Friends and babies...

Today I got to see a lot of BSU girls (and Justin) at Amy’s shower. She got so much great stuff. She was excited about it all being blue for Baby JP. And that little Sadie is adorable and not at all shy! I forgot to take my camera so you’ll have to look at pictures on everyone else’s blogs. Michelle's little Elliot had me wrapped around his finger in no time. Those big blue eyes are beautiful. And according to little Sawyer, his mommy Meredith is pretty funny because boy can he giggle! It was great seeing everyone. It was so sweet of those that traveled so far to be here. We're all blessed to have made such great friends in college.

A few nights ago I got to keep my friend Karen’s little boy DeWayne while she went to the PTA picnic at my old school. She’s one of my closest friends from there. We live about 2 blocks from each other so I get to see her pretty often. DeWayne was sooooo sweet. His mommy doesn’t really like being outside so he doesn’t get to play much out there. So Miss Mandy let him explore the great outdoors. Now I have a new BFF. :) Isn’t he so cute?!?! You should’ve seen me trying to fix his hair after bathtime. :)

Come to find out, all 3 of my old principals were in the dunking booth at the picnic. I would have paid big bucks to have been the 1st one in line for that!

Here’s my old team at a Cowboys game a few weeks ago. The one on the left is Brenda. Her husband works for the Cowboys so we get to sit in a suite when we go. It's not quite the same as sitting in the middle of the crowd though. But the free food and air conditioning sure are nice. That's Karen, DeWayne's mom, in the middle. Lisa, in the black shirt, is getting married on the same day as the JAM in November. She got moved to 4th grade this year. Kelli moved school's this year like I did. Her husband is a youth minister. Brenda is now a pull-out reading teacher. So the team is all split up. :( But no matter how hard those principals tried, they can't keep us apart!

Breakfast with Megan

Saturday morning I had the privilege of having breakfast at Simply You Café with some of my favorite girls. Megan, Jen, Linda, Meg, Jill, and I all got together and ate a yummy breakfast at Jen’s café. It was the first time I’ve seen Megan in a long time! We all had fun catching up and hanging out. We’re still trying to talk Jill into starting a blog!

By the way, Megan, the flags at Six Flags were at half staff because Gov. Ann Richards passed away last week (not because of Sept. 11th like I thought). Oops! I hope Team Extreme didn't pressure you into riding too many rides!

I’m looking forward to seeing lots of you this weekend for BSU Reunion ’06, as it’s been referred to. Michelle, I better start thinking now of something that no one else knows about me in case we play your game again like we did in Houston. :)

I just read Jessica’s blog about turning 30. And I must say, she’s taking it better than I am. I just turned 29 so I’ve got a ways to go, but when the day comes for me to turn 30, I’ll be wearing all black. But I guess it doesn’t sound as old as it used to. :) I remember when Dave Granger was old to me and he was probably 24. Those were the days...the good old days!

Sawyer

I finally met little Sawyer last weekend. It was way overdue and I'm a horrible friend for not going to Justin and Meredith's a long time ago. Please forgive me! It's past my bedtime tonight so I'm not going to write much, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Sawyer loves to laugh at this pink pig!

Ashley and Austin tried to steal Baby Sawyer.

But Meredith caught them just in time!

Michael wanted to take the pig home but Sawyer wouldn't let him. :)

Look at those cheeks! Apparently, Sawyer has a little girlfriend named Georgia at daycare. Be careful, Sawyer...you're too young to be breaking hearts already!

Thanks for the food and fellowship, guys. It was fun!

Tonight I went out to eat with some of my old team members from my old school. This is us a couple of years ago...a little fuzzy though. Our kids were presenting a Farmer Brown-type musical that night at PTA so we decided to dress up too. I'm glad overalls aren't around much anymore. They were so not flattering.

