Way too much to do...

Is it possible to have too much to do before going on vacation??? We leave in less than 48 hrs and I have sooo much to get done! I probably won't have time to post again before we leave, but please keep my family in your prayers for the next week. We leave Wednesday night and fly out Thursday morning... we get back Monday night... that's a long time for my kiddos to be without their parents! BUT... I know they will be in good hands and Rt and I NEED this trip. We got married sooo young and had no honeymoon... we have been married 12 yrs and this will be the first 'kidless' trip to anywhere besides Ft. Worth! I'll post pics when we get back. Blessings to all...

Jess

Graduation

I just completed my final task of the 07-08 school year... I sat through two graduation ceremonies all decked out in my gown on a stage that was hotter than blazes! Our students really should realize that the faculty are way miserable up there sitting in the lights with no air flow... it's kind of like payback for their final exams if you ask me!

This semester one of my favorite students graduated to the surprise of many of my faculty friends! This student is big, loud, opinionated, black, and 6' 2" tall. Most of the faculty members are scared to death of her, but she is one of my favorite people. She will tell you what she thinks, but if you take the time to talk to her she will also listen to what you have to say and really consider it. During the first semester that she was my student, she got into a fight and ended up getting stabbed... I was the only person from campus to call and ask if she was OK or if she needed anything. From that point on, I became some who she could depend on. She is from Oak Cliff... she comes from a family that has no male members (because they all leave)... her mother is an alcoholic and halfway through the student's jr semester the student had to bring her little bro and sis to raise... she was raised in chaos and chose to live with chaos around her for quite a while by choosing certain friends... But... despite what the girl had stacked against her... she graduated!

Oh, and lest you think she's still a hoodlum, after the stabbing I sat her down and we had a very long chat about the type of people we keep around us and how they influence our lives. She didn't want to hear it, but in the end those words helped her understand how the choices she was making now were going to affect her later on! Anyway, I'm quite proud of the girl! Just goes to show how a little extra time and attention can help a student go a long way!

I hate ITUNES!

Or maybe it is that I hate all things computer when they don't work the way I want them to. I want to be able to put my CD's on the compter quickly and them be organized... instead I look at the screen and it is a mess! Not to mention that my CD ripper from school is slower than molasses! UGH! What happened to the old days... we just carried our cassettes around with us, it was great, no scratches, no breakage... man, I miss the old days! hahahah!

Hope everyone is doing well... 8 days till MEXICO!

9 Days

9 days away... we are 9 days from leaving this town of our for the beaches of Mexico! YIPPEE! And to make matters better, I just called my family dr to tell him that I wasn't sure I could get my husband on the airplane and he called me in a prescription of Zanax! Now... how do I get him to take it! ha! Now for those of you thinking bad thoughts about a woman who would drug her husband, just know that I'm doing it out of love! He has severe anxiety and in most cases, beyond being a jerk, he can cope with changes. BUT... he has never flown and has no real desire to leave the great USA... so... in order to get him through the air port check points, I am afraid I will need the help of drugs to calm him down! Those of you who know him will completely understand! :)

The house selling/buying thing is moving along... so far! Fingers crossed and prayers lifted up that all goes smoothly til we move! ha! The stress of the 'what if's' is going to kill me... maybe I'll take RTs Zanax! ha!

The kids were out of school today, so I took them to see Nim's Island! Let me just it was great! There was, of course, some bad acting, but overall the movie was great for the kids! I recommend it for one and all! Oh, but Kali wants you to know it is a tad suspenseful! :)

Prayers Please

Edit: The doctor came in and she really thinks that was Kenzie has is a head cold. Yes, there was fluid around her heart and lungs, but she wouldn't call it enough to be failure. They put her on Lasix to flush out the fluid and have Ashley scheduled for an appt on the 22nd with a dr who comes to Abilene to make some decisions. Kenzie has two holes in her heart and a valve that is jacked up, but again, the dr doesn't think that surgery is necessary right this second! So... as soon as Kenzie shows us she can eat every 3 hours we get to go home! Keep them in your prayers... we have a long road ahead of us medically with both her and her big sister Alyssa!


I am sitting at Cook's Children's Hospital in Ft. Worth right now with my little brother, his girlfriend and their almost four month old daughter Mackenzie who is in heart failure. We have known since she was born that there was an issue with her heart, but the dr's have been waiting until she gets older to do something about it. We are currently waiting for the heart dr to come in... and I'll post again when she does... but please start praying... here's what we need...

1. Pray for Kenzie... she's got a long road ahead of her! She was born with a chromosomal issue that we aren't really sure of in terms of long-term expectations (same issue her big sister Alyssa has) and the fluid surrounding her heart and in her lungs is only part of the issue.

2. Pray for Matt and Ashley. They have two children together, both special needs, and then they each have a child from a previously relationship. They have a lot of baggage and I got to listen to them bicker and fight for 2 hrs in the ER last night over everything from Ashley's mom to Matt's refusal to disclose how much money he has in the bank. I left the hospital last night thinking, how in the world are these two going to get married and make it work.

3. Pray for me. I got about 5 hrs sleep last night and my patience level with my rude little brother has about come to an end. He's just quite rude to Ashley and I am annoyed by it. Also, I forgot to refill the Prozac before I left town... so exhaustion and lack of Prozac are probably a bad combination... which will result in me saying what I think instead of what I should say!

Anyway, I'll post again when I have an idea of what's going to happen next!

We just sold our house...

We just sold our house... we just sold our house! Yippee! It's all I can do to keep from running up and down the halls singing this! The guy just called me back and they want our house. We will get the papers drawn up and be out June 1st! With gas at $3.49 a gallon, this couldn't have happened at a better time... not to mention we will be moving after our vacation and before summer classes start! YIPPEEEEEE!

Anyone wanna help us pack???
JW

Update...

I have got to start posting more than once a week... haha! School will be out soon and I'll be back to posting normally!

Yogi seems to be doing fine, for anyone concerned. He has some pretty nasty bruising, but he managed to work out of his wrap... silly dog! I'm to the point that if he lives, he lives... I cannot spend money I do not have on an animal! I HATE GAS PRICES! Funny how gas prices seem to be crunching every one's budget and yet the government can't seem to do anything about it... what's that about?

We leave for Mexico in exactly 18 days! I can't wait! It is a little overwhelming to find people to watch the kids, the dogs, pack for all four of us etc, etc. But I know it will be well worth it! This will be the first trip Robert and I have ever gone on that wasn't to Ft. Worth. And the first one that was more than 2 nights! Yippee!!!!

Ok... have to grade the 60 papers staring at me...

Yogi

Friday night my sweet little Yogi caused lots of drama in our house. He came in from his nightly potty break and he could barely move. He had a wound on his side so Robert and I were convinced that one of our neighbors shot him. Robert and I spent all evening arguing over whether or not I should call the vet. If anyone knows my husband, then you know what he was saying... "we are NOT spending money on a dog..." "you are not calling the vet" etc. etc. After much crying on my part, I told him we would see what happened through the night and I would take Yogi to the Vet in the morning... but I would not pay for surgery! (In my head thinking I'm paying for surgery!) I took Yogi to the Vet Saturday and the vet was convinced that he had been shot... so I left him there to be x-rayed (let's not talk about how much a dog x-ray is). The x-ray showed that Yogi had not been shot... instead he had been chomped on by something much larger than he is! He has broken ribs and must be wrapped for the next 2-4 weeks.

This pic is in the car after the appt... look at my poor baby! :) He is on pain pills and antibiotics and he just lays around and looks all sad at me. Last night he layed on my chest like the kids did when they were infants. As I type all of this I can hear my husband laughing out loud because I am sooooo not a dog person. Yogi is the first dog I have actually liked in the probably 10 that we have had since moving to the country. If you had asked me last year if I would be willing to carry a dog outside for him to potty, I would have laughed at you... and now... I pick him up and carry him outside so that he can potty... I put his food on a plate and carry it over to him... etc. etc. Anyway... I will say that after all of this, Yogi better get better and be the perfect pet... hahahah!

Shelly

Do you like my new look??? My friend Shelley did it for me... she is amazing!!!! THANKS SHELLEY! If you want her to create a new look for you, click on the hyperlink above!

My life is still crazy, so I don't have time to post. I woke up at 7:10 this morning and have to leave my house by 7:30. NO FUN! Good thing I have a hair appt in 20 min... otherwise I would look like this all day! hahahaha!

Long time between posts...

