Christmas Break Rocks

Actually I've been a little bored this past week. Most people had family plans, Nate and Jamie have been in Michigan and I've just been sitting home for most of the week. There's only so many computer games I can play before I'm about bored to tears. But, things are looking up from here on out. Friday night I hung out with Jason and Bekah. We went to Applebees and then back to their place. I love it when friends have gift cards and say "hey, we got it" Thanks guys! Saturday I had a lunch date with Angie Lug. Good to see her again. Saturday night was pizza and games at Dustin and Mandy's. Homemade pizza which is even better. Tonight we had Aeschleman family game night at my aunt and uncles. It was a lot of fun. I corrupted my grade school cousins by teaching them how to play MASH. Great times. Tomorrow is a lunch date with Erin D, overnight at Queenwood with Gab, then Queenwood girls get together, then spending the next night at Katrina's...... it will be busy but it will be fun. It's nice to have the two weeks for all the friends that I put off the rest of the year and tell them "Wait till Christmas".
I had Monical's tonight for supper. It was delicious. And, that's all I got for now. Sorry it wasn't a more exciting post.
OH! This is exciting though. I'm posting from my very own computer! YAY! Now I just have to figure out how to work it.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime!

This internet has been in and out and I had a nice long post and as soon as I hit publish it quit working. So we'll see how this goes. So far so good for my break. I love being able to spend some quality time with my family. Last night we had Hodel Christmas at Gpa and Gma's. My cousins rock. See, there's this a capella group we like called Chapter 6. And I particularly like one of the members of the group, maybe a little more than the others. Okay, I'm a groupie. Anyways, last weekend they were performing at the Roanoke-Benson High School. And I wanted to go really really really bad. I almost made the trip just for that but didn't. So I said to give the group my love and that was that. Well, last night they (Angie, Erin, Krisit and Mandy) suprised me with a signed copy of one of their CD's. Not just signed. Signed "To Sarah". AND Angie took a video on her phone of my favorite guy talking to me. So, like I said, I totally felt like a groupie. But I loved it. Not just because of the present itself, but because of the love and effort that went into it. Cheesy, I know, but true. Thanks girls- you're the best!
Tonight Nate and Jamie and Haley came out and we had our own little Christmas. I got a watch and a BP gift card. The gift card came with a box of southern Georgia pecans. I gave the pecans back. Don't ever give me nuts for a present. I will give them back to you. Nuts are gross. With the exception of peanuts, pistachios, and once in a while almonds. But otherwise nuts are gross.
The day after Christmas, me and dad are going to go computer shopping for me. Hip Hip Hooray! That will be exciting, I'm sure. Until I write the check. Then it won't be quite so exciting.
Okay, well, I had pictures uploaded onto here from my parents computer. And I was really excited that I figured out how to do it. But then I couldn't figure out how to put it where I wanted and write what I wanted by the pictures. I hate being technologically impaired. More like technologically incompetent. Maybe, once I get my computere, I can take it to someones house (ahem, Angie) and they can show me how to do all I ever want to know.
All right I need to go to bed now. I guess I don't need to. It's not like I have a lot to do tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'm going to do the rest of my break. You can come visit me if you want. Or tell me where you live and I'll come visit you.
Okay, bye.

12:22 and all is well

It's after midnight, I should be in bed fighting the chest cold I feel coming on, but I'm not. I've been go, go, go, go, go pretty much ever since I got home from Mexico. And I just wanted to take a few minutes to sit at the computer. Is that so bad? I posted a few days ago but I must not have hit the publish button because it never showed up. Do you want to hear my list that I had to get done this week? Organize play costumes, iron play costumes (I cheated and threw them in the dryer), set up for the play, get kids presents bought and wrapped, get kids stockings bought and stuffed, buy family presents, (don't tell them, but I haven't got too far on that one - they're not getting too much anyways), finish Christmas cards, mail cards, do play programs, clean preschool, put everything in preschool back where it belongs, pray preschool dries out and quits smelling so bad, clean house, get microphone to work for play, do laundry, do preschool parent presents (haven't started them yet) pack for a two week break, and that might be all. I'm not complaining. I'm just feeling overwhelmed. That flood kinda threw me for a loop. It took up a lot more time and energy that I really wanted to use at the moment. But we're back in the preschool and burning lots of candles and using lots of glade plug ins.
I was working on costumes and Jena was heading to bed. She said "When are you going to bed?" I said "I don't know" (I said that with a weary sigh) She said "June?" Hmm... seems that way at this point. Part of it's my own fault for not being the most organized person in the world. Okay, I'm just rambling when I could be going to sleep. So, I'm done now.

Gotta love them floods

Well, the preschool flooded yesterday. While falling asleep to the pouring down rain I knew it probably would. And then six in the morning, JR was pounding on our door because they needed to call Mike because it flooded and the phones weren't working. So I threw on my shoes and went over, not sure what to expect, hoping it wasn't as bad as last time. No such luck. It was much worse than last time. So after hauling a bunch of toys over to the fellowship hall, Mike, JR and another guy set to work with the shop vacs. They cleaned it out pretty good and we were on the way to a dry preschool. Then Kerwin came over to do something today, called over to the fellowship and said "Uh, it's flooding again." (It was raining again) So, I don't know if we'll get back in there before Christmas break. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with that, the Christmas play and everything else that's going on. It's times like these that I think it's a good thing I don't have a family to take care of because I can hardly keep my own issues in order.
In other news, Publix opened yesterday about a mile from my house. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a grocery store. I went there today and it was great fun.
I'm really cold. I'm gonna go.

It's Raining

A lot. But, it was almost 70 degrees today. Quite a bit warmer than IL. I don't really like it to be that warm though. Not now. Not when it's winter time and Christmas is almost here and I like to wear all my really cozy clothes.
I need new glasses. And new contacts. I'm on my last pair of contacts, which are pretty old and dirty, and one of the kids at work broke my glasses right before I left for Mexico. I need to make an eye appointment, but I just keep forgetting. And, I want to pick out new glasses, but I like to have someone there who can tell me what looks good and what doesn't. Because, I can find something that I think looks okay, but it's no secret that I'm no fashion guru. A lot of times what I think looks just fine, I find out later that it doesn't. Not so much with clothes, but with things like glasses. So if anyone wants to come to Alabama and help me pick out some new glasses, I would appreciate it. So what do you think? More wire rims? Plastic? Dark color? Light color? Oval? Rectangular? I'm just so confused.
Well, looks like my time is about up on this computer. Until next time.....

Whirlwind Weekend

We went up to IL this weekend for Mark Klaus and Bekah Wenger's wedding. I think there was maybe 17 Athens people that made the trip- very commendable to them! Anyways, most of the group left Friday afternoon about 1:30. Me, Jena, Jessica Edelman and Trent Stiedinger (lives in Birmingham) left about 5:30. We had to go to Fairbury first to drop off Jessica and Trent, then headed for Morton. By that time I was getting pretty tired cause I drove the whole way and it was 2:20 am and the snow was drifting across the road and I was just ready to be there. But I got pulled over in El Paso. And he may have been the nicest cop I've ever met. I said "I'm sorry, I've been on the road since 5:30 and still have almost an hour to go. He was super nice, didn't give me a ticket, and we were back on our way to Morton. Got in about 3:00. By the time we were settled in and everything, it was probably about quarter till four until I fell asleep. Beks was the first one to wake me up at about 9. I told her I'd call her back when I was awake. About the time I fell back asleep, Julia called me to tell me she was engaged and in the driveway with Shane. So I said forget it, and got up. Had some quality time at Queenwood before I headed to Roanoke. Spent the afternoon with my family- we have become boring. Nobody really talked, we just all sat there and watched Haley play on her blanket. The wedding was good, but I wish I would have had more time to talk to people. We were first in line then ate and booked out. We made it back to Athens about 11:45. And we stopped and took our Christmas picture on the way. And I think it's fun. They might be a little blurry, but they're fun. Hopefully I'll be getting those out shortly. Does anybody have a guess if I say we took them in Metropolis? Anyways, I'm very tired today. And I realized this weekend I've become a real weenie in the cold weather. Oh, my breaks over. Bye

