Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Another book to work on

I just wish I had thought of this idea 4 years ago when I started substitute teaching.  The next book I would love to write is called The Crazy Things That Kids Write, Say, and Do.  I'm sure I could get a lot of help from many teachers for this book.  I wish I had thought of this when I was doing my grading job, too.  The invented spellings that I read while grading were hilarious.  I started writing down quotes that happened a few days ago, today so that I would have them on file.  I'm sure if I sat down and really thought about it, I could remember some other funny things that the kids have said throughout my time working with them.  Kids and older people are very similar.  They have zero patience and no filters.  Whatever comes to their minds comes out of their mouths.  I do the best I can to try to teach the kids to have a filter, but most of the time it doesn't work.  This will be yet another very fun book to write!

P. S. I reached 2,000 views today!  I believe the 2nd thousand views came quicker than the first 1,000!  Thanks to everyone that reads my blog!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

How much money have I touched in my life?

I have worked with a lot of numbers tonight.  I had to go to my dad's liquor store to help him count bottles.  I'm watching the World Series of Poker main event final table where the winner gets over $8.5 million.  I'm looking at horse races for this weekend, which involves looking at numbers to assess how I think the horse might do.  It got me thinking.  Since I have worked 9 years at the grocery store, and probably about that many years (only about a dozen times a year ish) at my dads store, I wonder how much cash I have touched in my life.  When I was younger, I used to go in to my dads store on Sunday's and help him count the money.  I would bundle up $20 bills in stacks of $1,000.  Although more and more people use credit, I still handle tons of cash at both stores that I work at.  I have definitely touched hundreds of thousands of dollars.  I touch thousands of dollars each shift, even more around holiday time.  It's interesting to think about the amount of money I have touched throughout the years.  I wouldn't mind handling the $8.5 million that a poker player is going to win tonight.  That will be more money than I will ever touch in my life time, won't come anywhere near making that much money either.

Monday, October 29, 2012

112 and 112

I put my first book on sale for free for the 2nd time this past Saturday.  I put my second book on sale for free that day, too.  Then I decided to keep that book free yesterday so that both books were free for two days total so far out of the five they allow me to have.  Oddly enough, both books have sold 112 free copies.  Obviously that means that the 112 people that got my first book for free also got my second book for free.  That would be really weird if that were the case.  As I said, I have 3 more free days for each book between now and January.  I have no idea when I will use them.  Hopefully people will now buy my book as the word gets out there!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Donating part 2

Along with me not donating money to people, I also do not like asking people for donations.  At the grocery store, pretty much every month, they have cashiers ask customers to donate to such and such cause.  This month, they are trying to give the cashiers incentives to sell donations.  I still refuse to ask people to donate money.  I feel like it is rude.  If a customer tells me they would like to donate, no problem.  However, I'm not asking them to donate with the horrible economic times we are in.  One good thing about our store is that 100% of the donations go to that cause.  The store profits absolutely nothing from the customers.  That's good.  I've heard of places that take a profit from the donations.  That's horrible.  Enough about donations.  The store was very busy today, but nowhere near as busy as I expected it to be.  Buckle up and be safe, Sandy is almost here!!! 

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Donating to those in Need

I am not one to donate money to anyone besides the Indians at casinos.  However, I have no problem donating clothes to people.  I also donated blood once.  I only did that to get extra credit in a class, but I did it!  Whenever I have too many T-shirts or stuff that doesn't fit me anymore, I put it in a pile and my mom brings it to the salvation army.  The other day, an aide in my school asked me what size clothes I wear.  She told me that her daughter knows a boy that is 14 and around my size.  This boy has nothing.  This is coming from an aide who unfortunately doesn't come from much herself.  She said her daughter was crying the other day because this boy hardly has clothes to wear.  I told her I had a bunch of T-shirts sitting on the porch waiting to go to the salvation army.  I also told her I would look through some other stuff to see if I could give anything else.  Yesterday, I ended up bringing a large bag filled with T-shirts, flannel pants, sweat pants, and some sweat shirts for this boy to have.  The aide could not have been happier.  I wish I could see the look on the boys face when he receives my clothes.  It feels good to donate to those in need.  I'm lucky enough to have an abundance of T-shirts that don't fit in my drawers.  Unfortunately, some people aren't that lucky.  I like to try to help people who are less fortunate whenever I can.  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, haha!  But seriously, it's a great thing to do!