We had so much fun catching up. It was a great stress-reliever! We talked and laughed for about 3 hours at La Hacienda Ranch (again, Jessica!). I miss them, but am really enjoying my new school. Lesson plans are still kickin my butt, but surely it will get better soon. If only I could figure out a way to keep my desk cleaned off!

f-i-r-e

A year and a half ago my friend Koby was at his friend's house a couple of days after Christmas watching the news and he sees his condo building on the news...burning! The guy upstairs had started a fire and Koby's condo received major damage. He finally got to move in back in the spring after going through a huge ordeal with the insurance company and his HOA. I learned 2 good lessons...it could happen to anyone and make sure you have really good insurance, right?

So then about a year ago, I'm talking to Koby on the phone and drive up to my apartment and see 2 fire trucks by my building! My heart stopped! It ended up being a small fire in an apartment one hallway over from me. It was such a horrible feeling and hit way too close to home...literally. (I missed having Carrie as a roommate because we used to always watch interesting things from our balcony. She would have found out the scoop for me in a second!) :)

Now fast forward to this past Tuesday...I'm talking to Jessica and she proceeds to tell me that she saw my old apartment complex on the news. Guess why? Another FIRE in the building next to my old apartment! I went by to check it out and the roof is totally gone! There were several garages full of burned stuff. There must be some pretty irresponsible people in that neighborhood! Supposedly it took 50 firefighters to get the fire out. It started from a candle that fell on a mattress. So all of that to say, after 2 fires and Kristi's car being broken into there, I moved out just in time! :) I think that place is jinxed!

The 1st day of school went well yesterday. The 2nd day wasn't quite as good, but it will get better. The mean Miss Ginn is coming out tomorrow. No mercy! You can't let 'em see you smile until after Christmas. All teachers are familiar with that saying. :) And that's hard for me, but you've got to nip it in the bud or it will only get worse...mostly for me.

Tomorrow is Teacher Appreciation Night at the Rangers game. A big group of us are going from my new school. Should be fun. As soon as they post the picture of my new 3rd grade team, I'll put it on here.

My team leader Jessica went to try out for American Idol in San Antonio last week. She made it to the 2nd round which was being held today. So she went back to San Antonio, but unfortunately she didn't make the cut. They said she needed more expression when she sings. But she sang for us the other day, and she sounded pretty good. She'll be back to school tomorrow. I'm proud of her that she even tried out. I was going to, but I was just so busy getting my new classroom ready. :)

Well, this teacher better get herself to bed soon. Have a good weekend! 2 posts in one week, what will my readers think! :)

Go Cowboys!!!

Did anyone watch last night’s Cowboys game? Well, I was working in my classroom, but they beat the Saints 30-7. This Saturday night I get to watch them play the 49ers. My friend has invited my old 2nd grade team to watch it from their suite. :) Should be fun!

Well, today the kiddos come for Meet the Teacher at 3:00. My room is pretty much ready. I hate to hang up too many posters because when we take the TAKS test, we have to cover it all up or take it down, but I don't like bare walls. Yesterday I called all 21 kids to tell them about today. (kind of late notice in my opinion, but I just did what the principal said) I talked to 7 families, left messages for 4, and the rest of the numbers were disconnected or unlisted. My school has a 46% mobility rate (lots of apartments around), so they said to prepare for about half of my class to move this year and more to move in. One little girl’s mom said she’s moving away a week after school starts. Several of the 2nd grade teachers have stopped by to see my class list and see which kids of theirs from last year that I have. Then they want to tell me all about each kid. But I only let them if they promise to be positive. I don’t want to know the bad stuff. Maybe the kid has changed over the summer, right? :)

Well, I better get back to work. Say a little prayer for the 1st day of school tomorrow. They’re expecting about 75 more kids than originally planned for. Good times! :)

hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go...

