Christmas/YEC 2008

Our Christmas adventures began the Saturday before Christmas. Like I have mentioned in other blogs, we went to LaGrange to see Jeremy's great-grandmother. The next day we had Christmas with Jeremy's dad's side of the family. At the beginning of the week, I finished shopping. We also had Christmas with Jeremy's mom's side of the family and had our infamous baking day with the sisters/mom! Jeremy's mom, Aiden, and Micah joined for a little bit. Christmas Eve we went to my grandfather's house for our family Christmas. On that side of the family we have many traditions. We've always drawn names to exchange gifts. We've also always had a Christmas program where all the children get up and say certain Bible verses. I remember memorizing my parts each year. The older one got the longer the verse/part got. I even did parts while in college, but by then I was reading the whole Christmas story from Luke. It was kinda sad this year. There were only 4 people in the program this year. Some people "chose" not to do a part. It wasn't ever an option to do that when I was little! We also have always sung Christmas carols after the program. The famous song we ALWAYS do is "The 12 Days of Christmas" and we are given certain days that we are responsible for singing. My grandmother always used to start singing and it was usually 2 octaves too high. Miriam and I used to sing our parts in different languages or in different voices, but Grandmother always got onto us (if not in words, it was by a look). Since her death, we still hold the traditions. 

The traditions are big in my immediate family as well. We always had to take a shower, get dressed, and eat breakfast before we could open presents. I still do that now and it makes life so much easier because then I am ready to go to all the other houses the rest of the day. Our Christmas adventures began at 9:00/9:30. Although I woke up extra early about 7:30/8, and I asked Jeremy if I could get up and look at what was under the tree. He said yes. I just got all ready to start the day, made breakfast, and then woke Jeremy up because I couldn't wait any longer. I told him there was a dinosaur in our laundry room. When I walked to get my towel, my towel was not hanging where it NORMALLY hangs. It had fallen on the ground, but I missed that. Instead I saw a towel hanging on something tall in the laundry room. I knew automatically what it was. I had asked for a coat rack because I thought it would make our kitchen look a little bit nicer because all our coats usually hang on the back of the chairs at the table. Although I was a good little girl and didn't uncover it, I knew it was there! We enjoyed our time opening presents at our house before the busy day started. Here are some pics. Yes, Maverick even got some presents (tennis balls and bones). Jeremy got some DVDs (most of them are ones I wanted for myself), some candy, and Guitar Hero World Tour. I got a coat rack, some clothes, and some candy. Last year, we learned that my family was into actually using our stockings and putting stuff in them and Jeremy's family only used them for decoration. He learned that at the last minute and stuffed my stocking with some stuff last year. This year he remember Tuesday Claus every week and even stuffed my stocking! Go Jeremy! It's fun to learn more about each other the longer we are together. 

  

  

I don't think I have mentioned that I love Christmas! I love the time with family. I love the time off from school. I love giving presents to others. I love more than all the reason for Christmas. I love the fact that we celebrate the birth of our savior! 

After we opened presents at our house, we went to Daphne's house to meet the rest of my family. We opened presents and had our traditional Christmas lunch of brunswick stew, chili, and all our Christmas desserts/goodies. 

The past few weeks Jeremy's laptop has been slowly dying. Jeremy has an incredible story about receiving his laptop, but he uses it 10-15 hours a day and so it's bound to die at some point. He has used the laptop for so many videos and other ministerial work, that it has really paid for itself over and over and over many times. However, the cooling fans started making noises maybe about a month ago. Then one of the fans stopped working causing the computer to get pretty hot. He even got lasagna out of the freezer two nights to put under the computer in order to lower the temperature. More recently, the computer only would stay on for about 5 minutes because of the fan problem. Well needless to say, I got Jeremy a new mac book pro for Christmas. My family chipped in as well. Thanks! He was SOOOOO surprised. 

From there we went to Jeremy's mom's and opened gifts. There I got lots of giftcards to clothing places. Jeremy got a blueray disk player. Then we were able to take a little break to unpack the car before we headed to Jeremy's grandparents house. At his grandparent's we both got a ton of giftcards. I was so excited. 

Christmas morning was funny though. I wanted Jeremy to open the computer at my sister's house, so I had to get him some other things. He was so funny when he opened some of those gifts though because I had gotten him lots of movies and some of them were more for me (27 Dresses and  The Holiday were just 2 of the fun ones he got! His "big" gift at our house was Guitar Hero World Tour. 

On the way to my sister's house, Jeremy said "I'd go out of my mind if you get me a computer." Well, I kept telling him I just paid tuition for my master's classes and I really didn't have any money. Near the end of the gift time, Jeremy had only received a giftcard to Barnes and Nobel, a Calvin and Hobbs book, and a s'more maker (addressed to both of us). The rest of the family had gotten lots of gifts by then so I knew he would think something was wrong if he didn't get at least one other present, so I took the box to him. He didn't know what it was because the size of the box had changed. Once he got into it, he was so excited/shocked/surprised. He felt/feels bad that I spend the money, but he needs a computer in order to do his job. How is a video guy supposed to edit videos if he doesn't have a working computer?! 

Oh, I forgot to mention one other tradition we have in my family... We have this owl tradition. We've had a strange owl at our house for as long as I can remember. I think my parents got it as a gag gift one year, or maybe it was cool at one time. It is pretty hideous, but we say it brings you good luck if you get it. Every Christmas, it is given to someone else. Daddy gave me the owl when I was in college and Jeremy has always said he would dispose of it if we got it. Well I had it before we got married and gave it to Micah when he was about 4 months old. I thought it might help him to stop crying so much. Well, last year Miriam wrapped up some UGLY "pseudo" owls and gave them to my parents because she wanted to keep the owl for Micah another year. Even though you are supposed to display the owl proudly, my dad did not even display those fake owls. They stayed on top of the piano and collected dust. This year Miriam gave the "real" owl to Daphne and we got the fake owls. People are afraid to give us the real one because of what Jeremy might do to it! Although, Jeremy wouldn't ever do anything to harm the owl, we still don't get it because of the threats from long ago! Maybe Daphne will choose to give to us next year! Congrats Daphne! Corrine looks proud that y'all have it now!

 

The day after Christmas, I went shopping ALL day. Jeremy loaded the truck for YEC (Youth Evangelism Conference) and drove to Macon. I had about $200 to each store-GAP, Old Navy, and Kohls. I got some fun things! After I shopped with all my giftcards, I hung out at the rents house. Early Saturday morning I got up and drove to Macon. My friend Mandy told me a way to go so that I could avoid getting on 85 and 75. I love it and will always go that way now! Once I got to Macon the fun began. 

I have always LOVED YEC because you get to see people you haven't seen since the summer. It's like a mini-superWOW reunion. We always love catching up with each other. However, this year was a little different. I wasn't in the normal staff position as I usually am. Since the wonderful Cindy Fruitticher had baby Jake, she wasn't able to go this year. She put my friend Kelli and I in charge. It's funny that it takes two of us to do her job! Kelli and I have worked together at SuperWOW for the past couple of summers and she's great to work with. We kinda fell into our SuperWOW roles at YEC too, and it was fun. We did the administrative duties as well as made sure the staff had jobs to do. It was kinda crazy that we were "in charge" of many of the issues. We were proud to finally receive walkie talkies and gold name-tags meaning we had an all-access pass and could go up to the band/speaker greenroom and backstage. We found ourselves constantly running around... I mean it really running. There is a long hallway under the Centreplex seats. At the end of the hallway was our office. When we had something to get or someone from security to find, we would RUN down the hallway. Shannon, another person we work with at SuperWOW, said we should invest in skates because we did so much running/walking. The internet didn't work at the Centreplex, so we couldn't run credit cards, but people were SO great about it. While there I saw three of my students and they were pretty surprised to see me outside of the school arena. I also saw a teacher I work with and lots of the people I have gotten to know through the summers with SuperWOW. The youth pastors are surprised when we remember their names or their churches, so I hope I continue to have a good memory and can remember those things each year. I will conclude the section of YEC with my FAVORITE story from the week. 