Friday, October 26, 2012

OMG, a storm is coming!

It's that time of the year again.  Yup, the time when everyone freaks out because a little bit of rain is coming.  You know what that means.  The grocery store is going to be packed the next two days because everyone will be locked in their house during this epic storm.  I don't understand why people freak out over a little bit of rain.  I'm sure most people have plenty of resources if the power were to go out.  When huge storms come like this, people tend to buy anything and everything.  You don't need lobster if a storm is coming.  This storm is not going to keep people from leaving their house.  People over react anyway.  Naturally, tomorrow when I work at the liquor store, people will not be rushing to come in to buy wine and liquor before the storm.  That would be pretty sweet, though!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Kids Voting

There's a website that allows students to vote for president.  Our school signed up so that our students can vote.  I have had several classes come to the lab and vote.  This includes kindergarten students.  I feel like this program should be limited to grades 4 and up.  Kids that are younger than that will not understand who they are picking and what it all means.  Obviously it is just for fun.  However, I think it would be slightly more accurate if it were only older kids voting.  Then again, since we are a democratic state, many of the kids probably chose President Obama because they have listened to their parents talking about it.  Naturally, after each student voted, they asked each other who they voted for.  We tried to explain that it's a private decision.  Kids don't care, though.  We will find out sometime next week how the entire school voted.  We will see how that stacks up to the actual election in 2 weeks.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Music

It's amazing how much music motivates us.  I was at the gym today and noticed that practically everyone had headphones on.  I did as well.  I can't get work done without listening to music in the background.  When I'm at work or at home, I need music playing so I can focus.  It's weird, I can focus with music playing but if someone talks, I can't focus at all.  My ears pay attention to the conversation.  I have one student during homework club that always asks me if she can listen to her iPod because she needs it to focus.  I completely understand her, but have to tell her no.  Just now, I was sitting in a car dancing to some music.  My friend and I stopped our conversation to dance to the newest popular song, "Gangnam Style".  I think the songs that we like keep us motivated throughout our workout or work day.  Without music, the world would be a much quieter place.  We need music in our lives to survive.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

It's Been a Long Day

That's one of my least favorite phrases of all time.  I especially despise this phrase when customers tell me that at the grocery store while I am working.  That is the last thing I want to hear from someone.  I would love to respond, "Yes, it's 24 hours long just like every other day.  Believe it or not, every single one of us get 24 hours in each day.  I completely understand that some days move by slower than others.  However, don't use the phrase, "It's been a long day" in front of me.  I can't even explain why it bothers me, it just does.  I think everyone should be more optimistic in life.  Then again, I am contradicting myself horribly by being negative about this phrase.  Maybe tomorrow I will have another phrase to share with you that I am not a fan of.

Monday, October 22, 2012

I Miss Billy Fucillo

Does anyone else miss Billy Fucillo commercials?  Obviously you would never normally hear me say anything as appalling as that.  However, I am so sick of all of the commercials by politicians telling me that the other candidate is lying and that I need to vote for them.  Every single commercial lately is an advertisement to vote for such and such.  I don't care!  We are in deep trouble no matter who we vote for.  My vote doesn't matter anyway because New York is a democratic state.  I would much rather listen to Billy Fucillo and his "HUUUUUUUUUUU-GE" car deals than listen to another candidate telling me that they approve this message.  Everyone knows that politicians are liars.  They never do what they say they will do.  Maybe this year will be different.  Haha! Right!  Not a chance.  We will be in debt until our great grandchildren have great grandchildren.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Shyness

