ZMS Single Ladies Talent Show

"The Dancers" perform at the ZMS Talent Show 2010. These twelve 8th graders hold a very special place in my heart. They worked really hard to learn this dance and I had so much fun with them these past couple weeks. Enjoy!

Down with the Sickness...

Lesson learned today: Don't eat cafeteria food - especially Bosco Sticks.

Fourth period today (right after lunch) I started to feel a little ill. It started with just being tired. Then as the rest of the day went on, it got worse. By fifth period I knew something was wrong. I felt dizzy, light headed, and exhausted. I ended up having to teach from my desk where I could sit down and go over the syllabus and procedures. But about 5 minutes before class ended, I knew I was going to be sick. Luckily, I was able to go into one of my storage rooms with a trashcan and throw up where no one else would see, hear, or smell it. Not the best way to end a class on the first day of the last night weeks of school. But I felt better after and was able to dismiss class just fine. However, I still felt a little down during sixth period and after school. I guess the only benefit of feeling sick was that I actually left the building before 4PM. As soon as I got home I went straight to bed until about 5:30. I'm about to go back to bed. I hate getting sick and then not knowing if I'm going to get sick again.

The bad thing about being sick today is that I wasn't able to go watch LOST with my LOST friends. :( I know that today is like 2 days after being originally aired, but we watch it on the TV via HULU. It's a great time to be had, usually on Wednesdays. This week we didn't watch on Wednesdays because of the Sojourn Vision Catalyst meeting. My sentences are all starting to sound the same. I should vary my sentence structures. This is the third strange random sentence. RANDOM!

I'm so thankful tomorrow is Friday! Jeans Day!!! I'm also thinking about going home to Lexington tomorrow so my dad can help me do my taxes. The only problem is that I would need to be back before 4PM on Saturday. I made a new friend yesterday and she invited me to a get together with some of her friends. God has really been blessing me lately with new friendships and community. I just need to work on cultivating those friendships and being more intentional.

Other good news:

• I'm one of the chaperones taking the 8th grade I-Leap (gifted and talented) students to see the Broadway Musical, WICKED in May. We're leaving from school at 12:45, going downtown for the show at 2, and then walking to 4th Street Live for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. All this and the students will have to pay no more than $30. We're trying to go lower if possible. Can you believe that?!?! The kids will love it and they totally need that kind of opportunity.
• Erin and I are going to hang out in Indy for two days in April for our spring breaks. Then about 2 weeks later, she and her boyfriend are going to come to Louisville to visit! I'm totally stoked! 
• I also might be going back to Holland for summer vacation. Whitney and I are thinking about taking a side trip somewhere else as well... maybe even Egypt!! How cool would that be? 

Well, I better get to sleep so I am fully rested for tomorrow. I talked way too much today in my classes. I hope it's not as bad tomorrow. I hate the first couple days of a new 9-weeks. At least it's at the end of a week. It's hard enough transitioning from procedures and syllabi to actual content, but even more so when it all happens in one week. The weekend makes it less awkward. Now just to keep structure and not be too relaxed on the second day, when I don't want to do any teaching and the kids don't want to learn. It doesn't help that I still haven't finalized my 8th grade content (stupid reading class...) and I want to change some of my 7th grade content. It makes planning very difficult. Oh well. I'll figure it out later. It's all good.

A good laugh

I have stumbled upon this great blog called Cake Wrecks. Well I guess it wasn't really a stumble as I had heard Brent Braun and other community group folk talking about it before. Anyways, reading through maybe 10 pages of posts today has made me laugh out loud many times, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites. These are cakes that have sadly been presented to someone or have been for sale. Here they are!!

For those who think that spelling isn't a big deal because of spell check, think again!!

I liked the sports theme too. I may be showing these to my students. Maybe...

And last but not least... not a spelling error, but definitely an error of millennial proportions!

That's all for now.  I'll post an update some time in the future. Enjoy your cake!

Facebook saves the day!

