Happy Birthday Grand Ole Opry!

The first weekend of this month Angela, Jessica, Mom, and I took our 2nd annual ladies trip to Nashville, TN. It was Jessica's turn to plan, and she did a fantastic job! We stayed at the Opry Hotel, ate great food, and had a blast at our first Opry concert! We even walked away with a few FREE things! I am a little late posting these pics, but I had to wait for them to be sent! Thanks for the great time, ladies!

When things are broken, FIX them.

Things are going to break, and we must always be diligent to fix them. This is what I keep telling myself. As I type this, I am laughing out loud at the amount of my things that have broken over the past week. My camera is broken, my computer is broken, my polaris robot for the pool is broken, and the fireplace ran out of propane. Oh well, one thing at time, one day at a time things will be repaired and other things will break. When things break, we fix them. And somehow, this gives us a purpose, provides us with something to do, and gives us things to type and talk about.

Until next time . .. . .


XOXOXOXOX

What I have learned in 9 weeks

TOP TEN THINGS I HAVE LEARNED IN 9 WEEKS OF BEING A TEACHER

1. How to eat lunch, help 3 or more people pick out a book, and get ready for my next class all at the same time.

2. How to "hold it" from 7:00am until 10:00 pm at night.

3. Kindergartens are fun.

4. Hearing the words, "read it again" being said simultaneously by 26 kids is awesome.

5. That the phrases like "Yankee Doodle" and "ABC" make kids spontaneously respond in song. So funny!

6. Kids think I am funny.

7. Epitaphs are good way to get kids to write poetry. (Here lies Dave who chased a bear into a cave.) They love it.

8. That I can be stretched pretty thin and still function on a semi-successful level.

9. That I can memorize about 500 names in a 9 week period and remember the faces that match them.

10. All the hard work, mental drainage, and physical beatings are completely worth it.

BIG surprises and BEST husband ever!

Oh my goodness! Wes just gave me a huge surprise. First, Jewel, my favorite singer, is coming to Biloxi in November. I knew he was going to buy tickets for me because he told me, but what I did not know is this:

He secretly arranged for my entire family to come to the coast that weekend to go to the concert with me and to celebrate my sisters' birthday.

I absolutely did not believe him when he told me. I am so excited. It is going to be great fun! Thank you so much, Wes. I love you! :)

Until next time. . . . .


XOXOXOXOXOXO

Behind

I know I am a good bit behind in my blog posts. Not too much has been going on besides work and sleep anyway.

I will try to hit the highlights:

1. Never mentioned, Wes got a new truck about a month ago.
2. Went to Tupelo to visit my sister, Angela, had a BLAST!
3. Went to KO and visited the parents.
4. Made a new website for my school; check it out at http://www.gulfportschools.org/SCHOOLS/AAE/Anniston_Elementary/index.htm
5. Had a HORRIBLE experience with a veterinarian in Gulfport.
6. Moved Lillie and Ivey outside because nothing I tried kept them from using the dining room as a litter box. :( (Really they just live in the garage now, and I put comfy blankets out for them, a water fountain, and other luxuries outside cats don't afford. LOL)
7. Painted wooden letters for a teacher at work who is having a baby! I hope she likes them. See pics below.
8. Going to the USM ballgame tomorrow, if it doesn't rain. Southern Miss to the TOP!

Until next time......

XOXOXOXOXO

STREP THROAT

Those 2 words sum it all up!! A week ago, today, my throat starting hurting a little. I went to bed as soon as I got home from open house, starting taking Tylenol Sore Throat Friday morning, and actually thought I was being proactive about staying well for my kiddos at school. Well, I was WRONG!

A little RnR over the weekend, did nothing to help me feel better. Sunday, I was miserable. I stayed up all night long coughing. However, excessive coughing at night is not unusual for me so I was not extremely alarmed, I just felt really bad. I went to school on Monday morning and left pretty much immediately to go to the clinic where I was diagnosed with strep throat and told to stay home for 2 days.

I head home, lay down on the couch, and proceed to feel absolutely terrible. I don't ever remembering feeling that bad ever. My body ached so badly that I could not even really sit up. Wes comes home from work, takes my temperature, it is 102.8, and calls the ER. They say, "don't bring her in, just give her Motrin." He does and the fever drops, but doesn't go away. We sleep in separate beds to prevent Wes from catching it.

Next day, still have fever of 101 for most of the day. Finally, around 3:00pm fever breaks and I feel 1oo times better instantly.

I never knew strep throat was such a doozy! I am still sick: coughing, sneezing, weak, etc., but I returned to work Wednesday. Thankfully, I am on the up side of down!

Until next time. . . ..

XOXOXOXO

Back to School

I must start blogging more often because once I sit down to blog there is so much to write about I can't possibly remember everything I want to share.

School started Wednesday, August 5. It was a great day, probably the best day I had all week even if lightening struck our school right at dismissal. Our principal handled the situation with confidence and efficiency unmatched by many people. As far as my first experience as a teacher goes, I am having trouble with the ending of class. I have 40 minutes with each group of students and I am not giving them enough time at the end of the lesson to choose books, close the lesson, and line up before their teacher arrives. I have some solutions to this problem that I am going to try starting Monday. 40 minutes goes by so FAST! I am having a lot of fun getting to know the kids and making friends with my colleagues. I not only want to mention those things, but I want to say how grateful I am for my assistant. She is a life savor, and I would be buried in work and unable to move my shoulder due to stress without her guidance and unending willingness to help to me.

Lillie and Ivey have been quite adventurous this week. One day, I came home to a dead lizard in the hallway. The next day, I came home to a bird in the living room. The day after that, I came home to a strange black and white cat in the sun room. Needless to say, the outside door is no longer open when I am not at home. In addition to the lovely friends they made this week, one of them (still trying to catch the culprit) has decided to make the dining room their litter box. It is so frustrating because we have been here for 2.5 months and not had a problem at all. This must stop immediately, or they are going to become outside cats much to their dismay.

I saw Julie and Julia this weekend and was much inspired to create a 365 day challenge to blog about for myself. I have a couple of ideas, but I am still trying to decide. I came up with a book series idea about a year ago and just as I type this I am getting a good idea. Look for more on that later. :)

Much to my own dismay, I have not been in my pool for over 2 weeks. Work and rain have keep me inside. It is an extremely sad situation that I know all of my non-pool owning friends have wished upon me after their ever so thoughtful Facebook messages. I hope you all are happy. (just kidding;).

Wes is loving his schedule. He gets to leave for work after me, he only teaches 1 class per day, and he gets home before me. I came home to him napping one day, how wonderful for him, and Friday, I came home to him vacuuming the house, how wonderful for me! Plus, he packs my lunch every morning and makes the breakfast. He has tons of energy and smiles abound from him. All of these things make me happy.

This is going to be a full week, 26 classes, 3 meetings, and whatever else comes along. Here's hoping you all find blessings in the things you do this week.

Until next time....

XOXOXOXOXO