Transitions

Two weeks ago my husband and I separated. Things have gone pretty smoothly... until this morning... not that there was some crisis... it was more comical than anything.

On Friday, I gathered the girl's clothes for the weekend, including their church clothes. I made sure I grabbed Kali's boots too. Well, as we were getting ready this morning I looked everywhere for Kali's boots... they were no where to be found. I called Rt and asked him to bring Kali's boots to church and he said he would. When the girls and I got to church I went to the truck to get the boots... he had picked up Megan's boots. OOPS!

I dropped the kids off at Sunday School, Kali without shoes... her teacher said "oh it doesn't matter, she kicks them off the minute she walks in anyway." Then I ran home to figure out the shoe issues. As I dug through my shoe basket, guess what I found... yep, Kali's boots!

I'm beginning to think I wasn't supposed to be in Sunday School or something... since I made it back to church just in time for worship.

--jessica

Choices...

Every semester I get a new group of freshman. As the semester goes, I get a little preachy in the "how not to screw up your life department" and some of the students get it, some don't. Saturday night I was at a basketball game... I always sit with the students because they are much more interesting than boring faculty.
As I was climbing up the bleachers I saw a previous male student "A" (one that I liked) talking to a previous female student "K" (one that sooo wasn't my fave person). Being the nosy person that I am, when "A" sat down in front of me I asked what was up with that. He turned around and with a straight face told me how she was the love of his life and that she is carrying his child... needless to say I was floored.
Now... these students are both first generation college students... she works 3 jobs to be able to go to school... he struggled with coming back to MCM because of the cost of school... their parents do not help and I can't imagine either set being excited about this pregnancy... but both of the students were all giddy about it. Being the blunt person I am, I looked at "A" and questioned what he was thinking... why he didn't pay attention to any of my lectures... and he, again with a straight face, looked at me and said "but I love her... and when its love, its love." Seeing that it was too late to change their fate... I asked about school and he again straight faced told me that I had done school with two kids and a husband so he guessed they could do it. HUH? I wanted to go into a rant of how difficult it had been to do school with children, how I wished I had done things differently, and how I had a husband to pay the bills while I was going to school... but instead I decided to save it for another day...

I am an instructor at a school where more than half of the students are first generation college students... I hate to see things like this... I care about my students and I want them to succeed... I want them to learn from my mistakes and do better...

Brain Block

Well, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.. I have absolutely nothing to blog about. At least not on this blog. There have been no funny statements... funny classroom happenings... all I can think about are serious thoughts... and well, those have a place on the other blog!

So... I hope everyone has had a great week and maybe tomorrow I will have something to say!

Enough Already!

Can I just say I have had enough of the weather! I seriously could use some sunlight! How much longer is this going to last? Anyone know?

--jessica

The Tooth Fairy

Kali lost her first tooth! She has been sad for about 6 months because all of her friends have lost teeth... I kept telling her it would happen eventually... and look, I was right! She was so excited about losing it... she kept playing with it and she broke in half... hence the hands on either side of her mouth! I guess this is a sign that she is growing up, huh? It was hard enough sending her to kindergarten... and letting her pick her own clothes... now she's losing teeth... what's next? Just kidding... I love that she is growing up... and each stage is more interesting than the next. Kali is a bundle of energy... I mean her teacher at school told me that she "loves her personality"... not 'she's so smart', or 'so well-behaved'... but 'loves her personality'... is that a sign? I so enjoy her personality, though... except on days that we need to be somewhere 5 min ago, because she doesn't know what 'hurry up' means... she makes me laugh daily... she is so confident and will totally do the most random things because they were fun... for example, when I was at the church practicing for my duet in the Christmas program she did back flips all the way down the isle... I asked her why... she responded with "its more fun than walking!"... wonder what the future holds with this one!

--jessica

Country Living...

Last night when I was watching the news, I realized that the only school that had to post closing and late starts were the schools in the boonies... can someone explain to me why it is that little country towns don't feel that it is necessary to honor MLK day? Ok, Ok, I know too much conflict in that discussion to actually get any comments!

This icy weather has once again reminded me of why it is that I dislike country living.... Social Isolation. I mean, we have no neighbors, at least not any you can actually see. And the ones I have met were under not so great circumstances... you know, your dog just ate my chicken, calf, messed with my horses.... stuff like that doesn't make for friends. And since I slid off of the road twice this weekend... pretty sure I can't just call my friends up to come out... at least not with a clear conscience. Even the girls are going a bit bonkers... Megan asked if we could just go to Wal-Mart or something!

I figure I can't get away with just saying I slid off the road and leaving it at that... I will elaborate. I went to Ft. Worth on Friday for some time to think... I came home on Saturday around lunch... and did fine until I hit hwy 351... about a mile from my house my rear end started slipping... and a car was coming... so somehow I managed to hit the bar ditch without hitting the telephone pole, speed limit sign, or rolling over... but then I ended up in the middle of some guy's plowed field. I tried to drive out, but I was stuck. Luckily, country boys are very helpful and within a couple of minutes I was pulled out. Unsure of country etiquette, I called the sheriff to make sure I didn't need to find the land owner... I mean, I did mess up his pretty little field. The sheriff laughed at me... he was certain that the field was already messed up due to the freeze. The second time I slid off my options were to hit the guard rail and possibly end up in the creek bed or once again go for the bar ditch. I choose the ditch... but the next morning when we drove past the spot I realized how lucky we were that we didn't flip... that sucker was deep. I can hear my mother now "What was so important that you couldn't stay home?" No good answer there... other than I wasn't in the mood to cook.

