Still here

We're still here, still waiting on baby. 2 weeks until our due date, but we are hoping to go before then. Today was the last day I had to teach summer school. What a relief to have that over with. I will put up a real post over the weekend, need to upload pictures.

After the Storm

We are creeping into thunderstorm season here in Maine. Our area always seems to get pretty intense storms that come in from out of no where. One minute it will be sunny and the next the skies turn dark. The light after the storms pass is one of my favorites. Everything glows and eerie pink/orange color.

It was a bit of a stormy weekend here, both in reality and metaphorically. My body seems to be trying to tell me that I am doing a bit too much, and after a scare this weekend it is time to cut back on my cleaning jobs. Money will be tighter than it already is...but we'll get by.

BLOOM

=

Wish I had more time to post. Things are crazy around here. End of the year at school has the kids nuts....thank god we only have 2 weeks left. I will be teaching summer school this year so I have been busy designing my lesson plans. Also been writing lots of applications in hopes of getting a science teacher position for the fall. I hate the application process and some of the questions you are asked to write about.
Haven't had enough time at home to get all of the veggies planted yet. Tony did rototil the back garden, so it is ready. Flowers are starting to bloom..... the iris are almost ready. Need to do a lot of weeding and fill in the bare spots.
The Subaru is broken down once again, so I need to figure out what is next for it. The fox killed 7 of our chickens and one of my angoras died unexplainably last week. Bummers.
I need to get ready to head to work at the hospital.....wish I could play outside instead.

B-U-S-Y

Sorry for the lack of posts.....I have been uber busy. Am taking my second online grad class in Special Ed Methods and just started a second job today. Working as an environmental services aide (glorified cleaning lady) at the hospital. 7am-2:30pm at school today, then 3pm-11:30 pm at the hospital.....Its midnight, I just got in feed the kitties, am eating a bowl of cereal, checking in on my online classroom discussions, taking a shower, and then crashing hard. I am working trough Saturday, but will try to post more on Sunday.

Funk

I am stressed out....... I can't kick this cold I have, I am worried about our finances (whats new), and frustrated with my job. I haven't been sleeping well which is very unlike me. Yesterday I slammed my finger in the door and then today I smashed it between two logs when I was carrying firewood in. I have a big blood blister now and feel like my fingertip is going to burst. Tony has been working up north a lot lately and I feel like I barely get to spend anytime with him when he is home. One of our tenants moved out without even telling us, so now we are once again cleaning up an apartment and trying to get it rented.
Ok, rant over. We got over a foot of snow this weekend. I ready to start thinking about putting together a seed order.

Buried

We got buried by snow over the last week. Two storms dumped close to another 15" on top of what we already had (which was probably almost 2'). If I were to walk in it I would probably be up to my hips. School was delayed for 2 hours on Wednesday which made coming back to work after vacation a litttle easier, but it was still a verrrry long work week. Besdies all of the kids at school being out of their minds and still strung out from vacation I have been working long hours after school. Half of my afternoons have been spent cleaning the vacation home that I help with and the other half has been spent helping an old service accoutn consolidate 2 aquariums into one 125 gallon aquarium. Wednesday and Friday I left the house for work at 6:45am and didnt get home until close to 10pm. I am tired but really need this extra money. Espically since I already spent half of it on Nora's vet bill from this little excursion. Turns out she broke of 2 teeth and they had to be extracted for a pretty little penny. Now for the next 4 days I get for battle with her to give her meds 3 times a day. As if I have time to do that.

That is the picnic table on the left hand side of the picture below.

Anna Got a Job!!

Yes, that's right. It only took about 15 applications but I finally got a job. I will be working as a Day Treatment support staff (basically still an Ed. Tech III).Today I met with all of my new coworkers and I am excited to say they all seem really nice. We will only have 5 students to start in the program and they will range from grades 5-9. There is myself, two other support staff members, one Special Ed Teacher, and on Social Worker. It is a very small tight knit program. Our school has a whopping 3 classrooms, a tiny cafeteria, a conference room, and some offices. But it does sit right on the lake. We will be taking our students to future builders of america twice a week. This is a vocational type program where the kids can be trained in automotive, carpentry, metal work, and some other fields. There will also be lots of field trips and a number of non-academic activities for the students. I am still in the dark on a number of things about my position but i will fill you in as soon as i know.