Yesterday morning I continue to push the snooze way past where I need to wake up in order to wash my hair. Thankfully I didn't need to wash my hair, but I still needed to get up. Instead of hopping in the shower I meander out to my computer to check my email and facebook. Thank goodness I did! I saw a status update from an old friend who is now a teacher in Lexington. Turns out that Fayette County had a snow day. That got me thinking... "I wonder if I have a snow day too?" And what do you know? I did! I look outside at this point to see just how much snow had fallen. Last I heard, we weren't supposed to get more than maybe one inch. According to my eyes the forecast wasn't far off. But nevertheless school was canceled in Bullitt County. At this point I was glad I hadn't gotten in the shower or eaten breakfast. So I went back to sleep... until 10am!! If it weren't for facebook, I would have ended up at school wondering where everyone else was!!

Now you may think that a snow day is grand. Well it can be, but it's very frustrating to have school canceled for apparently no reason (as the snow was gone by 9am). I had scheduled the computer lab for 2 of my classes and now I don't think I'll be able to get the labs this morning. I also had planned for a rewards day for one of my classes today, but I didn't give the students any notice about bringing snacks, so that will have to be moved to next week. Snow days through off a lot of plans. But they can sometimes come with some good.

If that wasn't enough for facebook to help me out in the morning, it comes through again!  My good friend Molly saw my facebook update about not having school. She then texts me to ask if I want to hang out if I get bored doing nothing on my snow day. Well of course I want to hang out with Molly!! We end up enjoying some of the second DVD of Pride and Prejudice with the one and only Colin Firth. Amazing! Unfortunately I had to leave before it was over. Cheerleading practice called...

Cheerleaders frustrate me. Especially 8th grade cheerleaders. That's all I really want to say on that subject before I say something I probably shouldn't.

Thankfully the rest of my evening was awesome. I headed over to the Cassin Casa to watch some LOST! God has really blessed me with this group of friends. Jessica made some fabulous homemade chicken noodle soup. I wish I had her motivation to cook homemade food all the time. But anyways, LOST was amazing. I love being in a group when watching it just so we can talk about all our theories. It also helps when I can't remember things from seasons past. After LOST, some other folk from Sojourn stopped by. It's great to hang out with new people or people I don't see much outside of the 930.

Speaking of the 930, tonight is going to be a great night! Dirt Poor Robins is performing at a CD release party. Dave Moisan is going to be opening. It should be an amazing concert. I'm really looking forward to it and getting to hang out with my twin, Jackie. Now, if only I can get through this school day and cheerleading practice (competition tomorrow!)! Prayers are appreciated. :)

New Post

Here's a new post in honor of the new layout. I'm tired of seeing that Christmas tree on the top of the blog (considering it's not even this past Christmas')!! Maybe new blogging will come soon... but right now I must go get ready for Church.

Happy Valentines Day to my fellow single friends!

Christmas in The Ville

So, as promised to someone (Whitney), here are some pictures of my apartment decked out for the holidays.

My tree and presents.

My tree and the balcony outside with the lights on!

My nativity scene on one of my coffee tables.

Stockings hung from the counter with care... and my collection of Christmas cards.

Even my table got a make-over with a pretty red tablecloth and green napkins!

I leave for Lexington tomorrow after church. I can't wait to see my family for Christmas! I hope everyone else has a Merry Christmas!

Oh - and if anyone has plans for New Years and wants to invite me, I have no plans. For some reason, the person who usually hosts the New Years Eve parties I've attended the past 3 years doesn't live in the state of KY anymore... thanks a lot!

Five More Days

Only 5 more teaching days this semester!!! It's so crazy that it's almost Christmas break and I've been a teacher for 5 months! Some of the kids I have are so great! I don't talk about them as much as I should. I am really going to miss seeing them and hearing about their lives over the break and when they leave my class. But I'm also looking forward to meeting new students and building new relationships.