When I was a kid, I was extremely shy in school.  I didn't have very many friends.  I was always the last one picked in gym games.  I never made any effort to be outgoing and find friends.  I was very shy during my first year of college, too.  I went to college with a few friends from high school.  I hung out with them and only them the entire first year of college.  Starting my sophomore year, I finally branched out a little bit.  I am now nowhere near as shy as I was.  I still am pretty shy compared to a lot of other people.  However, I've noticed lately that I've been starting conversations with people instead of waiting for them to start.  I've been introducing myself to people instead of hoping they don't notice me.  I need to have this personality if I want any chance of my books being popular.  It only took me over 25 years to open up a little bit.  My message is to try not to be shy if you are.  Trust me, I know it's hard to break the habit.  I enjoy being more outgoing.  It makes me more approachable.  Maybe this is a whole new me!  Watch out world!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Nostalgic Day

Since my room is so small, I have four boxes full of stuff out on the porch with a blanket covering them.  It's not very smart because they are right underneath a window.  What if it rains extremely hard and it starts leaking into my boxes?  They have been out there for a couple of years and no damage so far.  (Knock on wood).  One box contains a ton of loose leaf paper that I have accumulated over the years.  I will use that when I have my own classroom.  Two boxes contain stuff I saved from student teaching.  One box is filled with letters, awards, souvenirs, and stuff that students have given me throughout my student teaching, subbing, and computer aiding.  I went through that box today looking for some things.  I found a ton of letters from one of my high school friends.  Our first year of college, even though we talked online almost every moment that we were awake, we sent letters to each other.  I also found a letter from my mom and two letters from my dad.  The one from my dad was hilarious.  I texted him about it today and he said, "Wow, I actually wrote a letter!"  I saw many pictures that kids have drawn for me and many letters telling me not to go when I was student teaching.  One made me laugh because it was from a kid who always misbehaved.  In the letter, he told me he didn't want me to go and he told me to be careful driving.  The day I left, it was snowing very hard.  One thing I was searching for was a story I wrote in Creative Writing when I was a senior in high school.  a substitute teacher reminded me of it yesterday when she told me she had to write a 20 page memoir of herself.  In my assignment, I had to write a story about each year of school.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find that story.  So then, I asked my mom how old the Blueberry iMac is that we have sitting in our house that we never turn on.  It's from 2001.  Maybe my story is on there.  I turned it on and the computer works fine.  I found a ton of old stories I wrote for that class, but not the one I was looking for.  A few stories I read made me laugh, though.  My only guess is that I wrote it at school under my username and password that I had for school.  It's a ton of fun to look through old things and especially the ridiculously old computer that we have.  It brings back a ton of memories.  The students that gave me things will never remember that they did that.  However, that is one of the reasons that being a teacher is so unique.  It's those small gifts that make a teachers day.  After finishing the book Stories From a Teacher, it sometimes makes me think twice about even becoming a teacher.  After struggling for over three years looking for a teaching job, that just adds to the skepticism.  However, I can't think of any job I'd rather have.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Bed Time/Sleep

I used to feel like a loser when I went to bed pretty early.  Now, I go to bed no later than 10:30 most nights.  One night last week, I went to bed just before 9 o'clock!  People don't realize how exhausting teaching is.  Even though I don't "teach", I'm still working with the kids and running around the school making sure the technology is working.  When I was student teaching, I would go to bed before 9 at least once a week.  I was too tired to function.  People should feel no shame in what time they go to bed.  I know there are probably elementary kids that go to bed later than me.  I don't care.  I do feel like a loser on weekend nights like tonight when I feel like going to bed around 10.  It's been hard for me to function tonight, too.  If only I could sleep well when I'm this tired!  Not a night goes by that I don't wake up in the middle of the night.  I've tried sleeping pills and they typically don't work.  I have no reason to get up early tomorrow.  I can still guarantee you that I will be awake no later than 8:15.  That's because my body won't let me sleep later, even if I lay down and try to fall back asleep.  Oh well.  I typically try to be in bed for the eight hours that they recommend you get each night.  Maybe one day my body will let me catch up on sleep!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

How do I do it?

