Prayers Please

It seems like I've asked for prayers alot lately, but I'm asking again.

Last night, my 93 year old grandfather fell at the nursing home.  Today, they took him to the ER and he has broken his hip.  They are going to monitor him and if all is well, they will proceed with a hip replacement surgery tomorrow.  Please keep him in your prayers. 

Also, Gran is dealing with a lot of negative emotions right now.  Please pray that these feelings will go away.  The first week after treatment seems to be the toughest.  She deals with anger and frustration.  She did not expect to feel this way and the second treatment has been worse than the first (which is normal).  Thankfully, she is not as bad as she could be, but to her, she is terrible.  But, it's hard to talk to her and know what to say when she is so down.

It's very hard to be so far away right now and be so helpless. 

Sick as a Dog

This little guy has been a bit under the weather lately.  It started last Sunday night.  I had just turned off the TV and was about to fall asleep when Sam jumped up and started coughing, wretching, and belching.  The fit lasted about 5-10 seconds and then everything was fine.  Ten minutes later, it happened again.  And then it happened again.  At this point, I got a little concerned and got online.  The first thing I came across was bloat.  I was terrified!  I called Anthony numerous times with no answer and finally called the station in a panic.  He calmed me down and assured me it was nothing.  By the time I was done talking to Anthony, he was fine and playing with Frankie. 

The next night, nothing.  But then it started back up Tuesday night, not as bad though.  I did more research and decided that it wasn't bloat and everything I read said if the cough continued for 5 days to see a vet.  Well, the coughing continued off and on.  So, on Friday I took him into the vet and he said he had bronchitis and tracheitis (or something like that).  So, just like when I had bronchitis, he's on an antibiotic and a steriod.  Unlike me, he takes his with peanut butter.  And thank goodness the coughing has gotten better and so has my sleeping!

A Million Bucks

In the state of Texas, the minimum teaching salary for a teacher with 4 years of experience is just over $30,000.  Most districts pay more.  If you get into metroplex areas, a teacher with 4 years experience might make closer to $50,000.  As you move away from the metroplex, you will find most teachers are on the lower end of the pay scale.  Any teacher that is actually teaching solely for the money is clearly in the wrong profession.

Teaching has never been about the money.  Sure, I have to have money to pay bills and to fuel my shopping addition, but I didn't chose teaching for the money.  Clearly.  I chose teaching because I want to make a difference.  On days that I realize that I have made a difference, I get the biggest paycheck ever.  And today, was one of those days. 

If you've followed my blog for a while, you might remember a little boy I had last year when I tought kindergarten.  This little boy was not happy to be in my room, he said it was "stupid."  He couldn't talk to me because his mom told him not to speak to strangers.  He hit, bit, pushed, and cursed.  I remember him crawling under a table one day and refusing to come out.  No one loved him or believed in him, including himself.  He's the kind of student that most teachers truly dread and secretly hope will be absent (I know, it's sad, but very true). 

Anyway, I refused to give up on him.  I set forth to do whatever it took to get through to him because I would not allow any child to spend a year in my class and still consider himself stupid.  So, I worked at it for about 6 weeks.  He had learned half of his letters in six weeks and he now called himself smart.  I had made a difference!  And then I found out he was moving.  I was devastated.  I thought of him frequently and was always worried that his new teacher wouldn't get to know him and see how great he was.  I learned this fall that his mother had passed away and my heart broke even more.  I just prayed that he had someone who would love him and believe in him. 

Well, God decided he needed to be back with me.  Or maybe I needed him to remind me how much I love what I do.  When he walked in my room today, it took everything I had not to cry.  He gave me the biggest hug and just held on.  I have never been so happy to see a student.   He later told me that he had cried when he was at his house.  I asked him why and he told me because he missed me.  It may not be easy, but I know this kid needs me and I know God knew I was just the person. 

And today, I feel like a million bucks.  Not because I got a nice paycheck to put in the bank, but because I made a difference. 

Realizations

Yesterday, in attempt to be a good wife, I told Anthony that if he would wash his ABUs I would iron them tonight.  I'm not sure what got into me as I had NEVER ironed his ABUs.  While ironing, I had a few realizations.

1.  I will never volunteer to iron ABUs again.  Ever.  Even if it means he cooks dinner.  It still wasn't worth it.
2.  I will gladly pay to have his ABUs professionally laundered. 
3. Those things have a lot of pockets!  There would be no need for me to carry a purse!
4.  We need a new iron.  Bad.  I don't know how he has managed to iron his uniforms for the past two years!

Do you iron your husband's uniform or does he?

Back To Work

Spring Break has officially ended.  While I will miss laying around in my PJ's until 1pm and sitting up until midnight, I am actually looking forward to getting back to work and seeing my students. I have 50 more days to make a difference.  I have 50 more days to teach these students that they are readers and writers.  I have 50 days to teach these students to believe in themselves.  And after 50 days, I will be sending these 20 first graders on to second grade. It will be such a bittersweet moment after spending two school years with most of them.  It's such an amazing feeling to be a teacher and know that I am impacting these kiddos.  And, in addition to teaching these 20 first graders, I will have a student teacher in my room for the next 7 weeks.  Not only am I looking forward to an extra adult in the room, but I am looking forward to sharing my teaching beliefs and helping her to become a successful teacher. 

