My weekend....

Thanks Amy for your comment. It's just nice to know people are reading! Heehee! I used to say I blogged just for me and I do sort-of... it's just that sometimes you need to know people care! haha!

Ok... so about my trip this weekend. Our music minister was called to another church and has been gone for about 3 wks. His wife is one of my favorite people and Amy, Karen, and I have all missed them both terribly. So... we decided to go see them. We packed up Saturday morning and drove to my cousin's lakehouse (thank you so much Brooke) and Krista was to meet us there! That's where all the normalcy ends! When we got to the lakehouse we found that a hose under the sink had busted and the entire bottom floor of the lakehouse was flooded. We found the water meter and turned the water off and began scoopin' out the water. It took about 2 hrs to get the water out. I have never seen so much water in all my life (at least without the pool). It really is a good thing we went this weekend, though, because that water could've flowed forever. We did call a plumber and it took the man all of 20 min to fix the hose! Nice!!!!

So, then we decided to go eat lunch in Granbury at a girlie food place and in the middle of lunch my hubs called to tell me he was stranded on the side of the road. Apparently one of our cats decided that riding inside his engine was fun and the belt slipped off and the truck overheated. Kali was supposed to be at the soccer field at 2 and he called at 1:35. Our good friend, Matt, came and picked them up and got them to the soccer field, another friend took the kids and kept them safe at the soccer field, and then Matt took Rt back to his truck to fix the belt. I will say that I am very proud of my husband... he didn't freak out and he was very calm when he told me what happened. (As for the cat, this was cat #4 of the 4 adorable kittens we got a few months ago. Never will I get kittens from those neighbors again as they seem to be retarded. And while I cried at the loss of another kitten my children just rolled their eyes. We have got to move back to town!)

Other than those dramatic events the weekend was great fun! We spent lots of time shopping, talking, eating, more talking and more shopping. We got up this morning to drive to Cleburne to watch Brett lead music. I will say that they seem to belong there, as sad as that makes me.

I did get the entire living room clean before I left and came back to a house that was still relatively clean! Yeah family! I do have a question of the day... The kids went off with a family friend yesterday and then today they both went home with another family. Why does no one take my kids when it is just me? Do people just feel sorry for dad's? Matt had someone offer to take his kids for the afternoon toO!

Ok... it's desperate housewives night... I know, awful show... but it's the premiere and I must watch! Oh and spell check doesn't seem to be working! Sorry for any mistakes!

The plague...

Seriously, do I have the plague? I write these thought provoking posts and no one comments! :) Just kidding about the though provoking, but I just realized that out of my last 6 or so posts I have had a total of 6 comments (all by the same people!) Ok, I'll quit whining now.

My husband just informed me that our house has to be spotless before I can leave town tomorrow. I'm not sure what he was smoking at work this morning, but I am pretty certain that his wish is a little unrealistic. Not that I don't wish I could snap my fingers and the house be perfect, but it doesn't really work that way. I did get up at 4am and clean the kitchen. Don't get all excited, I haven't become a morning person, I just had really bad heartburn and couldn't sleep. I screwed up, though, and went back to bed at 5:30 so when the alarm went off at 6:30 I had much difficulty getting up. Oh well, at least the kitchen is clean. Only 4 more rooms to go...

Ok... have a good weekend... I'll post pics when I get back!

Perceptions

I am teaching a dual-credit course at one of the high schools in town this semester. Part of my concern with teaching the course was dealing with underage children and censoring myself. In a true college class I can talk about whatever I want to and it doesn't matter... I don't have the same freedom in a classroom full of 17 yr olds on a public school campus. Today we were discussing perceptions, stereotyping, and prejudice and one of the students brought up homosexuality. (AUGH! This is one of the subjects I would've rather avoided.) I'm not really sure how we got to the topic other than we were discussing segregation in churches and all of a sudden we were discussing the other. One of the student's piped up with "aren't they all going to hell anyway?" and the conversation took off from there. I was very careful about what came out of my mouth, but it was VERY difficult. Not that I was going to say anything offensive, but sometimes my view of loving everyone irritates people.

Listening to my students discuss all of this made me really think about how much our children absorb from us. Most of their comments started with a "my dad says" or a "my mom says" or even "my church says" as if the kids didn't have an opinion of their own. It's a little scary to see how prejudice can flow so easily from generation to generation without even a blink. I mean, the kids who asked the hell question looked shocked when I answered her in a way that obviously contradicted her parent's view.

When I left the classroom I was struck with an "I'm so old" moment, though... never in all of my years of public school did I even hear the world homosexual come from a teacher's mouth in any way other than negative ... and I could probably count those times on one hand. My how times have changed!

Schedules...

I woke up this morning and realized that I have a teacher's conference at 3:15 and Kali's speech therapy at 3:30. Hmmm... It is times like this that I could use a clone! Or at least a wife. Robert gets a little irritated when I say I want a wife, but wouldn't it be nice? I mean, come home to clean house and a hot meal? Not that I have ever been that kind of wife, but wouldn't it be grand to have one? You would think Robert would agree since many of our fights during our marriage have been about me not being that kind of wife. I can't say I blame him, it would be nice to be taken care of. HAHA, I'm only (half) kidding... polygamy is wrong.

Edit: Just got off the phone with a friend whose husband went home during lunch and vacuumed and cleaned out the fridge. This is so not fair!

Emergency!!!!

So, I don't really know what happened to my blog. One minute it was all flowery and the next it was solid black. So... this is all I could manage with my limited technical abilities!

Ok, on to the emergency. Kali dropped Robert's new tablet pc into the bathtub full of water. We have taken it apart as best we can and it is sitting in front of the fan, but does anyone have any other advice as to how we might save it? I've read a couple of things online that suggest if the power is off and you can get it dried out it might survive. Today has definitely been a lesson in patience!

Wow...

You know how sometimes you don't realize you have a problem or you don't realize how bad the problem is until you begin to fix it? Well, that is precisely how I am feeling right now. I didn't realize how active my brain was until I started taking this medication. Never have I been able to sit calmly and quietly mentally (I have always been able to physically sit quietly, because my brain is quite entertaining). Usually there are constant thoughts zooming through my head... constant worries... constant questions... but for the last two days things have been calm inside my head. Not that there haven't been thoughts, there have been, but now they come slower and are more understandable and cause less anxiety. What is funny to me, though, is that I didn't realize that what was happening inside my head wasn't normal. I assumed everyone has constant messages floating around at the speed of light. Anyway, let's just say I am slightly amazed right now.

Other happenings in my life... Kali told me this morning that she didn't want to go to school today. I told her she didn't have a choice, if she didn't go to school they could put mommy in jail (there is actually a law that says parents will go to jail if their child doesn't go to school and they aren't homeschooled). Her response...that's ok Grandad would take care of you. My dad works at the jail... so I guess that would make it ok! Kids amaze me sometimes.

Kali has her first wall word test today. Pray that she does well. It really is different having a child that struggles with reading. For Megan we did nothing. She just got it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I never went over her wall words with her (I know this should get me the bad parent award) but she just didn't need our help. Kali, on the other hand, requires a great amount of assistance from us. She starts reading camp again next week. McMurry has this great program where kids can come to the school two times a week and be tutored by early education majors. I'm not sure how much the program costs, but we did it this summer and the girls seemed to enjoy it. The classes are MW 4-5:15 (?) or something like that!

Here's my question of the week... Megs really doesn't care for PE. She never has and I know it is because it is hard on her and she can't stand not succeeding at things. Her new PE teacher likes to yell (hollar) at the kids which Megan doesn't understand or handle well. In fact, yelling at Megan usually has the opposite affect of what was intended. The teacher has been doing her job for 20 yrs and I'm sure she isn't going to understand what I'm saying and I have told Megan to do her best and try to understand some people yell and it doesn't mean your in trouble... but she still comes home upset. How do I deal with this? I feel guilty telling her to suck it up and deal with it when (in my opinion) there have to better ways of telling a kid to get it together. UGH! (Oh, by the way, this is why I don't teach elementary school... I would feel the need to yell at the kids.)

JW

A day of dr appts...

Kali had her eval with the speech therapist at Hendricks today. She will begin speech with someone next week and we will do about 10 sessions and see if some intense R therapy will do the trick. The speech therapist isn't sure if she has a tongue thrust, but she is certain that she at least has a lazy tongue! As for her Rs, she cannot say them... not sure why... but she uses all kinds of substitutes and will go as far as to use a completely different word to avoid an r. Hmmm... guess that means she should be increasing her vocabulary! :)



Rt went to the dr today for his weird bald spots. He has alopecia. Dr. Martin suggested he just draw a smiley face on it and not worry about it because there isn't much that can be done. He did inject a steroid into the smaller of the two spots to see if it will help. If hair grows there we will inject the larger spot. Fun, fun. I guess there is a risk that the hair could come back without any color at all... hmmm... what is worse a big bald spot or a white spot?



