Random trips north

the baby is here!

as you can see her belly was huge. it felt like a medicine ball under her shirt. firm and all up front. last night i sat in the hospital room watching her belly move around. so weird. this was cristina yesterday while walking into the mall. we walked the maine mall for almost 3 hours after eating lunch at the olive garden. prior to that we were at the hospital... and left without a baby.

the process started sunday morning and was super hard on cristina. poor thing spent two nights in the hospital and woke up each morning to be sent home.

today at 6:47 or 6:57 tonight the baby was born. i got the call at 7:04. it's a girl. dave said he's ten feet off the ground. they really wanted a girl. dark hair and so cute, according to cris. once i have some pictures i'll share. she's going to be one tough cookie. or at least stubborn as hell. ;)


excited!
*jp
i'm excited.

i'm emotionally charged.

i got sad last night thinking about alabama. it's so strange for me to think i get 'homesick' for alabama. i think part of it was that i ranted to h for a long while last night. also because i feel like i'm overwhelmed, expected to do more than i'm able at a time and i'm being pushed into a corner. i have to write a behavior plan but i'm not going to find out the ACES way of doing things until tomorrow afternoon. i'm presenting the behavior plan thursday at 2. two more students were added to my case load today. i have 2 more behavior plans to write for next week. i have a student hitting himself. i'm constantly running from school to school. i also have a meeting thursday at 9am but i don't know what i did to warrent a meeting. i know the principal at 'hell elementary' asked the sp.ed. director to call the meeting with me and donn (guy i work for at ACES). i asked the secretary if there is an agenda for the meeting when she sent a message asking about 9am thursday... i didn't get a response. i don't know what i did and i don't like not knowing. and to top it off, i can't focus.

i got all veclempt when trying to fall asleep last night but moved past it and finally fell asleep. today sitting at the computer writing heather i did the same thing and had to breath. and then i was talking to a student's one to one (personal paraprofessional) and she started saying the change must be huge and asked how i was adapting and i jokingly made a sad face and fanned myself saying that i was actually struggling with that today and then i actually got a little upset. glossy eyes and a bit of a tight throat. she in turn got the glossy eyes. she's really sweet.

i need the following:
1. to get the bsp i need to present thursday DONE.
2. have the effing meeting thursday morning and get it over with. we all know i'm going to get worked up and leave shaking.
3. present the student's behavior support plan and get that dagum meeting over with.
4. have friday come... though i have an early morning parent meeting, supervision and a ppt meeting where i meet another family. oi.

i am greatful for:
1. h listening to my rants
2. you reading my rants
3. kendra accepting my random complaining text messages about throwing water balloons at school staff and drinking liquor from coffee cups during behavior leadership meetings (note: she suggested the drinking, i suggested the mixers to cover it, she is responsible for coffee cups to drink out of... not that it's happening).
4. also for the ladies coming this weekend. i'm really going to need it.
5. the gym to boost my moods. the people watching and the exercise is awesome.
6. butternut squash ravioli by lean cuisine. i had it for lunch and it's my favorite. i should learn to make something like it.
7. kerry d.(sp.ed teacher i have a desk next to) and heather (school psychologist) at the good elementary school. they are wonderful and listen well and talk about random things to keep me from freaking out. they're young, 30, and people i can trust. and heather goes to my gym and has the same love of starring at people while working out.

wednesday:
7:30 work on behavior plan
8am check in at high school
9am meet with teacher and the school psych (heather) about a student at good elem.
10-12 behavior plan writing.
12:30 daily kerry d. meeting
1-2 travel to north haven (it takes 40 minutes from madison)
2-4 behavior leadership meeting. BOO.
4-5 revamp behavior plan and pray an hour will be all i need.
5:45-8 gym!

i'm done. i think i'm going to get into bed really early tonight and maybe go to the gym at 5am to work off some anxiety before i start another day. send me those good vibes because Lord knows i need them.

