Gabe update

I'm 27 weeks pregnant and feeling huge. I've gained 8 pounds in the last four weeks. The good news is, I'm still way below my target weight. The bad news is that if I continue to gain weight at this rate I'll gain 26 more pounds before the baby is here. That's how much I'm supposed to gain total!!! I've got to slow way down. All that being said, Gabe is doing great. He's got a good heart rate. My blood pressure is good and so is my blood sugar. I'm doing well. The doctor said he expects Gabe to come around the middle of August instead of the first weekend in September. He said he would make sure that Gabe was born before school started if that's what I wanted. To some extent I want to go into labor naturally, but the logistics of having Gabe before school starts would be great. That means that I would be able to be home with him longer, and I wouldn't have to be teaching seventh graders at nine months pregnant. On the other hand if I had Gabe on his due date or later, I could get my students started on their routine before I'm gone, and the sub wouldn't mess the rest of the year up for me as bad. The truth is, I'm not sure what is best for me and the baby. I'll be praying a lot about this situation and you are welcome to join in on this as well. I feel great however my back hurts because Gabe likes to sit on my sciatic nerve on my left side. He does lots of flips and kicks. My whole belly moves around at night when I lay down. That is when Gabe is very active. We have the crib and the bedding. We need the dresser/changing table and to move a few shelves and then his room will be finished. My siblings came to visit this weekend and we received lots of goodies from them (ex. bassinet, pack-n-play, bath tub, maternity clothes, baby clothes, and lots of other gear). I'm looking forward to being out of school for the rest of my pregnancy, so I can relax and try to limit the swelling of my feet.

School's Out

School's out for summer!!!! I have big plans of finishing a nursery, taking two grad classes, and resting a whole lot. I may travel to see friends. I may make friends come see me. I am so glad that I do not have to wake up Monday morning at 6:00. Life is good!

I love Lucy

The other night, Ty and I had an original "I Love Lucy" episode in our kitchen. I came home from work and Ty was in the kitchen starting dinner. He had this huge casserole dish on the stove top. I thought he was just doing prep work of chopping and stuff, so I didn't say anything about how that dish can't be heated on the burner. I went into the laundry room, and just as I step in there, I hear this huge explosion. I walk back into the kitchen to see that the casserole dish was split in half. Ty didn't know that the casserole dish couldn't be used on the burner, and he had the burner on to melt the butter. Well, I start cleaning up broken shards of pyrex and the food that was in the dish. Ty continues cooking. I start to smell something burning. So I am checking burners, and can't find anything. Ty told me that he had turned on the oven. I open the oven to find a stryofoam container that Ty had left in there completely melted. So I start to clean that up. I had to turn the oven off, so it would be cool enough for me to get stuff out. All the stryofoam then cooled and wouldn't come off. So we had to turn the oven back on to be able to get the stryofoam out. I was laughing so hard by the end of this. We did eventually eat our dinner, but it took a lot longer. I'm not sure why we didn't give up, but we didn't and dinner was great. Now whenever we turn on our oven, we still smell burnt plastic. We can't find it in the oven. I hope that isn't a fire hazard.

Food

I've always heard about craving food while pregnant. I haven't been craving things, but I can say this. EVERYTHING TASTES SO GOOD!!! I could eat all day even when I'm not hungry (which isn't often). I love sweet things especially anything with fruit. I never knew that the sense of taste was so enhanced during pregnancy.

Random fact: Amniotic fluid tastes like the food that you eat. The baby's tastebuds are almost fully developed by the 21st week in utero. Pregnant women really like sweet things because their breastmilk is sweet and the flavor of the amniotic prepares the baby for sweet things. It has been seen on some women's ultrasounds that the baby spat out the amniotic fluid when they ate something really sour before the ultrasound. I might try that on my next ultrasound.

To do:

I have so many things on my to do list. I am a terrible procrastinator. Some of these things have to be accomplished by the morning, others next week, and others by the time Gabe gets here. I'm blogging to procrastinate even longer.

• finish presentation by tomorrow
• type a treatment plan
• buy a ream of paper
• make copies of presentation and treatment plan by 8 a.m.
• lesson plans for next week
• call businesses to give awards for student's projects
• finalize field trip info by Monday
• attend my sister-in-laws graduation sunday services
• attend a cook out with family
• finish the floor in the room we are remodeling
• after the floor is finished, move guest bed into that room
• after bed is moved, move crib into baby room
• pay bills
• move Ty's clothes to closet in our bedroom to make room for Gabe's gifts on Friday
• laundry
• dishes
• clean floors
• buy make-up
• clean out fridge

I know there are other things on my list, but these are very pressing. I guess I better get started. Gabe is trying to kick the laptop off of my belly. Maybe he's trying to tell me something.

Random Story

My principal and I had a conversation about Kindergarten Round-up recently because his son will be in kindergarten next year. This made me think of my own kindergarten round up experience.

My parents were moving to a new town before I started kindergarten. My mom drove me the two hours from our home to the town we would be moving to that summer. I stood in the front seat (before car seats were mandatory for toddlers) and talked non-stop for the whole trip. I laughed and talked about completely random things. I still have this unfortunate trait today (just ask my husband). As Mom takes the exit, I start crying uncontrollably. I was screaming, "What if I fail?" My mom still has no idea how I knew about failing tests, but I was sure I was going to fail. She finally calmed me down in time for me to take my tests. However, she couldn't go with me. I was traumatized. When the testing was over, Mom asked me how it went. I told her, "Oh, it was easy. They made me hop on one foot, count, name letters, and name coins." To this day I remember the questions they asked and which question I missed. I know I missed the identify of a nickel. I can explain this unfortunate event though. They only showed me one coin at a time. I got the penny and dime correct. When they placed the nickel on the table, they only let me see the back. I couldn't tell, so I said it was a quarter. When the next coin was a quarter, I recognized my mistake immediately. However, the teacher wouldn't let me change my answer, I asked. Apparently, even with missing one question, you are allowed to enter kindergarten. I didn't fail, thank goodness. I have never failed a test or class because I still have this intense fear of failing. Maybe I should get counseling. :)

Gabe's room

This is what Gabe's bedding looks like. Our room is a darker shade of blue. The crib is a combination of a dark and light wood.

I'm definitely pregnant

I cried tonight because Ty tried to get me to eat a cashew, and I hate cashews. As I got up to go get tissue I had to step over a babygate (at a friend's house), Ty said I wouldn't be able to do that in two or three months. So the crying continued. I'm definitely pregnant!

My son's a punk

My husband calls our son a punk. Gabe is a very active boy. He kicks me all the time. I enjoy feeling him move all the time. Ice cream, music, and really sweet food really gets him moving. When Ty and I are both off work, I try to get Ty to feel him move. Ty has still not felt Gabe move because as Ty says our son is a punk. He falls asleep instantly as soon as Ty's hand touches my belly.

Now only if Ty's magical powers could work after Gabe arrives.

Contacts, sweet contacts

I am blind as a bat. I've worn contacts since 5th grade. I started with contacts. I somehow convinced my mom that I was responsible enough to wear disposable contacts at the ripe age of 10. I wore my contacts but not at the recommended wear for a week, rest, and then one more week. After that I was supposed to throw them away. Well, I chose the method of wearing them until they were so dirty I couldn't see out of them or they fell out of my eyes. I would throw them away and sleep without them and then the next morning I would put the new pair in. I have not had trouble with my contacts at all. Sure, I've had pink eye and a few other eye infections, but I couldn't be happier with my contacts. I only got glasses in case I had an infection because my camp days would cause that to frequently occur. About a month ago my contacts had reached maximum dirt. I did my normal routine of throwing them away. I knew I had a back up pair because I had just bought them. I went to bed thinking I had nothing to worry about. The next morning, the extra pairs weren't there. I couldn't find them anywhere. I checked the closet and medicine cabinet. I even checked luggage to see if I had packed them and never unpacked. No where. I can't even begin to tell you how difficult this was without my glasses on. I decided to wear the glasses and keep looking for my contacts for awhile because I didn't want to have to pay for another box when I had extras already. After 3 weeks, I gave in. I was tired of wearing my glasses and the contacts where still no where to be found. I ordered two boxes (12 pairs) just in case. I had forgotten how much I loved contacts. What a joy to be able to see what time it is when I wake up in the middle of the night (which happens a lot these days with Gabe getting big enough to press on my bladder). I now check everyday to make sure the contacts are still on the bathroom shelf every morning, so I don't have to experience this again.

