Clean Slate

I always love the first week of school because to me it represents a clean slate - for me, for my kiddos, for the school as a whole. I love having a fresh start. Maybe that's why Lamentations 3:22-23 are 2 of my favorite verses. Anyway, I had a great first week. I feel like my kids & I just clicked from Day 1. This is my 8th year teaching & it's interesting how classes always seem to have unique personalities. Some are silly, some are tough, some are 'too cool', some just want to be loved... I don't know how to describe this class's personality yet, but here's what I do know: I LOVE my class!!!!! They are so sweet & fun, and I can't wait to get to know them better this year. I know there will be challenges & times of stress, but I'm looking forward to the shared journey with my new little family!

Back to school = Fun kid stories

Convo today while we were reviewing restroom expectations (yeah, that sounds weird to non-teachers, but I work in an elementary school): Kid:Mrs. M., why don't they have atomic paper towels here? Me: What? Kid: You know, they have atomic soap, why not atomic paper towels too? Me: Ohhhhhhh, you mean autoMAtic paper towels! Kid cracks up. Class cracks up. Teacher cracks up. Good times had by all.

Lessons Learned

I meant to post this one a couple weeks ago & just never got around to it... Recently I mowed the yard for the first time in...well, ever. John always takes care of the yard, but it was getting late, so I offered to mow while he edged to save time. Here's what I learned (other than how to operate the mower): 1. Wear eye protection - About the time I said, "Hey this is kind of fun!" a gust of wind blew all the dirt & grass clippings into my eyes. Lesson learned. 2. Keep the dog inside - I had Lucy inside to begin with, but when I went in to get the grass out of my eyes, she got out. So, as I mowed she kept dropping her ball & Frisbee directly in front of the mower trying to get me to play. I finally got rid of all the toys. Problem solved. 3. If you take Lucy's toys away, she will get even - So maybe she was oblivious, but was it really coincidence that right after I took her toys, she ran in front of the mower and took a huge dump right in my path??? Not cool. So in the end I mowed all but 1 little spot of the yard, & I did a great job! Oh yeah, and by 'great job' I mean I'm going to pretend I didn't notice John giving the yard a once over after I was done.

Summer Wrap up

Now that August is here, it's time to think about the upcoming school year (not that educators ever really stop thinking about it! ;o) So...before all the craziness really kicks in, I thought I'd sum up my summer. So, here we go: I LOVE summer! I think the thing I love the most (besides comfy clothes and flip flops) is the flexibility. Every day when I wake up I can just decide, totally last minute, what I want to do. So here's what I've been up to:

• Staying up late & sleeping in - woo hoo!
• Working out - I'm determined to keep this up even when I go back to work!!!
• Cleaning out closets - a necessary (yet gratifying) evil.
• Ranger's games - I'll admit, I used to think they were boring, but now I love going!
• Hanging out with friends & their kiddos.
• Sitting by Jana's pool. :o)
• Reading
• Shopping
• Church stuff - young adult girls biblestudy(with Lucy's favorite people), singing & having fun with the praise band, leading Kid's Connection on Sunday mornings, Jr. High mission trip, kidnapping church staff members for lunch...
• Family time with parents, siblings, nieces & nephews, cousins, aunts & uncles...it's been so great to see everyone!
• Quality time with John - we took a last minute trip to Galveston just to get away, but other than that, we've had fun running errands, working on the house, building stuff for the Jr. High mission trip, and being lazy together.

I think that's about it! It's been a wonderful & relaxing couple of months!

Lucy's Fashion Statement

Last week Lucy went to the vet for her annual checkup & they found a little growth behind her front, right leg. They did a scraping & said it isn't cancer or anything, but they wanted to go ahead & remove it. So, yesterday while I was working, John had to take Lucy for her surgery. He said it was the saddest thing ever & she kept trying to drag him back out the door until he handed her over to one of the ladies at the vet's office. They didn't put her totally out, they just drugged her up & used a local anesthesia. They removed the growth & are going to let us know what it is by Friday or Monday, but the vet said it doesn't look like anything bad, so we're not really worried. Lucy now has 2 staples from the surgery, so she has to wear a T-shirt to cover the area so she can't scratch it. Yesterday she was so drugged up she didn't care, but today she seems slightly annoyed by it. I keep telling her she looks fabulous, & I'm sure that's helping her adjust (right??) I donated my Lime green "Jesus Keeps Me Singing" T-shirt to her. I think it's from VBS, or something a few years back & hasn't been worn since. So, here she is: Notice the nice 80's style tie on the back to give it a little extra flair. Sorry about the picture quality - she didn't seem to want to be photographed & kept walking away as I took her picture.

And just to remind everyone how pretty she really is, here's a pic from last week without the T-shirt.

I don't get it.

I've been meaning to address this for a while, but I keep forgetting. However, this past weekend we were at Chili's & I remembered to take a picture, so now's the time! When we go to Chili's I always order broccoli as my side item. I love it & I figure I can eat whatever else greasy mess I want to & the meal still counts as healthy (right???) Anyway, a while back I put in the order for the side of broccoli & the waiter said, "I'm sorry we no longer have broccoli as a side." After overcoming my shock, I asked what they had instead. The response: mixed veggies. I decided to go with it & see what mixed veggies entailed. So in case you are wondering, here is the NEW menu item called 'Mixed Veggies', NOT broccoli, mind you:

Sometimes I get bored...

We're getting ready to go on our Jr. High mission trip next week, so we're busy running errands & such. Today John & I went to The Home Depot to get some supplies for worship. Let me clarify - the theme is 'Illuminate', so we're making some cool shadow boxes & stuff for response stations. Anyway...as John was perusing the lumber aisle for the 8th time, here's what I found:

MAH-BLE CAH-LUMS!!!!

You gotta get some Mah-ble Cah-lums!

Like this one!

Or dat one!

OK, they were really wooden, but whatever. So, for those of you who are completely lost: