Suspicious in suburbia

So, our yellow lab, Dakota starts barking and going nuts about 4 a.m today. My husband looks out the window and sees our neighbor's car in his driveway. We all fall back asleep. This morning we awaken to a fresh lawn job and run down bushes in our front yard. Neighbor across the street has tire tracks buried in his lawn as well. Next door neighbor's car is smashed in by front passenger side door and grass is stuck in it. hmmmm??? Husband asks NDN how he's feeling and he says he has a hangover...doesn't know anything about tire tracks in lawn, although there's clearly tracks running from his driveway, into his grass, then into ours. Wonder if incident has anything to do with wife & kids in Korea for two months.

Energy Zap

Cups of caffeine: 5
Emergency Chocolates: 3
Energy: 0
Promptness: On time, with 2 minutes to spare before the 1st bell
The students just sucked the life and energy right out of me today, as I almost fell asleep on the way home. One teen boy, (why is it always the boys?) stunk so bad, my stomach started to spin and I had to take three steps back away from him which wasn't enough because I could still smell his B.O.
What non-teachers don't understand is that lecturing & explaining can drain any ounce of energy you have left for all the other million little things you have to accomplish outside of school. Is it Friday yet?

Production

CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL--the novel is finally in production! yay! Now the hard part has begun; designing my webpage, writing the press release, promotion, promotion, promotion! So, sorry about the boring blogs lately...I promise the book edition will be more entertaining! ...and if it's not--you can always try to sell it at a used bookstore. lol Please go buy it when it comes out. Help an underpaid, overworked teacher retire early! Namaste.

Choices

With the students first day back at school, and some of them stinking some kind of funk...(bad hygiene or gym class?), I analyzed the choices I had made about the work/mommy situation. Buy a tiny, old 1200 square foot bungalow in a mediocre Detroit 'burb and stay home with Xander, thus resign from job, or buy brand new 2700 square foot house in plush Detroit' burb and keep job as high school teacher? Hmmm...you know what I did as I have been lecturing all day to smelly teens who wished they were still on summer vacation. And who doesn't wish that? Three co-workers/new-moms have decided not to return to school this year! But it's all good as the plaque on my wall reads, "Teachers: preserve the past, reveal the present, create the future." While napping with Xander today, one ear heard Oprah say, "it's never to late to live your dreams." ...which is exactly what I am trying to do.