The Latta Family

I once said Andrew's like the Motel 6 . . . he'll leave a light on, or 3. All day. Whether he's in his room, or not.  He and I have been having a bit of a struggle over the light situation.  He NEVER turns the lights out.  Ever.  I'm so tired of walking back to his room, climbing over 2 puppy gates, and turning the lights out in his room.  I do it probably 3-5 times a day.  I mean . . . why am I turning the lights out in his room so much?  It's daylight!  He's not looking at anything except his phone or the tv when he's in his room.  Neither require the use of an overhead light, a desk light, or a bedside light.  I started by saying sarcastic comments, indicating I was irritated that he never turns his light out.  But he just smiled his, "But I'm Still Your Only Son, and You Think I'm Awesome" smile.  Then I did the, "Hey- I'm kind of serious- it's wasteful.  Turn off your light." and he responded, "Ok- you're r

This will blow your mind- it blows mine- we're in the process of trying to get Andrew his permit.  I'm about to be chauffeured everywhere I go.  I'm about to change Andrew's name to Jarvis (after Howard Stark's chauffeur- Iron Man's Dad's Chauffeur).  I've been befuddled by this process from Day 1.  It doesn't help that the process has been completely screwed up by having a Global Pandemic.  This isn't the only process that causes me confusion.  Every single year I am totally confused on how to renew my car's registration.  Every year.  Why?  Does it change that much from year to year?  It seems to, to me- but here's the thing I have a very difficult time following procedures. Anything to do with insurance?  A mystery.   Which is kind of hilarious because I am a special education teacher- our job is pretty much following paperwork procedures.  Which I can do (probably because I have a LOT of opportunities to practice that paperwork) I

Well, the governor announced North Carolina's "Back to School" option, and my school district's decision of how we'll implement it has been announced.  Doug and I were talking about it last night, and he said something about "Well, in 3 weeks when you have to go back to school . . . " WAIT.  HOLD THE PHONE.  3 weeks?!!!!  That's like 20 ish days.  Uhhhhh . . . .  I know some of y'all are freaking out about what you're going to teach, or how it's going to look, or like real stuff- but I'm over here thinking: 1. How am I ever going to get out the door in a reasonable amount of time?  I don't remember how to do that skill.  For 5 months I have had excessively slow mornings.  (Even when it was still school back in April and May- I'd just wash my face and appear like I was ready and professional.  I was like a mullet.  Business on top- pajamas on the bottom) See my morning wake up routine takes like 3 hours now.  It involves lot

So, I thought I had The COVID.  My symptoms showed up 6 days after I participated in my school's face to face graduation. I stood in a parking lot of 300+, 18 year old young adults, most of whom did not wear masks, while we waited for the ceremony to start.  I helped line them up into the order they would proceed into the stadium.  I wore my mask inconsistently.  It's hard to convey directions to a large group of people, about where to line up/stand/who goes where- with a mask.  It was hot, it was sliding down my face, the graduates couldn't hear me, etc . . . Why do I say all that about my mask? It's about to be a real situation for teachers.  It's going to be difficult to be heard, with a mask.  That's just a truth.  It started with congestion.  I had body aches, a cough, shortness of breath, headache, no energy, no fever. After 4 days, I called my physician's office, and asked them what they wanted me to do.  They're so overwhelmed, they said, &qu