Today was my last official day off for the summer. :( Now it's time to finish getting my classroom ready, sit through 4 days of boring trainings that only end up overwhelming me, then get ready for the kids to come. Jessica started school today and Carrie starts tomorrow. But since Irving goes to school until the middle of June (practically!), I still have a few more days to go. It's sad that I'm already looking forward to having Labor Day off, isn't it? :)

So did anyone besides Carrie and I watch the Ron Clark movie last night? I think all of us teachers should take a road trip to Atlanta to observe him in his classroom this year. He's going to be teaching 3rd grade, just like me. He said the other day that they're encouraging teachers to come to his Academy. While we're on that side of the country, we can swing through Savannah and meet Paula Deen's family...right, Jessica? ;)

Well, since I always get in trouble for never posting, I thought I would tonight before I get busy the rest of the week. And now do you see why I don't post when I have nothing to say? :) Here are the pictures I tried to put on my last post.

Michael and Meg...

The yummy cake Jessica brought...

And the girls...

I saw Ron Clark and turned 29...

Last Friday my friend Sarah and I went to HEB ISD's Welcome Back Convocation. Technically, we don't work for HEB, we teach in Irving. But I had seen on Ron Clark's website that he would be speaking to HEB, so we wanted to go. I called my good buddy Jessica up (because she actually works for HEB) and she told me it was at FBC Euless.

If anyone could motivate me to be a better teacher, it's Ron Clark. He was Disney's Teacher of the Year in 2000, was on Oprah, and has written 2 books. He's taught in Harlem and is now opening a school in Atlanta. Sunday night on TNT you can watch a movie about him starring Matthew Perry. After Ron spoke, the superintendent got up to speak so Sarah and I slipped out early and I got Ron to autograph my book. I took some pics too but I can't get any to upload right now.

Saturday night Kristi had a few people over to celebrate my birthday and hang out. Jessica got more pictures than me so hopefully she'll post those soon. :) I'll add mine if I ever get them to upload. We had a good time. It's crazy how we live in the DFW area but never see each other. But it's also not like Garland and Fort Worth and Mansfield are close, either, right? :) Thank you, Kristi and Chris, for having us over. It was fun! I appreciate each of you that went!

If anyone has any helpful tips on adding pics, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I would appreciate the help. :)

I’m giving in to the pressure to update…

Some of you just have no patience. :) Well, July was one long, busy month! I went to Ruston a couple of weeks ago and brought my dad back with me to help me pack up my apartment. Then my mom came, then the movers came, and now I’m all moved in. My new apartment is only about a mile from my old one. But the old neighborhood was starting to change, then Kristi’s car got broken into, so I decided I better find a new ‘hood. I would love for you to come by and visit sometime. I now have 2 bedrooms so you’d have your own bedroom. :) One of my favorite new additions is these French chef curtains. Cute, huh? And I still love the Peach Festival poster. It reminds me of my Ruston roots. :) Most of my apartment is red since that’s my favorite color.

I have a technology training tomorrow. I hate it when August comes because then I know my summer is just about over. :( I know, I know, for those of you that work year-round, you couldn’t care less. But for the teachers out there, you understand!

My next adventure is packing up my classroom at my old school and moving all my stuff to my new school. What a big job it’s going to be! I am NOT looking forward to it! Teachers are big pack-rats! We have to spend our own money on almost all of our supplies so you hate to give or throw things away. But I’m very ready to be out of there and get new principals. So even though I’m nervous about teaching 3rd grade…and TAKS…I’m excited too.

I went to see Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, and Pat Green a couple of weeks ago. Carrie Underwood performed first but we were hiking through the parking pasture at that time. If any of you DFW people haven’t been to the new Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, take lots of cash with you! Parking was $20! And it took forever to get out of there. But the concerts were good and it wasn’t as hot as we thought it would be because the sun went behind the stadium. I tried to post a pic of Kenny and Uncle Kracker but can't get it to work.

I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with my friends Mike and Wendi this summer. Mike teaches PE at my old school and Wendi taught 4th grade (that’s where they met, then they got married). Now she’s moving to be a vice principal. These are their precious kids Riley and Connor.

