Distractions

Posted on April 5, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

I would be finished grading if I weren’t so easily distracted. This is one of the problems with all the class work being done online – I have 4 browser tabs open and I really only need two – one with the homework submissions I’m ignoring grading, and one for the college home page. Instead, I also have X and Facebook open. Apparently there are some big protests going on today and I can’t withhold my snarky comments about them.

No one pays much attention to protests, by the way. Makes people feel good that they all “showed them!” but it really rarely has any lasting effect.

Instead of grading, I’m thinking that I really should go play the organ for 15 minutes, that I have a bunch of fabric to cut for book pillows, that I need to cut some strips for a wall hanging, that my diamond painting is so close to being finished that probably I could complete it in a half hour, there’s a book I just started and a scarf that may be 8 miles long till I’m done, and where the heck did I put that ball of yarn I wanted to try loom knitting with, will someone do laundry for me, the bathroom needs scrubbed but since we never get company, I suppose it can wait till tomorrow, why did I walk further than I’m supposed to so now my leg hurts, but thank God for a hot pack.

My brain has way too many tabs open.

I started reading A Little Life, last night. It apparently got a bunch of awards so I thought I should probably give it a shot, although books that win awards tend to not be among my favorites. I also felt like I needed something really hefty, so it was between this, The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) , Infinite Jest – can’t remember the author but that thing is, in Peachy’s words, a brick. I’ve had this the longest, so it won. I’m also reading The Girl Behind the Gate on Kindle, because it’s my BFF’s current book club read and I had to get it for her since her Kindle is still registered to my account. (It was a Christmas present several years ago, she doesn’t have an Amazon account so I never changed it)

In other excitement, there’s another meeting of the school board candidates this Sunday. I’m expecting the blue haired loon one liberal candidate to be there, I know that one of the others would like to rip her a new one have a few words with her, so it might be interesting. There’s also a meeting of the regular board on Tuesday but I don’t expect many fireworks there.

The young lady who walks with Maverick for me met us at the park this morning and we went a mile and a half. (I’m only supposed to be doing 1/2 mile, oops) It’s quite interesting to observe your dog when you’re not “in control” of him. I found myself paying much more attention to his body language, the position of his tail, his ears, etc. I highly recommend trying this with your dog!

Homework won’t grade itself – dammit. One more hour and then I’m off to cut fabric for book pillows so I can deliver them to the library in time for the sale in May. The rest of the fabric cutting is purely for myself. And then I’ll finish the diamond painting and set up another, and maybe scrub the bathroom after I put laundry away.

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Update – because I should be grading

Posted on March 31, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

and you all know how much I love grading

So the meeting last night started out with one person talking over me. Wanna piss me off? Talk over me. As the youngest of 5, and one of the youngest of a plethora of cousins, I have been talked over all my freakin life and I HATE IT. It’s so bloody rude, it says that you don’t care what the other person is saying, you’re far more important and they need to shut up so you can talk. For a while people were posting this meme:

I can’t even express how much that irritated me. No, you don’t just randomly remember stuff, you weren’t paying any attention to what I was saying and just jumped in when I took a breath.

Okay, that little rant is over. Well, almost. When this person did it to me last night, I corrected her, firmly and quickly and she looked seriously shocked out of her shoes. I was already angry, don’t press me. Or, as i like to say, FAFO.

Proceeding on, we were given a lengthy explanation of how no harm was meant by a certain Facebook post that riled up a bunch of people for no reason. I listened to this for about 10 minutes and finally said that there was no reason for the post to be made and it served no purpose and that something like this will not happen again. There was no “it better not happen,” it was a definitive “it WILL not happen.” Again, there was shock, apparently these people have never been told no.

Things got better after that. It was probably a good thing that the blue hair didn’t come, I was in no mood for her nonsense and it might have ended badly. At any rate, we shall see where things go from here.

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Why why why?

Posted on March 30, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

So, as you all know, a few months ago I was talked into running for the local school board. My school district is deeply in debt for a variety of reasons. We’re facing a $3 million deficit in the next budget. The Bear works for the school – because I made him get a job after 2 years of retirement – and consequently, we have a front row seat to the amount of waste that currently is considered acceptable. A friend of ours is currently serving on the board and he would express his frustration with the current members on a regular basis – they pretty much don’t understand basic accounting concepts like time value of money – and so he finally convinced me to take a shot at running.

I’m pretty conservative, both fiscally and politically. I don’t think discussions of gender ideology, or the use of strange pronouns, or biological boys playing girls’ sports, belong in public schools. I also don’t think that throwing money at problems will normally fix them. I thought I made this clear to the group that wanted to support my candidacy, along with the other 3 candidates who are running. Apparently I was wrong. WIthout going into details, I’ve realized that one of the others is a raving liberal whose agenda seems to be promoting all the LGBTQRSTUVW123+++— stuff she can think of.