Anyway, hope you enjoy your MLK day!

--jessica

What does it mean?

I've been having some of the weirdest dreams lately... but last night tops them all. I dreamed that I went to Sonic to get dinner for the family. I ordered a footlong chili cheese dog combo for myself, but when I tore it open to eat (you know, they come in those foil bags)... there was only like a 1/4 of the chili dog there. In my dream I was completely confused... and the alarm clock went off before I could figure it all out. Any dream analyzers out there? I mean, my friends from work and I theorized what it could mean... everything from I was in the mood to eat sonic... to maybe I should cut my portions in 1/4 to lose weight... there were a few others that had some creativity to them... but aren't so appropriate to post on a blog. :)

This is as good as it gets for a post today... I do my presentation for the faculty tomorrow... yippee (said with much sarcasm!). Wish me luck!

Oh and for those with bloglines... I updated my blog to google and because I have two I think things got crossed... so check your urls, please...

jessica

P.S. Spell check is smoking crack again... sorry...

I missed my workout for this?

Ok... so I have stressed out completely over this presentation I am doing on Wednesday. I have stayed up late and gotten up early... which means I've lots sleep. I have skipped my workout with Holly (sorry, holly!). I skipped church yesterday and spent an entire Sunday in my office. And guess what?! When I went to the meeting today the other presenters had no freaking clue what they were doing... and half of what I had been told I needed by my boss... wasn't exactly what I had needed. I have put more hours into this presentation than I think I ever did for any of my classes.... and I so could've gotten away with about half of the effort... and none of the stress! It's times like this that I wonder why it is they are cutting the COMMUNICATION department from the university....

Anyway, all that said, I can officially say I am over the hump. All that I have left is to create some worksheets, which can be done in front of the TV tonight. So... here's to completing the largest project I've ever done... and getting the nerve to actually present it Wednesday~!

The Pressure is On....

I am an Instructor of Communication Studies at McM University... sounds so official, huh? Maybe it is a lack of confidence or something else, but I hear it come out of my mouth or see it in written form and think "really? I feel like such a fraud... how in the world did I make it here." Anyway, I have to do a presentation on Small Group Communication... in front of the entire faculty (or at least the ones that show up!). The presentation is slated to go for about an hour and a half... and I am completely stressing out. I am supposed to show what I have to the chair of my department (my boss) tomorrow... and guess what.... in true Jessica fashion... I haven't even begun. I mean, it is only 2 pm... I technically have 8 hrs before I go to bed.... that should be long enough to get it done right? Part of my procrastination is due to the fact that although I do not normally have communication apprehension... I am filled with it right now. I am one of the youngest faculty and one of the 9 new faculty for the year... what in the world are they doing asking me to present in front of all those professionals? OK... I should quit procrastinating... I should get started.... really... I should... get off the compt... really... ok... ok... I'm going...

--jessica

Update: 9:10pm... still haven't started my presentation...

Happy New Year

Just wanted to stop in and tell everyone Happy New Year! I would post my resolutions... that is if I made them. I'm not big on making resolutions... because I rarely keep them... and then I just feel like a failure. Instead I will post some pics from our evening out! We started our evening with dropping my children off at my mom's house... then we headed out to party with my friend Rachael's parents... then off to Buffalo Wild Wings... then to Guitar's and Cadillac's... then to Whataburger... home about 3am. It all sounds so rebellious, but it really was a good time without much trouble... unless you count the men at Whataburger who almost got into a fight!

We got to Guitar's to go dancing about 10:30pm... this is our first pic of the evening! Not sure who the guy is, he just kind-of decided he needed to be in our picture! Come to think of it... he and Rachael look awfully cute standing beside one another... hmmm....


This is my friend Shane. I haven't seen him in months. He was my prom date in high school... then he was my hairdresser... if you get my drift. I love him to death... and it doesn't hurt that the boy has some skills when it comes to dancing... he can twirl me all over that dance floor! He has a 10 yr old son that Kali (my youngest) has decided she is going to marry... Wouldn't that make for one interesting family...


This is my friend Jana... we were best buds from about 6th -10th grade... then I turned into a not so nice person and our friendship went away. A few years ago we reconnected and I live vicariously through her. She is a traveling nurse... she has gotten to live in Boston, Baltimore, Oakland, and Denver this year... and has gone on vacation to Costa Rica & Vegas! I'm a little green right now...
Pretty sure my grandmother would croak over this picture... her favorite grandchildren in a den of evil! In the blue is my husband and in the stripes is my cousin Seth! Seth tries so hard to dance... but he is def a white boy... we are all taking dance lessons starting at the end of January... our men need some instruction!
This is the ladies... me, Jana, and my friend Rachael. I will have a post later about Rachael... she is one of the sweetest people I know... single mom of three... and yet, she can't seem to find a man worth spending any time with... its depressing! Her last two attempts have been at church and even those have ended miserably!

Anywho... enjoy the pics from my evening... we really did have a great time as we all love dancing... even Robert (my husband) got out there and did a little booty shaking to some hip hop music! There's a first time for everything...

Hope you all had a great day! Happy New Year!