Taste and See

Lately

2012-02-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

To quote Nacho Libre, "My life is good. Really good." Here's a little sampling of what's been going on recently, which may also serve as my excuse for neglecting the ol' blog...

Settling in for a Friday Night Lights marathon with a Newks' salad and good company.

We've been living it up with the social activities lately. Lots of parties, lots of ladies' Bible study, lots of making food from Pinterest and movie/game/show watching in the company of friends. Love it.

First annual GALentine's Day festivities!

The Black History program is next Tuesday. Fun fact: I chose the date for the program before I realized that the day before the program is a staff development day. As in, no school on Monday for the kids, come to school Tuesday, and BAM- program time. Awesome. Fortunately, the kids sound awesome and look super cute doing their Temptations moves to "My Girl" and their Michael Jackson Experience moves (yes, I am the proud temporary user of a Wii in my classroom just to learn the dance) to "Beat It."

I'm creating a database for my last class at UNT. Creating. A. Database. It's hard. It takes a long time. But it's kinda cool, and the nerd in me loves it while the overachiever in me hates it and the lay-on-the-couch-and-watch-a-movie-lover in me is dying a slow and painful death. I can't wait till March 1st, when the first chunk is due.

Apparently there are only 3 weeks till Spring Break. I'm not complaining.

Here We Go Again...

2011-12-21T21:40:00.001-08:00

I love Christmas break. Really, I love every school break. I love my job. I also love vacation.

This week has been full of playdates with Lori, eating out for lunch, braving Christmas shoppers, and movies. Awesome.

But now, at 11:41 p.m., it's fair to say that I've reached the part of Christmas break that makes it even harder to wake up and go to work on January 2nd: all rested up.

I've slept in, laid around, chilled out to my heart's content. So now, at 11:41 p.m., I'm wide awake wishing I were asleep in my bed. That's where I should be. I like my bed. I like falling asleep.

But now, and probably for the next week and a half, it ain't gonna happen before midnight. Oh, well. I guess I'll just sleep in tomorrow.

The Race

2011-12-11T16:30:00.001-08:00

It was cold. Very, very cold.

It was wet. Very, very wet. So wet, in fact, that Lori and I bought more rain gear in a panic the night before. It was a good decision. All night long, as we both lay sleepless in our beds, we prayed as it thundered, "Lord, please get all the rain out now!" He didn't.

We ran. We ran fast, determined to finish and run the whole way. We did it, and we did it together. It was fun and miserable and easy and so hard all at once.

I'm not sad that we did it, and I'm not sad that it's over! Now to the Christmas eating...

Why Am I Doing This?!

2011-12-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

Lori and I have been training for the upcoming White Rock Half Marathon in Dallas. It was surprisingly easy to convince Lori to train with me, mainly because she somehow wrangled me into training for a 9 mile race that (fortunately) never made. Since that race was supposed to happen in October, Lori and I have actually been training since mid-August. Needless to say, we're ready to get this show on the road.

Training has been really fun. Really fun. Has every run been fun? Nope. But training was good. We've had a LOT of laughs, a few adventures (read previous post about new puppy), and have shown these hills who's boss.

Too bad Sunday's rainy weather is threatening to dampen our spirits (no pun intended, but pretty awesome). Don't worry- Lori's been preparing us with rain gear, research, and dri-wick everything. We're not so concerned about the cold, since we've run in the 30's before. It's the rain. Dang.

So if you'd like to join us in praying that the rain holds off, we'd appreciate it. No matter the weather, we're pretty excited about Sunday, or are at least anxious for our victory meal after the race!

9 Miles and a Puppy

2011-11-18T21:06:00.000-08:00

Last week Lori and I did our 9 mile run (this week was our last long run-10 miles!) , and it was one of the more unusual runs we've had.

We started out strong. And by strong, I mean awesome. We were cranking out the hills, feeling pretty good, and doing our best to beat the nightfall before we got into a bit of a sketchy neighborhood. About mile 6 we downed the Gu and started to turn down a hill that led back up into said sketchy neighborhood. We had just enough time to make it out of there before dark.

This particular turn has a small batch of little woods to the right, and it's never unusual to hear noises and rustling around in the leaves. What IS unusual, however, is to have something dart out at you and run straight for your feet as you pass. As Lori and I turned by these woods, out darted a small furry animal that immediately resulted in my squealing and jumping into Lori, causing her to scream in fright of my scream. When we recovered, we looked down and saw a tiny puppy sniffing at our feet and trying to climb our legs. I picked up the puppy to get it out of the way, and Lori and I walked around the corner- back and forth a few times- attempting to figure out from whence the puppy came. We even got to knock on the door of giant mansion we'd just passed- though we didn't even get a good peek in. No luck. Time is a-tickin' away as we try to figure out how we can get away from the puppy that apparently finds joy in running right under our feet and tripping us. Thankfully Lori knew a family that lived a couple of houses down, so we ran there, borrowed a phone, and called John.

By now, daylight is totally spent, and we've got to finish our run. John was still on his way home from work, so we had no choice but to pick up the puppy and attempt to run with it until John could meet us. Running with a puppy is hard. Really hard. And really funny. With puppy in arms, we headed up the hill into semi-sketchy neighborhood, taking breaks to pass the puppy back and forth in the complete dark. John met us shortly, promptly fell in love with New Puppy, and did us the favor of driving slowly behind us like a creeper so we could have light for our sketchy run.

Aside from the unexpected addition to our 9 mile, it was actually a really good, really fun run. And now we have another puppy to play with!

Old School

2011-11-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

Lori and I went home for the weekend to do Christmas shopping with Mom. The best part of the trip is getting to spend some fun time with Mom and Dad (and shop, of course). The worst part is the drive. It's a 3 1/2 hour trek, which isn't terrible, but there are several stretches of nothingness that make it feel like you're never going to get there.

About an hour from home, I decided to surprise Lori with a little blast from the past on the iPod. This, of course, led to our singing good ol' 199o's Christian classics at the top of our lungs until we pulled into the driveway.

Here's the run-down of our jam session:

4Him
"Measure of a Man"
"You Are Holy"
"Great Awakening"
"Where There is Faith"
"Basics of Life"

From 4Him we moved on to Point of Grace. We were disappointed to find that some of our favorites were, somehow, missing from my iPod- songs like "This Day" and "Jesus Will Still be There." But that disappointment did not stop us from enjoying these musical treats:

Point of Grace
"Dying to Reach You"
"You Are the Answer"
"The Great Divide"
"Steady On"
"Gather at the River"
"More Than Anything"
"Circle of Friends"

We were hankering for a little Brian Duncan, "Blessed Are the Tears That Fall," but for some reason I don't have that one either. We settled for...

Michael W. Smith
"Secret Ambition"
"Picture Perfect"

Our best surprise of the night (I was quite proud of discovering this jewel on my iPod) took us back to the good ol' days of concerts at Six Flags. Get ready for...

Carmen
"The Champion"

Man, that was some good car singing.

HSU: A Comparison

2011-10-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend Lori and I went back to ol' HSU for Homecoming- an event I look forward to every year. I loved every second of college, and especially love getting to re-visit favorite places, see old friend, and reminisce about the good ol' days. Now home and exhausted, I can't help but compare the events of this weekend to our first experiences at Hardin-Simmons. Hang with me, if you will...

Friday night, Lori and I check into the hotel with our lifelong friend Stephanie (what up, second grade?!), and promptly decide that junk food is in order.

SAME AS COLLEGE:
We hit up Wal-Mart at 10:45 for M&Ms, Chex Mix, candy corn, and cokes.

DIFFERENT THAN COLLEGE:
We were wearing real clothes instead of pajama pants.

Returning to the hotel, we stayed up late talking, snacking, and watching TV.

SAME AS COLLEGE:
We stayed up past midnight watching none other than TLC.

DIFFERENT THAN COLLEGE:
Staying up past midnight = staying up till 12:30 instead of 2:30.

The next morning, Lori and I got up to go to Sigma Alpha Alumni breakfast.

SAME AS COLLEGE:
We didn't really want to go, and really didn't want to figure out what to wear.

DIFFERENT THAN COLLEGE:
We actually enjoyed ourselves and wore whatever we wanted.

The HSU Bookstore was another stop.

SAME AS COLLEGE:
We found some good new HSU gear that we wanted.

DIFFERENT THAN COLLEGE:
We had to pay for it. Couldn't find Mom and Dad anywhere.

Stephanie, Lori, Julie, and I went to lunch together.

SAME AS COLLEGE:
We chose Abuelo's.

DIFFERENT THAN COLLEGE:
See above about HSU Bookstore.

For the remainder of Saturday, we hit up the football game, walked around campus, and made our way downtown.

SAME AS COLLEGE:
The Paramount still plays Halloween midnight showings of a scary movie.

DIFFERENT THAN COLLEGE:
They don't play The Changeling anymore! Now it's Carrie. (insert point and yell "HEY!" at Paramount sign)

Post- SING (I'll save you a lot more SAME/DIFFERENT comparisons for that one), we hit up the Taco Bueno for a little late-night snack.

SAME AS COLLEGE:
Party burritos, Mexi-Dips and Chips, and remainder of Friday night's junk food at 11:30 p.m.

DIFFERENT THAN COLLEGE:
Woke up 3 times in the middle of the night convinced I was about to puke my guts out. Apparently the 30 year-old body can't hack the college habits anymore.

I loved college. I still love HSU. I wouldn't be sad to end up in Abilene again someday. But it sure won't be the same as the years 2000-2004.

Homeowners and Manliness

2011-10-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

I was mowing what was left of my lawn (thanks a lot, summer) in this glorious weather earlier this afternoon. As the dust swirled and I mowed over the same spot for probably the third time (it's really hard when 98% of the grass is short and stubby, but 2% is super tall, requiring the mowing in the first place) I had a thought that I've had a few times in the past year and a half:

"Ahh, home-ownership. Where women turn into men, and men become heroes."

Now, don't get me wrong- this isn't a complaining, "I-need-a-man"- type post. Hear me out.

Buying a home on my own a year and a half ago was the scariest and most grown-up thing I've ever done, despite the fact that I cried every time I got a counter-offer and immediately called my dad. The finality of it scared me, as well as the responsibility. But I was excited about the idea of having a home of my own, to pound as many nails in the walls as I wanted, change things, even work in a yard.

When I worked at Pine Cove, many of us girls took on responsibilities that fit into the category that we called "man-jobs"- plunging toilets, moving tables, blowing off paths, carrying loads up and down stairs, flinging trash into the dumpster and, occasionally, jumping on the trash in the dumpster to make room for more. We would look at each other with raised eyebrows (and probably insert sarcastic, "No, it's okay guys, I got it" comments) that said it all- we felt like dudes. Ask my sister why she wore sparkly earrings to her outdoor ed job everyday, and she would tell you every time, "So I can feel like a girl."

I've found the same is true with home-ownership. Now, don't get me wrong. There are plenty of girly things that I love about owning a home- decorating, painting, buying kitchen things and hosting people, planting flowers, etc.

But.

Since owning my home I've now become the proud owner of a lawnmower, weedeater, hedge trimmer, blower, drill, socket wrenches, a level (really?! I have to hang my own pictures now?!), and various random tools. I mow my lawn, have scars from weedeating, even re-wound my own weedeating line. I've caulked my bathtub, figured out with my roommate how to take apart the pipes and put them back together under the sink, sprayed my lawn for moles, and even run outside to yell at the digging squirrels to get out of my yard like I'm a grumpy old man.

I used to rely on dudes for help. The landlord and maintenence guy were my heroes. But now, if a regular dude offers to fix something, or mow my lawn (even if he never does it!), or help me move, or hang a picture, all of a sudden these dudes are heroes to me like they've never been before. And I never complain about their help. Ain't no feminism here.

But I like working on my house. I like mowing and taking care of the lawn and such, and am learning to appreciate the dirty work, even when it turns me into a man. So I'll keep on working and doing man-jobs, then do what I do 9 times out of 10 after mowing the lawn- shave my legs.

Countdown to Summer

2011-05-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

As I'm looking forward to this summer, I'd like to take a second to remember some highlights of last summer's first ever European Seester Vacation.

Remember the time...

we climbed a million stairs to the top of the Arc...

and then Lori looked like this?

we almost died trying to look at the Mona Lisa?

it was zero degrees in Paris in August...

but we still climbed to the top of Notre Dame and I embarrassed Lori by singing the "Bells of Notre Dame" song from the Disney movie?

That was fun.

Life

2011-05-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

How is it that January, February, and March drag by, then you blink and April is over and you're trekking full speed ahead through May? Not that I'm complaining. Each weekend reminds me just how much I can't wait for the blissful extended weekend that we like to call "summer break." This past Tuesday we had our annual first grade Cinco de Mayo program (I have no idea how we made it through- this is one rowdy bunch of first graders), which was thankfully the last program of the year. Now we can just have fun and play games and sing Christmas songs in May just for kicks and I no longer have Spanish songs about little ducks or "La Bamba" stuck in my head. Score.

Yesterday I turned in a final project for one class and a final exam for another, which means that I'm DONE with grad school until August. Awesome. I am ready to be done with grad school forever. No offense, library science. I still love you, but I'm tired of writing papers and cataloging for a bit.

This morning I ran my first race alone. I've done 2 half marathons and a 10k, but always with friends. Today was a 5k and I actually felt a little insecure going into it. What is it about being around other runners that makes you feel like you're not a real runner? Lame. But I did it and finished in a decent time and got a free breakfast burrito out of the deal.

After the race today I got home at 9:00 a.m., which is when I realized that I didn't know what to do with my free time. I cleaned the house and finished by 11:45. Hmmm. I'll work on leisure time.

Last but not least (though frequently willfully shoved out of my mind), my roommate and BFF Lauren moves out next week. Every time I think about it I start to cry. Just thought you should know.

Recently

2011-04-01T17:39:00.001-07:00

I'm ready for this season to be over. Not spring- I love spring. I mean this season in my life where I'm in a constant state of worry or tiredness or, more appropriately, weariness in many aspects of life. Too much to do, too much uncertainty, too much that I want to do but don't have time to do yet. I'm sure you know the feeling. I've been in a funk and sincerely apologize to those who have innocently wandered into the maelstrom of my emotions on occasion. But things have been looking up. Spring break was much needed and full of the fellowship of friends that have known me long enough to know the real me that is very much a mess a lot of the time. They not only love me in spite of it, but maybe they love me because of it? I don't know. But I do know that I love them a LOT and am so grateful for their steady presence in my life.

I've been worried about budget cuts and losing my job, not for money's sake (though there is that to consider), but mainly because I just love my job and hate change. It's true. But I can see that, in the grand scheme of all things education, the likelihood that someone values music education over a regular classroom is small-ish, which means I could be out if the money doesn't come through. It's reality. However, I am blessed to know that even if that happens, my school loves me. I was voted Teacher of the Month for April and, today, Teacher of the Year. Did not see this coming. I hesitate to say anything for fear of sounding like I'm soliciting praise, but it sure does make me feel good and loved. The kids love music and my co-workers think I'm doing something right, which is super encouraging.