My alarm clock digits are 3 inches tall, and I have to hold it up to my face to see the clock. There's no hope for even possibly seeing my watch. Thank goodness for contacts!

Spring Sing Review 2007

This is mainly for my friend, Lindsey, who was missing in action this year.

Kappa Gamma, Shantih, Chi Kappa Rho: Egyptians: Okay music and dancing, great costumes. Not very many people. Hard to follow story line. Grandmothers out of grave, mummies, matchmaking. Placed in visual effects but nothing else.

Gamma Sigs, Pi Theta Phi, Iota Chi: Pirates: Good music, clever costumes that showed when everyone was together. The downside, if someone was off it looked really bad!!!! Placed 4th overall

Ju Go Ju, Kojies: Candy Shop: Funny thing(their charity was Juvenile Diabetes), Cute girly costumes as always, okay story line, Lots of fun characters (Candy Man, Dentists, Fudge, M&Ms, gumdrops, Lollipop girls that tapped danced, Pepto Bismol) Choreography was together and cute. Really cute lyrics; They won every category except music. They used Sunshine Day and the Keep On Brady Bunch songs. Placed 1st overall

Chi Sigs, Regina: Aliens: Kind of weird because their main characters were farmers in Roswell and then the Aliens showed up. Alien costumes were really good. They were still trying to use those same Gold Rush moves. It just doesn't work anymore especially when it isn't clean.

TNT, Zeta Rho: Puppets: They did so good! It was by far my favorite. The performers stayed in character even when they changed formations. Their moves looked like they were attached to strings. They had Pinnochio as someone who had removed his strings and that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be because he had to bathe. They had a human size loofa and bar of soap. Cracked me up!!! Placed 3rd overall

Oege, Gata: Arcade: Very small show. Costumes weren't that great, but idea was cute. Had a large PacMan and Mrs. PacMan. Also had those moles that you bonk on the head with a mallet. Most of the show centered around a DDR competition. Those two dancers were really good.

ChiOs, Delta Gamma Rho: Elementary Kids: Really cute!! Had teachers, lunch ladies with huge rearends, detention hall for a food fight at lunch. Just overall a neat idea. Costumes were simple and lyrics were easy to understand. Lunch ladies beformed a Michael Jackson Dance and changed the Beat it lyrics to Eat it. It was very creative. One first in Music and 2nd overall.

The further I am removed from Harding in age the sadder Spring Sing is to me. I miss it so much, but I'm almost let down when I go to see it. It doesn't carry that same joy it once did for me. Maybe it's because I no longer particpate, or I see fewer and fewer friends each year. I don't know what it is, but I'm no longer IN LOVE WITH SPRING SING. It was a very sad realization to come to.

I was wrong!

Well, I went to the doctor yesterday. I was wrong. We are not having a girl because there is a definite appendage on the ultrasound. That's right, we are having a boy!!!! His name is going to be Gabriel William. We plan on calling him Gabe. We are both so excited. The nursery is already painted blue, so we don't have to change the color. In other news, last month I had lost a pound. This month I gained 3 from last month. So I'm only 2 pounds over my starting weight. However, I look like I'm about 15 pounds over my starting weight. If you want belly pictures, let me know. Ty won't let me post them on the internet, so I'll have to email them to you.

Busy

This week my sister-in-law, Katie, and a college suitemate, Andrea, asked to get together with me before the semester is out. Being the date and time oriented person I am, I pulled out my calendar to check when I could meet up with these lovely ladies. I was shocked that I had to continue flipping until April 21st for my meeting with Andrea. Then it was May 12 for Katie. I'm going to have to slow down after this baby gets here.

Brief glimpse at my busy schedule:
Today: Quiz Bowl moderator (reading questions that made me feel stupid)
Mon, Tues, Thurs of next week: working track meets
Friday-Sun: Sister in town and Ty and I camping
Mar. 24-Mar. 31: Disneyworld
April 6-8: Spring Sing/Easter/Friends
April 14: Grad class
April 21: Andrea!!!!
April 28: Grad class
May 5: Grad class
May 16: Working 6A state track meet (I get out of school for this).

I'm gonna have to stop volunteering.

Predictions

Although I have said that I don't care if I have a boy or girl, I want it to be healthy. However, the more I think about it, the more I want a boy. There is something so special about having a big brother, so I want my first to be a boy. All that being said, I think I'm having a girl. I went to the doctor today. The baby's heartrate was 150-160 beats per minute. I just feel like it's a girl. Everything that is pink is so cute to me. I just feel deep down that it's a girl. I will find out April 10th or 11th. Tune in for the details later.

Pants Matter

I've always prided myself in maintaining my weight. Have I always been happy with that weight? No, but can I maintain it? Yes! I have only gained 13 pounds since I graduated from high school nearly 7 years ago including during my pregnancy so far. In all actuallity, most have that has been gained since I've been married. School lunches will do that to you, I guess.

Today was a sad day. My pants would no longer button. Not even sucking in and laying on the bed would allow the button hole and button to meet. So, being the money saver and time saver that I am (I'd already ironed them for crying out loud), I improvised. I pulled extra pony tail elastics out of the closet and hooked it through my belt loop. I have now made my pants last a few weeks longer by having some give to the pants. The 2 pounds since the pregnancy has really increased my pant size. More so than the 11 since graduation. That is so weird to me. I'll take pictures sometime soon of my small growing belly. In the 14 week now. 26 to go.

Friends

Ty and I are in a rough spot. We live in Searcy, and it's just a rough town for friends when you aren't affliated with Harding anymore. Ty has his friends, which I like but most don't have wives. I have my friends, but they are all older and it's just weird to hang out other than at work. We had 3 sets of good friends in Searcy, but they weren't all close with each other. Mike and Stephanie moved last May. I miss them so much. We've seen each other a few times since then, but it's just not the same. We don't have near as much contact with them. We just found out that our friends Daniel and Ryan will probably be moving to Kuwait in two months. I am so sad about that. They are great friends. Ryan and I went to consignment sales for my baby this weekend. I wish they weren't going. I understand that people move away, but I'm so upset because they are moving out of the country. Ken and Natalie are still here, and I'm thankful about that. However, I am extremely sad about losing the other two sets of married friends. I'm officially on a married friend search. That way we can have some close friends around in case others are busy or out of town or whatever.

Dogs

Finally, I have a fenced in backyard. Ty and his friend worked all afternoon on it. My dogs are currently playing outside. Thank goodness for spring and me being pregnant. That got me out of the manual labor and speeded up the fence being put up. I'm 13 weeks today, and no one but me can see my bump. I'm sure it will start showng soon because I have no where to go but out. My five foot self just doesn't have much room to hide a baby. I haven't been sick in a long while, so that's good. I feel great. I go back to the doctor next week. I think that we will find out what it is at the beginning of April. I'm really enjoying talking with my students about the baby. I showed them my first ultrasound and they got to see the baby move. This has led to great discussions about abortion. The students really understand that the baby is a living thing even before it looks like a baby. They ask me questions daily and touch my belly often. I'm no longer called Mrs. Gentry by most of them. My new name is Mamma G.

Life

I have so much housework to do. I hate housework. Laundry is the WORST! How does one keep up with more than themself? I really dispise folding clothes. I can wash and dry all day, but folding and puting them away is awful. I would rather wash dishes. Why do dogs make such a mess? I'm ready to pull my hair out and get rid of them all, and I love dogs. I want to come home from work and go to sleep. Sometimes I don't even care about eating. I guess I just feel so overwhelmed from being gone since last Wednesday. Life is just a little crazy right now. I want to sleep it all away.

I had to throw away my peanut butter :(

Mimi again

Still no news about Mimi. She has not left this Earth yet, but she is getting ever nearer. Last night I sat with Ty's mom in Mimi's room to around 9:00. Hospice has come in on a continual schedule. Mimi's night nurse was wonderful! Mimi was in and out of consciousness yesterday, and she was in a lot of pain. When her night nurse got there, she gave Mimi a wonderful sponge bath with lotion and lots of smell good powder. She changed Mimi's sheets without making her get out of bed (a very unique and appreciated talent). The last thing I heard Mimi say was to the night nurse asking where she had been earlier. It was the first time Mimi had ever met her. Mimi then fell asleep and was soundly resting without waking up to pain until after 9 am this morning. What a blessing that was for Mimi and the family. That nurse will be back in about 20 minutes. Hopefully, Mimi will get that wonderful pleasure and experience again today. The night nurse told me that hospice is her ministry and she loves her job. Well, she ministered to our family last night, and we love her for the way she does her job.

