Please don't let this kid be in my class!

Okay, I know that is an image that some of you may find offensive. It made me laugh as I was searching for graphics this morning so I am keeping it. It's my blog and I'm not always a perfect little lady. I need the laugh because Pac-Man is STILL not working and not much makes me laugh heartily these days.

I do teach students a few years older than this fellow who is telling someone else they are number one, but this sign isn't one that is entirely foreign to my room. It seems like every year there is at least one special bundle of pre-pubescent joy who has discovered the power of "the finger". They use it secretly to taunt others in my room when I turn my back and write on the board, which is not a chalkboard but rather a whiteboard.

I have pretty decent behind-my-back teacher vision for the big stuff but "the finger" tends to slip by me because it's silent and quick, unlike those loud, and thankfully rare, episodes of flatulence where some ten year-old lets one rip during a quiet test or while reading aloud.

It's not really about "the finger" but about doing something one knows isn't acceptable and is slightly naughty. I use it myself on occassion when people do incredibly stupid and asinine things while driving.

Sooooooooo... besides "the finger" this is other stuff rolling around in my lesion-filled head.

1.) The sick pit in my stomach knowing that I have to go to work tomorrow all day and that I need to be in school most days this week. The kids are coming, no matter what.

2.) I'm waiting for the call from the neurologist's office about setting up an appointment to sit down and do the paperwork for Tysabri. We know that my doc doesn't call when I need him so I'll give the office two days, maybe just one, and then call to see if this can be done this week.

3.) Next week is school. No going back, summer vacation is over, get your big girl panties on, get up at the crack of dawn, and hope and pray for the best. Why is this year so different from every other year? Why am I filled with dread and uncertainty instead of delight and a reasonable amount of nervousness?

How am I going to get past this??????

4.) I'm also waiting to hear from the LASIK people about an okayed surgery and then talking about pricing. More money and time going to medical stuff but I hope this surgery really helps and works.

If you believe in prayer, feel free to send one up for me. I can also use any positive thoughts you can send my way. In the typical words of all fifth-graders when they finish a writing assignment:

The End!!!

Eyeball Time with an update after the appointment!

**More of an update added later on Thursday afternoon near the bottom of this post.**

This morning is the eyeball appointment for the LASIK surgery, the pre-op stuff that could last between 2-3 hours. The good thing about wearing my glasses is that it makes me want the surgery more because glasses are good for seeing but get in the way of lots of stuff. Contacts are so much more user-friendly.

I could barely sleep last night. I feel the meds still pulling me in this type of tired/hungover state. I want to sleep so I am hoping for a nap later today.

Possibly, there will be more ramblings later, but in the meantime I am sending out good wishes for an authorization for my friend, B. (I think she is secretly delighted when I mention her. I can feel her smile a little now.)

Good friends are hard to find and harder to keep sometimes. I'm appreciative of the ones I have.

** New stuff** from almost 5 p.m. Eastern time

I survived the LASIK pre-op. Those numbing drops were stinging for just a bit and then you feel nada. One of the last things they did was numb my eyes for a second time, after the dilation, and they TOUCH YOUR EYEBALLS! Repeatedly!!

If you are squeamish then that sounds gross. It might still sound horrid to me if I hadn't gone through it.

The woman did not tell me she was going to touch my eyeball; she just came at me with this thing that had a metal rounded tip and started touching my eyeball in a bunch of places to measure the thickness of my cornea. Thank goodness I wear contacts and don't freak out as things come close to my eye.

Then she did the same thing to the other eye. I didn't feel anything really. That was a blessing.

Finally, she got out what looked like a marker-sized plastic thingie to touch my eyeballs AGAIN a few more times to measure the pressure.

Eyeball touching is now over; I made it home in the bright sun looking like a total dork with sunglasses on top of my pair of regular glasses. But I did it. I amaze even myself at times.

Quickies

1.) Why is it that on most TV news shows they have to announce how many medals the US has versus how many China has? Why do we have to beat them? Is it supposed to mean that we're a better society than they are? I thought the Olympics were about athletes doing their best on the world stage.

2.) I hate the heat. H-A-T-E it. It was in the 80s yesterday and humid and my MS was acting up. I need to call my neuro's office to let them know I doubled my Ritalin and some other stuff. I am soooooooo not looking forward to calling them. That alone can wear you out.

3.) I'm am at school more days than I am not now. Getting up early when it's still summer vacation stinks.

4.) I'm a mess emotionally lately. There's a new learning curve this year that will cause some changes in my classroom and school. I like structure and knowing what's coming.

5.) I'm scared about the whole LASIK thing. It's freaking me out to think that they will cut my cornea open.

6.) The newest Extreme Makeover Home is being built not too far from me. I don't know too much about it but will fill you in when I know more.

7.) It's time to stop complaining and go to work.