So I still have no idea what's gonna happen job-wise (here's hoping I'm safe!), and there's still too much to do and I still hate writing papers (go figure that the Teacher of the Year thing comes with about a thousand essays to write) and I still want to be a skinny winner and still eat chips and cake and ice cream- but at least today has been good and God is good. That's what I do know.

A Lesson

2011-03-10T07:46:00.001-08:00

"Father, I want to know Thee,

but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys.

I cannot part with them without inward bleeding,

and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting.

I come trembling, but I do come...."

- A.W. Tozer

I couldn't have said it better myself.

My Weekend in Hill Country

2011-02-23T17:42:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Lauren and I headed down to her little hometown of Austin, Texas, to run in the Austin Half-Marathon. For 2 1/2 months we've trained, and for about a month and a half we've been ready to just get this thing over with already.

Last week was a rough week for me. School stress was high with extra practices for the Black History program (performed last night, and I SO wish I could post it here!), and then I got maybe the first migrane headache I've ever had, which not only kept me home on Tuesday, but pretty much messed with me all week long. I felt like I needed to run so that Sunday's race wouldn't kill me, but couldn't do much more than just function through the day and lay on the couch. So then I started worrying about how my illness would affect the race, how my not running would affect the race, if it would rain during the race... pretty much anything I could worry about, I did.

Our time in Austin was relaxing and easy. My fears started subsiding, and when the race started I was ready to run. And, surprisingly enough, the race was actually fun.

Don't get me wrong- the hills were beastly. I could spend a whole other post talking about the evils of the hills. I could probably also dig deeper later about the training process and how I hate it, but not for now. Today I'm just glad that the race is over, and even more glad that I did it.

But overall, it was fun. I felt accomplished. I hoped I could make it without walking, and I did. Couldn't care less about my finish time. I'm just glad I finished!

The Stressful Life of a Music Teacher

2011-02-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

I was talking to Lori today and in the course of our conversation I confessed that I've been stressed lately at work. The weather's causing snow days and early releases and such have definitely played a part, but the stress is largely due to the upcoming Black History program performed by the 2nd graders. If I look at it with my serious eyes, I see lots of stuff that needs to get done, people that I need to please, kids that need to be included, parents that need to be happy, etc. But I've decided that if I look at it with my "I-love-my-job" eyes, this is what I'm stressing about:

teaching a swing dance to a small group of children
teaching a blow-up saxophone routine for a dozen kids to perform with James Brown's "I Feel Good"
reviewing the words to "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" to highlight the work of George Washington Carver
teaching the dance to "Peanut Butter Jelly Time"
glittering signs for the Pledge of Allegiance
group practices of songs like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Lean on Me," "I Feel Good," and "We are the World."

Really, it's not that bad. Stuff has to get done and I inevitably get stressed. But it could definitely be worse.

The Woes of Running

2011-01-22T13:35:00.000-08:00

This is the part in training for a half marathon that sucks. The two or three weeks before where you're adding milage but it's not race time yet. Running 8, 9, 10 miles without the satisfaction of being in the race or the even greater satsfaction of being done with the race.

I miss just running 3 miles and being done.

Just 2 more long runs- 9 next week and 10 the next- and then it's race day. If I make it that long.

No Witty Title or Theme...

2011-01-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Life has been busy and tiring and good and a little rough all rolled up into the past month. Christmas was excellent. Mom and Dad and Bootsie and Granddaddy came to Tyler and Lori and I hosted the party this year! We all stayed at the Redfearn abode and ate a lot, played a lot of dominoes and Skip-Bo, and busted out Lori's china for Christmas dinner. It was perfect.

After Christmas I went home with Mom and Dad to hang in Killeen for a bit, then met up with Lauren in Austin to go to a friend's wedding reception over New Year's Eve. Those two weeks were glorious and made coming back to school a little harder, now freshly reminded of how I love vacation.

Last night I had the opportunity to meet up with the executive director of L'Arcada, the camp where we served in Spain with Pine Cove this summer, his wife, and a couple that supports the ministry out in Lindale, only about 25 minutes from me. I found out on Tuesday that they were in town, and I had the best time talking about our experience there this summer, dreaming about the camp's future and our partnership with them, and planning fundraising strategies for their staff. I came back exhausted and feeling like my heart was filled up.

The damper on the good stuff is the underlying concern about the stability of my job. Right before Christmas break we were informed that, due to some major budget cuts, some of us may be without a job next school year. We were told we would find out by February where we stand, and the past month has been full of whispered conversations, speculation, appealing our cases to one another, trying to think up other ways that they might save a buck that don't end in losing jobs.

I'm learning what it means to truly trust the Lord (again!) and to lay my burdens daily at His feet. I can literally feel the fear and uncertainty start to creep in, and am constantly reminded that I am to cast my cares on Him and trust the path that He has set out for me.

I love my job. I don't want to lose it. "Lord, I do believe; help my unbelief!"

Resolutions...

2011-01-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Now is the time when I read about people's resolutions, goals, commitments for the new year. And now is also the time when I usually realize that I have yet (again) to make any resolutions, goals, or commitments for the new year. It kinda sneaks up on me, and before I know it it's March and I think about the resolutions that I maybe should have made in January.

Maybe this year my first resolution will be to have my New Year's Resolutions decided by February.

Another Christmas Story

2010-12-23T18:59:00.001-08:00

And for the Christmas story that is puzzling to children yet hilarious to adults, please read The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming by Lemony Snicket. Trust me.

Christmas Storytime

2010-12-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

I'm 100% convinced that Christmas break is 5% for kids, 95% for teachers, all the name of keeping the kids alive and un-maimed come January 1st. My break thus far has consisted of sleeping late (to the late hour of 7:45 most days, due to my old lady internal clock), eating lots, watching as many Christmas movies as possible, wrapping presents, shopping with Lauren and my sister, and even running 6 miles (uphill BOTH WAYS) in preparation for the Austin half marathon in February. It's been awesome. And tomorrow our parents and Bootsie and Granddaddy are heading into Tyler as Lori and I host our first Christmas at our new houses. So fun.

Part of my favorite Christmas decoration is the display of my favorite Christmas children's books, some of which line the mantle (or shelf in this house) and the rest lay stacked on the end table. I'm pretty sure I have 12 out and left some in my shelf. This is the life and love of a future librarian. I thought I'd share with you some of my favorites on the off chance that you haven't read or even heard of some of them. Then I expect you to remedy the situation, pronto.

- The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. If you haven't read it yet, I don't know what to say to you except that you are missing a small piece of your childhood. Get on it.

- Night Tree by Even Bunting. This is the story of a family that ventures into the woods each Christmas to decorate a tree for the woodland creatures. It reminds me of a Golden Book story of the woodland creatures that live in and celebrate Christmas in the woods. I love how all the stories weave together in my mind. It also makes me want to live in the woods.

- The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston. In this story the townspeople take turns selecting the town's Christmas tree, and this year the task is left to a mother and daughter as the man of the house is away. Cute.

- Where Did They Hide My Presents? by Alan Katz and David Catrow. Written in the style of Take Me Out of the Bathtub, the authors take familiar Christmas tunes and change the words to illustrate the funny happenings of Christmas. I LOVE singing these songs, sometimes just to myself. Don't judge me.

- The Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Robert Sabuda. Robert Sabuda is the king of pop-up books, and this one is beautiful. He also has one about Christmas cookies that I want. There are about a billion of his books that I want, including one about dinosaurs and The Wizard of Oz.

- Santa Calls by William Joyce. Not only does this book mention Abilene, Texas, but it tells of siblings and a friend that get a special letter from Santa and a trip to the North Pole.

Happy reading! I love Christmas.

Too Much Going On

2010-12-05T19:05:00.001-08:00

Too much going on, not to mention that this is my second time to type these words since I somehow pushed a button and erased everything right before the computer decided to autosave. Dang it. Anyway, from Thanksgiving vacation in Georgia (hopefully pictures soon) to Christmas program practice (this Thursday at 6 if you're interested!) to a trip to Houston this weekend to visit Kindall, I'm a little overwhelmed- I think in a good way. Not to mention the Christmassy things that are starting to mount this week. Tonight I had fritos, pimento cheese, and a cupcake for dinner. A reaction to holiday stress, or normal weekend activity? Point to ponder.

This weekend was the White Rock Marathon/Half-Marathon in Dallas. Last year, the same half marathon was my very first to run, ever. So today as I read posts about people's experiences at White Rock on facebook, I can't help but think about where I am this year and where I was last year. Last year, for example, I was not eating fritos and pimento cheese for dinner, at least not this weekend. Last year I ran 13.1 miles, and last week I didn't make my 5 mile run. Last year at this time, running was glorious. Right now, I'm learning to love it again, especially with these hills.

Maybe by February 20th, for the Austin Half, I'll be back where I was at this time last year. Baby steps, right?

A Little Game

2010-11-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a little game called, "What's Awesome, What's Not."

What's awesome: running in the morning so you don't have to when you get home on Friday.
What's not: waking up at 5:20 a.m. to run uphill both ways.

What's awesome: baking delicious goodies.
What's not: dishes in the sink.

What's awesome: watching 4 year-olds square dance.
What's not: teaching them how to do-si-do and bow to their partner without bonking heads.

What's awesome: Christmas music.
What's not: singing the same Christmas songs that kindergarten has been singing... since September.

What's awesome: waking up to Christmas from Dave Barnes.
What's not: waking up super early- wait- did I say that already?

Am I the only one who plays this game?

It's the Thankmas Season

2010-11-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

Ahh, Thankmas. The beloved season of Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the food and festivities in between. For the past 5 years we've even celebrated Thankmas with an awesome potluck meal in the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas at Pine Cove.

I do love the season as a whole, especially as they begin to collide at school. I've got kindergarteners singing and dancing to Christmas songs (and let me tell you, you haven't lived till you've seen them dance with giant candy canes), while pre-k is learning how to square dance and first and second graders are learning to dance the reel to "Turkey in the Straw."

In two weeks I'll be heading up to Georgia with the parents, sister, and bro-in-law for our annual Thanksgiving visit with the Georgia relatives. I'm already geared up for food, laughing, shooting stuff, singing hymns, and getting into the annual discussion about who is who's cousin, how they are related, and what the heck does "once removed" even mean. But this trip is the epitome of the Thankmas season for me, as we celebrate Thanksgiving by singing along to Handel's Messiah and John Denver and the Muppets and every other Christmas song we can think of along the way.

Today I noticed that somehow 6 or 7 Christmas music channels have appeared on our Dish guide, and we have the option from now until January to listen to Christmas music in any genre- Latin, Classical, Soul, "Inspirational," Funk- you get the idea. I tried to listen to it today but I couldn't do it- it's too early, though my ears are aching for real Christmas music outside of the realm of "Up on the Housetop" and "I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas."

It's getting chilly outside (finally) and inspiring me to watch things like "White Christmas" and drink pumpkin spice in my coffee. The time for peppermint mocha is coming.

I realize these are seasonal ramblings, but I can't help it. I'm 100% in Thanksgiving mode, and I'm quickly giving in to the full-blown Christmas spirit. Anybody wanna hang some Christmas lights for me (in a couple of weeks)?

A Day in the Life

2010-11-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

At work these days my time and energy is almost completely poured into not one, but now two programs coming up in the near future: Christmas program for kindergarten, and Black History for 2nd grade. Therefore, I fear the person that may or may not pop into my room and catch me listening to 4 versions of "We are the World" or "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" (that one's for you, George Washington Carver!), or worse, doing mini motions to dances I am trying to choreograph for kindergarteners to 1 1/2 minute clips of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and ribbon routines to "Feliz Navidad."

Or maybe a Spanish teachers comes and tells me that I've been pronouncing a Spanish word wrong. Cool. Time to re-teach the entire kindergarten one line of a song.

Or maybe I'm explaining to 2nd graders how the word "baby" in "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" isn't nasty or dirty and how we will be singing that song after telling about the life of Harriet Tubman. Then the passerby may witness my 5-minute explanation of slavery, the civil war, and civil rights, which also eventually leads to a discussion about Barak Obama as president. Then I mention the name "Michael Jackson" when talking about a song we will sing and the entire class of 2nd graders starts screaming like he's in the room.

And then, completely removed from programs, people that stop in may experience the unique pleasure of watching preschoolers learn how to square dance.

Huh. Weird days. But I LOVE my job.

Home Improvement

2010-10-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

I love owning my own home. I realize I have not yet experienced a disaster (and would like to put that off as long as possible, please!), but so far I'm loving it. I love that I can paint my walls whatever color I want. I like hanging things with nails. I like finding fun things that I have room to put somewhere. I actually enjoy mowing and weedeating the lawn. This week has felt majorly home improvement-ish.

Sunday: painted the bathroom a color called "Bali Turquoise." Awesome. Pictures to come if I can take one that accurately captures the awesomeness of the color. Until then, look it up on Ralph Lauren Home. Thank you, Lowes, for paint matching!

Today: mowed the lawn until the night chased me inside. Weedeating will have to wait till tomorrow.

Tomorrow: getting a new roof. That's right. I'm pretty excited about it.

On an unrelated note: there are 4 bags of M&Ms in my kitchen that I am seriously trying to resist. Curse the early Halloween candy purchase...

Saturday: party time! We are hosting our annual Halloween party for the first time in the new home, and I can't wait! This is my favorite thing about a home- filling it with people.

Pumpkin Paradise

2010-10-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

I love pumpkin in every way, shape, or form. I can't wait for pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pies. Mmmm. Yet I wasn't sure how I would feel about this:

I've never been a fan of pie and ice cream together. Something about the warm with the cold that I'm not a huge fan of. So I was hesitant to try it. But I did try it on a whim with the roommate, letting my love of pumpkin pie rule. The verdict?

AMAZING. It tastes like pumpkin pie that has been in the fridge all night and you eat for breakfast the next morning, all nice and cold and delicious. Bits of crust in the custard make it all chewy and delicious.

I'm a new believer in the power of a whole piece of pumpkin pie blended into a calorie-dense cup of frozen custard. If you don't have an Andy's so you can try it... you should come to Tyler.

Ugh

2010-10-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

This week started with a surprise stomach bug that just happened to hit at a friend's house, then held off while I prayed up a storm on the way home... then the fury began as soon as flung open the door.

My roommate is awesome and took care of me.

I didn't sleep at all and felt like I'd been run over by a dump truck.

Two sick days, 4 gatorades, a sleeve of Saltine crackers later... food tastes good again.

Except for ice cream. I'm not there yet. But soon.

Here we come, State Fair!

