Glad to be home

I left home on Saturday, May 29, and just got back home today.  Whew!  I had a great time, but boy, am I tired, and BOY, am I GLAD to be back home.  Do you have any idea how excited I am about sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow tonight?

I was at the lake from last Saturday until Tuesday.  We had all the "kids" there for part of the weekend, and Lance and Jessi were there for the entire weekend.  It was SO. MUCH. FUN.  Check out that post here.  John and the pups left around 3 on Monday, but I stayed because I was going to Connie's the next day.

On Tuesday, I got up and once Mr. Sunshine decided to make an appearance, I went to the dock for a little baking.  :)  About 2:00, I cleaned up and headed to Cullman.  Normally, I wouldn't go to Hartselle through Cullan, but my BB Pearl was almost on its last leg,and I was going to get a new phone.  The track ball had stopped rolling as well as it should, even after cleaning it, and the ring that held it in had lost a "leg" on one of the clips, so it wouldn't snap in like it should.  I was trying to wait until John's contract is up in September, but I just didn't see that happening.  So, I cancelled my T Mobile line and went to Verizon.  I'm now the owner of a BB Storm 2, and so far, I LOVE IT!  When John's contract is up, I'll probably cancel his T Mobile and add a line to my plan with Verizon, but I'll get him THE MOST BASIC phone known to man. 

It isn't that I was unhappy with T Mobile.  I've been with them for 12 years, and I never had any complaints.  Other than spotty coverage in some places.  That's the primary reason I switched to Verizon.  Everybody who has Verizon has been able to get service at the lake.  Of course, I got service on the dock with T Mobile before I left, but I had already made up my mind.  LOL

I did a little shopping at Belk, too.  The Cullman Belk is TONS better than the one in Auburn.  I have a very hard time finding ANYTHING there, but I got a couple of really cute tops in Cullman.  I probably would have gotten more, but I had no where to pack anything, and I was in a touch of a time crunch.

After leaving Cullman, I dropped by Connie's and unloaded my stuff and then took supper to Billie.  God love her...if she asked me once where John Alan was, she asked me twenty times.  Every time I'd tell her he was at home but he'd be there Friday.  And every time, she'd ask my why he didn't come with me, and my answer was always because he had to work but he'd be there Friday.  Then she'd ask what day it was and I'd tell her it was Tuesday.  Five minutes later, it was the same thing all over again.  Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows...

Connie and I sat up and talked until about midnight.  I think we were just so excited about leaving the next day.  =)  We got on the road about 7:45 Wednesday morning and made it to Gulf Shores right at 3.  We thought we'd be stopping every hour for Libby to potty since SHE is the pregnant one, but nooooo.  I was the one saying we needed potty breaks.  I told her I must have been experiencing sympathetic bladder.  hahahaha

The four of us had a ton of fun.  We laughed the whole time.  Well, when we weren't stuffing our faces.  We enjoyed dinner at The Shrimp Basket, Lulu's, Wintzel's, and King Neptunes.  I didn't have one bad meal the whole time.  Other than the sun, my favorite part of the beach is the seafood.

The weather wasn't as perfect as I'd have hoped.  When I'm at the beach, I want lots and lots of sunny days so I can spend as much time on the beach as possible.  Most every day had some rain, usually early to mid afternoon, but I got my share of sun. 

We did our share of shopping, too.  On Thursday afternoon, we hit the Tanger Center.  After dinner Friday, we stopped at a couple of other shops, and then Saturday we made a stop at a book store.  And on Sunday, we stopped at Books A Million until Lambert's opened. 

Since I had left my car at Connie's, I went back to Hartselle last night.  The closer we got to Montgomery, though, the more I wished I had been coming home.  Not that I didn't want to spend more time with Connie, but I was ready to see John and the pups, who I hadn't seen since last Monday, and I really wanted my own bed.

But I am home now, and I got the best welcome from Ali and Bama.  I didn't get Bama's "I missed you" howl, but he let me know I was missed.  That's the great thing about pets, and dogs in particular.  They will ALWAYS greet you with such unbridled joy and happiness.  I know John missed me too, but he didn't jump around and wag his tail.  LOL

I think I'm about to wrap my computer time up and will probably head to bed in just a bit. 

As always, have a GREAT day.

The Gratitude Meme

I totally swiped this from another blog, but I looked through so many to find an idea to blog about that I have no idea which one got swiped.  So, I'm asking for forgiveness instead of permission. 

1. What are you most grateful for when you first wake up in the morning? A new day to be alive and to enjoy all of the blessings that God has given me

2. What are you most grateful for when you go to bed at night?  Making it through another day

3. Who is the person who has had the most influence on your life?  My mom and my grannie...both instilled in me solid values

4. Is there someone you'd like to thank for something special they did for you but haven't yet? Take the time to do it in this meme.  My mother-in-law, Billie, is someone who gave me one of the best gifts I've ever gotten.  Not only did I get to marry her son, but she welcomed me into her life and her family.  I've never really said thank you for that.