Progress!

Job announcement to come soon. Too busy with the bathroom......

Wazzup

About time you posted a comment about me not posting. Took you long enough. I have been busy, and not in the mood, and i didnt have any batteries for my camera and i dont like to post without pictures cause it is boring. and i like run on sentences can you tell?

So, let me tell you about a little thing people call luck. and the lack of it i have. every single time a little extra money comes my way, something happens that costs me money to fix. AND, once again, i have yet another car problem. This time my fan has died. The one that blows on your radiator or something like that to keep you car cool. The one that really comes in handy when you are driving in the middle of bum fuck maine cause your hick self has decided to go see some farms in the country cause it is Maine Open Farm Day. Ya, its that little fan that when it dies, some old marlboro man (thank god) comes to save the day while you sit sweltering in your car on the side of the road swearing at the damn AAA lady who is not helping you. He told me what the problem was, cut through the wire so that my fan which was still spinning but not in the compartment it should have been would not explode into pieces and fly into my engine (or something like that). So.... with this little fan gone, you car will potentially over heat, soooooooo...........you have to drive home with you heat on high in 80 degree weather.

Oh and once again, just like last time, this happened just before my interview with inland fisheries (yes i made it there regardless) . So, my car is in the shop, again. Here are some random pictures including some of the alpaca farms i went to .

Will work for work.

So, the job hunt continues. Here are the current stats:
1)Windham Study Hall Ed. Tech III-Didn't get the job but was rehired for my part time gig
2)Poland H.S. Science Teacher-never got a call
3)Poland M.S. Science Teacher-never got a call
4)Fryeburg Ed. Tech III-I have to call to see if they have started to review my app. yet
5)Raymond Library Ed. Tech- I have to call to see if they have started to review
6)Oxford Study Hall Ed Tech. II- I called, they havent started to review yet
7)Bridgton Library Assistant-Had 1st 2 interviews, waiting to hear back about a possible 3rd
8)Inland Fisheries Fish Culturist-received post card saying expect a call, still expecting
9)Casco Library Ed Tech- sending in application on Monday
10)Casco Elementary Ed Tech- sending out application on Monday

I feel like I have sent out a lot more than that, and probably have. Money is super tight this month so I really need to find something. Broke down the fish tank this morning to sell it off, deferred my school loans for a couple months (i qualified for economic hardship deferment), we are talking to a real estate agent about selling off the apartment building and may have to do a short sale, i canceled cable but they didn't do it right and our new bill went up .60 cents even though i turned in the cable box.
Something has to happen (hopefully good).

More Bad News

It's not just an alignment issue on my car. They were nice enough to tell me this after I paid $280 for them to FIX my alignment. The sterring wheel is straight now but I still can't drive my car for shit. The steering if all effed and it feels like the back end of the car is going to fishtale out from under me when i drive. So off to the dealer it goes today. Can you say cha-ching! Looks like I will have to fill an insurance claim after all.
I didn't get the Windham job. It took my boss 2 weeks to tell me and she told me in an email, and I quote, 'sorry for being so impersonal'. To sum it up she blamed it on my other boss, saying she was away on vacation or something and he made the decision to hire someone else while she wasnt there. But she said feel free to use the recommendation letter she wrote me in my appplications for another job. Gee, Thanks. Look what good it did me for this job.
Still no chickens and the kittens are learning to use a kitty litter box,,,, hence their is kitten shit on my rug now.

This is Where I Work.

WINDHAM: Student disabled with Taser during fight at high school
A Windham police officer temporarily disabled a Windham High School student with a shock from a Taser on Thursday as she fought with another female student.
Officer Smith, the school resource officer, was called to a hallway in the high school at 7:30 a.m. because two students were fighting. The two refused to stop and when he tried to separate the two, he was himself kicked, Sgt. Fulton said.
Smith decided against using pepper spray in the hall, which was full of students, and instead fired his Taser at Desiree while she was on top of her 16-year-old adversary.
Neither girl was hurt, Fulton said.
Both were charged with disorderly conduct. The 16-year-old was released to her parents and , 18, was taken to Cumberland County Jail, where she was freed on bail. The police report did not say what started the fight, Fulton said.

Happy Birthday Grandpa.I need a Job.