While I was in Ruston I got to hang out with my nieces some. Here they are. Ree’s going to be a first grader this year and J. will be in the 6th grade. I’m so glad I never have to go back to that awkward time of growing up. I much preferred college! Mostly because that’s where I met most of you that are reading this. :)

I hate that I never made it to Houston and College Station this summer. I will have to put that off until a weekend this fall sometime. Well, I hope this new post makes up for the all the time I wasn’t updating. I hope to see some of you soon.

P.S. Thanks to all of the birthday wishes on here. I was without internet last week while moving and wasn't able to write back. But I appreciated them all. :)

Mamma Mia!

My original plans were to go to Ruston this weekend, but it didn’t work out. So I went shopping for furniture yesterday. I found a 2 bedroom apartment about ½ mile from where I live now that I’m going to move into at the end of this month. So I need another bedroom suite. Well, I’ve never bought bedroom furniture before…it’s expensive! And I haven’t even started looking at mattresses yet!

Last night I went to see Mamma Mia at Fair Park in Dallas. It was very good! If you’re not familiar with Mamma Mia, it’s about a girl who is getting married and doesn’t know who her father is. So she invites the 3 possible dads to her wedding. I won’t spoil the rest for you, just in case you have plans to see it someday. It was so cute! It’s all ABBA songs. My friends and I sat close to the top with no one on the row in front of us. So needless to say, we did some singing along.
Today we’re going to see Superman. I can’t wait! I always loved watching it when I was younger. Then there was the tv series with Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher too. You gotta love Superman...no matter what cute, dark-haired actor is playing him. :)

Well, have a good weekend!

A New Job!!!

Well, I have finally decided to change schools for next year. I’ll be teaching 3rd grade at Townsell Elementary in Irving. It's one of the new schools in Irving that's only been opened about 3 years. I’m a little nervous because I’ve been at the same school for 6 years since I moved here. For the first 5 years at Hanes, my principal worked so hard at making our staff feel like a family. But then last summer she was moved to another school so this year has been a huge adjustment, and it’s time to move on. I’ll still get to see some of my closest friends from there because of Bunco, but there are some that I know I won’t see very often now. Leaving my “family” is hard, but there are several of us that are leaving so that helps a little. Probably the hardest part is that my 2nd grade team was very strong and a close-knit group and I hate that we’re all splitting apart (all but one of us are leaving). I’m nervous about starting from scratch with a new team, new school, new curriculum, etc., but I know it will all work out though! :)

Before I planned on changing schools, I had also decided to start looking for a little duplex or house to move into, to get out of this crowded apartment life. So now that I know where I’ll be working, I can narrow down my search for that. But my current apartment complex is ready for me to sign my lease now, so I’m in a little bit of a time crunch. And since now I get to pack up my classroom, I’m not looking forward to packing up my apartment too! So who knows, I might sign another lease and stay here for a little while longer.

Change is good, so I know that I will learn and grow from all of this. I just wanted to keep y’all up to date. Other than that, I’m so glad I’m finally done with trainings and curriculum writing and can now enjoy my summer break for a few weeks. If you have any extra boxes, please send them my way. :)

lindaspratt.com

I think you should take a look at Linda Spratt's new website www.lindaspratt.com. You have beautiful pictures on there, Linda. I wish I had paid more attention to your photography lessons at Shandra's house. :) And I even noticed the link to Jen's cafe. When I hear of someone getting married, I'll tell them all about your photography. I'm so excited for you that you're going full-time now. I always knew back in college when you took pics of my brother and I for my parents, that you would be a professional someday. I'm glad I could be one of your first guinea pigs. :)

Shandra...