Mexico

Okay, now would be a really good time for me to have my own computer so I could put pictures on it and stuff like that. But I don't. So, my blog continues to be just words. But, I like words too. Um...... Mexico was really good. I'll try to just talk about a few highlights rather than write a book. Friday I flew to Tuscon, met up with Kristi and we stayed at a hotel. The bus picked us up Saturday morning and by the time we got to CVE it was probably about 4:00 in the afternoon. Saturday and Sunday were pretty relaxing, just being there, hanging out, talking to people. Monday and Tuesday were boring, work wise. Did some painting and a few odds and ends jobs but not much. Wednesday was a favorite day. Me, Kristi and Erin got to spend the whole day in the kitchen helping prepare the food for the Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lot of fun. I have never stuffed a turkey before, but now I haved and I loved it. The best part was taking the inards out of it. Thursday was some more odds and ends jobs, and Thursday night we got to eat all the stuff we made, and then some. And it was good. Mmmmmmm....... Friday some of us went hiking. Now, I've only been down there once before, about four years ago. We went hiking then too, and I didn't think it was too bad. So I wanted to go again. My mistake- different mountain- a lot harder than I anticipated. I'm still feeling it. But, of course, getting to the top was worth the hard work. And the trip back down was a blast. We left Friday about 3:00. It was hard to leave, but I also wanted to be able to talk to my family, so it was okay. Stayed in another hotel with Kristi and flew out Saturday morning. Probly the best part was just being able to spend a week with my cousins. Although I did get to meet some great people. And even though I've always thought CVE was a great thing, now I feel like I have a whole lot better understanding of their vision you could say. After seeing the kids and going into town and seeing the people, I get it a lot more. The worst part about coming home? I had a voicemail reminding me of a dentist appointment that I had today (Monday). But, thankfully, no cavities for now. As opposed to last time when I had six. So, it's back to the grindstone. I need to go back over to the preschool now and try to catch up all the work I didn't do last week. So, until next time, I love you all,

I went to the gym and now I'm too tired to think

But I realize it's been way too long since I've posted. So I'll try to think of something. I'm going to Mexico next weekend. I'm pretty excited. A little anxious because it's not Jamaica. I know Jamaica. I know what to pack, what to expect, what it looks like, where I'll be....... I'm going to Magdalena and I've been there once before but it's been about four years. And I know it's changed a lot since then. And I don't really know the team. But I am really excited about the ones I do know. I'm excited to spend the week with Kristi, Jared, Herb and Erin. That will be good.
Tomorrow's potluck day at church. I'm making mixed veggies with buttered breadcrumbs. I'm still getting teased about the last time I made them (last Christmas) so we'll just see how it goes. But I thought I was going to miss potluck day because of Mexico and I'm not and that makes me happy.
I got a lot accomplished today. I had a big list of things to do and have them almost all done. Well, my errands anyways. I have one more stop to make then I need to go home and clean. And the longer this day goes on, the less motivated I am to clean. Usually I don't go to the gym on Saturday's. Maybe that's why. I used up all my energy there and have none left to clean.
Okay this is a boring post and I'm sorry. I'm just not in a thinking mood. Have a lovely day.

Just a Quick Thought

I just read a comment about the elections while blog stalking. Barack Obama has just become the most prayed for man in this nation. How many of us would have sat back with a sigh of relief if McCain would have won rather than keep praying like we should? God can rock Obama's world and make things happen Obabma would never dream of. Keep praying!

Three Things

1.) You know you live in the Bible Belt when you walk into Dollar General and they're playing hymns. That just doesn't happen everywhere in this country.

2.) I saw someone throw up tonight at the gym. I was on the treadmill and she was right in front of me just sitting on a bike. Thank goodness the program I was doing was over literally the second she puked. So I was the hero who went and got the people who were working.

3.) This is how technologically impaired I am: I opened an attatchment that I wanted to print off. The library has Windows Vista. I have never used Windows Vista. I cannot figure out where the print button is and I feel too dumb asking. So I guess I will be getting on line at the preschool tomorrow with our slower than molasses in winter dial up and print it off there.

Monday, Monday

Glad I could put that song in everybody's head. Now, onto my post.

We had Homecoming weekend. It was great. Not a dance Homecoming, but a sit and listen to music with family and friends Homecoming. So much fun! And mom and dad came last minute because of the rain which was very exciting to me. And then came Monday. My alarm went off at 7:05. I hit snooze and didn't hear the alarm again until 8:03. Which is precisely why I set my alarm so much earlier than when I actually get up. Because not hearing it is a common occurrence. But I usually don't go that long without waking up. So after rushing around getting ready, I head to work. Had absolutely nothing planned. Not even any good ideas of what I might do with my kids. So I ended up giving them two really stupid worksheets that I copied off really quick. And they didn't do them right at all because Mike came in to talk to me and so while I talked they just fought and scribbled all over their papers. Then I went to Wal-Mart to get this weeks groceries for the preschool. It was packed for a Monday morning. And my checkout lady was new and I was there for a really long time and by the time I got back the kids were already eating lunch. I don't usually mind going. In fact, I rather like grocery shopping. But not today. Today I didn't like it one bit. Then after lunch it was my turn to do bathrooms before nap. One of our toilets in the girls bathroom doesn't have a lid on the tank because it broke. So some girls decided it would be fun to fill the tank with TP. That was fun to clean up. Then in the boys bathroom, I walked in and someone had decided to smear their poop all over the wall. That was fun too. And I tell ya, the fun just didn't stop. Because I heard one boy say to another, I'm going to pee on you. I thought "yeah right." But then guess what! He whipped it out and peed on the other boy! Who, mind you was standing several feet away. So not only does boy #2 get peed on, but so does the floor and the other wall that up until that point was clean. But now the kids are sleeping and hopefully the afternoon goes a little better.

I got tagged

Okay I accidentally hit enter a few too many times on that last post and rather than delete it I'll just start over. So- I got tagged. And I know I'm supposed to make links to the people who tagged me and links for the people I want to tag. But, I am so very technologically impaired that I don't know how to do links. I tried figuring it out with the help information blogger gave me but to no avail. And since I do not have computer savvy friends readily available, (unless they want to take a roadtrip) I'll just post seven random things about myself and call it good enough. Oh- and Taryn tagged me. But don't try to click on her name. Nothing will happen. Okay here goes.

1.) I have a very strong sense of smell. I love to smell things. And sometimes if I have two or three kids pairs of socks at work and don't know who's is who's, I'll smell them to figure it out. And I'm usually right.

2.) I was born with six fingers. The sixth was boneless and the doctor just tried to cut it off by tying a string around it really tight. He got all but a little bit and what he missed is still there. It looks kinda like a wart but it's soft like skin.

3.) I never really played dolls and girly things as a child. Since it was just me and my brother I had to play boy things if I wanted to be with him. Usually we would play farm. He would be plowing up the living room floor and I would be the farm wife who brought him supper to the field. Usually it was saltine crackers.

4.) I love to travel. And even thought it sounds exciting to travel the world, I think I would rather just explore all the United States before I head anywhere else. Besides work trips. There's so much diversity in this country and I still haven't seen all of it.

5.) I don't like roller coasters. I've tried, and they're just not my thing. I'm a wimp. I can kinda handle them if it's one with a shoulder harness. But stick me on one with just a lap bar and I'm done for. I hate them. And forget carnival rides. Unless you want to clean up my puke.