I'm not sure I have gone so long between posts in quite a while... but our life is CRAZY! I'll try to touch the highlights of the week.
M--I teach a night class at CJC.
T--SOFTBALL
W--church
T--SOFTBALL
F--SOFTBALL
S--SOFTBALL
S--church

Are you seeing the pattern??? Our life revolves around church and softball right now. I enjoy the games and I know it is good for the kids, but we didn't get home a single night before 9pm... and then all I have the energy to do is crawl into bed. Dr. Reinmund should have warned me that the recovery from the big 'H' was going to take the entire 6 wks, if not more. I'm exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow!

I do have a funny/scary story from the other night. I went to United at about 10:45 Friday night and this toothless, black woman came to my window and asked for a ride home. I, of course, said yes, but I called my husband 'just in case' something happened. Well, this little woman tells me how God is going to bless me and was a sweet as can be. She originally told me she lived in ACU apartments and to drive down 10th. Well, we pass ACU apartments and she says that the house she needs to go to isnt ACU, but she tells people that so they wont be scared... huh??? Then she has me turn onto Carver street. Well, for those who don't know Abilene, Carver street is not a street I want to be on during any part of the day... it's not a safe neighborhood with the sun out, much less at 11pm at night. I called Rt and told him what street I was turning onto, then she told me to keep going down the road... we get to the end of the street and there are these two men in hoodies standing on the corner that she told me to stop at in front of a house that is all boarded up. So I stop a little ways back and unlock the doors to let her open hers, and then quickly lock them again. Before she got out of my car she asked if I had cash to spare, which I didn't because I don't carry cash, and then she mentioned debit or credit... like I was going to hand that over... I played dumb with that one too! Anyway, I spoke to one of my friends the next day and she told me the woman was harmless, but I can't help but be a little freaked out. Surely those men weren't planning to rob me.... surely she is a good person and had no intentions of hurting me... but when you put it all together it is a little freaky.... maybe I just watch too much CSI. Anyway, I'm alive, but a little freaked out. I called the police station just to let them know what had happened as I was concerned that she was setting me up for something icky on that dark road with the two men in hoodies and the lady at the police station told me "no good deed goes unpunished" and it makes me very sad to say that I won't be picking up anymore little old women who complain of gout anymore!

Edit: I just told my mom the story and got in more trouble than I think I have ever been in! Apparently this is a scam that has been going on and I am sooo in trouble! Thank God my angels were working overtime! :)

Oh... the memories...

Ok... how many of you can guess who this group of men are???? They, of course, were what made me drool with silly girlishness during my freshman year of high school... New Kids on the Block! Did you hear that they are reuniting and releasing a new album??? Am I the only one excited??? HAHA! I know I'm not, as there is a group of ladies I work with who are just as excited as I am! I think I might even break out the poster that I have hidden in the shed, just so my kids can understand!

Answers...

You know, I have found in life that sometimes the answers you need come along when you least expect them! For the past 2 yrs I have had extremely icky periods (sorry guys, this is going to be a girly post); I have also had some serious mood swings and behavior that I couldn't really explain. When I discussed it with my dr's they put me on anti-depressants and birth control... but that's about all the satisfaction I ever got! When I went for my 4 wk checkup today, my dr asked if I had "heard the pathology" before I left the hospital. Um, no I hadn't... in fact, it hadn't really dawned on me there would be pathology. Apparently, the people who get paid to look around at chopped up organs found an estrogen sensitive endometrial polyp and hyperplasia... not sure what that all means... but basically, I was on the road to endometrial cancer! This friendly little polyp was the cause of the nasty periods and because it was estrogen sensitive it was also the cause of my migraines during my period and even some of my mood issues. Had I not had the recurrent dysplasia, though, we might not have figured any of this out until I did indeed have cancer... so in a sense it is quite the blessing that the dysplasia returned! Amazing how God works sometimes... huh?

As for the rest of my crazy life... I decided at about 4am that I would not go on our church ladies retreat this weekend, nor am I going to go on our family ladies retreat next weekend. We simply have too much on our plates and I cannot handle it! It is better to stay home and be sane, than to go and try to relax and come back to complete chaos!

Catch up...

Sorry it's been so long since I posted... I haven't had a lot of positive things to say, so I've been trying to keep those to myself. I went back to work last week... 2 weeks post-hysterectomy... WHAT WAS I THINKING??? I was exhausted everyday by 3, but unfortunately did not get home a single evening before 9pm!

You might be asking what was keeping me out till 9pm every night... SOFTBALL!!! I'm not sure whose great idea softball was (oh wait, it was mine), but I am not so certain I still want to follow through with it. We have practice or a game 4 nights this week! If I only had one child playing it would probably not be so overwhelming... but I signed them both up! Kali LOVES it, but her games are often at 8pm at night... I don't know about you, but I do not know many 7 yr olds that need to be out that late at night. Kali turns into a devil possessed child if she doesn't get sleep, so I'm not sure how this is going to work! Megs likes softball, but doesn't want to admit it (cuz then mommy would be right) and she has some laziness issues to work through... like you have to bend at the waist and move in order to catch the ball... but she seems to be doing better. I know the season is only about 8 weeks, so I'm hoping we live through it!

On a positive note... I discovered yesterday that we only have 4 more mondays to the college semester! YEAH!!!!!!!!!! That means for 4 more weeks I will have to get out of bed early... then I get to sleep late! YEAH!!!!

On an even more positive note, we are in the process of booking a trip to Mexico... Robert and I and another couple are leaving on May 15th and coming back May 19th! YIPPEEE!!!! I'm quite excited about it since we have NEVER really gone anywhere for more than a weekend and I have never left the country! It will be nice to be pampered and to get away!

On a sad note, my grandma is in the hospital and it looks like she will be having open heart surgery soon. Her valve is doing something weird and needs to be replaced. She is remaining rather positive, but I hate that my mom is going to have to stop her life again in order to take care of grandma.... keep them in your prayers please!

Happy Easter!

Here's our family pic for today. The church wall isn't so great a backdrop... but this was taken in a hurry while we were trying to get to lunch! You know, the 'I forgot to take it and now we have to eat lunch and might get dirty' picture!

We ate Buffet City for lunch... Here's my fortune:

You shouldn't overspend at the moment, frugality

is important.

Um, if I didn't know better, I would say my husband picked that one out special! He wants to tape it to my phone or something so I see it every time I pick it up!

Gotta love it!

My kiddos crack me up sometimes... this morning in the car Kali told me that her back must be broken because it hurts and I need to take her to the dr. Then she told me that her butt knuckle hurts too! What's a butt knuckle???? I was on the phone with Rt when she said it and I was afraid he was going to drop the phone he was laughing so hard! Maybe I'll make him take her to the dr and tell the dr her butt knuckle hurts!

Last night at pokeno, three of the 9 people that I was there with told us that they were planning some type of plastic surgery in the next few months (2 boob jobs, one tummy tuck). One of the girls mentioned that she was using this particular plastic surgeon 'because she has financing'! So... what's your opinion on this??? What would you have said??? I'll tell you my reaction later, but I am quite curious how each of you would respond!

Spring Break...

Well, spring break has officially started... yippee! There is nothing fun about having two children home while you recover from a hysterectomy. My house looks like a bomb blew up, and no one but me seems to care! I have spent more time out of the house (which I'm sure is against the drs orders) just because I can't stand to look at my house anymore! And... to make matters worse, the kids are sooo sick of me asking them to do stuff just because I can't... in fact, I had to refrain myself when Megan told me she was tired of doing my job... um, hello, I'm pretty sure 10 yrs old is old enough to do your own laundry or not have any clean clothes! Ugh... only 5 more weeks of this!

Does anyone have any spring break plans I can be jealous of??? I mean, we are stuck in the house... what about you???

Stopped up...

Seriously tired of this not functioning system of mine... I have taken more medication and eaten some pretty weird things in effort to clean things out... I mean I'm going on 6 days with little to no action! TMI, I know, but I'm pretty miserable! Any remedies for my dilemma???

I'm doing good about sitting around, however, I'm not quite certain I can handle 6 weeks of it! I think it would be easier if I had an external incision that hurt to remind me that I'm crippled! Oh well... my friends are doing a pretty awesome job of making sure I don't do anything I'm not supposed to be!

Spring break is next week... if you have nothing better to do, come sit on the couch with me and hang out!

Too much...

I had to go teach my CJC class tonight because they have the next two weeks off... and I can definitely tell that it was entirely too much on my poor body. I am exhausted! All I did was get dressed, hitch a ride to CJC, and sit there for 2 hrs listening to speeches, but apparently sitting is not something that comes easy after the big H. I guess I have learned my lesson and will spend the next few days sitting on my behind on the couch... or my friends couch since my hubs won't let me stay home by myself due to his distrust of my ability to not do chores!