Mimi

Please keep our family in your prayers. The doctors have called the family in to be with Mimi as she passes away. I'm headed to Little Rock as soon as my sub gets to school. Mimi is Ty's last living grandparent. We are sad to see her leave this world, but we are thankful that she will soon no longer suffering here on Earth.

Countdown!!!

2 hours until Survivor

7 hours until Mike and Steph are here for the weekend

29 1/2 weeks until our little bundle of joy should be arriving. (Yep, we're gonna have a baby!) Due Sept. 2

Weird Things

I found this on several random blogs, and I thought it would be fun to participate in. The purpose is to list 6 weird things about you because we all have a little weird in us.

1. When I lay down to go to sleep, I rub my barefeet together. I do it no matter the time or the temperature. I cannot go to sleep with socks on because I can't rub my feet together.
2. I write down the full names and birthdays of everyone in my family during church or class. This started when I was in grade school. I have countless lists stuck in my bible. Weird to see how the family has changed.
3. I alphabetize my pantry, spice cabinet, and movies.
4. I hate lipstick.
5. I bite my bottom lip all the time. During the winter this causes chapped, cracked lips.
6. I have lots of bottles of lotion, and I never use any of them. Lotion just makes me feel slimy and gross.

?????

I don't know what to name this post because there is so much to tell. Since my last post Ty and I have done so much. So here goes: Thanksgiving, Christmas with several families settings, Ty had a wreck (broken kneecap), we got a new dog to give to my parents they didn't want a puppy, we gave our old dog, Patton, to my parents, my 25th birthday, our 3rd anniversary, Ty started a business, I took and passed my Health and P.E. certification test, and I shopped A LOT!!!!

Recently I have been losing my mind. I guess I was nervous about turning 25 or something, but it has been crazy the past few weeks. I locked myself out of my classroom two days in a row. The first day, I blew a breaker in my classroom, and I had a fist fight in my room. To clarify, I was not involved in the fight, although I did break it up. I lost several Christmas presents that I purchased. I also bought Christmas cards to send, but I guess they are with the presents I can't find. I locked my keys in the trunk at school, so I couldn't go anywhere. I called Ty to come help me, and he had the wreck while I was on the phone with him. I made out my semester test. I wanted the test to have 100 questions. Apparently, I forgot how to count to 100. 29 no longer comes after 28. In my world 50 does! The worst thing about this is that I read the test three times and filled out the scantron. I somehow didn't notice that I ended on 78 instead of 100. My class noticed as soon as they got the test. I was so embarrassed. I fixed by the next class period. I think I am losing my mind.

To top it off, my husband just asked me what blogging was. He lives in the dark ages.

So funny!

Watch this

Many Emotions

I do not like grad school right now. I have no motivation to complete my assignments. I do not care if I don't get an A. I've never been that way before. I don't know what to do to get motivated again, because I just do not care at all. One class I don't mind, but the other one I hate. I feel like I have been in this class repeatedly. It's the same professor for three other classes that I've had. All of the classes have been the same.

I quit cheerleading. I hate that I had to quit. It was so hard leaving all of the girls. I feel sorry for them and the situation I left them in. I had to quit because of health and personal reasons. I now worry about what it's going to be like for the cheerleaders the rest of the year. It has been the hardest last couple of weeks staying out of cheerleading. I love the girls, and I want to stay involved because they are so great, but I had to leave for personal reasons.

I am in Mississippi and am so excited that I am able to visit friends. I am enjoying the time away from Searcy and the ability to relax. We have no plans, and that's so great!! I love not having to rush anywhere.

I love teaching school right now. School is so fun. I'm getting to teach the kids so many fun things and they are really enjoying learning. I feel like I am making a difference in their lives both educationally and emotionally. I am truly doing my job as a teacher.

For the most part, I have great co-workers. They really care about me and what I am doing. They are so nice to me. Yesterday, I had several go out of their way to make sure I was okay. I felt so loved. I am very thankful for that.

Spiders

I do not like spiders. I never have. They're freaky, eight legged creatures. I don't even like grand-daddy long legs. Well, my dispise for spiders has grown recently. A week ago a red sore developed on my toe. I had no idea what was from. By Sunday, my whole foot was swollen and I couldn't walk. I went to the ER (not my favorite place) because of the pain and I had red streaks leaving the wound. They concluded that I had been bitten by a brown recluse. When, I do not know. My foot looks awful. I have not been to work all week. The swelling is massive, and now I have a very nasty wound. I've been back to the doctor on Tuesday, and I'm going back this afternoon. On Monday, I developed a blister in my eye. I do not know if this is related to the spider. I'm so glad that I didn't see the spider when it bit me. If I had, the spider would be going through just as much pain and suffering that I have been through because of his choice to bite me.

Rough Couple of Days

It's been a rough couple of days in work and family. Struggling with having a positive attitude and staying focused.

K is for Klutz

I remember having to come up with acrostics all during school. Sometimes we got to do our mascot, but we usually had to do our name. I had a terrible time with this project. K....Y....L...A.
It doesn't get much harder than that.

I have finally found a word for the letter K....Klutz.

I've known for awhile that I am accident prone. In college flag football I received a concussion, pinched nerve, broke hand, and torn ACL. Yes, in that order. Needless to say, I'm glad that I graduated in four years. I hate to think what year five would have brought on.

This weekend, I sealed the deal as being a klutz. My husband and I had a long restful weekend of football. On Sunday night, we went over to a friend's house to cook and watch the Manning brothers. (I sure do have a married woman's crush on Peyton) My husband was making hot wing sauce and asked me to melt some butter in a bowl in the microwave. Since we weren't in our home, I couldn't find the bowls (later found clean in dishwasher). I chose to use a mug. Well, our friend's microwave works better than ours because the butter was boiling when the timer went off. I pick up the mug no problem. Apparently, my finger holding the handle decided to have a spasm and touch the side of the mug. This burned, so I flinched. This cause butter the temperature of lava to splash all over my other hand. It landed on the side and then proceeded to run down my hand. As I'm screaming in pain, I'm spilling more butter on the original hand that caused all of the trouble. I finally make it to the counter and wipe the butter off. I have stripes on the palm and back of hand from the burning fire of butter. Later in the night, another friend comes over and asks if I just had a child because it looked like I was leaking. In all the commotion of spilling butter, I spilled quite a bit on my big boobed self on a grey t-shirt. The butter made spots look wet. I couldn't see over my boob to see the big dark grey spot on the underside of my boob. It was quite embarrassing and funny at the same time. I am sorry there are no pictures to enjoy this, but my camera was at school.

p.s. the good thing is that survivor starts thursday, and I have no meetings this weekend.

Ramblings

Steve Irwin died from being pierced by a stingray barb. I find it weird, almost funny that the crazy guy who does stupid things with animals dies because of an animal. I thought for sure a crocodile would take his life someday.

The Razorbacks got beat Saturday, but at least it was better than last year.

I am loving helping the cheerleaders. I have routines and chants running through my head all the time. It is taking me back to high school. I feel young again.

Today, I didn't have school, so I went up to school to organize the cheer storage closet. It was a mess. There were 15-20 boxes that would not fit in the closet plus the mascot costume. I got them all in there today except one. That's okay though because it was the lost pom poms and I'll give them out to the girls on Tuesday. I felt very good about it. I love being able to organize messy things.

I feel caught up. I have all of my classes grades entered. I have turned in my homework that is due tomorrow. There are a few things that I still need to do, but I'm not overwhelmed.

The first couple of weeks of school have gone well. We've had the back to school dance, and classes have finally settled down. My biggest class has 25 students. My computers are working, but I'm waiting for student printer.

Ty is getting settled into his new job. I'm so thankful for this blessing. It will eventually take care of us completely. I can't wait.

We decided to hold off on moving to Cabot. We are going to pay a few things off and save for a down payment before buying a house.

