumbles:: And I need to start working on assignments as well. I have THREE assignments due Sunday for Storytelling and one assignment (already done) and two responses due for Cultural Diversity.

Rewilding

written: August 28

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Gummy bears! They were a total impulse buy when I stopped at CVS to pick up sleep aid pills for the Hubs. I don’t regret this impulse purchase one bit. ::smiles::

I was outside with Josey pup, playing with the laser pointer. The wind was kicking up quite strong and the weather was lovely. The only thing that would have made it more perfect is if the moon had been up in that moment. But hey, it was still pretty damn nice. I did a small meditation – a mini Drawing Down of the Moon. I need to do MORE of that. I need to revamp my ritual area. It’s been neglected for far too long.

Really, I need to replace or fix the ceiling fan I have in my bedroom. It’s a little off, so at times, it makes a scraping noise while it’s running. It is more prone to doing that if it’s been turned off for any length of time. Which, the scraping noise isn’t steady, so it really makes sleeping difficult. So for now, I pretty much just ONLY turn it off for ritual time and then I turn it right back on so it can relevel itself (or whatever it needs to do) before I head to bed later on in the evening.

And the settings on the ceiling fan are weird as well. Like the top speed is TWICE as fast as the second speed down. It’s like:
Level 1 – barely feel any breeze (most scraping noise)
Level 2 – some air movement (I typically use this speed during the winter, just to keep the air circulating in my room)
Level 3 – hurricane level winds. If it isn’t nailed down, it’s gonna blow away.
There’s no in between Level 2 and Level 3. It’s either hurricane level or sweet, summer breeze level.
And not to mention, it is shitty looking and only two of the three light sockets work. And they are chipped. Seriously, it’s some 70’s looking ceiling fan. ::chuckles:: If I could change it out with something that I liked and that worked nicely, the way it’s supposed to, then it would be easier to spend time in my room, in my sacred space.

And I want a pretty wall tapestry, to help transform the area as well. Something nature based, obviously. A lovely forest scene or something that calls to my wild spirit.

Changes

written: August 27

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Cool looking dinosaur left behind by one of my students. I’ve named him Bunny and will try to get him back to his owner tomorrow.

Today was the last day for reals at the Tech Job. I’m going to miss that crew. They are such a great bunch of people to work with. I wish I could just work there year round. ::chuckles:: But there is a season for everything, as the saying goes. And the season for the Tech Job has closed. The after school program is just kicking off.

Classes officially begin today at the University. Hard to believe that I just need 3 classes and then I can take my End Of Program exams and be DONE! I can do this! I’m taking Information Resources for Culturally Diverse Communities and Storytelling for Information Professionals. Neither class, from the cursory glance I gave the syllabi, seem to be overly taxing. Especially if I stay on top of shit this semester and NOT procrastinate. Ha! Wish me luck with that!

I’m actually relishing getting to sleep in a bit tomorrow. I do intend to get up at 9 am to take Josey pup for a walk. We haven’t done that in AGES due to the horrible heat. But I’m hoping with getting up and walking her earlier in the day, the heat will be tolerable. And I’m really hoping for a tired puppers so I can focus on class work and not have to “entertain” her all morning long.

New Rhythm

written: August 26

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Cool tree I saw on my way to the coffee shop to meet up with Hazel. No idea what it is, but I liked it. ::smiles::

So yeah, got to meet up with my Hazel Nut and just catch up for a while. We then did some Tarot readings for the upcoming month. I think next time, I’ll take one of my “kinder” oracle decks. The Jade Oracle deck really seems to enjoy calling her out. ::laughs::

I took notes on the reading she did for me. I’ll need to write them up and get them into my witch’s journal asap. Honestly, I need to do some work in that journal. I haven’t written anything down for the month of August and here it is, almost OVER. ::laughs:: Eh, that’s how it goes with my physical journals.

From the reading Hazel did for me, it seems that my month will be focused on finding my internal rhythm again. Which makes sense. Tomorrow is the last day at the Tech Job AND the beginning of the Fall Semester for me. So my schedule will be changing up quite a bit and I’ll need to figure out how to balance the course load for my two classes, my job, my home life, and MY life.

Weight Has Been Lifted

written: August 25

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AWESOME Halloween postcards and witchy washi tape I picked up at Michael’s today. LOVE ‘em! Now I just have to figure out who all I will be mailing them out to. ::smiles::

The full moon is glorious tonight, rising up in the evening sky. I realized today, as I was sitting outside with Josey…my depression is gone. And it’s been gone for a solid week. Thank goodness! I was really tired of struggling with it….damn near drowning below the weight of it all.