The girls start softball practice tomorrow... they both seem excited about it... which is a change over a few weeks ago! I'm hoping the experience is good... meaning that hopefully they have some skills and it isn't just miserable for them! I would hate for them to be the only kids who can't hit the ball or something awful like that!

Ok... I'm having a hard time time or making sense... I guess the pain pill is working... nite nite!

Home...

Home less than 24 hrs and I'm bored (written in a whiney voice)! My children are wrestling in the floor, my husband is trying to explain why I can't have a bag of peanut butter m & m's (because WM doesn't sell them), and Paige is on trading spaces with some goofy ex-couple who are decorating each other's bedrooms! (Weird!) Did you know there is NOTHING on TV on Sunday morning? I really wanted to go to church, but my hubs didn't think that would be ok! Whatever... what does he know??? I did make him call one of my friends to tell her I was fine so that she wouldn't be all stressed out wondering why he wasn't there! Oh well, give me some suggestions of things to do while sitting on the couch... oh and I've been told I cannot pick anything up over 5 pounds...

I'm home...

Surgery went fine... got home about 4pm today... a little sore and a lot tired. Not supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds for at least 4 weeks... hmmm... wonder how that is going to work??? Thanks for the prayers...

Prayers... Prayers... Prayers...

I went for my follow-up visit with the dr regarding my biopsy... and I will be having a hysterectomy on Friday at noon! It would have been nice to have some more notice, but if I don't do it Friday I will have to wait until June due to my own scheduling conflicts! So... keep me in your prayers about lunch time on Friday. I will stay the night in the hospital and apparently I won't be able to vacuum for like 6 weeks, but other than that I should be as good as new (well, good as new with some missing body parts) by the time spring break is over!

What in the World??!!!!???

This is in my kitchen floor... Don't they just make you want to pick 'em up and love on 'em?

Because this is in my front yard...

Can someone tell me how it was 80 degrees last week and now it is snowing????

Happy BD Honey!

Robert's BD is tomorrow (Sunday)! 31 yrs old! When we met he was 17... wow, that was a long time ago! Anyway, I would post some long sappy post about my love for him, but he wouldn't read it and my brain is fried from helping him write a 7pg outline for his speech class... but Happy BD HOney!

Oh, and if you skipped over the I need advice about Kali part in the post below... please give me some! My dad suggested I let her tour the jail...

Leap year!

Because my birthday only come every 4 years, this is my shameless post to get birthday wishes! I have over 100 readers a week (probably the same people over and over again), and I expect everyone of you to tell me HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Ok... I'm JUST KIDDING! But I am a big fan of birthdays!

Several issues for advice now:

Kali is apparently a klepto and lacks little impulse control! (Some of you are probably thinking duh, about the impulse control!) Anyway, this week she told the teacher that this pink bracelet was hers... the teacher sent it home in a back w/a note and I was supposed to tell the teacher if it was Kalis... Kali threw the note away and hid the bracelet in her backpack... big sis told on her... we wrote a note to the teacher that had to be signed and brought back... Kali didn't bring the note back, but said her teacher just didn't give it to her... I walked her in to school today and found the note in Kali's locker... the teacher had never seen it. Also in the locker was a jacket that Kali had worn home a while ago that she said a friend had let her borrow that apparently came from the lost and found... I guess lost and found to her means she found it! Anyway, on top of all of this, on Wednesday night, she peeled the paint off of the church wall while she was sitting in time out. I didn't even notice it and the music minister called me to rat her out! Robert thinks she should paint the church wall again... and she had to spend the afternoon yesterday picking up dog poop... but I'm not exactly sure what punishment would be best for all of this. She has really been struggling in school and I'm beginning to think that the testing in a few weeks is going to show ADD, which might take care of some of this, but AuGGGGHHH!!!

Oh, and I weighed in yesterday... I've lost 17.6 pounds! I'm quite proud, but I'm guessing my 3 days of bd celebration might cut into next weeks weight loss!

Oh... and if you are a man you should stop reading now... I need some serious prayers lifted... I went for my pap last week and the results came back as mild dysplasia... I went for a biopsy yesterday and the cells were in the exact same place that I had difficulties with when I was 18. It took many, many procedures and tons of money to take care of this last time... not to mention the pain... just pray that all of this will be manageable and that I won't stress myself out thinking about it! Besides worrying about the chance that the tests could come back cancerous or something, it puts me in a 'I'm a sorry person' kind-of mood. For anyone who knows anything about me, you know that I was quite the wild child as a teen and waiting until marriage wasn't exactly on my list of priorities. One of the consequences of those days was this situation at 18... and it is hard not to sit and question everything about myself at 32 just because it is back... 14 yrs ago there was no diagnosis of HPV... and that is what the cause of most abnormal paps these days are... but it is no less frustrating that to a certain respect I brought this on myself! Anyway, I know I have been forgiven... so this isn't a woah is me kind-of thing... it just frustrates me!

Anyway... thanks for the prayers and bd wishes and any advice on Kali would be much appreciated!

My afternoon...

When you get out of the car and you hear a hissing noise, it is probably not a good sign. When we got home from school today, I opened the door to hear a hiss... not a snake hiss... more like tire losing air hiss. I felt around and found that my tire was losing air. This is what it looked like 5 min later. I called Rt and he told me to get the bars from under the seat and roll my tire down... um, yeah honey.

These are the bars...

This is the hole...

This is how the bars go together....

And if you turn them counterclockwise...this is what comes down from the bottom of the car...

Now, how in the world would I have figured that out stranded on the side of the road??? The same way I did today... on the phone with my husband! I wish there was a way to record the conversation... put the pole with the square end in the round hole... you should feel a cone, slide the pole into the cone... the square will lock into the bottom of the cone... turn the poles counterclockwise and the tire will come down! I got that far and then I took a look at the very tiny jack and felt the 30 mph winds and said, "Honey, will you please come change this?"

Hope your day was better!

A new week begins...

Every Sunday night I have the same thought... my weekend needs one more day! This weekend was packed full of places to be and things to do which means that I got absolutely no rest time. Friday night was softball tryouts for the girls and then dinner at the mall. Saturday brought a day of cleaning (YUCK!) by the girls and I (which really means me cleaning and the girls spending the day in trouble) while Rt trimmed trees for my parents. He got home at 3:30 and we turned around and left for our Sunday school party at 5:30. And of course today brought church and then I decided to go shopping... I basically was gone from 9am this morning until 9pm tonight between church, shopping, and church! After I got home there was dittos to get ready (as much as I said I wasn't going to do it, I just couldn't not go to the sale). Now it is 11pm, and I really should be in bed...

Sorry for the boring post... I thought I would come up with some poetic commentary on life... but my brain is too tired! Hope everyone had a good weekend! Oh, and spell check works now!

Nothing new to say...

Not a lot happening in our lives right now... everyone is well at this moment (knock on wood) and the only drama is whether or not I am going to FORCE Megs to sign up for softball tomorrow! I know she needs physical activity and I thought softball would be fun! Little did I know it would cause 3 days of tears! Now I have to decide what will be worse... to let her sit on her butt or to force her to play something she thinks she will stink at! UGH! The joys of parenting!

Dittos for Kiddos is in a couple of weeks, but all the stuff has to be entered by Sunday night. I haven't done spring dittos in about 3 yrs, because I simply do not have the time to get it all done! This semester isn't much different, except that I want the money to put away for Mexico spending money! I'm just not sure that stressing myself out trying to get it all done is worth it! Decisions, decisions!

Is anyone watching American Idol??? Who is your fave??? I'm watching the male show from earlier this week (I DVR the episodes so I can skip all the talking!) and hope to watch the female show and tonights episode before bed... that is if I can stay awake!


EDIT: And I only thought there was nothing interesting in my life... I went to change out the laundry and saw a freakin' skunk hangin' outside... I put the dogs up in the bedroom, warned the kids, got the pistol out of the gun cabinet, and opened the door... Rt's pistol is all fancified and I couldn't figure out how to turn on the lazer and the light... I unloaded the stinkin' clip and still got to see the backside of the skunk walk away... I can only hope I injured the smelly creature so he doesn't come back! I sent Rt a text and I bet he is laughing his butt off in class! I'm just guessing here... but I imagine I will be taking some shooting lessons from my hubs this weekend! I NEED TO MOVE BACK TO TOWN!!!!!

Another day, another illness...

Megs came home from a sleepover yesterday telling us she didn't feel so great... before I knew it she was complaining of a fever and a sore throat... I got the flashlight and looked in her throat to find that nice white spots that every parent dreads! Strep! YUCK! She is starting to feel better, but only after managing to throw up on both the floor and the couch! Kali threw the biggest hissy ever about not wanting to go to school because Megs got to stay home! I think I need a calgon day... Back to disinfecting I go...