Today

2010-10-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is one of those days where I'm sure there's some meaningful stuff floating around in my heart and brain (in fact, I'm sure there is), but right now it's not coming out. So I'll just talk about today.

We had our first 6 weeks' Awards Assembly today. I like to watch to see the kids so excited walking up on the stage- nobody is getting in trouble, everybody it happy and sweet- it reminds me why I love them so much. Anyway, as I was watching as an innocent bystander today, the principal calls me up to the stage all of a sudden. When I got there the ladies helping pass out the awards asked me to jump in and pass them out, since I know all the kids. It was another one of those "I'm-so-glad-I'm-here-and-know-these-kids" moments. Loved it. And they were right- I knew every single kid that walked up on the stage without a second glance. I felt like a rock star.

On an unrelated note...I want to run and my foot hurts in a weird way, and now my hip is throbbing a little bit, and I'm frustrated. On the upside, I did run 4 miles on Sunday for the first time in a long time, and Lori and I run a couple of times in the morning before work which I love (and maybe why my foot and hip hurt!). Maybe right now the urge to run is greater because I had Mexican food for dinner and ate WAY too much AND didn't run this morning because Lori is out of town. Someday I will quit caring.

Mo Fun

2010-10-01T05:35:00.001-07:00

It's recruiting season at Pine Cove, a time that I really miss. Every fall we got to roll out of Tyler to colleges and universities all over the country, interview college kids, hang with our summer staff, and get to know each other a little better with each hour on the road.

As much as I loved playing with our staff and hanging on campus, I also really loved time in the car, conversations with my co-workers, and hanging with whichever friend was rooming with me on the road. One of those people was Mo.

Mo was my roommate by Pine Cove potluck, and we are kinda opposite personalities. I think that's why we were (and are!) so compatable as friends. One recruiting season I was on a few trips with Mo, which meant there was never a dull moment. As I was driving to work this morning, looking at the fall leaves out of the window and thinking about a trip to Dallas where Mo lives now, and when some nice ghetto music started playing on the radio, I spent the rest of my drive remembering fun times recruiting and living with Mo.

- Mo is a good dancer. Like, make you self-concious because you are not a good dancer, good dancer. She's also a fan of ghetto music, which sparked my love for it. Put the two together, and you get some awesome dance parties in your living room.

- Speaking of dance parties, Mo and I spent the majority of time in the hotel room after recruiting hours using the portable iPod station and teaching me how to do a body roll. I think I finally learned in Mississippi, and we jumped on the bed to celebrate.

- Speaking of jumping on beds, that's how we would pump ourselves up to go back out to do some social activity with summer staff after a long day of recruiting.

- Speaking of pumping ourselves up, one Thanksgiving Mo stuck around and hung with me and helped out at our Thanksgiving conference. We got excited while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, I made her watch an old band video, then in a moment of genius decided to choreograph a dance to Usher's "Yeah."

- Speaking of Usher, there was a brief moment in time when Mo only wanted to listen to and sing "My Boo." That was not my favorite brief moment in time.

- Speaking of Mo in general, I love her. She is a friend that makes things fun when they need to be. I wish you lived closer, roomie! (Speaking of living closer, Mo lived in Egypt for a while, and she would sometimes call me to talk. That was crazy and awesome. So Dallas is way better than Egypt.)

Rocky

2010-09-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today I had one of my favorite classes- 2nd graders, a sweet, fun, smart group of kids in this particular class. Lately as classes come in they have started asking if we are going to have centers. I started music centers last year and only do them about once every couple of months. They are time-consuming and chaotic but super fun and the kids love them. They can play games, play instruments, play on the Smart Board, read books about composers, etc. As fun as they are, they are a lot of work to put together. So no, I have not done centers yet. Today when I told them, "I will tell you when we do centers. Quit asking me," I was met with a resounding "Aww, man!" Teachable moment in whining. In my infinite wisdom I said, "Do you want to whine about not having centers, or do you want to play this game?" I thought this would put the whining to a quick end (which it did), but I didn't realize they'd keep talking about this "no whining" attitude.

Rocky, my sweet, literal, silver-toothed, Spongebob-loving, spikey-haired child raised his hand with a serious look on his face. "My mom says that I can cry when I'm bleeding," he said, referring to my brief mention of not whining or crying about no centers.

"That's right," I said. "You can cry when you're bleeding or hurt." Michael, another sweet and literal child, looks at Rocky with a confused look on his face.

"What will that do?" Michael asked.

I started laughing. "Well...nothing. But if you're gonna cry, it should be because you are really hurt or really sad. Not because you didn't get your way."

Oh, sweet Michael. He makes a good point.

Birthday Highlights

2010-09-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Turned the big 2-9 this week. Yikes. But the birthday week was awesome. A few highlights:

- our school librarian greeted me and my friend Jamie with birthday chicken biscuits from Chick-fol-a!

- serenaded by multiple classes and one group hug while wearing my "very special Happy Birthday Ribbon" awarded to me by the dancing principal

- class guesses of my age ranged from 7 to 100, most agreeing on the median age of 17.

- one kindergartener told me, "Ms. Greer, if it was your birthday I'd get you a chihuaha." My response: "It is my birthday. Where's my chihuahua?"

- after-school birthday pedicure with Lori with surprise Sonic drinks and roses from John

- dinner with friends! followed by birthday cake and cupcakes baked by my awesome roommate

- Mom and Dad came to celebrate this weekend, brought presents, and worked in my yard all Saturday.

Awesome start to 29. Lauren gifted me with this most-appropriate quote from Friends about the great age of 29:

"I'm 29 years old, [darn it!] and I wanna sit in a comfortable chair and watch television and go to sleep at a reasonable hour!" Amen, Chandler. Amen.

Friendship Happens

2010-09-22T16:00:00.001-07:00

I love that moment when you realize that the people you work with no longer become just co-workers, but friends. It happened quickly at Pine Cove- you live together, work together, pray together, laugh together, cry together. At school, it's a little different.

Over the past 2 (going on 3) years I've found my niche at school. I get along with most everybody, I've been adopted into the kindergarten family (plus they let me go on their field trips!), and I've eaten lunch with the same group of ladies and gotten to know them well. Recently a new teacher's aid joined our group, and after a resounding round of "have you seen THIS scary movie?!" during lunch, as we were leaving she remarked to me, "Well, that was an interesting lunch!" I realized that that is EXACTLY what I love about these ladies. We talk about anything and everything, from sick babies to kids that drive us crazy to kids that we want to keep, to scary situations and leaning on the Lord.

This past week I experienced a new sense of community with them. As we lost a little first grader, we were no longer just co-workers, laughing and joking about trivial things. We were co-mourners, leaning on each other, crying big tears, reminding each other of scripture and the Lord's faithfulness, even among those of our group that are not believers.

So this week I realized that we are friends. I know their hearts, I know what makes them tick, what ticks them off, and how to encourage and challenge them. I LOVE that.

Some days...

2010-09-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

Some days are just peanut-butter-out-of-the-jar, chocolate-frosting-peanut-butter-sandwich, eating-chocolate-chips-out-of-the-bag, eat-the-rest-of-the-tortilla-chips-for-dinner kind of days.

Today was that day.

Hurts

2010-09-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

Just found out about 10 minutes ago that a little boy- a first grader- from my school was killed in a car accident around 4:30 today. My friend from school called, said his name, and his face with his goofy smile immediately popped into my head. Then my heart broke.

3 years ago, if someone told me the name of a kid at this time of year, as I was clumsily trying to get my feet under me, I would have asked, "Now, who is that? Whose class is he in? Is there a picture?" But today, I saw his face. He sat on my rug 2 days ago and answered all the questions so eagerly that I'm sure I reminded him to wait for me to call on him, which I did.

I love these kids. I know them. The kids that were my kindergarteners my first year at Jackson- that group that I got to know so quickly and so well- they are 2nd graders now. They leave my school after this year to go on to bigger and better things. But I know them. The first graders this year, and the kindergarteners- I know them, I remember them, I love them. Which is so great, until something like this happens. Then I hurt.

The Lord knew what He was orchestrating when our conversation in the teachers' lounge at lunch the other day turned from trivial to spiritual. Before I knew it we were talking about Romans 8:28, and how the Lord uses really crappy things for His good, for His glory. 5 women, 2 of whom are not believers, talking about the sovereignty of God and the goodness of His plan. That conversation is ringing in my ears right now, and I'm praying and trusting that the Lord will use it in the midst of this hurting mess for His glory.

A Peek Inside My Brain

2010-09-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

There's a lot I should probably blog about but haven't quite processed (and am not quite in the mood for deep right about now), but I have been encouraged today by the Pioneer Woman (via her blog, that is) to blog about... whatever. So that's today for me.

- I'm hooked on Grey's Anatomy again. Didn't see that coming. A little ashamed but not enough to stop watching.

- I tried on a couple of pair of pants last night (two personal faves) that may or may not have been pushed to the back of my closet during the cruel, indulgent, ice-cream-laden summer months, just to be sure if I needed to dive into a deep depression or suck it up and carry on. They button AND zip. I can carry on.

- My throat is killing me from sliding it all around just to demonstrate that "music moves up and down."

- Today I hit myself in the face with my own bean bag that I tossed in the air, and the children laughed. It was funny till they wouldn't stop laughing... and when I thought briefly that I might be bleeding. I wasn't.

- I have a LARGE, healing blister from mowing my lawn with the new lawnmower. The yard looks awesome, but my thumb has seen better days.

Tomorrow is Thursday. I love short weeks.

Paris Day Two

2010-09-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

Are you sick of vacation pictures yet? I feel like the grandma and grandpa who sit everybody down in front of the bed sheet hanging on the wall for an unsolicited slide show of their vacation to Wally World. The upside is that you can just ignore this if you want and wait till I'm ready to talk about something besides vacation. :)

On our second day in Paris, we woke early and hit the town, pretty much while everyone else was just waking up. We were jolted awake by the FREEZING temperature that resulted in a jacket purchase by me and near abandonment of the Notre Dame towers out of sheer cold. But the day was beautiful and fun and peaceful and full all at the same time! Though we ran around without stopping until we were back on the plane, we felt like we got to take our time and see all sides of Paris- the old historical awesome places, the art, the side streets with their bakeries and chocolate and cheese shops, the glamorous boutiques and jewelry shops, the monuments and the hidden treasures. We're ready to go back, like... right now.

Now to the pictures:

Hmm. Just saw this on the way to breakfast. Thought it looked picture-worthy. :)

On our way to eat breakfast at a little spot that a nice Frenchman told us about on the metro. Couldn't find it, but found the general area, and it was good. When are croissants and coffee in Paris NOT good?

Notre Dame!! I was looking forward to this more than I realized. Still freezing.

I may or may not have bullied Lori into pretending she was a gargoyle....

We are finally warm in the belfry of Notre Dame, hanging out by the biggest bell! I forget it's name.. Emmanuel Louis Theresa or something like that...

After Notre Dame, we found an awesome little street called Ile. St. Louis, full of cute little shops and good food (where we bought our lunch of a baguette, chocolate croissants, and an eclair). This little stroll was the best. It's also where I finally bought a jacket and became infinitely happier.

Our cousin Leon urged us to seek out and find coffee ice cream. We found it on Ile. St. Louis and it was perfection.

We made our way to the Louvre and navigated it all by ourselves! Winged Victory was my favorite.

Lori and I got separated in the madhouse surrounding Mona Lisa. It was a little terrifying.

We held our ground and saw Mona. Small, but actually really cool.

There's Lori and her good friend Venus. Venus de Milo.

This may be the coolest view, most I'm-in-a-movie experience I've ever had.

Our poor, battered feet after Paris. Totally worth it.

Wanna See Paris?

2010-09-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

For a glorious day and a half Lori and I got to explore Paris. Armed with our cousin Leon's tips and advice (he got to live in Paris for many, many summers!) and the best travel book ever, we conquered the City of Light and left feeling refreshed and warm and fuzzy inside. And sore. Really, really sore.

Here are some highlights:

First order of business straight off the metro: crepes and a stroll down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. Right before this picture was taken, a Nutella-covered banana dropped from my crepe directly into my purse. I ate it.

Look! It the freaking huge Eiffel Tower! We found it all by ourselves.

We found a little walk that was in our books down a street called Rue Cler. It had shops for cheese, and bread, and chocolate- it was heaven.

My first taste of a French macaron was fudgey and delicious and I'm ashamed to say I couldn't even finish it. Awesome.

Lori had to stretch her calves after we climbed the billion steps to the Arc de Triomphe. She then walked like an old lady while I laughed and filmed her from behind.

The Thinker! He's just right there waiting for you at Rodin's museum.

Light is prettier in Paris, I think.

Can you tell that we are freezing? FREEZING. But man, Paris is beautiful at night.

This is our awesome hotel! Hotel Ares Eiffel. Score.

How about another post for day two? I'd hate to overwhelm you...

Seesters in Spain

2010-09-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

Lori won the Sister of the Year award (at least in my book!) for hopping on a 10-hour flight all by herself to join me in Barcelona after my week at camp. We stayed in Barcelona for a day and a half, then hopped a super-early flight to Paris for a day and a half, then headed back to Barcelona for 2 more days. It was a whirlwind of super-fun memories, only a handful of which will fit on a blog of readable length. I'll hit some highlights of Spain, and we'll talk about Paris next time. A little daunted by the task...

This is Sagrada Familia, designed by Gaudi and still in progress, 129 years later. Still 50 years to go. Each side of the building is a different time in the life of Christ- the Nativity (the side we are in front of), the Passion (it will get its own post later, it's that incredible), and the Glory is under construction. Look it up. Please.

This is the inside, obviously under construction. The windows are unbelievable.

Mmm. Paella to start the vacation.

This in another Gaudi masterpiece that became one of my favorites. It's all drippy and melty looking.

That's the Olympic Stadium behind us.

Park Guell, also a Gaudi madhouse. Thank you, English-speaking lady who offered to take our picture!

Can't miss the Mediterranian Sea! The beach was perfect, the water freezing.

More to come later. Thanks for humoring me!

I'm Back

2010-08-30T18:38:00.001-07:00

I'm back from Spain, back from sister European post-camp vacation, back into school and back into the early morning wake-up, double-snooze alarm routine.

I've avoided the blog purposely because I'm not exactly how to sum up this past month- what the Lord taught me and is working in me through our time at L'Arcada, a Christian camp outside Banyoles, Spain, how He blessed me with invaluable time with my sister as we navigated foreign countries (quite well, if I do say so myself), how to reconcile all of that with the everyday, "normal" life I'm living here in Tyler. One of these days I'll tackle it a piece at a time, I promise. Someday soon. Maybe this weekend. Hmm.

Until then, here are some favorite memories of camp captured on film for your visual enjoyment (pictures of sister vacay will come in another post, I promise) ...