It's a rainy dreary Saturday morning here so I am thinking about going into work for a few hours at Aquatics.I am pretty sure that I have decided to kaput the aquarium service company. I am hoping that Bill at Aquatics will take over some of the accounts, in the past they had said they would do that and pay me a fee every month that they still do the account. I am sick of the long commute to get to these tanks and I am more so sick of the constant stress and worry I feel about some of them. The problem is I have become friends with all of my customers and I feel somewhat indebted to them and the money I make doing this is pretty good. But the decision at the moment is come the end of the summer I am done. The first two to go will be the residential tank on the wharf and Saporros restaurant. I enjoy doing Scaraborough and Pownal biweekly, and I have an account in Saco that I do per diem as well as an account in Poland per diem. But those two may go. My business insurance runs out in October and I am not going to renew so that will be then end I guess. I also put my own tank up for sale.

mine, poland, wharf, sorry crappy phone photos.

Meanwhile I have been looking for a summer job seeing as my job at the school ends at the end of May (oh,by the way I have an interview next Tuesday about going full time next year at Windham). I applied to this job in Bridgton which is only about 15 minutes away. And I just saw this listing last night and got really excited about it and applied. The deckhand job is in Portland though, about an hour away, but to get back on a boat, i think i would do it. I am also going to be working part time for one of my service accounts who own a retail store in the old port and this. They need help tracking inventory and shipping packages for own line orders.........not exactly the type of job I am looking for, but the owners are good friends of mine so I am happy to help them.

4 Jobs?

Sooooo..... I think I am about to have another job interview. While I have been looking for another job, this one was kind of just on a whim. I filled out an online application and wasn't really expecting to hear back, but i did, and the manager sounds quite interested in having me work there. It is at Mercy Hospital , and yes that is in Portland. So therein lies the problem. This might be a really interesting job and I can probably get benefits, but this will be another hour in, hour out commute. Oh well, I am still going to set up an interview. If I can get the right hours and benfits, I think I will do it. They have lots of benefits including free medical services, medical insurance, dental, eyecare, retirement, tuition reimbursement, and a few others. The position I applied for is a phlebotomy position, but the message I got was 'I have a position that I think you would really like', and 'I think we can help you further your career with your biology degree', so we'll see. Bu then again, it could be a job diagnosing poop samples. Hmmm.

On the me front

On the Node Front-
Well today should be the day I get my blood tests back. These are the ones that tested me for cat scratch fever, rabbit fever (nothing having to do with my doggie bunnies so shut up), and toxoplasmosis ghandi ( not the good ghandi either). I starting to bank on all negative results which will leave me even more frustruated. I have been researching fish handlers disease, mycobacterium, and may request a Tuberculosis (and no its not really TB)test to see if that is possible. Then at least I would have a great excuse to get out of the damn fish business world all togther......which speaking of........
On the Store Front-


I sold the contents of my store to Aquatics back in September, so why the f is my store still loaded with shit of theirs. I am poor and have no money to pay rent for you Aquatics, so show me the money on lets get to stepping (eh,,, word yo?). The place is seriously messier and more packed now than when it was a functioning store. Here are some pics of it just before it's final days. I will post some current pics soon, seeing as I have to go there 2-3 times a week still, ugh.

On the Get Your Ass to Work and Go to School and Get a Real Job Front-
I go through the job listings every day at servingschools.com . I print out the ones I want to apply for, most ed tech positions for now. But it all comes down to letters of reference or reccommendation or whatever the hell they are. I need 3 of them and I can't find 3 people to do it. Do i suck that bad that i don't know anyone to write a letter to reccommend me. No one will even lie and just tyoe it up. I have 2 from past teachers, but they are specific to a marine biology position that I had planned on applying for back in August. So someone help me out here. I also need to send my offical transcript and Praxis exam results to the Dept of Ed so that they can tell me what classes I need to take. But I need $150 beans to do it. I am trying my best to scrape up that money this week, cause I fear if i don't do it soon, I won;t get any infor back in time for spring semester. Everything costs money and I have none. My medical bills are creeping up close to $1500 now, I have lawyer bills from my first hellride of a business, school loans for life, credit card debt that makes me angry, and lets not forget parental loans (hi dad, that moneys coming soon). So you see, I just need a job.