Bird's Nest

The day after I posted last week, Wes and I found out that the couple who had placed a contract on our house decided not to buy it. There was a minor problem with the home inspector, not the home inspection. We cleared it all up, and I think it is going to work out for the best. At least now, we won't be homeless for a month. Our house is still available, if you know anyone who is interested, they can check it out at www.leerigdon.com. Type in our address (103 S 21st Ave) and take a look. 

I discovered a very exciting thing last weekend. I was cleaning out the containers for spring flowers and discovered a bird's nest full of eggs in one. I have been monitoring it everyday, and the mother bird is usually there and gives me mean looks. I can't wait until the eggs hatch.  I am afraid that once the babies start learning to fly, they will become a snack for my cats, but maybe not. 

This past weekend Wes took the the Purvis Indoor Drumline and WinterGuard to Ridgeland, MS for the Mississippi Indoor Association Championships. Both groups placed second and received silver medals. We were very excited! He has his concert festival this Thursday in Pearl. This will be his last big event for the school year.

Hopefully, there won't be too many exciting things that happen this week. I am looking forward to the wind down. I am also looking forward to getting to see my dear friend, Erin, Tuesday night. Can't wait. 

Until next time...

I forgot the break part of Spring Break!

This Spring Break was busy, and we did not take much of a break.  We got a lot of stuff done for our "new" life. This is becoming our MO, change. For those of you who know me very well, you know I used to hate change and cried a lot whenever it happened. Thanks to my change loving husband, I am getting used to this word and action. I am actually very excited about all the changes that have happened and that are going to happen. 

Are you ready for this? Here goes:

Wes and I put our house on the market for sale 1 week before Spring Break started. 6, yes 6, days later, we got an offer that we accepted. The Lord is good. We are set to close the deal April 30. Things are progressing well, and the house inspection is scheduled for tomorrow at 2. I am nervous about this because our house is 100 years old. Yes, this means we will be homeless for a month while we finish out this school year. No worries: we have a PLAN!

During Spring Break, Wes and I went to Gulfport 3 of the 5 days. During this time, we were drug tested, fingered printed, documented, and paperworked. We also looked at what I think was 24 houses. Ironically, we made an offer on the 2nd to the last one we looked at. :) We got pre-approved for a loan, ate out, listened to 2 concert bands, and had dinner twice with a friend. 

So, yes, we are officially moving to Gulfport, aka Ghetto port, Gtown, whatever YOU call it. LOL! I am going to be the media specialist at Anniston Elem, a K-5 school, and Wes is going to be the Marching Director at GHS. We are both excited about these jobs. We are also excited about the house we made an offer on. It has a swimming pool, fenced in yard, large kitchen, sunroom, a garage. All of these are things we really wanted. I think Lillie and Ivey will like it, too. We are hoping to close on it May 11. 

So our plan is to move our stuff to the new house before closing, move our bodies and the cats to Chris Word's house for a month, and then move to Gulfport the beginning of June. I am going to work at the school to get used to everything, and Wes will do band stuff; I am sure. We are going to go to Oregon, June 21-July 6. Then, we will come back and get ready to start our jobs. We will see how it all plays out. 

I know lots of our family members are interested in knowing what we need or want for the new house. We are going to do a gift registry to make this easier. I will post these links here on the blog, as we get closer to the closing date. 

For now it is back to work! Until next time....

XOXOXOXO

Has it been two weeks?

Okay, I know. . .  I start this thing and inspire my friends to start their own blogs and then I don't post for two weeks. Although my excuses are lame, I will share them anyway. :) First, I didn't really have anything to say the first week, then I got sick. Very sick during the week of my birthday. I worked because I was giving surveys to English classes and then finally had to take off on Thursday. However, I worked Friday and felt terrible. Thankfully, I started to feel better on Saturday and was able to enjoy a fabulous weekend with my family in Kosciusko even though I got stung by a red wasp. ; ) 

While you were waiting . .. . 

I visited my sisters and their husbands in Huntsville. We had a blast visiting the Rocket Center, ate like starving cats at Bonefish Grill, and then it snowed a lot. That was fun, but it was just too cold. That was when my throat starting hurting. I forgot my camera so, of course, I don't have any pictures of this. Angela and Jessica tooks lots, but they are on facebook, and I can't get to facebook at work.

Even though I was sick, I still had a great birthday. Wes surprised me with fresh water pearls. I was completely not expecting it, and I love them. Saturday, the weather was great. Wes had a band director's meeting in Jackson that morning so I did a little shopping before we headed to KO. I had a beautiful cake, luckily. Wes was in charge of getting the cake. He actually insisted on getting it because he knows how much I love Jodi's Bakery. Well, because I was sick and he had to make the breakfast, lunch, and dinner every night, plus other things that happened during the week, he forgot to order it. Guess when he remembered? Saturday morning at 6:30am. Of course, all the bakery's were closed at the time and we were leaving Hattiesburg for Jackson at 7:15 am, and heading to KO around 10:30 am. Never underestimate Wes on a mission. He quickly read the YaHoo reviews for bakeries in Jackson, called as soon as I dropped him off at the meeting, and had a great cake ready for pick-up at 10:30 am. He is one lucky guy. I laughed so much at this story. 

I have 4 more days until Spring Break and that makes me happy. 

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 . .. . .