We have PUPPIES!

Wednesday brought no sleep to my weary self... Daphne (Rts dog) paced and paced, hid under beds, and whimpered and whined! She was quite a handful! We determined that she was going into labor, but what exactly were we supposed to do about that??? She refused to go outside this morning so Rt locked her in our bathroom! I just couldn't stand it... so I came home at lunch and low and behold there Daphne was in my bedroom floor with 8 little puppies! Did you catch that part... my bedroom floor... on the carpet... yuck! Oh well... I already shampoed it all out! So I guess it's ok!

This little white one is my favorite. Look at his ears stickin' all out like Yoda! The rest of the pups have ears that lay down! Anyway, I'll try not to get too attached... but the odds are slim!



Anyway, they'll be ready to give away in 8 wks... if anyone wants one!

What time of day are you?

Found this on Sarah's blog...



I like the description better than the picture, but it makes sense!

You are the time of day when everyone is making plans for the night, but there's still an element of mystery about what exactly will happen. You are the moment when your hair looks just right and you're calling or texting friends to make last-minute arrangements about where and when you'll get together. Your time of day is full of possibilities. You're still not sure who might show up, and the night is full of electricity and hope. You are ready for anything, and excited about making the most of whatever (or whoever) crosses your path.

Positive Thinking...

I am attempting to work on my attitude toward life... I have become so cynical and questioning of the happenings around me and people's motives. I went to the bookstore today and bought these cute little books that include bible verses, inspirational quotations, and essays for saying thanks, giving comfort, sharing God's love, and friendship. I decided that if nothing else, reading something positive throughout my day might aid in a more positive view on life... and who knows, occasionally it might give me something to blog about when I have nothing to add!

Here are a few quotes that I found interesting today...

The truth of the Gospel is intended to free us to love God and others with our whole heart. (John Eldredge)

No matter how crazy or nutty your life seemed, God can make something strong and good out of it. He can help you grow wide branches for others to use as shelter. (Barbara Johnson)

If you won't fill your heart with gratitude, the devil will fill it with something else. (Marie T. Freeman)

We long to find someone who has been where we've been, who shares our fragile skies, who sees our sunsets with the same shades of blue. (Beth Moore)

Vacation...

Have you every felt like you needed a vacation from your vacation? I had an awesome weekend with my friends at the lakehouse... I'm not even sure I can put it all into words. It is awesome to have a group of people that you can be brutally honest with and know that they are still going to love you. I have had one or two friends like that along that way, but never a group of people that I would trust with my life. I'll post pictures when they get emailed to me...

Although we didn't intend on shopping, we ended up at Northeast mall so that we could go bra searching. After trying on every bra type in Fredericks of Hollywood we ended up at Victoria Secret. Let's just say that although the bras are entirely tooooo expensive, I FINALLY found one that fit perfectly! This may seem like a small feat, but I have been searching and searching for the perfect bra since Target redesigned my favorite one about a year ago. Anyway, I am not so excited about the cost of each one... but if I had gone there in the beginning I might not have bought the 5 others that just went in the trash can! You would think that designers would try harder to design bras that actually fit the average woman... especially since there are so many of us! Maybe we should go on bra strike... um, nevermind...

I started Weight Watchers on Jan 7th and when I went in on Feb 7th I had lost 11.6 pounds. (I probably gained them all back this weekend!) It hasn't been all that difficult to stick to... there are lots of resources available and that helps! My goal is to lose 50 pounds before we go to Mexico in May... at this rate I might just do it! YEAH!

Thanks a bunches...

Thanks f0r the comments on the previous post... they were uplifting! Brandi is praying that the rest of my week goes better... so I'm helping that prayer along a little... I leave after lunch Friday to go to my cousin's lakehouse for a time of R & R with some of my favorite people! No kids... no husbands... no real plans... that is exactly what the dr ordered, in my opinion! While I am gone, my family can continue the 14 loads of laundry that are in the kitchen floor, continue to check heads, and take care of the puppies that are going to come any day now! I am not going to worry about it one bit... Hope everyone has a good weekend!

God or Devil???

If you have read my blog in the last month, you know that there are things coming at me from all sides... I mean, just this week we've had a skunk, throw up, and lice and it's only Wednesday! Here's my question of the day: How do you know when it is God not giving you more than you can handle vs. the devil trying to get in your way? Any insight here would be awesome!

SKUNK!!!!

So... do you know what happens when a little white shihtzu runs into a big ole skunk???? The little white shihtzu comes into the house with a big yellow stain of spray upon his forehead! AUGH! Did you also know that there is nothing you can do about it when the spray is upon said dog's forehead because his eyes are so buggy that the usual remedies could blind him???? I NEED TO MOVE BACK TO THE CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, now that that is out... short of running to the store to buy a douche (which is one of the remedies I read that is safe for the face) I have tried just about everything else that we could think of. Just so you know, tomato sauce doesn't work... neither does dog shampoo... or baking soda... or kitchen soap! I wonder if the dog groomer could get this smell out tomorrow???? UGH! Good thing I'm leaving town this weekend and won't be stuck in the house with the smells! Know any good real estate agents????

Oh my... what a day...

Kali's head had been all itchy for quite a few days ... being the great mom that I am, I chalked it up to dry skin (which we all have) and put it out of my mind. Well, this morning, she was laying in my bed scratching her head like crazy and Rt says "People are going to think she has bugs if she keeps scratching like that" (do you hear the dum, dum, dum music yet?). Yep, we did a little exam and found bugs... a lot of bugs... icky little lice!

Then to top things off, I sent Megs to school (after thoroughly checking her out) only to have the nurse call and hour later to tell me that she had thrown-up and was pale like a sheet! So, I had to run and get her! I am almost positive that her episode was from taking her tamiflu on an empty stomach as I felt much the same way before I ate breakfast!

So, now, I am home again (remember, I spent several days last week taking care of the fam with the flu) disinfecting my house again (did that this weekend to kill the flu bug) with children who aren't really sick and don't think they need to be stuck in the house! Can you say Calgon take me way????

ps... spellcheck isn't working, sorry if there are any mess ups...

Makes you think...

I found this song on my friend Liz's blog, it is hysterical... in a sad sorta way! Go take a listen! I couldn't figure out how to embed it here...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=797870

Ugh!!!!!!!!

So... the flu bug that has been making it's way through town has hit our house... Robert came home from class last night with a 103 temp! I guess his meds wore off in the middle of the night because at that point he began to shake uncontrollably. His temp this morning was 104. I had to come teach, so I left Megan home to take care of him (and to call 911 should his fever keep rising). She's had a sore throat and a lot of drainage... so I figured he could take them both in when he goes to the dr this morning.... besides, she had a flu shot... I never got one! Kali was a little irked that I made her go to school. (The little devil that sits on my shoulder said I should leave them both home with Daddy, so he could see what it feels like to be sick while the kids bicker and fight... but I flicked the devil off of my shoulder and took Kali to school!) He's not a good patient, so keep us all in your prayers! :)

Whatcha think???

I just couldn't take it anymore... I had to do some changing! Every time I open my friend Shelley's blog she has something new and different... so I did a little searching and found this free template online. It had a really ugly bright orange link to the site I got it from and I impressed myself with figuring out how to delete it! Now... if only I could figure out how to make my own cool templates! Oh well...

Life is good this week! I went to a seminar at a church in town on Saturday with my friend Amy. It was AMAZING! The speaker was Dana Mayhall, whom I have known since high school... she has had many jobs in Abilene including leading my youth drama/choir production my sophomore year in high school. Anyway, she spoke on empowerment... she said many things that touched me, but my favorite part was when she discussed the facades that we all put on... and how those inhibit our ability to serve the Lord. Now, I'm not much into facades as I am pretty certain that I can only be who I can be and I frankly, don't have enough energy or brain power to be anything other than I am. BUT... I do struggle in a BIG WAY with my self-esteem. I'm sure I could link it back to one of the many childhood things that happened, but I'm not in the mood to dwell right now and I have laid all of that at the foot of the cross because I can do nothing about things that happened 25 yrs ago... what I will say is that I am probably one of the most insecure people that I have ever met. I worry constantly about whether or not people like me... I worry about offending or leaving people out... I even worry that no one loves me when I don't get comments on my blog... Now, I can look logically at the situation and see that I have friends and people who love me... but it doesn't take away those insecurities and questions. Anyway, all of that to say that although I wouldn't call any of that a facade, it is in a certain way and it gets in the way of my relationship with the Lord just like pretending to be the perfect wife and mother would do. So... I laid that on the cross and am going to work on praising myself instead of assuming the negative. I can't describe the emotion in that room as women prayed for healing etc, but it was amazing! We want to have her at our church... I'll let you know when that happens!

