22 Weeks and counting

A friend and neighbor from Richmond Hill has lost her precious baby.  She carried him 30 weeks.  I'm having a really hard time with this.  I think that Satan is trying to use this and many other situations to bring worry into my mind.  I'm already so in love with my baby boy that the thought of him ever being taken away is terrifying.  I know this isn't a cheerful, light hearted post, but I think it is always important to be honest and transparent.  

  I go to the doctor tomorrow for my monthly checkup and I can't wait to hear his little heart beating.  I know this isn't what I should be feeling but I feel a little anxious.  I know what God's word says about not being anxious, but I'm having a bit of a hard time with that application in my own life right now.  I'm sure everyone has times like this and every pregnant woman deals with these emotional ups and downs.  

  On a brighter note, I am feeling very good these days.  I have more energy and no nausea.  The baby is very active.  He kicks and moves all the time.  One of Richard's favorite pass times these days is talking to him with his head on my belly.  When the baby kicked him in the face last night Richard had the biggest grin on his face.  It was so sweet.  

  We registered the other day at Babies R Us.  That was fun!  It reminded me of when we were engaged and we did our wedding registry.  

  As far as names....no luck.  We have not come across that perfect name just yet, but when we do, I think we will know instantly.  At least I hope that is the case:)  Here's a picture of me at 22 weeks.....

Full of Thanks

For the wonderful gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.
For the sweetest, smartest, most handsome husband in the world.
For my amazing family and their love and constant support.
For my dog, Brin.
For a great job that I am not worried about losing...even in a recession:)
For a church family that loves and cares about me.
For the miracle that is growing in my tummy.
For a warm house and plenty of food in the kitchen.
For the gift of music that brings joy to my life.
For friends that care.

THANK YOU GOD. THANK YOU. WE CAN'T SAY IT ENOUGH. THANK YOU.

Back From Death's Door

It started last Tuesday morning. I woke up with a terrible sore throat. Wednesday, much of the same. Thursday, something wonderful happened...no more sore throat, but I couldn't enjoy the relief for the simple fact that every orifice of my body was malfunctioning (I'm sure you wanted to know that). This was also the day of the Building 429 concert (more on that later). I sneezed, I coughed, I blew my nose, and I repeated the cycle ALL DAY LONG. It was miserable. This fun rides crescendo came on Friday after getting no sleep because of waking myself up snoring. You know that's when you are really snoring. I had a mild fever accompanied with chills...joy. Thankfully, my WONDERFUL husband had flowers for me when I got home and also had dinner made for me. He didn't say a word when I went to bed at 7:30 on Friday night and didn't really "get out" of bed until 3pm on Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, I'm on the rebound and feeling very optimistic about singing with the choir on Wednesday.

Something miraculous happened at the concert on Thursday. Amidst all my sneezing, Richard and I were led to sponsor a child through World Vision. They handed us the packet and we both cried. Our child's name is Rebeca. She is from Mexico. And guess what her favorite subject in school happens to be???? MATH. It's like she was born from our hearts. Isn't God hilarious sometimes? You must come over and see her picture on our refrigerator. She is beautiful and we are thrilled to be a part of her life.

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.