Honored to Be Crowned Honorary Queen of TBA!!!

Yes, yours truly was crowned the honorary Queen of TBA.  Click HERE for the link.  At the time I had 458 teaching blogs...now it's up to 472!! (by the end of the day it may be higher!)  So, you may be wondering how in the world do I manage it...I DON'T!!!  Well, here's how I try to manage it...Google Reader is my best friend!  You can make folders; so here's what my folders look like right now:

I start at the top opening the folder that has unread posts.  I scroll to find the blog that has the most unread posts in that folder (it helps to bring down the # of unread posts quicker...making me feel a little more accomplished!)

I scroll through that one, in this case "Fun in First Grade"  If something catches my eye I may do a couple of different things; star the post to come back later, click on the post which opens another tab of that actual post (this drives my husband CRAZY...I currently have 16 tabs open!) and then either come back to it and enter a contest save a doc or click on a link, or I may pin what I see in pinterest (a HUGE help in trying to manage this obsession!!!!) After I have worked my way to the last folder with unread posts I make myself get up and do something else, like try to attack Mt. Washmore!!  If I didn't I would never get up!!!

I've made few choices so that this doesn't spin anymore out of control than it already is. I'm not going to 'like' anyone on facebook (sorry, I may LOVE you, but it just fills up my facebook with repeats of what I already have in Google Reader!  I want to be able to see what my childhood, college, and local friends have to say!)  The same is true of email...even if it means less entries or no entries into someone's great giveaway! :(

Now, on a personal note it has been extra difficult these last few weeks. On the 15th of July my mother-in-law went into the hospital. She initially went in with a hernia issue...she had an obstructed bowel...while she was there we learned that she had major build up at her aortic valve, then they did an angiogram (sp) and we thought that she needed a double bypass.  Everyday at the hospital it seemed to be a different plan... transfer to another hospital, go home get stronger and see the cardiologist, etc.  Well, she did get transferred on Monday (both hospitals are about 50 miles away from our home).  Tuesday she went into surgery for aortic valve replacement and double(or so we thought) bypass.  A few hours later the surgeon came out and told us that they had aborted the surgery.  She had no usable veins in her legs.  They hadn't opened her chest yet.  We also learned that he had planned to do 5 bypasses!  Everyday it seems like the story changes.  I sent out a text to 29 people Friday saying they were moving her to USC medical and performing surgery that day. It's 130 miles from our home.  I was at the local hospital and the story kept changing throughout the day! :(  

Well, now we are going to get her as soon as everyone in the house is ready to go and bring her home.  They want her to get stronger.  USC is supposed to call and schedule an appointment to run more tests and supposedly surgery in the next 2-3 weeks.  We'll see.  I really appreciate the prayers.  Yesterday I stayed home for the first time in I don't know how many days.  I slept until 11:30!  It's been a really draining few weeks! Thanks!