I get asked that question a lot, believe it or not.  The other day, my principal saw my two books in my room.  She said, "I didn't know you wrote a second one.  How do you have time to do that?"  My response, "I just find time."  I don't say that out of arrogance either.  When I used to get up at 4:45AM to go to the gym last year, people would ask me how I do it.  My response, "I just do."  Is it easy?  No.  Do I like getting up very early?  No.  It's what worked with my busy schedule.  The school newspaper's 1st edition is scheduled to come out tomorrow!  I have put hours and hours into formatting and editing this one edition.  Do I get paid for it?  No.  I just do it.  Will it look good on my resume?  Absolutely!  I live my life one day at a time.  I try not to look too far into the future because my life is busy enough.  As I've said before, I don't know any other way to live.  I've said that I would love a day to do nothing.  When I get that opportunity, I'm bored out of my mind.  Keeping busy keeps the mind sharp.  I wouldn't want to live my life any other way than I do now.  I just do it.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

I will now be the cleanest person in the world!

I went to my grandparents for dinner tonight.  My grandma said that she had some hotel size shampoos and soaps I could take.  After dinner, she goes upstairs and gets a huge bag with a ton of shampoos and soaps.  There had to have been 50 shampoos.  I kid you not.  I grabbed many of them because they are the perfect size for when I work out at the gym.  Then she brings me to another room where she has full size shampoo, soap, toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, and toothbrushes.  She tells me to grab what I need.  I wonder if she was trying to tell me something.  I promise you that I don't smell too bad and I have good hygiene.  I now have a large bag with all of those supplies that will probably sit in my room now for another 20 years.  Well, hopefully it won't be in this exact room for 20 years.  Hopefully I move out by then and I transfer the cleaning stuff that will collect dust to my new location.  Now I have no excuses for not being clean!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Am I watching the debate or the Yankee game?

I received that question in a text message from someone that I thought knew me well.  This person will also read this blog and probably yell at me for writing a blog post about it.  Oh well.  I responded, "Is that a serious question?"  She said it was.  I told her I was watching neither because I was playing poker.  Even if I wasn't playing poker, obviously I would be watching the Yankees, even though it's a very painful thing to watch right now.  I'll give you two reasons why I won't watch the debate.  One: every single person's Facebook feed says something about the debate.  If I ever want to know what's happening, all I need to do is log on.  Two: it doesn't matter who gets the presidency this year.  We are in a world of hurt no matter who wins.  Related to that, I live in New York.  No matter who I vote for, Obama will win the electoral college votes in this state because we are a democratic state.  Electoral college votes are ridiculous anyway.  It should be based on popular vote only.  I know that will never happen, though.  Enough complaining.  I'm off to bed so I can go to the gym at 5:30...

Monday, October 15, 2012

Stories From a Teacher

My mom will sometimes email me with links to kindle books she think I might like.  The other day, she sent me a link for the book Stories From a Teacher.  It was free.  Obviously I decided to purchase it.  I started reading it today and it is hilarious!  It is written by a former teacher.  He writes stories about what happened to him while he was a high school English teacher.  Many of the stories I have read so far seem very far fetched because there is a lot of swearing from the students and himself.  I'm mad at this author, though.  I wish I came up with the idea first!  I'm sure I could come up with plenty of stories that happen at school for a book.  I guess that's what my first two books were about, even though they are fictional stories.  That's why I'm writing a book about a grocery store instead.  There will be plenty of true stories in that book!  If you have a kindle, want a good laugh, and enjoy free books, I would highly recommend that you check out Stories From a Teacher by Jonathan Flores.  It's not just a book for teachers.  Everyone can enjoy this book.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Need to find that routine