Tonight I'm going shopping. I get to buy stuff for one of the students at my school whose family is not really able to do much for Christmas. So as a school, we raised money to help about 7 of these students have a better Christmas. I'm also going shopping for Christmas presents for my friends and family.

Short little post, but I wanted to update.

A sad but blessed day

I was so pumped to go to BG OH this weekend for MK's recital. I got up this morning and left by about 9:15. Well, it's almost 3 and I'm back in Louisville. Today has been a little crazy. I drive I-71 to I-75 in order to get to BG. Well, there was some snow on the sides of the road about halfway to 75. I also started seeing salt trucks on the other side of the highway. There was hardly any accumulation on the grass or anything, so I thought I'd be fine. However, as I'm almost to 75 the craziness starts.

I-71 ends at I-75 so I was nearing the bridge that passes over 75 and I see this big puff of snow. I thought to myself, someone must have gone off the road a bit and hit some snow (because I couldn't really see what happened). Well, someone did go off the road, but it was because there was an accident. It happened just about 30-45 seconds before I got there. Turns out the bridge was icy and slick, which I found out as I was slowing down so I wouldn't join those already in the accident. I'm fishtailed and swerved a little as I went past, luckily I didn't hit anything and I got onto I-75 unharmed, but with my heart racing.

This isn't the end though. After I collected myself I called mom to ask her opinion of the weather and whether I should just turn around and go home. As we were talking and she was trying to find weather and road conditions, I could see the roads and weather were getting worse as I headed further north. Everyone was driving slow, especially down the hills toward the river. Snow was coming down and I was still pretty freaked about almost getting in an accident. Well, in the end, Mom suggested I turn around and drive home. So I called MK and asked her about the weather in BG and she said it was snowing harder every hour. Even as I was driving through Cinci the roads were getting more covered and more slick. So at exit 6 I turned around to drive home.

Let me preface this next part by saying, I don't think I've ever seen so many accidents in one day as I saw today. I-71 was littered with accidents on both sides. I was driving 50mph the entire way home, if not slower. I hit some traffic as I got closer to Louisville, sometimes caused by accidents, sometimes just caused by slow moving vehicles. I probably saw at least 5 accidents total by the time I got to I-265 (Gene Snyder) in Louisville. Then I probably saw 5 more accidents just in the 17 miles I was on the Gene Snyder. Some looked pretty bad too.

I really hope that everyone in these accidents are okay. I did see 2 or 3 ambulances responding to the accidents. I just keep thanking God for protecting me today. He really is Emmanuel, God With Us. I am very blessed to be safe home right now. Here is a picture of one of the accidents I went past today on the Gene Snyder. I was only about 4-5 miles from my exit when I passed this one. The other picture is of the snow left on my car when I got home. This is just from driving. I really didn't stop anywhere long enough to accumulate snow.


Well I think I'm going to go finish my book. I've been reading the Stephanie Meyer Twilight series. Let me tell you, they are addicting. I'm almost done with the 4th book. They read very quickly too. I read Twilight in one day! After I'm done, maybe I'll wrap some Christmas presents.

Merry Christmas!

In BG

I'M IN BOWLING GREEN OHIO!!! I love it! First thing I did - surprise the Bell Choir at Trinity! It was awesome. I played bells with them for like 30 minutes! I'm so glad I get to see all my friends. More updates to come... maybe.

A New Church

So I went to a new church today with a new friend (whom I met today). I really liked it. The church was very diverse but was definitely driven by the gospel. I think I may go back... although next week I'd have to go by myself as Sarah (my new friend) will be in North Carolina on her week long fall break! So before the sermon today, which was on Romans 13:1-7 I believe, the praise band opened with the following song by Woody Guthrie.

Let's have Christ our President
Let us have him for our king
Cast your vote for the Carpenter
That you call the Nazarene

The only way we can ever beat
These crooked politician men
Is to run the money changers out of the temple
Put the Carpenter in

O It's Jesus Christ our President
God above our king
With a job and a pension for young and old
We will make hallelujah ring

Every year we waste enough
To feed the ones who starve
We build our civilization up
And we shoot it down with wars

But with the Carpenter on the seat
Way up in the Capital town
The USA would be on the way
Prosperity Bound!