I love my Crisis Class and the other class is growing on me. I know it will not be my favorite, but at least it is bearable.

School starts Monday

Although I enjoy the summer and having time off, I'm ready for school to start back up. I've been getting my classroom ready for days. I'm so excited about this school year. I get to teach brand new stuff to a whole new group of students. Monday, 130 students are going to file through my room. I want to be an example to these moldable minds of seventh graders. They deserve to have at least one person who cares about them. I want the students to know that I do care for them, and I believe they can succeed. In addition to the 130, I have 41 cheerleaders depending on me to lead them in the right directions. I can't wait to have all of these kids spending their weekdays with me.

Busy Bee

Today, I woke up and decided to be a little worker bee. I have already made Ty breakfast, checked blogs, painted our third bedroom, and done 5 loads of laundry. It's not even noon yet. I've also danced/exercised for 30 minutes. I plan on moving a two shelves, making some phone calls, running errands, and making dinner by 5 o'clock. At the rate I'm going, I will be able to get it all done. What is wrong with my lazy self? I like this attitude in myself. I hope it stays.

Tomorrow is my first official day of school meetings. It is my least favorite day, because I have to meet everyone. I'm so terribly bad at meeting people because it is way out of my comfort zone. Tomorrow is especially bad because the parents come. The good thing is that classes don't start until the 21st. That gives me some more time to get things done.

In other news, Ty has been "unofficially" hired fulltime by his father. In two weeks he will change to commission pay instead of hourly. In six months that will increase, and then in a year it will increase again. In three years, Ty's dad will step out of the business. This is a huge answer to prayers. Ty and I are looking at moving to Cabot to be half way between both of our jobs. We found a great house, but I do not know if we can afford it. We are swimming in debt, so I'm not sure we will get approved. But it is perfect, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 1.6 acres. It also has a dishwasher and fireplace!!! Oh it is heaven on earth for Ty and me.

Surprises

Yesterday was a wonderful day! I started the day with some sweet compliments from a stranger. As I was getting ready for my last graduate class of the summer my husband called. He wanted to go on a date with me. That's always special, so I agreed to meet him in Little Rock after class. I got to Little Rock with no problems. My sweet husband surprised me with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert tickets. It was great. We also went out to eat at Damgoode Pies. I love this place. It has Chicago style pizza. Yum! We then went to the concert. The concert was really good. I was surprised at how Faith Hill responded to the audience. She took letters and read a sign that asked her to sing "I Surrender All" to their Granny who was on the phone. Believe it or not, she sang it. It was beautiful. I gained a lot of respect for her because of that. She then sang "How Great Thou Art." That was planned in her concert. I was so very impressed and decided that I like her that much more. Tim McGraw is just a good performer.

p.s. I don't know how Tim got his jeans on.

Sunshine

This morning I woke up to a pleasant surprise. I was checking blogs, and I saw a letter to me. This letter was written because I had blogged about her. Stacy, that made me feel so special. I have been having some gray days lately, and this cleared some of the clouds. I long for a continued sunshiny day, but they are so few and far between that I've almost forgotten what they feel like. Maybe today I will see the sunshine all day.

What do I read?

Copying Lindsey from several months ago I thought I'd do a blog review. I'll write about Lindsey's first. She cracks me up. There is never any clue about what she'll write about next. Reading her blog makes me miss her and college life.

Stacy : I don't even know this woman in real life. I came across her blog randomly and now I check it everyday. She usually writes about her family, but I find myself strangely connected to her and her emotions. I can identify with her, and I have a weird sense of understanding even though I have no kids. She is creative, talented, and funny. Her humor and openness leaves me longing for updates.

Baby Ira : This site is written by Ira's dad, Joe. Ira was born with a birth defect, and this blog is about his struggles as a father with a child with disabilities. It occasionally has other points of interest like church planting and baseball. It is very moving to see how a family copes with this stress in their daily lives.

Kristen Chapman : This girl was in my club at Harding. I always thought she was funny at school especially when I got a concussion playing "D" team football freshman year. She's just a fun loving girl.

There are several websites I visit daily, but I never comment (hint Stacy and Ira). I had a conversation with Sam about being a secret blog checker. We decided everyone does it, and they are afraid to comment on people they don't know that well. However, because of blogs we feel like we've known them forever.

I would cry if anything happened to my anonymous blogging friends.

wrong place at wrong time video

Mario Brothers

I love Mario Brothers. When the first Nintendo came out, I had enough money saved to purchase one. I played that game all the time. Recently, I've seen Nintendo DDS (?) ads for the new Super Mario Brothers. I want to play so badly, but the screen is like one square inch. Not worth the money to satisfy my longing for the long lost came. Ty and I have an XBOX. I've been trying to find a game that is similar to Mario because Microsoft doesn't make a Mario game. I played PacMan World for awhile. It's okay, but it was extremely easy to beat. That is probably why they have an E for Everyone on the package. A three year old could play it. Yesterday, I rented Frogger Beyond. Let me tell you. It is hard. I feel like such an idiot playing this frog came. Ty makes fun of me, but I don't care. I think I may just have to buy this one to help give me a procrastination tool.

My other procrastination tool is making up dances. I've made one up, but I have no music for it. That's backwards I know.

What's up with that?

• I get nervous when there is a word verification letters signature. I don't have good eyes, and they always use some font that it is hard to read. I'm afraid I'll get it wrong.
• When I drive by corn or cotton fields, I want to pull over and steal some off of the plant. What a weird urge!
• Why is there braille on drive through ATMs?
• People in Clarksville, Tennessee don't know how to drive at Four-way stops.
• Why does my computer freeze up everytime I open a pdf file?
• I've haven't been able to get into my classroom since school got out.
• I'm still awake at 11:35 when I usually go to bed at about 10.

Pictures of the Chaos

Chaos

We just finished up fireworks. It was an experience in and of it self. If you want more details about that you can call or ask me in person. However, I will tell you the story that puts the icing on the cake for chaos. I need to give a little bit of background before I start the story. My dad has a very bad temper. Ty and I borrowed my parents minivan and camper to go to fireworks.

We are traveling home to Searcy from our fireworks tent in Clarksville. Ty and I were in the van following our friends who were pulling the camper with their truck. The camper started fishtailing a little so we pulled over at the next exit to check the tires, etc. We get back on the road and four miles later, the camper starts fishtailing. This time it is not just a little, it is 90 degrees to the truck. I am freaking out because I'm watching this all unfold. It was a silent freak out though. He finally gets pushed over to the median by the force of the camper. That's when it got really bad. The camper started to flip over. Since it was still attached to the truck, the truck started to flip. Just at the last moment, the safety latch on the trailer snapped, so the camper let go of the truck. This allowed the truck to slam back down on all four wheels. We knew everyone was okay, but the camper was definitely not. It was on its top in the median of I-40 in Tennesee. The camper was totalled. The windows were busted out and our belongings were scattered all over the highway. We spent the next hour sorting through the wreckage and getting our things in the truck and the van. This was a huge feat since they were already were packed. We finally made it back to Searcy, but it was absolute chaos in the camper and while the camper was crashing.

Ramblings

I couldn't think of a title because I have so many random things that will be said in this post.

• After I finish my take home final tonight, I will have successfully completed 15 hours of graduate school creating a $1300 raise.
• In July, I get to take a class with one of my favorite undergrad professors. I am so excited.
• Izzie is probably pregnant.
• I am definitely not pregnant.
• I am about to be camping out for 3 weeks in Tennessee.
• I still don't know where my pugs will be staying while I am gone.
• I start selling fireworks on Tuesday.
• I am nervous about being the cheerleading coach.
• I stress out way too easily.
• I am starting to come up with a totally new curriculum for next school year.
• My brother-in-law got a job!!!! Yay!
• As a 24 year old, who am I supposed to leave my life insurance and retirement to besides my husband. I shouldn't have to make these decisions.
• My parents just got back from an African safari. Sadly they killed a zebra and a giraffe.
• Because my parents are mounting so many of their animals, they are building onto the house to have room to hang the heads.
• My parents are spending my inheritance.

p.s. I hate fireants.