Can you see where this could be a problem? There was a policy proposed that stated that kids have to use the bathroom that coresponds to their gender. I don’t see a problem with this, other than the policy was very badly worded. There was a second policy about parental permission for pronouns. (Does that sound seriously stupid to anyone else? Why is your kid more focused on pronouns that on math?) Again, I don’t see a problem with this. I once told my mom I wanted to be called Carol. She ignored that request, as did every other adult in my life. I seem to have emerged with minimal trauma. (Interesting side note – my husband’s first wife was named Carol.)

So ………………someone posted on Facebook that the first policy would allow the teachers to check your kid’s privates to make sure they were using the correct bathroom. Yeah, no. Of course, it blew up among those to whom reading is not fundamental. I told the person who posted it to take it down, RIGHT NOW. The damage was done, and the meeting two days later was one CFSS** And the person with the LGBTetc agenda? Acted the biggest fool I’ve seen in a long time.

And what was my reaction? Can we say, “furious barely touches it?” So tonight, there’s a meeting with this group, It’s in a church, which is fitting, because it’s going to be a “come to Jesus” meeting if I ever saw one. I respect all viewpoints. Okay, maybe that’s a lie. I don’t respect the viewpoints of blue haired screaming idiots who demand attention. (Yup, I’m still angry)

It’s gonna be an interesting few years if she manages to not trigger the other side – the ultra conservatives who attend the same church that the board president attends, and who feel that all Democrats are actually demons who need exorcism – into a write-in campaign for another candidate. If that happens, it will be an even more fun two years. (Two years till the next election, we’re hoping to stave off the current members’ agendas till we can get them voted off)

Pray for me, I need it in more ways than one

**cfss= cluster fucking shit show

Update – the loony tune wasn’t there. I made my feelings clear. Hopefully things will go more smoothly from here on out

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It’s been a long, been a long, been a long, been a long time!

Posted on March 14, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

Hopefully you’re singing by now! Yes, it’s been awhile. I keep thinking, “I should blog” and then I get distracted. Four classes and all the other stuff in my life has kept me super busy lately.

So what’s new? I’m officially running for school board and it looks like no one is running against me. KInda scary to think I might actually be elected to public office! My sister who thinks to this day that I’m a total screw up will probably lose her mind when she hears about it. (She hasn’t spoken to me in 4 years, so I’m seriously concerned about her opinion. Not)

Maverick has gone batshit crazy the past couple of weeks. I’m not sure why, he’s fine at daycare but as soon as he gets home, he turns into a humping machine. His humpy pillow has had quite the workout the past two weeks. It’s frustrating, he won’t settle, I’ve resorted to giving him a calming pill but I hate doing that. I honestly have no clue what’s going on except that a) the weather has been great, b) there’s a full moon, and c) there’s probably another dog in heat in the area. Whatever the reason, I’m praying this behavior soon passes.

The first round of classes ended, and I got better reviews than I deserved. I had a great group of students and we really had a good time, we were required to do weekly discussions where they had to post something and respond to their classmates. I was sure we were all going to hate it, but I asked them for ideas, they responded, and it turned into a really fun thing. (The final discussion topic was “does pineapple belong on pizza” but most of them were more relevant to accounting) (The general consensus was that it does not) I’m currently on Spring Break till Monday, so I spent a few days getting things ready for the next session and since then I’ve been enjoying some days off.

I’ve been going to physical therapy twice a week and it feels like I’m making progress, until the weekend hits and I have to take Maverick to the park to walk because he doesn’t go to daycare. He pulls, still, and he pulls across me, so it constantly turns my body sideways. This undoes all the work I’ve done all week. Today I randomly mentioned that I needed someone to take him for a walk for me, and one of the therapists volunteered! She’s going to meet us at the park on Saturday and Sunday, I’ll walk with her, but she can hold the leash and I won’t get pulled. I’m really happy about it!

I’ve been sewing book pillows and have been asked for more. Unfortunately, I got the fusible fleece at JoAnn’s. I can find it on Amazon, but I hate buying that sort of thing without being able to touch it. Tomorrow I’m going to lunch with a friend and there’s a store right next to the restaurant that has fabric, so I’ll be taking a look there. Praying they have it!

