Christmas

My Christmas was good. Friday we were really low on kids (about 25 in the whole day care as compared to 60 some) so I got the day off, then we were closed on Monday. I love four day weekends. Friday night was Aeschleman's at our house. Saturday morning I went shopping in Bloomington for my brother's present and he went shopping in Peoria for mine. I think we had to do the same thing last year. We both wait until the last minute then go to different cities at the same time to get each other's present. Saturday night was our Christmas with just us four. I know I've told a lot of people this story but for the benefit of those who don't know it, I have to fill you in. So I get this big box from Nate. I open it and it's filled with packing peanuts with a much smaller box inside. There were a total of I think 4 boxes. I think it took me a good ten minutes to get to the last box because Nate went a little duct tape happy. But I finally made it to that last box only to find a note inside that said "Maybe you should look inside the bix box again." So I dumped out most of the peanuts and was digging around in them, finding absolutely nothing I was interested in. So I started digging through the ones that were still in the box and finally I noticed at the very bottom of the box, was my present. But of course I couldn't see it because it was completely duct taped to the side. I eventually got it opened and decided it was worth the hassle because it was a CD that I've been wanting for about a year and a gift certificate to the mall. So that was that. Today at work I had my yearly evaluation. It's always stressful when somebody comes in and says to go see the boss because it's my turn. But it was basically what I expected. I made it through just fine. A few weeks ago at a staff meeting we were all informed that people were going to be moving around and we probably wouldn't be in our same rooms or at least not with the same people anymore. So I really wasn't sure what to expect. I really didn't want to get moved to the two's or the pre-k. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay with my toddlers (very sad) so I was hoping it would be the babies or the 3's and 4's. It was pretty much a tossup for me but I think I would pick the older kids for a change. But today I found out I'm going to be in baby room. It will be good I think. I'm just glad it wasn't something that I really didn't want. We start all the new changes Monday.
Well I'm going to Panera tonight with some old ICC people. I don't even know who's going to be there but I need to get ready. Have a lovely day!

Hodel Christmas

Tonight was Hodel Christmas. I got a "Grow it yourself boyfriend". It was pretty funny. Who ever would have guessed that I could stick him in water and in 72 hours I am garaunteed to find true love. How convenient. I also got a blanket that Angie made me, a CD and a gift certificate to the mall but what's that worth when I'm going to be head over heels in love in two days? Now if only he would tell me his name......
I got home tonight and Bekah was on the phone with her sister. Ya know how when we were little everyone would always tell us to keep all four legs of the chair on the floor? Well tonight Beks found out why. Because in the middle of her conversation (as she was tipping backwards in her chair) she tipped a little too far and went flailing to the ground. It was funny. By the way, her and Meika both wanted to say hi to everybody. Okay I have to go wrap a present for my work Christmas party tomorrow. Have a lovely day!

A Good Time Was Had By All

I had a good weekend. Actually Friday night I was feeling a little depressed because I was at home all alone. Oh I had options. There was a Christmas singing in Gridley that I really wanted to go to but I had to make cookies. Tonight is our Christmas program at work and we're having a cookie walk to try and raise a little money. Woo Hoo! New toys! Anyways, we all signed up to help with the baking and at the time I was really excited about it and feeling very motivated and I signed up to bring a lot of cookies. So I was at home all by my lonesome. I made 8 dozen which normally really isn't an extreme amount but when you're working with just one cookie sheet, it is. But I had some good prayer time while I was baking and in the end it turned out not so bad. I baked from 4:30 until 11:00. Then I still had to get up and finish a few things in the morning. Sigh...... but it's all done now and tonight all my efforts will hopefully pay off. Saturday night was the PMO Christmas show. Then we went to Widmer's house and had the following: chili, singing, and a good time. Wow that was really cheesy wasn't it. Sunday was our program at church. The kids did a good job but I'm glad it's over. Last Sunday I was convinced that they were never going to learn their songs but they all pulled it off. In the afternoon/evening a group of us went caroling and had a Christmas singing with our families. Then I had to go home and put the finishing touches on those cookies. Tonight after the Jacob's Ladder program we're having our apartment Christmas. I still don't have my presents wrapped. At least they're bought though. That could be bad. I just need to wrap them. I'm excited to give my person their present. I can't say who I have yet. But if they don't want it, I'll take it. Now I have to go get some addresses for my Christmas cards. It's taking me forever to get them done this year. Usually I whip through them but not this time around. I don't know what my deal is. But I'm getting there. I'm almost done. Okay I'm done yakking now. Have a lovely day!

Whoops

So I'm out shopping with Erin tonight okay? And she has to run by school to pick up her grade and paper or something like that. She's at ICC North. A place where I'm not very familiar with. She told me I could just sit and mess around in the computer lab while she's doing her thing- it shouldn't take that long. So I go into a room with a bunch of computers, log in, and start checking my e-mail and what not. Everybody seems like they kinda know each other or else they're all just really nice and outgoing. But I really didn't think anything of it. Then this guy comes in and gets ready to teach. I continued to just sit there hoping to be unnoticed but it was to no avail. They all figured out that I was the clueless one who didn't know what she was doing. I was in a Microsoft class. They told me I could have stayed and learned about power point, but I skedaddled pretty quick to the next door down where the real computer lab was. Siiggghhhh..... I think my face is still red. Is it just me, or do I seem like the type of person that stupid things happen to?