These two girls came up to the table in order to get their wristbands/bracelets. They weren't in the book, so I couldn't confirm they had registered. They said they hadn't gotten any info from us concerning their registration either though, so both of them printed off their bank transactions and showed us the money had been taken out! I love it. I mean who would have thought to do that?! We gave them the bracelets and didn't think anything else about it. On the last evening, one of the girls came to the table. We were busy but another girl from our staff asked if she could help the girl. The girl said she just wanted to talk to a staff member. She went into a long story about how they'd gone to Pizza Hut for lunch and had been looking at their pics from YEC and left the camera. They realized it when they got back to the hotel. They turned around and went back to Pizza Hut. Once they got their camera and got ready to leave they found out that their car wouldn't start. They called AAA, and the tow-truck guy couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then one of the girls called her father and he told them just to get a cab and come home. They said, "No! We want to go to YEC!" Instead of getting a cab, they got the tow truck guy to bring them to the Centreplex and were getting a cab to take them back later. I love it that they were so dedicated and were having so much fun that they didn't want to go home! 

We got home exhausted on Tuesday evening. We slept last today and just wanted to relax today. Even though it has almost been a week since Christmas, we still haven't taken down our tree. We will save that project for tomorrow. Instead, I went and had lunch with Emily (my old roomie from college) today. It was the first time I had seen her since she got married, so it was fun to catch up with her again! 

Well, now it's off to celebrate the closing of the 2008 year and the ringing in of the 2009 year. Stay safe until I write again! 

Christmas time is here... Happiness and cheer.

We sure do stay busy around holidays... so does Maverick.

Maverick loves the cool weather. He loves laying in piles of cool leaves. He likes the treats other people put outside for him too. One day I was quite disturbed he hadn't eaten his food. Later on, I talked to Jeremy's uncle and he said he put a bone with some meat on it on a tree and it disappeared. I think good ol' Mav got it. He also brought this sweet little squirrel to our house. I think this is like the 3rd or 4th one now. This one is in good condition compared to the others though. Jeremy said Mav's too slow and wouldn't be able to catch them. Well, my story for this one is that it is old and died of natural causes or a heart attack and Maverick found it. It was already stiff by the time he got it. He loves finding fun things in the woods and bringing them home. He's so thoughtful.   

When I got home from school Friday, Miriam, Stacy, and Micah were waiting on me at our house. I quickly unloaded my car with the gifts from my students and hopped in their car to go to Stone Mountain. They have a village, Christmas laser show, and all kinds of fun things to do this time of year. We met Momma, Daddy, Aunt Martha, cousin Hannah, Aiden, Ethan, and Corrine there. While we were there we saw the Christmas parade, Christmas laser show, and Polar Express in 4-D. We also got to take a train ride around the mountain and even heard the Christmas story while on the train. Even though my family has done this the past couple of years, I have never been able to go. Last year they left at like 3 pm and I wasn't out of school. The year before that, I was still in college I guess whenever they went so I didn't get to go. I was EXTREMELY excited about going this year and had a blast. I think one of my favorite parts of the night was dinner though. We were sitting at our table at the restaurant (in the park/village) just eating our food. All the adults except Momma sat at one table while Momma sat at the other table with all the kiddos. Near the end of the meal, Martha asked if our table had been that high the entire time. Our table was up to our chests at that time. We kept talking about how strange that was. I wondered why they wouldn't get taller chairs. All the while the table kept getting higher. Soon it was up to our chins and we were having to really stretch to eat our food or get our drink. We knew something was up, then our waitress walked over and asked what was wrong. She pretended not to know anything about what was going on and kept questioning us. Miriam offered to get on the table to make it come back down because our pushing on it wasn't helping. She finally made us push again and she went to push the button to lower the table. It was so funny. Other people in the restaurant just stared and laughed along with us. 

Saturday Jeremy and I got up early and went to LaGrange to visit his great-grandmother (Grandma James). She's 94. I love going to see her. She has lots of energy and always makes me laugh. We took the limo so all 14 of us could ride together. Jeremy's aunt, uncle, 4 cousins+2 boyfriend/girlfriend, brother+girlfriend, and his mom and Jeff got to ride. We always have lots of fun together and laugh a lot. Last year we took the limo too because Grandma James hadn't ever ridden in one. It's so much easier to take the limo though because we would have to take 3 cars and it's more fun to all ride together. We watched the Goonies on the way there and most everyone slept on the way back. We stayed all day- eating and telling stories. That night we played a little Guitar Hero Aerosmith. I got through 4 songs and my eyes were dry so I had to stop. I forget to blink when I play. Jeremy started playing and I don't remember him even finishing one song because I fell asleep on the couch. 

Sunday Jeremy and I went to a Christmas gathering with his dad's side of the family. We both got some money and a giftcard (mine-GAP, his-Mac Grill). After we left, we went home and were home a total of 9 minutes and left for church. Phew.... we were tired. We watched A Charlie Brown's Christmas when we got home and I fell asleep on the couch shortly after it finished. Man, I am noticing a trend about sleeping on the couch. It's sad when I can't even make it to the bed. 

Today, I planned to go shopping. I went to my car and tried to crank it. The engine wouldn't turn over. I kept trying to crank it and it wouldn't start. I called Daddy and he said he'd come down and look at it. He pressed the gas and finally it cranked up. It was in the 70's last week and then dropped down in the teens, so maybe my car didn't like that switch! Since Daddy was down here, he asked if I wanted to go to Publix with him. Well, since that was my first place to go anyway, I was like sure! After Publix we had lunch. That was only the beginning of our adventures. We ended up spending 3+ hours shopping at Costco, Sams, and Best Buy all in search of the best deal on an LCD tv and a stand for it. We went to those places, wrote down the prices then went back if we wanted something there. We ended up getting a really nice tv at Costco and a pretty stand at Sams. Although the lady at Best Buy had Daddy sold, the tv was out of stock, so we left! After our fun trip, I went to a Christmas gathering with Jeremy's mom's side of the family. We got Scrabble and Taboo! We love to play games, but we don't have many and we don't have many two player games, so these games will add to our collection. To end the day my family had our famous baking time. We love making Christmas goodies/candies/cookies. Melting chocolate and coating oreos, pretzels, and peanut butter crackers are just the beginning of our fun times. Jeremy's mom and Aiden has started joining us for the fun. 

I guess tomorrow I will really have to finish my shopping since I didn't get around to that today. Oh well, there are only 2 more people I need to get something for, so no worries! 

Our Tuesday Claus gifts this week.

Here is the quilt I picked.
Here WAS my yummy breakfast last Tuesday.

Another Tuesday Claus is here. I can't believe it's already the third Tuesday Claus of the month. This December has been flying by. I decided to share a few pictures of some of the Tuesday Claus gifts. Last week Jeremy made me a big french toast breakfast, so this is what I got to enjoy. He really thought outside the cereal box didn't he?! He even had good presentation. This week I got Guitar Hero Aerosmith. I'm extremely excited! I also got a level and a little magnetic pointing stick that extends which will be fun when I'm teaching. I can be pointing at something on the board and then point it to get someone's pen if they are tapping it on their desk. I guess I never mentioned I also got a really nice jacket that definitely keeps me warm when it's cold. Tuesday Claus (both of them) is/are my favorite! Jeremy got the movie The Goonies and this cool little thing you put on your cokes so they don't go flat as quickly after they have been opened. 