6.) My favorite food has always been pizza. My parents told me that as I got older I'd probably outgrow that but it hasn't happened yet. Give me a pizza over a steak any day. Throw in a Mt. Dew and I'm the happiest girl around.

7.) One time I went to Florida five times in a year. That was a few years ago and it was great. They were all fairly short trips but they were all really good.

So there you have it. Seven random facts about me. Now, I'm hungry and I'm going to go get some soup from Quizno's. It's rainy, gray, cool day and soup will be just perfect. Love you all!

I got tagged

Patrick

Before I mention Patrick I have to talk a little about my weekend. Everyone down here made fun of me because I went home to harvest. And that was really the only reason. I didn't get to ride in the combine or go to the elevator at all last year and it was pretty devastating. It was the first year in my life that I didn't get to. So I went home. I was pretty excited because I was going to make really good time and get home about 9:30 Friday night. But then I got stuck in a traffic jam and didn't make it until 11:00. Here's the story, whether you want to hear it or not. About 5:00 in the afternoon a moving van driver fell asleep at the wheel and crossed over from the southbound lane into northbound and hit two cars. Two college girls in one car were killed and a couple from Florida in the other car were severely injured. I was sitting there from about 6:00 to 7:20. About 9:00 it was still backed up and a semi came up on it too fast and hit four more cars and killed one more guy. So that was that. Kinda scary because it was another reminder that you just never know how much time you have left.
Anyways, so I had a really good time at home spending time with my family. It was relaxing and low key and just really good.
Now onto Patrick. Yesterday was Jena's birthday so we went out to Logan's for supper. Our waiter's name was Patrick. 40ish, balding, comb-over, with not so cool looking glasses. He was just a little too eager to be our waiter. He brought us our rolls (there were three of them) and we each had one and 1/2. Then he came and asked us if we wanted more, to which we said no. So then he proceeds to tell us "Oh, okay. Well now that you've eaten them, there's 160 calories in each roll before butter." I mean seriously- who does that? I told him he wasn't getting a good tip after that. But he did though. I wasn't very mean. But I was kind of annoyed with him. Oh well. It tasted good.

Tomorrow's Friday!

Well we were supposed to have Bible study tonight. If I would have known we weren't, I would have gone to the gym after work. Sara left a message for me about 10 till 6. But I didn't get around to checking my phone until about 6:30. And I had just snarfed my supper because I was trying to eat before everyone got to our house. So no gym for me tonight. But, that's really okay with me. I'm okay with having an excuse not to go. But, sitting at the computer at the library right after eating does not cause cramping and sickness. So here I am. And I really don't have anything to say. Sorry.
Sunday is potluck and it's my month to do meat. I have two others doing it with me, thank goodness. But come Saturday I'll be making a bunch of mini meatloaves. Yay, right?
Random: the lady at the computer next to me is on e-Harmony.com. I wish her well.

My Weekend Rocked

I went to the librarians house. Am I cool or what? I went last year too for her annual potato supper that she has- mostly with her church people and a few of us stragglers. They're Church of Christ- which means they'd be really good AC's. We sit around and eat a lot. Then we have an a capella singing out of a hymnbook. It's a little awkward showing up there because we don't know anybody and most of them are pretty old. But the food is good and the singing is good. That was Saturday night. Friday night we went to Huntsville to do a little shopping. We had it planned and then Friday afternoon gas shot up. But we went anyways. I got it for 4.09. One place in Athens was 4.89. I had run up to the gas station right after work to fill up before we left and somehow managed to get stuck behind just one car. (This place was selling it for 3.87 and had about 20 cars waiting) Pulled up to the pump and realized I left my wallet at home. Grrr..... so I said forget it- I'm going shopping. Well, by the time we were done shopping all the cheap places were sold out. But 4.09 was the next best so that's what I settled for. Now the cheapest in town is 4.15. It's ridiculous. An hour west of us in Florence, AL they were selling it for 5.36. Crazy. Hopefully they go down soon since they really didn't need to go up that much in the first place. So anyways, that was my weekend. Maybe it didn't quite rock. Maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration. But it was good, regaurdless.

Weekend Highlights

We had people from U of I and a few from Indiana down this weekend. Just a few of the highlights:
-First and foremost, Gab and Kristi came down last minute. Thursday night they weren't coming, Friday noon they left cause Gab got called off work. Very exciting news to me.
-Shrimp boil for supper. (I've always called it a hobo supper) A great excuse for being a really messy eater.
-Great games of volleyball in the goose poop filled court.
-Singing
-Willing workers who sanitized almost every last toy in the preschool and did a bunch of other stuff too.
-Playing I Have Never, which deserves a couple of it's own hightlights.
-Person in the middle says "I have never gone more than three days without showering." Every girl got up and traded places and not one guy got up. (I think they were a little disturbed by that.)
-"I have never been older than 22." In a circle of about 20, 3 of us got up. Talk about feeling old.
-An awesome Sunday afternoon nap!

Some of the lowlights include:
-Fire ants. So annoying.
-My breakfast casserole didn't get done in time. It was tragic. And I had gone to bed about 3 am so I was really tired so everything was a bigger deal than normal and I really was about in tears over it.

And now onto a different subject matter. I'm a little sad an homesick this week cause I'm missing the Pumpkin Fest. Even though I didn't grow up in Morton, I did live there for a spell and this will be the first time in about 6 or 7 years that I will have to miss it. It's a very sad thing.

Okay that's all. Bye

Homeward Bound

Anyways, that's the plan. Hopefully the kids go to sleep really fast tomorrow because I'm leaving as soon as they're down. And then I'm rushing as fast as I can to Nate and Jamie's to see Haley. Cause it will be the only time all weekend I can see her. And seeing her is a necessity. Unfortunately I can't speed too much since it's a holiday weekend and the cops will be thick as maggots on a dead dog. That was really gross but it's the first thing to come to my head. Don't ask why. I don't know. Last year over Labor Day weekend when I was coming back home I kept a tally of all the cops I saw. This was on Monday on the actual holiday. I saw 24 cops. 2 in Kentucky, 1 in Tennesse and 21 in Illinois. Crazy.
Then I'm spending Saturday in Gridley after eating with Mandy and Erin and whoever else shows up at Docs. I don't think I've been to Docs since March. It's high time. And going to a wedding Sunday afternoon. And hopefully seeing Angie Monday. And my parents. I'm not sure when I'm going to see them. Good thing I don't have to leave until Monday. Okay, I'm hungry and sick of typing.

Story

Do you like the title of my post? I guess I'm not feeling too creative right now. But I have a story to tell. It happened Friday at lunch time. On either Tuesday or Wednesday we had a wasp in the kitchen during lunch time. So me, being the brave one, took it upon myself to kill it. With a flyswatter of course, and if you had a video of me doing it, you would realize I'm not so much the brave one. Anyways, mission accomplished, I killed the wasp. But we couldn't figure out where it went too. It came flying to the ground after I swatted it, (at my face mind you) and I just figured it must be blending in with the tile on the floor. Then I forgot about it and that was that. Well then Friday I was getting my lunch ready, eating leftover taco meat. I got it out of the fridge and started breaking it up with my fork cause it was all sticking together like greasy, fatty taco meat does. And I found a piece of burnt meat and went to throw it out. But rather than throwing it out, I pretty much freaked out, because there was my wasp friend, hanging off my fork just begging to be eaten. It was so gross. But even grosser is that the day before Miss Louise had eaten meat out of there and somehow missed the wasp. It really did blend in- I really thought it was just burnt meat at first. The ironic thing is, is that the pest control man happened to be there and asked if we had been seeing any bugs. So I held it up for him to see and told him that yes, we have been seeing them! So needless to say, I didn't have tacos that day.

