Refreshed

Although I am still pretty sure that I don't want to return to the work force quite yet, at least not full-time, I did have an awesome interview today. I interviewed with a small, grass roots agency that seems to be doing some really great things in the lives of the people they support. I interviewed with two women and we had several connections of people we knew and things in common, that we spent an hour and a half talking more than asking and answering questions. They shared their success stories and it made me feel so good. It was so refreshing to see an agency that wasn't trying to put airs or be something they weren't but were truly passionate about the work they do. In my last few years at Woodhaven, I had become disillusioned about some things, not that they don't provide awesome services, because they do, but due to more of the beauracratic side for lack of a better word. I know administration has it's place, but I have always felt it is important for everyone to stay focused on the mission and work toward a common goal. I didn't always feel that way. I had become so disillusioned that I have been considering other career paths despite my own passion for the work I did.

Anywho...I'm not sure what will happen but as I left that agency today, I thanked those two ladies for their committment and their passion because people with disabilites need those type of people. I think they need me too.

Back to Work

I got a call this morning at 7:41 am from Kaelyn's school wanting to know if I could substitute teach the 1st grade class today. Mom and Dad agreed to watch Kate so off Kaelyn and I went to school. Kaelyn was upset that I was going to work at her school but not in her classroom.

It was a good day. It felt a little strange at first but I was helped tremendously but the aide in the classroom. I grew more comfortable as the day wore on. The first graders were really cute and fun. I had to stop myself from laughing at a lot of the things they said. One boy wanted to share the underwear he had in his backpack for show and tell. I'm not sure why (and probably don't want to know why) he had underwear in his backback. The aide told him that was inappropriate but I couldn't help to giggle.

A little girl with gorgeous red hair and curls had writer's block during the Writing Workshop part of the day. She called me over to her table and asked for advice on what to write. I tried several suggestions to no avail. Trying to prompt her, I asked her what she did after school, she said "nothing, just get off the bus and go to bed". I asked her about her siblings, she said she had one brother but he was too boring to write about. It didn't sound like her life was too exciting either. Surprisingly, it was the boys who really spend significant time writing.

We read books, talked about the calendar in math, worked on handwriting, did phonics centers, social studies, made a trip to the library, had lunch and recess and let me tell you, by 3:15, I was worn out!

Just Wondering...

Is it too early to put my kids to bed??

Just Wondering...

Is it too early to put my kids to bed??

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Oy! The weekend went fast! And we didn't do a darn thing. I did take the girls to Sunday School and church today and then later to the church Ice Cream Social. Kevin ate four bowls of ice cream there before I ran him off. I resisted and ate no bowls of ice cream. Go Me!

I cooked ribs for dinner last night but they took longer to make then I thought so it was close to 9 pm by the time we were eating. And then when we weren't looking, the dog ate all but two of the ribs out of the pan sitting on the stove. So I had ribs for dinner and I sauteed some shrimp for Kevin. And he burnt the green beans so dinner left a lot to be desired.

I managed to keep Kaelyn on her schedule all weekend so am happy with that. She starts ballet/tap/jazz class on Tuesday. She looks so cute in her leotard and tights, dancing around the living room. She makes us pretend to be the audience and one of us has to say "Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for the dancing ballerina" and then she comes twirling and dancing into the room. Quite an imagination, this kid has.

And Kate seems to be feeling better so maybe her teeth aren't hurting her like they seemed to be. I am really not sure if the teeth were the cause for her grouchiness but I am going with that.

And that is all I can think of tonight.

TGIF!

It's been a really long time since I have been this happy to see Friday come. But our first week of school went really well. We only overslept twice, once mom had to call us and the other she had to come over to wake us up. Thanks Mom! Kaelyn has went to bed better than I expected but she is still so tired by evening. Tired and grouchy! Whew! But it's weekend now, time to relax.

We don't have any big plans for the weekend. I am thinking about taking the girls to the Columbia Balloon Invitational tomorrow night to watch all the balloons. I think they would like that. Kevin has to work until 5:30 pm so we could meet up with him then. Otherwise I think Mom and I plan to tackle the toy room closet in hopes to better organize the toys in the room. But first we have to find a home for everything that is in the closet. I don't think Mom has any idea of what a project this is going to be.

My new and improved healthy eating lifestyle, aka diet, is going well. I really don't know how well because I can't find a reliable scale to save me life. Mom and I got to walk several times this week. I had two doctors appointments that got in the way and it rained yesterday.

So all in all, a very good week. I am tired and it is time to get the little one to bed.

First Day Pictures

It is so hard to wake up in the morning! Kaelyn dozed back off with her poptart in her hand.


In front of the tree we planted a few years ago.


Kaelyn in front of the school. This is where I went to high school at. It seems like just yesterday.