My first big Christmas gift I have gotten came on Sunday. My grandmother (mom's mom) passed away in August last year. My mom had five quilts made (one for me and my sisters, one for my oldest niece, and one for herself). We had the quilts all over the floor trying to pick which one we wanted. It was TOUGH because we all recognized squares on all of the quilts. I picked one with some of the shirts, dresses, and sheets I remembered Grandmother having. The center of the quilt I picked has a snowman. It came from one of her denim dresses I loved. When I see that, a flood of memories from Christmastime come over my mind. I think about all the traditions we have and about how much I have always looked forward to Christmas Eve at my grandparent's house. I will write about this later, but I just wanted to show you the picture of my beautiful quilt.

Today we had our staff Christmas party. 6th grade was in charge of bringing vegetable casseroles. Jeremy made a green bean casserole and brought it to the school so it could be warm. We had tons of food and I was stuffed afterwards. We also had to take 2 dozen cookies for a cookie swap. Tonight we had to make 60 cookies for Wonderful Wednesday (reward system at school for the kids). I am doing a cookie decorating room. Man, I am cookied out already! From our principal and AP, we got mugs with the HMMS logo on them. Our principal's goodbye words were "Now, hold them down for the next three days!" Wow! Yeah that's what I'm going to have to do!

Shopping, sayings, Santa, and songs

So, I'm really excited. The countdown is on... 5 days of school left. YAY. I thought I'd share a little post about shopping, sayings, Santa, and songs. Yes, I know this is not what Christmas is about, but I still wanted to share. 

Jeremy and I got to go Christmas shopping yesterday. Hopefully we will finish with our shopping this week. I made Jeremy a list of what to get people and he said he'd go this week. What a sweet husband I have! 

We went to a Christmas party last night and throughly enjoyed ourselves. We played a little game with movie quotes from Christmas movies. I was not very good, but maybe it's been over 11 months since I have seen those movies, so I guess I have the right to forget the famous quotes. It really got me in the mood to watch Christmas movies though. We don't get many channels at our house, so if we don't own the movies I don't know how many of them I'll be watching this year either. I love my Christmas movies and would watch them all during December if I had time. Things like "Santa, I know him!" from Elf, "Teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings" from It's a Wonderful Life, and "If you're really Santa Claus, you can get me it for me, if you can't you're just a nice man with a white beard like Mommy says" from Miracle on 34th Street. 

This past week, I had a girl ask me if Santa exists. We were in the middle of changing classes, I mean really, is that the time to ask a question like that?! I said yes, but thought maybe not in the form in which you think he exists. When I told Jeremy the story that evening, he exclaimed, "LAURA!" I tried to come up with excuses for why I said what I did. I mean why do I need to be the person that breaks that to someone? Instead of causing this little girl to cry, I sent her on her way and heard her say, "Mrs. McBryar says he's real!" Sigh... sooner or later the truth will be known. 

The other morning I heard a song on the radio that made me laugh. It's called "It's the Most Fattening Time of the Year" and until I can get the video on here, you should go to youtube and check out the song. Or you could go google the words and sing it to the tune of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" to get the same effect. Although many people try to eat less, there is just more food around to partake. There are parties with lots of goodies and it's just hard not to snack. Oh well, then the resolutions will be made to lose weight. It's a never ending cycle in society. For now, it's goodbye but I will post soon I'm sure because things might be a little slower this week.

It's the most busy time of the year!

So, I had the busiest weekend I have had in a LONG time... well to be honest I don't think I have ever had a weekend with this many events. Friday, I had school then the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for Emily and Brandon's wedding. Emily was my roomie in college if you don't know. Then I woke up early on Saturday morning and got my hair fixed up for the wedding. Thanks Ansley (Jeremy's cousin). I had to be at the church by 11:30, so once my hair was done, Jeremy drove me to the church. We took pictures OUTSIDE. If you are a regular on my blog you know I don't like cold and that my nose gets really red if I'm out in the cold for a short period of time. Needless to say I had a red nose for every picture. My arm hair was standing up as well since I was covered in goosebumps. Oh well, it was worth it for Emily. However, I just am not too excited about getting sick because I'm a baby when I get sick. The wedding and reception went well. It was fun to see people I've met through Emily or heard her talk about over the years too. We had to leave early from the reception though to go to a family Christmas gathering/baby shower. Jeremy's step-sister... well I guess my step-sister in law is having a baby so we had a family shower for her. It was fun to have family together again! We hadn't seen some of them since the beach this past summer. After that I got a little bit of sleep. 

I woke up early and finished my paper for my Walden class, got ready, and went over to Cindy and Steven's house. I got the run-down of all the YEC information. I have been passed over the YEC book, so I guess now that means Kelli and I are now officially in charge. Then Jeremy and I went to my parent's house for Sunday lunch. We left there and I went to a shower for my teammate and friend, Brandi. Over fall break, I got in a mood to go shopping and I bought her ALL kinds of things at Baby's-R-Us. I have been giving her things all along the way. Well I got her a diaper gene. They obviously didn't take it off the registry though because 2 other people got her the same thing. I've had mine since October! Oh well. Once I got home I had time to grab my Bible then we headed to church. Man I was exhausted when we got home! 

This week I haven't slowed down either. Monday after school, we went to get decorations for the baby shower we are having for Brandi at school. On our way home, Jeremy was really excited about Tuesday Claus and said, "I really thought outside the box this week. 

Tuesday was Tuesday Claus, but it was also the never ending day! I love our couches and tend to fall asleep on them often. Well, Monday night I fell asleep watching my video for Walden. WOOPS! Jeremy woke me up about 10 and told me I needed to get in bed. I was half asleep so I kept questioning him about why I needed to go to get in bed. He told me Tuesday Claus wouldn't come. I said, "Yes, he will. He comes through the heating vents." How random?! Well, I got in bed and woke up at 6:30 my usual time and Jeremy got up after me to see what Tuesday Claus brought. He got the newest Indiana Jones movie to add to his collection. I got a little box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We don't even have any milk right now, so I was like what?! Two seconds later, Jeremy got out of bed. He told me how he had gone to the store to get pancake stuff to fix for me for breakfast. He called his mom to make sure he had everything (all you need is syrup and bisquick). His mom gave him a better idea, to make french toast. He was going to stay up all night and have it ready when the alarm went off, but then about 5:30 AM he remembered I don't like to eat right when I get up. He tried to go to sleep but was so excited he couldn't fall asleep. He made some mean french toast. I told him the last time I had real french toast was when I was little. Daphne made me some and didn't cook the eggs all the way or something because they were mushy. Daphne's an incredible cook, but something went wrong that time. My Tuesday Claus breakfast was really nice! Then I was off to school. During planning we had a conference that took the entire time. After school we had a faculty meeting then a chorus AND band concert until 8. I still hadn't gone to the rent's house to get my Tuesday Claus gifts there. Momma was worried about me because I wasn't answering my phone, so she finally called Jeremy and he told her I had the concerts. From there I got some body wash, an orthodontist bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and pens. We also got our sweatshirts with the years on them. My mom said the lady that put the years on them has cancer (she thinks) and can't put the years on them anymore. :(

Today, was yet another busy day. We had a conference during our planning that took the entire time. The girl is a HARD worker, but she can't divide so she does well in all her subjects but is failing math. It makes me look like the bad guy because she isn't doing well, but when a student is in sixth grade and cannot divide, she is going to have problems. I gave her a cd with some multiplication songs on it (Thanks Daphne!) and told her to listen to it every day. If she knows those facts she will be able to get division a lot faster. Her dad said he tucks her in at night and she has that in her cd player. It used to be the Jonas Brothers, but the cd has replaced them and she falls asleep listening to it! I mean really.... this girl is incredible, I just wish I could get her to understand division! I had to leave school before the buses left today because I had a doctor's appointment. No fun. I got a text from Jeremy saying the present he was picking up for Brandi's shower (the present from the 6th grade teachers) was discontinued. We had to go up to the mall tonight to see if we could get another present. We enjoyed Artuzzi's an newer italian place and really liked it. Once we got home, I took my quiz for my class and then wrote a discussion paper for my class. Man.... It's not even Thursday and I have been going non-stop! I'm even up past my 9 PM bedtime just so I can post. Sigh.....

