A Day Well Spent

Today's been a good day. Which is just the kind of day I feel like I needed to have. We are exactly two weeks away from my least favorite day of the school year, the TAKS test, so things have been a little bit stressful. I'm sure you've probably heard of passive aggressive, well, I get stressed out passively. I am not really worried about this test and know everything is going to be just fine, but still I tend to think, and think, and think, and then worry, and worry, and worry, and then I'm just plain tired. So after riding that roller coaster the last week or so, it was nice to have some good quality distractions.

This evening at church instead of playing Capture the Flag, I chose to hang out with Jackson. He is growing so much! He smiled at me and laughed a little, but mostly just enjoyed slobbering on his hand. Then, he fell asleep in my arms. I just don't think there is anything better than that!

After church I caught a little baseball. Mostly, I tried to protect my eyes from dirt and wind damage. But, the game was close, and the company was great! I did have a funny moment though. I tried to park my car in a place where it would be safe from foul balls, so I parked across the street on a little patch of grass. When I walked to my car after the game, I noticed this sign:


Oops. Please don't turn me in!

Also, I just have to say how much I love that all my peeps are blogging. It's so funny to me that nearly every conversation I have with one of those people over on the right includes some comment or question about blogging. It's like a little blogging community! :) And, I want to officially welcome, Marcy, to the party. She's a teacher at my school (an amazing one - by the way) and she's really funny, so go check out her blog!

Lacking

I've found myself lacking a lot this week. I've been lacking anything interesting to blog about. I've found myself lacking in the sleep department - with all the wind, rain, and thunder. And, I'm sure I could ramble on and on and all the way to nowhere right now, but instead I'm going to pray.

My friend, Shellee, has spent the last week in Beaumont, TX where her Dad is in ICU. It's a serious situation and I can't even begin to imagine what they're all going through. I've even found myself lacking any words of value or comfort that I could offer her. But, I am praying and will continue to pray that God's presence, love, and peace will cover that sweet family.

So, if you've read this far, maybe you could stop and pray for them too.

So cool

My friend, Kelly, wanted to know more about the "Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment" that I did with my class. I found a video that shows pretty much exactly how mine turned out. It's pretty cool!



Ok, maybe mine didn't turn out exactly like that. But, as you can see, the possibilities are endless. Here's a link to these people's How To page. It's a little complicated.

For our demonstration I unwrapped the Mentos and then dropped them in a paper tube (I made the tube by rolling the package of Mentos and then taping it and then sliding out the Mentos), using an index card to hold them in. When we were ready to go, I took off the cap, slid the card out, RAN away, and boom.

Good luck and remember: Always wear your safety goggles when performing a Science experiment! :)

Friday

I am SO glad it's Friday! This has been one of the "longest" weeks I've had in a long time.

Monday was Open House at school, which is definitely not one of my favorite things. It was a little more enjoyable this year because several of my friends stopped by. I'm so thankful for that!

Tuesday was a benchmark day. This means that the kids are taking a big ol' test all day long. My job is to walk around and make them think I'm watching their every move, so they will make the right ones! While it's pretty brainless and requires no real preparation, it can be exhausting and stressful.

Wednesday was another benchmark day. They took their reading test this day and since it's what I teach, I get really stressed about how they are going to do. They always do fine, but it always amazes me how anxious I am that morning, and it's just a benchmark - it doesn't even count!

Thursday I spent the day in Dallas at a conference thing. It was nice to step away from the classroom for a day, but it's so much work to be out. I had an encounter with some negativity in the afternoon that left me dumbfounded.

Today was full o' drama. The really strange, comes from left field, based on nothing kind of drama. I didn't think the day would ever end! I have decided that I feel like I'm living an episode of Survivor. Alliances are forming and soon someone will be voted off the island!

I did get to do the "Mentos and Diet Coke" experiment in Science today. Basically, you strategically drop a package of mentos into a 2-Liter bottle of Diet Coke and then it erupts 7-8 feet in the air. It was pretty cool! I hated to see all that Diet Coke go to waste though!

In all this week's "longness" I feel so silly even feeling a little bit bad about all of it. I am trying to find the balance between dealing with frustration and remembering that if what I experienced this week is a "bad" week then really I am quite lucky. People are having major surgeries, dealing with illness, balancing jobs and family, making tough life-changing decisions, and really I'm just being pushed beyond what I call "comfort." So, I'm glad it's the weekend. I'm thankful for the break from all that stuff and I'm hoping for a lot to keep me busy!

$3.19

Three dollars and nineteen cents a gallon. That is how much I just paid to fill up my car with fuel. That is insane.

And, for all of you keeping up with the maintenence of my car, I also put a little air in my tires. And, it was free.

Also, in an attempt to push that whole Africa thing way down on the page I'm going to tell you about two things you really should check out:

#1 - Exciting things are happening tonight over at CF Husband . This whole story is amazing!

#2 - And a matter that is of much less importance: Baylor's mascot, Bruiser, is in the Final Four of a little mascot competition. Go vote for him here.

Last, and probably least, this is my 100th post on the blog! I can't believe I've felt the need to log onto my computer 100 times and write about something that probably wasn't funny/important/newsworthy to anybody but me!

Just in case...

In case you didn't go ahead and read the comments for the last post, I'll go ahead and tell you that all that business about me going to Africa was just an April Fool's joke. I won't say that teaching in Africa will never happen (because that's a good way to get on God's fast-track) but, I don't think that's where I'm headed anytime soon!

My favorite reaction was probably my Mom's...she just called me and when I said hello, she said, "Kenya?" She apparently did not read the comments! I reassured her that I would not allow her (or anyone else) to learn something that HUGE by reading it on the blog. So, don't worry, I'm not going to Africa...or for those of you who may have been excited; I'm sorry, I'm not going to Africa! :)

Restless

I have learned something about myself, I get restless. Looking back on my life, I have never been committed to one thing for a very long time. It amazes me everyday that I have a job I love, and it is the same job I've been doing for the last three years. Usually, I am very excited about something, jump in with both feet and then after a little while my passion fades and I decide it's not worth it anymore. So, doing the same thing for three years is kind of a big deal for me.

As much as I love what I do and as much as I love my life, the restlessness has still found me. I've struggled for a long time with knowing how to most effectively use my life and I think I've found the answer. I found out yesterday that I have been accepted into a new teaching program. I will be spending at least a year in Kenya teaching children there. It is exciting and totally terrifying at the same time. I'm not sure yet of exact dates.