good vibes!
*jp

i think i feel good. i feel good.

i'm going to make a list because i really like lists and i'm in a good mood.


cris: is very pregnant and lovely right now. i'm excited for the second pair of little running feet on their wooden floors. we get along so much better now. it's weird what distance did for us.


love: truth is... richie and rachael remind me of love and relationships and gives me that faith. and nate is just pure love. i think i'm in love with life. at least in the moment.


excitement: i like the possibilities in front of me. i had fun labor day weekend up in maine. saw melissa friday, the lavigne family and jennt most of the weekend and jennt's family sunday. i joined the gym here and started taking classes this wednesday. each day i try something new. i've taken 7 classes and have only one more i want to try out. this weekend kendra (also new to aces consulting team) and i are either going to go buy some shoes or check out the irish pub down the road. a pub in walking distance sounds kind of stellar. and! in two weeks the girls are coming for the weekend. it's like "ladies' lunch" but in a new state... and after 2.5 years jocelyn can come. excitement!


new digs: i like branford. it's this small 'gilmore girls' type town. this morning there was a blueberry pancake breakfast on the green put on by one of the churches. we have a town wide family picnic on the 13th. there is also a 'touch the truck' thing some time soon. and a road race possibly tomorrow in new haven. anyway, it's strange to be some where with little shops and places to eat, with people running and walking outside, and an awesome library system. all this after being in wetumpka where no one walks outside or rides their bikes or walks over to the local coffee shop... mostly because wetumpka wasn't set up that way. everything i need is in walking distance. people recycle. i have more to do. kendra lives within a couple minutes walk. ct life can be fun. oh, and the job is going well... lots going on, lots to do, lots of challenge already... one week at a time.

a shower and a stretch sounds good. also more 'house' (season 4) and more strawberries.

come do my laundry.
*jp

august 17th - 23rd

i've done some walking recently to get some exercise and get to know the area. i took pictures while walking. walking adventures.


flowers by the local high school.


one of the church doors on the green.


branford sign on the green.


stairs up to my place. i'm working the legs every day. maybe i should start running them. we'll see...


little church building by the yale site. it's where ministers got together to donate books to open yale.



trolly tracks out by some hiking trails.



the trolly yard. this one is actually a streetcar from nola.



i believe this is a river. i came across it on a hike one day.



stop sign in north madison area.



a house on the same road at the stop sign. i thought it was amazing but the picture just doesn't show that.



i found the train station here in town. one ticket to the city.



boat yard in branford.



flowers outside a corner store.



i loved this garden with the umbrellas.



and this fence color.



shoreline from short beach area. this was the halfway point on a long day of walking.

NOTE: i put this together a while ago but never posted it. enjoy some pictures.

*i'm an early bird... and, i'm a night owl. so i'm wise, and, i have worms... um...*

we've settled in and i've started work. i got me a bureau on wednesday and did some priming and painting on thursday. i'm going to start taking pictures of the apartment and town so people can see what it looks like. sarah j. stopped in on her way through today and agreed it looks like a town you'd see on tv or in a movie. 'gilmore girls' all the way.

for lunch today we went to a place called foe: an american bistro. mmmmm. we sat at our little table eating our lovely upscale-esque yet inexpensive food. the table was in front of a big restaurant front window that overlooks the green. oh, how great. next time we'll go for some ice cream.

the ladies that lunch are coming in september. rad!

ask for the address. come visit!
*jp

welcome north. where it rains. a lot.

the breakdown of the move....

we didn't take pictures of us moving stuff in wetumpka. it was too hot to think of things like that. h, michael and h's mother helped out. it was wonderful. we ate subway on the floor of the empty apartment prior to locking up and leaving. i can't wait for h and michael to come up for new years! happy birthday h!



dad took this part way through the trip. i'm not sure where it was but he felt that we needed proof of our 24 foot caravan. but the truck was attached... anyway. the car carrier was broken and we didn't have a left blinker.


