Finally

I'm posting...finally.  Anthony asked if I was already done blogging (as I tend to never follow through with things).  I'm not done, I just haven't really had the energy to blog lately. 

I still have two posts left on my trip to DC and one day I will get them finished.  My birthday was last weekend and I never blogged about that.  It was a wonderful birthday.  My students were great the day before my birthday.  After work, some of my friends and I went for pedicures and dinner.  Anthony surprised me Saturday with breakfast in bed and we went to dinner Saturday night for my birthday.  Nothing amazing, but a wonderful birthday that left me feeling loved.

This weekend was another pretty good weekend.  Easter morning we got up and went to the late service.  We had a wonderful Easter lunch of McDonalds (I completely for  got about buying things for an Easter meal until late in the week).  We saw our first rain in a couple months.  Then we had a huge hail storm and several tornado warnings.  I was terrified and spent most of the late afternoon sitting in the tornado closet watching the news from the doorway.  There were several reported tornados, all atleast 10 miles from where we live.  The hail, on the other hand, hit us hard.  We had atleast baseball hail, possibly softball size hail.  This picture doesn't do the hail justice, but I wasn't taking my camera, or my body, out into the weather to get better/more pictures.  You can see from this picture that there was lots of it.  It would stop and then start back up again.  Did this two or three times!

Anthony's car is beat up all over, though the glass is not broken, thankfully!  My new car got several dings.  It was under a covered parking, but my spot is on the end.  The one exposed side got quite a few hits and Im so disappointed.  I'm just ready to be done dealling with insurance and having to pay money for all these unexpected things! 

I've got my big girl panties on now and I'm moving on.  I'm grateful for the rain.  I'm grateful that we are all safe.

On to a new week! 

Cherry Blossom Festival-Part 2

We couldn't go to Washington, DC without seeing the monuments.  When told my students where I was going (and begged that they be on their best behavior while I was gone), they told me to take pictures and insisted that I go see Abraham Lincoln. 

The first day we were there, Friday, we only made it to the Capital Building and around the Capital Building.  I'm not sure we picked the best Metro station to get off at.  We did go to the Museum of American History and spent a good bit of time there (the museum pictures will follow in part 3...get excited!). 

Saturday, we started out for the Washington and Lincoln memorials and the Museum of Natural Science.  Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans.   After walking a couple blocks from the Metro station, Mom said, "I think we should just go in here (Aerospace Museum) because it looks like it's about to rain.  She was right on.  Thirty seconds later...sprinkles.  Those were followed by pouring rain.  We found protection in a little opening in the building that covered.  There were like 8 of us squished in this little 3 by 3 area.  But atleast we stayed dry!  The rain let up a bit and we did the museum thing.  Then, we headed to the monuments again.  When we started that way, more dark clouds.  We didn't make it to the Metro before it started pouring rain and hailing.  Thankfully it let up and we were able to take to the Metro to Union Station for cupcakes.   We were able to make it out for a little more walking before we called it a day.

Storm clouds coming in

Crumbs Cupcake-Chocolate Covered Strawberry

After the storm.

The sky was so pretty.

Sunday, we walked from the Washington Monument around the basin to the Jefferson Memorial and then the Lincoln Memorial. 

Mr. Lincoln and I





After leaving the Lincoln memorial, we decided to walk to the Arlington National Cemetary.  It was much further than it looked, but we made it.  I'm going to let that be a post of its own, as it was the most moving part of our trip. 

Cherry Blossom Festival-Part 1

About this time last year my brother moved up to Washington, DC and Mom read about the Cherry Blossom Festival.  Since my birthday is in April, she asked if I'd like to go for my birthday.  How could I turn that down?  So, on March 31 (sorry it has taken me almost two weeks to post) Mom and I headed to DC.

We weren't sure what to expect weather wise.  It seemed that every day we checked, we saw something different.  There was even snow forecasted for our trip.  The weather ended up being nice most of the weekend.  Though it was very chilly, there was no snow, only a few short showers and a bit of hail. 

The trip was wonderful and the cherry blossoms were BEAUTIFUL.  We spent the weekend at my brother's apartment.  We had three full days there and while we had a lot to do, we didn't have to rush.  We got moving slowly most mornings and then headed out to see sights.  In the evenings, we met up with my brother for dinner and just hung out the rest of the evening.  Spending that time with my mom and brother was great!

The blooming trees and sights gave me a great chance to really get to use my new camera.  I had so much fun playing around with it and can't wait to continue learning.  

Everywhere we went, there were cherry blossoms.  They were outside my brother's apartment, at the airport, and around all the monuments.  Each weekend they had many events planned with the festival.  We didn't participate in the events, but just seeing all the beautiful trees was worth it!



It was truly amazing how the cherry trees lined the basin.  The pictures just don't do it justice.

I loved the baby tree!

Later this week I hope to post about some of the monuments and sights that we visited and the cupcakes we ate!  

Military Life from Alpha To Zulu

Last Monday, Wife on a Roller Coaster came up with this great idea.  It looked like fun and I had some free time, so I got started on it.  Unfortunately, no matter how hard I thought (which there's not a lot of brain energy left in the evening)  some are an extreme stretch.  But anyway, here it goes...Military Life from Alpha To Zulu!

(A)lpha-Air Force
(B)ravo-Brave
(C)harlie-Change
(D)elta-Deployments
(E)cho-Exercises
(F)oxtrot-Friendship
(G)olf-Goodbyes
(H)otel-Housing allowance
(I)ndia-Independent
(J)uliet-Jargon
(K)ilo-Kiss (as in alwasys kiss goodbye)
(L)ima-Life-changing
(M)ike-Moving
(N)ovember-New
(O)scar-Opportunities
(P)apa-Pride
(Q)uebec-Questions
(R)omeo-Reunions
(S)ierra-Stars and Stripes
(T)ango-Travel
(U)niform-Uniforms, and lots of them!
(V)ictor-Very different
(W)hiskey-Wild
(X)-Ray-X-citement (that's a stretch, I know)
(Y)ankee-Your life (as in military becomes your life)
(Z)ulu-Zeal

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.