Coming up in the World!

Well here I am, blogging somewhere besides the library! Jena came with a laptop and full intentions of getting internet so ta da! Here I am. It's been really busy around here lately. This weekend is the first in a long time where I don't have much going on and it's great. Funny- I used to dread the weekends with nothing to do. Now I look forward to them.
Did I post about our flood yet? Last Thursday we had a storm come through with lots and lots of rain in a short amount of time. And when that happens, a lot of times the preschool will get water in it. It's happened before since I've been here, but not this bad. The power had gone out about 5:00 and came back on about 11:00. When it came back on I went over to make sure everything was cut off because the kids had been messing with all the light switches and stuff. And when I walked into our big room, I heard squish, squish, squish. And looked down to see water pooling around my shoes. Man it was a mess. So last Friday I had a really long day because I worked from open to close cause I went in early to help Miss Louise get things cleaned up. So until Wednesday we were cramming the kids into the two smaller rooms and having naptime in the Fellowship Hall. We're finally back in the big room, but it still smells terrible. And it probably will for a long time.
This week was kind of a sad week. Kindergarten started which means my Devin is gone now. I thought he would be coming Monday and Tuesday so I didn't make a big point to say goodbye last Friday, but then he ended up not coming at all. Tuesday night I cried and cried cause he's going to big school, and I didn't tell him goodbye and I just miss him a lot already. But Thursday his mom called me and said she'd swing by after school on Friday. So I did get to see him for a few minutes. I absolutely cherish last Thursday though. When the power went off and it was storming outside, he was scared and sat in my lap the whole time. And his dad was late picking him up because of the storm and so I had about a half hour with just me and Devin. And he's so cuddly and smells so good and I decided that it was worth it to have the preschool flood just because of that. Boy, I sound a little obsessed. I'm not really, I just love the kid to pieces.
I'm really excited for next weekend. We're going up for the Leo sale. I had to miss it last year, and have been excited for this years sale since then. And it's finally almost here!
Okay well I need to go do stuff at the preschool. We're starting all over with the letter A on Monday and I need to go get my room ready. Bye!

Pride Cometh Before the Fall

Well this weekend was Mark's bapism. Yay! It was an awesome weekend. Abslolutely, incredibly awesome. It's been awhile since I've had one of those spiritual mountain top weekends and it was so refreshing to have one. Anyways, don't ask me why, but Saturday during testimonies. Or, testimony, rather, I had this random flashback of walking into church without my veil. I was probably 12 or 13, and completely and utterly mortified. And I was thinking how it's such a habit now, and I never do that anymore. But guess who paraded up and sat down in the second bench without her veil on Sunday morning? I wasn't quite as mortified this time around but I was a little emarrased. Because my veil was definitely not with me so I couln't just slip it on real sneaky like.
On the other hand, not only was it an awesome weekend, it was also really busy. Like, you know you've had a long weekend when you wake up Monday morning and you're feet still hurt. But that's okay it was worth it. But I got woke up by my phone Mon. and looked at my clock which was flashing. I thought "Oh no, the power went out and I overslept." But it was Melissa calling to tell me that she overslept and could I please go open for her? That's when I picked up my watch and realized it was 6:15. We open at 6:00. So I threw on some clothes and grabbed a brush and a hair tie and ran over to open. Then no kids showed up until about 20 till 7. Melissa got there at maybe 7:15, 7:30, then I went back home and went back to bed until 9:00. I decided I would rather go in late than take a longer break.
Okay switch gears now. I've been working here and there on my bathroom for the past three weeks, stripping wallpaper and trying to get the glue off. Finally, FINALLY, it's all taped up and ready to paint. Which is what I'll be doing tonight.
Saturday I'm going to Kentucky. Hip hip hooray! Also Saturday, our new teacher (Jena Runion from Bluffton) is moving in. Monday is my first official day as cooridator of the preschool. Very scary larry. But I think I'd rather be a little busier like I have been than just sitting around each night with nothing to do. But I gotta go now. Ta Ta!

Funny Story

Okay, I thought it was funny anyways. The other day at work I had a CD playing that was like, kids party music stuff. A song came on that had kind of a hip hop beat to it. One of the girls, who is very animated and is definitely black says, "What is this song? Why you play it? This be brown man's music." I laughed. Hard. Loudly.
Right now I'm taking a break from stripping wallpaper from my bathroom. I rented a steamer and the water was almost gone, and my arm needed a rest and I'm hungry so I decided it was time to take a break. The last time I did wallpaper was four years ago when I spent the summer in Leo. We had a steamer and like, four people in one bathroom and it went really quick. It's not going so quick with just me. But it will be a big sense of accomplishment when everything is done. I'm going to paint it. I kind of want to go with a bold color, but since it's not actually my house I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't. But we'll see.
There's a girl coming this weekend who is hopefully going to take the teaching position. That's exciting. For a long time I wasn't nervous. But then we started getting closer and closer to August and still didn't have anyone and I started worrying a little. Silly me. God's got me covered.
Okay that's all I got.

Haley Jo

I'm finally an aunt! Haley was born Wednesday night. I came up Thursday and got to see her yesterday. She's really cute, and I'm not even biased! We share a middle name and people seem to think she has my nose. Since I'm on mom and dad's computer I might be able to get around to posting pictures but I might not too.
Shilove and his mom got here last night. I set my alarm for a time I thought was early enough. About an hour before it went off, Shilove came in and woke me up, and when I got downstairs, his mom was up, dressed and scrubbing the deck. Puts me to shame that's for sure. But my dad has some mulching stuff he wants me to do so I won't be a complete waste today.
I rode up with Kerwin and Sara and mom and dad picked me up in Bloomington. And later that night I realized my phone was with them. So I am phoneless until Sunday afternoon. Dad charged up my old phone for me, though. So I'm not completely without contact to people, but nobody else probably knows I have it or knows the number. Oh well I guess.
Okay that's all I have for now.

I Killed Thelma and Her Children

I decided not to wait any longer with the spraying when I saw that she had laid eggs and they were hatched. So I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. The children died right away, and the next morning I went out and Thelma had come out of her hole and was laying there dead as well. There was no funeral.
Well I never did get to see the Blue Angels. We went Sunday after church and there had been a microburst. (A random storm that wasn't a severe thunderstorm, only lasting a few minutes and only over a small area.) By the time we got there the rain was stopping, but all the tents had blown over, and 12 people got hurt and a little 5 year old boy died when a generator fell on him. We were walking up just as the last of the ambulances were getting there. But after all that happened they cancelled the show. So we went mini golfing instead. That's just not what you expect to happen to your child when you take him to the air show. Just another reminder that life is precious and you just never know what's going to happen.
On a little lighter note, there are times (like today) when I am reminded that yes, I do live in redneck country. I was walking into Wal-Mart and there was a man who had set up camp in the lawn furniture they had on display. Just relaxing, enjoying his Mt. Dew and cigarette. Who are these people anyway? All right, gotta go.

Random stuff

Well I don't have a whole lot to talk about, but I need to post and I have about ten minutes left on the computer so here goes.
Thelma is still alive and well. I saw her one other time and was armed with Raid and a broom, but just about the time I was getting courageous enough to spray her, the air conditioner kicked on and she ran back into her little hole. I guess I could just spray inside the hole but I think I prefer seeing her die just to make sure.
Tomorrow I'm going to the Huntsville air show to see the Blue Angels. We were going to go today but Kerwin had a lot of work to catch up on so we're going tomorrow after church instead. I'm excited to watch them. If my dream of being and olympic gymnast doesn't come true, I've also always wanted to be a pilot.
I'm going to IL with Kerwin and Sara over 4th of July weekend. Hopefully I will be and aunt by then as Jamie is due on Monday I think. If not, Shilove and his mom will be there. For the random people who read this blog and don't know Shilove, he's from Haiti. When he was five, he came to the US to have heart surgery and while he was here he lived with my family. And now he's coming back for a visit! Yay! I'm a little bummed that all of Brad and Patty's family will be gone, a little jealous that they'll be with Trevor, but I'll get over it.
Okay well I know that was boring but that's really all I got.