Kaelyn already busy making new friends.

Kindergarten

The first day of kindergarten went off without a hitch. I am having problems uploading pictures of the momentous event tonight so will try again in the morning.

Today is Day Fourteen of my new Atkins lifestyle. I started walking again today. I have to get Kaelyn to school every morning so am going to walk each day as soon as I drop her off. No excuses! Tomorrow is weigh in and I am nervous!

Bedtime?

It's 12:19 am and I finally got the little bug to sleep. Mind you I had her upstairs in bed by 9 pm! Fun, fun. I have to get her up at 7 am to have her to school on time. Which means I need to be up around 6:30. And that means I need to get my butt to bed.

WAAAAH! Where have five years gone? My baby is going to school!

I will post pictures in the morning.

Goodnight.

Sleep Over

Today was just a great day! Do you hear that sarcasm? You should because it's there. My niece and Kaelyn had a sleep over last night although they didn't do much sleeping. It took me forever and a million threats to finally get them to quiet down and go to sleep. And then they were up at the crack of dawn. Yes, 8 am is the crack of dawn! Can I please pay someone, anyone to get Kaelyn up and off to school every morning?? But I digress...and just totally lost my train of thought.

I think I was pointing out that I started the day out tired. I had one thing to do today, take Kaelyn to the doctor for shots. As I have previously mentioned, Kate has spend the majority of the summer naked. Just ask the neighbors, they'll tell you! And anyone else who will listen. Anyway, Kate no longer likes to get dressed or to have me help her with anything. Her favorite sentence at the moment is "I Do It!" said about everything. She kept grabbing her clothes out of my hand, yelling I do it and then throwing the clothes across the room. I let this go on for awhile before forcing her to get dressed. That was good for a really good tantrum. She was still screaming when we ran out of gas on the highway. Still screaming when some farm boys stopped and pushed us off the highway and onto a gravel road. And still screaming when Papa showed up with a gas can. I called the doctor's office to let them know we would be late and of course, had to reschedule so we wanted interfere with the doctor's schedule. I only want shots! I don't even need to see a doctor! They told me to try the health department so we have an appointment in the morning. Meantime, Kaelyn has fallen asleep as she is tired from her no-sleep over. Kate found an old Cheeto in the seat and that did quiet her down.

We got home from our canceled doctor's appointment and it was time to turn around to go to Back to School night at the school. Thankfully, Dad watched Kate as I don't think I could have handled her again on my own. She is a handful! Kaelyn got to see her classroom and put her school supplies away. There are going to be 17 kindergartners this year! That is HUGE for our school. Last year there were 9.

It was funny...I felt like I was back in school as there were about 10 parents there that I went to school with plus some of the teachers I had. Too funny!

And that was my day.

Hump Day

Breckoma Lodge

This is where we will be staying for a long weekend, the weekend before Thanksgiving. It's located at Broken Bow Lake in Oklahoma. There will be 16 of us staying here for three nights! Kevin's mom and step-dad, his aunt and uncle, two of his cousins and their spouses and children, including a month old baby! They are wonderful people and fun to be around so I know it will be a great time.

Today is Day Nine of my new and improved lifesyle. Atkins Induction is usually for two weeks but I will do longer as I have so much I need to lose. I am very satisfied and feel strong, like I can do this forever, which is what I need to do. Have you ever felt like you have to make yourself eat? That is the way you feel on Atkins once you get past the first few days of carbohydrate withdrawl. I haven't been exercising but plan to begin after I take Kaelyn to school every day. That starts next Monday!

And I finally finished a strong rough draft of the project I was working on and got it turned in. For the first time, while working on the project, I started getting a little "homesick" for Woodhaven. Not that I want to go back to work...it was more a sadness for all the information and knowledge I had from being there for eleven years. I felt like all of that was sitting in my mind, just wasted. Oh well.

I need to get my college transcipts and up to the school to get my subsitute teaching license. That will be interesting and give me plenty of stories to share, I am sure! One already...I had emailed my friend Enola asking her a question about subsituting. She had spent a year doing subsitute work so is an expert! She emailed me back and told me "the one thing I can tell you, is to never teach kindergarten!" I emailed her back, saying it couldn't be that bad, I had a kindergartner! Enola emailed back and said, "You have one kindergartener! Try 30! Trust me!" Words of wisdom.

Guilty Pleasure?

Is is strange that I really kind of enjoy watching Drake and Josh? For those that don't know, Drake and Josh is a kids show on Nickolodeon. Kaelyn watches it sometimes. It's on all the time and I just found myself watching it when Kaelyn wasn't even home. I think it is pure comic genius!

Kaelyn

Ijust had to share this picture of Kaelyn. I can't believe my baby will be starting kindergarten in nine more days!