Also, with spring break ending, I am even closer to three really important events:
1.  Going to DC with Mom to see my brother and the Cherry Blossom Festival
2.  My birthday month and birthday
3.  A weekend at home with my brother (the one in DC), my aunt and uncle (from Mississippi) and all of my family.  My brother, Mom and I will all be walking a 5K for Breast Cancer.  I had really wanted to run, but since my neck was sprained and strained in the accident, I haven't been able to read and train like I had planned.

With all the fun coming up, I really am not too sad to see this week end!

What are you looking forward to?

Amazing!

Spring Break is AMAZING!  It has been so nice to sit up as late as I want and sleep in until I'm ready to get out of bed.  It's been so relaxing to know there's nothing I HAVE to get done each day (except going to the chiropractor which I enjoy). 

I've marked quite a bit off of my to do list.  Yesterday, I had lunch with friends, went to the chiropractor, got an allergy shot, cleaned my car (very well, I might add), made two doctors appointments and did a bit of shopping.  Today, I got a pedicure, had lunch with friends, switched out my winter and summer clothes, and organized my closet and my other closet the guest bedroom closet.  Only two more closets to clean/organize and a bit of chores around the house and my to do list is done!  Such a great feeling!

Spring Break

I am officially two days into my spring break.  I have been counting down this week for months.  You would think I had a great trip or something planned as excited as I have been; however that is not the case. 

My spring break began with a trip home to see my family.  We spent Friday night at Gran's, but were kicked out the next night.  Apparently we kept Sam from being able to sleep Friday night and when I woke up Saturday Gran suggested we go stay at Mom and Dad's Saturday night so everyone could sleep better.  I happily went and got much more sleep!  It was a great trip home and Gran was feeling great.  Mom, Gran, and I took a shopping trip Saturday while Dad and Anthony went to the gun show and electronic stores.  It was hard to come back today.

Now that I am back I am happy to have week days off to get things acomplished.  Normally I run around between 4 and 5 trying to get things done and I spend my conference period on the phone and lunch is scarfed down in 25 minutes.  I plan to have lunch dates with friend and my husband, get a pedicure, do some shopping, continue taking care of stuff from the wreck, get a few doctor appointments in and just get everything in order. 

I hope to come out of this week feeling rested and stress free.  I hope to get caught up enough on everything that I can make it until the end of May. 

So, to those of you who work in schools or have kids who are out for spring break, what do you have planned?

Not All Bad

So, it's been a week and a half since I totaled my car.  For the most post part (as I noted previously) it has been a pain in the neck, literally and figuratively speaking.  There has been one big perk.  I am now the owner of a brand new...

Honday CR-V!!!

As I posted last week, my Civic was totaled.  Thankfully, we had purchased GAP insurance when we purchased the Civic, so we came out even.  Of course, then I needed a new car.  We knew that whatever car we bought, I would still be driving when we began having children.  For that reason, we wanted something bigger than a Civic.  I have always had my eye on the CR-V and I had loved my experience with Honda.  I was so happy that Anthony agreed and even suggested that we get a car with more features than the Civic (which wasn't hard sine it was very basic).  We did our research and went in Thursday with our offer. 

I absolutely love my new car!  And I love my husband even more for getting me the car I wanted...even if he was the one that drove it home Thursday night.

Camera

I've been in a been of a fuddy mood and haven't been up for blogging much lately (don't worry, I think I'm finally out of my funk).  For that reason, I completely forgot to blog about my camera!

Ever since Christmas when my husband led me to believe I was getting a new camera for Christmas, I have been wanting one.  I saved my Christmas money and started putting a little aside every pay period.  I did my research and decided on a Nikon D3100.  I checked prices everywhere and had set a price that I would spend on it.  With the help of Anthony's TDY I finally had enough saved up.  It just so happened that Best Buy had it on sale that week.  Talk about luck!  I sent Anthony for the ad at Best Buy and then headed to the BX when I got off.  It just didn't make sense to pay tax on it when I could take the ad to BX and get it tax free.  Well, the BX here would not honor the ad because they claimed Best Buy was out of stock.  I was furious.  That rule was posted no where.  I was so disappointed.  This same day, we had planned to go home to see my grandmother, so Anthony offered to stop at the Joint Reserve Base in Ft. Worth.  They had the camera in stock and after a bit of confusion, they matched the ad and I am now a proud owner of this beauty!

I absolutely love it.  I love that it has a guide mode so that I'm not completely shooting in auto, but that I am still able to take great photos.  I can't wait to learn more!



A Pain in the Neck

This accident has been a pain in the neck...literally and figuratively.

My neck pain has not gone away.  Instead, it has began causing headaches and keeping me awake at night.

They have totaled my car.  It is a relief to know I will not be recieving a damaged vehicle when it is all said and done.  And while I am excited about getting a new car, I do not love the process.

But, life goes on.