I’m happy, and I’m not happy!
I get to lead the exercise class on Wednesday! YEA! It’s always fun to lead the class, and this time my exercise guru is going to be a part of the class. I expect the morning to be fun, so this is the part that I’m happy about.
What irritates me is the new rule the park district has about subs needing to work at least once every two months or they will be dumped from the employment rolls. What this means is that unless I work, I have to go through all the paperwork to be rehired each time our exercise guru might need a sub. Needless to say, all this paperwork can’t be accomplished on short notice.
What’s really upsetting me about this is that to avoid having to go through all the paperwork, I end up taking work away from this incredible woman who really should be leading the class.
I hope that the bean counters will be overrun with people having to re-register. It should be obvious that it’s cheaper to carry the occasional sub on the rolls than it is to have to continually re-do their paperwork. I’m not sure what benefits they expect to see from this policy. The only positive thing I can think of is that the woman I sub for will have a chance to see me at work.
I’m signed up to sub again at the end of July, and then I won’t have to sub again for two months. I’m glad the class seems to be comfortable with me leading them, but what a shame this policy takes away a really superb leader!
Daily Archives: July 5, 2011
A little each day
We have reached the point of summer where I need to be careful of the heat and humidity and sunshine. When it gets too hot, I wilt, and there are too many things I want to do to be sitting on the sidelines recovering.
For years I’ve talked about working in the gardens a little every day, and this year seems to be my year to accomplish it! I’ve been getting up at 5:00 a.m. and putting in between 90 and 150 minutes on the gardens, almost every day. I was a lounge lizard on the Fourth, but I moved right along most of the week before, and returned to work today.
I have sternly forbidden myself from buying any plants until everything from the previous round of shopping was planted. I HATE loosing plants that succumb to heat. It’s awful to see them waste away. I feel bad about killing off perfectly good plants, and hate to waste the money. Limiting what I purchase to what I have a chance of getting planted has been a win-win situation all around.
This weekend I planted two scented geraniums, two spicy globe basils, and three lemon verbena in the herb garden. Along the front sidewalk, I planted two thirds a flat of white alyssum, and five red-violet petunias. I’ve been weeding in the gardens along the front of the house, over a period of about four days. I continued today digging up a patch of crabgrass, pruning the junipers and birch, and starting to clear a path for the meter readers around the corner of the house.
The south side of my home is edged with a bed of day lilies. Unfortunately, this bed is infested with a strange weed that propagates via very shallow runners. The plants grow up to five feet tall and are topped with a small yellow flower that looks rather like a dandelion. The good thing about this weed is that it is very easy to pull! I spent about 20 minutes this morning clearing all but the last six feet of the bed. I came to a screeching halt when I found very healthy poison ivy plants. I need a hazmat suit that I can wear to protect myself so I can pull out those plants.
I’ve left the weeds lying on the lawn, which is a no-no, but I’ll collect them tomorrow morning, and add a bit more of the evergreen to the wheelbarrow. I may have some teenaged assistance this weekend, so perhaps I can get some mulch down to prevent the return of the weeds. And, I hope to spread some cosmos and cleome seeds across the front of the house, so we may have some color later this season.
A little gardening each day seems to be the way to accomplish my goal. *S*