7 days until Christmas break!!!!! Don't you know I'm counting?!

1st Tuesday Claus

Really, I don't need to be posting right now. I must have my student's grades for tomorrow (midterms). Their grades keep disappearing on our new computer grading program. It's so frustrating....Oh well, I really want to blog so why not?! 

Today Tuesday Claus came. I love Tuesday Claus. I love this time of year! Other than the cold weather it's my FAVORITE time of the year. We have a great tradition in my family called Tuesday Claus. If you read Miriam's blog (my sister), you already know about the tradition. If not, I will retell it. It all started when I was little. My mom was usually responsible for most of the Christmas presents we received and we were well aware of this. One morning we woke up and we had presents sitting at our placemats at the table. We were like what is this?! My dad said he saw Tuesday Claus and he gave my dad these presents. Ever sense then, every Tuesday before Christmas in the month of December, Tuesday Claus comes to my parents house and gives us presents and he NEVER forgets. My dad traveled a lot when I was young and was always picking up little things here and there at trade shows and at Cracker Barrel. If you ever go on a trip with my dad you will eat at Cracker Barrel at least once! Some of the presents have been really strange and momma has added a supplemental present probably so we wouldn't cry. Even when I was in college Tuesday Claus came. Tuesday Claus put the presents in my bag and I would wait until Tuesday to open it. Emily, my roommate even got something from Tuesday Claus. Over the years I have gotten a HUGE checkers game, a HUGE coke bottle to put change in, lots of Christmas socks, random flashlights, other doodads, and we always get a Tuesday Claus sweatshirt. My dad had a shirt made and the year on the shirt changes each year with the previous year marked out. We love our little tradition and it has filtered into our own families. Daphne and Cary have Tuesday Claus and Miriam and Stacy have Tuesday Claus as well. Jeremy and I even have Tuesday Claus. Jeremy likes to play around like he won't do it, but he does. He only forgot one time last year, but don't worry Tuesday Claus remembered me at my parents house. It's always fun to go to the rent's house and see what everyone else got. 

Today, I got a ton on Burt's Bees chapstick. Jeremy counted my jackets and wanted to have at least one tube for every jacket because he knows I always want some and never have some with me. He went through and counted ALL my jackets (light and heavy). He's so fun. Jeremy got a book by an author he likes. At the rent's house, I also got an ice scrapper for my car. Not only is it a scrapper (since my car sleeps outside) but it also has a little brush on it to sweep off the ice. How thoughtful?! Jeremy has been putting a towel over my car so the windshield isn't so bad in the morning. Well, last night when he went to put the towel on my car it was already frozen. He scrapped off the car with a card in his wallet. Little did he know that I had a scrapper (from high school) in the house or that I would get a nice one from Tuesday Claus. I know it will come in handy. 

So, look forward to other Tuesday Claus gifts for the 2008 year!

Shock of the Day

Shock of the day... This morning I looked on my Walden University website and noticed they had put my new classes up. I have been waiting for them to do this, so I got excited and said why not pay my bill now instead of wait until later. So I paid the large sum of money for my next two classes. Although I love everything about the school I wish I could just go for free. I let out a sigh as I gave away my hard earned money. Then I decided to look at my account to see how much money I had left. Well when I went to look, I was in for a shock. My account didn't have enough money in it by a few hundred dollars. I then looked at all my purchases and was like I didn't spend that much on Black Friday... I went right into thinking how am I going to do this. I have a savings account where most of my money goes, so I thought hm... I guess I could send Jeremy to get money out of there and put it in my checking account and have it there in time for tomorrow when the transaction processes. Then I went and woke Jeremy up and started panicing. I said I won't be able to buy Christmas presents. It's funny that I started thinking about that, when I know I can go into savings if I need to. He calmly said let's go look at your withdrawls. We did, but I hid the places I went so he wouldn't have any idea of where he might be getting a present, and we discovered the money from Walden had acted like it had already been taken out. Phew... Why don't I stop and calmly think when things like this happen? I started thinking and going into a panic instead of turning to God. 

On a much lighter note, we got to go see Cindy, Steven, and baby Jake today. We teamed with the Kindig's and took them some lunch. Jeremy made his famous spaghetti. As you know we usually eat lunch with my parents on Sunday. We smelled spaghetti all morning and Jeremy started craving it, but we knew we wouldn't be having spaghetti for lunch because Momma has now given Jeremy the job of making spaghetti when we have it for lunch! We should have offered to make lunch for the family too and made lots of it for everyone, but we didn't think of that. We ate fast and then went and took them lunch. While we were there waiting on Steven to get home from church, I got to hold Jake for the first time. The Fruitticher's are doing well and love being parents. Steven had the whole week off from school because of Thanksgiving break. What a great week for Jake to come! I'm so glad they live close now too, I might just have to stop by on my way home from school since I know Cindy will be home!

Belated Friday Thankfulness

I am sorry I didn't post again on Thursday night. We stayed so busy I was exhausted by the time I got back home, my fingers wouldn't have been able to type! 

Thanksgiving was fun. I got to watch a little of the parade while we waited at the Rent's house to leave. Daddy was sick so he didn't go to Paw-Paw's, so we went with Momma. Momma had a crazy morning. The dressing burnt and a coke exploded all over the kitchen, but we got up to Banks County okay! Remember when I talked about Psalm 100? Well, my aunt Martha decided to print off a sheet with the words to the verses for those people who were "scripturally challenged"! I laughed, but it made me smile when everyone could say it correctly! One funny thing about it was that she typed "gererations" instead of "generations" so Jeremy purposefully said it wrong when we said it. We also always have the option to draw names up there. The kids draw each other and the adults draw each other. This year we decided to mix it up a bit. We put everyone's name in the same basket and drew. We couldn't find the basket that we ALWAYS use to put the names in, but we made do. When we got back home Jeremy said he was "leaving" me at my parents house while he went to eat with his grandparents and dad. I was okay with that! He wanted me to spend some time with my family since Daphne's family or my dad didn't go to Banks County. I took a nice nap before dinner. After dinner, we chatted and then Jeremy picked me up. We stopped by Andy and Tami's for his mom's family gathering. They were looking at the sale ads. Of course I got pressured into saying I'd go shopping at 4 in the morning. I made my list of things to get and then we went home so I could get at least a few hours of sleep! 

Let me preface this section with a note from last year. Last year I was pressured into going shopping at 3 AM with some of Jeremy's family. I like my sleep, but I also like good deals so I decided to go. I was really excited about getting some things I needed, but the best part was we went in the limo. Jeff, my father-in-law, owns a limo company, so he offered to drive us. It is the funniest thing to pile out of a limo in front of the stores and have everyone look at you like you are crazy or laugh at you. I get embarrassed pretty easily, and I can't believe I said I'd do it again this year! I mean, we are going shopping for cheap stuff in the wee hours of the morning, yet we are in a limo. At least we didn't pay for the limo, now that would be crazy. Other people look at us and say, "Man, that's smart!" We just pile all our bags in the back and could shop all day long. This year we went to Buford to the mall area because some people needed certain stores that were over there. My previous experiences in Buford (before Jeremy and I got married) are what cause Jeremy to say he will never go again. We had an awful time at Wal-Mart one year. People were HOSTILE! Well, Wal-Mart was crazy yet again. No other Wal-Mart in the area (Lawrenceville or Snellville) has been this crazy and unorganized on Black Friday. I talked to Miriam who was in Lawrenceville and she didn't even have to wait in a line! What a joke! I am continually disappointed with the way the Buford Wal-Mart handles things and I really don't think I will go back there. I mean I needed ONE thing, and it ruined the beginning of my day because of the way they handled everything. Oh well, I got the item at another store later in the day. I was more impressed with some of the other stores we went to during the day. (Sorry I can't mention their names- I am being secretive!) During the trip I saw some friends and one student from last year. I tried to hide from my student though! I probably spent more money than I should have because I didn't really get anything I needed. Oh well. It was fun and I slept for a few hours afterwards so that was nice too! -----Sorry, I didn't take pictures of me half-asleep!