I also went to the dr today and was placed on Adderall and removed from my Wellbutrin. I'm hoping this fixes my memory issues. My friend Emily suggested that I was going to be able to focus, but so grouchy that no one would be able to tolerate me. Let's pray that doesn't happen. Edit: Rt just brought my pills home. I've never filled a prescription before that 5 full pg medication facts booklet. Hmm....



We went to the fair last night. We had a good time and saw tons of people that we knew. I could've lived without the crickets though. We rode the Ferris wheel and one jumped on me. And then, I was just walking along and one landed on my head... I rubbed my head and it fell down my shirt. EWWWW! I'm not a fan on those icky things! Anyway, here are some pics from our adventure!

We took an extra with us. His mom didn't think she should brave the fair with 15mth old twins.

The Texas Tornado. Notice mommy isn't on it? HAHA!
What is it about that girl and her tongue. She sure does stick it out a lot. Uncle Billy said she reminded him of his heavy metal days. haha!
Such pretty faces!

The last ride of the evening. Watch out for the crickets!!!!

New tubes?

At dinner tonight Megan and Kali were telling me that they want a little brother or sister. I explained to them that my tubes has been cut, burned, tied and therefore I couldn't get pregnant. At this point Kali looked at me and asked why I couldn't just buy new tubes and have them put in. Thank goodness that's impossible... right? :)

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME????????

At the end of last semester I really began to think I was losing my mind. I was forgetting the sentence I was saying in mid-sentence. I was forgetting impt dates and appoints. I even forgot to feed my kids (long story). I went to the dr and he said it was stress and that I should get better when things settled down. Then summer came and I didn't get better. I was doing less so my incidences of forgetfulness were less, but I have decided that is only because there was less to forget. I went to the dr again and asked why it was still happening and his response was that my brain didn't know what to do with nothing to do... huh? You mean it was under worked? Well, not it is 8 mths later and my forgetfulness is getting worse. I walk into a room and realize I don't know how I got there. I say the wrong word 3 or 4 times in a sentence (this happened last night) and don't even notice I am doing it. I started looking online for answers (which let me tell you can be dangerous). One of the articles I read suggested that ADHD in women presents itself in a myriad of ways and that sometimes it is mistaken for depression or hormonal issues. Hmmm... Now I really don't know what to think. I mean, I am on depression for ADHD (ok I thought I would leave this one in... see what I mean, I'm losing it... what I meant to say was I am on Wellbutrin for depression/anxiety) and on birth control for hormones and yet my symptoms have not gone away.

This leads to an even bigger issue... my dr doesn't believe that ADD is an actual disorder. He told our music minister that ADD was not a diagnosis in other countries. So what do I do? There is no actual test to determine if you are ADD so it really could all be in my mind. I read part of the article to Rt last night because it cracked me up. It said that women with ADHD struggle with money management and budgeting and are usually unable to save money. At this point he volunteered to go to the dr with me! (We have serious budgeting disagreements in our household for those who don't know.)

Anyone got some words of wisdom for me????

Kali

For those who don't know, Kali was in speech therapy from about 18 mths until half way through kindergarten. When Clyde discharged her from speech I wasn't exactly happy about it, but there was nothing I could do. I noticed over the summer that she has started replacing sounds she cannot make. For example, curler instead of curl. A couple of weeks ago I asked one of the speech therapists at church what she thought and her suggestion was to take her back to speech because she has started "phoneme replacement." Huh? She also questioned whether Kali had a tongue thrust and suggested I ask our dentist. Well, our dentist happens to go to church with us too so I asked her Sunday morning what she thought and before I could get the whole phrase out she said yes. ugh! So... now I either have to fight with AISD for specialized speech therapy or I have to PAY $50 a session for it. UGH! Apparently Kali's issues aren't something the school district likes to deal with because they require individual treatment instead of group therapy. I wish there was some magical treatment for Kali's tongue (she started with an articulation delay due to her refusal/inability to use her tongue). I know there are parents who just ignore this kind-of stuff, but I have noticed that her speech issues have effected her ability to read. So I guess here's to another year of speech...

Payday

Can someone explain to me how I can get paid my monthly salary on Friday and now it is GONE?????

This week...

What a week it has been! We all started school on Monday and have lasted an entire week without much drama. Kali did get in trouble daily for talking, but Megan managed to make it a week without trouble. We were late to school twice due to Kali misplacing her backpack one day and a folder the next. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with that child. I mean, Megan was always so worried about getting in trouble at school that she rarely did things like that... Kali on the other hand, ugh!

I started teaching a dual-credit class at one of the high schools this week. I'm trying to not be gripey about it, but it is getting harder and harder to do. The school district wants the kids to take college level classes, but they want us to run them like high school classes with 3 wk and 6 wk reports. They also want us to average grades. I have a list of questions that no one seems to know the answers to or that no one is willing to answer and I have been called into my dean's office already this week because the AISD administrators are concerned about my friend and I teaching our classes. Come to find out what they are concerned about has nothing to do with anything that matters they just don't like that we are young and ask questions. Let's just say that I am not overly impressed with the decision making process at AISD right now.

Robert started classes this week too. We are excited about it, but I can tell it will be way different than when I was in school. I left him at home today so he could work on his homework without the noise from the kids. I'm trying not to be bitter about things like that, but do ya'll remember how many tears I cried due to the frustration of dealing with the kids and his demands all the while knowing how much work I had to get done? I guess the part that is even more frustrating to me is that he hasn't even realized how hard he made it on me to be in school. Oh well, I'll just keep praying that God will take away my frustration with all of this because I really do want Robert to succeed in school.

We start our new Sunday School class tomorrow. I am excited about moving out of the 20ish class into the 30ish class. The teachers in the other class are supposedly amazing and I am ready for that. I am ready to go to SS and learn as opposed to spending the entire hour frustrated. Tomorrow will be a little sad, though, as it is the first Sunday without our music minister. I know that God is in control and that if Bret is called to be at the church in Cleburne then there is a person who is being called to be at our church... but, gah, this stinks! I think I liked it better when I was a kid and was completely oblivious when ministers came and went.

I went through all my fave blogs tonight and caught up on the happenings of everyone. I've missed not being able to sit and read. Maybe having office hours that are required will give me time to do that... you know, instead of working on stuff I should be doing!!! haha!

Hope everyone has a blessed week!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm sorry I haven't been posting... things have been CRAZY around here. I'll try to catch you up without too much whining!

* My presentation went well. I filled up my 4 hrs and everyone seemed to find the information helpful.
* The following week (last week) was filled with going back to school faculty meetings. Those were loads of fun. I really don't understand how people can enjoy spending 4 hrs analyzing a document.
*I'm allergic to the sweet little dog we have... Yogi... I have been full of snot (nice image there) since we got Yogi and today ended in the dr office. The dr gave me antibiotics and some nice cough medicine with Codeine. :) Apparently what started with allergies ended with a sinus infection. Is it bad to want to keep a dog even if it is making me sick? Hmm...
* The kids enjoyed their first day of school. I was a tad scared for Megs because her teacher frightened me with her drill sargent nature... but Megs really seems to like her. Megan's team teacher is my elementary PE teacher... that was a blast from the past. Kali enjoyed school but was quite concerned that her teacher made her use her right hand to write. Kali is a leftie... uh oh. I asked her a bunch of questions and what I think happened is that the teacher said something about writing and she thought she meant 'right.'
*Robert had his first college class today. I think he is feeling quite overwhelmed, but I'm sure he will do fine. It will just take a lot of patience on my part. He gets a little snappy when he is overwhelmed.
*We noticed about a month ago that Rt has a spot on the back of his head where all the hair has fallen out. We think it is stress related alopecia... any ideas what you do about that?

Ok, I think that gets it all... I'll try not to take so long to post again!

17 days...

I realized last night the school is less than three weeks away. It is a little frightening to see how much life is about to change. Not only are the girls going into grades that will require much more effort, but I completed all of Robert's financial aid paperwork last night and he will be starting at MCM. We think he is going to be a math teacher. He was always really good at math and because of the new laws requiring math for all four years of high school there is definitely a need. I do find it comical that one of the deciding facts for Rt about what he was going to major in was the idea that he would have summers off. He forgot to ask how I felt about him having summers off! haha! He better develop a love for the pool.

