Countdown

All last week we had VBS. Eric and I did the Floating Finale each day. I thought it was going to be awkward and a pain in the butt. It was only awkward the first day. It was fun doing something with Eric and the kids really seemed to like it. Our children's ministry is about to start doing Awana. I think it's going to be really great and it will help me get involved on Sunday nights. Of course, I won't be able to go to the church service Sunday night, but I'll be helping kids. I want to help the youngest group. I don't remember what they're called but they're the 2 and 3 year olds. That might mean I'll have to wipe bottoms.
I've got a lot to do before we leave for Jackson Thursday. I've got to get the house clean (i.e. wash clothes, wash dishes, sweep, and vacuum), pack, and try to get all my work that's due when we're gone done. I could do it while we're there, but I don't really want to. Then again, it might be an excuse to stay in if I'm tired or don't feel good.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

So I am definitely NOT a gardener. Basically everything I touch dies within a week. I call myself a brown thumb. Recently my parents came down and did some landscaping for us. Some of it is actually growing.

The first canna is up and there's one bud on the way.

There are also some daylillies springing up.

However, how in the world do you get grass out of your flowerbeds?

Catch Up

It has been a long time. I'm about to start my third year teaching Kindergarten. I'm taking my second Masters class at William Carey. I know I'm a nerd, but I'm so excited that I'm taking classes again and have homework to do. One of my assignments has me reviewing 10 websites. I thought it was goin to be a pain in the butt, but I'm actually loving it. These websites are providing me with so many new and fun ideas to use. All this work gives me something to do with my day. Not that taking care of Kaleb is a cake-walk. Except that it is. Kaleb is the best baby in the world. I don't know what I did to get such a chillaxed baby. Eric and I are still in Waynesboro but it's getting better and better. Well, it was. The person I consider my best friend in Waynesboro taught Kindergarten with me last year. That was great because we got to see each other 6 days a week (she goes to church with us) but now she's staying at home to be a mom. I'm glad for her, but sad for me. She was kind of my only link to the world of Waynesboro and now she's gone. I know that everyone here has friends out the wazoo because they all grew up together but I feel all alone sometimes. I don't get invited to do things with them because I'm still considered an outsider, a new girl, an afterthought.
We're going to the Virgin Islands in a few weeks with Eric's parents and his brother. We're taking Kaleb with us, which should be quite an experience. He'll be flying an riding a boat in the same day. It'll be fun once we get there but the trip will be miserable. I'm seriously considering giving him some Benadryl in his bottle before we take off. I know. That sounds horrible and it probably is. Kaleb may do great since he's so go-with-the-flow. Hopefully I'll have some good stories after that trip.

Edward

So I've been reading the Twilight series and I'm officially obsessed. The thing about Edward is that the only thing he wants more than her blood is her. It's so self-sacrificing. That, and that he's totally unattainable makes him beyond desirable.

I'm SOOOO Multicultural

I like White Russians, Daquiris, Martinis, and other stuff I haven't tried yet. I'm sooooo multicultural. I can experience the world from the comfort of my own liquor cabinet.

8. Watch a musical on Broadway from a center seat.
9. Live in another country.
10. Visit every state in the United States.

(Those are the three things I want to do before I die that I left out last time.)

My classroom is trying to come together. There are some things that can't be finished until my kids get there, so I'm doing everything I can now. School starts a week from Thursday. I can't believe how fast summer came and went. That's what I had been looking forward to all last year and now it's almost over. Crazy. I'm SO excited about teaching Kindergarten. I expect that I'll have to stay later and prepare for class more, but that it'll be worth it when my kids can read at the end of the year. It's an amazing feeling knowing that, in some way, you have impacted 20 kids every year. I want to be an amzing teacher. I want people to see how excited I am and I want it to transfer to my students. I have some goals this year.

1. Be positive. I think that the praise pockets will force me to do this because I'll have to look for things to be postive about. Eventually, I'll think positively naturally.
2. Document everything. I'm still trying to come up with a way to do this so that it doesn't take up all my time.
3. Be consistent. The whole tone of the year is set in the first few days. I have to be consistent and expect my students to follow my rules. I'm not there to be their friends. That would just be a benefit.
4. Make more parent contacts. The only way to get parents to trust you is to let them know what's going on.

To people who aren't teachers, just take my word for it that this is all really difficult to do.

"Screw You!" Says My Checking Account

We have started watching "Heroes" in preparation for the new season that starts September 22. Neither of us have ever seen an episode so we started from episode one Saturday and stayed up watching the first two discs until 4 am. Then we returned them and got the second two discs. We watched all of them yesterday and I'll get the last two discs today. That's $19.20 in three days on movies. Our money just flies out of our pockets. I don't understand how we're always negative by the middle of the month. Neither of us have car notes, loans, or anything else like it, but we're still broke as a joke. I realized that I live at my parents income level because that's how I've been raised. I think that allowances are a key component to good money management. I got one and was really good at managing my money....until I got married. I've noticed that grownups who didn't get allowances as kids tend to not know how to spend their money. If you're married to one it's pretty much impossible to change. We have a budget, but it's just a piece of paper on our fridge.