Battle of the wills

My husband is sadly mistaken. He thinks that I will allow him to wear his UGA visor and a GSU shirt to the game today. In a preemptive strike, I procured his visor and hid it in the last place he would look. He has yet to find it. However, he has gone in my closet and taken all of my blue and white clothing and put them into the washing machine...when I found a hidden GS t-shirt, he held me down on the couch holding a glass of milk over me saying that he will try and ruin my shirt if I don't disclose the location of said visor. He clearly underestimates the lengths that I will go to to defend my Alma Mater. We have to leave in 15 minutes to go meet PJ and Kate and I will be willing to bet that neither of us will be wearing red and black.
Hail Southern.

GEORGIA SOUTHERN vs. uga

I've been singing the GSU fight song all day in my head (and out loud). To all of my Southern "friends" who will be traitors wearing red and black tomorrow....I'll be praying for you. I hope that one day you will understand what it really means to have loyalty and school spirit. I hope you spill something on your UGA shirt and it makes you think of Beautiful Eagle Creek...and I hope you can't find parking in Athens and it makes you think of Sweetheart Circle. When you are in that stadium with 90,000 other folks and Georgia Southern scores and you wish you could cheer, I hope you remember these words....
Hail the Blue, Hail the White, Hail the team that soaring upward to bring us fame....
GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES fight unto victory and win this game....
Blue and White, fight, fight
Blue and White, fight, fight
GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES, FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.
Lastly, when Georgia Southern is victorious tomorrow, DO NOT under any circumstances claim that you are a GSU fan. DO NOT claim that you thought they were going to win. Just hang your head in shame and start preparing yourself to wear Blue and White in September 2012 and watch as the Bulldawgs rank goes down the tube.
Hail Southern.

One Eventful Day

Wow...it's been a while. I almost forgot how to blog. I wanted to share a few details of the crazy day we had yesterday.
I knew it was going to be exciting when the principal said we could have a free jeans day.
That was only the beginning! I left the house at about 7:00 pimpin' the huge F150. Richard borrowed the Honda for a very special trip.....
Until yesterday, Richard had never met his biological father. He's 29 years old, so when the opportunity arose to meet the man that supplied half of his genetic makeup, Richard took advantage. He drove up to SC to meet Dave half way and they had lunch at Cracker Barrel and talked for about 3 hours. Richard has also been in contact with his two half sisters and is looking forward to hearing from his half brother. The whole situation is exciting. You'll have to ask Richard about it. So, I had to be at school early because the FCS (Fellowship of Christian Students) meets on Friday mornings and I am their fearless sponsor. Thankfully, coming early allowed me to miss out on the traffic that was a result of a terrible wreck on Hwy 119...many of our teachers were late and even more students. I looked super cute driving that big ole' truck. Thanks to Tropical Storm Fay (formerly Hurricane Fay) we had awful weather all day long. We spent a lot of time crouched in a hallway under Tornado warnings. Those are a lot of fun with high schoolers.
Our crazy day ended on a high note with dinner at Longhorn's with Lyndsey, Jonathan, and Sarah. We even had a gift certificate! It was a crazy day. Not a dull moment, but all in all we feel like the most blessed people on earth to have each other and such wonderful family and friends.

A Fresh Start

I really like Open House. Every year, scores of parents and their students file into my classroom with their best smiles on trying to make the best impression possible. It's touching really. I love talking to parents. I love that almost all parents think their student is "gifted." I love that almost all students think that their parents are embarrassing. It's fun to see the family dynamics and pick up on all the hidden messages.
This year, I tried to be methodical in my greeting when each family entered. First, I would shake the hand of the student (you may think I'm rude, but I wanted to let my students know how important they are to me). Then, I would ask the student what class I have them in. It was hilarious to figure out that half of them had no idea what class they would be taking with me. I also enjoyed them trying to say "Euclidean". I greeted each parent with a handshake and a smile. Everyone was so polite and on their best behavior (including me).
Here are some highlights and low lights:

HIGHLIGHTS:

• I met about 50% of my students, which is an awful high percentage at a high school open house
• The Math Department is the best. The folks that teach math at ECHS are top notch.
  
• I had lots of former students come visit me and I loved it. It was very sweet.
• My classroom was clean and inviting. I even put posters on the walls.
  
• I was pleasantly surprised with most of the students that I met. As far as I know...they are all geniuses. I refuse to be one of those teachers that gets the "scoop" on all the "bad" students before the first day. Preconceived notions are often false.
  
• I have the privilege of teaching our superintendents niece and many teachers kids.

lowlights:

• Almost none of my seniors came
• People started showing up 30 minutes early. HOW RUDE. We needed a minute to get in our rooms and get set up.
  
• One kids informed me that she would be missing the first 5 days of school for a WEDDING. Huh?!? Last time I checked it only takes 1 day to get married. Some parents don't think some times.
• I have a lot of kids with diabetes. I'm not sure, but it seems like this is a growing trend.
  
• One of the parents asks me rather sarcastically if I will be teaching the necessary material her son BEFORE I sent him home with homework on the material. when I answered "of course" she said..."So, he's not going to be coming home telling me he doesn't know how to do his homework" and I had to honestly say that him understanding his homework would greatly depend on him paying attention and participating in class. What was I supposed to say to that?
• I had to tell all of my parents that I would not be offering after school tutoring. A new school policy says that we are responsible for making sure that any student that stays after with us leaves campus. This means that if Johnny's mom is 45 minutes late picking him up, we have to stay. This also means that if multiple students stay and all leave at a different time, we still have to accompany them ALL to their respective transportation. I think not. I will only be offering tutoring BEFORE school.