This is L'Arcada. The tipis are where the kids stay with their counselors, with a wide open space in the middle for each night's powow. It is breathtaking, located in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains.

On our way to church in Girona, followed by a tour of the old city. Luke, Tammy, Alexis, and me

Look! It's Girona!

I love this picture because it's hilarious. It's supposed to be a group picture. That's us, I promise, in front of the Girona Cathedral.

Drying dishes with Alexis, Erica and Elise (sweet sisters!)

We finished our work in record time, so we spent a lot of down time just getting to know each other. The steps to the dining hall were the perfect spot.

Closing ceremony for the week's Indian camp. All kids made Indian dresses and jewelry at arts and crafts and earned their Indian names, given to each child by their counselor.

What a great group. From 2 families and three singles into one family. The Lord put us together so perfectly!

This Time Next Week

2010-07-20T19:31:00.001-07:00

This time next week I'll be coming to the end of my first week in Europe ever. I have the unique blessing of co-leading a family mission trip with Pine Cove to Spain. 12 of us (2 families and 3 of us unattached individuals) are headed to L'Arcada, a Christian camp outside of Barcelona near the small town of Girona, Spain. This camp has been in operation for a few decades, and serves as a light on a hill in the midst of a self-declared secular country. Really. And we get to go, as a group of boys and girls, ages 8 to mid-40's, to serve.

The staff of the camp are Spaniards that love the Lord in the midst of an unbelieving country. As our missions coordinator pointed out, when these believers stand in faith, they are literally standing alone. Wow. I have lots of thoughts and prayers about that, but too many to verbalize just yet.

Please join me in praying for our week at L'Arcada. Pray that the national staff would be encouraged and refreshed for God's glory, that campers would come to know Christ (about 70% of the campers there next week are unbelievers), and that we would leave changed, having experienced yet again God's heart for the nations.

"If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:11

Avoiding

2010-07-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm reading through a book by Jerry Bridges called Respectable Sins. Have you heard of it? It'll kick you in the pants. At least, it's kicking me in the pants. In it, Bridges addresses the "subtle sins" that we as Christians dismiss as inconsequential (or even deny that they are sins after all), and gives insight into confronting and dealing with these sins so that we may live as the saints that we are through our salvation in Christ. I can't even begin to tell all that I have already learned, partly for time's sake and partly because I run out of words to explain.

I will say that this week has been rough. Nothing bad has happened, no plans fallen through. But every day I've felt the struggle of these subtle sins rising to the surface. I've found myself forgetting the Lord, being selfish, succumbing to discontentment, not being thankful. Struggles that I haven't had in a while are hitting me head on- and I know it's because I prayed that the Holy Spirit would show me those sins in my life that are getting in the way of His work and purpose for me. So here we go. I don't get to pretend that I'm content all the time. I don't get to act like I'm not upset because plans didn't go my way. I don't get to live my life my way and forget to be thankful.

I know this post is a little more like rambling than getting to any point exactly, but I am starting to see the beginnings of the Holy Spirit's refining- only now it's at the ugly part, where all the junk comes to the surface. In his chapter about discontentment, Bridges offers this quote that was on a greeting card someone gave him after his first wife died. It says,

Lord, I am willing-

To receive what You give,

To lack what You withhold,

Relinquish what You take.

I'm working on that.

Vacation from Vacation

2010-07-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

Last week my friend Kindall and I took a long weekend trip to Destin, FL. I've never been to Destin, and my beach experience is limited to our lovely Padre Island, Galveston, and one stormy (and terrifying) experience in El Salvador. Kindall told me that the beaches in Destin were clear, the sand was white, and you can even see your toes in the water! Clear water?! What is this phenomenon that you speak of?

Thanks to my cousin Alan and his wife Yvonne, who happen to have a condo in Destin that was unoccupied that weekend, we got to stay for FREE right across the street from the beach! We ate lots of good food, but mostly did a lot of laying around, catching up, reading books that we generally don't have time to read, and living it up outside. It was awesome. I love taking a vacation on my vacation.

Our view from the balcony of the condo

Kindall and I biked to get dessert one night, then made a pit stop on the beach

Summer Projects

2010-06-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong- I LOVE a good do-nothing day. But I'm not good at extended periods of just laying around. So it was only fitting that the first two weeks of summer were set aside for specific projects to be accomplished with Lori and our parents. Mom came up two weeks ago and spent a week (an extra day, thanks to the rain!) for some shopping and girly time. We found some new clothes, a set of sconces (you can see them by the kitchen shelf in the picture below!), walked the dog, did some yoga, and Mom managed to find the time to rearrange my entire kitchen and re-fold all of my sheets. :)

Dad came up the following week (Mom had VBS) with a truck full of tools and supplies. In 3 days he managed to: empty and re-fill the nasty pond outside, hang a fan, re-caulk the bathtub, hang a shelf, picture, and sconces, and make thresholds for 4 of my doors, not to mention paint Lori's trim for her living room and dining room at her house. And weed-eat my backyard. Here are some pictures for you to admire...

Before..... ........ and after (notice the turquoise sonces!).

Note the blank wall behind the couch.... .....and now this is hanging there.

One of 4 thresholds..... .....and the crowning glory of the week.

Yay! Now the house feels even more like home. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

The Early Bird Meets the Neighbors

2010-06-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've had the crud all week (made for an extra-fun last week of school!), so I've been looking forward to taking Nyquil when I had the chance for some good sleep. The opportunity arose last night, so around 9:00 I took the beloved medication, put the dogs (yes, dogs. I am watching Cooper and Deen both this weekend- it's a doggie slumber party) in their crates, and passed out for 10 hours until my eyes popped open, wide awake, at 7 a.m. I got up, let the dogs out to play, and got back in bed for a few minutes.

About 30 minutes later I decided to get up and feed the dogs. I went outside, saw their wet bellies from the dew on the grass, and promptly shut the door to keep them from running wild inside. As I reached to open the door so I could go back inside out of the blazing heat, I realized that I had not unlocked the doorknob as I pulled the door shut.

Locked out.

I attempted in vain to pick the lock, jimmy it open, something. Finally in frustration, I walked around the house and sat on the front porch, praying that someone would come outside. A few minutes later, I saw an older man about 4 houses down loading up his truck with yard supplies. Though dressed in my pajamas, barefoot, teeth unbrushed, and pouring sweat, I knew that this was my chance. I carefully made my way up the gravel and hollered out. He was so kind, let me use his phone, wrote the locksmith's number down on his hand, and offered to drive me back to my house while I waited for the locksmith. Thanks, Bob!

As I waited outside with nothing to do, I remembered that I had wanted to pull weeds out of my flower beds. While pulling weeds, Bob drove up by my house and asked if I was okay, introduced me to his wife Naomi, and chatted for a minute or two. I think we will be good neighbors. After I finished weeding and watering the plants, the locksmith pulled into my driveway.

Not the ideal way to start the morning, but I met some fun neighbors in the process!

10 Years Ago

2010-06-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

Almost 10 years ago I met some girls at Hardin-Simmons that quickly became friends. Little did I know that these same girls that I played in the snow with, pick out date-clothes with, puke in front of, jump up and down with, and hug and cry with my freshman year in Behrens Hall would become life-long besties. We lived life together for 4 unbelievable years, and I am SO thankful that every year since then we have made one or two yearly trips to meet up with each other and play for a weekend. Even if everyone can't make it (something about babies needing attention, or something like that...), most of us do and jump right back into the swing of things like we saw each other yesterday.

This latest weekend getaway was over Memorial Day in Austin. A whole extra day to play! We found a rental house that suited us perfectly, came equipped with a list of must-eats (thanks to my roommate Lauren who is from Austin!), and were ready to eat, shop, and mostly talk.

Allison, Golden, Sdawg (Stephanie, but I don't remember the last time we called her that), Mandy, Nikki, Lori and I had a good long weekend pretending like we were young and hip and staying up till midnight even though our bodies woke us up at 8. We're cool. We missed you Julie, Bethany, Caanon, and L.B.! Next time. Until then, here are few pictures to highlight our... um... well, they all appear to be of various eating locations. Hmmm.

Mandy, Allison, and Golden waiting for breakfast at Kerbey Lane. Yum.

The gang after a rather boisterous dinner at Matt's El Rancho, then Lori and me after a visit to Spider House Coffee Shop. We may have mistakenly walked in the opposite direction to get here for about 15 minutes, then back. We discovered that if we had walked in the correct direction, it would have been about 3 minutes from our rental house. Whoops.

Me, Lori, and Golden (sorry, girls! They were clearly on the other side of the booth) at the Hula Hut.

Ready for the next girls' weekend!

Things About Me

2010-05-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

I have a grape problem. I buy a bag and eat it, usually within 2 days. Sometimes in one sitting. Do NOT try that one at home. Or actually, if you're gonna eat a whole bag, you probably should be at home.

I watered MY lawn for the first time yesterday. I discovered that my hose is too short for the other side of my house, so I watered the driveway instead. At least it won't need mowing.

As the school year ends, I get meaner. Kids lose stickers left and right.

Today in class we played "Freeze Dance," and I participated 1) for the fun of it, and 2) so I could count it as part of my workout for the day. And it is. Trust me.

Songs that get stuck in my head easily are generally foreign languages, like "Mi Cuerpo," "En le Pulga de San Jose," and today's "Kapulu Kane." I can teach you these if you'd like.

I've stopped fixing my hair for school. It's true. I'm embracing the windswept look.

I'm hoping to be in bed by 9 tonight. These days are wearing me out.

Alexander Day

2010-05-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to bed late (thanks a lot, LOST- but you were worth it) so I woke up extra tired. I forgot to turn on my iPod alarm so all I got was beeping.

My stomach hurt. I made coffee but didn't drink it. I ate my cereal because I had to or I'd starve and I spilled it on my shirt.

I kept wearing the shirt.

I put on my pants and they were too tight. Awesome.

On my way to work the coffee that I brought with me spilled all over my lap.

I got stuck behind someone going 5 under the speed limit while lugging his trailer in a weaving pattern.

I got overwhelmed by homework for my May Term class.

I ate some Fritos (okay, a LOT of Fritos) and felt guilty about it because my pants are too tight.

I got home and my key was locked inside.

Went to my sister's, she got home with her spare key, I went home.

Went to turn on the computer and it wouldn't let me connect to the internet, which wouldn't be a big deal except I have an online chat with my class this evening.

Talked to my sister and my roommate, who talked me off the ledge. And told me to restart my computer. So I did, and here I am.

I'm pretty sure Alexander's terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day was a Monday, too- wasn't it?

Man Up

2010-05-17T19:30:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night I ordered a meal called the 3 Meat Al Forno from Oliveto, a new(ish) Italian place here in town. It consists of chicken, Italian sausage, and 2 giant meatballs shrouded in a layer of melted cheese on a bed of spaghetti. This happens to be the second "3 Meat" meal I've ordered in less than a month. Hmm.

Sunday afternoon I ate fried catfish for lunch, then went and saw Iron Man 2 (instead of Letters to Juliet).

After that I did the Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout by Jillian the Devil (er, Michaels) and contemplated throwing up. I did not throw up. Win.

There is this nasty, festering pond in our backyard that has been covered with old boards for the past several weeks in a feeble attempt to keep the dog from taking a swim. I decided that it was time to empty the pond for once and for all. Failing to find any buckets on hand, I did find an empty coffee can, one of the big ones. For about an hour I emptied the nasty, can't-even-describe-the-smelly-smell pond, one coffee can at a time. Then I found the shovel (thank you, Granddaddy Greer) and proceeded to shovel out the decaying leaves, lily pads, and unattached filter from the pond and into giant trashbag. When the trashbag got full, I shoveled the remaining crap onto one of the old boards, formerly used for covering the festering pond. I managed to weasel the boards and filth into a trashbag, wheeled my giant trashcan into the backyard, gave the other dripping, malodorous trashbag the ol' heave-ho into the giant trashcan, then wheeled it all to the front as pond-trash juice ran down my leg and the rest of me was sweating like a horse.

I'm gonna go put on some makeup and shave my legs.

Opposite Day

2010-05-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about this week (though it's only Tuesday!) that makes me so tired and so ready to be done for the summer. My job is not hard; rather, I'm pretty sure it's the best job in the school. It has its moments, but for the most part I get to do the fun stuff with all the kids for chunks of time then send them on their way. My last program was last Tuesday, so from here on out it's smooth sailing.

So what's my deal?

I need for today, and tomorrow, and the next day and all the days until summer to be opposite day, I think. I know that, for me, I need to be excited that I have 3 weeks left to play with these kids rather than feeling like my hard stuff is over so let's get out of here already. I need to look for ways to be productive for the rest of this year and looking into next instead of looking for ways to piddle around till my next class. I need ot think about the fun projects I get to do this summer instead of stressing about trying to get them done after work everyday.

Basically, I need to choose to be joyful instead of choosing to be done. Of course, that's easy for me to say, a little harder to do. But I'll work on it.

Kindall's Birthday Bash

2010-05-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my dear friend Kindall's big 3-0, Lauren and I trekked down to Houston for the party. We played at her house on Friday night where they threw her a hoppin' party (literally- there was a bounce house in the backyard!) and we stayed up way past our bedtimes. The next morning we decided to go to The Breakfast Klub for breakfast. The Breakfast Klub is famous in Houston for its chicken and waffles, but we opted for other delicious breakfasty foods. The wait was around the block and lasted for about 45 minutes, so we were ready for some awesome food by the time we made it inside. I am a little ashamed to admit that I ordered a breakfast called "The Meaty 3"- a three-egg omelet, grits, and a biscuit.

I'm a little more ashamed to say that I ate it all... and didn't want to puke.

We shopped, saw "Date Night" (which I recommend, by the way), and ate some more good food at a place called Ruggles Green, which serves all organic and amazingly delicious food. I ordered a southwest smoked quinoa pasta with black beans and feta cheese and arugula and plantains- amazing. I ate all of it, too.

This weekend wasn't all about the food, though Houston food never disappoints us. There's just something about visiting Kindall that makes us relax and feel rested and laugh and never want to leave. Ready to do that again.

What They Don't Know

2010-04-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

The people I work with make fun of me because of my healthy lunches. I like to take a salad or sandwich, fruit, etc., which is my idea of a good lunch. But what they don't know (or at least don't believe because of my lunch habit) is what I do at home when I lose all control.

In the spirit of full disclosure and vulnerability with you, my friends, I will give you an example of what I'm talking about by providing a run-down of what I ate approximately 5 minutes after walking in the door. Please still be my friends after this:

- approx. 10 dark chocolate Hershey kisses dipped in the open peanut butter jar
- mini Mr. Goodbar dipped in peanut butter jar
- mini Dove Caramel dipped in peanut butter jar
- spoonful of peanut butter dipped in jar (followed by a few more)
- 8 large Jet Puff marshmallows

and now I want some chips. Tomorrow, I run.