Well, I'm off to work on my presentation. All of my paperwork is due by 3 tomorrow and I would like to have it done tonight. Keep your fingers crossed!

Update...

Last night the girls and Rt were watching Rt's fave movie "Oh brother where art thou?" and the next thing I know he is rewinding it and they are all trying to recreate the dance moves! It was quite comical, and I wish I had a video camera... that would've been a great 'first date' movie to have on! haha!

I got home about 9:30 tonight and there's this HUGE raccoon eating the cat food. I have been complaining for a while that something has been eating the food every night... guess I figured out what it is! I'm surprised the cats let the coon get away with it... Rt thinks they are scared... but my male cat is kind-of mean. Maybe he knows what battle to pic. Anyone know how to get rid of a coon?

I have a 4 hr presentation due on Wednesday at 10am... I haven't started yet! Guess I should get on that, huh?

jw

New Dog

One of my students asked me to take her dog, because she is moving and cannot take it with her. We picked up sweet little Yogi yesterday, and this pic commemorates the one and only time that the dog has let Kali get near him. She seems to frighten him! He seems to tolerate Megan, but hides when Kali comes around. We have had issues for a while with getting Kali to sleep in her own bed, so we really hoped the solution would be a dog for her to sleep with. I'm guessing that this isn't going to solve our problem, though, since the dog actually slept in my bed last night. Ugh... guess I'll have to work on another solution to Kali's sleeping arrangements!

Wedding pics

We have returned from our trip to Austin. We had a great time and the wedding was absolutely beautiful! The girls were adorable and we all had a really great time!

Here is a pic of the girls and Misty. Misty looked gorgeous in her dress. And the girls loved being able to hide out in the back room with the bride.

Kali loved being a princess for a day. She twirled and twirled! The photographer probably took an entire roll of film of her being all prissy!

I couldn't rotate this one in blogger... but isn't she beautiful! Although she wasn't excited about being all froo froo, she did enjoy getting her hair done and the fact that Grammy put some makeup on her (eye shadow and lipstick only).

Here is a pic of the four of us. We will have to get it blown up since I have an aversion to getting pictures made! It was fun getting all dressed up but I'm glad I don't have to do it often, it was exhausting getting everyone ready!

I couldn't get anymore pics on here, but the reception pics were great. I'll upload those later! Anyway, all in all it was a great experience! I really think every girl should get to be the flower girl or jr bridesmaid in a wedding.... they thoroughly enjoyed being princesses.

Harry Potter

I know that many of you are just as addicted to Harry Potter as I am... so here is a link to an article I found this morning. J.K. Rowling tells what happened in more detail than the epilogue contained.....

Robert is still working on the book... mainly because once I started it I didn't share very well! We are driving to Austin tomorrow and I told him that I should take a friend or something so I have someone to talk to, because I can guarantee he will sit over in the passenger's seat and read the book! HAHA! I guess that really is no different than me refusing to budge off the couch! Oh well...

I am very excited about our trip this weekend. My cousin is getting married and the girls and I are all a part of the wedding. I am singing, Kali is a flower girl, and Megan is a jr. bridesmaid. I had to dig RT's suit out of the back of the closet for this wedding. He has worn that suit only a few times, and when I pulled it out I noticed there was baby drool or snot (eww) on one of the shoulders. I'm pretty sure that means he hasn't worn the suit since Kali was a baby! Hope it still fits! Oh wait, I'm married to the man who never gains weight... it will fit! Oh to be so lucky...

I will post pics of the wedding when I get back, apparently it is to be quite the fancy thing. I found out yesterday that the reception is at the country club and is to be a fancy dinner thing. I've never been to a wedding that had more than appetizers and cake, so this ought to be fun! For those who know me, you have to know I'm wondering what kind-of froo froo (not really sure froo froo is a word or even how to spell it) food they are going to serve... me and my picky self... maybe I should eat MCD's before I go! JUST KIDDING, sort-of!

Oh, I almost forgot, we went to Six Flags yesterday with some friends. It was fun, but if my post isn't coherent, it could be the exhaustion from our one day trip. I'll get pics posted for that too!

jess

Busy, busy, busy

I thought summer was supposed to be relaxing... ugh! I feel like I'm running around with my head cut off. I'm having some serious memory issues and it is driving me batty. Yesterday, I walked into my bedroom to get something, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what it was when I got there. I still don't remember. I don't like this. I'm usually pretty on top of things, but this lack of memory is making me forget things that are pretty important. A couple of weeks ago I told the kids I would bring them lunch and I FORGOT! Who forgets to feed their kids? Anyway, if you know any magical memory improvers, let me know! I asked my dr about it and he suggested it was stress... but for the first half of the summer all I did was lay at the pool! Who knows!

If it really is stress in some form I really do not see an improvement in the future. I mean, we have a lot going on. Next Wednesday we are going to Six Flags... Next Friday we are going to Austin for a wedding. The girls are going to be adorable in their poofy little dresses, however, they may be barefoot since I am having much difficulty finding Ivory/Bone colored dress shoes to go with their dresses. Kali's foot is too narrow and Megan wears a 7 1/2 in women's which means anything I could find has heals! It doesn't help that I have actually NO DESIRE to actually go to the store with my precious angels to hunt for shoes! UGH! Shopping with a 6 yr old and a 9 yr old isn't usually fun and stress free! Anyone want to volunteer to find the shoes for me?

Ok... I guess I should stop procrastinating and go get ready for the day. I know I have lots to get done, but all I really want to do is go lay at the pool! Maybe I can fit that in at some point!

jess

Second Life

One of the other instructors just informed me that CJC is going to be teaching/offering courses on Second Life...huh? I know that this generation is compt minded, but come on... why is there a need for a virtual reality class??? Very interesting!!!!!

I started teaching classes today.... yippee... (do you hear the sarcasm?) I really am trying to be excited, but I think I'm getting cynical in my old age. I walked into my 9am class and there were 6 of the 9 students there. About 20 min later another student wandered in. Who comes late to the first day of class? Or better yet, who skips the first day of class? Hmmm....

This is the first semester I have taught a Julymester (which is a complete course in 3 wks). It should be interesting to see how many kids actually make it through. I mean, 3 speeches, 3 outlines, exams, etc all shoved into a 12 day time period! I'm pretty sure that the slacker in my would have NEVER signed up for a class like that! hahahaha!

I am impressed that CJC has finally gone wireless... that means I can sit in the lobby and read blogs etc in my breaktimes! :)

jw

Catching up...

Yesterday I met my cousin at the mall to find dresses for the upcoming wedding. Kali was happy in whatever I put her in, wish I could say the same for Megan. I will NEVER take a child who has been away at camp for 4 days to a store... NEVER. I know she was tired... but she was also quite pissy about the dresses. She is now grounded for the week from TV (which is by far a better punishment for her than spanking could ever be)... that's how much fun shopping with her was! The most frustrating part was that she was quite insistent that the dress not be fruu fruu... hello... it is a wedding... what did she think she was going to wear? ugh!

I start teaching again tomorrow... It will be a pretty tough schedule for the first 3 weeks and then it will ease up! I will be teaching 9-11 and 12-3 and then TR evenings. It sounds like a lot, but in the long run I know that it will be worth it. I mean, if I don't do this there is NO WAY that we can do our family trip to Disney! So... off to work I go! GUess I should find a sitter, huh?

I went to the dr last week because I think I am losing my mind... I cannot remember ANYTHING. In fact, I completely forgot to take my children food for lunch one day. The dr didn't have a clue... so we are weaning me off of my happy pills to see if that could be it... Anyone have any other ideas? I have heard several suggestions... stress, lack of things to do, etc. If it were any other time in my life I would agree to the stress part, but I just don't know that I would consider myself all that stressed... hmmm....

jess

Update...

Alyssa made it through her surgery just fine. The dr said that her heart has already begin to return to the normal size. She still has a long road with a lot more surgeries, but she is ok for now. Thanks for the prayers!

Apparently, after I left last night at my designated 'curfew', my cousin and her friend decided to stay... in fact they closed the place down. When our friend got home her husband kicked her out of the house. Keep my friend and this situation in your prayers. We went over there tonight to try to work some stuff out, but he is so full of anger that there was no discussing it. It's hard to see another couple right in the middle of what Rt and I just went through. I can see the mistakes they are both making... because let's face it... no one is perfect... but they are both so angry. I guess this is what happens when you ignore the problems in your marriage! Ugh... anyway, they have 4 kids and the kids do not need to deal with this!