I've been going to the gym sporadically the last month and a half.  I've probably gone two times a week each week.  That's not good enough.  I need to go more often.  I keep coming up with excuses as to why I'm not going.  I've been busy, I don't feel well, and I'm too tired.  Enough is enough.  I should go at least three days a week since a trainer gave me three different work outs to do.  I will be going tomorrow.  I do know that on Wednesday, I have a meeting with my newspaper club kids.  Let's see if I go to the gym after that.  I know I'll be exhausted and annoyed since the kids haven't done what I asked them to do yet.  Sometimes I feel like I take on too much at once.  At this point, I'll brown nose, suck up, and do as much as I need to do to get a teaching job!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

68 sales today!

I put my kindle book on sale for free today.  I can do that 5 days out of the next 90 under the KDP select program.  68 people "bought" the book today!  That's awesome!  I'm really hoping that some of those people will write a review after they finish it.  That way, maybe more people will be tempted to buy it after they see that it's good.  Also, my second book should be out on kindle within a day or two.  I'm so excited with how things are going with my books!  My big break is coming soon!  P. S. Yankees are the reason I am always tired.  How many more extra inning games are they going to play?  They were down 4-0 in the ninth and came back to tie it tonight!  They are currently in extra innings.  I have to work in 7 hours.  I have no idea how much longer I will stay up.  But... GO YANKEES!!!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Rain, Hail, Sleet, Snow, Freezing Rain

How many people can say that they went to a wedding outside and had all of that precipitation on the ride up to the mountain?  Everyone that went to my friends wedding today can say that!  My friend got married today at Hunter Mountain.  We had to take a ski lift up to the mountain.  On our way up, it started to sleet.  It was pounding our face which really hurt because of the wind.  It was freezing cold!  All sorts of other precipitation happened, too.  My friend wore nothing but her dress.  She was so cold that she was red!  Luckily, the ceremony was only about 20 minutes.  The view was beautiful, though.  You were literally up in the mountains looking at the trees surrounding you every way you turn.  The reception went from 3:30 until well after we left.  Unfortunately, my mom wanted to leave early.  We left about 8.  I wanted to stay a lot later.  I was having an amazing time because I was hanging out with friends from college that I haven't seen in forever.  I was even hanging out with my friends family since I practically know them all.  It was the best wedding I have been to because of all of the connections I had with many of the people there.  The food was delicious.  My friends that got married were beautiful and it was just a great time!  The only downfall was the freezing cold in the mountains.  It definitely makes for a great story, though.  I wish I could have stayed longer with everyone else.  Next time my friend gets married (haha, hopefully she doesn't get married again), I'm staying over at the hotel!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Mini Trip Around Some of NYS

I will not be writing in my blog tomorrow night.  I will be spending the night at Turning Stone.  I'm sure you are wondering why I would do that when I have work on Friday.  Well, I don't have work this Friday.  I am going to my friends wedding in Hunter, NY Friday afternoon.  Saturday, I am going to the Great Escape again.  Three different cities on three different days across some of New York state.  It should be a ton of fun!  I'm very excited about my best friends wedding.  Weddings are always a good time.  I can't believe it's two days away already!  This is sure to be a very busy and tiring three days.  It will be worth it in the end, especially if I hit it big at Turning Stone tomorrow!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Becoming an Author