Things I'm Looking Forward To

2010-04-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

School is on the downhill stretch, and I'm having a hard time staying focused and being all there for this last month or so. Here's what I find myself looking forward to:

- sleeping in. Not that I sleep past 8:30 very often, but I like that it will soon be an option
- choosing my mealtimes
- hanging with Lori for the first summer in about 6 or so years
- grad classes being done for the summer
- having a yard to work on
- time. time to do whatever i want
- going to Spain with Pine Cove and my sister meeting me there
- re-learning to love running
- a tan. for real.
- reading books, and lots of them

I realize most of these are short term and small things to look forward to, but it's what's getting me through till June 4th!

The New Abode

2010-04-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the new house. Thanks to amazing friends, we were out of our old place by 11:30 and already unpacking! Now all boxes are unpacked, things are making their way onto the walls, the yard is mowed and flowers are in the beds, and it already feels like home!

This is the yard after Mom and Dad and Lori and John helped one Saturday to mow, trim, weed, and plant!

Lauren's room is a bright green (that isn't this bright in person) and mine is the best blue ever.

The living room is almost done, and the room on the right is our extra room, right now serving as an office with my college computer (circa 2001).

The kitchen is the best part of the house, and this is just part of it. We love having a dishwasher and brand new appliances!!

Come visit us and experience the awesome party house in person!!

Good thing I'm not a food blogger...

2010-04-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

I came across a food blog the other day (and apparently a pretty popular one) called "Food Blogga." Nice try.

Anyway, a detailed pictoral documentation of the new house will be coming shortly, but first I feel the need to share the first baking adventures of the new awesome kitchen.

My parents came in last Friday night with their truck loaded down like the Clampetts', ready to see my house and get the yard in order. Which they did, by the way, as you will see soon. But as a treat, I wanted to celebrate their arrival with some baked goods. I found a recipe on a food blog for chocolate chip cookie pretzel bars. As this combines many of my favorite things, I jumped on this recipe. The only problem was that we had no chocolate chips. In a moment of genius I decided to put all those Snickers bars that the candy bar man hands out at school every couple of weeks to use, and they made an excellent subsitute. Baking SUCCESS. Those things were freaking delicious. And completely gone by the next day.

Saturday night I had to bake a cake for our church's potluck lunch the next day. I found a delicious looking recipe for Banana Nut Coconut Bread with icing. I started to make the cake and we ran out of flour. No biggie- we had cake flour on hand. So I substituted the rest of the flour with cake flour and went on my way. As I baked, I kept returning the GIANT bundt to the oven to set up in the middle- kept coming out a little jiggly. After adding about 10 minutes of bake time, the cake was looking good. I took it out, let it cool, flipped it onto a rack and made the cream cheese frosting. As I went to lift the cake from the rack to the dish, I felt a strange goopy substance on my fingers.

Then I looked down.

I saw the cake on my fingers.

And by cake, I mean cake batter. Oozing out of the bottom.

THE MIDDLE OF MY CAKE FELL OUT.

Oozed out. I told Lauren, then flipped the cake over to see what it looked like.

Remember that scene in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" where Clark cuts the turkey and it just splits open and collapses?

Yeah, that's what happened. Here's proof.

This cake had not been tampered with at the time of photo-taking.

How did I react? With tears? Frustration? Did I throw the whole thing in the trash?

I ate it. We ate it. It was good. It was real good. The baked part, that is. The rest of it went in the trash.

Stuff I'm Thinking About

2010-03-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

My brain seems full of things lately, so I thought I'd share a few things that have been on my mind. These may or may not be related at all, or make any sense to anyone but me. And some of them don't make sense to me, either.

- moving and packing. Lauren and I have started the process of packing up our home in hopes of moving in a week and a half. Yes, this seems early, but we are fans of avoiding the last-second crunch of "holy-cow-we're-moving-tomorrow" panic. Don't worry- we are still packing things that we haven't used in a while, so nothing we'll miss for a couple of weeks.

- Speaking of moving, I'm also thinking about this kitchen:

Yeah, this is my new kitchen, in my new home that I can't wait to move into. I'm also thinking of the first party we're gonna have in the new house in the awesome kitchen.

- I don't want to teach any more songs in Spanish to first graders, at least for a while. But I will tomorrow. Dang it.

- So excited to go home for Easter, yet so dreading the drive.

- I would love to move the closing date of my house up so I can paint before I move in. Just one little room. Please?

- Why did I eat ice cream and chips for dinner? Again?

- I want to feel like a runner again, but now my foot hurts, too. Bad hip, bad foot, bad running, feel like a loser.

- I don't want to worry about eating chips and ice cream to dinner or that I didn't run today because my foot hurts.

There you go. That's my brain for now.

I Need to Chill Out

2010-03-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

Today on my way home from school I got stopped at the SAME stoplight that I hit EVERY time I come home. It's really annoying, frustrating, keeps me from making it home in awesome time. So today I decided to time the light to see how long I have to wait at this most inconvenient light before I get to turn. The light lasted for... a minute and a half.

For 90 seconds I was the most impatient person in the world, and on second 91 I realized that I have GOT to learn to chill out.

Stop and smell the roses, if you will.

Be still.

Rest.

I'm learning.

Proof of My Life Through Pictures

2010-02-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

I'm bad at putting pictures on the blog, probably because I haven't had a camera in, like, 3 years. But Santa was good to me and surprised me with a camera this Christmas, and I have recently discovered how to load pictures to my computer. So though you've probably seen a million pictures of the snow day and may have a few million of your own, I'm still going to post some of mine. Best snow day since Ferguson dorm.

After a 5:30 a.m. no-school call, i went back to sleep only to wake up at the natural time of 7:30. So after Lauren woke up, we made snow-day breakfast- the Pioneer Woman's French pastry puffs. There are no words to describe them.

Then we bundled up and walked outside, to have our feet immediately buried and frozen by the snow.

We walked a couple of blocks over to the park by our house and went to town. No snowmen of our own (we lack the patience and ice-packing skill), but got to see a lot of them. After traipsing in the snow for a bit, Lauren went to work and I cleaned up from our breakfast venture, then we got an early start on the road to Houston to spend Valentine's weekend with Kindall. It was one of the greatest weekends ever.

The Best Candy Bar I Ever Ate

2010-01-28T15:47:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you've seen this show, but it's one of my new faves of the Food Network. I seem to be drawn not to the cooking shows, but to the travel-around-and-eat-awesome-food-then-talk-about-it shows. I think that's a job I could do. Seriously. Anyway, this show is called, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." In this show, Food Network stars (and a few food critics) dish about their favorite dish (see what I did there? ) and pretty much make you want to drop everything, drive cross-country, and eat as much as you can of whatever it is they are talking about. Each episode focuses on a different genre: The Best Fried Thing I Ever Ate, The Best Sandwich I Ever Ate, etc. Last week's episode of The Best Cheesy Thing I Ever Ate just about had me out the door and on the way to Manchester, Connecticut for the most awesome looking cheeseburger I have ever seen.

In the spirit of this show that I love and can relate to on so many levels, I thought I'd pass on this little tidbit about my favorite candy bar ever. The reason I even think of this is because, by some miracle (or curse, I haven't decided), the vending machine man stocked the machine this week with these candy bars. I introduce to you, if you have not already tried them, the Take 5.

The Take 5 has everything I ever crave in a sweet treat- a pretzel, covered with peanut butter and caramel, then covered in chocolate. I'm sure I'm missing an ingredient (peanuts? I don't know), because I am pretty sure it's named after its 5 ingredients. Anyway, it is the perfect balance of sweet with a twinge of salt. One summer a coworker bought me a case of these things, and it was about the death of me. But what a glorious death it almost was.

Unresolved

2010-01-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

I suppose that one of these days I should make some New Year's Resolutions.... Maybe since I've missed the New Year's deadline, I will have more thought-out, meaningful goals for the year, as opposed to the quick, maybe-I-should-try-this approach. While I don't know what my goals will be (though I have some thoughts swirling in my head that just need to land), I DO know what kind of resolutions do NOT work for me. Examples of failed resolutions:

1) Limiting number of cokes. My dear friend Coreen and I tried this during camp one summer, and we just about died. We gave up our goal and lived much happier, headache-free lives.
2) Limiting number of sweets. Again, Coreen and I tried this (at the same time as the coke thing- maybe we were too ambitious), and it turned into a constant battle of "What counts as a dessert?" A cookie? A piece of cake? One m&m? If I eat an m&m does it count as my dessert for the day? Too ambiguous and, honestly, too limiting.
3) Going to bed at a certain time. While I like my sleep like the next guy, I am WAY too easily swayed by people and fun. If someone is having a movie night at 8:00, I'm more likely to go and play than make the wise choice of "I really should be in bed by 10, so I'm gonna pass." (unless I'm REALLY tired- which has happened.)

So I know not to be too limiting or too rigid in my goals- and will keep you posted if any of the thoughts swirling in my head decide to land.

Burst My Bubble

2010-01-14T19:31:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning with two conscious thoughts:

1) My throat hurts.
2) It's Friday!

Except it's not Friday. It's Thursday. And I firmly believe that one of the worst things that can happen to you when you wake up for work in the morning is to think it's a day later than it is. It's awesome when you think it's Wednesday and it's actually Thursday- it's like a bonus. Waking up and thinking it's Friday when it's ACTUALLY only Thursday is like giving a kid a big, shiny balloon, then popping it right in front of him. While he's holding it.

Needless to say, it's been a long week. I always feel guilty when I say that, because I love my job. My week was not bad. We learned "Beat It" by Michael Jackson with the 2nd graders, for crying out loud! I'm just tired and ready for a break, maybe because I know one is coming (thanks to MLK Jr. Day).

Maybe I'm going through a post-half marathon, mid-injury need for rest, and I'm learning what that looks like. Sometimes it's okay not to go work out. It's okay that I don't run another half marathon coming up in February. And sometimes it's okay if I go to bed before 10. Which is what I'm about to do.

Weekend Festivities

2010-01-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

You know it's bad when you wake up and immediately think about the next time you can sleep in. It happened to me this very morning.

Over the weekend my roommate Lauren, our friend Ally, and I took a little roadtrip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a Pine Cove friend's wedding. Having never been to Tulsa, we were all a little excited about new scenery and cool new places, namely the wedding venue, nice hotel, and, of course, the food. What we did not know was that the most direct route from Tyler to Tulsa takes you right through the middle of... nowhere. 5 hours of nothing. We managed to find a pretty good local burger place in the booming metropolis of Paris, TX, and fortunately spotted a Braums just across the Oklahoma line to give us a little boost.

The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was fancy-shmancy in the most un-pretentious way possible. Good food, good friends, but the best part about the weekend was that it was so easy. Traveling, in the company of good friends, is fun, not a chore (though the Indian Nation Turnpike gets a little ridiculous). Traveling without a schedule is bonus. So, though the weekend was busy and I woke up ready to go back to bed, it was restful in a different kind of way. That's my kind of weekend.

Lessons Learned

2009-12-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

The last post gave you the play-by-play of the actual run, but here are my thoughts from the day after.

I woke up still experiencing the "runners' high" from the day before. You better believe I wore my race shirt to school that day! But as I got ready for school, sat down with some coffee and my Bible, I of course turned to Hebrews 12.

I thought about the "great cloud of witnesses" that the writer of Hebrews has just told us about in the previous chapter. Men and women of God that lived lives of faith, following and pursuing the Lord and His call, despite persecution, hardship, and even the fact that many did not see the fulfilment of what they had been promised by the Lord. YET, since we are "surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses," we are encouraged in running the race that has been marked out for us. All of those running buddies that trained with me and encouraged me to keep running when I wanted to stop, and even the strangers on the side of the course cheering for us, spurred me on to finish what I started and never planned to finish on my own.

"...let us throw off everything that hinders..."

At the start of the race, the temperature in Dallas was in the mid-40's. It was supposed to warm up a bit, but not until well into the race. Being a cold weather wuss, I opted for my tights and this pink fleece that I've had forever but is perfect for running- elasticy, stays put, and I can stretch the sleeves to cover cold fingers or I can push them up and the sleeves actually stay in place. I felt pretty good about my wardrobe choice until about mile...2. As the temp changed, I started to get a little warm. People all around me chucked their layers left and right. "Throw-away clothes," as most runners use in a race so they don't have to worry about losing valuable gear. I took my fleece off, but could not make myself chuck it. I don't know why- I even debated it with my running partner, Ally, for about half a mile. I finally decided to just tie it around my waist. It worked fine- didn't bother me. But when I saw a friend at mile 9 on the sidelines, I ran over to her and tossed my shirt. I felt so light and free! I had no idea the shirt was bogging me down a bit. I couldn't toss it because it was comfortable and familiar. Unfortunately, I do that with the Lord. I can't toss a particular struggle or sin and run without hindrance, simply because I don't know what I'll do if I don't have it- it has become too comfortable for me to part with. Convicting.

"...the race marked out for us."

I love this verse because it reminds me that the Lord has it all figured out already. I know this, but I need reminders. Lauren and I drove the race route the day before, to know what to expect. We looked for hills, flats, where bathrooms were, scenery changes, etc. But no matter how "prepared" you are on a course, you never really know what to expect. What looks like a small hill in a car is inevitably the hill that causes you to rethink this running thing as you trudge up it during the actual run. I want the run to be easy. Flat, no hills, perfect weather, small crowds. But in real life, it's not that way. There will be hills. There will be weather changes. We ran with about 20,000 people that day (at least). But that was the course, so we kept going. The Lord already knows the course He has marked out for me. I know there are hills, and there are times I am ready to throw in the towel. But I keep going, because that's what you do in a race. You look forward to the finish line, but don't stop running until you get there. And crossing that line feels good.

There is more to be processed, more to be learned. But that's for another day.

Goal Attained

2009-12-17T17:55:00.000-08:00

I love those words that come up on the treadmill after you've finished the time you set- "Goal Attained." Makes me feel so accomplished.

This past Sunday was the big day- White Rock Half Marathon. Lauren and I headed to Dallas early on Saturday to get our race packets, orient ourselves with the course, get settled in the house where we were staying, and meet up with the other Pine Cove girls running with us. After a nutritious, protein and carb-loaded meal and a good visit with friends, I went to bed with a nervous excitement.