Friday Musings

Is anyone else having trouble getting to this site? It isn't loading for me. Not sure what the problem is.

I have a really big project to finish that I should have done by now. I am the world's worst procrastinator. Hmmm, should that read, the world's best procrastinator? Regardless, I am now down to the wire with it and will spend the majority of my weekend working on it. I don't know how I ever got through college.

And yes, I should be working on it right now, but instead I am on here rambling to you all.

Kevin and I went to Columbia today to do some grocery shopping and had lunch at Bob Evans.

Kate is having a rough week. She is really screaming and having tantrums a lot! She is usually pretty good natured. I don't know how to respond to her because most of the time I don't know what is wrong. It seems to center around wanting something that we don't have (donuts) but not always. I am worried that she is sick but hasn't had symptoms of being sick. Do they get teeth around this time? I'll have to google it. All I know is, she is wearing me out.

And that was my day. All is quiet now, Kate is in bed asleep and Kaelyn is watching a movie.

I am done with Day Four of my new and improved healthy eating. Next week, back to exercising. I am past the carb withdrawl and feeling pretty good now. One day at a time!

Bored Yet?

I have been reading some random blogs today and have become convinced that I am really, really boring! I'll try to shake things up a little bit around here!

Lots of Reading

I haven't felt very good this week so I have been a bit lazy. So far this week, I reread all 897 pages of the book "I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamp, which may just be the best book I have ever read. Then today, I just finished "Creature" by John Saul. I remember reading John Saul's book as a KID! They scared me then and they scare me now. Kevin and I reading "The Puprose Drive Life" together. We're only on Day Three but it's very good. I bought this book several years ago but had never read it.

Kaelyn and I made my favorite low-carb food, Crunchy Chicken Nuggers and sugar-free jello for dessert. Yum!

Day Two

Well, today didn't go exactly as planned but I did manage to get a few things accomplished.

One of my goals for this summer was to lose weight. Well, the summer's nearing the end, and I havn't lost a pound and probably gained a few. My scale is broke so I don't even know! My problem, besides my obsession with Key Lime Pie, has been that I really didn't have a plan.

So, yesterday I started Atkins Induction phase. This is a two-week phase where you drop your carb count to 20 grams a day. One slice of Key Lime Pie has 52 grams of carbs. You get the picture. Induction is hard, especially the first few days as your body adjusts and your blood levels regulate. I am wondering if my headache these past two days is related. But once you get through the first few days, you feel totally awesome, like totally! Your appetite is supressed and craving disappear. I have done really well the past two days. Last night, I kept telling myself that if I could do this for one day, I could do it for two days. Well, tonight, I can say if I can do this for two days, I can do it for four days.

Blah Blah Blah

How did it get to be Wednesday already??

I have a busy day ahead of me. Yuck! I don't miss these days of running. But I have stuff to get accomplished, so run I must do. I have to go to Colubmia to get fingerprinted for my substitute teachers license, go by Columbia College to get my transcripts also for my license, go by the pediatricians for the girls' shot records and then over to Jefferson City for a job interview. Whew! I wish I felt bettr. I have some sinus pain and headache and am out of Excedrin for Sinus.

I need to go try to wake Kaelyn up. We got information from school yesterday, and school starts at 8:12 AM. Yikes, that's early! She is going to be a bear.

That's all for now! Over and out.

Key Lime Pie

Did I name an earlier post that too??

I have been on a huge Key Lime Pie kick since our vacation. I had a slice for dessert while eating at Fisherman's Wharf in Galveston. It was so good that I have been trying to recreate it at home. I finally found a very, very good recipe and it is so simple. Here it is:

4 egg yolks, 2 cans of sweetend condensed milk and 1/2 cup of lime juice adn 1/2 cup of lemon juice. You can use fresh limes of course but I just used the bottled. Stir it all up and pour in a pie shell. Bake it at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Yum! I also added a few drops of green fool coloring to give it a nice lime color. I serve it plain...no merangue or whipped cream. Try it and tell me what you think! I have one in the over right now!

Simplicity

It really is the simple things that mean the most. I feel so content right now. Kevin had the day off, for the first time in several weeks. His on-call job has been really busy lately, which is good. It was nice to have him around. We didn't do a darn thing today but relax and put around the house.

I sold a candle basket yesterday and when the lady came to pick it up, she brought cucumbers, peppers and sweet corn from her garden. We just finished dinner...hamburgers, cucumbers, sweet corn and baked beans. It was so good! I think I ate half of the cucumber myself! Kate is on her second piece of corn. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the best.

Vacation Bible School

Last night was the last night of Vacation Bible School for Kaelyn. The families were invited to come see a presentation and visit the Jerusalem Market Place. It was awesome! Kaelyn loved it. Here is my little girl dressed in traditional Jerusalem clothing.