School's out for Summer

Yay for summertime!!!! Our air conditioning broke, but since my parents are in Africa we are crashing at their house. It's been kind of nice. In the week and a half since school's been out I've: gone fishing several times, watched X-Men 3, ate lunch with Anna and Caca, read The Divinci Code, watched The Divinci Code, slept a lot, played with my animals, and hung out with Ty. I love summer. I start a two week short course on Monday. I'm not looking forward to having class for four hours a day. However, I still will get to sleep in. Then, I'm off to sell fireworks. I can't wait for some extra money to be flowing in. Everything is going well with the family. My parents return Monday, so I'll have to get the air fixed. That would be a little crazy with us all here. Plus, I could get away from my fears of chickens and bees.

Last night when I took the dogs out, a medium sized tarantula crawled across my foot.

Poison

Yesterday morning, I was cleaning the house. Ty was fishing with his dad, so I had the house to myself to do as I pleased. Well, I took the puppies out to the bathroom. when I brought them back in I fed them. Within about 15 minutes both of the little dogs were foaming at the mouth and coughing. The boy then threw up. I freaked. I called Ty and he said to take them to the vet. I rushed them to the vet because it closed in 20 minutes. I got there and they were given shots and medicine. They are going to be okay, but it was very nerve racking. They got into some poison, but we have no idea where. They have been really sick and tired the rest of the weekend. To make things worse, Izzie is in heat.

Sorrow

Today I received some upsetting news. One of my student's at Lonoke died yesterday afternoon. Thankfully, he is no longer suffering in his battle against cancer, but why must he die at such a young age. I've check on some people daily. Two of these I don't know. One died eight days after birth and the other just reached his first birthday. Please pray for these three families.

Here are there websites:
Caleb, Lonoke student www.caringbridge.org/ar/caleb
Ira, one year old in New York www.brooklynchurchplant.blogspot.com
Noah, passed away at eight days http://noahwhaley.blogspot.com

Oh my! Oh my!

Tonight while watching ESPN I was amazed at Stephen A. Smith on Quite Frankly. He was quite frank about his feelings about Jesse Jackson. He basically said that Jesse was doing everything for show. There is nothing do with civil rights in regards to Barry Bonds and having syringes thrown at him. Ty and I were completely amazed that a black man was being so brutally honest about a civil rights leader. We were so proud of him. I'm looking for a link, so you can here it. I'll add it when I find it.

Here's the link his speech in print:
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/14364068.htm

Spring Sing

Spring Sing weekend is over, and I'm exhausted! Most of my college buddies were in town. We got to hang out without husbands on Friday night. It was great fun. One friend is pregnant, another is trying, and two had babies. I can't believe we are all getting so old. I love how Harding lets you pick up right where you left off. There was no awkwardness between us as some of us haven't seen each other in two years. Even though I still live in Searcy, it was amazing to see how much the campus has changed. Race street has changed too. Mainly in the last couple of months. It's been real annoying for driving. Searcy really is growing, and I can't seem to keep up.

Spring Sing was not as good this year as it has been in the past. The host and hostesses did great(better than usual), but the ensemble was off all night in every song. I liked the little jingles before the club acts, however the did not announce the club names in the introductions. United We Stand was almost undetectable. It didn't sound like the same song, and I didn't like the awkward river dance that accompanied it. I did like the new arrangement of music though. This year there was not a show you felt sorry for, but at the same time there wasn't one that was OUTSTANDING. They were all somewhere in the murky middle.
Critique of shows:
Shantih: Mario Brothers: Great idea, but I was almost embarrassed I had been a part of the club. I didn't tell my kids that I took to the children's performance which club I had been in.
Zeta Rho/TNT: Work out: Well done! There was humor and great staging. I was purely entertained especially with Richard Simmons in your show.
Chios/Delta Gamma Rho: Ninjas: Cute! I really enjoyed how your choreography took on the character of an oriental person. I LOVED your costumes.
Kings Men/Omega Lambda Chi/and every club: Commercials: I have never laughed so hard in a show. Bison Bits with an autographed picture of Dr. Burks was priceless. Very creative!
Kojies/JuGoJu: Boot Camp: Very clean, but not that entertaining. Glad you placed, but it just wasn't as good as your shows typically are.
ChiSigs/Regina: I had no idea what was happening in your show. Your show had choreography that has been used in tons of shows in the past. I was disappointed in the lack of creativity.
GammaSigs/Iota Chi: Your costumes were cute, but I have no idea how you were allowed to do your show. Cowboys(Kings Men) and Gold Rush(Chi Sigs/Regina) should be so upset. It was so very similar to their shows. As a former director, I do not know how that was approved. Props for convincing the powers that be.

Tired

I just finished a crazy week. I am now co-coaching the cheerleading squad at school. I spent every night at school until 9. I also had a clinic Saturday morning. It was so busy. I slept more this weekend than I have all year. I needed all that extra sleep. I'm finally catching up.

This week was also bittersweet in the fact that we took 40 out of 59. That's a huge squad, but I felt so bad about the 19 that didn't make it. They all worked so hard. I have mixed feelings about taking 40. That is a huge number!!! When they try out in 9th grade the squad is brought down to 12. It can break your heart if you've cheered for two years and then all of a sudden, you don't make the squad. The good thing about a squad that big is that it lets more people get involved.

I'm so happy with the squad that was chosen. Things should work out great because we have a lot of really talented girls.

Anger

Yesterday, Ty and I went to Little Rock to celebrate "Gotcha Day" with his parents. (Gotcha day is the day Ty's parents brought him home because he was adopted.) Ty's parents were pressuring him to quit at Doc's and come work for the family business, so he can inherit it when his dad retires. Ty has fought working for the business because he doesn't want to be on call in the middle of the night when we have kids like his father was when he was little. Ty's dad offered him a job for $10 an hour and the business within five years. Ty and I discussed it and decided for him to take it. Well, his mother who is a partner in the business was not present when this discussion took place. She decided upon hearing this that she did not want this. I do not understand why. She wanted him to leave his current job and join the business, but she's not wanting to pay him for it. I don't understand. I'm so mad about. We had made a life decision to take over the family business, but now we can't. However, Ty still has to stay at Doc's indefinitely. We are so upset because now we don't know what to do for the future. This job would have allowed me to work as an office manager at home with kids. It also would have allowed us to have insurance, cars, and gas money from the business' income. I'm just so frustrated with all that has happened. I just do not understand Ty's mother. I'm beginning to understand his hostility towards her.

Spring Break

Spring Break started Friday. It couldn't have come at a better time. I was ready to kill some of the students because I was so exhausted and needed some time off. My break has started off pretty well. I've done nothing but play with my dogs. I finally found out what was causing my blurred vision. It's nothing serious. It's just eye muscle spasms. I have to give my eyes a rest during close up work. I have a fun filled week of babysitting, going to the doctor, and painting planned. I'm looking forward to time off to rest and not think about school for awhile.

I also have a new niece, Emily Arden Diles. She was born Wednesday weighing in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 19 inches long. Mom and baby are doing fine as is the aunt.

Crazy Week

So this week has been absolutely crazy. I'll start with Saturday because no one ever starts their week there. I had class from 8-4. We found out we had a project due Friday! Monday, I gave the benchmark exam and had a paper due in Research. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I gave more benchmark testing. I had class Thursday night from 4:30-9:30. Not fun!! Things I had to do this week other than going to class.

• paper for research
• grades turned in
• advanced placement curriculum
• brochure for counseling
• study for test in theories
• bomb test in theories
• take Patton to the vet

This week also was my husband's birthday. Not to mention laundry and cleaning. Which both have been neglected. I'm so thankful it is Friday, and it is Harding's spring break next week. I need a break from classes. Then it is school's spring break, so I don't have to go to work.

I am completely worn out and emotionally strained.

Good things come to those who wait

Today, I was driving home from my mother-in-law's house in Little Rock. I found the most exciting thing. Taco Bueno is coming. They are almost finished. Yes, it is in Little Rock, but that is closer than Texas. The really great news is that it is at the exit to go to the Gentry's home. I can't wait until it opens. Hopefully it will do well enough that one will come to Searcy soon! Here is proof that it is there.

Death

I've had lots of issues lately with death. I'm afraid to die. I don't know why, but that thought of crossing over scares me. What if I get stuck? What will happen to Ty? Will he know how to pay bills etc.? I know that the odds of me dying soon are not great but they are out there. Let me state some things that have happened since the beginning of February around here.