The other thing that really stuck with me from Dana was her theory of raising hands in church. I've never been one to raise my hands in church... I don't have beliefs against it... I just haven't felt comfortable to do it. Dana is definitely a hand raiser... and here's why... think of a little kid whose father has just come home from work... what do they do??? They raise their hands to their father, arms stretched wide, wanting to be held. When Dana raises her hands during worship she is much like this child... only she is saying Lord I worship You! I want to be close to You! You are my heart's desire! Bless me! Etc. etc.! Anyway, I'm not telling anyone how to worship... I just thought this was interesting... I still couldn't really get my hands above my shoulders Sunday... guess there is work to be done... haha!

Video... Wow!

Oh my... it is amazing what you get in your email sometimes and how much you really need to read it or hear it. This video is 11 min long, but well worth it for anyone struggling with why things happen the way they do!

Here's the link if they hyperlink doesn't work!

http://www.nooma.com/Shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=270&PMID=25&mode=FLV

Is it too much to ask???

I just watched the weather... is it too much to ask for a snow day tomorrow??? Or at least a late start??? I am EXHAUSTED and could use a morning of not leaving my house at 7:20~!

Here's hoping!

Responsibility missed him...

Read no further if you are not in the mood to listen to a rant!

My mom called to tell me that baby Makenzie has the same syndrome (whose name I do not know) that baby Alyssa has.

Here's where my rant begins... what in the crap were my brother and his girlfriend thinking???? When Alyssa was born and the genetic testing showed that there was a defect in Ashley's chromosomes why did no one go get fixed???? I get that they were doing the safe thing and taking the pill... obviously no one was in class the day they talked about how birth control is not always effective... but would you really just leave it at that if the dr's said you had this issue????? So now, my little brother (who is on his 4th kid by his 3rd girl) is living with his girlfriend, her 5 yr old son, and their two special needs kids... oh and I can't forget the kid that is his that he has on the weekends! To top it off... they don't even have a vehicle that will hold all of the children and Ashley refuses to drive a mini-van because they aren't cool. Well, I'm sorry but didn't you give up the right to be cool when you had 3 kids by the age of 20????

Obviously I would never say any of this to either of them, because that would be unkind... but seriously, when are they going to wake up???? My little brother has always been irresponsible and self-centered and I guess I'm just annoyed that he is still being this way.

Keep them in your prayers... my Sunday school teacher said that sometimes things like this happen in a persons' life as a means to bring them back to the Lord. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that... because at this point it looks like He will have to heap a bunch more on them to get them into church... and I'm not sure how much more my parents can handle of the heaping!

MLK Day...

I'm pretty sure I work for the only institution in town that is having class today... and being that I am such a great teacher I gave my own students a walk (I mean online assignment), but the education class that I am taking is still meeting. I have four hours to get dressed and make my way into town... I wonder if that will happen!

Kali has had a loose tooth for a few weeks and no matter what I did she would not try to pull it out. Well, last night, on the way to bed she ran into the wall (she is sooo my child) and out pops her tooth. She had that panicked sort-of cry.... you know, I'm not sure if I hurt but their is blood gushing from my mouth... and came running into the living room screaming about her tooth. I'm not a fan of gushing blood so I did the good mommy thing sent her to her dad and pushed it out of my mind... until this morning when she got out of bed and asked where her tooth was... OOPS! I'm still not sure where the tooth was, but Rt put money in his coat pocket and took the coat to her... he told her that the tooth had been in his pocket so to check in there... and wow... there was a $2 bill in the pocket! That amazing tooth fairy can find a tooth anywhere, apparently!

One last thing before I forget... I am having a pampered chef party on Friday night... this is my open invitation to all who might want to come... if you live to far away but are interested here is my consultant's website... check it out! Just so you know, the January special is 20% off of stones and since I have broken my two favorite stones in the last few months it is time for a party!

Bored, bored, bored...

So... I think I have reached my limit of being stuck in the house! I have tried to venture out, but my limit of being out seems to be about 2 hrs. I always forget that the worst part of surgery is how your body feels when it is all said and done... I mean, my nose isn't so bad it's the overall icky feeling that I can't seem to make go away! Oh well... I just need to give it time and I will feel better. It has been nice watching the family do all the chores though! I have to go back to teaching on Tuesday, so let's hope I have it together by then!

My little brother and his gf had their baby... MaKenzie Leigh. She was born on Wednesday. I have no clue about all of the particulars due to my own surgery, but she is currently in the NICU at Abilene Regional. She had a seizure and low blood sugar and wasn't breathing right. Today I heard that she is eating on her own but that they have found a heart mumur and it looks like she will be there for a few more days running tests. One of her eyes is teardropped shaped, like Alyssas and they are wondering what other similarities they are! Just keep the family in your prayers... I'm not sure Ashley can handle two special needs kids, a 3 yr old and a 5 yr old.

Aftermath...

I'm alive! I got home about two yesterday and haven't moved much from my little corner of the couch except to potty! My mom hung out with me all afternoon and even made me some potato soup. My friend Amy made me some chicken and dumplings for dinner and my hubs and kids were great at fetching last night. Robert even got up and cooked me breakfast at 6am this morning (cuz I was huuunnngggrrryyy)! I went to the dr this morning and I will save you all the gory details of that trip, but I will say I didn't know it was possible to shove all that packing up in that tiny hole! ANyway, I can already tell a difference with my breathing and other than being tired (from the lack of sleep last night) all is good! Praise God!!!!! Anyway, hope you have a blessed day and I'm sure I'll be back later to post out of boredness!

The Fever is GONE!!!!!!!!!!

Kali's fever broke last night about 6:30... 3 hrs after paying the dr copay to be told it would pass in 2-4 days. Oh well, better to know in my opinion. Now... no one else can get sick! She is still laying on the couch in my office, though, because you must be fever free for 24 hrs before sending a child to school. I'm not a fan of that rule and I will be even less of a fan come 2 o'clock when she is bored to tears and driving me batty! She is currently watching Cinderella... and she is very mesmerized... isn't there a Cinderella II????

My surgery is tomorrow morning. I'm not so worried about the actually surgery... more dreading the aftermath. I have gotten so many different after surgery reports from people, so I'm unsure what to expect. Some say it was wonderful, some say it was not so wonderful. I'm shooting for the I feel wonderful and I can breathe again feeling, but I guess we will see, huh??? The one question I forgot to ask.. when do I get to drive again????

I read an article on MSN this morning about self-esteem and daughters... the article said that children are having lower self-esteem at an earlier age. I didn't read the entire 6 pgs, but a good portion of it discussed how mom's feel about themselves and the things we say about our own bodies and how that leaves an impression on our kids. A little scary since I just started Weight Watchers! I know that for health reasons I need to lose weight, and I have made that clear to my entire family, but how do I balance that for my girls. I mean, I am just fine with who I am and what size I am... I mean, my self-esteem issues have nothing to do with being over-weight (frankly, my opinion in this is that if you can't like me fat I don't want to be your friend when I'm skinny) but I have lots of friends who worry about their weight and seem to be always on a diet. There have been many times that Megan has had to sit there and listen to a person who was a size 6-8 complain about their weight and I just wanted to bop them. And every time she hears one of those conversations I see her face fall because she knows she is overweight. Which I guess is the real issue... Megan is about 20 pounds overweight... her friends at school weight 80 pounds... Megan weighs 123. (She is 5'1" though, so I expect her to weigh more than the girls around her.) This is very frustrating for her and she wells up with tears anytime we say something (and by say something, we point out healthy choices, we don't tell her she is overweight)... which we do very carefully because the result is usually a puddle of tears. It also doesn't help things that Kali weights 57 pounds now (down 3 from 2 weeks ago)! Anyway, the article didn't address how you help your child be healthy without damaging their self-esteem... and I think it needed to. We are a society that is worried about what we were, what our hair looks like, and what we weigh... this is what we are passing on to our girls. There is nothing wrong with being healthy... but to obsess over it like some of the people I see around me is not ok...

Ok.. I'll get off my soapbox now... the article just frustrated me!

The start of a new semester...

So... today was the first day of classes and although I was planning on getting out of bed at 6am to get ready I did not actually get up until 6:50! OOPS! Then I get out of the shower to find Kali and Robert still in bed. Kali had a valid excuse... a headache, stomachache, and a fever... Robert had no excuse, however! Anyway, seeing as how it was the first day of classes Kali had to get dressed and go lay on the couch in my office. She still has a fever and tonight it was 103.5 when I got home from class. I can't really figure out what is wrong with her either... she hasn't thrown up, she doesn't have excessive snot... hmmm... to go to the dr or not???? I hate not knowing what is wrong and would rather just take her in and be told it is a virus than sit around wondering how long she'll be sick!