I can't wait to get back into the swing of things. I think that this will be the best of my first 3 years. I have 2 years under my belt. WOW.. only 28 more years until retirement.....just kidding...I'm not thinking about that yet. I am looking forward to getting to know the kids and getting to do math again. I am teaching a new class called Math Money Management. It is gonna be awesome. We are going to study Finances, Loans, Taxes, Jobs, Insurance, etc....all the important math applications. I know, I am such a nerd.

Politics

I'm not usually into debating and politics, but sometimes things in the political world just bother me. One such thing (or should I say PERSON) is Nancy Pelosi. I admire her for being our first female Speaker of the House. But, it concerns me that someone like her is the second in the line of presidential succession. There are many reasons for my strong feelings against her (not just because she's a liberal)

Pro-choice: Voted against the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003

Against congressional resolution supporting the display of the 10 Commandments in courtrooms

For No Child Left Behind (Boo-Hiss)

Nancy was against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 and Against the Federal Marriage Act

I cannot believe that any member of Congress can go on the record saying that our President has become "a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the war, on the economy, on energy, you name the subject." I love that we have freedom of speech in America, but it's Americans like her that abuse our freedom and attack our leaders. Can I remind Mrs. Pelosi that our government has a system of checks and balances and the last time I checked, the legislative branch of our government has the sole power to declare war. The patriot in me cringes everytime I see Nancy Pelosi or hear her down my President.

During her speech to Congress she said, "I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship, and look forward to working with you on behalf of the American people. In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country." Whatever Nancy. She is about as "partisan" as they come. She's not fooling ANYONE.

Fun Stuff

Here are some fun things that are happening in my life:
*My twin sister is about 20 weeks pregnant with twin boys and I am getting to go with her to her ultrasound this week. I also got to keep her precious 15 month old, Sarah Lynn, on Friday. We had so much fun. Especially when we had a play date with baby Nate! A good time was had by all, but unfortunately, no afternoon naps were had, but she was still a perfect angel of course.
Here are a couple of pictures of the babies playing



*My friend, Jessie, is about 36 weeks pregnant and I am going with her to her ultrasound tomorrow! I also get to take her and her husband to the beach and take a few prego pics. I am going to pretend like I am a professional photographer!!! How much fun is that?
*Richard and I ate dinner one night on our fine china and drank from our beautiful crystal goblets, and used our silver flatware! It was like a tea party...I was way more excited than Richard (imagine that!) Here's a picture of our table.
*I finished reading the book Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury. It was a great book. I couldn't put it down. Loved the ending. All is well with the world. I kept talking about the characters and my husband kept reminding me that they "are not real people." Yeah, yeah.
*My little brother-in-law spent the night with us on Friday night. We had a blast. He is so grown up it makes me sad. He so darn cute and he's a great kid. Every time he comes Richard shaves his head. It's sort of a ritual.
*I saw the Dark Knight in the movie theater on Saturday. It was AWESOME. I was not disappointed. It was everything I hope it would be. The only thing that disappointed me was not seeing the new and improved Wayne Manor. I was looking forward to seeing that rebuilt.
*I have fallen more in love with my sweet husband. I find myself wondering just how much you can love another human being. Anyone who doesn't believe in marriage or the power of love has obviously not really experienced it. I appreciate him so much and I know that it is partly because of some of my former relationships and heartaches. The Lord was just preparing me to be Richard's love.
*I have really been getting into the Word a lot more in the recent weeks. I love Jesus. We over use those words so much, but I mean them from the bottom of my heart. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:5-8) How could we not love someone like that. He gave it all...all to Him we owe. All the little things that I have been holding back from Him I am praying that He will help me to surrender. It may take my whole life, but I'm going to learn to love the Lord the way He wants me to. I hope that you are close to a place where you feel the same way.
*You guys should check out my article in the Richmond Hill magazine which will come out next month. I'm just a math teacher who thinks that she can be a writer. God help us all.
*Haven't solved a rubix cube yet or cleaned out my closets, but that is in the plan for this week...Lord, give me strength!
*School starts soon. I'm trying not to think about it just yet! For now, I am enjoying my summer. God Bless you this week. Do something amazing. Stop and smell the roses. If you are feeling down, count your blessings. If you don't have any blessings, at least you have me thinking about you.

The End and The Beginning

I'm coming to terms with the fact that summer is rapidly coming to a close. We only have about 2 weeks before we go back for preplanning. I'm excited to see the beginning of a new school year, but I'm also a little sad for my self. I had big plans for this summer. I wanted to do a lot of things that I did not accomplish.
*work out at least 3 times per week
*try a new recipe every week
*blog at least 3 times a week
*clean out my closets and drawers
*scrapbook
*read a few good books
*learn how to solve a rubik's cube
I realize that my summer is not over yet and that several of these things can still be accomplished. But a couple of these things are water under the bridge. So, this blog is a commitment. I WILL do several of the things on this list in my last two weeks. I got all the ingredients to make my new recipe for this week. I am scheduling my time to clean out closets and drawers. I'm reading "Like Dandelion Dust" by Karen Kingsbury. I am on you tube watching some rubik's cube stuff and I have been to the gym every day this week. I'm on a roll.
What things do you want to accomplish and what is keeping you from doing them?