For Real???

Are you kidding? This is something Kenny and I spotted last week as we drove around our neighborhood on a nice Sunday afternoon. The PLASTIC green pots are ZIP-TIED to the tree. It was so ridiculus looking that I had to snap a picture. I still can't even believe they did this, but they did. They are the same people who last summer I witnessed them yelling at their next door neighbors for ruining their hostas. The real situation was that their neighbor (a dad) was playing catch with his very young children, overthrew the ball, and both kids trampled over their property line and through the hostas to the ball. Not that big of a deal, the plants weren't really ruined, but these people thought it was the end of the world. I was walking the dog at the time they happened to be arguing about it so I got the whole scoop. So this is their next move, to zip tied plastic (not even nice looking pots!!) to their tree, in case the little kids next door are around. Uh! Thank goodness they are not our neighbors. They would HATE with a capital H living next door to us.

Graduation

FINALLY I can post about my masters graduation.....that happened 8 days ago! Whew!

I started my masters degree program in 2005. It was a distance learning program, where you are placed in a group of currently teaching teachers that are within 25 miles of you, and then you meet twice a month to discuss questions (on tape to send in for your group grade) and then at home you do most of the work, in the form of essays. It's basically ALL WRITING, which I've heard is the norm for most masters level classes, no matter what area your degree is in. This program is 5 semesters long, about 18 months, and I dropped out after 4 semesters because I thought getting my masters degree MIGHT hinder getting into a public school teaching position. Huh. I was wrong for several reasons, the biggest reason being that THERE AREN'T PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHING POSITIONS AVAILABLE. Anywhere. So I "sat out" of the program until 2 girls I work with were ready to begin their fifth and last semester of the same program, and I joined their group to finish this up and get the raise I had been waiting for. If I'm not getting into a public school anytime soon, might as well get the raise, right?? So that's how I finished my masters degree!

The weather last Saturday started out rainy, you'll see in the pics, but ended up beautiful, couldn't have asked for more! Despite being 8 1/2 months pregnant, not comfortable in the shoes, the LONG processional, the long sitting and waiting period, and the speeches, the ceremony was awesome. I had to pee SO BAD but I held out till the end of the ceremony, I didn't want to miss a thing! My dad and step-mom were there, but they only stayed until I got my degree because they had a wedding to attend, my mom and her friend and of course my inlaws and my cute cute hubby were there! Kenny was SUPER excited because he wasn't around for my high school graduation or when I got my undergrad, so he took a bazillion pictures.

You can see in some pics how prego I am and in other pics the gown hides it, either way, I look huge, but ask me how much I care because I got through the ceremony without going into labor AND I make more $$$ now, so it was all worth it!!

It was for sure one of those days that goes down in history as GREAT!

Quick Update

Funny Things Said In My Classroom Today

• How do you spell MANURE?
• Is it mismatch day (this was said TO ME because I have on comfy shoes with dress clothes.....shame on me!!)
• ______ won't stop looking at me! (my response was: So look at him back!)
• Which room are you going to live in this summer? (some kids still think teachers live here year round)
• How are you feeling? (asked by an adult, and my response was: Do you really want to know?)

I have graduation pics and prego pics to post and cute little stories for each...just let me get my hands on my own computer and they will be blogged about!! My husband has taken over my computer! My mom bought me a brand new laptop (my first laptop ever) for graduation and it should be delivered very soon, and I can get back to regular blogging, which I miss. Stay tuned for pics!