Other than that things went well today. I am taking a couple of education classes so that I can get my certificate, so that was a little weird... to sit in a class with people I used to teach! The hilarious part of it all is that my teacher was my 6th grade English teacher! It ought to be interesting!

We had a blast at the wedding this weekend! The reception was awesome... apparently the thing to do in East Texas is to have a 'party barn' and that is where the reception was... someone's huge horse barn. It was set up beautifully and there was a dance floor... I spent most of the evening trying to convince my hubs that he needs to build me a barn like that! Honey Brown played and we danced and it was great. We did have to make a run to the store for drinks as the only drinks at the reception were beer, wine, and water... I'm not sure what they thought the kids were going to drink, but whatever... it worked out! I'll load some pics when I find my camera! I do think the dogs missed us more than the kids...

So far this year...

So much for my plans of the year... haha! I have done great on the Weight Watchers (which I'll get to in a minute), but the quiet time is hard to do when there is no actual quiet yet in my life. Yesterday, on the way to school, Meg's pulls our her 365 devotions for Tweens and starts doing her thing in the 20 min drive to school. I couldn't help but think that if I had someone to drive me around I would have more time to study His word!

I signed up for Weight Watchers again... I was basically signing up for 3/4 of my family as we could all loose a little! I am slightly irritated that my dear husband gets 41 stinkin' points a day. I really think that is oh so not fair... I mean, he will loose weight more quickly just because he is a man... so why on top of that does he get more food???? Oh well... when I informed him that his daily bag of chips habit had to go if he was going to succeed in losing his 20 or so pounds he looked a little depressed, so I guess we will see how well he sticks to the program!

My surgery is scheduled for the 17th for all those who are wondering. We are leaving town this weekend and I couldn't handle giving up a weekend without my own kids to get it done tomorrow! (I say without my own kids because we are going to help our friends take care of their twins during their brother's wedding that the entire rest of the family is in. We love the twins and Honey Browne is playing the reception so it wasn't too difficult to persuade us to ditch our own kids!) Anyway, I will be out of commission for at least 5 days after the surgery, so I'm sure my students will be excited that they won't have class!

Have a blessed day!

Plans for the year...

I have read a couple of posts that talk about goals for the year as opposed to resolutions. I think I like the word plans... you see, if I make a plan and it doesn't happen the way I want it to I can say plans changed. If I make a goal and don't achieve it I feel a bit like a loser! ha!

Here are my many plans for the year...

1. I plan to continue to grow my relationship with Christ. I have a tendency to get distracted during the day and I don't make it to the quiet time that I plan to do. If I do it at night I fall asleep, and I can never seem to get up in the morning. So... I have carved out a time during the day (while sitting in my office) that I will work on this... besides, I don't actually work in my office!

2. Lose weight... I know, I know, everyone has this goal, but I really am tired of being this size... not to mention some of the health problems that I know would be better if I lost a few pounds. So... I have drug out the Weight Watchers stuff and will be at the 10:30 meeting tomorrow! Robert and I are going to Mexico in May with some friends and I would like to at least be back into a 12 before we go... maybe I should glue a swimsuit to the front of the fridge! (See, reasonable goals here... I could say a size 2, but since I've NEVER been a size 2 I think I'll just be realistic!)

Ok... this is really where my plans stop. I have lots of ideas of things I would like to do... but these are the two I will 100% commit to!

And Shelley, these next pics are just for you... I made sure to use my home laptop so I could post a few pics! :)

Happy New Year!

I sooo forgot to wish everyone a happy new year! So... Happy New Year!

Conversations in the Wheeler household...

Do you have conversations like this in your house??? (Oh, and while they were hilarious when they happened they don't seem to have the same zing... sorry... but I think you'll get the point!)

#1. Me: I have a deviated septum and will have to have surgery next week to fix it... Megan: So, your gonna get a nose job like Ashley Tisdale... that's what she said and her nose is all different now. Me: No, they aren't going to do anything to the outside of my nose. Kali: well, I think you should let them make it smaller... (is this her way of saying I have a big nose???)

#2 This conversation needs some background info... My little brother lives with is gf and has 3 babies by 2 women and marriage doesn't seem to be in his future... Kali at dinner tonight: Did you know you can have sex without being married? Me: Well, that's true but that is not God's plan and life is wayyyy harder if you do things in the wrong order. Megan: There was a 5th grader who was prego at my last school...ewwwww Robert: Kids don't need to have kids Me: God made sex for a husband and wife and within that bond sex is not a bad thing, in fact God meant it to be fun RT: WOOOO HOOOO.... at this point my children turned beet red and proceeded to leave the room! I can only imagine what they will be thinking when they go to bed tonight.

#3 Kali fell off of her bike at ACU this afternoon and hurt her arm. On the way home Robert was trying to console her and tried to tell her why it was good it was one arm and they could put a sling on it at home. Kali: But I use this arm to play on the compt Robert: (who has a busted lip) well, I like to kiss mommy with both of my lips and I have a busted lip so how do you think I feel? Kali: You can put a sling on your face...

I just noticed that all the funny comments seem to come from Kali. She does keep us quite entertained but it is usually because she is saying things that leave me speechless....

I'm not CRAzY!!!

I went to see the ENT today and I am officially NOT CRAZY! I have a deviated septum and sinus cavities that are completely packed with the yucky stuff! You ask why I celebrate so... well, it is because I have had chronic sinus crap for 6 mths and my family dr treats me like I'm over exaggerating or something every time that I go in. I think he just didn't think it was as bad as I thought it was... shows him what he knows! The ENT couldn't even look up one side of my nose because my septum was pushed over so far. I will be having surgery next week or the week after... I'm not overly joyed about surgery, but I'll deal with it just to be able to breathe again!

My crazy life...

It has been a while since I posted... Sorry! It is always more difficult to find time to post when I am off of work... I try to sit on the couch and post, but it's not the same as sitting in my office in the quiet!

I'll try to catch you up on the happenings of our lives!

I have reached a certain level of peace regarding my future at the University. I don't know what God's plan is, but I know He has one and will let me in on it when I need to know... you just don't know how much I hate that! It took me a while to get to that point and but it did help that last Sunday at church my preacher made several points that applied to my life while staring at me! I'm not sure if it is good or bad that my preacher knows what is happening in my life and what I struggle with, but what he had to say does make a lot of sense.

One of the reasons that I have reached a certain peace with my changes at work is that I am being pulled in other directions pretty strongly. I have been pestering my husband for over a year about having another child. I can't exactly have one myself due to the fact that my tubes have been cut, burned, and tied and although my dear Kali thinks I should just buy new tubes that isn't exactly possible. Not to mention that fact that I'm not the best pregnant person... I don't like the lack of control I have over my body (nausea, vomiting, peeing when you sneeze, laugh, cough) so I end up being rather whiny and annoying. So... over Chicken Express a couple of days ago we narrowed down our options. We will continue to pray about it, but we are thinking about becoming foster parents. I need to check into all the guidelines, but so far it looks like a real possibility and if I am working less I would have more time for the stuff that has to be done for the kiddos. I'll keep you posted!

Christmas was at our house this year due to my mom's foot surgery. It was quite difficult to get everyone together due to my little brother and all of his children and in the end we were missing his current gf's kid. But, it did turn out well and everyone seemed to have a good time. Robert was off Christmas Eve, so that was an added bonus. He got to help with the house cleaning and even pitched in with the pie baking. I love that his mother (no matter how crazy she is) taught the boy to move around the kitchen. Some of our pies looked a little retarded, but they tasted just fine. [For those who don't know me you should know that this is the first time in my life that I have EVER baked a pumpkin or pecan pie... I don't cook nor do I know how to cook most things!] All the cooking with my hubs made me look forward to the day when he finishes school and has time off at the same times I do! Too bad he can't quit his current job and go crazy taking classes... instead we have 108 more hours to go... which looks like it will take 7 more semesters!

We did do something new this Christmas... because everyone left early Christmas Day we decided to go to the movies. We took the girls to see the new National Treasure movie... I recommend it to everyone. It was awesome... no sex, no language, and not that scary! We couldn't have chosen a better movie to watch! Both girls enjoyed it and no one fell asleep!

Ok, I think that catches everyone up! I have lots of stuff on my mind, but I'm not sure where to begin and the kids are busy bickering over the other compt behind me... so I best go break it up...

What do you do?