Lot's of prayers going up...

jw

A first...

Last night, I went to BWW with my cousin Kim and our friend Shannon... on Wednesdays at BWW it is Karaoke night! I have never in my life done Karaoke... not that I can't sing, just that I refuse to make a fool of myself, which means I need to practice the song before I would be brave enough to sing it... but last night the girls took me up on the stage to sing "girls just wanna have fun." I would have to say it was actually fun... and since neither of those girls could actually sing very well it worked out over all.

My neice, Alyssa, is having her open heart surgery today. It started at 8:30am. Keep her and my family in your prayers. She is only 7mth old and this is all quite scary!

jW

Oops!

Just got a phone call from the church... no church tonight due to the fact that the building flooded last night! The rain came down hard last night and apparently the corridor between the two buildings flooded and there is much to fix. I was just up there yesterday to get something out of my music minister's office and his office floor was full of papers/music that he had in piles, I'm guessing all of that got wet! ugh!

On a side note, can someone please explain to me why when my children eat nutty bars they feel the need to separate the bars instead of eating the bar whole. All this manages to do is make a huge mess, but when I say something they freak out like the bar are not edible any other way!

jess

oh and the Kelly Clarkson CD is great... I couldn't handle the pressure it was on sale at WM for 9.92... so I HAD to... I mean, I NEEDED it! haha!

Summer Blues

I love summer... I love the long lazy days, the feelings freedom, the staying up late and sleeping late the next morning. What I don't love about summer are the limited funds to do the things I want to do. I mean, my kids want to go to the movies, skating, and bowling quite often... and all I have been able to say is no. Last summer I had no salary and things were not fun... so I really thought this year would be different... so far it hasn't been. It seems that although I still have a paycheck coming, things are just like before! There are bills, unexpected expenses, and the feeling of dread every time I look at the checking account balance. From talking to my friends, I know I am not the only one who feels this way... but I am quite frustrated because I thought it would be different this summer. I have taught a Summer I course, so my July 1 paycheck will have some extra money on it, but every time I think about that extra money I see the bills that are due! UGH! I don't want to be a grown-up anymore!!!!!!!

jess

P.S. Did you realize that Kelly Clarkson's new album comes out today??? I soooo want to rush to the store to purchase it... but I know that would not be wise... so Friday it is!!!!

Mosquitos

Heard this on the radio this morning:

God did not create anything without a purpose... but mosquitos come close!

I would say I have to agree. Does anyone know of a purpose for the little things? We had a 1/2 bd party for Kali at the pool on Friday night and my legs are all kinds of eaten up! I want them to go away!

I am trying to upload some bd pics, but blogger doesn't like me this morning! Kali is our Christmas baby, but we have decided to 'move' her birthday to June. We of course still acknowledge the real date, but the party comes later. I guess someday she may choose to move it back, but for now I'm thinking a party in June is way cooler!

I really, really, want my hand back!

Well, the stitches came out yesterday, and the dr gave me 10 days to regain movement of my fingers or I will be attending daily physical therapy sessions. So... in order to not have physical therapy I was good and really worked at making a fist. Well, um... this morning I looked down at my finger and the entire cut has reopened. It hasn't opened as far down as they cut originally, but it is opened enough that my cousin who is a nurse handed me the phone and said call the dr... I called the dr and will be sitting in his office in the morn. What I would like to know is if I should be expecting stitches again or what? I mean, what can they really do about it? I have to bend my finger, right? The scar goes across my finger. So... in a nutshell, every time I bend my finger I will be opening the cut. Hmmm... any suggestions here? Here is a pic of it (sorry if it grosses you out). The cut goes across the finger (this way the scar is not visible was the original logic)... the holes below are from the stitches. And no, my knuckle isn't normally that big... hubs says it is swollen. I would just like to mention again that THIS IS RIDICULOUS! It was a thorn for crying out loud! The most frustrating thing for me is that a stupid little thorn has caused havoc in my life and all around me people are suffering from potentially life threatening things... I mean, Jack has a brain tumor and is in the hospital, Alyssa is having open heart surgery in a week, and my Aunt Diana has a wound in her back from a post-surgery spine infection that is requiring her to live in a hospital for a couple of months (I'll explain in a minute). All of these seem way more important than my stupid finger...

On to my Aunt... Aunt Diana had back surgery about a month ago... something about a nerve. Anyway, she went in to have the stitches removed and apparently it hurt like nothing she had ever felt. She left the office and went home only to wake up in the middle of the night with her would open and oozing. It oozed allllllll night and into the next day and she finally went back to the dr. Well, her back was infected and she was rushed into surgery. The dr's cleaned out what they could but the infection was so bad that they left the wound open to be cleaned out and packed several times a day. The wound is deep enough that when the nurse cleans it her hand and wrist disappear inside. (It is pretty wide as well.) The nurse walked in yesterday and opened the wound to repack it... she looked at my aunt and said "Wow... I can see your stomach!" Aunt Diana is on some pretty strong antibiotics and pain bills. Her spirits seem high (or maybe it's just that she is high). Yesterday she joked that she would need drug rehab from all the Oxycontin they have been giving her. We really have no clue what the future holds... I mean, an infection that deep and large could easily cause sepsis and she could die. (Not that we couldn't all die at any point in the near future... but who wants to go that way?)

Anyway, with all that said, I do know that the future is totally in God's hands and there are some massive prayers coming from our house for the people mentioned above. Please do the same in yours.

jess

I want my hand!

Ok... I supposed to go to the dr on Wednesday to get my stitches removed... I know it is only two days away, but this is getting ridiculous! I am just about sick of being without my left hand. I am also tired of flipping off the world (it's the middle finger that's all taped and splinted out straight). Not to mention how ridiculous I feel every time I have to tell someone the story behind my injury!

For those who have been reading my blog for a while... my niece Alyssa is having some serious issues. She was born in Sept with lots of problems (cleft palate, skull prematurely fused, heart not functioning right, blind in one eye, etc). My brother and his girlfriend went to the dr last week to schedule the skull surgery. They took sweet Alyssa in for a sonogram of her heart, just to make sure nothing had changed, and they realized that her heart was way more serious than her skull. In fact, the sweet baby is due to have open heart surgery on the 28th of June and my the family has pretty much been told that she may not make it. Basically, the left side of her heart is not functioning... putting all the stress on the right side. If they had done the skull surgery, the stress would have made her heart explode. I really struggle with the questions of quantity of life vs. quality, and the longer baby Alyssa is with us, the more we learn about how difficult things are going to be for her. Please keep my family in your prayers... specifically my brother and his girlfriend.

jess

Left hand

for all of you who have a difficult time reading things with poor editing, i'm sorry, but typing w/one hand is hard. Cap letters are the most difficult.

I had surgery on Friday to remove the stupid thorn. surgery took about 25 min, and the dr said I would be quite irritated if i saw the size of the thorn. They did let me stay awake, so I got to chat with an old friend who was my nurse anethesist. all in all the surgery was no biggie and i thought all would go back to normal by today. Can I just say how difficult it is to do things with one hand? I can't get dressed, take a shower, type, spank my kids

;) (they are not complaining about that), and I cannot drive. I like to be waited on, but I know the family is getting tired of it. I did have a most embarrassing moment yesterday. We decided to come to town for dinner, so I took my pain pill before we left the house. Bad idea. We got around winter's freeway, exited southwest drive, and Rt pulled over in the parking lot of a car dealership so I could puke my guts up. Now, that is not one of my favorite things to do to begin with, but to have to puke in front of the cars that were speeding by... ugh! I just keep waiting to get a phone call from someone I know saying they saw me.

I included a picture of my hand... who would've thought that two fingers stuck together could make a difference! I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it didn't hurt so much. I don't like pain pills, but I sure am taking them every 4 hrs... if I don't I can't handle it. I feel like such a wimp. My cousin tried to make me feel better by explaining the amount of nerves in my finger... but come on....

oh well... hope everyone is having a good weekend...

jess

Thorns...