• A central high cheerleader was killed in a car wreck on Feb. 6.(However, she was 3 times over the legal limit of alcohol and she had cocaine in her system)
• A Harding Academy senior's mother died in car wreck.
• A student at my brother's school died in a car wreck on Monday. (He teaches at a small Christian school in Tennessee. The whole basketball team saw the wreck)
• A CAC cheerleader and her mother died yesterday in a car wreck.
• A third grader at my nephew's school died last Thursday. She died from cancer. She told her friends that when she died she wanted it to snow because her mom liked snow. It snowed the next day. She was also told that when she got to heaven she could pick any horse to ride. She had ridden a horse earlier that month. The horse she rode died suddenly the Saturday after her death.
• An 11 month old boy died from heart problems.

I'm just being surrounded and having issues about death.

Shopping

I love to go shopping. It is great fun, but this week, I have almost decided it is not worth it because of lack of customer service.

My advanced science class is taking home mealworms to raise into beetles. I had to go to "The Fishbowl" to purchase them. Well, there was only one person working period. He had to get fish, birds, hamsters, and mealworms out for whoever. There were like 3o customers. I finally got him to get by worms. He then asked if that would be all. I said yes and proceeded to go to the register. Did he follow? No!!! I waited for 15 minutes to be checked out! If I didn't need them for class, I would have just left.

I then head to Wal-Mart. Unlike most people, I enjoy Wal-Mart. I love to take my time and walk up and down all the aisles and look at stuff I don't need nor will I ever and wonder who buys that. Well, Wednesday I did not have the time to do this. I had to get in, get out, go home, cook supper, and go to church. So, I was on track to get out of there quickly. Well, the first obstacle was my cart. It worked just fine until I put two bags of 40 lb. dog food in it. Then it became that clanging annoying cart that won't turn. I buy dog food all the time and this doesn't happen, so it was the cart. On top of that everyone was there. It was so crowed that you had to go down the aisles twice, one time for each side. Towards the end of the experience all the stockers come out. They close off all the short breaks in the main aisle, so you have to go all the way to the end and back if you needed something on the other side. Then there were only like 5 registers open, so the lines were so long. It was awful! I didn't even make it home in time to unload the car to go to church much less cook dinner. So, we had Taco Bell, and stayed home. I now know why people hate Wal-Mart. They shop on Wednesdays before church. I know I will never again go on Wednesday after school.

There were loose birds in both stores. They were opening the bird food bags at Wal-Mart.

Secret Sins

We all have some secret sins that we participate in. That might not be sins, but we know that it's not healthy to do them as often as we do. Here are a list of mine.

• Sex and the City Reruns
• Online Games at Shockwave
• Reading blogs
• Ice cream with caramel
• Doing nothing
• Procastinating
• Survivor when its on

What are some of your secret or open indulgences?

Lost

I'm lost. I don't know what to do. I want friends to do things with here in Searcy, but I'm too paranoid to go find them. Searcy is a weird place to be if you're a graduate and don't have kids. There is no strong group at churches for people in this position. You still feel like a student especially if you are married to one, but you are an adult. There are not many people in this position, so it drives you to want to have a baby sooner. I want a baby to put me in a different social group, but I can't afford one. I'm not ready mainly because my husband isn't ready. I'm starting grad school in the fall, so I will be a full time employee and student. This will most likely put me in a weirder spot than I am now, but it might give me some outlets for meeting new people.

Ty's job has him working most Sunday mornings. Even though he was told it would be 2 Sundays a month at the most, he has not been off a Sunday since October except for Christmas Day. I am so shy with people that I don't know well, that I can't go by myself. I have a hard time going to church by myself. Most of the time, I just don't go because the anxiety of it is too much for me to handle. I strive for a sense of belonging, but I'm so afraid of not fitting in, that I don't try. My two closest friends live in Texas, so I'm without girls just to hang out with. There are some married friends here that we have, but I'm without a group. I long for a group, but cannot find one. I'm in a weird place, and I hate it.

moving

Oh, how I hate to move. It is the pits. Ty and I are moving into a house. We will be there by Sunday night. We still don't have a refrigerator, and we haven't packed a thing. So not looking forward to the move, but looking forward to the house. I love the way we've remodeled. In one week and one day, we have torn out carpet in three rooms and refinished the hardwood floors, painted 5 rooms and 2 bathrooms, laid ceramic tile in the kitchen and hallway. Today we are laying tile in the bathrooms and laundry room. I am sore, have paint in my hair and have no motivation to pack. Does not sound like a fun filled week.

Boy or Girl

Well, I have to confess to being dumb and blind. At my school we have two teacher restrooms. They both have a huge sign that says "TEACHERS, STAFF, AND VISITORS ONLY" I took that to mean me. Well it is, but I failed to look at the pictures of person with pants or person with skirt. Everyone picks their favorite stall, so since these were one holers, I picked my favorite one. There is not a urinal in either. I picked the one with the person with the pants. I did not use this restroom once or twice, but daily for 12 weeks. I finally discovered my mistake because another teacher brought up using the male's restroom. I was thinking, "There's a male's restroom?" Sure enough, there is. The symbol is the same size as the sign with words, so I have no idea how I missed it. Now, some daily thoughts make sense...."Why is the lid always up? I must come in after the janitor everyday." "Why is there no small trashcan next to the toilet?" and "Why do all the students look at me funny when I leave the restroom? We all do it." Now, I know the answers to those questions. MENS RESTROOM!

Short Hair

Ever since I've been married, my hair has been a dilemma. Ty loves long hair, so I feel I need to wear my hair long. I on the other hand, think that my hair looks much better short. I've kept relatively long hair for two years now. Well, Wednesday, I took the plunge. I chopped about 8 inches off. I didn't even realize my hair was long enough to chop 8 inches off and get the hair cut I love. I got chunky red and blonde highlights in. I love my new hair cut. Ty saw it and said, " I love long hair, but that looks really good." I thought that was pretty good since he was so against the haircut.

It only takes me 3 minutes to do my hair now.
Kyla

Simple Pleasures

Yesterday, during my planning period, I ran and got some lunch at Subway. I have not been there in a long time. Ty prefers Quiznos over Subway, so we rarely go. I love Subway. My only complaint about them is that they serve Pepsi. I want Coke and only Coke. Well, yesterday I decided to go even though they have Pepsi. I ordered my food and right as I got up to pay I saw the best thing in life. Subway has changed to Coke!!! Oh, happy blessed day.

Random note: My hispanic child came to parent/teacher conferences and translated for her father. It was fabulous to see this. I just love that.

Members of the church

Why is it that members of the church seem to hurt us the worst? Recently, my family has been hurt by friends who are members of the church. Am I just expecting more because they are Christians, or do I expect them to not hurt me because of the friendship. I love these people dearly and now I am unsure of my respect for them. I hate that things like this happen. I understand why people leave the church. If you are struggling with being faithful at all and then are hurt, you feel its not worth it. I feel close to this result. I've been struggling with what I believe and what I have faith in, and then I get hurt by people who were helping to hold me up. I feel like crying, and giving up, but I know that is not what I need to do. I need to forgive them and look to God for faith and comfort, but I'm struggling. I don't know what to do. I hate feeling lonely and far away from Christ and my brothers and sisters.

Long time no blog

I have not blogged in like two weeks. Sometimes I go a long time, but never this long except when I was at fireworks.

Sunday, I went to church with my parents. They had a guest speaker who discussed the mission field in India. He mentioned the Hindu class system. Hindus believe that they cannot ever change their role in life. Untouchables always remain untouchables no matter what they do. This caused me to do a lot of thinking about Americans. Do we really think that a class system is so bad? We say that it is bad, but we ourselves take part. People born in poverty almost always stay in poverty. Rich people remain rich. I have students that continue to have an F, no matter what they do. Why do we condemn other cultures, when our own culture does the same thing? I don't feel like I can move out of the place I am in. Our school system sets up some kids for failure. I hate that. I don't know what to do to help them. I feel like I expect too much, but at the same time I know they can handle what they've been told. I would like for Americans to reevaluate their standards and how they view other people. We don't have it all figured it out, and we do have a class system ourself.