My Newest Neighbor

Unfortunately, my newest neighbor has taken up residence right under my front step in the form of a black widow spider. I had noticed a web awhile back but just left it there until I thought I saw the spider. So I turned my car lights on it and went at it with a broom but didn't find anything. So I figured it was just a dirt clod and an old web. But a few days later the web was rebuilt. But I never saw the spider. And I knocked it down again. Then Monday night I got home and there was no mistaking the bubble butt spider and the red hourglass shape on it's back. So I watched it for awhile wondering the best way to kill it. I didn't really want to try and step on it cause it's so big and cruncy, and with my luck, I'd miss and it would bite me in the process. And then I would die. I threw a piece of mulch at it trying to get it more out in the open but instead she crawled into her little hole and I haven't seen her since. So I keep watchin and if I see her again I'll probably take a can of Raid to her. But last night my sleep was really restless because I kept dreaming about it and it kept biting me and I kept having to rush to the emergency room. She bit me once on my belly and three times on my feet in my dream. Maybe I should name her. What's a good name for a black widow spider? Thelma, maybe? I don't know. I kinda want to see her again though because I had never seen one before. Just one more time before I kill her. Because I really don't need her to lay eggs and I really don't need a family of them under my front step. I can't think of that many names.

Is it already Thursday?

Wow. So much for posting about camp right away. I won't bore you with all the details. But it was a great time. MCing for skit night was probably my favorite part. Maybe my favorite part should be just hangin with my girls, but skit night was a blast. Don't get me wrong though. My girls were great and I really love the singing. I think every year on the evaluation I write that I want more singing. I love it. My only complaint is that we didn't sing Days of Elijah. I tried singing it by myself on the way home but just couldn't do it justice. And I got to stay an extra day and go to Hodel Father's Day. It was nice to see the family that wasn't at camp. I got back about 5:00 Monday evening and was greeted by 97 degree weather. A little toastier than camp was. It's great when there's a haze in the air from all the humidity. Oh boy, my time is almost up. Maybe I'll post more on Saturday. Bye!

More ants

Wow, I never thought I'd have so many comments on a post about ants. Well, we found another nest yesterday, but this kid wasn't so lucky. He sat down in the grass for about 3 seconds and they were all over him. I went over to help thinking there would be one or two but there were about 20 on his feet and ankles. So I took off his socks and shoes to try to get rid of them but by that time they were all over him. So I ran him inside an stripped him down completely all the while he was screaming bloody murder. The poor kid had bites all over his legs back and belly. Even one on his little winky. So I slathered him up with two different itch creams and something else Miss Louise gave me but I don't know what it was. But it worked cause he sure was fine after that. But those things are vicious. In the process of helping him I got nine bites on my right arm. Can I get a pity party? And since everyone else said it, I'll say it again. Yay for girl's camp!

I Itch

Everywhere. One of the kids kicked at some dirt today and we discovered that it was actually a nest filled with thousands of ants. I've never seen so many ants in my life at one time. And all day I've had phantom ants crawling all over my body. Fire ants to be exact. Only one kid managed to get bitten, even though it was nearly impossible to keep them away. All we could find was wasp and hornet spray so we used that at first. And Melissa just happened to be at Wal-Mart so we called and she got some fire ant killer powder. And it smells terrible. Really terrible. Like, we kept thinking the kids were poopy but it was the ant stuff. I think the ants died just because of the smell.
Tomorrow's Friday, praise the Lord. Next week is girl's camp. Yay!
I'm leaving now, going to Matthew's graduation party. I hope they have good food cause I'm really hungry.

Memorial Day weekend and Beyond

Well the weekend went really good. I think we had a total of about 150 people. Next year all the rest of you should come so we can have a lot more. Then yesterday and today we reshingled the church roof. We meaning a bunch of guys- not me. Yesterday there were about 15 up there and today there were about 35 or 40. And it rained all day today. I felt so bad for them but really appreciated all their hard work. I wish I could put pictures on the library computers because I got some really good ones. Today there was a whole line of guys the whole length of the church tearing off shingles together. It looked really cool. Now the next big thing is getting ready for girls camp next week. Every year I decide to start early and not be rushing around last minute but guess what? I haven't started anything yet. I'm really excited for skit night. Me and Angie are MCing and I'm sure it will be a blast. But I can't say what we're going to do. It's a suprise. Okay I only have 15 minutes left on the computer and have some more stuff to do. So that's all for tonight folks.

Apparently I'm Pregnant

Not really. Don't start any rumors now. But a couple weeks ago I got something in the mail from Huggies congratulating me because my due date is rapidly approaching. I got a free newborn size diaper and Huggies wants to be there for me. Didn't think a whole lot of it. But then Thursday I got two sample cans of Similac baby formula. Similac wants to be there for me too since my due date is almost here. I was just really baffled but Jamie figured it out for me. I got her a sweater at Motherhood Maternity and they always ask you when your due date is. So I just gave them hers. I told them it wasn't for me but they insisted on me giving them a date. And hers is defenitly rapidly approaching. But hey, at least she can count on Huggies and Similac.
This weekend I'm up in Morton for Bekah and Jason's wedding. We took pictures this morning and now I'm killing time until the rehearsal. I took yesterday and Monday off and it's really nice not to have to rush back home after church like I usually do.
Thursday night we had our preschool graduation. The kids were really cute. A little crazy, but cute. I about started crying the first time I saw them in their caps and gowns. All of them get gowns but only the ones going to Kindergarten get caps. Even though they haven't been in my class for the past year, it's kinda sad to think of them leaving. Some of them. Some of them I'm okay with saying goodbye to. But either way, they were all cute and all did a good job.
And I just remembered I need to go to Hallmark to get a gift bag for Bekah's present. Bye.

It's about that time

I see that it's been over a week since I've posted so I feel like I should post again. But I just can't think of what to write about. So, let me just sit here and think awhile. Hmmm...... tomorrow's Mother's Day. The present I sent home with my kids to give their mom's was a dishtowel. I painted their handprint on it (yellow) and then made it look like a baby chick. (with black and orange) They turned out pretty cute. Then I wrote their names on it and 2008. And for the card I interviewed the kids about their moms and wrote their answers down. Like, how old is your mom? What is your mom's favorite food? If you had a million dollars what would you buy your mom? Some of their answers were pretty funny. For the age question, they said anywhere between 3 years old and 270. One kid said if he had a million dollars he would buy his mom some food. Maybe a sucker. Sometime's they're so cute:)
I need to go to Lowe's today to get some flowers for the flower boxes in front of church. I'm kind of excited because it sounds fun to be the one to pick everything out, but it also means I'm the one to take care of them. And while I love flowers and think they're beautiful, I don't have the greenest of thumbs. So hopefully they survive through the summer. At least till the end of May would be nice. This week starts my string of short weeks. That makes me very happy. This week and next will be four day weeks because I took off Friday and Monday because of Bekah's wedding. Then another four day week because of Memorial Day weekend. Then a normal five day week. But then I have a two day week because of Girl's Camp. For which I'm very excited.
And speaking of Memorial Day weekend, if you're looking for plans, come here for our Tennesse Fellowship weekend. Please! I know it's a busy weekend and there's always graduations and stuff but if you somehow don't have anything to do, consider coming here.
Okay well, I think I'll be done now. So much for not having anything to write about. So long!