The morning of the race I was nervous more about logistics than the running itself. I was afraid that we'd have trouble parking, get there too late, not be able to find our group (and, let's be honest, I was mostly concerned about finding MY running partner!), that what I ate for breakfast would not sit well, what if I was wearing too many layers.... Of course, all turned out well. Then the race started. I told my running buddy Ally as we watched the sea of people crossing the starting line (with tears in my eyes, I'll admit), that I had three simple (yet sincere) prayers for the race: 1) that we would have fun. 2) that we would not get injured, and 3) that bathroom stops would not be necessary! We started our run, watched as people flung layers off left and right, pointed out the people we felt were dressed a little skimpily for our taste (side note- men, if your shirt covers the bottom of your shorts, your shorts are too short.), and talked ourselves into enjoying the scenery we passed. As we made our way to mile 3, then 4, I waited for the sluggishness to kick in, or the stomach to start churning- but it never did. Slowly ticking off mile markers, I found it hard to believe that I was actually enjoying myself. Don't get me wrong- it was hard. I felt my feet and my legs on the pavement as we neared the end, but we kept going. We finished the race without stopping, enjoyed running it together, did NOT have to stop for the bathroom, and made it in our goal time. Wow.

Goal attained.

'Tis the Season

2009-11-29T19:08:00.000-08:00

I love the holiday season, starting with the countdown to Thanksgiving, reaching the height of excitement, and the lingering last days of rest before gearing up for a new semester. I like a good list now and then, so here are a couple for this year's holiday season:

Things that make my Thanksgiving/Christmas season:
- The annual trip to Georgia to visit the fam. A day and a half of driving with the parents, singing along to Handel's Messiah, Amy Grant, and Stephen Curtis Chapman for hours at a time, followed by a week of good food, good stories, 4-wheeling, skeet shooting (or rather, shooting at skeet and watching them fly by unscathed), and lots of laughing. Love it.

- John Denver and the Muppets. My parents own the record, which is what we still listen to on the old school record player the second we get home to Killeen for Christmas. Nothing like singing along with Kermit and Miss Piggy.

- Claymation Christmas. This jewel of a DVD has been watched by my family since childhood. It's a claymation representation of popular Christmas carols, complete with Carol of the Bells and We Three Kings. Google it, and if you find it, BUY IT. Trust me.

- Mom's fudge. Holy cow.

Things I'm looking forward to for this holiday season:
- 2 weeks from today: first half marathon. I'm ready to be done, ready to see if I can do it, and SO thankful for the girls that have been my faithful running buddies as we train together!

- Baking day. Lori and I have already decided that the second school is over, we will devote ourselves to trying new Christmasy recipes just for fun. And since it will be after the half marathon I can eat whatever I want.

- Christmas in Killeen for the first time since middle school. Looking forward to using Mom's china, helping cook, and sleeping on the pull-out couch. Okay, maybe not looking forward to the couch.

- Lori and I finally get the same holiday time, and she has a fireplace. I see Christmas movies and hot chocolate by the fire in our future.

Let the good times roll.

Go Team Go

2009-11-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

We are a little over a month away from my first half marathon, and here are some things I've noticed (the good and the bad):

1) There is absolutely no way that I would be running these crazy miles by myself. I can make myself go so far, but there is something powerful in knowing that there is a person next to you that will also be running 8 miles, or 10 miles, and ultimately, 13 miles. That keeps me going 90% of the time.

2) Chafing sucks. I've never experienced it before (aside from the childhood experiences of wet jeans and Six Flags), and today I had the pleasure of noticing on about mile 7.5 that the seam of my shorts was arguing with my leg. The shorts won, and the leg stings. Bummer.

3) I have yet to reach the emotional, victorious stage in training. Don't get me wrong- I have almost cried a few times in frustration (like yesterday- do NOT try to run after Mexican food the night before!), but not yet in the style of "Hey! Look what I just did!" That may be something saved for race day.

4) It can be easy for me to make training my priority and, if I'm not careful, my identity. I find that I answer people's question of, "So, what's going on with you?" with "Not much, training for a half marathon." I don't like that answer, and I've been conviced about it lately. This is something I'm doing, not something that I am.

These are just thoughts. Right now I'm hanging in there till Thanksgiving and kinda looking forward to not doing anything. :)

Rest

2009-10-25T09:40:00.001-07:00

This weekend I made the short trek to Dallas to visit my friend and former roommate Mo and my friend and former co-worker Murphy (that's a lot of currents and formers. huh.). When I think about heading out of town for the weekend, it's always with mixed feelings. I am excited about going to see the people I am going to see, but am pretty much resigning myself to the fact that it will be a fun and satisfying but not necessarily restful weekend, on account of waking up, traveling, traffic, etc.

This weekend was the opposite. It has been a long time since I came back from a weekend away feeling rested and ready for the next week. I got to Mo's house at around 11 on Saturday morning, just in time to go to brunch with her, her husband Kelly, and Murphy. We ate at the Dream Cafe, a cute little hidden restaurant in Uptown Dallas. We ate outside in the beautiful weather and chatted, until we parted ways with the boys and decided to check out the Arboritum. They are all decked out for fall, which Mo and I both love, so we headed that direction. Of course, with the weather and it being the week before Halloween, pretty much everyone in Dallas had the same idea. But it didn't matter. Mo and I roamed around, admired pumpkins, watched parents try to persuade their children to sit just so for a fall picture in the pumpkin patch while the kids were ripping costumes off and rolling pumpkins around, and talked about life. After the pumpkin patch we hit up Sprinkles Cupcakes (of course) for a taste of the seasonal Caramel Apple cupcake (I recommend it!), then back to her house for more talk.

The afternoon and evening were all about catching up- picking up where you left off the last time we saw each other, remembering what it is that we love about each other, and experiencing the refining and growth that comes from challenging one another in love.

We were busy, we had fun, but amidst all the action I found rest in talking about the Lord and being spurred on toward Him by friends that are pursuing Him just the same. That, in my mind, is what community should be.

Confessions

2009-10-23T19:12:00.001-07:00

In this current age of "Fall Festivals" instead of Halloween parties and "you-can't-do-a-bat-unit-in-October" political correctness, I feel a little bit rebellious in stating my flat-out love for Halloween. I love Halloween. I do. I can't help it. It starts with the fall- the colors, the leaves changing (which I am a bit obsessed with at some times to the point of tears), the emergence of the pumpkin-spice latte, brisk football weather, pumpkin patches, etc. The beginning of fall is my true love, and it just so happens that Halloween falls right smack in the middle of the glory of fall. So I love it.

Don't get me wrong. I am NOT a fan of the creepy, over-the-top Halloween lovers. I will not set foot in a Halloween-themed store. When I say I love Halloween, I mean the kindergarten version: black cats and smiling witches, ghosts made out of Blow Pops and pumpkin carving. I also love the songs. You better believe I teach Pumpkin Carols (see "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," if you have no idea what I'm talking about) and, my personal favorite, Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman. Call it politically incorrect, but I'm doing it until my principal directs me otherwise.

One thing I love about living in my neighborhood is that it is the most perfect trick-or-treating neighborhood. Friendly neighbors, big houses, lots of kids. Last year we caught wind that our neighborhood was typically hard-hit with trick-or-treaters, so we stocked up. Or so we thought. We were cleaned out in approximately 20 minutes. Then again. Then again. Three times we called friends for reinforcements, and three times we ran out before the kids stopped coming. We turned off the porch light. Still they knocked. We turned off the inside lights. The kids kept coming. Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, turned us into twenty-somethings hiding in the dark from small children in costume. This year we are having people over for Halloween again, and the price of admittance to our house is a giant bag of candy. We will be ready for them.

I leave you with a few words of wisdom from the beloved Charles Schultz:

"Oh, you better not shriek,

You better not moan,

You better not howl, you better not groan,

Great Pumpkin is coming to town!"

Birthday Week

2009-09-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

Birthdays that happen on a Wednesday, right smack in the middle of the the week, have their pros and cons. Major con: the likelihood of celebrating on your actual birthday is slim. Major pro: to compensate for the lack of actual birthday celebration, the whole week itself tends to take on a birthday celebration feel. Nice.

Some highlights of the birthday week:

Early birthday dinner with Lori, John, and John's sister Jacey.

Surprise birthday present shopping with Lori, John, and Jacey before dinner for my new birthday boots!

Early birthday present from Lauren- giant tote bag from the Gap.

Having about 5 classes sing "Happy Birthday" as they walked through my door.

Cupcake from our librarian

Birthday Starbucks with Lori and sweet gifts from Suzanne (who gave me Casablanca after my4th attempt to own it!)

Birthday shopping with Jacey at the Gap.

Last night's birthday bash at Bruno's Pizza with friends and 2 separate birthday cakes made by Lauren.

Quoteables from the kids:
Brenda: How old are you now?
Me: 28.
Brenda (eyes wide): You look big!
Me: I look bigger than yesterday?
Brenda (nodding emphatically): YES.
Me: Awesome.

Kadin: Miss Greer, today your birfday?!
Me: Yes, it is.
Kadin: How?
Me: Well, a long time ago, I was born on this day.
Kadin: Oh. I was born, too.

Imani: Miss Greer, I want to get you a present.
Me: Okay!
Imani (thoughtfully): Do you like dollies?

Derrick: My birthday was yesterday, too.
Me: I know, we share the same birthday!
Derrick: I got another birthday, too.
Me: No, you just have one.
Derrick: No, I got one on the 26th. One yesterday and one on the 26th.
Me: Is your party on the 26th?
Derrick: Yeah.

Jared: Miss Greer, today is going to be the most wonderful day ever!
Me: Really?!
Jared: Yes! Because it is the first birthday of music!
Me (very confused): It is?
Jared: Yes. If something is really good and fun, it can be a birthday.
Me: Huh. Great!

"There were never such devoted sisters..."

2009-09-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend started out for me with a Friday and no voice. Sometime between Thursday evening and Friday morning I found that, no matter what effort I made, my voice seemed to either hide in shame of its honking sound, or disguised itself as a squawking bird. The sore throat is gone, but the voice is still gone with it. Oh, well. This lack of voice and feeling a bit sub-par resulted in my staying in town and low key this weekend.

I'm finding that the mixture of low-key and productivity is the way to go. I slept in (9:00! victory!), went on a run with a friend (which is, currently, my only motivation to run), then went to lunch with the roommate, the aforementioned friend, my sister, and my brother-in-law. After lunch, I picked Lori up from her massage (yeah, she got a massage. jealous.), and we went errand-running: a little polish change at the nail place, baby shower shopping for a friend, birthday card shopping.

While we were perusing the baby merchandise and chatting about I forget what, my brain took a momentary pause in the conversation to marvel at the grace of the Lord to provide me with such an incredible sister, and even beyond that, to allow us to be close, to live close, to be a daily part of each other's lives. We always talked about how we would live next door to each other when we grew up. I hope it happens. Until then, I will live in gratefulness for this season we are in, and soak it up.

Going the Distance

2009-08-31T18:45:00.000-07:00

I used to think I wasn't super goal-motivated. I did my work, had goals to an extent, but wasn't one to make yearly goals or New Years' Resolutions. My roommate and I were watching TV this evening and even commented on the fact that we are rarely moved to bypass a more fun activity for the sake of "getting some work done," as the character on the show was doing.

I'm learning that I was wrong about myself. I am goal-driven. I cried when I missed an assignment this summer and when the professor told me I didn't read the description of the assignment. I like to stay a couple of assignments ahead, so I don't have to worry about deadlines. I plan one extra activity for each of my classes in case we get through the others too quickly, and I set up bulletin boards after school the afternoon before a new unit or season so the kids can get the full effect the next day. I am a huge nerd.

I'm also distance-driven. When I started learning how to run, it was by time. I would walk for 30 minutes, run for 1. Gradually the time increased. When I finally hit the half-mile mark, a switch flipped. I was no longer satsified with running for 10 minutes, but I would keep going until I hit a mile. I've actually come home from a run, logged it, realized I was a few tenths of a mile short of a nice round number, and went back out to run a couple of blocks.

I went running tonight with my roommate Lauren and friend Ally. Praise the Lord for GLORIOUS weather and good company. We ran fast and it felt good. But I have no way of knowing EXACTLY how far we ran, and it's driving me a little crazy. Lauren predicts a little over 4 miles, I think it was a little under. I should call it a round 4 and be done with it. But what will happen? Next time I run, I'll probably go an extra block or two to round out the week's numbers. Or maybe I should just learn to let it go.

The Good Ol' Days

2009-08-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

I just started my third class with UNT- Youth Literature. This is the class I have been waiting for. The reading list is huge and awesome, and runs the spectrum of old school children's books (Harold and the Purple Crayon) to the new and controversial (The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things). As I checked books out of our school library (it pays to be friends with the librarian!), I was reminded of the good ol' days at HSU when one of my roommates and I had Children's Lit together.

At the time, the HSU children's section of the library had a strict check-out policy: one could only check out 15 books at a time. This sounds excessive until you understand that students taking children's lit have to read between 175-200 books in the semester. Bethany and I decided to skip the HSU library altogether and hit up Abilene's Children's Library- a whole separate branch of the library that housed all of our children's lit needs. We would go together, skim the stacks for books with award stickers or familiar acclaimed authors, and pull them off the shelves like we were in supermarket sweep. The two of us easily checked out 30+ books on a regular basis. As the books were checked out, a reciept printed that reached from the top of our fridge to the floor. The pile of books lived in our living room, and when the time came to return the books, one of us called out book titles while the other located the book.

Returning the books was an issue in itself. Books are heavy, and they have pointy edges, which like to poke through plastic sacks. On one particular book return trip, we each struggled with two Wal-Mart sacks in each hand and made it about three steps from the return slot- when the bags broke and books spilled out onto the sidewalk.

This book-check event was not quite as memorable or laughter-inducing, but it did get my heart pumping and my memories spinning. Here's to you, Bethany.

Long Weeks Aren't Always Bad

2009-08-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

School started on Monday, and I will admit that I was excited about starting a school year in a job that I know and love, in my own classroom, for the very first time. My feet are killing me, and I got off the treadmill after a minute and a half yesterday and left the gym to come lay down on my couch. But overall, though the week is long (where are the days of the Wednesday school start?!), it is good. Here is a brief glimpse of my week:

attempted to calm 2 crying preschoolers
try to find where a new kindergartener belonged and discovered that she did not exist on our roll
found a "rock & roll" version of Psalty the Singing Songbook's "Shake a Friend's Hand"- and sang approximately 10 times
held music class for pre-k special ed class... lots of swaying and clapping!
worked on booking a children's opera theatre to perform for our kiddos
searched for Christmas songs for the kindergarten program
started, as of today, my third class through UNT- youth literature. actually excited about that one!

I wish that my brain were capable right now of posting some thought-provoking, deep realizations... but right now I feel kinda boring and dazed. But at least I'm happy. And tired.

Celebration Shoes

2009-08-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

Some people celebrate momentous occasions (such as finishing your first classes in grad school) with a celebratory toast of champagne. I buy shoes with my sister.