Fall

I love the fall!!! It's wonderful! So many great things happen in the fall. There are so many reasons to enjoy life in autumn. I love the colors of the leaves as they change. The holidays in this season are great. Halloween!!! Who could ask for something better than just getting a ton of candy to eat? Thanksgiving!!! Oh, how I love pumpkin pie. I really enjoying going to Wal-Mart and seeing how they have moved all the baking supplies out onto the center aisle. It makes me crave sweet potatoes and all the other fixings of a magnificent Thanksgiving dinner. Even TV stations recognize how wonderful fall is by having season premieres to celebrate. I even like that school starts in the fall. It's a great way to have a chance to start over in the middle of the year. I guess I'm kind of like Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail. I would love to receive a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils. It's a great smell. The best spectator sport, football, is in the fall. The most important perfect thing about fall is the cool, crisp air. AAHHH!!! What a relief from the hot summer air. Who could not love fall?

Random Thoughts

I've been thinking about all the split up families a lot lately. This has caused me to think about what I would do if I were separated from my kids or husband. I don't think I could have got on a different plane, bus, or helicopter than these people. I ache for those who are going through the loss and thoughts that their family did not survive. I pray that they can find their families and be a complete family again. I am not a mother yet, but I could not have left my children.

I also watched The Upside of Anger this weekend. It was a complete shocker, but an interesting movie. The thoughts and questions this movie raised are: Does prolonged anger change who you are? or Do you get anger because you changed? I worry about being a bitter and cynical person. I don't want to be angry for so long, that I lose who I am as a person.

It's been a very contemplative weekend.
p.s. Tonight's Extreme Makeover Home Edition was in Clarksville, TN. They filmed this while I was there selling fireworks.

Great Week!!!

• Survivor started! Yippee!!!!
• I got paid today.
• Ty gets paid tomorrow.
• I have gone since Aug. 25 without getting gas.
• I still have a half tank of gas left
• My class finishes their egg lab tomorrow.
• I get to use marshmallows as a class project this week.

Craziness

So today was filled with lots of weird and crazy things. First of all I took egg shells off of about 100 eggs. The eggs were not hard boiled, so it was really weird. An egg feels like a water balloon. I busted one with washing it off. Four of my students busted eggs. It was weird and a fun learning experience for all.

Next, my schedule changed. We have gained so many students recently because of Hurricane Katrina that we have had to add extra sections of science. I now teach one advanced class with 5 regular classes. My conference period has changed too. I lost one of my favorite classes. I'm sad, but I'm very happy to get a class that's actually going to do its homework. I don't know how to handle all the changes because some of the kids were very upset about it.

I hate having to change my gradebook.

Tramatic Weekend

This weekend was not high on my list of favorites. First of all, Friday at school I got blisters on my feet, so I had to deal with that all weekend it. Of all places for the blisters to be, they were on the side of my foot at the joint of my big toe. Translation, every pair of shoes I own hits that spot even flip flops. Not fun.

Saturday morning I had to take Patton to my parents to stay. I have no yard at my house, so my big 80 lb, white haired dog was inside. Even if I vaccumed everyday, his hair was everywhere. Ty's work shirt is black, so Patton's hair showed up all over it. He kept getting in trouble, so Patton had to leave. He will be staying at my parent's house until we have a house with a fenced in yard. So, he might be staying there forever.

I don't like scary movies. I cannot sit through them. They make me feel funny, and they give me bad dreams. Well, Saturday night all of my friends wanted to go see the Exorcism of Emily Rose. They didn't even tell me what we were seeing until we got there, so I couldn't say no. It was awful. I screamed several times and hid my eyes for a lot of it. Thank goodness it wasn't the Skeleton Key. I think I would have cried.

Numbers

just a few numbers going on in my life

• 4 new students today (2 from hurricane katrina)
• 2 students that made 28 % on a test
• 9 days til Survivor
• 5 days til Patriot Day
• 4 days of school this week
• 0 students showed up for d-hall today
• 1 paycheck received
• 14 days til another payday
• 150 messy 7th graders that come into my room
• 1 time I yelled at students
• 1 bad news phone call
• 1 update badnews to not so good news call
• 5 times i talked to my mom on phone
• 5 minutes til my weekly episode of nonchristian tv

Consumed

I am consumed with Hurricane Katrina. I have been watching FoxNews nonstop. I think that it is amazing how much damage one storm can do. I don't know if New Orleans will ever recover. I am in shock about the riots, shooting, rapes, etc. that are going on. I understand looting food, but who needs a big screen t.v. when you don't have power? That I don't understand. What is this going to do to the job market where the refugees are being sent? My brother-in-law opened his camp up for 25 refugees. It's not many, but for those refugees, it's alot. I feel guilty that I can't help.

Just a few questions

If you have an answer, please feel free to try to answer.

- why are seventh graders so unorganized?
- why do apples and bananas turn brown when you cut them?
- where do warts come from?
- who's idea was it for school to start at 8 am?
- when will i feel like a real adult?
- why is it easier to sleep with a fan on than without it?
- why does one of my legs have to be out of the covers while sleeping?
- why are kitchen aid mixers so expensive?
- what's a good rate for buying a house in searcy?
-what's up with closing costs?

i don't know...they've been running through my brain all week.

Jealousy

I'm jealous. Recently, I have come to notice that I am by nature a jealous person. Things I'm jealous of:

• newly married couples who can buy a house
• people who can buy brand name food and clothes
• people who can decorate
• artists
• clean houses
• nice cars
• closeness to God
• friendships
• talent
• ability to lose weight

I realize that most of my jealousy is for material things, but I think about it a lot. It burns in me constantly. I need help and prayers to ease these desires.

Things I love about my job

Well, I was worried about nothing. School starts Friday, but I love working here. I've made friends with a lady named Sue. She's been a lot of support and encouragement. I've been made the 7th grade chair. It's kind of weird, but at the same time it's nice to know that they can recognize my leadership and orginizational skills. I got a big time raise! My principal is so extremely laid back. I get to control the air in my classroom. I work on the hall with a bunch of coaches. I don't look like a 7th grader.

The Jury is Out

Sometimes I tend to be judgemental. I think lots of critizing thoughts, but I rarely voice them. Because I judge people, I always feel like I am being judged. I worry about what other people think about me. I act differently than I normally would because of what I would be thinking if I were that person. I really feel judged by our neighbor, because everytime I see them, my 75lb. dog goes to jump up on them. I can't control him, because he weighs so much. He just runs over and he is so excited. He is only hyper around them, and I feel like they judge me for not being able to control him.

My housecleaning is another huge issue. When you live with Ty being neat is not easy. I'm a neatfreak. I used to not be able to leave for school until my bed was made. That was not because my parents made me, but because I couldn't stand it. I always think people judge me for not being spick and span at my house.

are other people as petty as me, or is it just me? should i be so concerned about other people? are other people as judgemental as me?

Unexpected

Recently, I heard a sermon about giving money. It had to do with setting aside the money for the Lord first, and that somehow God would provide for you. It was really hard for me to believe this and totally trust this. Well, this last month with all of mine and Ty's unexpected expenses, I just couldn't understand how God could provide that much money. There are two major things this week that has been God providing. Currently our bank account is overdraft, but as of tomorrow morning it will not be.

1. God gave Ty a job at 6.50 an hour right now, and he has already worked almost 40 hours.
2. Our fireworks distributer wrote a check out in full for our criminal littering ticket. How great!!!

God really does provide, but it truly did hurt to trust Him.

Sadness

Patton is really sick. I'm so bummed. Yesterday he started peeing blood. I know gross! Well, I took him to the vet immediately. They ran all sorts of tests and even gave him a cathater. It was so sad. Anyways it has been discovered that he has a bladder infection. He also has some kind of tick born disease that causes excessive bleeding. He also tested positive for heartworms. We haven't missed any of his heartworm medicine, so he had it before we got him. Patton is very pathetic. I feel so bad for him. We have lots of medical treatments to get him better. I nearly cried in the vet's office. Thankfully, he doesn't act that sick. This just adds a little more of the money issues. Yippee!!! Anyways, I hope he gets better soon.

Nervous things that go with a new job

I have a new job teaching seventh grade science. I am very excited about it. I have been going to meetings, and have had lots of scary things surface.