A few weeks ago, while mowing the yard (which is one of my fave things to do, seriously, it is) I was attempting to mow under a bush and this big thorn stuck into my knuckle. I thought it just went in and came back out, but it actually left behind the tip. I went to the dr and was put on antibiotics and told that the situation was pretty serious. I then went back to the dr because it still hurt and was sent off to an orthopedic surgeon. The appt with the orthopedic surgeon was today, and as stupid as it sounds I am having surgery on Friday to remove a stinkin' thorn from my knuckle. This is one of those times that I want to say Really? The dr today told me that this was very serious, as I could lose my finger (I was joking about losing my finger and got a little lecture in return). When the injury first occurred Robert made fun of me and told me that I needed to "toughin' up," so I didn't go to the dr until about a week later. Guess there will be no laughing now as he has to wait on me all weekend. HAHAHA! I will say that my children are very sad about all of this, however, it has nothing to do with me actually being cut into but instead it has everything to do with the fact that the pool won't be happening for a few days! Can you feel the love?

I have another thorn causing me a problem, but he's a student. He has filed a grievance against me for being sexist and mean and cruel to him. I have responded to his claims, but I do not appreciate the fact that he has brought in my social life as a means to show what an awful teacher I am. I'm not sure what is going to happen, but keep all of this in your prayers, please.

jess

Summer... Day One

Well, summer break has definitely come in with a bang for us...(as in thunder and lightening)... these are pics of what my driveway has turned into from all the rain. I have to go to town at 2, but I'm not sure how I will get to my car. The girls would prefer not to be stuck in the house and are running around a tad crazy. We tried to watch High School Musical, but our power keeps going out, which then requires the satellite to upload programming again. They have asked when we get to go to the pool, but I don't have the heart to tell them that the forecast has tons of rain in it.

My children refuse to sleep in pj's, so this morning, in true Kali fashion, she was running around in panties and a t-shirt. I looked over at her and thought her legs were filthy... but when I kept looking I realized that she was bruised. Apparently, when we were at church last night they were playing outside on the playground during Mission Friends and a little girl pushed Kali. I'm not upset about that... the girls are best buds and there are a lot of times that I have to get on to them for playing like the boys... but I am upset that no one saw fit to tell me that she had fallen. We have had a lot of problems with the nursery workers not supervising the children... and one of the main people complaining is the person teaching Mission Friends. It is all very frustrating to me. I know that kids will be kids... I know that they need time to play... but I also know that there is a reason that adults are there to supervise. I know that adults cannot prevent all accidents, I mean, my kids injure themselves all the time under my watch... but I really don't like finding out the next morning about her fall. UGH! Ok... I'm done venting about that... and the bruises look tons worse in person than they do in this pic.

In my post yesterday I mentioned all the pics I developed... I am soooo proud of myself... I cropped all 356 pics last night and this morning. Which means on Saturday when I scrap all day I will actually get to finish pages... yippeeeeeeeee....

jess

Not really sure what is happening to my post... sorry it's so messed up!

Long & Random

Sorry for my lack of posting... things have been quite busy for the last couple of weeks.

The kids completed their last school day today. Kali's teacher cried as she hugged them all goodbye... I'm not sure where Megan's teacher was. I have filled out the paperwork and the girls will go to school "in town" at Jackson next year. It was such a relief to fill out the paperwork and know that they would be just down the road from me as opposed to 30 minutes away during the day. I mistakenly thought it would be more convenient for them to go to Clyde, but the convenience only worked when they rode the bus... once all of the drama started and there was no more bus the convenience factor flew out the window. So... to town it is.

Our house is still for sale... this lady has come to look 3 times and has asked about a million questions but hasn't made an offer yet. It is a very frustrating process. I want to just call her and ask what we would have to do to get her to buy our house... at this point I would do it. Instead, her realtor has to call my realtor who calls us etc. etc. The difficult thing about all of this is I am actually fine with staying here if it doesn't sale, but knowing that someone might want it and we could pay off our credit cards, Rt's truck, and one of my student loans makes me want the sale to happen. The part of me that has to pack and find a new place to live (the part that doesn't like change) is perfectly content with our small debt and truck payment and would just as soon stay here. Oh well... it isn't really in my hands so I don't know why I keep stressing about it.

Last night on the news the weather guy said that this summer was probably going to be a pretty cool one... What exactly does that mean? My kids are already begging to go to the pool, but it hasn't even reached 90 degrees outside. I have no complaints about the weather... I wish is stayed about 85 all year long... but it has to warm up a little for the swim club to be comfortable. (Not that I actually make it into the water very often, but warm water makes for less whiny kids.) Oh well, anyone got any other ideas of summer fun (that doesn't cost) until the weather warms up? So far, my ideas of reading and playing outside are being shot down (in all fairness the size of the mosquitoes is quite ridiculous out here, I don't know that I blame them for not wanting to be eaten alive).

My friend Holly got me into scrapbooking many moons ago, and I have stayed caught up until the last year. I am exactly one year behind right now. I had pictures developed yesterday and I had about 400 pics. It just dawned on me that I have a 35mm camera somewhere that I know I've used this month. UGH... more to develop. I have threatened to set my stuff up on the kitchen table and not move it until I'm done... but for some reason my family thinks they need to eat... what's that about! :) Brooke, Holly and I are set to scrapbook Saturday... wish me luck!

Here's a pic of Kali's kindergarten graduation last friday night! They sang some songs and all got a diploma. Her hair is so slick that her hat refused to stay on... we have some pretty hilarious pics of her adjusting her hat through the entire second half of the program. I got a little teary watching her walk across the stage... who knew she would grow up so quickly.

New Compt...

McM is starting a new thing on campus where all the freshman will be "given" HP tablets. In order for the teachers to be up to snuff on the tablets they have given them to us as well. I have spent the last two days in training from 8:30-4... that long in training made my head hurt, but those tablets are cool. My favorite part (and the part that did not require 2 days of training) is that you can use your stylus to write on your screen, so you can send emails that are hand written. I was quite amazed by that function and sent all kinds of interesting emails. I'm pretty sure that the instructor wasn't so entertained by my friend AM and I giggling every time we opened an email... what can I say? we had to do something entertaining!

Megan handed me her math TAKS scores this afternoon... can someone please tell me why is was that she was soooo stressed by the test and ended up missing NO questions? The tears seem so wasted now!

Kali graduates from Kindergarten tomorrow night... while we were in Wal-Mart tonight she asked me what I was going to buy her for graduation. She said that our babysitter was graduating and she is getting all kinds of good stuff. Silly kid!

jess

Seriously?

Three posts in one day... wow!

I just received this email from a student:

i just want to ask how i got a d in public relations

Now, maybe I'm just crazy... but I'm pretty sure that if I were emailing my professor with a question about a grade, I might be bothered to use capital letters and punctuation. Heck, I might even use a heading and signature. How 'bout you guys? Am I silly for being irritated? Oh, did I mention this kid is a junior?

jess

Teeth

Poor Megs has an abscessed tooth. The dentist cannot see her until tomorrow and I don't really know what to do. I have a call into Dr. Martin to see if there is anything he can do... like pain management. I've never had an abscessed tooth, so I don't know of any ways to make her feel better. She has been complaining for quite a while about this particular tooth, but every time I looked it seemed to be all in her head... guess there was something going on in there we just couldn't see. If you have any suggestions as to how to ease her pain, let me know!

jess

Fingers Crossed...

We put our house up for sale in Feb. but we haven't had a lot of bites. There is a woman who has come to look at it twice and has called numerous times with questions... so keep your fingers crossed that the woman will make an offer today! At this point, she could offer us just about anything and we would accept. I have tried to be very patient in this whole process, and I know that what is supposed to happen will happen on God's time! But patience has never been one of my strong suit.

Yesterday, I got online to look for rental properties and houses for sale in town to see what options we might have if the house sales. Can I just say how ridiculous it is that the market is so inflated? I mean, really, how can a house bought 10 yrs ago be worth double its asking price today? UGH! Our realtor seems to think there will be a correction in the market soon... so I really think we will just rent until that correction happens. I mean, we could qualify for one of those ridiculously priced homes... but then I would have to quit shopping! Hahahaha! Priorities... hahahaha!

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed...

Laundry...

I hate laundry. There I said it... doesn't change that I have like 10 loads to wash. Our washer died a few months ago, so I've been doing the laundrymat thing. We could've bought a washer, but I really, really, really wanted a front loading one, so I told hubs I would save money to buy what I wanted instead of buying something I didn't want. Yesterday, I reached my limit with the laundry mat (there are weird peps there and don't get me started on germs) and I decided I would just get the top loading washer and be done with it. I went to Lowe's and was about to write a check for a regular washer until the nice little salesman told me a secret... Did you know that Thursday is the day that Lowe's puts out the appliances that are clearanced because they are scratched or repaired? Anyway, he suggested I wait and although it was difficult I did. (Have I told you that I am one of those people who gets and idea and follows through immediately? Something about impulse control!) I went to Lowe's today and low and behold (where did that phrase come from?) there was a front loading washer that had been repaired... half price... still warrantied... YIPPEE! So... I'm sitting on my couch while my laundry washes in my own house! Never thought I'd get so excited over an appliance! Just in case you didn't know... a front loading washer save 68% in water and 67% in electricity compared to a toploading washer. The other benefit is that we can now build a shelf above the washer and dryer to fold laundry on... you know, since there is no laundry room in my house and Rt doesn't think the couch is an appropriate place for laundry! Do you think this counts as a mother's day present?

jess

Tears...