5. Who was your favorite or least favorite teacher?  Uh, I am my favorite teacher.  No, seriously, Cathy Smith.

If you could talk to them now, what would you say?  I would tell her that I hope I can be half the teacher to my students that she was to hers.

6. Do you say grace at mealtime?  Not usually  :(  I know we should.

7. Name one thing you take for granted everyday.  My health

8. Have you ever looked back at your life and realized that something you thought was a bad thing was actually a blessing in disguise?  Yes!!!

9. What are the top five things you are most grateful for in your life?  1.  John  2.  Katy, Phillip, Sam, Jessi, and Lance  3.  My parents  4.  My in-laws  5.  My friends

Ready for beach time!

I'm hanging out here at the lake for one more night and hoping that tomorrow is a gorgeous day so I can get a touch ton of sun before heading to the beach on Wednesday.

This will be the 2nd Annual Girls' Trip.  Last year, Connie, Linda, and I went and had a blast.  We talked about trying to make it an annual trip, so this is year #2.  After I enjoy the dock for a while tomorrow, I'll head to Connie's for tomorrow night, and then around 8 on Wednesday morning, Connie, Tisha, Libby, and I will head south.  Maybe next year everybody can go.

Every day that we'll be there, the forecast is showing isolated thunderstorms with 30-40% chance of rain.  On Sunday, when we are leaving though, the forecast shows mostly sunny skies with 0% chance of rain.  Go figure.  Of course, this is summer at the beach.  You can just about expect some rain.  As long as I get sun, and LOTS of it!

I've posted pictures of Sam Bone's time at the lake on my other blog, so check them out.

I hope you have a GREAT day!

Another one in the books

Even though the school year for me isn't "officially" over in terms of our contracts, I'm counting this one as done. We have a work day tomorrow, and we've got a make up professional development day Tuesday. I made a request to our superintendent to take off Tuesday, and she approved it. Normally, I wouldn't have made the request, but I feel like I have a really good reason. Wanna hear it? No? Well, too bad 'cause I'm gonna tell ya. (Don't you just love having your own blog so you can do things like that? And if you don't want to read, that's fine with me. How will I ever know anyway?) I'll get to my reason in a bit.

Tomorrow is, like I said, a work day. I got all my grades in and verified today, but I have a TON of stuff to get done in my room. Before we leave, we have to have everything off the floors so that when the custodial staff comes in to do the floors, they don't have to move everything. That serves two purposes: 1) they can get in and out a whole lot faster, and 2) they don't have to worry about breaking/misplacing something of ours. I have a TON of shredding I need to do tomorrow, too. Mr. Reyes said we can leave at 2:00, but I have a feeling I'll be there a little later.

Once I finally do leave, I'll have to come home and get my stuff together to go to the lake AND to the beach, shower (because I will be covered in dust after I finish in my room), and then go to graduation. I volunteered to help in the area where the seniors line up before the ceremony. I like being in that area because I can see and talk to them. Once the ceremony is over, trying to find anyone on the field is next to impossible.

On Saturday, the pups and I will load up and head to the lake. John is going up tomorrow and is taking the boat. Jess and Lance are going up tomorrow night, too. On Saturday, Phillip, Katy, and Sam are coming up. I hope the rain stays away, but it will be fun no matter what. John will have to come home Monday, but I'm going to stay at the lake until Tuesday. And that gets into my reason for requesting off for Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Connie, Tisha, Libby, and I are GOING TO THE BEACH! WOO HOO!!!!!! Last year, Connie, Linda, and I went and had such a great time. We decided to try to make it an annual event for the "Vest Girls." Unless something has changed in the last few days, Linda isn't going this year because Danny hasn't been doing very well. Amy doesn't feel ready to leave Maggie for that long, Katy will be starting her classes at THE University of ALABAMA on June 1 (Roll Tide!), and Jessi wants to save her vacation days for her honeymoon. (I just can't for the life of me figure that one out. I mean...five days in Gulf Shores with the best stepmom ever, the best aunts ever, and the one of best cousins ever or a week in Cancun with her new husband. Geez. It isn't like she's not going to spend the rest of her life with him. hahahaha)

So, since I was already going to be in North Alabama, and since it was going to be out of the way for the Hartselle crew to come to Dadeville to get me, I thought I'd just stay at the lake Monday and go to Connie's sometime Tuesday (depending on the weather). And then we had to make up the professional development day.

