First off, my apologies to anyone who might have been expecting great things out of me today/tonight - it's just not going to happen.

So, OK. I live in middle America. I have three kids, a dog, and a minivan. I work at a high school. Most of my days are pretty even and noneventful - and most of the time, I'm OK with that. Every now and then I shake things up by taking an exotic European vacation, buying leather furniture, or fighting with my husband.

But most of the time, my days continue pretty much according to my plan, and I am in control of the events of those days...most of the time. Most nights I fall asleep thinking, "Yeah, pretty good day."

Today was NOT one of those days. Today was one of those days where I thought WTF? Why is the universe taking a crap on my head?

Brent left this morning for MN. He goes there about once a month to check in at work. So, I'm in charge of the morning routine. No problem. Now. Because of all the snow days we've had, the school has adopted a new school day schedule. We will start classes ten minutes earlier and extend the day fifteen minutes later. I assumed this changeroo also meant an earlier bus time for all elementary kids. Seems logical, yes? So, I bring my kids to their bus stop ten minutes earlier than usual...no bus. Either bus is gone or bus hasn't come yet. Either way, I have no idea what the hell is going on.

Therefore, I run the kids out to the school. I am now late for work, and will stress at the "rushed" feeling I will experience as I get ready for my day.

Eventually, the day begins, and things get much better. I am starting "The Odyssey" today - I am very excited to be doing my job.

Shortly after lunch, I get a call from the elementary school. Kirby has a fever. She had strep about two weeks ago, and since then, this pesky little fever has persisted off and on. I hurriedly call our school's secretary who gets a sub to me as fast as she can. Now I'm trying to teach a class, while get my things together for the sub who's coming in to cover my last two periods of the day. Again, I feel rushed and stressed.

Soon, I'm leaving the building, heading for the elementary. On the way, I call the doctor's office and try to schedule something for Kirby. Turns out the only thing they have available is "work in", meaning they'll get to me when they can. Humph.

Crap, I just totally hit the wall. That means I will crash on my pillow in about five minutes.

Gotta go fast now. Pick up Kirby, relax at home for a little bit, venture back out to elem. to pick up Spencer (which is a whole other madcap adventure), pick up Elliot at daycare, drive to doctor's office. We sit for about twenty minutes when it dawns on me that there are A LOT of sick people in the office right now and very few of them are scheduled appointments. Which means they're like me - work ins. Greeeeeeat. I happen to overhear a receptionist complain that there are currently seventeen work ins. Knowing that I just walked in minutes ago, I realize my daughter is towards the bottom of that pile.

Eventually, I get up and leave. I do not want to fight a two-hour wait in a waiting room with three cranky, tired, and, pretty soon, hungry kids. I'll just pump Kirby full of Tylenol and Sprite and she how she feels in the morning.

One good thing is that my parents call me and say to bring the kids over because they've bought KFC for dinner. Yummy. So we eat, then I head off to play auditions (I'm co-directing the latest community theater play). On the drive over, I decide to go ahead and get a sub for tomorrow, because I am just sick of this come-and-go fever/sickness that Kirby has been experiencing. She needs to see a doc, and so we'll go tomorrow.

Problem with a sub is...juggling schedules and figuring out what to do when I'm not going to be there. I gotta keep is easy for the sub. And frankly, nobody explains it better than I.

Ooooh, bedtime. Battery power has nearly expired. Am running on reserve. Anyway, crappy day. Going to bed. New day tomorrow.

Hope you havee ljdlfgjpojlkdfjgljlkjgzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

we have finally had our first...

"child-walks-in-on-parents-during-intimate-moment".

So, this morning, we woke up around our usual time (6 am), and discovered school had been delayed two hours. Well, I crept back into bed for a little snuggly-snuggly, and one thing led to another, etc, etc.

Anyway, things are getting hot and heavy, and all of a sudden, our eight-year-old son is standing at bedside. A couple of good things here:

1. It was still pretty dark in the bedroom.
2. We were completely covered by the comforter.

So Spencer says, "Is Dad under there?" At that point, Brent pipes up with "I'm here. Go watch some TV."

He happily says "OK" and scampers off. I don't think he suspected anything at all...I mean, for all he knew, we were hugging.

Ahhhh, what a start to the day.

Yes, for all you curious minds out there, we finished the business.

Temperatures here today in the low 60s, so I decided to try running outside.

Some of you may know that I started treadmill running in early December, and I have been doing it save three days around the Christmas holidays. You may also know that this is a big thing for me as I am a non-runner. I started out my first time going for 10 minutes (three-quarters of a mile) before I felt like dying.

I have since then worked myself up to a comfortable two and a half miles. I've been doing that mileage for about the last week and a half.

I was extremely worried about going outdoors. I thought I would collapse...because it would be so different.

But, I made it two miles. Well, just about. I was almost at the animal shelter (the one mile mark on the trail), and the path was completely flooded with the melting snow. We're talking mini-river. I didn't want totally soggy shoes, so I turned back.

Anyway, I took my iPod with me and blasted some sweet tunes. I'm totally sweaty and sexy...but I feel good. I know now I could do it again!

Yay Me!

Edited to say: You never know what you're going to get in Iowa. People walking around in shorts and no coats today. Two to three inches of sleet and snow expected overnight tonight. Whoooooooooooo!

I have just finished grading my last freshman research paper!!!!

High-fives all around!

The trimester ends this week, and so I was working under a slight time constraint. Going into this weekend, I only had two of my four periods graded...but I used my time wisely yesterday afternoon and today and finished them all.

You cannot even imagine how it feels to be finished with this task. But let me try to illustrate with examples from pop culture and beyond.

1. You all know Odysseus from "The Odyssey", right? The guy who takes twenty years to get home after the Trojan War? Yeah, I feel like that.

2. Odysseus's wife, Penelope, has been waiting, faithfully, for him to return. For twenty years. Yeah, I feel like that.

3. How about reading all seven books of the Harry Potter series, one right after the other? Yeah, I feel like that that.

4. Try watching the extended editions of "Lord of the Rings." Back to back to back. Yeah, I feel like that.

5. Twelve minutes of pure hell in high school physical education on "Run the Mile" day. Yeah, I feel like that.

6. Giving birth. Three times. Without drugs. Yeah, I feel like that.

7. Waiting for the last day of school to end. Yeah, I feel like that.

It feels pretty sweet, actually. I think I'll ask my husband if he has ideas on how I can celebrate this achievement.

I'm sure, without a doubt, you've all heard of the famous poem "Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann. It begins like this...

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence."

The rest of the poem is similar. I remember reading this on a poster in my high school social studies classroom, and thinking then how cool it sounded then. Of course, the words ring more true now that I'm older and wiser.

Here I am, on my third snow day this week, and I am trying to keep from going insane. So.....

"Go placidly amid the snow and ice,
and remember what peace there may be in a day off from work."

This is my mantra. I cannot change the weather, I cannot change the weather, I cannot change the weather. I cannot change the fact I'll be in school in June.

But I can change my attitude...and realize some good could come from today. I could get more papers graded. I could read a book. I could do laundry. I could call my mom and see if she wants to go out for lunch, since she has the day off.

Oooh, I do feel better.