by Sarah | Oct 8, 2010 | All About Me, Crap
Day 08 – Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Middle School.
The bowels of Hell for me.
I was insanely skinny, big ugly pink plastic glasses, braces, and acne.
Perfect fodder for evil pre-teen/teenage girls.
I had 2 close friends. Super close. They both had the same name. We had the “I’m Larry, this is my brother Darryl, this is my other brother Darryl”-type thing going on. We passed notes, to the point where we had a 3-way notebook we would trade back and forth between classes. Every school day someone took it home, every weekend. Our deepest thoughts, our silliest dreams and crushes, our love for NKOTB kept us bound in one spiral notebook after another. It was us against the tides of evil girls out there.
Our circle grew just a little bit. A few other girls became our friends as well. Not the best friends, but they were friends.
Then it happened.
One of my Darryl’s decided that I was the perfect target to bolster her esteem. In a far away town on a class trip (w/ at least 1/4-1/3 of the entire class on it) she managed to break my heart, destroy what little bit of reputation I had, and totally leave our trio of friends in tatters.
Upon our return from the trip out of town my world was shattered. I had one friend left, literally. My other Darryl stuck by me, remained my friend all through the 9th grade when I moved away…and on occasion we’d see each other when I went home…and we’re now facebook friends again.
My middle school life was hell…but in one fell swoop she ripped away what little bit of happiness I had. Some days I think I’m silly for still holding onto the pain…but every time I think about it, the pain is still fresh. A scar that will never heal.
“Darryl” was my friend. One of my best friends. It’s not something I will ever forget.
by Sarah | Sep 30, 2010 | All About Me, Random
The weather is (finally) getting cooler. The days are getting shorter…
And my brain is wrapped around five million craft projects.
Yup, it’s getting close to Christmas. I’m trying to figure out measurements for the girls for dresses, pettiskirts…trying to knit faster than I type (not even close at this point)…laying out what materials I have, figuring out what I need. What presents are bought and what we still need to acquire.
Christmas is closer than ever. I’m happy that I started to buy presents a few months ago (just a little bit here and there)…and that we only have a few more to get – but as always it’s the pricey ones…and we need new tires this year on the truck (desperately)…and oy. Things always have to happen all at once don’t they?
But I love this time of year.
The colors.
The urge to cook and bake – not to mention the joy I get from the activity. This year I’ve created my own sourdough starter. A living, breathing, growing sponge for bread. I can’t wait to make a batch of it this coming week.
The cool, crisp air that isn’t yet cold enough to freeze my nose off.
Apples.
Pumpkins.
Fall.
It always was my favorite time of year – even when I wasn’t allowed to play in the leaves (sap allergy…yup. Seriously).
Now excuse me while I get back to knitting. I have gifts to finish, you know…
by Sarah | Sep 27, 2010 | All About Learning, All About Molly, Crap
But really, wouldn’t you make allowances for this face?
I met with Riley’s teacher last week. A pre-IEP/pre-parent-teacher-conference meeting. A “she’s beating the crap out of her sister, how is she behaving in school” type of meeting.
Her behavior scale is different than the other students – she has been granted more leeway.
But she hides under the desk. She doesn’t talk. The class has had their seats moved several times already this year – Riley has remained stationary. She plays alone. She shuts down if things don’t go perfectly. She has one friend.
One friend is better than none.
The other kids try, from what I’m told. Riley just isn’t sociable.
One of the biggest problems at the moment is that it’s mid-terms. The teacher is required to test every student the same. Riley does not respond to the testing the way it is. Without an IEP there isn’t a thing the teacher can do to accommodate her needs. We can’t get an IEP until the testing is done. Rock. Hardplace. Us. Suckville.
We are learning from our (vast) mistakes. But not fast enough to spare some pain.
The teacher is worried sick about what will happen during a fire/tornado drill.
I’m worried sick about how this all is affecting her. Affecting us. Our meeting with special services will not be until November. Our hands are tied until then.