More importantly, we put up our tree yesterday... So yesterday I was thankful for safety while shopping and for memories. I have been wanting to put up our tree for WEEKS! Jeremy asks me to wait until after Thanksgiving, so I try to be patient. I don't know what I love about putting up a tree though. I mean I used to complain as a child if I was asked to pull the tree out of the attic. Maybe I don't like the work to get everything out of the attic, or putting the lights on, but I like putting the tree together and putting the ornaments on the tree. Oh, I guess that gives it away that we have an artificial tree! I find it so much easier. There isn't a lot to clean up and Jeremy's allergies don't act up. We put on some Christmas music and decorated. We only put white, silver, and hallmark ornaments (Wizard of Oz ornaments--my theme since I was little-my mom gives us one each year) on our tree so it may look plain, but it's very pretty!! 

Thanksgiving Thankfulness

Don't forget to read my other blogs from this entire week! I know I usually don't post this much in a week. 

Before the meals posting:

It's Thanksgiving! First of all, I can't believe how fast the year has flown by. The holiday season is upon us and that makes me extremely excited. Although I prefer warmer weather, the weather is right for the season. It makes me feel like it's time for Thanksgiving. 

Today, I'm definitely thankful for my family, traditions, and most importantly my relationship with God. I have always loved spending time with my immediate and extended family. We've always had lots of fun together. I also love getting together with family for a meal. I've always loved that maybe it's because everyone is a good cook in my family. I don't dread having to eat something I don't like either and I don't dread eating bad food. Everything is always yummy. My problem is eating too much! My body always wakes me up extra early too on days like this because of my excitement. On Thanksgiving, I love starting the day by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. HA- that channel doesn't come in on our t.v. though, so who knows about that tradition this year. Then we all go to Banks County for a big lunch with my mom's side of the family. My favorites are homemade dressing and pumpkin pie (or any other dessert)! After that we hang out, draw names for Christmas, and then come home stuffed to the brim. We've always done turkey sandwiches for dinner. Daphne's family isn't going to Banks County so we will all celebrate tonight. However, now that Jeremy and I are married we jump around on any holiday and don't get to go everywhere. We will go to Banks County, then we will join Jeremy's mom's family (right up the hill from our house for the end of their meal), and then we will go over to Jeremy's dad's side of the family for dinner. By the evening I'm sure we will be stuffed and worn out. 

On a more somber note: in the past year and 3 months both of my grandmothers have passed away. Last year for Thanksgiving, I didn't know how I'd be at the gathering. We have some traditions that I thought might end and that made me sad. Sometimes we went around and said what we were thankful for. Other times my grandmother would say things for different people. Then we'd say Psalm 100. I still smile because we are all supposed to know the verse but there are still people that fake the words every year. People will join in at common phrases or words too. When I was younger I fell in that category because I wasn't used to the KJV words and I messed up too! 

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord is God: it is He who hath made us, not we ourselves: we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. " Psalm 100 (KJV)

As I read/verbalize the words and imagine them, I get even more excited about Thanksgiving. We are to serve Him, and not be somber today. I mean look at what he's done for us. He made us, He died for our sin, He never leaves us, why not bless Him and be thankful for what He's done for us? Let's celebrate Thanksgiving the right way. Let's truly be thankful for the grace He has shown us! 

After the meals posting:

I will post pictures!

Wednesday Thankfulness

Today I'm thankful for breaks from school. Although, I love what I do, I do love a day off too! I am also thankful for my students this year and my team-teachers. Before school started I prayed that I would have a good year, I still pray for that. Our kids are probably the most challenging out of all the 6th grade students, but we are having a good year so far. There are those students I have to be stern with, but I've definitely toughened up since last year. I guess that comes with experience. Jeremy says I react so differently to situations this year. Last year, I would take things personally, I now let them go and do what I can to make a difference. On another note, I used to come home drained of all energy, but I have noticed that I am not as tired this year. I guess that also comes with experience. I am better prepared to handle the daily on-the-go schedule, I am better prepared with the 6th grade curriculum, and I am better prepared to teach students.  

It's funny that I used to be able to sleep late, and I'm sure I have mentioned this before, but I'm so used to getting up early that I can't sleep in on my days off. Today, I got up and got to enjoy some quality time with Miriam, Micah, and my dad. We all went to Sam's. My dad had to go get some cereal. We ended up leaving with much more than JUST cereal. We even got lunch there. While growing up, I would have been so embarrassed to be seen at Sam's eating lunch. (Man, I used to get embarrassed when Momma sang in the grocery store!) I find that funny that I used to get embarrassed so easily. Now I LOVE getting cheap food. It's not only cheap, but it's yummy. My dad and I (and Jeremy once) have been to Costco a few times lately as well and we've enjoyed some tasty hotdogs and strawberry sundaes. I laughed at myself today for charging $1.56 on my debit card though. After our trip we got to go through a car wash because Micah said the truck was dirty! I had to wake him up so he got to watch it. He got so excited as Daddy's truck got cleaned. I was quite impressed with the nice cleaning job and will have to take Lug to get her cleaned.

The rest of my day off was filled with fun with family. I got to FINALLY go see Twilight. I went with Cindy (Jeremy's mom), Jonathan (Jeremy's brother), and Laurel (Jonathan's g/f). We ALL enjoyed it. Cindy and Jonathan now want to read the other books since they've seen the movie. My goal since April has been to get other people to get into the series! I am a fan of the movie! They did an incredible job even if they didn't read the books before they became the characters. There were things I had not imagined and it throws off my thinking because for 4 books (about 2800 pages) I had something else in my mind. Much of the books are the character's thoughts and its hard to show that on a movie. Some of that was left out, but I filled those thoughts because I was more aware of what was going on. Afterwards, Jeremy joined Jonathan, Laurel, and I for dinner. This is only the 3rd time I've seen Laurel, so it was really fun to get to know them and their relationship a little more. Laurel and I were also able to have some fun conversations on the way home because Jonathan and Jeremy rode together and then we were in my car.

Those are all things that make a day off so much fun. There are so many things I like to do on my days off, so I have to pack lots of stuff in. I usually don't rest on breaks, but it's okay. Brandi (my teammate) thinks I'm crazy for staying so busy on my breaks, but hey, I love every moment I can have with my family! 

---Goodbye until tomorrow on the "real" Thanksgiving day... the day I should be thankful... 

Tuesday Thankfulness

Today, I am thankful for my friends. Over the past few days and weeks I have been able to talk to some of my friends that I haven't gotten to talk to in months. Conversations with friends make me smile and I enjoy every moment of them whether it's in person, on AIM, through email/facebook, or on the phone. I have also had many showers to go to in the past few weeks, like you know from my other blogs, so that gives me lots of chances to talk to friends. Believe it or not, this past weekend was our first weekend in a month that we have been able to have our weekend to relax. Even though we enjoyed our weekend not being so busy (only 1 Thanksgiving meal with Jeremy's dad's family), it's been really great to catch up with people lately. Even this week I've had the chance to catch up with some of my favorite people!