Obviously I am the only one who thinks my children are funny (last post)...

When I was at Target earlier today, I bought Megan a couple of training bras... you know, the ones that look like sports bras. When she got in the car after school I handed them to her and she burst into tears. She asked me why it didn't have cups... in my oh so sensitive voice... I explained to her that she isn't quite there yet... more tears... and I don't mean little tears, I mean big tears streaming down the face. Her next words were "I want to be older!! I don't want to be 9!" Again, in my most sensitive voice I explained how that was impossible and that she was 9 and she was going to be treated like a 9 yr old and I don't really care what other people with older kids let their children do. She obviously didn't appreciate my answer as there were more tears. Why is it again that God felt like I needed two GIRLS????

jess

Random Thoughts...

Overheard from the living room:

Megan: What do you do before you have a party in outer space?
Kali: What?
Megan: Planet...
Kali: That's not funny

Megan: Why does dora talk like that? (referring to a v-smile game in which dora speaks in sentences that are missing some words)
Kali: Cuz she has a speech delay like me...

House news: A woman came to look at our house and she really, really liked it! So here's hoping that she calls with an offer later today!

Question: Why do they put almonds in my trailmix? And what am I supposed to do with the almonds after I take them out?

Question 2: Why is it that students expect to still pass a class when they fail to give their speeches in a speech class?

Question 3: Why does Megan get soooo angry when Kali doesn't play the v-smile the way she says? I mean, it is Kali's v-smile... and it is rated for 3-6 yr olds. UGH!

Dance Lessons: Robert and I started jitterbug lessons last Monday. The lessons are 4 weeks long... but I think we might have issues since he is a foot taller than I am. Oh well, it is good exercise! Maybe I'll post a video or something when we finish our lessons!

jess

Seriously?????

Megs woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach bug... which is why I'm posting while the rest of you are in church! :) I hate that I am unable to deal with puke. I had to wake Robert up so he could do the cleaning... otherwise I was going to make a mess as well... any suggestions here?
Onto why I am really posting...
Last night Robert and I went to Matt and Amy's to eat dinner and play some cards. The weather was nice, so we let the kids go outside to play. A neighbor had set a bike ramp up, so the guys went outside to watch the kids try to kill themselves. Not to be left out... Amy and I went outside as well. There were some people siting in a driveway a couple of houses down... women that I knew from a previous church. Well, apparently they had a lot to say as Amy and I walked out of the house... which I didn't hear until we all came back inside and my husband filled me in. When I stepped out of Amy's garage one of the women asked the other why I was there because she thought we had gotten a divorce... and she said it loud enough for Robert to hear... and in a not very nice tone. Had I been the one to hear it I might've clawed her eyes out... oh, did I mention that this one particular female has never been someone I would call a friend and although I have never been rude to her I would definitely never have a conversation with her about anything of significance in my life? Anyway, here's my issue... the only people from that church who know anything are the few of you who read my blog and one of my bestest friends. I know the women who read my blog pretty well, and I know that they are not the gossiping type and since they are readers they know I'm not divorced. I have known my friend for 9 years and since she's knows every detail of my life, I know she wouldn't have told anyone we were divorced. So... now my wheels are turning... I have some theories... but Robert is insisting I leave it alone. So... just to be clear now... ROBERT AND I ARE NOT DIVORCED... WE SEPARATED TO WORK ON OUR MANY ISSUES AND ALTHOUGH OUR MARRIAGE IS NOT PERFECT THINGS ARE MUCH BETTER NOW! Pass that on please...

Ok... off to mow now... gotta work on my tan somehow...

jess

Edit: While mowing the yard I tried to chop off my leg. We have a riding lawnmower and I had it in the highest gear...hit a big rock and got popped off the seat. I had one leg on the mower and one on the ground... and of course this particular mower has had some southern ingenuity so that it has no safety stop! I managed to right myself and finish the job... but maybe I should just go back to the pus mower...

Sad News

We received a campus wide email today to let us know that one of our students had been arrested on campus... no name... no details. When I got home at 5, I turned on the news and got to see a pic of the student as well as hear his story. This student was pretty quiet, but well-behaved. He hung out with a group of kids that I watch and give advice to... and he was at the bowling night that my PR class put on Tuesday night. My friend had him in a class last semester and said she never had any difficulties. I guess this just goes to show you can never know what is going on inside someone... or what their past holds. Please keep this guy in your prayers... from the new report I'm pretty sure he has a long road ahead of him. Also, keep his friends in your prayers... had the police waited one more week no one on campus would have even known this was happening... it's going to be one rough week!

jess

A Question for You...

On one of the blogs I read, Iris had an ask me any question post, but then she got to ask us one back. So here's my question from her: Can you think of an event in your life that has completely shaped your life in a positive or negative way?
Oh were do I begin? I really could write a book. There have been so many events. I used to envy the people I met who had grown up in a loving home, whose lives seemed so normal. I wanted to claw the eyes out of the people who would say things like "all of these trials can be used as a witness later in your life." (I mean, seriously, how many examples does one person need?)
As I have aged (whatever, what that really means is in the last three months), I have come to realize that all of those 'events' (abuse, adoption, marriage, separation, children, etc.) really have made me into the person that I am... and I am pretty fond of that person. That person is loving, kind, transparent, and secure in the knowledge that although I have screwed up more times that I can count my God is a forgiving and loving God. It has taken me a long time to get there... but I do know that I am God's child and I can't wait to see what he has in store for me.

jess

Hope this answers your question well enough! :) It's hard to pick one specific event!

Did you know if your blog is black you shouldn't type your posts in black? Hmmm.... blonde moment!

Soap Operas

I swear I could write a book... and maybe I should. The last few weeks have brought nothing but drama in all aspects of my life.

At school, my two student workers who are best friends and roommates, and who graduate in less than a week have been on the outs. Let me tell you there is nothing worse than 22 yr old girl drama. They have managed to kiss and make up, but it was hard to sit and watch. The other issue at school is my boss (who is only my boss for about 2 more weeks) has procrastinated on his job and wants me to pick up the pieces... what that means is do his work... not like I don't have enough of my own work to get done!

At church, there has been all kinds of drama about people doing their jobs or not doing their jobs. It amazes me that churches are soooo unable to tell people that if they don't have time for their jobs then they should go find another! Our nursery has run amuck and no one seems in a hurry to correct the problem. It makes me sad, though, because I see people come and go because of the state of that side of the building. And let's not talk about the friends I have who just aren't coming so their kids don't get sick in the dirty nursery. Our pastor keeps saying "be patient," and really, in 3 months my youngest won't even be over there, but come on. Only in a church can you not really do your job and still have it. And don't even get me started on the secretary that is senile and still an employee.

Then there is home... After much begging we have put the girls in two rooms, but every night Kali ends up in Megan's room. Megan doesn't seem to mind. It's almost as if she just wanted to be able to say "my room," but can someone remind me why I had to rearrange an entire room for that? It really may have more to do with Megs inability to be mean to Kali. At bedtime every night Kali starts to cry and Megan gives in. I'm hoping this one will work itself out.

I guess that pretty much updates the soap opera areas... things are great otherwise. Robert and I are getting along pretty good, my semester is almost over, and the pool opens soon! What more could a girl want?

jess

PS. Did you know that if you moderate comments and don't fill it all out you don't realize you have messages until you decide to post! Sorry for those who think I was ignoring them!

Wedding Songs...

My cousin is getting married this summer and both of the girl's and I are in the wedding. Megan is a jr bridesmaid and Kali is the flower girl. I am to sing in the wedding. Misty emailed me and told me just to pick a song. So.... this is where all of you come in. The song has to be religious in nature (I assume that means it must mention God somewhere!) but that's the only requirement. Have any suggestions?????????

The Dentist...

