I survived..

the first and second day of school for the 2007-2008 year. After the craziness of last week I knew tht this week would be no different and I was right. Yesterday there were still big chuncks of the school that were incomplete, ie the kitchen, the gym...so we had to make due. No specials and lunch was shipped over from another school. Kids got lost in the halls and a bus got in a wreck and was over an hour late. But we survived, finally getting the last kid out the door at 5:30. Just in time, for our debut on WRAL. It was quite an exciting day!

In the end, I only ended up with 23 out of the 25 kids and boy are they a crazy bunch. I have about 6 ADHD kids that are just bouncing off the walls so it's going to be an interesting year.

I miss my babies from last year though they at times drove me crazy. I look at them now so big and mature and long for them back in my class. I forget how young they come in and how much they truly grow in a year. I know eventually I will grow to love these too but its hard to remember that right out of the gate. So if you get a chance, please pray that God will give me wisdom, strength, and patience for this group and that I will love them as Christ does. Thanks!

As ready as its going to be..

Tomorrow the kiddies arrive and the room is as ready as its going to be. After 3 frantic days and a couple hours on Saturday, the room is ready to greet children. I'm not 100% happy with it but I did what I could with the time I had. Below are some pictures of the room.

Madness

That is the only word I can think of to describe the last 3 days. Tuesday afternoon as we were leaving our meeting, we found out we could finally get into our building on Wednesday morning at 8. Being the anxious person that I am, I was there at 7:50 ready to move in and get started. Knowing that Meet your Teacher night was at 5:30, I put on my IPOD, shut the door, and got working like a mad woman trying to make my room look presentable. At 2:30 we got the message that we had not been approved by the fire marshall to let children occupy the building. Because of this, we had to change our meet your teacher to another location..the building across the parking lot. Needless to say, it was mayhem when parents and kids got there and they realized they weren't going to be able to see the building. We did offer a consolation prize though and gave them the opportunity to come back today to see the building.

Personally I was happy b/c the building was not ready. There are a 100 some workers still there painting, fixing, pour concrete...it's a mess and honestly I'm surprised that we were open today. It came down to the wire. It's still not perfect, but we're moving on...school starts Monday and I'm still not prepared so I'll be at school tomorrow...on Saturday.

Ok I'm so tired...I'm off to bed but first wanted to send another Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband who has endured all my craziness this week. I love yoU!

We're still waiting...

Today marks the end of teacher workday #2 and we're still meeting at the high school. We got word today that the fire inspector came today but he found a couple of problems that must be fixed before he would order a certificate of occupancy. He is given the contractors until Wed. morning and then he would come back. Originally we were told we were moving in on Wed. so this seems to be a set back. Please join us in praying that the workers could easily fix the problems and the inspector would come back earlier so that we could get in to prepare for the kids.

On the flip side of that, we found out our schedules had changed and now I am back to having a normal lunch time.. yay for 12:05! I also have a special everyday which is wonderful! Also while these 2 days have been no fun in meetings, it has been a good time to get all the meetings out of the way and be able to plan as a grade level. If only we could get to our files, it would be even better.

Here is the latest picture of the school. We are the building at the top and N. Forest Pines (the year round school) is the one on the bottom.

So please continue to pray for us as we wait..somewhat patiently! :)

The Phillips

During our trip to the beach we were able to meet up with some of our dear friends the Phillips. Josh and Brooke were our first friends in seminary land and we cherish their friendship so much. Sadly, Josh had to graduate and they moved to SC to pastor a church. We were so excited that our vacations overlapped and we were able to hang out for a morning. Their daughter Kate is getting so big and so is Brooke (she 21 weeks pregnant!) :) Phillips, please know how much we miss you and we are so thankful we got to hangout with you for a little while.

Insurance and Injuries Suck!

Sorry for the bold statement but they do! Who knew that this knee surgery would turn into such a financial mess. Today marks 2 months since my surgery and boy do the bills keep showing up. I don't mean to complain I just want to know where it all keeps coming from. I feel like my credit card is getting more of a workout than my knee. Speaking of which, PT has been going well and last week may be my last week. Praise the Lord for that! I can start using the $40 copay per visit towards the other bills now.

Today while at the orthopedist the receptionist was like you have a $421 payment today. I looked at her in a state of confusion and asked her why and evidentally it was a coinsurance bill. I thought I was paying my coinsurance payment to the hospital... where did this come from? Insurance is so confusing and I feel like I'm getting played somewhere in the process. I've called the orthopedist office back and hopefully they can give me some more explanation..I'm just waiting for them to call me back. SO bottom line....don't get injured..and insurance sucks!

In other news, teacher workdays start Friday. Our new school building is not finished and we will spend the first 3 workdays at the high school. We hope to get in on Wednesday which is also meet your teacher day. I can already anticipate the chaos that is to come and I'm not excited. I don't feel prepared for the year at all. Summer as flown by with all the knee drama and babysitting that I don't feel like I've spent anytime focusing on the new year. Usually summer is a good time for me to reflect on the last year and make improvements. I do some research, some reading, and overall planning. This summer I haven't really done any and I have this feeling of panic. The next week or so is going t be crazy with trying to move in and getting acclamated to a building that I'm afraid the first day of school is going to creep up on me without me being prepared. Please pray for me that I would rest in the Lord and the talents that He has given me. We are also short staffed as more and more kids enroll and more classes have to be created. Pray that our principal would be able to find highly-qualified teachers this late in the game and that they would be there in time for the kids.

Thanks gang! I really do appreciate you listening to my rants and raves all the time. :)

We're back and brown

We're back from the beach well rested and with a new golden brown hue. We don't have many pictures because we spent most of days sitting on the beach reading. It was extremely hot which meant we played in the ocean a lot and tried to stay cool by sitting under the umbrella. Our nights included shopping, eating lots of seafood, playing cards, and then taking in a comedy show. It was a sweet time with family and rest just in time to go back to school this week. Jeremy starts school on Thursday and I go back on Friday.

I will try and post the pictures later...when someone (ahem..Mom) sends me theirs.

Beach bound

I've been waiting all summer for this and tomorrow it finally arrives! We're off to Cherry Grove, SC with my family to spend a wonderful week at the beach! Growing up, we would travel to the beach each summer for some time in the sun, lots of yummy seafood, and a little bit of shopping. Once we were in college, the vacations changed a bit and we haven't been to the beach as a family since high school I think. Finally we are going back now as a family of 5...yay for J's first Piner family vacation. :) (Pray for him...he's never spent a whole week with all of us before!)

Have a great week folks! :)

New furniture has arrived!

Loveseat

Couch


Our new furniture arrived yesterday and we are way excited about it! We realized now that the curtains and rug don't really match so that will be the next project. We were also excited that we were able to sell the old couch. It was a hand-me down so we didn't have to pay for it in the beginning so we actually made some money!