I had a funny thought just now as I was cleaning my office and rearranging furniture... every time my world begins to spin out of control I clean my office and rearrange furniture. Why is this? Then I started to think back to the day before my job... my solution then was to shop... I think cleaning my office might be the more responsible way to handle stress. On some level, cleaning my office and rearranging furniture is me controlling my life in the only way I know how... I mean, there is so much happening right now that is puzzling... the one thing I can control is where my desk is in my office. What do you do when your world is spinning around you???

You might be wondering what has thrown me into such a cleaning freenzy... I had a meeting with my dean and the VP yesterday. For the 08-09 school year I am being dropped down to 3/4 time. I will still have benefits, but it will be a $8000 pay cut. They seemed so excited when they told me that the other person that I work with would be 3/4 time as well, but they don't seem to realize how this affects my life. I don't really care that the 65 yr old woman that I work with who retired from the public schools will still have a job... I care about the fact that a pay cut of 800$ a month will financially damage my family. In fact, about the time that all of this will take place is about the time my loans will come due, so instead of being 800$ short a month we will be about 1600$ short a month. I care about the fact that this decision brings into question what will happen the next year... should RT even continue school??? I mean, he'd have 60 hrs and then I wouldn't have a job if all goes as it seems it is going to. So many questions...

Anyway, on top of the house issue (see below) and the questions I have there I now get to add this to my list. I seriously would like one year where there were no freakin' complications. Is that too much to ask? I know that God has a plan... I really do... and I know that everything happens for a reason, but as I sit here in my office crying once again I can't seem to figure out what it is. Is this God's way of telling me to get out of the education field? I mean, it has truly been an uphill battle, so maybe it isn't where I'm supposed to be. Who knows? Anyway, pray for my family as we try to figure this out!

Update...

Sorry, no fancy title. The guy didn't show up Tuesday night. I called his number to check if I had the time wrong and his wife is in the hospital. He said he would call back later this week, but I don't know that he will. The most difficult part of this process is that I was perfectly fine with living out in the boonies still, until he contacted us. Then I let myself consider what living in town would mean and how it would affect our entire lives. That sounds dramatic, but living 25 min from work, church, and Target does not make life convenient. I mean, if we moved to town our gas bill would go down about 400$ a month. We already have a house that would work out wonderfully and it is 2 blocks from church, 3 blocks from my work, and 4 blocks from the kids school. Do you know how much more sleep I could get if I live that close to everything we do??? Not to mention if you live 2 blocks from church you can't use oversleeping as an excuse not to go, unlike living 25 min away. Then there is the friend thing... my kids don't exactly have neighbors to play with... it would be nice to be able to say 'go play outside with the kids.' Or even go ride your bikes, and the kids not be able to say 'but we live on a dirt road.' (Oh, and I know you can ride on a dirt road, but you should see the rocks, even I wouldn't brave it!)

The funny thing about all of this is that it seemed like him coming and wanting our house and us moving to this other house was the PERFECT plan. I mean, I can think of 100 reasons why it would benefit everyone involved. I look at it and it all seemed to fit and there was a peace about it, like this is how it should be... AND THEN... it didn't happen. I'm not questioning God, I know things happen in His time and that He has a plan, it is just sort of puzzling. It makes me wonder what is yet to come... like if this wasn't the plan then what is the plan???? Does that make any sense?

Blessed...

Yesterday, while we were gone to church, our house tried to burn itself down! Well, I know a house can't choose to burn down, but somehow the stove cut on (the knobs are in the front so someone probably bumped them and we just didn't see it) and caught the stone and spatula that were sitting on top on fire! I assume the entire house was filled with smoke because there is a layer of black ash on every surface of the house.



Here's a pic of the cabinet above the stove. Pretty, huh??? The next pic is of my white curtains in the living room. You can't really tell in the pic how bad it was, but if you look closely you can see the soot on the ceiling too!

We are having a clean up party today after school (if anyone feels sorry for me and wants to come help, feel free) and the carpet people are coming in the morning! We really have to rush to clean it up because a guy is supposed to come out tomorrow night to see about buying the place. He seems quite promising as he has been leaving us notes for a couple of weeks trying to catch us (he left them on the front door, which is not the door we use to come in the house). He told RT yesterday that he can't find a house anywhere within his range and ours seems to fit perfectly. Keep your fingers crossed that we can get the mess cleaned up and the house smelling pretty so that he will buy it.

We cleaned up a little last night, and I kept trying to remind my husband that we were very, very lucky that our house didn't burn down and that we truly are blessed! (I'm not sure he was convinced since he was cleaning instead of studying for his Algebra final!) My other happy thought was that since I haven't started Christmas shopping yet, there are no presents that have to be rewrapped or a tree that has to be cleaned! See... I knew there was a reason I hadn't started shopping yet!

Edit: My friends are truly awesome. Holly, Emily, Betty, and my mom all came out to help me clean up yesterday. It took about 3 hrs so I can only imagine how long it would've taken if they hadn't been here! I am blessed to have such great people in my life that are willing to drop everything to come help me clean up my messes (not just talking about the house now). I am currently sitting on the couch watching the carpet cleaners scrub away on the nasty carpets. It is amazing to me how much cleaner the professionals can get the carpet. Keep praying that the guy who is coming to look at the house tonight is so impressed that he writes me a check on the spot! :) With Robert in school and the price of gas, it would be so nice to have the opportunity to move back into town. I'm trying not to get our hopes up... but it's soooo hard! Anyway, thanks again to the people who helped me clean (my mom even ironed my curtains)! It means a lot to me!

Busy, Busy

We have reached the point in the semester where I begin to question whether I need to be admitted to the place with the padded walls! It is the last week of classes with finals next week! My desk is completely covered with work that needs to be graded, my voicemail and email are full of messages from students explaining why it is that they haven't gotten their work done, the kids are mad because I haven't put the Christmas tree up yet, and my husband is irritated because he is feeling neglected! AUGH! At least I know that this feeling is temporary!

Ashley went to the dr... her due date is January 19th.... and she is dilated to a one. The doctor doesn't seem too concerned that she has gone 8 1/2 mths without prenatal care, which concerns me and everyone else, but who are we, I guess. Her sonogram is December 19th, but if you could see her you would question (like me) if she's even going to make it to that appt. Keep praying for my brother and his girlfriend... I can't imagine how difficult life is going to be with four children under the age of 5 and one with severe disabilities. Matt did say he and Ash were going to get married... so I guess that is a step in the right direction.

Our Sunday School Christmas party is Saturday night... it is at the Country Club. I'm not overly joyed about the 50$ that it is going to cost to eat there, but I'm hoping that the food is great and we enjoy it. Any ideas about what to wear to the country club??? I mean, my preference is always blue jeans but for some reason I get the impression that is not appropriate attire! Guess I need to go buy a dress! Shucks...

Our church Christmas program is Sunday night... if your bored and need something to do! :) The children's choir is singing (as in both of my children) and I have a solo! I love that I'm in a church where I can use the talents that God gave me!

Ok... I guess that about does it. My goal for this weekend is to put the tree up, but first I have to get the house clean! Wish me luck...

The Truth

It has been very interesting watching all of the news coverage regarding the football player that was murdered last week. My students and I were discussing it today, and many of them were of the opinion that the guy lived a lifestyle that was not safe and therefore bad things happened to him. I just opened MSN and there was this very interesting article addressing how black men are being murdered by other black men and what to do about it. It specifically addresses the NFL player, but I think it can be spread throughout. I can't wait to get to school and see what my students think. This won't be the first time we have had this conversation, and I wish we as a school would have the conversation campus wide... I mean, we bring these kids from inner city Houston and Dallas and within a week they are hanging out with kids who are just like the ones they left at home... Instead of taking the opportunity to choose friends that will lift you up and help you succeed in life they picks guys who are packing and know how to kick some fanny. It is a situation that causes much distress for me as I watch students get sucked right back into destructive cycles... Anyway, sorry for the rant... any comments???

What I'd like to say...

If you missed Brandi's comment from the post before you should go read it... it had me laughing out loud in my office!

Ok, so this has been one of those mornings that I have had to bite my tongue for fear of telling numerous students how I really feel... Let me give you some examples of how my students are behaving...

I sent an email regarding speech grades yesterday. I gave them an extra credit opportunity that had to be turned in at the beginning of class, typed, no excuses. If they didn't have it, they didn't get the points. (Mind you, the students are required to use their MCM email.)

Student after seeing other students handing stuff in: What email?
Me: The one I sent on Moodle, I'm sorry you missed the opportunity.
Student: But my MCM email doesn't work?
Me: How long has this been happening? (This was in an effort to figure out if this just happened so I should feel sorry for her.)
Student: Oh, all semester.

I couldn't even respond for fear of something sarcastically inappropriate coming out!