When people find out that I wrote two books, they ask me if my ultimate dream is to become an author.  They also ask me how I came up with the idea.  My honest answer to the first question is no.  I do not want to become a full time author.  I have wanted to teach elementary school since I was in 6th grade.  Even though there is APPR and many other issues in education, I still want to be a teacher.  To answer the second question...I know it's cliche, but the first book just kind of happened.  I sat down one day and wanted to do something I've never done before.  I thought of a title for a book and went with the idea.  Coming up with the names was the most fun, yet most challenging part.  I did a lot of research of funny (appropriate) names.  It took a lot of time and a lot of planning.  I have spent hours and hours researching, outlining, writing, editing, formatting, and searching for publishers to take on my book.  Would I love to be a famous author that sells thousands of books?  Of course!  If that were to happen would I want to continue writing instead of teaching?  I don't think so, but I can't answer yes or no because I'm not in that situation.  Do I wish I hadn't spent so much time with the entire process, including looking for a publisher since I haven't sold many copies.  Absolutely not!  I would not trade the experience I have had creating a book from the ground up for anything.  The fact that I was a struggling reader in elementary school, took remedial reading classes, and went to summer school twice for reading makes this accomplishment that much more special for me.  The feeling of satisfaction once my book was finished is one of the best feelings in the world!  The moral of this post is to do what you love regardless of how much money or fame you could potentially get.  Don't do it for money.  Do it because it makes you happy.

Monday, October 8, 2012

7 More Books

In addition to the book I'm going to write about a grocery store, I have six more books to write, according to my grandpa.  He told me today, after reading my second book, that I have to write a book for each of the next six school years since I just wrote about 5th and 6th grade.  As of right now, I have no plans to write another book in the series.  My main focus will be on the grocery store book.  I've been looking forward to writing that for awhile.  That doesn't mean I haven't given any thought to another book in the series.  I've thought of some possible titles, but nothing has fit yet.  I can almost guarantee you that I will not write six more books in that series.  I don't think my creative juices will flow for that much more writing.  Who knows, though?  The Diary of a Wimpy Kid is already on its seventh book in that series.  Then again, those books are ridiculously popular.  Mine aren't quite there yet.  One day...

Sunday, October 7, 2012

One of Those Days

I was at work today and heard an employee sigh heavily.  He told me, "It's just one of those days."  It got me thinking (it made my brain hurt to think so much).  Why do we say that phrase?  I understand that the phrase really means, "It's been a tough day."  However, how do we get that meaning from the word "Those"?  It doesn't make sense to me at all.  It's as if we have categorized days.  "Those days" are not good days.  We were all taught that when we were born apparently.  Maybe one day, when I'm having an awesome day, I'll tell someone I'm having "One of those days".  That will really confuse them.  Anyway, I didn't have one of those days.  I had a day, just like everyday is a day.  At this point, I do live my life one day at a time.  It is a full time 24/7 job after all.  There are no breaks in this thing we call life.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Epic Fail

My 5K run this morning turned into almost 10K.  There were well over 100 people doing the run.  Most of them decided to walk.  I went in the group that ran.  There were about a dozen of us that went out together and then we all spread out.  There was a police officer riding a bike leading the way.  There were also arrows telling us which way to run.  Unfortunately, right after the 2 mile marker, there was a fork in the path with no arrows.  I took one path which led me down a road that looked very familiar.  then I passed the one mile marker and knew that I made a huge mistake.  Before I took the wrong fork in the road, I heard the announcer cheering on the first group of runners to finish the race.  I knew I must have been close.  At the one mile marker, there were people there offering water.  They saw me and said, "You're running it again?"  I told them I took a wrong turn.  At the two mile marker, same comment.  They told me which way to go.  At this point, I had to walk a lot because I had run/walked over four miles.  Once again, I came to the fork and took the wrong path.  This time I walked around and looked confused (shocking, I know).  There were more people that didn't know which way to go.  Finally, we took a path that led us back the same path we started on that led us back to the finish line.  It took me 48 minutes to finish my 6ish mile run/walk.  I'm upset because I really wanted to see what my time would have been for 5K.  At least I wasn't the only person that took a wrong turn.  They should have been more clear and put more arrows up or had more people guiding us.  Oh well.  I'm sure I'll try again next year.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Get a Life!