Posting out of boredom

I really don't have anything much to say but it's been a long time since I posted and I'm kinda bored right now so I guess this is what I'll do. Tomorrow's Friday. Woo Hoo!! Work was good today. I was 15 minutes late because I forgot about having to accomodate for the first snow. Oh well. I only had 7 kids for most of the day and an 8th came later on. But my room looked empty after having 10 yesterday. I filled a couple tubs with fresh snow and took it inside for the kids to play with today. It was fun. Came home and used the treadmill that has been sitting under our stairs since we moved into Queenwood. We finally got it out last night. Then I made quesedillas for supper with leftover turkey. Then I cleaned the kitchen for over an hour. I'm actually still cleaning it but I'm waiting for the 409 to do it's job. Beks just got home. Right now I'm listening to my WOW Christmas CD. Okay I think the countertops are are disinfected by now. Have a splendid day.

Hmmm...

So I'm sitting at the computer when there's a knock at our door. I open it up to find Paul standing there. He says hi, walks in with a big frozen turkey, stuffs it in our freezer, looks at a few pictures and leaves. Odd.....

Stuff

I'm really hungry. I got my oil changed today. I can't remember the last time I did that. It was probably like mud. Jenae is gone for the weekend. I haven't seen Meika since Wednesday. Not sure when she gets back from Maine. We drew names for our apartment Christmas. I wonder who has me......... I've had the same piece of gum for a really long time and it's getting really gross. Only four more months until I go to Jamiaca. Two and a half until I go to Haiti. Three and a half until I go to Florida. I hope my boss doesn't fire me over all that. It's 66 degrees in our house right now. Still hasn't hit 54 yet. I think that's our record. Tomorrow's "Friday"!!!!!!! Did I mention I'm hungry? I guess I'll go remedy that situation.

Math Equasion

6 poopy diapers + countless temper tantrums + 2 rounds of up chuck in 15 minutes + green snotty noses = 1 teacher who's very happy to clock out. Other than that the kids were good and my day was fine.

I Love

Nights like this are the best. Cozy. Four out of five of us were home (Julia's working) We took naps, had supper together, sat and read our books..... But now Meika just got called into work. I guess all good things must come to an end. My weekend was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster. Between the visitation, funeral and all the young group stuff in between, the whole weekend I felt like I was crying one minute and laughing the next. But the stuff that wasn't sad was a lot of fun so I guess my weekend was pretty good. Today was one of those days where it wasn't even 8:00 in the morning and I was already popping advil. It really wasn't a bad day though. I think it was just because of lack of caffiene, lack of sleep and the weather. It couldn't have been too horrible of a day- it was payday! So I got to go to the bank to bug Angie. I need some ideas to give her for my Christmas list. Any suggestions? She gave me a list of like 6 things while I just sat there with a blank look on my face not knowing what I wanted. So this really isn't a very exciting post. Just a little update on the past few days. I'm going to try really hard to be in bed by 10:00 tonight. It's currently 9:21. So we'll see how that goes. Have a lovely day everyone!

A Reason to Celebrate

This calls for a party. Really. After living at the same apartment for more than two years, I now have a key!!! Ever since August of 2003 we have left the doors unlocked at all times. But just recently some fellow roommates got a little freaked out. I kinda wondered why they waited so long to get freaked out but oh well. It never really bothered me unless I thought about what could happen. So I just never thought about it. But now that we actually lock our house I feel free to think about it and I guess I'm glad we have keys. Although it is kinda a pain because I'm so in the habit of just barging through the door. So I find myself putting my hand on the doorknob to go in while I am still walking forward but the door doesn't move like it used to. So I have walked full force into our front door on more than one occasion. But I suppose I'll get used to it. But if you see me and I have a broken nose or something you'll know why.

Praying

Micah Gerber died this morning. He would have been six months old on Friday. For any of you who might know Kirby Leman this is his nephew. I know the family would appreciate any prayers.

Mom's health kick

So the other day I was at my parents and I was looking for a little snack. I opened the cupboard and saw the stuff called soy nut butter. I decided to taste it so I did and my advice to you all is as follows: Stick With The Peanut Butter.

-I think
-Maybe I
-figured out
-what I
-did wrong.

A Tribute

Approximately one year ago there were several of us going through a very emotional time. We had gotten back from being in Florida for Mandy's wedding. It was a great trip by the way. A shout out to Angie and Erin in memory of having to sing at the reception. Fourth try is a charm. All of us at Queenwood were pretty much devastated about the fact that we were no longer in Florida, plus adjusting to life without Mandy. Any small thing could set us off. For example Meika started bawling when she told Rebekah she wasn't able to vote. The mood at our place was very melancholy. Great word, huh? It was about that time that we seriously started considering moving to Florida. And we never gave up on the idea until June 30 when God closed the door very abruptly and tightly. Oh wait- we still haven't given up. Maybe next year...... Anyways, Gab called me up one night. (I was at my parents.) She was literally in tears convinced that I was engaged. I don't know how many times she made me promise that that was not the case. It was a lot later than when I normally get home from my parents and she was completely freaking out. When I did get home she ran to hug me and started sobbing again. It was also the time that the song "I Can't Wait to Be Free" became our apartment song. It came on and Jenae lost it followed by Rebekah. So they all sat there and had a big cry fest. Then told me all about it when I got home that night. The song is still a big part of our apartment.