So... if you are reading this, you are obviously my friend, and I want you to know I'm very thankful for your friendship. I know I might be bad at keeping in touch with people, but thanks for still being my friend! I love you guys!

Baby Jake's Here!

I just wanted to start Thanksgiving week being thankful... Today I am thankful for life and new life. 

Jake Everett Fruitticher was born this afternoon. This afternoon, I was getting ready to leave school because I needed to meet Cindy Fruitticher and talk with her about YEC (Youth Evangelism Conference). If you don't know, I worked under Cindy at SuperWOW for 3 years as her administrative assistant. This past summer, I was all by myself as the administrator while she went to the Fort Walton SuperWOW. Now I am "co-running" YEC this year with Kelli because Cindy is going to be out on maternity leave. Since she lives by my school I was going to stop by there on my way home. Well, I called her and no one answered. I was debating on whether or not just to drop by the house. I then decided to call Jeremy before I made a decision. Jeremy said he had gotten a text that Cindy was in labor. I was like well that makes sense why she didn't answer the phone! Little did I know when I was actually calling her, she was having Jake. She wasn't "due" until December 10th, so she wasn't expecting she'd have him today. He is a cutie though. He's 8 lbs. 2 oz. We went to visit them tonight and they are doing well. 

That's what makes me thankful today-- New life. Birth. Birthdays. Families. Happiness. Health.

Laura and Vampires

So... Humor me... I'm extremely excited. Twilight is coming to theaters Friday! I mean, it's my favorite novel series right now and now it's coming to movie. YAY! I find it humorous that I like being the good girl and a good student. You would think it is kinda strange if a person like me likes books about vampires-- the theme is taken from good vs. evil and the Garden of Eden. Stay with me though. The books are not just about blood sucking vampires. These vampires are "vegetarians" meaning they have chosen against eating people. Instead they feast upon animals. The young girl, Bella, falls in love with one of the vampires, Edward. Yes, it may be a cheesy love story to some, but it's so intriguing nonetheless. There are times of intense action. There are other times of sadness. I remember flying through every one of the books... well I take that back I didn't fly through one of them because I knew if I finished it I had to wait until August for the next one to come out. I tried to savor every sentence though. Jeremy read "bookspoiler.com" and read the summaries so he could ask me what was happening. He wasn't too interested, but there are boys at my school that are all into the books. Needless to say, I'm pumped about going to see the movie. I was originally going to go with some teachers from school, but now I think I am going to go with Jeremy's mom and Laurel, the girlfriend of Jeremy's brother. Either way I know I am going to see it at least once this weekend or next week. YAY! Don't worry I will update you on the Laura, Laurel, and Cindy ratings. :)

Gas/Rubberneckers/Friends/Fun

YAY! Guess what? I got gas today for $1.91. I was about to run out of gas, and not because of the lack of money. Daddy hardly ever lets his truck get below 1/2 a tank or 1/4 a tank, and I think I've always held onto that. I usually don't let my tank get low either because Lug needs to be treated with respect. However, I don't pass any gas stations on my way to/from school and I usually don't drive anywhere on the weekends, and my tank got a little too low. I have to go out of my way to go to a gas station (especially a QT). I filled up for $28.00 though. I haven't filled up for under $30 in a LONG time. I was extremely excited and my bank account didn't cringe when the money was extracted. Oh, if only it would continue to drop... I'd be okay with that! 

Now onto another, may more somber note. Friday we were invited over to the Pelphrey's house for steak. We were invited because I helped Brandi the day she was sick at school and she said they were going to do something for us for taking her home. On the way over to their house, we had to make a quick stop by the mall and we were just driving along on a road near the mall when time slowed down. There was a car in front of us in the right-hand lane that passed us. The car then jerked a little bit like the driver realized she was going off the side of the road. The next think we see is the car doing a 45 degree turn into our lane then over-corrects, goes back into the right-hand lane, and hits the curb. Once the car hit the sidewalk the car flew in the air and flipped upside down and landed in the ditch with a huge cloud of dust. Jeremy and I were in shock and pulled into the driveway right where the car landed. We started calling 911 and couldn't get through. Within 2 minutes there were about 5-7 other cars that had stopped and got out of their car to help. 911 was finally reached by someone else. There were construction workers that were working right there and had to run up a nearby hill to avoid being hit by the car. Within minutes the people were pulled out of the car. Inside the car was a pregnant lady about 8 months along, a child in a car seat about 1 or 1/2 and another child about 2 or 2 1/2. The girl in the upside down car seat wasn't even crying and she was not harmed... GRECO car seat. The other girl (the ladies niece) had a bloody mouth. The driver's arm was cut. It gives me chills to think about all the people that IMMEDIATELY stopped to help. Within about 3-5 minutes of the accident the police and ambulance were on the scene. If you ever wonder if people really care, think about this story. People still care and it doesn't matter what is on their agenda, some people still stop to help those in need. For example, there was a man with his four year old daughter. They were on their way to Chuck-e-cheese and they stopped when they were maybe a minute away. The daughter didn't understand what they were doing, but he stayed as long as he was needed. What kind of person wouldn't have stopped when they saw what we did? Man, I can still taste the dirt on my lips when I retell the story. Oh, I guess this needs to be added to the story too. Tonight Jeremy and I saw another fender bender, and he made a comment about the traffic. I said people are being rubberneckers. He did not believe me that that is the term for people who look at wrecks. I thought everyone knew that! Well he looked up the word on wikipedia, and I was right. Then the word tailgating came up. I told him that was riding someone's tail as you drive. He didn't believe me there either, but it's true. Well, I guess I am knowledgeable about words on the street... could you call me "street-smart" ? The rest of the evening after the wreck was REALLY fun. We had fun with our friends. We talked, ate, and played a game Miriam gave me for my birthday (The Game of Things). We laughed and laughed.

The overnight shower was also good. I came home and I actually was dirty because I didn't shower before I came home! I laughed at myself because I had spent a long time at the shower but didn't get clean. I got to have some good conversations with some people, especially the bride-to-be. I also got to have some fun conversations with some of the other ladies (some I new, some I didn't). We enjoyed relaxing and chatting. We played a new game too. It it kind of like pictionary and telephone in one game. I will definitely explain it to you if you want to know about it! It made me laugh so hard I was crying! 

Showers

Why are bridal showers or baby showers called showers? Have you ever thought about it? I mean our English language is already confusing. Why do we need multiple meanings for a word? A shower as most people know it is a way to cleanse the body/hair. If a person learning English was invited to a "shower" would they think there was a party going to take place in a bathroom? I sure hope not, but I wonder if it has ever happened. Have they brought shampoo to the party instead of a gift? 

I am in the midst of my numerous showers each week/weekend.... and no I'm not just talking about the cleansing showers. I already take enough of those showers. I still get to attend quite a few baby showers and wedding showers over the next few weeks. I will see people I haven't seen in a long time. I will also meet people I have never met before. Some of those times will be awkward because I walk in by myself (as you know guys are not allowed at showers-I guess they should stay stinky). As I walk in, I scan the room to see if I know anyone. I might even sit in my car looking at the cars to see if I recognize any of them.... Well, maybe I am going over and beyond, but I'm sure it happens. 

Showers are a time of celebration. A time of new life. A time of companionship. Instead of getting clean at these showers, I will celebrate with those I love. Instead of getting clean, I will get to partake in yummy food I love. Instead of getting clean, I will also give gifts to show my love. All of these things are part of who I am. I love food, I love friends, and I love sharing with others. If my weekend could be spent only taking showers, I would not be as happy! So, next time I blog, I am sure I will be pretty clean from showering it up at a overnight shower this weekend! :)

Stay Clean!