I just finished the book 1776 – unless you’re an avid history buff, I do not recommed. I know, I know, it won a Pulitzer prize. I don’t care, Margaret. I just ordered Infinite Jest – another one that is supposedly a classic that we all should read. I hear it’s a “brick” (Peachy said that) so we shall see. I need something incredibly stupid and easy to read right now, so I’m looking at my Kindle collection. I’m refusing to buy more Kindle books since discovering that one isn’t actually buying the book, but buying a “license.” Yeah, screw that. I’d rather have a real book anyway. So I pulled out Truth Witch -and yes, I have the whole series – because I need totally unbelievable after all that battle stuff!

And that’s all, folks!

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I should be grading

Posted on February 26, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

But I’m not. My students are working together on a project, in groups, and they don’t really need me so I’m not bugging them. The powers that be (AKA the idiots in charge) changed the curriculum a few years ago and it’s impossible to fill 2 hours with the material that they expect us to teach. So I give my students an opportunity to work together, do their homework, study, each week, to fill the hours. I honestly find it ridiculous, but complaints fall on deaf ears so we soldier on.

Today was an exercise in “why did I schedule so many things the same day?” But it worked out better than expected. I had a class at 11, then off to therapy at 1. I woke up with a very sore right leg – reminiscent of the pain I had in the summer when I had, according to my chiropractor, “twisted my vertebrea.” I’ve been working on this book, the Pain Management Workbook, and one of the things I read last night was that once you’ve experienced pain somewhere, the next time you have pain in the same place, your body remembers that and makes you feel worse. I didn’t honestly feel as bad as I did back in June but the thought was there, I was really tense and that was making it worse. I was limping badly when I got to therapy. It’s normally my left leg that’s the problem, but that one was being lovely, the right one had all the stuff going on. My physical therapist said, after watching me and doing an exam, that it was most likely my piriformis muscle – I didn’t know I had one of those! She used her elbow on my butt, I kid you not, and pushed hard in several places, and holy cow, did it feel so much better in a very short time! We didn’t do many exercises but I wasn’t limping nearly as badly when we were done as I was when I started! I think I’m gong to adopt her!

I was meant to see my orthopedist after therapy but she had emergency surgery and had to reschedule. It will be interesting to hear what she has to say about the current developments. I am not ready for surgery, nor will I submit to more shots – the last one did more harm than good. So I’m hoping that working on muscle strength and maybe unlocking the muscle I didn’t know I had will get me back on track. I don’t expect I’ll ever be able to walk 5 miles a day again, but 3 would be nice! Maverick is less than impressed with my inability to go more than 1/2 mile – but I’m following doctor’s orders because I need to get well. I know my back will never heal

I did some shopping and got home by 3:00, my leg had kept me awake and restless all night – the best sleeping position for this mess is flat on your back and I can’t sleep that way, so I wake up a lot in discomfort. And then of course, I have to get up to pee. And then I’m cold. So anyway, I didn’t sleep well. The recliner called and I napped for an hour this afternoon. Naps are lovely things to get.

At 5:30, I picked up Maverick. At 6, I started my second class, after fighting with my computer to get online and stay online. As soon as class is over, I will be heading to a school board meeting to express my displeasure with some of the decisions they’ve been making. And yes, a decision has been made on my end, I am definitely running in the next election. I don’t really want to, but something has to be done, and someone had to step up. Wish me luck. The current president will be in office for another year, and then has two more years left on his term. I’m expecting some epic battles if elected, he already hates me and if he becomes a member of the minority, it won’t be pretty.

I started this post a week ago. Since then, I’ve seen my orthopedic doctor, who told me to continue therapy and come back when I need her. My piriformis muscles are seemingly unlocking and my legs are feeling better, although I still have hip pain at night, probably from sitting in front of a computer all day. Today I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes, I’m quite excited about that! Progress is being made. I have accepted that I’ll never be completely “well” again, but I’ll be the best I can be.

Also, the school board meeting got a bit heated and I made the newspaper for one of my smart ass comments. ~~looks innocent~~ Well. When certain policies come up, it brings out the worst in both sides of the argument. It’s a true microcosm of the world we live in, no one will listen, they are hard line in their opinions and there is no convincing them there’s any value in any other argument.

In other news, I’ve lost my knitting mojo again, I have no time to sew, I manage to read for a couple of hours in the evening and all thoughts of training with Maverick have been put on hold. I get a break in two weeks, then 7 more weeks of crazy and then a break for the Summer. I’m planning my Summer trip to NY, it won’t be as long this year – since my sister died, I have less desire to go there.