A Very Predictable Thing

So, every time I post I can count on getting three comments. One from Angie, one from Kristi and one from Erin. How exciting. And some little kid just let out a huge belch. Funny.

Whoops, Didn't mean to do that

What I meant to say was, So.... if you get close to the people you spend time with, I must be best friends with my dentist. Yes, I was there again today. This time for a cleaning. I have one more appointment in May and then I should be done. Hopefully. At least he's cool. And the ladies that work there are really nice. I don't know how to spell hygen..... whatever.
So I show up at the library only to find a couple of my kids from work and one came and is sitting on my lap helping me type. Her name is Karrington. I call her KP. That's her initials and it's a lot shorter than saying Karrington all day long. Because she's really spunky and requires me to say her name a lot. KP, sit down. KP, be quiet. KP, quit hitting. KP, KP, KP....... But she's really cute sometimes so it all evens out I guess.
I was invited to a reception on Monday for some library volunteers. I guess they invite the people that spend most of their time here. Because one of the librarians flagged me down and said she wanted me to come. Wow I'm popular.
Yesterday we were watching a Barney movie and they were making bread. One of my kids (the one with the superman undies) said "Miss Sarah, I want to bake some bread." So that's what we did today. We made bread. It was a complete disaster. I've did stuff in the kitchen before with them and it hasn't been so bad. But I had all but one and they were all really wound up and it was just chaos. But it tasted good.
All right, I'm done now. Bye.

So....

Sometimes I Love My Job

For reasons like this:

"Miss Sarah I have Superman underwear on! Wanna see?" Then proceeds to show me before I have a chance to respond.

Now just a little fun fact. Every Friday in the Athens newspaper they have a church directory. They list most of the churches in Limestone County. Ours is not listed so I know not all of them are there. But anyways, keep in mind, the biggest town in the county is Athens, and it's maybe comparable to Washington. The other three or four towns are more like Goodfield. So yesterday I started counting. 220 churches are listed. 80 of them fall under the "everything else" category. Methodist being the most common. One Catholic. 43 are under Church of Christ. And Baptist takes the lead with a whopping 97. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like there's not near that many in Woodford County. I just thought that was kind of interesting. No wonder nobody around here has ever heard of ours.

Conversation of the Day

S= Sarah, M= Melissa, J= Jirah (who is 5)

J: Miss Melissa, do you have a husband?
M: Um, no.
J: Well what about Miss Sarah? (yells across the playground) MISS SARAH!!!!! DO YOU HAVE A HUSBAND?
S: Yeah, I have three.
J: See Melissa, you need one. Sarah has three.

And she really believe me, too.

In other news, I am once again in the de-numbing process. I have one more numbing/de-numbing to go through then I should be done. I think I'm more numb this time than last time. And I'm supposed to be going out with Kerwin and Sara for Amber's birthday in 50 minutes. Hopefully I'll be a little better. I asked the dentist if that was okay. He said "yeah, just be careful you don't chew your cheek up." Ouch.

I think that's all I've got today. Except.... (sigh...........) can someone please tell Herb he has redeemed himself with the Where's Sarah picture? It pains me to say it, but he has.

And I think this is my 200th post. Congratulations to me! Somebody should send me flowers. Or something.

Well, it's official

For those of you who don't know what's going on, I was planning to move back home over the summer. But after a few different circumstances, I'm not. And this weekend we had our board meeting and it was made official that I am staying and will be coordinator come summer time. There's still a part of me that's dissapointed that I'm not moving back, but everyone down here has been so encouraging. And for that, I love the Athens church and am glad that I will have more time with them.
Today I found a quarter when I went to buy gas. I think it paid for 0.00000000000000000000000001 gallons.
I'm going home this weekend for Bekah's personal shower. Should be a good time.
I'm having fish for supper tonight. Tilapia. It's sitting on my counter right now marinating in Lawry's Herb and Garlic sauce. Mmmm........
Well I think that's all for now.

A monumental experience

I cleaned up puke yesterday without having to leave the room 500 times. Real puke. Not baby puke. Real, live, I can see what you had for lunch puke. I felt such a sense of accomplishment.
I got invited to a boys house today. He's pretty cute too. He wants me to come play trains with him. He's four.
I had Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza Friday night, Saturday lunch, Sunday supper and Monday supper. I love pizza, but I'm kinda glad it's gone for now. I'll probably be ready for more by tomorrow or sometime soon.
Today one of my kids came outside, and then dropped his drawers to show me that he didn't have his pullup on. Of course there were parents there.
I know there's another really exciting story that I was going to write about, but I won't remembr it until right after I publish this post. So for now, that's it. Bye.

Apparently misinformed

I went to the dentist today for a cleaning. Excited because I got off work about 3:30 and was going to have a nice afternoon, being able to get home plently early. I sat down in the chair and the girl said she was going to put something on my gums to start the numbing. I was like "What?!?!?!" I thought for sure I was just getting a cleaning when in all actual reality I had to have two cavities filled. So now I am in the process of de-numbing. Not the great afternoon I had hoped for. But at least I like my dentist. He's really nice. I like him a lot better than they guy I had in Illinois. I knew I had the cavities and I was a little confused as to why he wanted me to get the cleaning before getting the cavities filled. But they really weren't bothering me so I didn't care too much. And it sure cost a lot more than the cleaning would have. Oh well, what can ya do, huh? The only thing is that one of them was huge and he's a little worried that my nerve is going to die and I'll have to have a root canal. So I'll be praying that it doesn't die. Because I really don't want to pay for a root canal. And that's my life tonight.

What Not To Wear

The guy from that show was in Huntsville today. Maybe I should have gone. Because today at work Devin asked me when I was going to have my baby. Apparently I don't always wear the right thing for my shape. But on the other hand, yesterday one of the girls said "Miss Sarah, you skinny." So, I'll go with what she said. Either that or I should wear that same shirt everyday.
Ed and Boni are coming to visit me this weekend. (My aunt and uncle) And they're bringing Mike and Dave. I'm pretty excited about it. Saturday I'm making them go with me to the Gateway Woods presentation that will be here but other than that I'm not sure what we're going to do. We'll figure something out though.
I have to go home and find something to do for lesson plans tomorrow. Grrr....... they're a pain to come up with sometimes. Especially now that we're done with the alphabet it's harder to stretch my brain and find something. So if you have any great ideas I'd love to hear them.
Okay that's all I got tonight.

