The Grieving Insomniac

Last night my husband, my mom, my aunt and I ate an early dinner at Coco's. Afterward Nick and I came home and watched some of the NYE coverage and read. Nick went to bed at midnight. I made the mistake of staying up until after midnight...around 1 am some neighbors decided to shoot of fireworks for over an hour! It was insane!!!! Today we spent most of the day watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy. We're onto the last movie, The Return of the King now. I found my lists of books I read each year from 2006 to 2013 except 2009 and 2010. 2009 is stuck on my Blackberry and I didn't keep track in 2010. That was right after my dad died and I just didn't care that year. Each year I've kept track I've read at least 50 books. I'm writing all the lists down in a notebook so I can keep track in case my phone has an issue again. Here is the list of books I read last year: Books Read in 2013 1. Found by Shelley Shepard Gray 2. Angels all Around Us by Anthony DeStefa...

I've been dealing with very bad asthma for about 5 years on and off. Prior to that, I was a severe asthmatic as a child. I also have severe allergies and sinusitis. Add to that fibromyalgia and I'm a mess. My New Year's resolution is to get healthier. To start that I'm reading several Christian self health books/positivity books. The first book I read was Joyce Meyer's Look Great, Feel Great. I like her style of preaching and often watch her show during the week. I like the idea that I, with God, can have control over my health. In Look Great, Feel Great, she outlines 12 Keys for healthy living. She recommends taking time to add each key rather than jumping into all 12 at once. So for this week I'm focusing on Key #1: Let God Do the Heavy Lifting. Joyce recommends 5 ways to trust God with your burdens: 1. Ask 2. Attend church 3. Attend a support group 4. Begin each day with an affirmation 5. Pray in moments of doubt. My action that I'm focusing o...

I usually make a goal to read 50 books each year. This year I far surpassed that goal partially because I was sick for most of the end of the year. Here are the books I read: Books Read in 2012 1. The Amish Nanny by Mindy Starns Clark* 2. Plain Fear: Foresaken by Leanna Ellis* 3. Strange but True 4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins* 5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins* 6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins* 7. The Derailment of the Sunset Limited by Neal Hallford 8. What Would Lincoln Say? 9. The Harbinger 10. The Sister Wife by Diane Noble 11. Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey 12. Almost Amish by Nancy * 13. George Washington & Israel 14. Titanic: the Tragedy that Shook the World 15. The 8th Confession 16. Angel in the Rubble* 17. Missing by Shelley Shepard Grey* 18. The 9th Judgement 19. The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark 20. Gypsy Bride* 21. See How They Run by James Patterson 22. Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith* 23. Piece de Resistance by Sandra Byrd 24. Holy ...

My allergies are still going crazy, including my teeth! I'm brushing, flossing, and using rinse two times a day. I was also able to get a dentist appointment tomorrow for a deep cleaning, which is a blessing, I haven't used the breathing machine since Thursday. I will use it tomorrow before I go out. Considering I'm having the allergy shot I will need to use the machine frequently in the upcoming days. I just pray my reaction is minimal this time. I will tell the. Ruse about what happened last time.

I've been out sick from work for nearly 3 weeks with a sinus infection/asthma/bronchitis.  As a result I was home when the reports started coming in Friday morning about the shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary.  I had a very déjà vu-ish feeling as I sat glued to the tv for the entire day.  I did this the day of the Columbine shooting, as well as the Amish school house shooting.  The difference now...I teach at an elementary school.  When the reports were coming in that is was a K class, I began thinking about all of the K students I've taught both as a preschool teacher and an RSP, and even as a sub.  My favorite sub assignment was teaching a K class for a teacher who had a back injury.  A lot of the things I do in my class are a direct result from that experience. But then u learned it was first graders.  That's my grade! Even though I now teach RSP, my heart is and always will be with teaching first graders.  I thank my former principal for...

Today Nick and I went to buy all of our ham radio equipment! A few weeks ago we,passed the test to get our tech lisence. I got interested in ham radio when I realized it was used a lot during emergencies...considering we live in earthquake country it couldn't hurt to learn how to use them. We went to a shop in Burbank and spent a good 2 1/2 hours there. We got everything we need to get started including antennae, cables, desk top radio with power supply, hand held radios and a few other things. We are still waiting for our names to get into the database. Until that happens we can't transmit. Tomight we are watching Sy Fy's version of The Philidelphia Experiment. I heard of the previous movie, but didn't know anything about it. It's and interesting concept and my husband is a fan of Nichola Tesla.

Well I go back to work on Momday. Yesterday I spent several hours rearranging stuff and unpacking. My honey put up my bulletin boards even with being sick with bronchitis...poor honey. I've got a polka dot theme going...maybe I should call it polka dot Afro! Tonight I started downloading all the ieps so I can give them to the teachers on Monday. Sometime this weekend I have to make my vegan blueberry muffins for the staff breakfast. Today I got stuff for lunches...that's when it really hit that school is starting next week. Not that I mind. I wish we still had 3 months on, 1 month off...two months off makes me far more lazy than I should be and I'm ready to go back by about the 6th week!