Multi-Teaching

I guess I shouldn't write when I just wrote yesterday, but I feel I must...

Today was quite an interesting day. About 2:00, Brandi (my teammate), came into my room through our connecting door. She looked pretty pale and didn't look like she felt well. She's almost 7 months pregnant and I knew something was up. Sometimes she tells me she gets dizzy during that class, and I wondered if that was it. She asked if I could watch her class because she was about to faint/be sick. Of course I'd watch her class! I always tell her that. There were about 20 minutes left in the class and I ended up teaching her class and my class during that 20 minutes. It was the greatest thing. I was MULTI-TEACHING! I have multi-tasked before, but I usually don't multi-teach. I mean I taught two subjects last year, but that's different. During one class period, I was teaching 2 separate classes 2 separate subjects. I look back and just laugh at myself. I stood between the rooms in the doorway and talked. To my math class I taught how to subtract fractions with unlike denominators. To the social studies class, I discussed the platforms for McCain and Obama because the kids get to vote tomorrow. They read a magazine article on the senators and then we talked about their views on economy, Iraq.... It was really funny because last night I talked to Brandi on the phone and she told me what she was doing today. I don't know what her plans are every day, but she was out yesterday and called me last night. We randomly got on the subject because we had a big electoral college thing today. Anyway, Jeremy told me I needed to sit in one of her classes today and learn about the candidates. Instead of sitting in on the class, I actually taught the class. Once I started teaching, one of my students sitting near the door heard me. She had already gone to social studies and asked if I wanted to see her notes! What a lifesaver this girl was! The kids really helped out wrote on the board, answered questions, and worked hard. My class probably didn't do what they were supposed to, but I was more worried about the students learning about the issues in the campaign because they vote tomorrow. Near the end of the class, the office called my room and told me they were getting coverage for the classroom. An 8th grade teacher came in and I told her what to do. Once we changed classes, I told my new class that if they ever see Mrs. Pelphrey getting sick/hot/dizzy to come and get me. They said they've seen signs of that before. I explained from now on to come get me. One boy asked, "She's pregnant?!"

The story gets better though. If kids stay after school they usually go to Mrs. Pelphrey's room to wait for after school activities students to be dismissed. Well, today she wasn't in there so I kept them. Then they asked me to come to the office. I was like hm... what do I do?! I said, "Ok guys we have to go to the office." They started walking behind me like little ducklings. It was great! I ended up seeing another teacher in the hall and asked if he could watch them for a second (in the hall) while I went to the office. I went in there and the nurse said Brandi wanted to see me. She looked so sad. She had been sick about 10 times. Our principal kept coming to check on her, the nurses called her doctor, and they let her rest. She asked me to take her home. I said I'd have to find someone to do my Academic Team. I asked Peavey, Webb, and Guillebeau. Webb and Guillebeau ended up coming to the rescue. I was so thankful! I felt so bad, but I knew Webb knew what to do. I took Pelphrey home (by the mall). We waited for her husband to get home, and then he rode back with me to the school to get his car. It was quite an experience. Brandi kept telling me she owes us (me and Jeremy) a dinner. I was like NO. I didn't think twice about taking her home. Of course I'd do that- I just had to find coverage for my team. 

What a crazy week these kids have had. Red Ribbon Week (buying suckers/ribbons/balloons, bringing stuffed animals). Tuesday=advisement. Wednesday= 2 subs and a halloween dance. Thursday= 1 sub, teacher gets sick for last 2 classes, bake sale, electoral college/campaign managers speeches. Friday=Halloween, 1 sub, bake sale.......sigh... I need a weekend after all of this!! I know the kids need a break from me because I'm about to go crazy!

Back in the Grind

My post today stems from Momma's comment on my last post- "I'm back in the grind." Yes, I am back into the school mode again. Well, maybe my MOOD is still wishing for fall break, but I must go back to school. The rest of my fall break was nice. I was able to hang out with some friends, do some reading, spend time with family, and do some shopping. I finished up a Master's course and made an A. I also started another course and did some reading/writing for that. Jeremy and I played Monopoly. I came out as the champion. He will say it's because he kept landing on the chance and community chest cards that gave him junk things to do, but it's really because I'm the best. I had park place and boardwalk with a hotel! He went bankrupt because he kept landing on my property. I didn't do any "school" work though. I didn't want to think about my job while on fall break. This week I've adopted the attitude, "Leave right at 4. Take papers home to grade. Don't grade them!" It's a sad attitude to have, but I guess I have to get my mind back into the groove of things. 

The kiddos had their first taste of advisement Tuesday. Advisement is a middle school concept. The students should be known well by at least one other teacher they do not come into daily contact with who can be their mentor. Here is a strange thing you should know about adolescents, especially 6th graders, when they have any change in their schedule, they go WACKO! I was drained by the end of the day. Not only was yesterday crazy, but they thought it would be a great idea to have a halloween dance today after school. Oh, but to make things more difficult, two of my teammates were out today. Sigh.... I am feeling like I used to feel after normal day last year. DRAINED- NO ENERGY! I haven't been worn out as much this year and I love that. Well, I guess my day had to come didn't it?! :) I think fall break got the best of me. I enjoyed resting. I actually got to sleep late. I also got off my schedule by going to bed late and taking naps. Oh well. This week is almost over. One more thing about my kiddos.... they LOVE recess. They get 10 minutes to play after lunch. They love every moment of it. They usually complain when we stay in the lunchroom too long because they want to be outside playing. Things have changed. It's getting colder and they ask to stay inside. It's funny because I'd rather be inside in the cold, but they "must" have sun exposure (school thing).

My weekends are pretty much packed from now until the end of December. I have at least one or two showers every weekend whether it be wedding or baby. So, my weekends that I have so looked forward to are slipping away. I'm really excited about the showers. I know they won't take the whole day, but it's pretty crazy to know that I have that many things to go to. Most of the time I don't have plans, so it's out of the ordinary to have SOOO much. 

On another note- You'd also be proud of us. We are eating at home more. Well... we always get on a kick where we say we will eat at home more, but I think it will stick this time. We went and got some yummy things from the grocery store. I'm probably more likely to want to stay home now because it's so cold. Once I'm inside I don't really want to leave. My winter attire at home is usually my sweats and then a blanket around my neck (like a cape) or over my lap. I think Maverick likes us being home too. He loved me being at home during fall break. He didn't know what to do with himself. Maverick loves this weather. Instead of sleeping in his house, he sleeps in a bed of leaves by the pasture fence. I think the leaves provide a nice cool bed for him. He's black so he gets HOT in the sun, but this weather is better for him. 

Pumpkin Patch-Fall Break

Even though I do not like cold weather, I like fall activities such as bonfires

with s'mores, pumpkin patches, hay rides, carving pumpkins, watching the leaves turn colors and fall, and dressing up for halloween (the last time I dressed up was in college-I was Betty Crocker). During this time of year, I've been chased by a person with a chainsaw at a haunted house when I was in 8th grade and I've had my share of candy from the churches fall festival. However, I still haven't been to a corn maze and that's still on my list to do (I've been to a maze made out of big bushes and trees). Some friends and I tried to go to one but we got there too late and they wouldn't let us in. I guess they were afraid we'd get lost if we went in at that time. Who knows?!

Yesterday, we (Momma, Ethan, Miriam, Stacy, Micah, and I ) went to Washington Farms. We enjoyed our time doing all the farm activities. They had a cow train, a cornbox (not to be confused with a sandbox), petting zoo, hay ride, pig race, slides, strange little tricycles... We all enjoyed ourselves doing all there was to do. I took way too many pictures, and now have to sift through them to post some of my favorite. Sigh... I guess that's okay though because I don't have anything better to do on my fall break. 