August 2nd:
i actually didn't take many pictures the first day. other than the confederate park sign outside clanton, al; annabelle in the truck and two of flowers in the highway in north alabama. we ended up driving to knoxville and staying with the kitchin's for the night. dinner, shopping, wii and waffles. i need to get me a wii so i can practice before taking on pam (rachael's mum) again.



greeneville, tennessee. from the on ramp by the davy crockett travel center. east tennessee is pretty.


August 3rd:

some where in virginia.



dad driving. i didn't drive it at all after picking up the truck last friday. i couldn't really see over the steering wheel anyway.



around harrisburg, pa. we stayed in breinigville, pa the second night. the holiday inn there has a crazy obsession with america. everything was themed in that way and they said 'have a great day in america' when i checked out. we stayed on the presidential floor(3rd) but i think it was like the other floors. crazy people.



hersey, pa. it looks less dark out in this one than the last one... that's just weird.


August 4th:

the morning of the 4th. jersey. such a familiar smell... ha. i don't know how h missed that one when she was up.



when we got to the toll for the george washington bridge the woman told us the toll amount changed 2 months ago and it's now $8 per axle. we owed $32. wtf! i told her we had $22 in cash. dad asked if there was another way we could pay and she kind of acted surprised as if we should have known to take out a small loan prior to stopping at her toll. she let us go through without paying. i think it's cheaper to take the train to see jocelyn in philly.



i was already on my way to new england and didn't even know it.



we showered and went to ruby's for dinner. we ordered way more food than we could handle but it gave us lunch the next day.



nate and grandpap pushing the shopping cart at target. we were trying to get nate's energy out. nater loves his grandpap.



the running around target worked. lovely.


August 5th:

this was the morning after moving all that crap up to the 3rd floor. it was hot up here (in the apartment) and just all around tiring.



nate was put down for a nap and apparently he wasn't having it. he pulled the tool box into his pack 'n play and dumped it. watch out for this one...



dad really wanted nate to have a chance to ride in the rental truck before returning it. this was while cris put his seat in the truck. nate loves him some trucks and jennt loves her some pictures.



nater likes his ice cream.



he also likes sharing. which is good...



we indulged in some ice cream. i think cris was most excited seeing that she had been talking about ice cream since she got to ct.


August 6th and on:
Dad left on the train that morning heading to newark airport. cris, nate and jennt stayed until about noon before heading back to maine. my phone and jeep ended up dying that afternoon. i got a new phone, same phone number and got the jeep to a little shop down the road. everything is close enough to walk to. i've found my bank, auto shop, grocer's and post office all within a mile walk. there's also the assortment of doctors and churches right here. it's weird to see so many people around after living in wetumpka but the weather allows for it and its summer tourist season. only 3 more weeks of crazy weekend traffic. or at least i hope that's the case. i've been trying to unpack and organize things. i need to buy a few book shelves and other random things. i'm way better than i've been in the past and actually have a few things on the walls already. last time it took me 8 or 9 months before considering it.

i start work on monday. i'm sure there will be updates then.
*jp

goodbye, dirty dirty.

i'm moving in the morning. h and i picked up the truck today and started packing it. there isn't much left to load and just some light cleaning to do before taking off tomorrow. today.

i'm not quite excited about working where i'm going. i get anxious about working with new people. i'm also not fully excited about just living in ct. i do get those little bursts of happiness when thinking about seeing people more often. anything beats just seeing people in february and praying i can get back in june/ july. not to mention those i wasn't able to see this february... or jocelyn who no one has seen since christmas 2005. i just hope people will visit me as much as i'll visit/ want to visit/ try to visit them. that's the part that gets hard.

the new part starts again. so weird. i think i'm ready. part of me can't believe i've lived in random alabama for 3 years... as of this weekend.

i should be sleeping... but we know how that goes.
*jp