Shandra,
I know you and Matt and Andrew were sad to see Kristi leave Houston, but I must say that I am glad to have her back in DALLAS! :) I got to hang out with her tonight for the first time since February, I think, and it was a blast! I can always be myself around Kristi, no matter what. So although you might be sad, Shandra, I'm sorry...but I am glad! Welcome back, KrisTee!!!

And she'll have fun, fun, fun till her Daddy takes the T-Bird away...

Even though the rest of the world is through with school, good ole Irving is still going. We have 3 more days with kids and then a work day on Friday. Wednesday and Thursday are half-days with the kids, so Tuesday we are having our end-of-the-year party. Last year my room-mom had a Luau theme. This year I don't have a room-mom so I decided to do a Luau again. I bought them all leis and a friend downloaded some Hawaiian music for me. They'll do the limbo and some hula dancing and no telling what else. :) It should be fun! I will miss a few of my kids, but I have some b-a-d boys this year that I am looking forward to promoting on to 3rd grade!

Next week I'm off on Monday, then have trainings the rest of the week. Then for the next 2 weeks I was asked to help write curriculum at the Ad Building. That should be loads of fun. But it was a shorter time period than summer school so I decided to go for it. A group from my church choir is going to New York again this fall to the Music Conference at the Brooklyn Tab, so I wanted to make a little extra money for that.

Then my summer officially begins. I know, I know, those of you that aren't teachers couldn't care less about my summer break. But you probably make more money than me since you work all year so we'll call it even. :) One weekend, my mom and aunt and cousins are coming in for a girls weekend of shopping and such. At the top of my list is meeting little Sawyer B., because I'm a horrible friend and haven't done that yet. Also, I'm hoping to make a trip to Houston sometime this summer. Kristi keeps telling me how sweet little Andrew is and about all of his tricks he can do, so I'm dying to see him again! Who wants to go with me or meet there? I think I've already roped in Jill. I'll be making a couple of trips to Ruston throughout the summer so I hope to meet Stahley Sears and see the Nidas when I go through Shreveport. Mrs. Kathy, I'll call you when I come into town! Once the Strains are all moved in to Monroe, I'll definitely be making a stop there to see them and Stacy. And before the summer ends, it will all be worthwhile if I find myself an Aggie when I go visit Carrie and Jason in College Station. :)

Sounds like I better take out a loan to pay for all that gas! I hope all of you are having a good Memorial Day weekend! I hope to see you this summer!

Let's Do the Twist

I'm sorry but I have nothing new to blog about.But I recently received a link to this dancing video clip. It's hilarious! I hope it makes you get up and dance! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg&eurl

The Wait Is Over...

I know, I know...it's been forever since I've blogged. Sorry! But I really haven't had anything new to blog about lately. But I did find out some good news yesterday. About 6 weeks ago our principal told us that we needed to start getting ESL certified because our school had one of the lowest number of ESL certified teachers. So in June there is going to be a 2 day training before the test, but I just didn't have the desire to spend 2 days doing that. So I talked a couple of my 2nd grade teacher friends into going out on a limb and taking the test with me a few weeks ago, with no training. And surprisingly, they did it! We studied the few sample questions online, but other than that, without going to a class, that was about all we could do. So the week before the test, our principal started calling teachers into her office to tell them if she was moving them to another grade level next year. First, she asked me if I would be willing to move to 1st or 3rd grade. I wasn't excited to leave my friend Karen in 2nd grade, but I told her I would do 3rd grade but not 1st. So for about a week, I was thinking that's what I would do. Then a couple of days before our test, she calls me back in and tells me I'm staying in 2nd grade. So it was a rough couple of weeks and we couldn't care less about our test at this point. But we go and take it and then have to wait 3 weeks for our results to be online. So yesterday afternoon I finally found out that I PASSED!!! Yeaaaa! Now what does this mean, you might ask. Not a whole lot. Basically, because they're getting rid of our ESL teacher that pulls kids out for an hour each day, it means that now we're going to be responsible for working more with them in our class. But, I'm throwing around the idea of switching districts next year, so really it's just another thing to add to my resume'. But at least it's over, and since I passed, Irving will pay me back for the cost of the test. :) Jessica, what are the HEB elementary schools like? I'm tempted to try one... :)