Grandpa

It's taken me a couple weeks to actually process that my Grandpa passed away. He died peacefully in his sleep on April 27th, he was 93 1/2 years old. My dad called me the afternoon he died (he passed early in the morning) and because my grandparents' minister was out of town on a retreat that weekend, the funeral/memorial service wouldn't be for 2 weekends. He was creamated, so that time span wasn't an issue. I was sad right away, especially thinking of my grandma, they had been married 63 years and were still very much in love. It was common for them to be holding hands several times a day. They were (are) so cute. Anyway, of course I thought about how sad it is to loose a grandparent and how it's even harder to watch the other grandparent try to cope in a world that is lonely to them. It's not easy. The memorial service was this past Saturday and it's then that it hit me how much he is missed. My aunts and uncles had words to say at the service and it was beautiful, and it's obvious just how much they and my dad will miss their father. I miss my grandpa. He was a man of LONG stories that often I didn't know what the moral was, and he was a man of many interests and talents, he was a veteran, a cherished and very involved member of his church including the choir, and he was an all-around family man. My aunts and uncles and my dad ALL have their father's sense of family and have passed that on to their own children and nieces and nephews. The best part of the service was the end, when the choir stood in front of the congregation and sang Amazing Grace. It was truly amazing. And another neat bit of info....when the organ was being played, the baby kicked HARD (and I mean he really whomped me in both sides!!!!). It actually made me move in my seat...Kenny was next to me and he looked at me and mouthed, "What was that??" and I whispered to him, "That was your son kicking his momma....he isn't used to the organ playing....apparently we need to attend church more." When I heard my grandpa had stopped eating a week or so prior to his death (he wasn't sick with cancer or anything, there were several things keeping him from feeling well and I think he was just ready to go) I immediatly became sad because this would have been his first great-grandchild. I kept thinking, just a few more weeks and he'd be able to hold his first great-grandchild. But I know that wasn't in the cards, my grandma will have that distinct honor all to herself (she is my last grandparent) and there's something magical (in a strange way) about the passage of my grandpa and the birth of my baby so close. When I told my friends that my grandpa had died, most of them remembered him at my wedding just one year ago, in his wheelchair, smiling, having a great time, and not wanting to leave the reception to go lay down even though everyone thought he would be tired. He was SO HAPPY I was getting married and he loved getting dressed up and attending formal ceremonies, especially his oldest grandchild's wedding. So there you have it. That was my grandpa.

Almost halfway through the week

Can't wait for the weekends....that's what I keep telling myself EVERY SINGLE MORNING when I drag my ever-expanding body out of bed 30 minutes after the alarm. And I keep repeating that as I take a shower, waddle around the house trying to get ready in adequate time to beat the kids to my classroom door. And then I say that same mantra ALL DAY LONG with my class, who is absolutely driving me nuts 8 hours a day. I'm still only 15 pounds up from pre-pregnancy, and it's still all in my stomach, but it feels like 50. Take a look. I think I was 32w4d when I took them.

And here's a picture of my current child, the 4-legged kind, who has no idea how much her life is going to be disrupted in a few weeks. She's so cute.

I am graduating with my masters degree on Saturday.....I would be so much more excited if the gown I ordered DIDN'T HANG OFF MY SHOULDERS AND MAKE ME LOOK LIKE A LARGE BLACK COW! I am really happy to be getting this degree and the accompaning raise, however, I'm not excited about how I'll look when handed the diploma. Is that just a girl thing, a prego thing, or am I completely crazy??????

Spring!!

I didn't mean to go SOOO long without posting! Honestly, I thought about it every day last week and just didn't make it to my computer!

Spring has sprung around here! There are buds and blossoms and good smells everywhere. It's beautiful! We were outside with the dog today and here's a 32w3d shot:

8 months pregnant and still not that huge....how long till I pop way out there? That's the question everyone keeps asking. I don't know, but I'm not complaining!

We dogsat last weekend for our friends' 6 year old chocolate lab, Bella. Here are the girls togther, aren't they cute? It was entertaining to say the least. We saw a side of our dog that wasn't so pretty...she is a complete B$&*# when it comes to dinner time. We tried feeding them at the same time and that was not happening. Our dog growled at Bella, so we fed the separately the rest of the weekend. Our dog hasn't been around other dogs during meal times enough to chill out, so it was actually a good practice time for her. We will be working on that! Other than that, the dogs went to the park and had a blast. I actually took them both myself on leashes and walked for almost an hour. They didn't pull my arm out of the sockets or make my back sore, which I actually expected to happen. It was great! Any thoughts of getting a second lab have been squelched though, especially with our baby on his way here and a small house. Too much dog to trip over! It was fun having them together for a few days though.

I woke up this morning with an amazing feeling. My hubs was next to me (doesn't always happen because he works at night) snoozing, our baby was kicking up a frenzy (I LOVE that!!!) and our dog was snoring on my feet. I was completely content, like a really happy scene from a movie. I kept thinking, "This is MY family" and THANK GOD for my blessings. What an amazing feeling. I took Kenny's hand as he slept and put it on my stomach to feel the baby kick, and he actually woke up and said, "WOW!" He's felt the baby kick and move several times, but not when he was that energetic! Feeling him move like that sure makes all the aches and pains of being pregnant worth it. SO very worth it. I have been feeling pretty awesome though, even with little bouts of feeling sick, I can't complain. I'm getting very excited!