So it's a little socialist, but the idea of putting Christ as our ultimate leader makes complete sense. God put human authorities in place here on earth, but we have the ultimate authority in Heaven! But in the midst of the political and financial turmoil we're in today, we have to trust in God, submit to our authorities (yet still challenge them), and PTL that no matter what happens, God's plan is fulfilled! It was a neat sermon, and anyone interested in hearing more, just give me a call.

After church, I met up with an old friend at the St. James Court Art Show. It was a lot of fun and I actually got some Christmas shopping done! Mom will be proud. It was a gorgeous day to be out walking in Old Louisville, perusing the booths, and seeing beautiful art all around.

I just wish I had more time today to finish grading and planning for the week ahead. I don't have a PowerPoint done for tomorrow, so I guess we'll have to read from the book and take notes. I wish I could have at least found some visual representations of what we'll be talking about. Oh well, it's been a busy weekend! I loved coming home to spend Mom's birthday with her! We had a good time. But now, it's time for bed. I might fall asleep right now if I'm not careful!

Goodnight all!

So Tired

I'm so sick and tired of the disrespect and lack of responsibility at school. These kids are horrible. Someone has stolen my brand new remote to the brand new projector in my room. Another kid took one of my folders, swore he didn't do it and then we found it in his locker. That same kid has also been telling me how I have his notebook, which is why he couldn't do his work for the past 2 weeks, but we also found that in his locker. I'm finding myself so tired at night that sometimes I don't even want to eat. They wear me out! On top of that, I have grading to do because I can't get it done efficiently when I'm this tired. So now I have to find time to sleep, grade, and actually have a life outside of school. The only problem is that I know only 1 person in this general vicinity with whom I actually hang out with.

However, there are some good things going on. I'm meeting a new person on Sunday. A friend of Cat's called me up and we're going to church together. I've been wanting to try this church that 2 other people have suggested but haven't wanted to drive all that way and not know anyone there. So Sarah and I will meet there. It was kinda weird to talk to someone on the phone whom I've never met and then set up a meeting to meet. But if Cat thinks she's cool, then she's probably cool. :)

Also on Sunday, I'm going to the St. James Court Art Show with Holly Phillips, a friend from High School Youth Group who moved to Louisville recently. I'm really excited about that! I need some new artwork for my apartment, I just hope I can afford it! I might also be going to Six Flags with Holly Coover on Sunday after the art fair. So that should be fun! A free excuse to ride roller coasters, I'm in!

Some other good things: 1) Some of my kids are actually nice, respectful, enjoy my class, and I enjoy teaching. 2) The band director and I have started a girls choir. It's kinda fun, and I'm glad to be back teaching music again (even if it is choir). 3) I get to go to Bowling Green Ohio in like 2 weeks!!! I'm totally stoked.

Well that's all for now. Abrupt ending, I know, but I really should start grading and putting stuff in the grade book online.

Much love - to whomever actually reads this.

Long Day...

So today I got to school around 6:50AM. I did not leave until 7:00PM. My classes were unruly as always which totally wears me out!!! However, I did stay after for a PD meeting and then stayed after even longer to plan for tomorrow and do a lot of preparation for that lesson plan. I actually feel really good about what's going down tomorrow.

Tonight my shows come back!!! I'm excited for Heroes, HIMYM, and the Big Bang Theory!!! However, all my shows come on at the same time. Maybe I should stop watching so much television. Oh well. I'm going to get things settled for my 3 hours of TV tonight so I can go straight to bed when it's over.

Hey hey

So I decided to start a new blog. I don't know exactly what I will write about or if I'll have time to write, but here it goes. So I'll start tomorrow after I finish some grading and planning... okay maybe not tomorrow... but soon.