Oh yeah, I'm on my fall break right now. I enjoy not having to get up early and deal with kids all day long. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it's nice to have a break! I also enjoy just sitting around the house and doing whatever I please. I envy those people who get to do that every day. I know sometimes they may get bored, but sometimes it's nice to know you don't have a set schedule every day. You can't very much run errands when you are stuck at school until 4 PM Monday through Friday. I don't have many times during the year where I just STOP. From school, to superWOW, to vacations, I stay busy and do not have time to just sit and be bored. That brings up another point. I have never enjoyed being bored either. Growing up, I always kept myself busy or tried to get others to do things with me so I did not have to sit and be idle. I don't know what to do when I don't have anything to do- I think that's my problem. Although, I seem to have this idealized picture of staying at home, I know I would often become bored unless I had things to do like writing papers for school, reading books for fun, or running errands. I'm sure the house would never be dusty or dirty, there wouldn't be a pile of clothes to wash that now waits for the weekend, and I'd be able to make some yummy dinners (oh I love to cook, I just don't have time/energy)--we'd never go out to eat if I were home all day long. For now all my energy goes to keeping students following directions for 6-7 hours a day. Maybe one day, in 10 years, when we have kids I will be blessed with being able to stay home... but until then I will work and take classes and enjoy my time doing so. My life usually wears me out and I sleep really well at night, so that's a positive thing that comes out of it!! However, this week, I'm going to enjoy my time not doing anything! Maybe I'll even be able to stay up late and sleep in, if I'm lucky! But, hey... if you want to do something- don't hesitate to call because I'm always up for having some fun! :)

About Me

Okay, Miriam tagged me and told me I needed to give more information about me. I am finally getting around to telling about myself.... brace yourself, here goes... Stop reading if you get bored.

 

Places I want to go

1. Europe (all over- especially to France, Germany, U.K., and to the middle east)

2. Australia

3. Africa (Kenya and Egypt)

4. Ireland

Things I want to do (this is just a few things off my long list)

1. Go skiing out west or to see the Grand Tetons

2. Go on a transatlantic cruise/Mediterranean Cruise

3. Visit all 50 states and travel overseas

4. Go up in a hot air balloon (but I'm afraid I'd be scared of heights floating around in the sky)

5. Go to a ball (where you dance) like in movies/books

Favorite Activities/Hobbies

1. Running/playing sports (b-ball, flag football, ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, swimming)

2. Sleeping

3. Reading

4. Journaling

5. Spending time with family and friends

6. Playing guitar (if I ever have time)

7. Being outside (especially in the sun)

8. Taking pictures

Favorite Foods

1. CHICKEN! (anything with chicken in it)

2. Fries with honey mustard (yummy O'Charlie's honey mustard)

3. Chinese (sesame chicken, crunch rolls, egg drop soup, crab wontons, rice...)

4. Desserts (especially anything with peanut butter!!!)

Favorite Restaurants

1. P.F. Changs

2. Maggianos

3. Cheesecake Factory/Cheesecake Bistro

4. Chick-fil-A

Favorite T.V. Shows/Movies

1. 24

2. House

3. My Best Friend's Wedding

4. Shrek I, II, III

Favorite Books/Authors

1. Bible

2. Stephanie Meyers (Twilight series)

3. Boxcar Children series (when I was little)

4. Any classic literature novels (Jane Austen) or educational books

5. Roald Dahl 

Dislikes/Pet Peeves

1. People being rude or making fun of other people (especially when Jeremy makes fun of me for wearing my retainer)

2. When people tap pencils or drum on desks (My senses are heightened to noise and I can't handle it!)

3. Burping/passing gas

4. Being cold (My fingers and toes go numb when I'm cold)

5. Burger King or McDonald's (Those are the last places I want to go!)

6. People that don't care.

7. Yelling/arguing. 

8. Going into STINKY bathrooms (especially the ones at school- I have to hold my breath)

9. Driving at night (I can't see) or driving long distances (I get tired)

10. Being bored.

Random Facts About me and What I Love

1. I would love to start painting on canvas but I've never been extremely good at art.

2. I love to travel.

3. I love being in school (I'm such a nerd) and wonder if one day I'll have my PhD or EdD or be a college professor.

4. I have scoliosis in my lower back so my back hurts quite often.

5. I beat a track school record for hurdles back in high school.

6. I'm clumsy (I always trip over my feet. I've fallen down the stairs so many times and had the breath knocked out of me, my family stopped coming to see if I was okay! It's a funny thing that I could hurdle!)

7. I sleep on my stomach with my head under the pillow and the sheets (and comforter) pulled over me.

8. I am a whiner. (Maybe that's because I am the youngest child!)

9. I love Macs (computers) and I have ever since I was little. (I was into Kid Pix, Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, Math Magic, and Sim City.... Now I'm into Aperture, iPhoto, iTunes, and Photo Booth)

10. I ate the same thing for lunch from kindergarten through twelfth grade (cheese sandwich, fruit punch Hi-C, zebra cakes, and chips (that went on my sandwich))---Now I eat a peanut butter sandwich every day and drink water.

11. I am convinced elementary school teachers are amazing because I couldn't put up with the same kids all day long and teach every subject (especially to 6th graders!)

12. I am a people pleaser and have a hard time saying no to people.

13. I love to laugh and make people smile/make their day.

14. I'm a perfectionist and am OCD (to some degree).

15. I love my Escape because I like being high off of the ground when I drive.

16. I am a people watcher.

17. I love doing administrative jobs with camps and with the GBC.

18. I love adolescents.

19. I am amazed at teachers who can balance teaching and family time without being EXHAUSTED! 

20. I am blessed to have a family that loves each other and loves me. 

I will end with these facts. I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little more.

Older Still

         In remarking on a person as they have achieved a certain age its heard at times to denote that a person has lost a certain edge on their personality, that they have lost the fire that lay hold of them when they were younger. Often times this is remarked upon as a good thing, that with age and the toning down of passions it somehow has made that person better, that they are calmer and can think straighter now, and perhaps make better decisions. Even unto ourselves we say things like, "I have kids to think about", or "I have a husband/wife to worry about." and quietly push our old flames under sand and quench those fires with water from the river of time. I wonder what pushes us this way.

        Those fires, those passions for what we believe in, they are what drive us forward.  We have these dreams driven by passion for what we can do, for what we can be, and somewhere we have lost sight of them. We mention them in passing as something that we can just recall but they have gotten so far away on the horizon of our lives that they don't even seem to be our own anymore. We must recapture and not let go the passions and dreams we hold.  In the face of adversity against such passions we must not let them die, but rather morph and change allowing their essence to live on in us. 

       I do not accept that we should let our passions and dreams die when our life circumstances change, whether they change for the good or the bad. The people we call exceptional are the people who pursued their passion even in the face of change. Do not say "I have this wife/husband/child/commitment now i have no time for that" those things are with you because of that passion, because you were that way, they do not seek nor ask you to change but rather be incorporated into that passion with you, that they would be caught up in your journey and you in theirs. It is not the end of your dreams and passions but rather the next part of the story. Children need to see parents who are passionate about something, whether it is something in the home or out of it, but that is not to say the child is neglected but rather that they too are caught up in the passion and given the chance to partake. 

       It is here though that we must walk a fine line between passion and obsession. Passion seeks to fulfill and to sweep up those who are caught in its current and asks those who come to the edge to observe to join. Obsession is a solitary brook, who babbles to itself without care for the outside and seeking only for an end which may never come. Obsession neglects all those who come to observe and invites no one to join in. Passion invites others to join to become a part of this experience, obsession asks for no ones help nor desires for someone to share the experience except to only certify that the obsession is okay. 

      We cannot afford to let passion die in our lives. It is what moves us, and keeps us breathing in life. At least thats what I think for now...

          -jeremy