• will the other teachers like me
• will i be mistaken for a 7th grader (i already have by the school counselor)
• not knowing where things are like the gym and choir room
• not having the materials
• not knowing any of the people i'm working with
• switching from 1st grade to 7th
• is my boss laid back or uptight
• will i be good at teaching
• i don't know how to dissect a worm or frog...will i mess it up?

there are many other worries, but these have been some major ones that i feel often. tomorrow is open house and staff development. hopefully i'll feel better about things after tomorrow.

For Everything Else There Is Not a Mastercard

I am a planner by nature, but I do not plan for unexpected expenses. Besides not planning for it, I don't really have the money to save up for it, even if I was trying to save it. Well, recently any extra money we had in our bank account and the money that was not so extra is gone. We've been bombarded with things that aren't just begging for money, but lots of it.
Criminal Littering Ticket: $600
Two new tires: $120
Computer (two computers got burned in a lightning storm) : $1200

How are normal people supposed to pay for all their other expenses when they have these? Grown up life stinks!!! Any suggestions on how to make quick money?

Harry Potter Smells

I know that Harry Potter just came out. I have already finished it, but I will not give it away. There is a part in the beginning of the book where Harry and Hermione are in potions class. Harry smells treacle tart, a broomstick and something from the Burrow. Hermione smells new parchment, freshly mowed grass, and she doesn't finish the sentence. I think she was going to say Ron, but that is beside the point. Anyway, they smell these smells because of the potion Amortentia. It is a love potion and everyone smells something different because it is supposed to attract you individually.

Ty and I talked about what our smells would be. He said my hair, coffee, and cedar. Mine would smell like dryer sheets, rain, honeysuckle/wildflowers, and freshly cut grass. My mom said gasoline, which I think I would throw up. What would your Amortentia potion smell like?

Blogging Attire

Almost everyday I have the same ritual. I get up...let my dogs out, then go back to sleep on the couch for an hour. I then take a shower and come blog. My perfect attire for this is wearing my bath robe with my hair wrapped up in a towel. I am usually running late, so I don't always leave comments or post, but I check emails and other stuff. I'm normally stay long enough for the towel to fall off of my head then I have the weird air dry problem that hasn't been brushed to fix. If I'm in a real hurry, I dry my hair while I'm blogging. It is hard to type and blow dry your hair at the same time.

I have tried blogging in several different outfits, but the one best suited for me is fresh out of the shower with bathrobe and towel. What do you like to wear while you blog?

Ike

Ty and I love animals. We have had a cat named "Doc" and a dog named "Patton" for several months in our small townhouse apartment. We've discussed that all of our future cats will somehow be related to Looney Toons and our dogs will be named after generals.

At our fireworks tent Ty and I discussed having children. Now, I'm so ready to have a baby, but Ty is not, so I said..."if i can't have a baby can we get a pug" We now have an 11 week old full blooded pug puppy. His name is Ike after Eisenhower. He's adorable, and Patton loves him. I'll post pictures sometime soon when I can borrow my mom's camera again.

If you could have a dog, what kind would you get?

Criminal Littering

As some of you know, Ty and I run a fireworks tent in Tennessee. This year we had a new location, and they wouldn't let us use their dumpsters. So on July 6, we loaded up all of our trash into a trailer and headed off for the dump. This was like a 25-30 minute trip. We're having fun talking and then all of a sudden police lights turn on.

We pull off because we didn't know if he wanted around us, but no he wanted us. This deputy comes up to the truck and the first thing out of his mouth was...."here's where you stand. i saw a cup fly out of your trailor that's a minimum of a $700 fine and a class a misdemeanor which you could go to jail for. you don't have a tarp on your load which is also a class a misdemeanor and a minimum of a $400 fine. Depending on how you act is gonna decide whether or not i haul you to jail." so ty hands him his license and registration and the guy has a cow about us living in clarksville and having arkansas plates. we tell him we live in arkansas and then he gets mad that we are in tennesee. he's goes to his vehicle for a long time and then he has ty get out of the truck. i'm like crap...my husband's going to jail over a cup flying out of the trailor. we were one mile from the dump. the deputy told us that if we had driven any faster he couldn't have stopped us once we got to the dump. he then gave ty a must appear in court ticket. this wasn't one of those tickets where you pay this amount or go to court...it only had go to court. the deputy told us that he was going to ask for the maximum penalty which included 300 hours of community service.

to add more salt to our wounds when we got to the dump....five or six cars pulled in and none of them had tarps. they were breaking state law as well and had to drive by this deputy, but he didn't stop them. stick it to the out of towners. ty has to appear in court on july 19 or a warrant goes out for his arrest in the state of tennessee. isn't this just wonderful?! just so you know...there is no such thing as a tarp law in arkansas. we had no clue. our distrubutor for fireworks had no clue, and he has 70 loads coming and going all the time with no tarp. he will change that now.
more adventures to come....Kyla

Patton asleep 

Patton

My dog's name is Patton. He loves being outside and allowed to run loose. We live in town at an apartment, so there is no place to just let him go. This weekend my parents had a big get together for Memorial Day. They have 26 acres, so we thought perfect place to let our dog run. My parents land had ticks everywhere!!! They haven't put the granules out to control them, so they are all over the place. We bring Patton home after a fun day of running wild, and start searching for ticks. We finally got them off yesterday. We sedated him with two benedryl, so he would let us look between his toes. He had at least 50 just between his toes. It was awful.

The funny thing about all of this is Patton on benedryl. He was out. He hasn't got off the couch since yesterday about 6pm except when I made him get up to go use the bathroom. He's hilarious. He just lays there. If you walk in the room, he'll open his eyes to look at you, and then he's right back to sleep. I think two benedryl was a little much for him, but he's such a big dog. He ways 80 pounds, so how were we to know. It was Ty's idea to make our dog a druggie, but I was the one who actually put the drugs in his mouth.

What I Don't Like About my Job

I love being a teacher, but there are a few things that I hate. Just for ease they are put in list form.
1. 50 minute commute one way
2. passing farm equipment on a two lane road
3. the pencil sharpener
4. end of year testing
5. not having a supportive administration
6. reading first program
7. tattling
8. people who are supposed to work on a team but don't
9. a counselor, principal, music teacher, reading recovery teacher, librarian, and p.e. teacher that don't do their job
10. grants/americorp helpers what a waste of time and money
11. not being informed
12. last minute change of plans
13. field day
14. six year olds that say the f word in class
15. principals that lie
16. kids that use the bathroom on the playground or in their pants

needless to say, it's been a long day/week. i'm actively seeking another job. my school stinks.

Getting Old

Our family has been experiencing a grandparent getting older. In December, my grandad (Pa Jim) fell in his house. He lives a lone and 4 hours away from the rest of the family. Anyways, he was on the floor for probably 3 whole days. We called, but he didn't answer his phone. We finally got a hold of his neighbor to go check on him. It was scary, and we weren't sure he was going to make it. He got out of the hospital in February and then moved to a rehab center. We moved him here with us in Arkansas. He has been living in Harding Place since the beginning of April.
A couple of weekends ago, our whole family, including him, went to a dinner honoring my belated grandmother. I sat next to Pa Jim and explained everything that was going on because he couldn't hear. Well, a couple of days later I had to go over to his house because the remote wouldn't work. He told me every detail about that dinner including what he ate and drank, but he couldn't remember that I was there. How crazy is that? I hope I'm not like that when I get old. I think I would rather die early than have my family so stressed about when I might leave this world.

I want to die in my sleep.

Wedding Weirdness

This has been a weird month for wedding and engagement news. What is the proper etiquette for asking someone to be in your wedding? If you were in someone else's wedding should you return the favor? My best friend from growing up is getting married in July. I am not in here wedding, but she was in mine. I know this is petty, but it really bothers me that I am not in the wedding? Should I be upset, or should I just forget it and go on?
The real problem I think is that she is marrying my ex-boyfriend. I feel that I am not in the wedding just because he doesn't want me in it. I feel that I am closing a door on this friendship. I do not want to, but I feel that I can't be a part of her life because of the man she is choosing to marry. Yes, it was a messy break-up and things weren't really resolved, but why should that change my relationship with my friend. Can't we all move on? It's been five years, and I've been married for 1 1/2 years. Could we please act like adults and share in each others exciting times? I almost don't want to go to the wedding because of all the weirdness. What should I do?