There was a shooting at the local hospital over the weekend. It’s about 7 miles from me, too close to home. The shooter’s motive has not been revealed. 5 people were injured and one police officer was killed. He was only 29, an only child, and looks way younger in photos. I didn’t know him, but I cried all day. Part of the reason I cried was because of the terrible loss, and partly because one person outside of my circle of 4 close friends, checked on us. Sometimes you get clear indications of where you stand in the lives of others. This is yet another message about how little we matter to some. Families are so wonderful, aren’t they?

This is long and rambling but I promised myself I would write something today because it’s been too damned long. So, enjoy!

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Reset button

Posted on February 1, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

This day has not started off well. Saturdays are always challenging, Maverick doesn’t quite grasp days of the week and can’t understand why he isn’t going off to play with his buddies today. To express his displeasure at my apparent lack of memory, he will pant, pace, whine, and generally be a pita until I take him to the park to do his business. He has the opportunity to be outside and bark at stuff, and while he’s there, he could manage to poop, but he does not choose to do so. He will poop at home only if it’s an absolute emergency. Otherwise, it’s the park, or daycare.

I have tried to convice our daycare to open on weekends, but she is deaf to my pleas.

My leg is seriously in need of a good talking to, come to Jesus meeting, or amputation. (that last is a joke, I can barely walk now, imagine me with one leg!) Maverick does not care. Honey Badgers don’t give a fuck, and he is most definitely a Honey Badger.

So after being whined at for an hour – because I refuse to budge till I’ve had at least one coffee – I gave in and we went to the park. It might have been okay. It wasn’t that bad until the girl with the leash around her waist and the barking dog came running towards us, Maverick reacted, she made no effort to avoid us, I pulled Maverick off the path, and there went my leg. I held onto a tree and cried. She didn’t even look back. (I don’t get the whole idea of the leash around the waist, yes, it takes the pull off your arms if the dog pulls, but it puts it squarely on the middle of your spine) We managed, slowly, to go far enough for Maverick to decide to poop and then back to the car.

We will not be going to the park tomorrow.

My day started with Maverick jumping on the bed and rolling around. Came downstairs to find Bear had Andy Griffith on TV. No, Dear, they are not gonna pay the dude with the worst house in town a million dollars, it was Confederate bonds the first time you saw that episode 50 years ago and it still is. I sincerely beiieve that one had to pass a “screechy voice” test to be on that show.

So now I’m thinking I’ll just get a shower, do my new series of exercises that were prescribed by my physical therapist – who tells me my muscles are too weak to support my spine and we must work on strenghtening them – and then perhaps I’ll feel like vacuuming. Or maybe it will be late enough to start drinking.

Would anyone like a Golden Retriever for the weekend? (Just kidding, I love the little shit)

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While waiting for office hour to begin

Posted on January 28, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

Two nights ago, I started reading The Atlas Paradox. It’s the sequel to the Atlas Six, a book I loved. I normally expect less from a sequel but I still expect it to be good.

I rarely DNF a book

This one is testing me. I’m about 75 pages into it and not one bloody thing has actually happened. It’s been awhile since I read the first book, so I need something that’s going to jog my memory about each character – and it’s not happening. Last night I put it aside and scrolled my phone for 1/2 hour. I never scroll my phone before I go to bed, it often keeps me from sleep and I have enough trouble with that at night.
(But not during the day, nearly fell asleep during a meeting yesterday afternoon) (My mom would say I have my days and nights mixed up)

But I hate to DNF a book. And Peachy gave this 5 stars! What to do?

Well, I guess I’ll slog through another 50 pages and if it’s still not happening………….I’ll just have to suck it up and finish it anyway

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I don’t really care, Margaret

Posted on January 28, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

That line has nothing to do with anything I might write, but it’s been making me snicker all afternoon. I’m pretty tired so it doesn’t take much right now, but it’s just still funny. (If you don’t get the reference, it’s J.D. Vance talking to some interviewer who keeps talking over him and being rude)

My back and left leg have been giving me issues lately, the last round of shots honestly seemed to make things worse – which I discussed with my doctor last week when I went for my post shot checkup. It’s never had this effect before, it’s been a couple days of “drunk legs” and then back to feeling pretty good. This time, it’s increasingly drunk (weak) legs, and lots of aching – to the point where it wakes me up a few times each night.

She prescribed a round of prednisone, which took down the ache but hasn’t done much else, and physical therapy to start on Wednesday. And I’ve been doing okay. Not great, but okay. I need to walk, but when the paths are covered with frozen footprints, I’m not gonna chance breaking a hip and I have nowhere to walk other than the local parks. Yes, I live on a country road, and everyone has a dog and most don’t stay in their yards when someone walks past – I don’t fear any of them, I doubt they’d bite, but they might knock me over and I’m pretty sure it won’t take much for me to break.

