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!

Ode to Meg.....not really, but she's in 3 out of the 4 pictures :)

I'm a little behind on posting this...as usual. :) But here are some pics from the Mardi Gras party that haven't shown up on any other blogs yet. A while back I didn't have a real picture of Johnny's pizza...but now I do. :) Thanks for bringing the pizza and king cake, Doc. I feel a toothache coming on. Do you know of a good dentist I can go see Sunday? :)

Everyone should mark it on their calendars now that next year the Mardi Gras party is at Justin and Merth's house because Justin got the baby. Justin, will you invite Stu and then he can invite Chad? What a small world!!! I signed up to start working with the junior high girls at church now...just kidding! :) We'll have to meet another way because that's not my favorite age group to work with.

Ok, well, it's way past my bedtime now. Only 7 more days until Spring Break. Woo hoo!!!

Freezing Drizzle

So I've been in my apartment all weekend because it's just too cold to go anywhere. And my cute little weatherman Steve told me not to get out unless absolutely necessary because of the icy roads. And I didn't feel like chancing a wreck. So I've spent a little time cleaning my apartment. I spent a lot of time watching dumb tv shows and movies on the 5 channels I get. Someday maybe I'll splurge for cable. I did a little organizing and paid some bills. But mostly, I have enjoyed relaxing and not having to get ready to be anywhere.

I'm guessing since Tuesday is the TAKS test that my superintendent isn't going to cancel school for tomorrow. But it he does, he likes to wait until 6:00 a.m. the day of to do it. If so, it will be a nice surprise because I'm in no hurry to get out in the 25 degree weather. I'd never make it in a place like..oh...say...Green Bay. ha ha! :) Try to stay warm...

Happy Heart Day!!!

So I rode home with Jessica this weekend. She was going to visit Stacy in Monroe and dropped me off in Ruston. Friday night we stopped in Shreveport and met Ashley for dinner at Monjuni’s. It was fun to catch up like old times. :)

Tonight my parents threw my nieces a little Valentines party. They gave my brother Chad and I one when we were younger and so I encouraged them last year to start the tradition with Reanne and Jaisle (jays-lee). We even wanted the same kind of cake with Hershey kisses, just like the one we had years ago. I wanted it to be a surprise to the girls that I was coming in. Reanne (the 5 year old) left me a message last Saturday night asking me when I was coming home to play with her and telling me how much she missed me. So needless to say, I came home this weekend. Spending time with my family is always fun. There's always lots of laughing going on!

So I guess since I’m getting closer to 30, the types of gifts I receive are changing. Tonight I got a label maker (like Monica on Friends) and a scent machine. I guess my parents are trying to tell me that my apartment is unorganized (which is true!) and smells bad.

Anyway…I don’t have much else to write about tonight. My nieces are calling me to go play with them. Here are some pics of the cake, my brother Chad, my sister-in-law Brandi, my parents, and my nieces. Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Oh yeah...I was so excited to hear from Jessica Wisherd Hoehne, Joel Parker, and Mrs. Kathy on my last post!!! Thanks for leaving messages on my blog.

Jessica, you should put some pics of your family on your blog. I would love to catch up on your life that way. :)

Joel and Angie, congrats on the upcoming baby!!! When’s the due date? Are you going to name this one after me? :)

Mrs. Kathy, I’m so jealous that Jessica and Stacy got to have lunch with you today. I hope y’all had tons of fun! Hope to see you sometime soon. I think we should all have a big reunion at Pine Cove with the Renshaws!

Simply You...

As you’ve already seen on Jessica’s blog, several of us met up at Jen’s new Simply You Café this weekend. The food was yummy! I can’t wait to go back! Although I'm not a morning person, some Saturday I'll have to set my alarm and go for breakfast. Who wants to join me? Here's a pic of my friend Natalie and I after we ate some peanut butter cheesecake. Jessica has a group shot on her camera that I’ve asked her to send me to put on here. But since she still has dial-up, it will take a while. I’ll post that one next time. I don't know why she didn't put it on her blog. Maybe we weren't all smiling. :)

So my friend Karen just had foot surgery the other day and will be home for a couple of weeks. Her one request is that I make her some 4 Layer Delight. Don’t you wish you had a bite? :) Do any of you ever use your Temple Tech cookbook? My brother loves your green bean bundles, Ashley.

Do any of you enjoy arena football? Probably not. Well, yesterday I went to the Desperados game. It’s a fun atmosphere, even if your date is a little shy. I thought I was supposed to be the quiet one. :) ha ha! He’s the one I went to the Christmas party at the Ballpark with. Only 2 more months until Opening Day for the Rangers. Go Dave!

