Weekends. . . .

Usually, our weekends are very busy with work stuff, but we try to inject as much fun as we can. Sometimes we aren't as successful as others, but this weekend was full of fun, and I think the next few weekends will be, too. 

Friday night Wes had a band clinic at PRCC, and I spent a great night at home listening to jazz, eating pizza, and relaxing. Saturday morning, Wes got up early because he had more clinic at PRCC, and then we hit the road to Daphne, AL to judge an indoor contest. It was a short show and while sometimes these things are boring and the groups are bad; I really had a good time. The more I understand the winterguard and drumline activities, the more fun it becomes. Plus, my friend, Chris Word, was there to keep me entertained. Sunday, we subbed for one of the two- year old sunday school classes. Wes was not looking forward to this, but we both had a great time and got away with only changing on one diaper. YAY! We started out with about 4 kids, but ended up with 8! We don't want to do that every Sunday, but once in a while it is fun. Then we ate sushi for lunch and headed down to New Orleans for the Bacchus parade. It was my first Mardi Gras parade, and we had a blast! We made camp on St. Charles. It was so nice, and the atmosphere was great. Kids were playing in the street, music was playing, and we had a front row seat. The floats were beautiful, and we came home with so many beads, it is CRAZY! My wonderful husband chased down a float to get me some beads with stuffed tigers on them. I can't wait to wear them to school tomorrow because we are the Hattiesburg Tigers. :)

We have plans for several more exciting weekends, starting now! This coming weekend, we are headed to Huntsville, AL. I am going to stay in Huntsville and hang out with my sisters and their husbands, tour a rocket, and eat. Wes is going to head up to Tennessee to judge an indoor show. The following weekend we will be in Kosciusko to celebrate my birthday. The next weekend, we are taking the Purvis kids to Pensacola to compete in an indoor show. Following that, we will head down to Thibadeaux, LA for more judging and fine dining at Flanagan's. Whew, gotta love those weekends! 

Happy Mardi Gras! 

XOXOXOXO

Happy Valentine's Day

What to call it?

I always have a difficult time trying to think of something clever to name my blog post. I want it to be cute and intriguing. LOL! I am just not that creative sometimes. Well, three days in and so far so good on the not spending money. 3 down 25 to go. 

As many of you know, Groundhog Day is Wes's favorite holiday. So yesterday, we celebrated with a funny little card and a scrumptious dinner of maple-bourbon chops, tomato couscous, and parmesan-garlic pasta. It was quite tasty. I am sad to say that the party ended there because I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30. 

I am finding that I have a lot more time on my hands now that I am not required to read, write, read, write, and repeat. I have picked up a few personal projects that I am excited about and will share more about these at a later date. I have finally caught up to the current month in both my magazine subscriptions, and I can't wait to catch up on some of my favorite authors. I am considering (only considering) taking up a weekly workout routine, and I finally signed up to volunteer at the Pet Shelter, although they have not contacted me, yet. They have this super cool thing that I (who frequents their website) did not know about. It is called Cat Pals, and what it requires is that volunteers go to PetSmart weekly and play with the cats and kittens to socialize them. I signed up for that! 

In 2007 there were 9,197 lost, stray, and unwanted animals brought to the Southern Pines Animal Shelter. -www.southernpinesanimalshetler.org 

That is a crazy number! Please adopt a pet from an animal shelter if you are thinking of getting one. It is inexpensive, and they have plenty of pets to choose from, don't think your choices are limited. They have small and large dogs in many sought after breeds such as terriers and labs. And of course, their are plenty of kittens and cats to go around. 

How bad is it?

Everyday it seems that a new business is closing its doors and people are losing their jobs. The media sends mixed messages, it is bad, it is not that bad, we are not repeating the past, we are repeating the past. So how bad is it? As I watch my IRAs dwindle, hear about bankrupt businesses, and talk about school budget cuts, I begin to think it is pretty bad. I am worried that finding a certified job in the fall is going to be tough. When school budgets begin to get cut, many administrators cut the position of librarians. This happens for many reasons, one being that they are not aware of the role or importance that librarians play in a school community. If you work in a school district or are friends with school administrators, advocate for your librarians, and pray that the right job for me comes along. 

Wes and I have been discussing ways to cut back or to stop spending money all together for quite some time, long before this recession. So we have decided to test ourselves during the month of February. Yes, because it is a short month! We are going to attempt not to eat out (this already hurts me), not to go to the movies, not buy anything at a convenience store (Wes is trying this for the whole year), and basically not to spend any money that we have not already committed to spending (bills, grocery, gas, etc.) This is going to be challenging considering the amount of time we are going to be traveling with the indoor groups. However, I think at the end of the month if we succeed our padded wallets will ease our fears about the recession. It is going to be interesting. 

I have become increasingly busy at work because I went and sought out projects that I could be a part of. It is going really good and the days pass by quickly. I am ready for the springtime. I can't wait to see what my yard is going to look like. This will be our third year, and I am hoping that all the hard work is going to start paying off. 

Until next time . .. . .

Unexpected surprises

Uncertainty creates a certain amount of anxiety for most people, and probably a touch more for me. However, we often find that letting go of our fear and taking the chance is often more fun than we ever expected. Yesterday, I was scheduled to attend a professional development seminar at Challenge Country in Ellisville, MS. I had never been to Challenge Country, but I had heard that is was an outdoorsy place with rock climbs and rope swings and that is all I needed to know to know that I was not interested. Well, it turns out most of the people going on this trip were not interested and to top it off, it was freezing cold outside. By now you know where this story is going, Challenge Country is outdoorsy and they do have rock climbs and lots of other scary but extremely safe climbing activities. However, we all somehow managed to have a great time, cheering for one another, wanting and expecting success, and growing more as a team in our department. I will admit that I did not participate in any of the climbs; yet, I was still able to learn from seeing my peers take the chance, let go of the tree (no matter how hard), and walk across a narrow log. Life is like that sometimes. We have to let go of the tree, even if we don't want to in order to experience new things, to learn about ourselves, and to improve our lives. It was a great day and probably the best PDS, I will ever attend. 

I hope you all are doing well and are enjoying reading my blog. Have a great week! 

Flying by...

Boy, it seems like the days are just flying by, and this weather is CRAZY!! Saturday we had a nice Spring day and Sunday it was like I had moved to the Arctic. Thanks to these changes, I am coming down with a cold. I have a scratchy throat and an ear ache.

Wes and I both had a good week returning to the world of work, and we also enjoyed getting back to eating healthy and taking better care of ourselves. This past weekend was our last free weekend until April. We finally de-christmastized our house. The tree is planted in the back yard, and the lights are stored safely in the attic. We only lost one of the 6 strands. We had so much fun this year, we are already planning the decorations for next season. YAY! 

I sold my car of 10 years Sunday night. It was a great car, but I was sure glad to see it go. I was even more glad that it brought in some nice cash! Wes gets the the thanks for the wheeling and dealing. 

This Saturday, we are venturing to Rogers, AL. Wes is judging color guard and drums (I think). We will be back home Sunday, though, for church and chores! 

Did you know. . . 

United States Geological Survey scientists conservatively project that two-thirds of the polar bear population in the world could disappear by 2050, including all of Alaska's polar bears. Check out this fact sheet for more information on the fate of the Polar Bear, 

http://www.nwf.org/polarbear/pdfs/NWFPolarBearBasics_1-28-08.pdf 

Ivey

100_1201, originally uploaded by abrooke8.