For those of you who sang in the Temple Tech Choir, if you're not busy Wednesday night, the Brooklyn Tab Ensemble (not the whole choir) is coming to Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler. A couple of my friends and I are going to drive over. Anybody want to meet us there? They put out a new CD last year and are touring around the country. I'm so excited because I'm going back to New York this fall again with my church choir to the Brooklyn Tab Conference. We had a blast last year so I'm excited about going back.

Ok, that's all the news I have. But probably nobody is even checking my blog anymore since it's been so long since I last posted something new. :) How about anyone who's in the area next weekend, we meet at Jen's Cafe for lunch??? Anybody???

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

Today was Opening Day for baseball. I took the day off and went to see the Rangers play. Unfortunately they lost 7-3 to the Red Sox. But that's ok, they'll do better when I go back Wednesday night with some friends from work. We had really good seats today thanks to my friend Lori's husband's hook-up. It's nice to have connections sometimes. :)

The biggest flag I've ever seen.

Unfortunately my favorite Rangers player David Dellucci got traded to the Phillies this weekend. So Opening Day just wasn't quite the same without him there today. :(

They didn't time these fighter jets correctly, so they drowned out the 2nd part of Charley Pride singing the national anthem.You gotta love a man in a uniform. :)
I always thought when we were at Tech that we had school spirit until I moved to Texas. Well, actually, my first encounter with Aggies was at Cho-Yeh during college. But now that I live in Texas and am surrounded by Aggies and Longhorns and Sooners (oh my!), it makes me think we don't have as much school spirit as we should have. UT's coach Mack Brown got to throw out the first pitch today and their band was part of the pre-game show. There was burnt orange everywhere! A lot of times when people around here ask where I went to school, I have to clarify LOUISIANA Tech, not Texas Tech. Most of them have heard of LSU, but usually not La Tech. It makes me sad that it's not more well-known. You'd think since it's only 4 hours away, it would be more familiar, but it's not. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad I grew up in Ruston and knew about Tech and had the privilege of going there. I love the memories I have from those 5 :) years of my life. What's one of your favorite memories from college? (And surely it involves me!) ha ha!

Bunco Babes

Once a month I get together with 11 other girls and we play Bunco. Ever heard of it? We started playing a few years ago and it is a blast! All of the girls teach at my school or have in the past. We get together once a month at each other’s houses. Mostly it’s a time to relax, relieve stress, and enjoy fellowship with friends. We put $10 in the pot and then there are different prizes at the end of the game…the person with the most wins, most losses, most buncos, and last bunco. Last night I got the most losses so that was $20 and my name was drawn for the $10 door prize!

Karen – Bunco was at her house this time. She used to be the librarian at my school my 1st year. Then she moved to another school in Irving. Just this week she was named the Librarian of Texas! She’s great! Unfortunately, she’ll be moving to San Antonio this summer though. We will be sad to see her go.

Lori and I – Lori teaches kindergarten. Her little girl is in my class this year. Lori’s brother Jarod is the one I went with to the Christmas party at the Rangers ballpark.

Wendi and Chris – Wendi just got nominated to do an assistant principal internship next year. Irving only chose 2 teachers out of the whole district and she was 1 of them! Chris taught at my school my 1st year then moved back to Grand Prairie.

Jaleen and Sarah – Jaleen teaches kindergarten and loves the Rangers as much as I do. Sarah lives in my old apartment complex and is a close friend of mine.

Krista – Krista grew up here and went to Centenary in Shreveport on a soccer scholarship. She’s hilarious! When you roll a Bunco (3 sixes at a time) you call “Bunco!” and have to wear something out of the bag so everyone will know who got the last bunco. There are all sorts of choices but Krista chose the straw hat.