Ok, well, I’m not feeling like this post was very blogworthy according to the latest rules, but it’s all I’ve got going on in my life this week that's not work-related, so there you have it. Blog on, my friends…and blog any way you choose. :)

Rainin' and Bloggin'

Yeaaa, it’s finally raining in the Metroplex!!! We’ve been needing rain forever! So now, Justin Bufkin, let the grilling continue. Oh wait…you still grilled even when there was a ban in effect, right? :) It’s also 45 degrees outside, which is way too cold for me, but that’s ok, as long as it’s raining. It was a good afternoon for a nap.

I’ve really enjoyed linking to so many different people’s blogs lately. It’s especially fun when there are pictures. The computer teacher at school is having a blog training in a few weeks to teach us how to use blogs for our classrooms. I felt special that I already knew what a blog even was. If it wasn’t for my Tech friends, I would still be clueless. I figure one blog is plenty for me to keep updated for now. Not enough of the kids in my class own computers for me to go to that trouble. I’m still waiting on Carrie, Linda, Stacy, and Jill to start their blogs though. hint hint! Don’t say it’s because you’ve got nothing to write about…look at me, I don’t either! :)

I linked to the Commonground Band’s website and noticed that they’re playing at FBC Grapevine in 2 weeks. Does anyone want to go?

H-Town

What a great time we had in Houston this weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of when we were at Chuy's so not everyone is in these pictures....sorry! Matt Landrum really enjoyed having a bunch of chatty girls at his house this weekend. It was HIS choice to stay up till 1:00 with us both nights to have girl talk. :) He loved it! And that Baby Andrew...well, he's just about perfect in every way! And boy, does he love to be photographed! Jessica learned lots of ways to use her yearbook camera this weekend thanks to Linda. She'll also be going out to buy a sandwich-maker soon. If you've never tried it, put ranch on your turkey sandwich next time. It's yummy! Todd took a couple of hours out of his busy schedule to meet up with us for dinner at Chuy's. But he was text-messaging the whole time so I'm not sure if it really counts. Maybe his Tech friends aren't as fun as his Houston friends. But what guy wouldn't be jealous of him. He got to have dinner with 9 women and eat a salad at the same time. :) Good luck at your marathon next weekend! Run, Richards, run!

Like on Michelle's blog, here are some things I learned this weekend...

If you're like me and like to make good timing on road trips, don't travel with Jessica. She likes to make frequent stops. I missed half of Desperate Housewives but we'll blame that on slow service at Sonic.

I will try Deborah's trick of not washing my husband's clothes someday. But I will not try Michelle's trick. Poor Dan! ;)

When I'm ready to buy a house someday, I will go to Matt Landrum for advice. He's an expert at living within your means.

West Elm...whatever it is...closes early.

Parking at the Galleria costs $2/hour. For 6 hours, that's $12. Right, Linda? And the DoubleTree Hotel is within walking distance.

Anyway...maybe we can rotate between Houston and Dallas and have little reunions more often. Thanks for the laughs! It was some good times!

P.S. This is a pic of the computer that Shandra blogs from all day.

The Weekend is Here!

I’m so glad it’s finally the weekend! My class acted ok the 1st couple of days back. But then they showed their true colors. I’m getting a student teacher on Monday so that should be fun. It wasn’t that long ago when I student-taught for Mrs. Liz Hood. It was such a great experience. I hope I can be a good influence for this chick. I’m going to try to be positive all the time and keep my sarcastic comments to myself. How tricky will that be?!?! :) Here’s a pic of some of my kids in their pajamas back in Dec. when it was Polar Express Day. Pretty cute, huh?

So last Wednesday night while the rest of the people in Texas were watching the Rose Bowl, my friend and I went to a Stars hockey game. Another friend had given us the seats for free because he wanted to watch the football game instead. Our seats were high up but they were in the middle so that was good. I was hoping for a few fights on the ice but that didn’t happen. I love watching the refs scramble to get out of the way. Anyway, the Stars won 3 to 1!!!

I’m excited about our weekend in Houston next weekend. I get to spend 4 hours on the ride there absorbing knowledge from Jessica. Maybe she can give me some blog pointers while we drive. And as for the one picture I got from the Sanks wedding, here it is. My camera was a little slow because Meg and Michael had already passed through. But aren’t Ashley and Deborah lovely? ;)

Ok, so I have a “girl” question for you….when you first start dating someone and you don’t like some of his clothing choices, how do you go about changing that? Some people suggest gradually start buying him a shirt here and there and before you know it, his whole closet looks better. Others say have a talk with him about it. What are your thoughts? :) I can’t wait to hear them!