Last night I got into bed, feeling thankful for every pain free moment, and there were a lot yesterday. I sat on the bed, turned to get my lotion, and felt something pop. Pain shot down my leg. It eased within a few minutes, but I was afraid to go to sleep because I knew I’d wake up and not be able to move. I had to be up early, couldn’t sleep, and this morning it was painful. I hobbled like a 90 year old woman.

But I kept moving.

As the day progressed, it got better. Tomorrow I have the chiropractor and he’ll put as much of me back together as he can. Meanwhile, I’m babying myself big time.

In other news, we now have about 50 lbs of beef in the freezer because the farmer up the road butchered and was selling beef for a really good price. I have plans! This is so much better than anything you get in the grocery store, next to no fat, just lean meat, and the taste is amazing. I will be doing a roast next weekend, for sure.

The first week of classes is done and it’s gone well. Started the second week today, which was why I was up at the crack o’dawn. I have class – well, I always have class, I AM a princess – at 9, then again at 12:30, and then a faculty meeting at 2:30. I have emails I should answer but I’m done for the day. I will take care of that stuff tomorrow.

Maverick has decided that the hounds of hell are in the front field and it’s up to him to bark until they leave. The only thing that will get him to come inside is the promise of a Pupperoni. I am not above bribery.

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More random thoughts

Posted on January 25, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

Because my brain is on a treadmill these days

I started classes again this week, teaching them – not taking them. I’m also getting involved in the local school board. I’ve gone from “what will I do to amuse myself today?” to “where am I supposed to be now?” in a matter of days

And I”m exhausted!!!!!!! But it’s a good exhaustion, honestly. I didn’t realize how much I missed teaching till I had 4 really good classes this week, talking to students and interacting and realizing that there is hope for the future. We had good conversations about Ai – most were not totally on board with it being a good thing and we agreed that we all need to learn more. I asked them to teach me about things like podcasts and to get involved with creating discussion topics for the class and they responded with enthusiasm. There were disagreements, but not arguments. I am seriously excited about this semester.

The school board stuff has sort of been forced up on me. I’ve just seen too much nonsense from the current board, my school districk is going to have a couple million dollar deficit in the upcoming budget and they’re doing little to make rational cuts, and more interested in spending more, borrowing more – without considering interest payments. I’m concerned about education – obviously – but I’m also concerned about the tax payers. So I’m attending meetings and speaking up and totally ticking off the current board president. (He’s a total jerk so I feel no shame in annoying him mightily, he has a problem with women challenging him so I feel compelled to go “HI!!!!!”

I also got involved with the Friends of the Library and have been asked to make a “book pillow.” I had to look that up. So I have that cut out and will attempt to sew tomorrow.

And in between, I shall find time to grade discussion posts, homework, train with Maverick and maybe eat something. Welp, maybe I’ll lose some weight!

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Tired

Posted on January 11, 2025 by suziecreamcheese

Since my last shots in the back, my legs ache at night. Actually, they ache all the time, I just notice it more at night. I have an ortho appointment on Friday and we’re going to discuss this, because it’s keeping me from getting a good night’s sleep.

This is not normal for me. My mom used to say I was the Queen of sleep, I could sleep anywhere, any time. So for me to be awake several times in the night, and then be awake for awhile trying to get comfortable, is not normal

Well. Would you expect me to be normal?

We got more snow last night. I think it was about an inch. I think I’m tired of it and there are 67 days till Spring. All it did was make a mess and so we didn’t get a walk today. Maverick is not pleased but I’ve been to our park when there’s been snow – people walk anyway, and leave footprints in the snow, which then freeze – and that’s a broken hip waiting to happen. It’s also colder than a witch’s tit out there and I hate being bundled up – layers are not my friend. I like being able to move and layers make me feel constricted.

So Maverick and I are playing the “let me in so I can go back outside” game and I just told him that if I have to get up one more time, I’m going to a hotel for the rest of the weekend. (Get a dog, they said, it’ll be fun.)

My classes start on the 21st. After a semester off, I will now have 4 classes, 3 of the same subject and one more advanced. I don’t much enjoy the first class so I’m working on ways to make it more fun. Hopefully I can get the students involved and that always makes things more interesting (My classes are fun, because Accounting can be extremely dry so I do my best to keep them interested) At any rate, this has involved a good bit of work and I know I won’t be ready but I’ll wing it – I always do!

I’m still plugging away on the scarf, may finish the second color tonight – if I don’t fall asleep first. Bear has been working on the plow all day so I suspect it will be subs for supper and an early night. I’m about 10 pages from the end of my current book, so that will be done and the next one started I’m knocking down that TBR pile this year!

And how’s your weekend going?

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