I thought we were done with the “hurry up and wait”.
It will never end.
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*Apologizing for negative nature of post. Feeling negative/stressed. It’s carrying over.*
by Sarah | Sep 17, 2010 | All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Me, All About Molly, Crap, Random
On occasion the random bullet-filled post is fun. Guess what you get today? The virtual grab-bag of crap…I mean, the bullet-list…so much less defined than a bucket-list 😀
* Riley got sick this week. I called her school on Monday at 10:45AM. Told them her name, her teacher, that she was in PM kindergarten – and said she was sick & not coming in. 2 hours later the school called wondering where she was. SOOOO not working in their favor.
* On that note, I have a copy of a withdrawal letter for her drafted. It’s not set in stone, but we’re meeting w/ her teacher on Monday. Might be an ‘exit interview’ to get our ducks in a row. Informational “what is happening in class” and “this is what’s happening at home” type of meeting. Not sure which way the pendulum will swing after that.
*Our town had it’s street fair this past weekend. Somehow Angel managed to get a pingpong ball into a little fishbowl TWICE. So, “Pingu” and “Nemo” are the new pets around here (pictures to follow soon). If they survive the week I’m going to need to get them a real fish bowl. Right now they’re managing, but I don’t have any proper materials so the water is getting filthy fast. Changing it out daily is not on my list of good times.
* The new season of GLEE is this coming week! YAY. Fall shows make me happy. GLEE, ANTM, Bones and Big Bang Theory I’m anxious to see again (okay, ANTM is already on, YAY). I’ve started watching Hellcats (don’t judge)…and I’m really looking forward to No Ordinary Family, Sh*t my Dad Says, and Blue Bloods (hello Donnie Wahlberg *sigh* – and my NKOTB love goes on – again, don’t judge, you know you loved them too).
* Speaking of shows…oh, how disappointed I am in True Blood. Alan Ball really took the show WAY off course – and BORED THE CRAP out of me this season. When you fast forward through 3/4 of the finale because you don’t give a sh*t about any of the characters – you know it’s bad. Shame on you, Alan Ball. SHAME ON YOU.
* I’m knitting again.
* And (sort of) writing again…more like editing my book based on some feedback I got. Once again I have confirmation from all that have read that my first chapter is great – but I’m still not getting my foot in that door. Oh well, I have a partial out once again (slightly rewritten from what it was), and I’m waiting to send out more until another time. At this time of year I stop pressuring myself to write so much, because it doesn’t flow as easy for me and there’s too much going on.
* Because of JENNIFER, I’ve started watching LOST. Yes, I’m WAY behind the ball, but so is she…and she mentioned it being on Netflix instant-play (which I’d noticed too) and commented that because she was late in watching she had no one to watch with. So, now I’m just about through the first season (would be completely but illness sent me to bed EARLY)…and annoyed at how hooked I am. Simple curiosity has me glued to my screen.
* I have more reviews coming. This will not turn into a review site, but some offers look interesting and I’m taking them when I can. At least one will go on my other site because it’s for a book, but occasionally you’ll see them here too!
* Did you know that there is now LESS than 100 days until Christmas? At the time of this post there will be 98 days until Christmas. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! It’s a simple fact. How much shopping do you have done? I have probably 1/3-1/2 done already.
* I’ll shut up now. More random posts in the future.
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It wasn’t intentional, but this fits into the theme, so I’m tying it to Friday Fragments:

by Sarah | Sep 14, 2010 | Crap
Of course, on the week that I do not have my posts pre-written we have a full house of sick. I’ve been sick for almost 3 weeks, now both girls and Archie all have it. So far Brandon has been spared, but we’ll see if that continues!!
I’m starting to feel a little better and I have a few posts in my head, so hopefully I’ll be able to find a few minutes at least to pre-write a post or two until I’m feeling more up to getting more set in line!!
Be back soon as I can!
by Sarah | Sep 8, 2010 | All About Me, Crap