Kingston 2008

Well Jamaica was awesome as usual. I'll try to cover the highlights. Or my fingers might get tired so I may just quit. We'll see how it all pans out.
Saturday
I left my house about 1:30 AM and drove to Nashville. The plan was to leave at 2:30 or 3, but Pam called me Friday evening in a tizzy about the weather and very very strongly encouraged me to leave ASAP. After making several phone calls, I decided the best plan of action was just to leave plenty early and hope for the best. I now understand why people down here freak out over a little bit of snow. The closer I got to N-ville the worse it got and where there was maybe 2 or 3 inches of snow on the ground, there were no plows and traffic was moving at a rapid pace of 25 mph. My flight left right on time though, thank goodness, at 6:15 and I met up with the Sarasota people in Miami. Saturday afternoon and evening consisted of just getting settled in for the week and waiting on the Gridley/Indiana people to get there. They didn't make it until about 11 pm.
Sunday
Had church, had chapel with the kids, and then went out for our tradtional trip to the "I Scream" ice cream shop. Best ice cream ever. mmmmmm............... Had chapel again Sunday night and put on our very thrown together at the last minute skit. I was the sick woman who touche the hem of Jesus' garmet. Pretty sure Hollywood wants me.
Monday through Wednesday
I've never made so many rebar cages in my life. We had a lot of cement to pour but it was almost all beams and pillars which require rebar cages. So before we could pour the concrete we had to cut the wire, straighten the wire, bend the wire the right way, and make the cages. There were a few odds-n-ends jobs tucked in there but that's mostly what I did Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we poured cement so I hauled sand most of the day.
Thursday
Thursday was our play day. Some stayed back and worked, some went to Ocho Rios and a few of us went to Knockpatrick where Erin D lives. It was a really really good day. It was fun to see where she lived and works, we got to see the Kingston kids who are at KP in the vocational program, and we got to eat Juici Patties. Which is really the reason I go to Jamaica. They might even be better than I Scream. This was probably my favorite day.
Friday
We spent a couple hours in the morning pouring more cement, then had Sports Day. It's their favorite day of the year I think. The kids and staff are divided into three teams- green, yellow and red- and have a track and field type day. With a hired DJ with speakers the size of a refrigerator that will blow you away. It's great fun. And they like us to get involved with it as much as we can. Some people join in the races. Some of us (ahem) just cheer them on. After Sports Day most of the kids left for Easter break so we had to say goodbye to a lot of them. But I think it's easier if they leave first. Friday night me and Lisa Roth challenged her brother Johnathan and Josh Stoller to a three legged race. Somehow we thought we could win. But after taking about 2 steps we were on the ground and I have a lovely bruise on my left knee. By the time we got up they had crossed the finish line. But we got up and finished the race. They always make the kids finish even if they way behind. So we did the same.
Saturday
Always a little hard to leave. Spent the morning packing up and waiting for the busses to come. All but 6 of the team was on the same flight back to Miami. But once we got to Miami, some went to Tampa and some went to Chicago and I went back to Nashville. And they all had to leave as soon as we got through immigration and customs and I had a 7 hour layover. By myself. Long story short, I was feeling really alone by the time I got there. My plane landed about 12:10 am and the shuttle to long term parking was done for the night. It's not like O'Hare where the parking is a mile away, though, I could see it from right outside baggage claim. I just couldn't figure out how to get there because there was a lot of fences in the way. So I walked off trying to figure it out then went back to ask someone if they knew where I needed to go. And this really nice lady from Mississippi helped me and she was just so worried about me going off by myself like that and I just broke down and cried. So she just sat there and talked to me about how she had been visiting her missionary son while I sat there and cried. Her husband pulled up and they drove me out to my car and gave me their phone number and made me feel so much better. That's really not all the details, but I fully believe that God put them there just for me.
All right well that's my week in a nutshell. It was awesome. That's all there is to it. And now my hands are very tired. Bye mon.

Painful the Humbling May Be

A rather embarrassing week, I've had. Over the course of the week I've had 5 different zits show up on my nose. Thankfully they weren't huge nasty ones, but they were definitely noticeable. Nice bright red spots. At least they didnt' all come at once, but there was one point that there were four at once. How annoying.
In other news, my last kid just left for the day and now I'm done with work which means I'm going to pack, kill time, and maybe try to catch a few winks between now and the time I leave for the airport. It's finally here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to leave my house around 2:30 am. My flight leaves from Nashville at 6:15. It's not the staying up until 2:30 that worries me. That's very doable. It's the driving that I'm a little worried about. But I'm sure I'll manage. I'll sing annoying children's songs or something to keep myself awake. Sing, sing, sing a song, sing a silly song. Singily, Jingly, Ringly, Swingly won't you sing along:)
Now I have a question. We have a kid here who just lives with his dad as far as I know. Single moms are a lot more common, and I know they need encouragement too, but I just keep feeling like I want to tell this kids dad that he does a good job. But do you think that's not my place? I don't want him to think I'm coming onto him or flirting, I just think he could use a little boost. I don't know. I guess if I tell him it won't be for another week.
Well I guess that's all folks. I'll see you when I get back!!!!!!!!

Quizno's is the Key

I felt much better after my chicken carbonara sandwich and my good nights sleep. Today I'm going to Huntsville to do my Jamaica shopping!!!!!!!!!!!! I like to make a big deal out of Jamaica shopping every year. Really, it's not, I just get some stuff for their needs list and some food for the team and that's about it. But hey- if you make a big deal and celebrate little things, life just seems to be more fun. I leave in a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm just real excited. Usually once it gets to be about January, that's about all I think about until the trip. And now it's almost here. Yay!
After I'm done shopping I'm going to babysit for Ryan and Hope. They're going to a rodeo. I'm a little jealous. I mean, I really like their kids and all, but I'd rather be going to the rodeo myself. I love rodeos. So does Kristi. Right Kristi? Oh well. I like to give them a chance to go on a date every now and then.
But I best be going. I have a lot to do between now and then. Ta Ta!

I Need To Count My Blessings

Because all I want to do right now is complain. But I'm sure after a supper from Quizno's and a good night's sleep I'll be fine.

Haggard Old Woman

That's what I felt like yesterday. I pulled a muscle or something in my neck/shoulder area and was in a lot of pain. And I don't even have a good story. All I was doing was putting away some clothes. It happened on my break and I thought I would be okay going back to work but it wasn't going to happen. So I left early and went to Wal-Mart and bought a heating pad. Then for the next four hours I alternated between heat and ice. This morning I was really stiff but I tried going to work and within a half hour or so I felt a whole lot better. Now it just feels like I woke up with a crick in my neck.
And now I have to talk about the weekend in fear of getting pummeled by Angie if I don't. It was good. We tried going to the IMAX but the one we wanted was sold out. So we went to the same cave I took my parents too the weekend before. That was Robey's favorite part. My favorite part came on Sunday when we played Monopoly even though I lost really bad. But I think I still want to play again so if anybody wants to entertain me, come down and we'll play. Oh, and Olive Garden was a highlight. Mmmmmmm.......
Okay that's really all I have. I'm hoping to get some sympathy over my poor sore muscles.......

??????????

Tuesday it was 70 degrees. Yesterday it snowed. Today it was 50. Go figure.
Today I got my favorite Valentine's Day present ever. One of the parents gave all of us a rose with a roll of Halls coughdrops taped to it. I guess they heard us all hacking or something. I thought it was really creative.
I get to see Angie and Robey tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday:) I hope they like Monopoly. I started playing a game of it at Sarah and Kerwin's on Sunday but it didn't last long because Emily was playing and got bored after about 20 minutes. But now I really want to play a real game. So I went over and borrowed it from them today in hopes of playing it this weekend.
Okay, uh, bye.

6:15 and all is well

So one of the kids yesterday asked me just really out of the blue- "Miss Sarah, do you wear underwear?" Then informed me that he did and that his Thomas the Train undies are his favorite. I assured him that I too wore them. Thomas is my favorite too.
We got a fish tank at the preschool. Some people that live real close by are moving and didn't want to mess with their fish so they donated them to us. There's a goldfish, a white goldfish and one of those little cleaning fishies. In trying to decide what to name them, most of the kids were like "Let's name it fishie!" One girl said the white one had to be named Angel but the poor orange one was still stuck with "Fishie". But then the light bulb went off in one little boys head and he declared we needed to name it "Jaws". Personally I wanted to name them something like Frank and Ernest or Betty and Veronica or Harry and Lloyd or something like that. But I supposed Angel and Jaws will work just as well.
Mom and Dad were down here over the weekend. A good time was had by all. We went to a cave about an hour away. It was really cool. I had been planning to take Angie and Robey there but decided I could find something else to do with them. But I told Angie about it and she said Robey would be like a kid on Christmas. So we're going to the cave again.
I also had a cough all weekend long. Thursday I was perfectly fine then woke up Friday morning with gunk in my lungs. I haven't been plugged up which is a blessing but Saturday and Sunday night I coughed more than I slept. Last night was a little better so hopefully tonight I'll get some much needed beauty sleep.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Byey'all.