After group presentations I had another student come tell me how awful I am for making them do a group presentation. She then informed me that she was offended by the extra credit opportunity because she feels like she did everything she was supposed to for an A and she didn't get one. Mind you this is the same student who has turned in every assignment late... always with some excuse about stress from other classes. Why don't students get it??? If they turn in their work and follow the directions and come to class they will be happy with their grades...

I love my job, I love my job, I love my job...

Catching up...

It is 11 and I really should be in bed... 6am is going to come early after 5 days of sleeping until 8am. I really think grown-up world shouldn't start until at least 9am. If I didn't have to be anywhere until 9am I would be a much happier person! haha!

I've never been good at doing things when I am supposed to do them. For example, I had 5 days home in which I could've completely graded the work for all of my classes not to mention prepared for the next two weeks... instead, I did things like watch all the shows I have DVR for the last 2 mths, cleaned my bedroom from top to bottom, cleaned the living room from top to bottom, and washed, dried, folded and put away about 12 loads of laundry. All important stuff.... but probably not what the most impt.

I will say that cleaning my room from top to bottom completely disgusted me. Has anyone looked under their bed in the last year??? I decided to pull up the mattresses and vacuum under the bed... eww... lots of dust hiding under there. No wonder my allergies have been killing me!

As for the laundry... we had to buy a new dryer on Friday... let's just say how fun that wasn't. When I got my front loading washer I knew I would eventually have to buy a dryer, but I didn't expect the matching dryer to cost 700$. We decided that the matching part was a bit overrated when we could get a dryer that was just as good for 348$ and most dryers are front loading anyway. I will say that dryer should've been bought long ago. I can now get a load of laundry washed, dried and put away in less than 2 hrs. I'll let you know how this affects the electric bill!

So, this post is a little random... sorry... not a lot of important stuff happening... I'm sure I could come up with something meaningful to post... but I'm tired and my brain is not so much working! Have a good week!


PS> I have a grammar question... everytime I use the words should've, would've, could've the spell check goes crazy... why is this??? Those are words, aren't they????

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I spent the day at my mom's cooking for lunch tomorrow. We made dressing, banana pudding, and pie after pie. Oh and I got the job of deboning the turkey... ewww! It was a lot of fun though... something mom and I have never done before. Usually she has the kids out to help, but never has she asked me. She didn't ask this time, I volunteered... and she said that would be great. It was fun to spend the day working with her.

I did find out that my little brother's girlfriend is 7 mths or so prego! Um... how do you get that pregnant and not know??? Or how do you go that long and none of us know??? I mean we just say them a month ago and she didn't look prego... hmmm.

On the way home from my mom's I ran out of gas! I had to call RT to come rescue me! I do this occasionally and the guys he works with enjoyed a laugh at my expense today! I'm so glad I could cause a smile!

Anyway, that's about all I have... I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow!

Better...

Sorry to be all down in the dumps yesterday! After posting yesterday I decided to go get some good ole Burgers and Fries because I loooovvveee their very thick handcut french fries and whoever had cut the fries the day before made them shoestring! Talk about fitting into my day... I called Rt to tell him and he laughed very loudly! Oh well... everyday is a new day!

Today has been a better day... I think it was because I don't teach an 8am on Tues/Thurs. 8am classes are full of people who don't really want to be there and that makes a classroom difficult to deal with.

I have a question for you mothers out there... How do mornings go in your house??? I'm only asking because we struggle sooo much in the morning. It would help if I would get out of bed on time, but 6:30 is soooo early. I thought that getting out of bed would be easier as I got older.... but it's been the opposite. So... do you just bounce out of bed??? Is there some secret to it??? Give me some ideas!

When it rains, it poors...

Not literally of course since Abilene hasn't seen rain since sometime in Oct, but I feel like today has been one of those days that I would have rather not experienced... and it's only 11am. Ugh! I know that there are many people with many problems much worse than mine, but when you are stuck in the middle of the stuff it all seems so big. I know that in the long run it won't really matter and most of what is happening is just annoying, but I don't like how I feel inside when all of this stuff is happening. I woke up at 7:15 this morning and we have to leave the house by 7:30 for the kids to make it to class on time. It was anything but peaceful on the way to school and then I got to listen to 100 excuses for why the students didn't have their work done or why this or that was happening. I blew up at my 9am class because I have frankly heard just about enough. Then I looked at my checking acct and I cannot make heads or tell of what is happening. I used the bill pay that the bank does to pay the bills, but since it doesn't take the money out right away I cant figure out the balance. I guess I will just have to use that acct for bills and nothing else so that I can stay on top of the blow money. (I can budget, I can budget, I can budget... if I keep telling myself this will it happen???) Robert walked into my office before his 11 o'clock class and I burst into tears.... and now I cannot get them to stop. His solution was that I needed to go home and go to bed... he might be right. I honestly think that I have been sick with sinus stuff for so long that my body is just wearing down... or something like that. Too bad I can't just stop time and take a little nap.....

ALyssa Update...

Alyssa came home today. She is doing extremely well. She hasn't needed any pains meds and she is eating the entire house. I guess we will see what the future holds from here for her.

We went to Primetime on Friday night. It was a lot of fun, but I made Megan drive her own go-cart and it turned into disaster. She didn't really want to be by herself in the go-cart, but I made her do it anyway... I really though her anxiety was just her being silly about new things. So, guess what happened... Some great teenage boys who weren't paying attention ran into her in the back and side causing her to spin out and hit the side. She has some great bruises on her neck and down her chest and keeps complaining that her chest hurts and she has a great scrap on her chin. I'm not sure what to do about it... I mean, how long is she going to be sore? Should I take her to the dr? Anyway, the most frustrating thing of it all is that the accident only furthers her anxiety about the world around her. She is the kid who thinks of every possible negative thing that could happen and then refuses to do whatever it is that she was going to do. Not to mention I am now the bad guy... I made her go by herself and the bad things she thought were going to happen did. This is where I would like to thank the boys who only considered themselves and the fun they wanted to have... next time could you perhaps be considerate of the kids who are driving around you???????

Baby Alyssa

For those who are wondering, my walk was amazing. I'll share more later.

Right now I need some major prayers lifted up. My little brother and his girlfriend Ashley had baby Alyssa a little over a year ago. At the time of her birth, we knew there were problems, we just had no idea the extent of the problems. In the last year, Alyssa has had a surgery to fit a cleft small palate, an open heart surgery, and now on Wednesday morning she will have the top half of her skull taken off and reshaped because it has fused together too early. Alyssa is not developing normally... she has no motor skills... as in she cannot hold anything, roll over, or sit up... she can giggle at you when you act silly and she looks around... but that is all. The doctors have never given what she has a name, they just say that she has a syndrome. I'm not sure if the doctors don't know what the problem is or if they just don't think Matt and Ashley could handle it. We love Alyssa, she is quite precious, but her future is so shaky... so unsure... so challenging...

Anyway, on top of all of this my mom called to tell me that Ashley is pregnant again. I want to be happy.... I really do... but they are not married and they have an infant with soooo many problems already not to mention the fact that Ashley gets sick every time she takes Alyssa for an appt... how is she going to have a newborn and Alyssa??? On top of that... the genetic testing shows that Ashley's chromosomes are mixed up and my brother has had so much chemo his dr's suggested he not have anymore kids... anyway, do you get my frustration? I'm trying to be supportive, but I don't think they have been very responsible in all of this... It's too much of a risk if you ask me, but what do I know. I guess I would feel differently about it if I had gotten the impression that this was somehow planned, but apparently this baby was a complete surprise... just like Matt's other 3 children. Really, I'm not annoyed in the least... 4 kids, 3 women, it sometimes amazes me that we grew up in the same family. It was great fun explaining to my children that Ashley was pregnant again and fielding the questions regarding marriage, babies, and sin. Now, I don't want anyone to read this blog and think that I'm being a judgemental twit, I'm not, I love my brother, Ashley, and all the kiddos involved, I just really, really hate explaining all of this to my kiddos... I've gotten to be a pro at saying things like 'everyone makes mistakes' and 'yes I know, but we still love uncle matt.' I don't want my kids to think that babies are 'accidents' or 'mistakes' by any means, but I really don't know how to explain it all to them. Rt joked with Matt that he would pay for the vasectomy... I think he may be ready to make the appt and carry him to it.

So... please pray for baby Alyssa, pray for the dr's and the nurses who will be taking care of her. Pray for Matt and Ashley and my parents as they wait patiently for the surgery to be over... pray that there will be a peace about whatever happens. Pray for peace for all of us regarding this new pregnancy... I do know that everything happens according to God's plan and there isn't a lot that I can do about any of it... (see I did learn something this weekend!).