Take my life and make it clay
Shape this life in intricate ways
I want to be a child of faith
But what my heart wants most
My body turns away
I push Your ways aside and wonder why
I let my pride decide every time

And I can't wait to be free
From this life of mindless sin
It comprimises me
I know one day I will be
There is a victory
That You've won for me
And when you come back again
I'll be free

Turn my eyes to Your face
Let me draw from Your strength
And bathe in Your grace
Let me soar with wings
To win the race
Let me have Your peace
It's not a hopeless chase
But I lose sight of all You have called me to be
It takes so much to drop me to my knees

And I can't wait to be free
From this life of mindless sin
It comprimises me
I know one day I will be
There is a victory
That You've won for me
And when you come back again
I'll be free


So it didn't really relate to what we were going through but I guess it just struck a chord within us. My that was poetic. And I know that Heather just put this song on her blog. I think you can listen to it if you go to hers. But I wanted to put it on mine too. As my tribute to Gab, Jenae, Meika and Rebekah.

Mission Accomplished.

Well we finally got rid of our Christmas tree. Taryn, we really were planning on taking it down to the T house but things changed. We had to borrow a saw from Paul and he said I'm not going to be home but you can come get it. So it was just the perfect opportunity. We really wanted to set it up in his living room but he locked his doors. Smart guy. So we called him with an excuse of why we needed to get into his house. But unfortunately there was no key that was easily accessible because he had all his keys with him. Dumb kid. (That's kind of a term of endearment in my family.) So instead we just set it up in his yard for all the neighbors to see. And we even put my beautiful big colored lights on it. (The ones that nobody else seems to like, but I love them.) Anyways, we sat in the car down the block and waited for him to get home. We only had to wait about two minutes. He pulled in, the lights went off and about 5 seconds later the phone rang. He thought it was funny. He even took our tree for us so we wouldn't have to still worry about getting rid of it. We just thought it was high time seeing we will be getting a new one shortly.....

Shoulda called in sick

When I woke up this morning I was seriously contemplating calling in sick. No I was not actually sick enough to miss work although I did cough all weekend long. But I really didn't feel completely up to par. And I have a ton of sick days racked up because after working at a daycare for five years I have this incredible immune system and I never really get more than a little sniffle or sore throat. Plus I was just really tired because I got to bed about 1:30. (I leave my house at 6:30.) But feeling guilty I pressed on and went to work. Even when I was driving to work I thought about calling in, turning around and going back to bed. But I didn't. I should've. The kids were pretty cranky just because it was Monday. And there's this one little boy who makes the room a completely different place. He's moving up to the next room on Monday and I can't wait. It's just a lot more peaceful when he's not in the room. But this same little boy is the on who has a habit of bringing me his poop in his hand to let me know he needs to be changed. Very frustrating. I went on break today and when I got back I thought the smell of poopy seemed a lot stronger than usual. I looked over and this boy has handfulls of it and is smearing it all over the wall!!!!! I about went ballistic. Partially because I was mad at him, partially because I was even more mad at my assistant teacher. Who, from where she was sitting, had a good view of the whole room but was too oblivious and too into her conversation with the girl covering my break to notice what was going on. And also because even though she's the one who does morning diapers, left me to clean up the kid who had it caked everywhere and even managed to get some on me. I had to bite my tongue pretty hard on that one. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I have two workshops this week which means I get comp time. And my boss scheduled me tomorrow to only work from 7-10. So hopefully it's an easy breezy day. And if it's not, I can hack three hours. I hope....

Quote

Quote of the day: "You know it's bad when you go to bed in one shirt and you're still in it at 5:00 the next evening." - Jenae Sutter 10/20/05 (And yes, she was talking about herself today.)

I see it's been awhile

since I last posted. I guess nothing exciting has happened. My weekend was fairly dull. I didn't go to college weekend or Jeff's cookout. Everyone made it sound like I missed the two biggest events in AC history. I wasn't too bummed about CW. Julia has the CD's which we have already started listening to. But I was really mad at myself that I didn't go to Jeff's. There was a whole slew of people that I would have liked to see. But life goes on and I'll just have to wait until the next big event I guess. Last night was the last of volleyball until next year. I came home and went to bed "early". All of my roommates stayed up until like 1 watching the neighbors have a little dispute. Meika told me about it today when I got home. She took me upstairs and showed me everything that happened. Their window was shattered, stuff on their porch was knocked over and there was blood all over their porch. No, nobody died or anything... it must have been from breaking the window. Appartenly there were 4 cops and an ambulance and they stayed for about two hours taking pictures. While everyone else was spying, I slept right through it. Seriously- I'm amazed that I don't oversleep more that I do. Now I'm going to go read my book. I'm in the middle of The Ishbance Conspiracy by Randy Alcorn. If you haven't read it I would highly recommend it. I feel like it has really opened my eyes and made me more aware of Satan and his tactics. It makes me just want to pound him. But anyways........