Winding Down and Gearin Up: Take 2

2009-08-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a surprisingly busy 3 weeks, as summer is beginning to wind down and I'm getting geared up for the fall. Major happenings since the last post:

1) Mini vacation with some friends from college. This trip was decided on a whim, spurring from Stephanie and I realizing that we now, for the first time since college, would both be off during the summer. We began to plan a trip, and found out that our friend Julie (who is NEVER off when we are!) would be off as well! The three of us loaded up the car and headed to San Antonio to stay for a couple of nights at the Westin LaCantera resort. Best feature: an adults' only pool. We spent a little time shopping, a lot of time eating (including chips and salsa by the pool and La Hacienda del Barrio, the restaurant where Bobby Flay staged a puffy taco throwdown), and an overwhelming amount of time just laying by (and in) the pool. It just so happened that Lori was in San Antonio for a teacher conference, and our hotel was about 10 minutes from where our friend Allison lived, so the two of them joined us for dinner. It was simple, but much-needed. And it made me miss the rest of our college girls!

2) Summer school ended, though not without tears and near-mental breakdowns. I completed a 26-page annotated bibliography and a final within a week of each other, and turned it all in by Tuesday night. I've been living large since then.

School inservice starts on Tuesday, and I am getting excited about it. I love having my own classroom, knowing the school, knowing the teachers, and knowing most of the kids. I can't wait! So long (almost!) to summer, but I am ready for the fall.

I am the consumer.

2009-07-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good Sunday. Went to church and heard some good teaching (thanks, Matt Lantz!), went to eat at a new breakfast place that just opened (and happens to be 2 minutes from my house) with Lauren and Lori and John. Did a little shopping afterward with Lauren, relaxed at the house, went for a run. And, best of all, Lauren, Suzanne, and I decided to go see The Proposal and eat movie popcorn for dinner. Awesome.

After the movie, Lauren and I were charged up and ready to play. Could have been the Diet Coke, but we were not fighting the feeling. We ended up at Wal-Mart, content to roam.

This is never a good idea.

When we walked in, I had every intention of buying cereal. Here is what I left with:

2 boxes of cereal
a copy of Pride and Prejudice
a pint of Blue Bell ice cream
a motorized can opener

You're welcome, Wal-Mart. You're welcome.

Yes, I did that.

2009-07-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Here is some photo proof of the whitewater rafting trip Kindall, her dad, and his cousin Darrell took down the Roaring Fork River in Snowmass/Basalt. I never thought I would utter this phrase in my life, but I will say- I was so thankful for that wet suit.

Rocky Mountain High... Colorado!

2009-07-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

I had the fortunate experience of celebrating the 4th of July with my friend Kindall and her family in the lovely mountains of Snowmass and Aspen, CO. This was a trip of firsts: first 4th of July since 2003 that I have celebrated away from camp, first time to meet Kindall's family (I have met her mom once, briefly, before), first time to Colorado in the summer, first time whitewater rafting... the list goes on. We ate killer food, played some dominoes, wore sweats and had fires in the fireplace, and sat in the hot tub in the rain. Kindall and I attempted a bike ride, but the altitude (and rain!) got the best of us.

I left Colorado on Sunday feeling rested, revived, wishing I lived closer to the mountains, and so thankful that the One who is big and awesome enough to create all of that saw fit to create and use me.

In an effort to avoid writing a novel, I will provide for you pictures and captions- and I would love to TELL you all about it if you want to know!

Kindall and me at the top of Aspen Mountain

Watching the Aspen 4th of July Parade!

Kindall's mom likes the candid shots.

The Maroon Bells, where we picnicked the first night.

(a side note- our picnic included key lime pie)

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went home (Lori and John did, too) for a couple of reasons:

1) Our lifelong friend Lucy got married on Friday night.

2) Our home church just moved into their new building, and Sunday was the grand opening.

Lucy, Lori, Me, and Stephanie at Lori's bridal shower last October.

When I call Lucy a lifelong friend, I mean it. Lori and I were born in September, went directly to the nursery at FBC (our home church that just moved- nice how these stories work out), and when Lucy was born in November, she went into the crib next to ours. We were bed baby neighbors, according to the nursery. Friends ever since.

She was married in the backyard of her godparents, with only their families in attendence. Afterward, a small dinner reception was held at the civic center, and we made the cut. :) We partied it up with Stephanie (lifelong friend number 2- that's another long friendship!), Mom, and Dad, and about 75 others, then went back to the house for some late-night grilled cheese and brownies. Stephanie spent the night; it felt like old times.

On Sunday, we got to church early to see the new building. It was beautiful. I teared up when I walked into the sanctuary and saw the old stained-glass window that has been in the old chapel for my entire life, moved and refurbished in the new building.

Sunday also happened to be "God and Country Day"- a tradition at our church, and it is fair to say that every time someone sings the "Armed Forces Medley," I will cry.

That afternoon we went to the church's open house, and watched a video that spanned the history of the church. More tears. I loved that I recongnized people, names, places that I have grown up with, some of whom were standing next to me still.

I love home, I love my church, I love that people that knew me when I didn't go by my own name know me still. Lots of tears, and all of them good.

P.S. Good food of the weekend- Five Guys Burgers, Fish City Grill (crabcakes!), and a frozen yogurt place called YoYo's- a wall of yogurt choices, tubs of toppings, and you weigh and pay after you've made it like you like it. Nice.

A little school, a little camp...

2009-06-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent 5 days driving back and forth from Gainesville to Denton, Texas, to start my first classes in grad school. I stayed with Bootsie and Granddaddy, who helped me pack a lunch every night, set 5 alarms in the house the night before my first class so no one would oversleep, and took me for steak, hamburgers, and to see Old Yeller in the old movie theater downtown. It was great.

Class was long, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really, really enjoyed it. It's hard, a little confusing (when was the last time I had to use a library database? and now I'm taking a class about it?!), but really interesting.

On Monday night, about an hour after getting back to town from Denton, I headed up to camp to visit the week 3 families at the Bluffs. Week 3 is one of those weeks I just bonded with, and after seeing them and knowing them for 3 years, it was hard for me to imagine a summer without them. So I went to camp. Almost instantly I was Click it or Ticket again, hugged lots of necks, told lots of stories, heard updates, played a little Speed Scrabble (don't ever ask me to play- I am horrible and actually hate the game), and before I knew it, it was 11:00 and way past my bedtime. It was awesome.

This summer sure is different so far, but it's been good. Now if only I had a pool.

Free as a Bird

2009-06-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

I'm done with my first year at Jackson Elementary. I'm the first music teacher in 6 years to return for a second year, come August.

This morning we didn't have to be at our end-of-year festivities until 8:30, which was a nice way to start the day. I thought about sleeping in, but it occurred to me yesterday that I could, in fact, get up and run BEFORE work if I wanted to. I know that sounds crazy, and I can't believe the thought even occurred to me, but I decided last night that that's what I would do.

I anticipated fighting the alarm, laying in bed and deciding if it would be worth it to get up early when I didn't have to just to get running over with. I had NO IDEA that instead I would find myself waking up BEFORE my alarm, excited about going for a run. As I started out this morning, I wondered as I ran what my deal was. Why was I so excited about running that I couldn't stay in bed? Here's what I came up with. Some are practical reasons, others a little more thoughtful.

1) the temperature is AWESOME at 6:15. Not too hot, definately not cold.
2) there is nothing like getting up and about as the world around you is waking up. Kinda nice to see the sun start to creep over the trees and blind you as you round a turn.
3) i'm appreciating the fact that I am more active now than I have ever been in my life. there will always be days I wish I could run farther, or faster, or be good at sports, but as a whole, I think I can actually start to call myself "active," which is nice.
4) i can run. and 85% of the time (like this morning), i actually enjoy it. not only can i run, but i can actually push myself to run farther. it's true. i can tell myself to go another mile, and my body is actually capable of doing it.
5) running this morning signified the beginning of my break. i chose when to get up, what I wanted to do, and there is excitement in that.

All of those things made it impossible for me to stay in bed this morning. But now I need a nap. :)

Winding Down and Gearing Up

2009-05-31T17:58:00.000-07:00

A brief run-down of current events in my life...

- 4 more wake-ups of school with kids
- 1 staff development day
- camp started without me
- i cried about camp starting without me
- got sunburn #2 of this sunburn season at lori's apartment pool
- tried 2 new blue bell flavors (grooms cake and mocha madness, both excellent)
- didn't see my roommate for 3 days on account of camp starting
- watched "Wolverine" finally, and now have a renewed crush on hugh jackman
- ran before church this morning and wondered why i don't do that more often
- attended pre-k and head start graduation and had to find a parking spot behind the school
- got a list of things to read BEFORE grad classes start- 17 chapters, 4 articles, 5 papers
- wanted to quit grad school before i start

Getting Out of Town

2009-05-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to forget that camp is going on without me, I spent this Memorial Day weekend with my friend Kindall in Houston. We've been planning it for a while; we were going to go to Galveston, go to the pool, lay low, eat lots of good food, and probably do a craft project or two. This was a wonderful plan until you realize that, if Houston needs rain, it will wait until I get there to let the downpours begin.

Saturday morning we woke to a bright, hot, sunny morning. We took Lola (Kindall's dog) for a walk to the dog park and back, talking about the perfect weather we would have for the beach later that afternoon. We packed snacks, went to Sonic, took Lola to obedience school, and planned to leave for the beach after that. Too bad obedience school was cut short by the torrential downpour that started approaching as we ran for cover. Kindall and I are not easily deterred, so we went home, ate lunch, put on our beach clothes and started driving. By the time we got to Galveston, the sun was out, the sunscreen was necessary, and the beach was full. It was awesome.

Sunday afternoon, same story. Got excited about the pool, got rained out, ate lunch, looked outside, and the sun was brightly shining. We managed to get in 2 hours at the pool without a drop of rain.

I love flexible weekends. I miss camp, too. Geez.

Improptu Fun

2009-05-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was going to be a normal Saturday. I, of course, woke up at 8:15 since I am no longer capable of sleeping late. Made coffee, went and picked up Chick-fil-A chicken minis for Lauren and myself. We sat on our couches for a while, watched TV, and probably would have stayed exactly like that all day long if Lauren had not looked at me and said these fateful words:

"I kinda want to go to Dallas."

These are no ordinary words. You need to know ALL that these words imply. Immediately I knew she meant the following:

-get a little dressed up
-Sprinkles cupcakes (at least 4 each- to go, of course)
-Northpark Mall
-awesome dinner
-Sprinkles cupcakes in the car on the way home.

We worked out to make ourselves feel better, got dressed, drove to Dallas, and accomplished all of the above. Not only that, but we also managed to get a blowout on I-20 on the way home at 11:00 at night. Didn't dampen our spirits, just our driving speed. Great way to spend a Saturday.

14 Days

2009-05-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Only 14 days of school left. I'm counting down the days, though I feel kind of guilty about it. My job is maybe the best job at school. My hardest day usually involves trying to make 2nd graders understand how to play the instruments on a steady beat. (Well, maybe that's not true. Teaching Spanish songs to 1st graders was a challenge). I feel like there should be no reason that I am ready for a vacation, since my job is truly enjoyable, minimally stressful, and super-flexible.

That being said, I am ready to decide what I am going to do with my time, how late I am going to sleep, when I am going to run errands, when I am going to eat lunch. And hopefully I will have time after all of that to work on my tan.

Cinco de Mayo is Holiday Time

2009-05-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

Last night was the first grade Cinco de Mayo program. The kids did an AWESOME job- they sang their little hearts out, did all of the motions, played their instruments and danced with gusto. Here is a little taste of yesterday morning's performance for the school. Enjoy!

These little kiddos are singing their hearts out.

"Cinco de Mayo is holiday time,

holiday time in Mexico..."

(except it's not... don't even get me started.)

I am slowly going crazy...

2009-05-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Next Tuesday is our first grade Cinco de Mayo program. Our first graders are the most challenging group of kids at school. By "most challenging," I mean that they are actually crazy. Crazy. So imagine teaching them 5 songs in Spanish, a song, a dance, instrument parts, and how to all sit and stand on the risers without pushing each other off. Needless to say, I have been DREADING Cinco de Mayo rehearsals.

We had our first rehearsal on Tuesday afternoon. It was only 30 minutes long, so I warned the teachers that we may not get much done beyond placing kids, practicing standing up and sitting down, and me threatening them within an inch of their lives. We got the kids placed, practiced standing and sitting, I threatened the children an appropriate amount, and they were doing really well- listening, watching me, not pushing each other off the risers. I thought I'd attempt a song. All the kids stood in unison, hands by their sides, and eyes on me as I pushed "play" on the stereo. The music started and I held my breath.

The kids were unbelievable! They sang every word in Spanish loudly and clearly, did all of the motions, kept their eyes on me, and stopped when the music stopped. I stood there with my mouth open as the other teachers applauded their kids. Thinking this was a fluke, I tried a different song, this time entirely in Spanish. The music started, and the same thing happened. I couldn't believe it! My fears and doubts have been washed away as these kids are doing above and beyond what I thought was possible.

Now if I can manage to find time to hang some pinatas, we'll be good to go...

No Excuse

2009-04-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

I just got back from playing Bunco. It's a fun game, no skill required. And tonight's game was an impulse, last-minute decision, which made it even more fun.

The librarian at my school has become a good school friend. She and her aide have become my go-to people at school. The internet is not working in our new building yet, so it was only natural that I set up shop in the library office while they get it worked out. I went to get my computer today at about 3:40 as I was on my way out the door. I walked in, and Ms. Solberg (the librarian), and Ms. Gregory (an outspoken but enthusiastic kindergarten teacher) were talking, distressed because one of their Bunco groupies had dropped out for their monthly game tonight, hosted by Ms. Solberg. As they were discussing what to do, Ms. Gregory turns to me and asks abruptly, "Do you want to play Bunco tonight?" The wheels started turning in my head. Normally my roommate and my sister are off on Monday nights, so we will hang out or go to a softball game. It just so happens that both my roommate AND my sister are out of town, and I had ZERO plans for the evening. No excuse not to play.

"Sure. What should I bring?"

"Just yourself and five dollars. We play for money."

Besides stepping outside my comfort zone to play with people I have never met, getting to play Bunco tonight was an unexpected answer to prayer. I know that my librarian is lost. She needs Jesus and doesn't even know it. My prayer this year has been that the Lord would strengthen our friendship and provide opportunities to be Jesus to her. Wouldn't it be so great if the Lord used Bunco to open that door?!

21 de Abril

2009-04-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

May is sneaking up on me. I realized today that our Cinco de Mayo program (that's right- first graders singing songs in Spanish) is exactly 2 weeks away. In fact, hopefully by this time next week I will be eating free Mexican food after the program is over. BUT, that jump-started the last-minute panic that I have grown accustomed to as the program approaches. I realized today all that I still have to do: make paper programs, cut streamers, assign instruments to songs, assign kids to dance, etc. And make sure the kids can sing in Spanish. Geez.