So... I took the kids to the dentist today.... loads of fun, let me tell you! Kali got a clean bill of health. Megan has a cavity... ugh! Our dentist's name is Dr. Payne... what kind-of name is that for a dentist? Anyway, I asked her when we could expect braces for Megs and how much money I should plan for... apparently, my dear megs has more than one issue in her mouth... which means she has many, many years of braces ahead of her, starting at the end of this year... and it will cost us many thousands of dollars... ugh!

I called Rt when I left the dentist office and he reminded me that we truly are blessed... I mean, at least we know that we can come up with the money, all I have to do is teach an overload or three!

jess

I don't wanna grow up...

It's that time of year again... the time when we have to choose our insurance plans and other benefits. I HATE IT! I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm excited that I have health insurance for the first time since I got married, but I hate this process. We have FirstCare insurance... um, yeah, it blows in terms of prescriptions and mental health coverage... but is ok for everything else. Well, that would be all fine and good... except everyone in my family is in counseling and on one medication or another. UGH! Then there is the dental and vision coverage. The vision coverage is good... but the dental is way expensive when you add it all up. I'm not trying to sound all whiny, I know that there are many people without insurance (I was one of them for 12 yrs), but why does it have to be so blasted expensive and cover so little. I hate paying for something I might need. UGH! I wanna be a kid again!
jessica
P.S. Does anyone know how much it costs to put braces on a kid? This might be the determining factor in whether I keep the dental or not!

Out of the mouth of babes....

In the car on the way home this evening after listening to my 9 and 6 yr old daughters discuss the boys at school:

Me: Girl's you do realize that it doesn't matter if you don't have boyfriends. There are most def more impt things in life than boys.
Girls: yes mom
Me: Besides, you know you cannot get married until after college anyway (at least not if you want to go for free at the school mommy works for)
Girls: we know
Me: I just want ya'll to enjoy your college experience... not rush into marriage and start making babies...
Megan: R U crazy mom? I am nooootttt having children.
Me: Y not?
Megan: Do you see how we act? I don't want any of those!

Ok... on to bigger problems...

I am seriously struggling with where my children should go to school next year. AISD vs. CLYDE. I have made pro con lists etc. and I have not exactly come to a conclusion. The people in Clyde think I'm crazy for wanting my kids to go to AISD... I mean, they might be exposed to drugs, crime, and God only knows what else. Well, after our experience with Kali learning about sex... not buying that.

Here's a brief list of reasons why I have issue with Clyde:
1. School is too far from Abilene to go eat lunch with my children
2. Kids have to get on bus at 7am so bedtime is ridiculously early
3. There is virtually no diversity in Clyde
4. The city seems to think that saying "I do" should come shortly after high school graduation
5. Most of the illegal things I did in high school happened in Clyde

When I talk to people in Clyde they act like I'm a crack head for wanting my kids to go back to a larger school district. They don't seem so aware of the fact that being culturally aware is good; or that waiting until after college to get married is the trend right now; or that kids are just as likely to smoke pot or have sex in Clyde as they are in Abilene.

Well, after typing all of this out I realize that my kids are soooo going back to AISD. That is unless some of you can convince me otherwise. haha!

jess

Parenting

The best part of being an instructor is the fun assignments. Fun for me... I should say... not so much my students. This week in Family Communication we are covering family change and stress, and research shows that of all the changes that happen in a marriage system... children are the most stressful. So... I gave my students children today. They will have their precious children for a week and can choose whatever family system they would like: single mom, divorced parents, separated parents, etc. Several have choosen to take the egg and just use their current partners... it will be interesting to see how the assignment differs for those people. Anyway, I'll let you know how many catastrophes we have.

jessica

This class is T TH... but I have many of the same students MWF morning. This morning, one of the students came to class without her egg. I asked where the kids was... she said still asleep... I told her that I wanted her to be serious about this assignment. I left school to go to the dentist (YUCK!) and when I came back there was a note on my office door "I took my child to preschool this morning. He was soooo happy that I care about his education, unlike some parents!" Huh? To me that reads, the egg is in the fridge, I hate this assignment... whatcha think?

Easter Pics

Look at my adorable children! Megan informed me that they might be getting a little old for the whole dressing the same... but as long as I can get them to do it... I will. I love how they are all hugging in this picture... the next scene would've had them slugging it out!

Just another pic... turn your computers sideways for a correct look... I couldn't figure out how to rotate it once I downloaded it! Sorry! I love that the cat just had to rub on their legs. Look closely at their bows... London Bridge of all places had the perfect bows... but apparently they are toooo old for bows and have informed it this will be the last one ever...

Oh, and look at the happy family. I am one of those moms... you know, the ones who dress their family in matching clothes... well, not exactly matching clothes, but I usually pic a color and we all have that color in our outfit. Last year it was teal... pink the year before... brown this year. I think we look adorable!

Seriously?

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that Gina was voted off of American Idol tonight???? Why couldn't Haley, Chris, or Phil get voted off? Or better yet, what about Sanjaya? I mean, come one. At this rate, this will be the last year I watch this show... I can't handle it.

And here is my other question... how in the world is Sanjaya still on? Who is it exactly who is voting for him? I don't buy the theory that it is a bunch of teenage girls... I mean, he's not all that cute. I read an article online that said it is because of Indian call centers... not sure I buy that theory... but you can't tell me that there are thousands of people who are tone deaf and voting. Even Megs realizes the boy cannot sing. If he wins they will definitely have to do some changes to the system or they will lose their audience.

Any thoughts?
jess

What do I put in the eggs?

Can I just say how much this healthy eating stuff from the school district is driving me crazy? Kali brought home a note that the Clyde kindergarteners were going to hunt eggs on Thursday... and that we needed to send 2 dozen eggs to school... here's the kicker... the eggs could not have any food that didn't meet the dietary guidelines of the school. So... their suggestions were stickers, crackers, etc. Huh? went to Wal-Mart last night on the hunt for small packages of something healthy to put in her eggs... no success... so, now I'm the bad mom who sent candy in the eggs. I'm hoping no one checks... or they just dump the eggs in a bucket and no one knows they were Kali's. With my luck she won't get to hunt eggs or something... or she'll just come home with her own eggs full of sixlets. Uh oh... just had a thought... won't the chocolate melt? Hmmm... ok, so it was 10pm and I was tired... I really am going to get the bad mom award!

Disappearing Act...

I haven't really disappeared... we have just been crazy busy! The closer it gets to the end of the year, the more I realize how there are not enough hours in the day! UGH!

I have posted quite a few times about my darling Kali... and her great ability to hear things that no 6 yr old should hear... oh, and her love of repeating them. Well, this weekend really just takes the cake. On Saturday, Megs tells me that Kali learned about sex at school... HUH??? So, then I ask Kali what Megs meant. Kali then tells me that two girls from her class told her that sex is... if you are easily offended skip down please... when you are naked and you kiss each other's privates, as she points to her girly parts. WHAT?!!!

What 6 yr old should have that knowledge???? My first thought was that the kid must be experiencing some molestation or something. When I got to school this morning, I emailed Kali's teacher and told her what was going on. She immediately took care of it... meaning she took the girl in the hall, found out what she had said, made the girl call her mother, and spoke with the mother herself. Now... here is the most disgusting part of it all... the girl is not being molested... she went to her MiMi's house and MiMi let her watch a movie that you and I would probably never even consider watching... XXX ring a bell? OHG! That is sooooo not ok!!!!!

The situation within the classroom has been taken care of... but what do I do about my 6 yr old who's mind has been corrupted? She's been hard enough to raise as it is... I mean, I never had to tell Megs that it wasn't ok to dance naked on the coffee table.. Kali on the other hand has had that lecture more than once. After the discussion with Kali, I told her that God made sex for men and women who are married and that when she is older we will discuss it more... but if she had anything to say about it she needed to talk to her father or I... not any other kids! AUGH!

Any other ideas here?

jess

Shopping...

Last week, when I went to Ft. Worth with my friends, I bought a navy polka-dotted dress. I searched all week for shoes here in the great town of Abilene... found nothing! I knew that when we went to Ft. Worth again this weekend that I would find something. Wrong again. So... if anyone knows where I can find some great navy shoes to go with my dress... let me know! Oh... and I tried these shoes on last night at Target... a random woman walking down the isle told me "they have the less hoochie version of those at Kohl's." Go take a look... are they hoochie shoes?

jess

Spring Break

We have had a pretty interesting spring break... but I'm hoping it is over soon! I love my kiddos... and we have gone to the movies, bowling, the zoo, Sonic, etc. etc. I have run out of ideas... and the girls are at each other's throats constantly. Can someone tell me who exactly spring break is for? I mean, I can't think that the disruption of a child's routine is healthy for them... just look at my kids! But then again... being a teacher... I could use the break! HAHA! Wish there was some way to take a teacher break without taking a kids break! Guess that is asking too much! :)

Hope everyone is having a blast... with much less conflict... hahahahaha

jess

Can I Move?