I considered getting "sick" but I honestly and truly hate to lie about something like that. I have taken sick days when I haven't been sick, but every teacher I know has to take a "mental health" day occasionally. I've never, ever CALLED in just because I didn't want to go to work. If I've called in, I've been SICK. Like puking sick. And they don't want me there then. When I take my "mental health" days, I plan them around my lesson plans. And I usually end up spending a good portion of the day grading.

Anyway, I digress. I sent Lou Ann an email requesting Tuesday. She said that since I had not taken an personal days this year, I was certainly free to take one for Tuesday. I already have all of the hours I need for this year, too. If I didn't, I'd be there. She also told me to have a good time at the beach. Oh, sure, I told exactly what I just told you. I don't want to lie to the person who is in charge of my job. That's just stoopid. Tenured teachers CAN be let go with proper documentation.

So, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I love my job, but it's time for a break. And I'm ready for the lake and the beach.

And I'm ready for bed.

As always, have a GREAT day!

What a week!

Talk about a crazy week. I got up Monday expecting a really great last week of the school year. All was going really well until I got to work. Karen was in my room for coffee. I had just opened my email when she said, "That was so bad about Mr. Davidson's daughter" (or something very similar to that.) I had just opened the email with the news that Mr. Davidson, his wife, and their two sons had lost their daughter and sister in a car wreck on Sunday. That was enough to put a huge damper on my mood. I did not know Whitney, but that doesn't matter. I did know Mr. Davidson and their older son, Jacob. I had met his wife Suzette and had seen their younger son, Luke, hanging out in his dad's office after school. Whitney was a 24 year old woman who was just getting her life started. She had taught for a year. (I think she was working with Teach for America.)

Later in the day, we got an email about the band director at the middle school. She had been in a car wreck, too, and was air lifted to Columbus, GA. The latest news we had from her sounded positive, but we didn't get an update today. I'm going to hope that no news is good news. I'm sure that if she weren't doing about the same or better we would have gotten some news.

Monday was also the day that pink slips went out. We lost three certified personnel. One of them was Melissa, the choir teacher/director. Her program is being cut out completely due to proration. The students were very upset and were passing around petitions. Some of our students live for choir, and now, they don't have that. Sure, there can be a "glee club" as an extracurricular activity, but it isn't as easy as it seems to get a club started. First of all, there has to be a certified faculty member (preferably one with a musical background) who is willing to give up his or her time after school on a regular basis for practices. No big deal, you say. Coaches do it all the time. Yeah, well, coaches get a supplement. Club sponsors don't. I hope, for the kids, that a club can be a reality.

We are also losing several non-certified positions. Two para-pros are gone, and the current library aide will be the only para-pro. The lady who supervised In School Suspension was let go and a certified person will be in that position (or so I understand.) The person who over the ACCESS is gone. The certified teacher who was in the Success Center (remediation for those students who have not passed the Alabama High School Graduation Exam) will be in the ACCESS lab. And then Monday afternoon, Debbie, our secretary, found out she was being transferred to one of the elementary schools. And her position isn't being replaced. We've had two secretaries in the main office, but Debbie did the front office "stuff" and Janice has done the guidance office "stuff." From what I gather, Janice will be doing the front office stuff again. (She did it years ago.) I'm not sure if she will continue to do the guidance office stuff, too. If so, she is going to be one extremely busy woman.

Then, yesterday I heard that a student from a neighboring school was killed in a car wreck. Susan, my best friend, told me she had just found out that the head of the German department at Alabama had been killed in a car wreck, too. Can it get any worse?

We gave exams to our first and second block classes today. Those were my seniors. One of my guys has yet to turn in a research paper. Papers were due April 30th. Without a paper, he will fail. Even though I shouldn't have, I told him that IF he would bring me a paper by 3:00 this afternoon, I would grade it. He SAID it was at home on his computer. He got out of school at 11:02. I left about 11:30 to run grab a bite to eat. I got it to go, so I was back to the school before noon. I didn't leave until 3:10. Did I have a paper from him? Nope. He will fail with a 57.8. And it's a shame because he is MORE than capable. It just makes me want to throttle him. I had several other students who BUST THEIR BUTTS for every single point they earn. They were standing over me, holding their breath as I figured their finals grades, praying for at least a 60. Every single one of them earned at least that. The look of relief on their faces was obvious. And this kid doesn't even care. It makes me ANGRY.

Tomorrow I have my juniors. None of them are in danger of failing. (Or at least I don't think they are.)

Guess that's about all of the depressing news I have for now. Oh, I do have FUN news. All of the "kids" will be with us at the lake this weekend. I. CAN'T. WAIT! I love having everybody around. It will be interesting to have six adults and one 2-year-old trying to sleep in a 12 x 48 two bedroom, one bath trailer, though. Pray for us. LOL

I hope you have a GREAT Thursday! (I didn't proofread. Forgive any typos. I'm too tired to re-read this. hahaha)