I hate zits

I decided I really like this color thing. It's about as creative as I get. So bear with me. This weekend was great. I've been feeling a little on the dry and empty side spiritually lately. Testimonies was just what I needed on Saturday. It was good to listen to someone who was full of "fresh blood". It really gave me a desire to get up and get going again. And I need to give a shout out to Los. The ice cream looked delicious. This morning I got to work and my boss said we had too many teachers for the number of kids we had. So I kindly volunteered to take the day off if she needed me too. I mean, it was rough but somebody's got to do it. I clocked out at 8:30. Early, but I still got almost 2 hours in cause I had to be there at 6:45 this morning. It's just a little earlier than usual but I was really freaked out about waking up on time. I woke up at 1:30 convinced I was late and was half dressed when I realized my alarm wasn't going off for another 4 hours. I'm sure Jenae thought I had lost it completely. But anyways, I went to my parents, read the paper, took a nap then went to my aunt's resturant with Angie, Mandy and Libby. I woke up this morning with a very noticeable zit right on the tip of my nose. Lovely. When I stopped by my parents it was the first thing my dad asked about and then lovingly informed me that it looks like a headlight. I laughed, agreed and took no offense to it. He really is right. Hopefully though it goes away soon. I have a workshop in Peoria tonight. I think I might try to do a little bit of shopping before it starts. It will be my first time venturing into Peoria using the new and improved 74 bridge. Could my life be anymore exciting?!?! Anyways, until next time.....

Randomness

At work if a kid gets hurt we have to fill out an accident report saying what happened, the treatment and then the teacher and the director have to sign it. Sometimes we miss an "owie" or just forget about one and never write up a report. This morning one of the moms dropped off her kids and asked if I had a report from the day before for her little boy who is in my room. (Who happens to be one of my favorites.) I stared at her with a blank look on my face because I didn't know what happened to him. She said "Well, we had to go to the doctor last night because his elbow was out of joint." As soon as she said it I knew exactly when it happened. It was one of those freak things that would take too long to explain how it happened but I was thinking why did it have to be me and not another teacher. She doesn't know it was me but I do and I've kinda been beating myself up all day over the whole thing. I really don't abuse my kids. I feel absolutely horrible about it all. Tonight I went to the Midwest Food Bank to package boxes to send to hurricane victims. It was the first time I had been there and it was pretty cool. I like to think that the boxes we put something a little extra or fun in is a specific answer to somebody's prayer. Maybe not, but in the perfect world that I have in my head, it is. Today was soup and pie day at the church that the daycare is at. We love soup and pie day because the daycare buys us all a meal. So we all fill our trays with whatever our hearts desire and never really worry about the money, calories or about looking like pigs. Because it only happens once a year and it's really good food. I had a BBQ sandwich, a cup of chili, a big piece of chocolate cake and a Pepsi. And I ate every last bite. It was (in the words of my grandma) scrumpdillyicious. I'm really getting in the mood for Christmas music. It happens every year about this time. I always try to wait until after Thanksgiving but I don't know if I've ever actually made it that long. I'm thinking I'll break it out just for a quick fix, then I'll be okay for the next couple months. Until everybody else agrees that Christmas music is appropriate. I personally could listen to it almost all year long. I had to have a quick fix back in July and that held me over until now. I walked into my house tonight and it didn't feel a whole lot warmer than it felt outside. It's about 65 in our house right now. So really it's about 20 degrees warmer that outside I guess. But we're a bunch of cheapos here at Queenwood and the heater usually doesn't go on until it's an Arctic blast in this place. Once it get's to be about 50 in the house we'll finally turn it on. For now we'll just layer ourselves with lots of clothes and blankets. Tomorrow I'm headed to Taylor for Wes and Shanes' baptism. I'm excited. I really like the whole travelling thing but I'm really ready for a weekend when there's nothing going on. I hope that doesn't show a sign of aging. I'll just refer to it as "maturing". Have a good weekend everybody!

Correction

www.osfsaintfrancis.org

By the way...

If you want to see "my" baby you can go to www.saintfrancishospital.org and check out her picture. She was born on the 30th. SHE'S SO CUTE!!!!!!!!

Great Weekend

I had an awesome weekend. I went to the Gridley Choir Sing on Saturday. I didn't really know what to expect but I was kind of excited. But it was really fun. It was fun to be in an organized choir again, but unlike high school, everybody there wanted to and could sing. We recorded, then after supper had an evening program where all of the special groups sang. I was planning to be in one, but when I got there Saturday morning I somehow got roped into a second one. We have sung together before but not since our Mother/Daughter banquet in May. AAAUUUGGGHHH! But it went pretty good. Then Sunday after the second service we sang all our group songs for the whole church. I'm really excited for the CD's to get done but I don't think that's happening till almost Thanksgiving. Sunday night was our Roanoke family hymn sing and Psalm 100 was the special group invited. They had been at Gridley and I found out they didn't have supper plans. So a group of us from R-oke went to The Pizza Place with them before the singing. That was a lot of fun too. I was supposed to go to a friend's house after the singing for a fire but I was exhausted. Who knew singing all weekend could wear you out so much. So I copped out of the festivites and came home to bed. My alarm went off all too soon this morning. But work went pretty good. A lot better than it did on Friday. And if Monday is a good day it usually sets the stage for the rest of the week so I'm hoping for the best. Have a lovely day!