With May approaching, it's weird to not be in camp-mode. This past weekend was Leadership Weekend at Pine Cove, when all of our summer leadership staff comes in town for a weekend of teambuilding, theme night planning, getting geared up for summer. I went out of town. It was weird and harder than I thought it would be to not be involved. This summer will be strange, not being on stage, not playing with kids in the pool or talking with moms in the coffee shop. I'm trusting the Lord that this summer will be good and purposeful for His continuing to grow my faith.

So, as strange as it will be, I'm gearing up for Uno de Mayo, followed by Cinco de Mayo, followed by the end of school.

Out with the old, in with the new...

2009-04-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

I went to work this morning in the usual school attire (plus a new fabulous white jacket from J. Crew outlet!), assuming that the moving process into our new building was the same as usual- nonexistent. For the past week or so, the whole school has been sitting on boxes, waiting for the go-ahead. This morning, we finally got the okay to start moving things over. The "official" moving day was said to be the 27th, but we could start moving bits and pieces over. I took time in my morning breaks to move some things over, one tub at a time.

This afternoon, we got an update that, instead of moving on the 27th, we are supposed to be settled on the 27th. That set my moving gears in motion. For the next 2 1/2 hours I moved boxes, 2 or 3 at a time, down the hill to my new room. The contractor saw me and took pity, lending me one of the construction guys to help. So the two of us set to work on our boxes, still 2 or 3 at a time. As we went up and down the hill, huffing and puffing, we were passed by little miniature movers- 1st graders helping their teacher move, each child carrying one thing at a time.

THAT is how elementary teachers move classes mid-year.

I plan on hijacking a class to help me move more tomorrow.

15 and Counting

2009-04-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last night and today Lori and I got to spend some quality time with some long-time friends. I got home today with that feeling that I get sometimes where my heart just feels rested and refreshed from true fellowship with friends that the Lord so expertly placed in my life.

We have known Sara and Joy for 15 years. That's hard to believe, so I did the math twice (and that says a lot, since I do everything I can to not even do math once!). We met when our older sister, Erin, was a freshman in college. Our parents would drive us to Abilene for the weekend to visit her, and in visiting her, we got to spend time with her best friends. When Erin died her sophomore year, Sara and Joy "adopted" us as sisters. It amazes me still. They did not and could not take her place, but stepped in to take care of us, to do those things that older sisters do for their little ones. Sara and Joy drove to Killeen to watch us march in the band. We still went to Abilene on a pretty regular basis to stay with them, go to functions with them, and just play.

15 years later, I am still so thankful for their presence in my life. We don't see each other as often as we'd like. But, just like all true friendships, when we do see each other, we pick up right where we left off. This weekend was another reminder of the blessing of their friendship, the wisdom they so generously give, encouragement and pep talks they provide, and unconditional love. I don't have enough words to say thank you, Sara and Joy.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

2009-03-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

I think it's fair to say that I love my job. I mean, really, really love it. All year the principal has made comments hinting to my sticking around next year, since I am the 6th music teacher in 6 years at my school. One kindergartener asked me recently, "Who is our music teacher going to be next year?" As of Thursday afternoon, that teacher will be me.

I officially signed my contract for next year last week. Our school secretary was hanging out in the teacher's lounge, catching teachers and staff as they came in so they could sign their contracts and hand them back in. As people signed theirs, it was apparent to me that this was not a big deal to anyone except for me. I wanted to call people, throw a party, do something to celebrate the fact that this awesome job is mine for another year, that I know what I am doing next year, that I get to in fact move into the awesome new classroom that is almost ready.

So I'm official, minus the pomp and circumstance. Bless the kindergarten teachers who were excited for me and the history-making event that I am a part of: 2 consecutive years of the same music teacher at Jackson.

Ode to Nutella

2009-03-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

It may be suprising to some that I have lived these 27 years of life without having ever experienced the taste of Nutella, the famous chocolate hazelnut spread from our friends in Europe. Tonight, my culinary experience has been enriched by my roommate Lauren, who purchased a jar of Nutella and a bag of pretzel rods on our grocery run this afternoon.

Right now Lauren and I are watching American Graffiti, playing on the computer, with stomachs full of Nutella and pretzels. My stomach is also full with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, since I have, until this evening, also never experienced a fluffernutter.

After I first tasted both the fluff and the Nutella, Lauren welcomed me to the fifth grade. I'm 27 going on 11.

Just Keep Running...

2009-03-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with running. Sometimes I love it, can't wait to go, like to push myself an extra mile. One time I left the house intending to run 4 miles and ran 6. That was a good day.

It's when I feel like I should run that I don't like it. But I go, and I always run as far as I tell myself I will. It's just not always fun.

On Monday, my roommate Lauren and I ran together for the first time. We've run in a group together before, but never just the two of us. It's kind of funny, since we do everything else together. Running has always been separate. Lauren is fast; I am slow. She is competitive and will push herself; I may or may not. She is cool and runs with an iPod shuffle. I run listening to air, since I am too cheap to buy a shuffle.

So I wasn't sure how this run would go. I figured I might get smoked, or worse, that Lauren would feel like she had to hold back so I could keep up. Neither of those things happened. We ran and complimented each other well. I ran a little faster than I usually do (did I mention Lauren is fast?!), and Lauren ended up running farther than she has in a while (I am a slow and steady kinda girl). Worked out well.

We're going again next week.

Stay-cation, etc.

2009-03-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

For the past 3 years, a group of us girls from Pine Cove have taken our vacations together. In 2007, 5 of us decided to go to Disneyworld. Awesome decision. If you have never experienced a kid-free trip to Disney, I highly recommend it. Last year, 5 of us went on a cruise. Again, awesome. Soft-serve ice cream around the clock, and LOTS of people watching.

This year has been crazy, as I have mentioned before. Therefore only 3 of us were able to take a mini-vacation to Dallas. Not quite as grand-scale as the previous vacations, but still fun! Wish all of the girls could have been there. Next year.

On Thursday, Suzanne, Lauren, and I drove to Dallas in time to eat lunch at the much-loved Panera Bread. Right across the street from this particular eating establishment is North Park Mall. Within 20 minutes of walking in the store, I was walking out of Nordstrom with a pair of killer blue patent Sperry Top Siders (on sale, of course!).

We got a great deal on the Westin at Park Central, which turned out to be a lot swankier than we expected. We checked in, discussed dining options (we have our priorities!), and ended up going to The Twisted Root, a hamburger place in Deep Ellum that I heard about from my friend Steve a while back. Had NO trouble finishing the burger and awesome onion rings!

The next day we had appointments at the spa in Saks 5th Avenue at the Galleria. We checked in at 1:30 and left at 6:45. Our day of leisure ended with a trip to P.F. Chang's (where I had never been), a free order of Dan Dan noodles, the great wall of chocolate, and a late-night drive home. Fun.

Any ideas?

2009-03-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

Next week at school (I know I shouldn't even be thinking about it during Spring Break, but I can't help it!) is Texas Public Schools Week, which means lots of dress-up and fun activity days. I'm especially excited about pajama day on Thursday (some theme like, "Dreams come true in Texas schools," or something cheesy like that, I'm sure) and cowboy day on Friday, when we will have a school-wide cowboy sing-along.

I am having trouble with Tuesday's "favorite storybook character" day. My problems are two-fold:
1) I own over 350 children's books just on my own. How do I pick a favorite?
2) I'm cheap and don't want to buy anything.

So... anybody have any ideas of a character I can be? Here are some things I have to work with, thanks to 4 years of All-School Sing and 5 years of theme nights at Pine Cove.

- pig snout, ears, and tail
- cat ears and tail
- lion ears and tail
- overalls
- mechanic cover-alls
- mechanic shirt
- Mexican dress
- various knee-high socks
- jester's hat
- various baseball caps, billed hats, one safari hat, and a baby bonnet

Ideas?

Spring Break so far

2009-03-10T13:17:00.001-07:00

I'm on day 2 of Spring Break, and I can't help thinking about how different my Spring Break is now that I'm old. :) There will be no beach vacay for me, no up-all-night challenges (last time I stayed up past 2 I'm pretty sure I thought I was going to throw up from tiredness. Yes, that happens to me!).

In my one and a half days of Spring Break so far, I have done exciting things like go running, wash the dishes, do some laundry, sweep, dust, and vacuum my room, pay some bills, wait for the cable guy, watch a movie, play on the Facebook. I'm wild and crazy. I have also made it out of the house- I went to Starbucks to read.

On Thursday and Friday, my roommate Lauren, my friend Suzanne, and I are going to Dallas for our first "stay-cation," as Suzanne calls it. For the past 2 years, a group of us have had some pretty awesome vacations. We went to Disneyworld 2 years ago, then last year on a cruise. This year has been a little crazier than most. My sister got married, Kindall and I changed jobs, one friend moved, and the economy went crazy. So this year we're going low-key. BUT, I am still excited about vacation. We are staying at the Westin at Park Central in Dallas (thank you, Hotwire!), eating at fun places, shopping, then on Friday are going to a spa for the works- manicure, pedicure, facial, and 80-minute massage. I've always dreamed of a spa day and have not yet participated in one. Can't wait till Friday.

Until then, I will clean my house and dream of The Galleria.

Girly Weekend... visual proof

2009-03-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some glimpses of our college girls' weekend in Kerrville. As our literary friend Max would say, "Let the wild rumpus start!"

Stephanie and I starting our day off with a morning Twizzler.

Eating ice cream in a cute little parlor on Main Street. Golden is holding Lorra's new baby, Caroline, who joined us that weekend.

These are the awesome pizzas we ordered from Valentino's. One was supposed to be a medium, but we didn't complain about an extra large.

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel before we left each other. Our waiter was most accommodating with our picture-taking requests. Poor guy didn't know what he was getting into.

Lorra Blue flew in from Tucson for the weekend! We love when we get to see her. Long-distance is no fun.

Top row: Mandy, Stephanie, Caanon, Nikki, Allison, Golden

Bottom row: me, Lorra, Lori, and Caroline

I'm Ready

2009-03-06T15:55:00.001-08:00

This year has been a year of change in various forms. The changes have been hard, but good. My job is one of those changes. I loved being at Pine Cove, and I still miss the people and atmosphere there. I don't think anyone is ever ready to leave that. People are ready for change, something new, but it will always be hard to leave an environment as edifying and fun as Pine Cove.

The Lord was so faithful in providing what I tell people is "the job I never knew I was meant to have." I love my job everyday. Today I got my first impromptu group hug from a kindergarten class since having my own class in Abilene. We marched around outside with instruments. Does it get any better? Some days I'm tired, and some days I am Viola Swamp (read Miss Nelson is Missing if you don't get my reference!), but I love it everyday.

It's officially Spring Break, and I feel a little guilty about being so glad! I am ready for rest. I'm ready to sleep past 6:15 for a week (my "sleeping in" is now 8:00ish), to clean and do things around the house, and to operate without a schedule.

Then I'm ready to get right back to the kiddos. Man, they're great.

Sweatin' to the Oldies

2009-03-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

I have a love/hate relationship with workout videos. When we were growing up, our older sister had a VHS of "Buns of Steel." We loved doing it because the guy would tell us to "squeeze those cheeseburgers out of those buns!" Hilarious.

There are several things I love about the workout video. I love the convenience of staying at home. You can stop and rewind (which is especially helpful with videos that involve dancing!). Love it.

The thing I hate about these videos is also the last and greatest thing I love about them. You look and feel like an idiot. There's no getting around it. Today I did a video by Bob Harper (the awesome and motivating trainer from "The Biggest Loser"). It's called "Weight Loss Yoga," which I have assumed up until now was an oxymoron. Now, a few hours later, I am beyond convinced that I will be sore tomorrow. I got a good workout, but I looked like an idiot. Thankfully, Lauren went to the gym and let me look like an idiot in peace.

However, looking like an idiot with the right person makes these workout videos the greatest fun. I've done many a dance workout with my friend Kindall (who can actually do the dances, which makes my deficiency appear even greater!). I remember doing a dance workout with my friend Mandy when I lived in Abilene. This woman wore a thong leotard with spandex shorts under it, and did Michael Jackson moves. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. There were the hours of Tae-Bo on the 4th floor of the freshman dorm, and the infamous "Sweatin' to the Oldies."

The moral of this story is, if you need a good workout and a good laugh, rent a workout video and do it with somebody of equal or lesser athletic ability. You won't regret it.

BFFs

2009-03-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

Since graduating from Hardin-Simmons in 2004, my friends and I have made an effort to get together at least once a year (outside of homecoming) to get together and reconnect. There are 11 of us, and our friendship started our freshman year. People told us going into college that friendships from our freshman year and friendships from our senior year would be very different. Not so with these girls. We met each other and became fast friends the fall of freshman year (thank you, Freshman SING!), and we are still "the girls," 9 years later.

9 of us (plus one 7-week old baby!) met in Kerrville this weekend to play and relax. Lori and I travelled from Tyler, which was a 7 hour drive, Lorra flew in from Arizona, Stephanie, Allison, and Caanon came from Central Texas, Nikki from Nacogdoches, Golden from Midland, and Mandy from Abilene. Worth every minute of the drive. Pictures will come shortly. :)

Some stats for the weekend:

1 5lb bag of peanut M&Ms consumed in less than 24 hours
$17- each person's share in the house we rented for two nights
35- minutes it took to feed, burp, and pass the baby around every 3 hours or so
7:25- the time Stephanie and I woke up simultaneously on Saturday. My face was washed and i was dressed before realizing what time it was. Back to bed for 30 more minutes.
2- number of things I bought while shopping in Fredricksburg. A personal record (on the low end)
4- number of large pizzas we ordered from Valentino's, where the cooks were singing in Italian in the kitchen

We did a lot of shopping, a lot of talking, and more laughing than anything. I am never unaware of how I have been blessed by these girls, this core group of friends that I feel I have known forever. In my prayers of thankfulness for them, I used to ask the Lord what I did to deserve such friends. Only recently, when I was praying such a prayer, I heard gently from the Lord, "Nothing. You have done nothing to deserve them."

I have done nothing to deserve these girls who love me for who I am, who I was, and who I will be. These girls that know me inside and out, who have seen me at my best and my worst are not deserved, but given as the most wonderful gift from the Lord to teach me, encourage me, challenge me, and spur me on toward Him.

Thank you, Lord, for these girls.

Kids try to understand...

2009-02-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

There is a kid in one of the kindergarten classes who is especially verbal and logical. His name is Jared, and he introduced himself to me the first week of school with his first, middle, and last name every time. He wants to be a meteorologist when he grows up, and says things like, "Miss Greer, I have an idea! How about everyone else sings, and I direct?"

I've been sick this week and ended up missing 2 days of school. The day after a sick day, this is what went down:

Jared: Miss Greer, what was the matter with you yesterday?

Me: I was sick.

Jared: Did you have zookemia?

Me: No, I didn't have lukemia.

Jared: But did you have ZOOkemia?

Me (short pause): No. I did not have zookemia either.