I'm sure you are all reading the title of the post and are thinking, hmm, what happened?  Well, I can tell you that nothing happened.  I just read the book Get a Life!  8 Steps to Create Your Own Life List by Stephanie Bond.  It was an extremely long book...23 pages.  It took me all of 15 minutes to read.  It was very interesting.  She talked about how to start creating a list of goals for your life.  She gave examples such as dream vacations, spiritual goals, charitable goals, etc.  I really like the idea of making a list of accomplishments and dreams you hope to achieve in your life time.  However, I can't see myself sitting down and doing this.  She did say that she recommends making a blog of your list so that family and friends can see what your goals are and track your progress with you.  Maybe one day I will sit down and make a list and put it in this blog.  I definitely have a lot of traveling goals.  Other than that, not counting career goals, (she said do not include those in your life list) I haven't thought about any other things I want to achieve in life.  This would be a great opportunity to reflect on that.  Right now, however, my only current goal is to run the entire 5K race I have tomorrow morning without taking any walking breaks.  I know I can do it!


Thursday, October 4, 2012

Talking to a wall

Have you ever had a day when you feel like you are talking to a wall?  That was today for me.  No one wanted to listen to anything I said.  I repeated myself several times and yet, they still didn't listen.  I feel like a wall would respond better to me than the kids did today.  The younger kids have a difficult time doing things on the computer.  I understand that.  However, when I show them how to do it several times, I feel like they should be able to do it.  Frustrations are part of every job.  I don't care if you absolutely love your job.  You will still have days where you feel like nothing is going right.  Needless to say, it's not a good feeling.  Maybe next week, these kids will do a much better job with the project they tried to work on today.  Right now, I'm just going one day at a time. 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Incredible Speed

I ordered copies of my second book on Saturday as soon as I published.  I ordered the slowest shipping, which is 5-8 business days.  I do that because it's the cheapest and I don't need my books right away.  If I ordered two day shipping, it would be triple the price.  Crazy!  They said my books' estimated day of arrival was Tuesday, October 16.  Today was only the third business and it's nowhere near October 16.  Guess what?  I have the books I ordered already!  I'm completely fine with Amazon giving me my books with speedy delivery even though I paid for slow deliver.  This isn't the first time I've ordered books that have come quicker than expected.  Amazon is a great company to do business with.  My newspaper club started today.  I had 25 kids come out of the 26!  One student went home sick.  I spent the entire hour talking about what I expect from them.  They did no writing.  I expect them all to have articles written in two weeks before our next meeting.  I hope it works out!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

What to do, what to do

Now that I'm done with book two, I don't have anything to do at night.  I can start working on my grocery store book.  However, I want to take time off from writing books for a little while.  I feel like I should be doing something useful with my time, though.  I'm so used to being busy that it feels weird doing nothing.  Luckily, I have playoff baseball to watch.  Unfortunately, the New York Yankees could potentially be out in the first game of the playoffs if they are a wild card team that loses in the first game.  If that's the case, I might be writing earlier than I hoped.  They need to win tonight's game and tomorrows.  If they can do that, they will win the division and play a series instead of one game.  The new playoff system in baseball is weird.  They now have two wild card teams in each league instead of one.  They will play each other for one game to see who plays in a series.  Yankees need to avoid that at all costs.  If they lose tonight and Yankees and Orioles both win or both lose tomorrow, they will have to play a 163rd game against each other to see who wins the division.  The loser of that game will play in the wild card game.  Do you understand all of that?  Good.  It's a crazy ending to a very long season!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Forgetful

This morning, before work, I thought of something to write in my blog tonight.  Naturally, I didn't write it down so that I would remember it.  I forgot what it was.  I can't tell you how many times I come up to my room to look up something and forget what I wanted to search.  I do that all the time at work, too.  I am about to do something and forget what it was.  I'm not that old!  I shouldn't be forgetting things at my age.  Although one thing I do want to forget is the performance tonight by the Dallas Cowboys.  Tony Romo threw 5 interceptions!  That's pitiful!  The Cowboys look great one week and horrible the next.  That was not a good way to end my 12 hour work day.  Now I have to get up early to work another nine hours.  Ugh.