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

Well Mandy had her baby this afternoon at 3:32. She's 6 lbs. 6oz. and is 18 1/2 inches long and has a lot of black hair. Her name is Liberty Joy. It's because Mandy works with some Alzheimer's patients at a nursing home and one of the lady's names is Liberty. She was really enthralled with the baby and would feel Mandy's belly and sing to it and all that good stuff. So she told Dustin about her and he really liked the name. So that's what they went with. I think they're going to call her Libby. Tonight me, Bekah and Paul went to the hospital to see her. She was in the nursery when we got there so we didn't get to hold her right away. But we got to hold her when she was about 4 hours old. I think that's the youngest baby I've ever held. She was so cute. Seriously- some babies are ugly but she's not and I really don't think it's just because I'm biased. She's absolutely adorable. I just want to go back the the hospital and hold her for a really really long time. But I can't. Mandy's doing good too. She's tired, but she's holding up fine. Then we were going to leave and I realized that I locked my keys in my car. I guess I was just really excited to get into the hospital cause my driving was bad the whole way there. But anyways, my uncle Brad (the proud new grandpa) and Paul managed to get it open for me. After "borrowing" a couple antennaes from other people's cars and ripping a piece of rebar out of a crumbled parking block they broke in. It was kinda funny. But now I need to get some sleep. It's been ahwile since that's happened. I just had to brag up the baby for awhile.

Yadda yadda yadda

Just so you all know, I really was planning on posting today. Luke's comment on my last post is not what is making me do this. Lesse, what's happened since about a week ago. Taylor invite was great, but I'm not going to say much about it because everybody and their mother's brother has already talked about it on their blogs. It was fun to see Jenae's family and hang out with her mom Saturday night. Monday night Mandy called and said she wanted to come hang out. Dustin has been working third shift, so she dropped him off at work, came here to spend the night and then picked him back up again. She had to get up and leave at 3:45 from our place but I guess she didn't really want to leave him stranded. Then Tuesday night I practiced with a special group that I'm in for the Gridley choir singing thingy. It wasn't my idea for this group and I was kinda complaining to my mom about it. After she got done laughing at me for getting roped into it (seriously laughing, like all out snorting cause she was laughing so hard) she told me to get over my pride and go make a joyful noise. So I guess that's what I'll do. And once we got going it was more fun than I thought it would be. After practicing me and Rebekah spent the night with Mandy at their house. All of a sudden we just all wanted to see each other before she has the baby. Which is tomorrow. She was supposed to be in the hospital by 4:00 today to get induced but she proabably won't get around to having the baby until tomorrow. It's just weird. A year ago we were still living with her. Now she's married and almost a mom. But I'm excited. So that's my life for the past week. The next time I post it will prolly be all about the baby. YAY!!!

The Cow Says.....

There were a few funny things that happened today at work. It was one of those days where it's only 7:15 in the morning and they're already bouncing off the walls. First, you know those toys that we all loved when we were little? Okay maybe I still love them. Anyway, the one with all the animals and the lever thingy on the side? And you pull the lever and it tells you what sound the animal makes that it's pointing to? That was always one of my favorites. Well today I was helping one of my kiddos pull the handle and I decided that the toy has seen it's better days. Because the cow said quack. Then we were out on the playground and one of the little girls had a handful of dirt that she was trying to brush off. She wasn't having much luck so she stopped, looked at her hand for awhile, then just gave it a big lick. Then after lunch we were in the gym. One of the boys was running as hard as he could and ran right smack dab into the wall. He hit his forhead and bounced back a good two or three feet. I had to stop laughing before I went over to help him. Seriously- he was looking right at the wall but just kept going. You really have to learn to find humor in these types of things. Otherwise I would never make it through the day.