Melinda acting like an angel – Melinda is one of the funniest people I know. We go to her house once a week in the summer and lay out at her pool. She’s the one that got me started on going to Canton.

Melissa – She teaches kindergarten. Can you tell we have a great time at bunco? :)

My Spring Break

I went to San Antonio with some friends from church for a couple of days this week. I had never been before. People around here can't believe I've never been. But I remind them that they've never been to Baton Rouge or New Orleans and we call it even. :) On our way down we stopped and shopped at the outlet mall in San Marcos, just like Dan and Michelle. :) I had no idea just how huge it was! Wow! You almost need a golf cart to go around in b/c you end up having to take packages back to the car and move the car and that gets old to me.

Then that night we ate at Cafe Ole on the Riverwalk. There were about a million other people celebrating their Spring Break as well. :) These pics are of Natalie and I. I must say the Alamo was much smaller than I expected.

Then Monday we spent the day at Sea World. Once again, I had never been so that was a cool experience for me. I loved the Shamu show. It made me wish I would have chosen a different career path. But someone's gotta teach those trainers how to read so I guess I'll stick with my job. :)

We took a behind-the scenes tour and got to play with the penguins. I teach a unit on them to my 2nd graders so I was wishing they could have been there to see it all. They would have loved it and thanks to their great teacher, they would have already known all the info the tour guide was telling us. :) jk! We also fed these lorikeets. See my new Fossil watch I bought in San Marcos? Well, you can't really see it, but it's cute! :)

Since Sea World is operated by the Anheuser-Busch company, they have some of the Clydesdales on display. It was odd to see a beer stand in this family-friendly environment, but it was there. You can't imagine how many strollers we saw!!! But when we would hear babies crying or see kids throwing fits, we were glad we didn't have kids with us! On the way home I waved to you in Pfluggerville, Deborah. :)

Since I've been back, I spent a day shopping with my friend Karen and her little boy DeWayne. Here's their family pic. Isn't he precious?!?! He only has to wear his little helmet for a few more weeks (it's helping to shape his head correctly). And today I went to IKEA with my friend Koby. Then we went to see our friend Jennifer's new baby Jackson. Her husband went to NLU, so that's a fun connection that we have. Tomorrow I'm heading to Ruston for a couple of days. My mom's side of the family is getting together for lunch on Saturday. I sure do wish Jessica or Carrie was here to ride with me. :) It sure helps the drive go by faster. So that's about all I have to write about this week. I will say this...being off this one week has really made me look forward to summer break more. :) My student teacher leaves in about a month. Then I'll have 6 weeks left to teach them everything we haven't gotten to yet. It's always at about this time of the school year that I freak out just a little b/c it feels like I haven't prepared my kids for 3rd grade yet. So the next 2 1/2 months we'll be very busy doing just that, trying to cram in as much as possible so no 3rd grade teachers can talk bad about the kids they get from Miss Ginn next year. :)

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to Kristi!!!

Today (Monday) is Kristi birthday. Since she’s in Houston and most of us aren’t able to see her on her birthday, I thought we could use my blog to share happy birthday wishes with her for her last year to be twenty-something. :) Live it up, Kristi!!!

I have known Kristi since we were in the nursery together at Temple. I can remember when she was planning on going away for college, I was excited for her, but sad to see her go. Then when she ended up staying at Tech, I was glad! We went on many ICEE runs together back in those days and solved lots of the world’s problems driving around in her purple Grand Am. But we were never ones to stalk. :)

It’s comforting to know that you are only a phone call away, Kris Tee. You’re a good listener and are always up for an adventure…especially when it comes to finding a pool to lay out at. Thanks for always being such a great friend to me! I hope you have the best year yet. I hate that I can’t be there to celebrate with you. Have fun and hopefully SOMEday when you’re back in Dallas again, we can get together and have dinner. I love you!