This weekend I headed to Dallas for a bit of R & R... which really means a bit of shopping and more shopping and fun places to eat! We even went to a comedy club! Fun stuff!

We got to eat at P.F. Chang's Saturday night... can I just say that the place is one of my favorites. If you are ever anywhere that has one you should check it out.... yum, yum! The food was awesome... but so was the service. After our server brought us our drinks and straws.. he came back and took the straw trash... now how many times have you had a server do that? I know, we a bunch of nerds, but it was nice to be served by a guy who actually acted like he wanted to be there!

I always enjoy myself when I go to the metroplex, and it is really difficult to make the drive home. I could soooo be a city girl... I mean, all the shopping and entertainment... all the people... even the traffic is fun to me. I wish that Abilene had more entertaining things to do. I mean, even though we have things like Macy's, Mervin's, Super Target, Kohl's, On The Border, and something else I can't remember headed our way... there doesn't seem to be any entertainment venues. I mean, not that shopping isn't great fun... but, if you want to go out on a Friday night your choices are limited to bars, movies, putt putt, bowling, skating, and occasionally a play or two... wish there was some way to make the powers that be understand that we need some fun stuff to do. Hmmm... wonder who you call for that...

Anywho.. it is spring break this week... let's hope I can come up with fun stuff to keep the kiddos occupied so they don't spend a week trying to kill each other. Any ideas?

jess

Out of Gas...

Watch me tie my title into this post in two ways... ok I'm a nerd...

Yesterday, I was sitting in my office and my cell phone rang. It was one of my favorite students of all time... Darshunda... or better known as Baby D. Let me tell you a little about her before I go on... She is a 6'4" black girl who is loud and outspoken and who will go to the mat for anyone she calls a friend. She comes from a family where there are no men... and where she is today is because the girl has some backbone. I have had the opportunity, over the last 2 semesters, to have long discussions with her about the company you keep and how they can affect your future... as well as to encourage her to follow her dreams. I absolutely love the girl... and she comes to me now whenever she needs advice or help or she just wants to chat. Ok... back to the story... Baby D was in the middle of I-30 in Ft. Worth and her car had died. Another tangent here... when she decided she wanted a car this semester I took her car shopping and helped her find this car from a guy Rt works with... so I feel slightly responsible if something happens to her in it. So... the car has died and she doesn't know what to do. I tell her to stay in the car and wait because I'm sure the cops will show and help her get to the side of the road. They did and then the police officer took her to a waffle house and dropped her off, because he didn't want to leave her on the side of the interstate. Problem: her family is in Dallas and she has no one to come get her. I start calling around trying to find someone to help her... finally found a friend... then the friend's car broke down. Finally, 3 hrs later her uncle picks her up (the only man she's related to... but one that doesn't see them ever). They go back to the car and we are trying to diagnose the problem... me on the phone and compt... her uncle in the car. Now, never once did I think, oh she ran out of gas. I was imagining disaster and it was stressing me out. But the more he messed with it, it dawned on me that was the problem... you know, seeing as how I've run out of gas more than a time or two. They go get a gas can... yep that was the problem. Praise God... but girl, you gotta read the gauge! :) I was exhausted by the time all of that was done! I don't think I have ever been sooo worried about someone.. .I just wanted to hop in my car and drive to Ft. Worth... which I probably would've beat the uncle thank you very much.

We have a friend who had a miscarriage about 8 mths ago... her due date was this weekend... so there are 4 of us taking her away for a shopping trip to Ft. Worth. While I know this trip will be good for her... I also know that I am sooo out of steam (gas... whatever, told you I'd tie it in) that I am hoping this trip will renew me in some way... guess we will see... see ya Sunday!

Jess

Forgiveness...

I had a very interesting conversation today about forgiveness... mainly because I'm having some issues with forgiving some people in my life. Here's the theory: We in America have a very distorted idea of forgiveness.

If someone steps on your foot and they say 'I'm sorry' what do you say? Most of us say 'oh, that's ok'.... well, really? was it ok that they stepped on my foot? Heck, no... and what I really mean is 'your forgiven and I won't hold it against you.' Now if you keep stepping on my foot, I will probably still forgive, but I will choose not to be close to you... and that's ok...

Now, this story was told to me as a means to help me understand why I am feeling so bitter towards a particular person... why I am having difficulty forgiving. It's because I don't want to say 'what you did to me was ok' and to a certain extent by saying 'I forgive you' I feel like that is the message I am sending. So... rather than send that message... it's easier to stay emotionally detached... easier to not forgive.

So... I guess what I need to say to a couple of people is: I forgive you... but the way that you treated me was not ok... and although I can forgive you I will not be treated this way. Perhaps we all could learn a lesson from this...

jessica

Seriously now...

Megs principal called today after school to tell me that she and 3 other children had been sent to her office.... why? you might ask. Megs took her earrings off at gym, because they were hurting her ears... Isaac grabbed her earring, handed it to Coby and then took Becca's earring... at which point both boys decided to pierce their ears. Huh? So the 4 children got sent to the Principal's office. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that if some stupid little boy grabbed Megs earring... and she didn't hand it to him... and she was asking for it back... that she shouldn't have been in trouble... but I guess that's just me. The principal did tell me that Megs was very upset and that she understood Megs didn't give the boy the earring... so, um, why didn't she tell Megs she wasn't in trouble? Why did she yell at her like she did the other three? Cuz let me tell you how upset Megs was by the time she got home to me... oh my, you would've thought she had been suspended or something... and she's even saying she is never going to wear earrings again... now come on! Any thoughts here?

jessica

Flaky Moments

I'm not sure what my problem is, but I cannot seem to focus or remember anything... here are a few of the stupid things I have done lately...

This morning I took my class to a Professional Development seminar that isn't until the 20th of March. You might ask how I could mess that up... well, I had to RSVP by the 5th... and if I had read the paper better I would've realized it! UGH!

Yesterday I went to tan at a place I don't normally go... on a bed that I assumed was not as powerful as the high speed beds... and guess what? I burned my entire body... even my bottom... so I now look like a great big lobster.

The other sad part is that I keep using the wrong words and saying the wrong things etc... what is wrong with me?

Any ideas?

jess

Cell Phones and Other Drama...

After the sitting on the railroad tracks experience with the bus, Megs got a cell phone. I know, I know, she's only 9... she's way too young to have one... and if we lived in town it wouldn't have happened... but she has to ride the bus... and the cell phone was the best idea. (Besides, my cell phone was not cutting it anymore and by adding another phone I got the pretty pink razor and she got the old one until we can upgrade Rts phone in August.) Anywho... on the bus today her cell phone was stolen. (Insert dramatic music here.) When she told me, I got online to see what numbers the thief had dialed... and called them all myself. I narrowed it down to two options... Tara and Roger. I called Tara's foster parents at 7:30 to check things out, and Tara was already asleep and they weren't overly concerned about it. No big deal. I called Roger's parents and Roger did indeed have the phone... he says he found it on the bus floor... but he is grounded for life and will be bringing the phone to Megs in the morning. Being the responsible person I am, and not wanting Tara to get beat, I called her house again at 9:24 pm to tell them the phone had been found. The foster mother answered the phone with a 'hello we are trying to go to sleep' ... and hung up. Now, when I heard the hello I simply said "This is Jessica Wheeler again and I just wanted to let you know that we have found the phone"... I'm not sure if she heard any of it since she was soooo busy yelling at me and hanging up the phone. Jerk! Here's my question, though, was I wrong for calling at 9:24? Should I have just left the parents thinking the girl had the phone? Hmmm...

On another note, it is once again Dittos for Kiddos time. My friends and I got to the sale at 4:15 so we could be some of the first into the building. While we were spending our 45 min in line, we realized that some nerd had parked behind my friend's van, blocking her in. I guess the woman didn't realize that my friend was the second row... thereby sandwiching her in. Amy is not shy... so she went down the line a bit and just made an announcement that the maroon van needed to move... it moved. Well, when we came out of the sale, there was an entire third row of vehicles down much of that aisle... blocking not only Amy in, but about 6 other people. Now, I am a woman driver... and I know my husband would swear that men would never do that... but, come on, how can you pull into a parking place and not realize that there are two other vehicles in front of you?

jessica