Sorry it's been so long

I'm really not trying to make up excuses as to why it's been so stinking long since I've posted anything but I've just been really busy. I have stuff going on every night last week and this week and I just have been putting this off. But I've had a great time reading all the comments about the Christmas tree.
Anywho, I hadn't really been looking forward to this past weekend. I wasn't not looking forward to it, I just wasn't excited for it. Friday night some Roanoke people came down to Morton which is a very rare occurence. We had supper at The Brick Oven and then went to the Pumpkin Fest for a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard. Good stuff. Me and Erin decided to split a BBQ chicken pizza cause they're pretty big. We could only get a 12 inch. So we got it and were pretty excited cause we really like BBQ chicken pizza. But it was disgusting. Something about the sauce was weird. So that was kinda dissapointing. I hate spending money on stuff I don't even like. She spent the night and then we went to the parade on Saturday before we went back to Roanoke and ate at my aunt's resturant. (I never know how to spell that word so don't worry about it if it's wrong.) Then we had to go to the fellowship hall to set up for the elderly supper given by the young group on Sunday. It was a blast. All the old people were absolutely hilarious. Me and Amy Hohulin snagged the table full of single girls (most of them were over 80). We didn't actually talk to them a whole lot but it was really fun just watching them interact with each other. They were just like us only older. Making fun of each other, talking about clothes, talking about boys (not that we would ever do that)..... it was a lot of fun though. But I was glad to get home and go to bed. Me and my brother had stayed up talking until 2 am Saturday night and missed out on our Sunday afternoon naps because of the supper. That was another highlight of the weekend. Getting to talk to him for that long. Then last night we had Mandy' baby shower at my parent's house. She had so many presents that they were overflowing out of the living room to where I couldn't even open the front door all the way. It's crazy to think of her and Dustin being parents. Whoda thunk? But I'm getting pretty excited for the baby to come. Except sometimes I think I got jipped on the whole relationship there. I mean, how much fun is it to get in a baby's face and be like "Hi punkin who's your favorite double first cousin once removed?" Seriously- between living with Mandy for two years and Dustin being more like a brother than a cousin..... I totally got jipped.
So that's my recap of the past few days. Sorry it's not too exciting. Have a lovely day today!

Suggestions?

Anybody have any good ideas on what we can do with our Christmas tree? Yes, we still have it outside in the back of our duplex. I'm sure the neighbors are horrified. We'd like to get rid of it before this Christmas so we can get a new one.

I hate coming up with titles

Just a little update on my life cause it's been a few days since I posted anything. Friday night was the Purdue sing. It was good, but it's getting the point where a lot of people I know have moved on and are no longer around so I didn't know near as many people as I used to. But the singing was really good. I love going to singings where even though you sing at the top of your lungs you still can't hear yourself because everybody else is doing the same thing. Got up Saturday about 11:30 after going to bed at 4:00. I didn't do much that afternoon except mess around on the computer and scrub the bathroom and kitchen floor. Fun stuff, huh? But then that night was the Jr. High Girl's Camp reunion in Gridley which was a lot of fun. A few of us counselors from Roanoke were all carpooling and had a few Roanoke campers along with us. And I just had to think "Oh to be 14 again." Looking back at how cool and smart I thought I was at that point in my life and seeing the girls in that stage now just really made me smile. I won a prize at the reunion which was a pumpkin that had been used for decorations. So nothing to exceptional but I am now proudly displaying it on our front porch for all to see. Except that it's kinda hard to see because it's pretty small. Oh well.
Yesterday at work we had all the kids down ready for nap. They were settling down and we were just getting ready to shut off the lights and put them to sleep when the fire alarm went off. One of the 3 year olds decided to pull it on her way inside from the playground. So we just used it as our monthly fire drill. Hopefully next time she gets the urge to pull it she will chose a more convenient time. Then today at work I was cutting out a picture for my fall classroom decorations (not paying as much attention to the kids as I should have been) and a girl walked up to me with her bloomers in one hand and her diaper in the other. Whoops. But thank goodness I caught her before she did anything on the carpet. Things could have been bad. But they weren't. Just funny.
Now I'm going to try to make a chicken pot pie for supper. I don't even really like chicken pot pie that much. But last week it sounded really good so I got all the stuff for it. Now it doesn't sound that great anymore but I already have everything so I guess I'll go ahead and make it anyways.

Side note

It is still cheaper to buy one gallon of gas than it is to buy one pack of cigarettes. Gas: 2.93/gallon. Cigarettes: 3.54/pack. As of 9/8/05. And also today is my cousin's birthday. Happy Birthday Jodi!

Open mouth, insert leg

So Friday night at my suprise party they brought out a few presents for me to open. Beks told them that just being there with them was a good enough present (which I agreed to) but they apparently wanted to get me something anyway. You know you when you get a gift you kinda feel it a little and try to guess what it is? Well the first one I knew was a candle. The second one I knew was a bag of candy, but the third one I was clueless. I opened it and the picture on the box was one of those things that is filled with water and oil, tinted blue with dolphins swimming it it. Something to represent the ocean. I asked if that's what it was, because if it was I wasn't going to open the box and get everything out. Somebody said no it's not. And I was like, Oh good. So it's not one of those presents where you're like oh- thaaanks. But you really don't like it, you just pretend you do. So I proceeded to open it up to see what was really in the box........... whoops. That's really what it was. Needless to say, I felt like I did more than put just my foot in my mouth. But we all had a good lllllooooonnnnnnggggg laugh about the whole thing.