Tornado Nights

Are not as fun as tornado days I found out. During the day you can at least see what's going on and we have a good chance of getting out of work early. Last night was not so much the case. When I went to bed I knew there were warnings out, but what can you do unless you want to pull an all nighter. About 3:30 me and Melissa both woke up and came out into the living room and I asked her if she heard the sirens go off. I thought I had heard them but they were kinda distant and I was tired so I couldn't tell for sure but she confirmed that yes, they went off, no, I wasn't hearing things. So we flipped on the TV and the whole radar screen was red and white. I had never seen white on a radar screen before but apparently it's worse than red. We were both kinda nervous so after about 2 minutes we decided to run over to the preschool since it's in a basement. In the five seconds it took us to get over there we were absolutely drenched. So we sat and listened to the weather on the radio for about 20 minutes until it was on the other side of Huntsville. There were several tornadoes touch down in that 20 minutes but they were all a few miles east and the storm was headed east. It was scary though. It probably always seems worse anyways, when it wakes you up and you're a little out of it in the first place. And then I didn't fall back asleep until about 5:00. I guess my adrenalin was pumping enough to keep me up or something. Needless to say, this has not been my most energetic feeling day. Rather, I feel kinda like I got woke up for an hour and a half during the night.

Did You Vote Today?

If you didn't, you need to get out and do just that. I don't care if you're not all up on what's going on. I'm not either, but I know just enough to know who I'd want and who I wouldn't want. And voting makes me feel patriotic. I'm not all into politics and stuff but I feel strongly that if you are registered, you should vote. And if you're not registered, do so before November. And that's my soabox for the day.

Question

If my new favorite outfit includes a John Deere shirt, does that make me a redneck?

Awholelottanothin

I tried to get on my blog last night but for some reason I couldn't. But now I can and now I can't think of much to say. I had all kinds of things running through my head earlier but now I'm having a brain fart. Happens all the time. We decorated underwear today in class. Our letter for the week is "U" and there's just not a whole lot out there to do with the letter U. And that was about the best I could come up with. So yesterday I was completely amazed at the brains of a couple of the four year olds. Blake and Devin were playing real nice together and not causing any trouble for a change and I went over to see what they were doing. They had this entire town set up with the blocks, animals, cars and cowboys. There was a Wal-Mart complete with a parking lot, a zoo, a farm, a rodeo, a swimming pool....... and everything had a certain place that it was supposed to be. And they worked so good together. They both agreed on what everything was and then they pretended to live in that town. "Okay Blake, I'm gonna go now. I'm in my car." (Backs out of the parking lot and drives off.) I was just amazed. Usually they just run back and forth making messes and playing guns or something. It just really gave me warm fuzzies and made my heart swell with love. Cheesy, yes, but true.
Well I ask and ask people to come visit me and sometimes it may take awhile to convince them, but this weekend Nate and Jamie are coming, Tuesday night Grandpa and Grandma are coming, next weekend mom and dad are coming, the next weekend Angie and Robey are coming and the weekend after that I'll be up in IL. So February was once looking a little drab but not so much anymore. I'm glad though. Because then I'll have one weekend off and then the second weekend in March I'm going to Jamaica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay I gotta go back to work now. Peace.

28 Weeks

Herb just updated me on our Kentucky countdown. Thanks Herb. I can't wait. Well, the weekend was awesome with people coming down to visit me. Blessing me were Beks, Katrina, Tony, Doug B., Josh G., and Jason (the fiancee) (not mine- Bekah's). They got in about 2:15 am on Saturday and we were hungry so we decided to hit up Waffle House. It was packed! Whodda thunk? Saturday we ate at CasaBlanca for lunch (very yummy) then played a game of Cranium. The winners got to pick the IMAX. We decided to walk on the moon. But we got there too late and our only other option was the hurricane. The Blue Angels were done for the day. It was kinda cool during the storm, but a lot of it was tree huggers trying to save their wetlands. I'm not saying we shouldn't be saving the wetlands, but it's not what I wanted to see in an IMAX movie. I tried walking on the moon last year with my dad but got there too late then too, and ended up going to Mars. So if someone wants to walk on the moon with me, just come on down and we'll go. Then we played more Cranium before heading to a hole in the wall southern cooking place. It sure is good going down, but a few hours after eating I always realize why I don't eat it very often. After supper we headed back for an intense game of Scattegories. All 12 Lists. Backwards from 12-1. Angie- I got to use Freida Felcher but they didn't think it was nearly as funny as we did. It was potluck Sunday so that's what we did for lunch, then they left about 2:30. *Sigh* But then Mike and Pam picked me up and I went to the Grand Ole Opry for a live recording of a gospel show. In order of appearance: Ronnie Milsap, Sara Evans, Trace Atkins, Lauretta Lynn, Deirks Bentley, Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels, Carrie Underwood. It was pretty cool. I can see how people get starstruck. But for now I need to go. My belly just told me it's time to eat.

Remember that tornado day?

Well, people also freak out about snow. We had a light dusting of snow on the ground. It only stuck to the grass and rooftops. The roads were just like rain. But church was cancelled last night.
I'm going to go eat Quiznos again tonight.
I have people coming to visit me this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!
And last night I got a papercut.
So, if you were to watch an IMAX movie would you rather watch:
A: Magic of Flight (about the Blue Angels)
B: Hurricane on the Bayou or
C: Magnificent Desolation (about walking on the moon)

I'm stuck between A and C.

I love me some Quiznos

That's what I'm eating right now. I go usually once a week, sometimes twice. The people that run the Quiznos here in town are a bunch of foreigners. They're all really nice and always act happy to see me walk through the door. Whether they are or not, I don't know. Maybe they're just happy for my business. They also know that I don't like mushrooms on my chicken carbonara sandwich.
I also love me some tornado days. We closed the school at about 1:00 today because of the weather. None of the tornados even came close to Athens, but they're not big on taking chances with the weather. So when city schools close, we close. And I'm okay with that. I'm not okay with the library closing, which it did, so I am now on the lovely dial up computer in Melissa's room. But even before we closed, the day held great promise. I only had 6 kids instead of 12, and Melissa and Louise were really low too. It was great. It was quiet and the kids actually played nicely together for a change.
I feel like I had a story to tell but it's slipping my mind. So I'm just gonna go. I'm glad you all could share my Quiznos experience with me tonight.

Time to post, eh?

Well here it is almost time for me to go back to Alabama. I guess I have a couple days left. Two weeks seemed like it would take a long time when I first got up here but now I'm not quite ready to go back. Well, no- I am ready I think. I kinda miss all my Alabamians. I guess I have a really bittersweet feeling right now. And mom and dad are in Haiti right now and I'm a little jealous so that makes me sappy. But it's been a good break thus far. Somehow I got conned into getting facebook. Something I thought I would never do. But I did. It's all right I guess but I probably won't be as into it as a lot of people are. I also can tell that I've changed some over the past year. Last year on Christmas break I wanted to know what everyone was doing all the time and wanted to socialize as much as possible. This year, after months of learning how to entertain myself most weekends, I was perfectly content to stay home and not do anything. I played a lot of games with my parents. Don't get me wrong though. I had fun when I was with my friends. Yesterday me and Beks treated ourselves to a Spa. It was great except the lady massaged the tops of my shoulders and neck too hard and now they hurt to the touch. Last night a group of us went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. All I have to say about that is WOW. But I need to go to Wal-Mart now. I've only been there once since I've been up here. I'm kind of feeling lost. But I'm sure I'll have plenty of reasons to go once I get back to AL. Well, I guess that's all folks.