Wow, Wow, Wow

Okay, Deep breath...... So Saturday (the 3rd) was my birthday. I was kinda bummed out because Bekah and Jenae were both going home for the weekend and Meika and Julia were both working that night. My brother was going to Oregon and even my parents had made plans. I was like, seriously people, I know it's only a birthday but you could at least pretend you wanted to celebrate it with me. So my cousin Erin was getting a group of people to go out to eat at Olive Garden and then we were going to go to a young group girls night afterwards. So I was okay with that and I was starting to get excited about hanging out with a few of my friends. Thursday night Beks made me my favorite- chocolate cupcakes with white frosting and sprinkles- because she wasn't going to be around on Saturday. I went to bed around midnight and the next thing I know Beks is waking my up telling me that she has something to show me for my birthday suprise. I was pretty out of it, but I was also pretty compliant considering the time and that I had just got woken up. I made a stop at the bathroom where the clock said 5 am and I was like "Am I going to have time to get a little more sleep before work?" She said yeah, here's you flip flops and glasses, let's go. So I followed her, the whole time being completely bewildered. We were driving down the road and I was throwing every idea out there trying to guess what was going on. By the way, the clock in her car said 4 am and I thought that was a little fishy the it was different from the bathroom and so I looked at my phone and it was 2AM! I finally guessed that we were going to Erin's but the best I could come up with was a suprise birthday breakfast, which I really wasn't too excited about. We got to Erin's where I found out that Bekah wasn't really going home for the weekend. They were suprising me with a trip to Florida! I was hoping to go down over Labor Day weekend anyways, but it just wasn't working out because people couldn't go. Beks had packed for me while I was sleeping and had all my stuff in her trunk. And she did a very good job too. Every time I thought of something, convinced she would have forgotten it, she whipped it out. So we're on the way to Sarasota, Florida- one of my very favorite places in the world- and they won't tell me a thing. I didn't know who was picking us up, where we were staying, what we were doing that night... nothing. Our good friend Jeremy was at the airport to pick us up and they informed me that I had all day to pick whatever I wanted to do. We hadn't eaten lunch so we went to Applebee's and then went and hung out at the beach for awhile. We were really close to Millie's house (who is another good friend- all us roommates stayed with her last October for a few days) and I wanted to stop by to say hi and clean up before we proceeded to our evening plans. Which I didn't know what they were yet- I had been informed that everybody was busy and I wouldn't get to see anybody until Saturday sometime. So after a little convicing we went to Millie's. It's always good to see her and to talk to her. She is a very amazing, wonderful, inspirational lady who always has something encouraging to say. Then we left to go check out some shops and while we were there Millie called to see if we wanted to go back to her place for supper. So we did and lo and behold guess who really didn't have plans? Everybody! They all showed up for a suprise party for me. We ended up staying at Millie's which was the plan all along, but they had me convinced that we were staying at a Holiday Inn. Another thing I wasn't too excited about. I thought of all the people we know and could have stayed with, WHY IN THE WORLD ARE WE STAYING AT A STINKING HOTEL?!? But anyway, there's a lot of detail I'm leaving out. So much went on- so many lies to cover up so that I would be suprised about so many different things. They fessed up and told me everything they lied about. It was pretty funny. It meant so much though. I can't say how much it meant. Between everybody here at home that made plans, bought tickets, got me off work and everything else, and everybody down there who planned everything for me, it honestly nearly brings me to tears when I think of how much they did for me. I have some awesome friends. I feel like I kinda jumped around a lot so you might be a little confused, but I went to bed last night at 3:15 and got up and 4:30 so I'm running on not much sleep. So I'm gonna go take a nap know, but I just had to tell everyone about my great weekend and my awesome friends.

Question for Everyone

This has possibly been one of the most common things to debate about here in central Illinois. Are they Special K bars? Or are they Scotcharoos? If you ask me, it's definitely Special K. But I'm beginning to think that the only people who call them Special K are those of us from Roanoke. Bekah is making some right now which is what triggered my deep question of the day.

Just a Reminder

NOTE TO SELF: When doing laundry, it is necessary to put detergent in the washing machine before it goes through a complete cycle. Otherwise your clothes will not be clean, just wet.

Attitude

So last night we had our annual supper for Sunday School teachers. For the primary grades in Roanoke (which would be me) we have a four year term. This will be my last year. Three years ago I thought I'd never see this day but all of a sudden it's here. Anyways, Mark Strietmatter was there to have the little encouraging talk that we always get. He mentioned how his 4 year old daughter pretty much thinks her Sunday School teachers walk on water and talked about how much impact we really have whether we know it or not. So why do I always struggle with a bad attitude? Why do I feel picked on because I'm the one having to teach Sunday School and not some other girl? These kids are excited to be there and I'm not. That's unfair to them. They want to learn, I should want to teach. I feel more excited about it all this year than I have in the past. Hopefully I can stay like that throughout the whole year. Because I know that I'm going to look back and miss it a lot more than I ever thought I would.

A Cup of Sugar

Sometimes I get a little discouraged because things aren't like they used to be when neighbors were really neighborly instead of just there. And people could borrow a cup of sugar without having to sign a contract first. But I have really nice neighbors. I just got back from borrowing muffin tins. I was expecting to get one or maybe two. I got 3 big ones and 3 little ones to choose from. What nice people. We have also borrowed eggs, a crockpot and a saw to name a few. They are always happy to help us out. It's nice to be reassured that the world isn't all bad.

You Know......

YOU KNOW YOU WORK AT A DAYCARE WHEN......

-you can show up to work in your seatpants and slippers and nobody thinks anything of it
-you are really good at tuning out noise
-when someone else things a child says "aslgeiwos;h" you know good and well that the child was saying "he took my toy"
-it is very normal to have a conversation about poop at work
-you know every brand of diaper there could be and you even have a favorite
-you spend time googling for Sesame Street clip art
-you buy a brand new set of crayons and markers for yourself at least twice a year
-sure you can quote movies, that is, if they involve a big purple dianosaur or a blue spotted dog
-almost every shirt you own has dried crusty snot on the shoulders
-you tell people you have to "go potty"
-you find it perfectly normal to get puked on
-you see a child face plant into the carpet and you walk away while you tell them to get up, you're fine

Be a Hero

So I just gave blood about an hour and 1/2 ago. So now I'm feeling all heroic and stuff. I was doing fine but all of a sudden I'm feeling a little woozy. I really need to go do stuff for this weekend cause I'm leaving for the Leo sale right after work tomorrow and won't be coming back to Morton. But I'll probably just end up taking a " little nap" which will turn into like, 2 hours, then I'll be wired, then I won't be able to sleep tonight, then I'll be mad that I took such a long nap then I'll finally fall asleep a few hours before the alarm goes off, then I'll be dragging all day at work tomorrow because I couldn't sleep at night, then I'll be crabby the whole way out to Leo....... maybe I should just forgo the nap thing.
Oh by the way- because I was a walk-in at the Bloodmobile, I got a certificate for a free 5 oz. cone at DQ and one of those rubber braclet things. It says GIVEBLOOD. It's the first one I've ever owned and it's a freebie.

I've been without a computer for a couple days now and it has kind of been a rude awakening as to how much my life revolves around the internet. Kinda sad, really. Oh well. So last night I was really wanting to go play volleyball. I haven't been there in over a month and me and Erin were going to go play. But I found out that I had this birthday party to go to for my grandma so of course I went there. I thought, "No big deal, we can just go over to Jeff's a little bit late." But my grandparents had this video of their Alaska trip that they went on for their 50th anniversary. (How sweet) They bought it on their cruise ship and really wanted us all to see it. We asked grandpa how long it was and he thought it was about 20 or 30 minutes. Well it ended up being about an hour and 15 minutes. People were dropping like flies- all sacked out on the floor. I mean, it was interesting for awhile but for an hour and 15 minutes???????? I can hardly sit through a movie I really like that long let alone a documentary thingy.
I went to Roanoke for church tonight instead of Washington because I had a Sunday School meeting. It's starting up again next week. Craziness. But now somebody's bugging me for the computer so I better stop gabbing.

The Woes of Mondays

So I decided that if I'm going to have a blog I should probably post more than once a week. Cause that's annoying to always check somebody's blog only they NEVER post. I hope nobody's expecting anything to deep though. I'm just not a real deep person. I guess every now and then I have some profound thought, but all that stuff just usually stays in my own head. Anyways, the weekend was good. Friday was games at Linden ( a group home for handicapped people), Culvers, then people came to my house. Saturday morning I thought I would wake up at a decent time but my phone rang at 10:30 and I was still completely out. Saturday night me and my cousin Erin had people over for pizza, games, singing....... we weren't really expecting a crowd but ended up with about 40 people. Last night I went out to Texas Roadhouse with Erin's family. It's always nice having an aunt and uncle that are more like your parents. They pay for everything when you're together. And I had a bunch of leftovers but Angie called me from work today and was like "Do you have any food at your house? I didn't bring a lunch." So of course being the good friend I am I let her go to my house at lunch time and eat my leftovers. Not that I could have done anything to stop her- I was 1/2 hour away. Last night when I got home somehow me and Beks got motivated to move all of mine and Jenae's stuff to Gab's old room. Woo hoo! Now me and Jenae don't have to walk into each other every time we turn around. We have some breathing room now. It was kinda sad though to leave my room. Even though I've only been in there for two years I got pretty attatched to it. But I'm already feeling a little attatched to my new room. Something about having my not having to share one closet.........
So I don't really know how to end this so, uh................ And I just realized that the post has nothing to do with the title. Oh well.

Congratulations to Me

I now officially have a blog. I never thought I'd see the day. I kinda feel like a nerd for actually having one but oh well. Yesterday in church we heard about bearing each others burdens. So now you all can help me bear my burden of nerdiness.
Anywho, I just got back from vacation and am trying to get back into the swing of things. I'm pretty much vacationed out. Here was my month of July:
4th of July weekend I took a bus trip to Atlanta with the Roaonke YG. The next weekend I was in Florida. The next weekend I went camping with my roommates Friday night, went to Indiana for a Mexico reunion Saturday night then Sunday went to Leo for a week. I was home for a few days then left for our family vacation to Kentucky Lake. Got home Saturday night and pretty much I have just been trying to catch my breath since then. Next week my work schedule goes back to normal which makes me very happy. Yesterday in afternoon church I was having an ADD moment and counted up the days I actually slept in my own bed between July 1 and August 7. The grand total was 12. So needless to say I'm glad to be back. But anyways I'm rambling which is what happens when I sit at a computer and type. And half the time it really doesn't make sense. So I'm gonna go now. I seem to have a caffiene headache. That's what I get for drinking Mt. Dew everyday for the past week and a half and not having any pop today. I best go find something to remedy my problem.