Back to normal?? January 10, 2009

So, it’s been a month, and I feel I owe you an update. Now that things are finally getting back into my normal routine, I can give you that update. I feel like I need to do the update in list form, though, because I’m not sure how to make it all tie together any other way. So, here goes:

1. The Christmas concert was scheduled for Dec. 16th.  However, roughly two hours before the event was scheduled to take place, a nasty, slippery snow/freezing rain mix started falling.  So, the concert was moved to Jan. 8th.  This was the first time in my teaching career that I’ve had to move the Christmas concert to a date after Christmas break.  It does lose a little of the excitement, but it was really nice to feel completely rested as I faced the week.

2. Our Family Christmas celebration was nice.  We celebrated on Dec. 24th, and then I spent Christmas Day cleaning and preparing for a vacation.  We really missed my sister and her family who are in Germany right now.  Our original plan was to have an early dinner together and spend the rest of the evening on gifts and family time.  Then, a Christmas Eve service was planned at church at the last minute.  I was asked to play piano and sing, my brother was asked to set up sound and sing, and my sister-in-law was asked to sing.  So, we ate a quick, early Chili dinner.  Then, we ran off to the service at church.  Then, we came home and exchanged gifts.  Then, we went home and went to bed.  While it was fun, it felt very rushed.  I really missed the family time.

3.  My vacation (yes, I said vacation) was nice and relaxing.  I enjoyed warm weather, sleeping in and being able to move and exercise outside.  My friend, Emily, and I spent a week in Jekyll Island, GA.  It was fun, and I would totally do it again.

Now,  my life is getting back to normal (or as normal as it ever is.)  I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my vacation.

It’s a Girl!!! October 27, 2008

My sister had her baby at 4:26 p.m., Germany time. Molly Mariam weighed in at 9 lbs. even and was 20 1/2 inches long. She was born just in time for my parents to spend a couple days with her before their flight leaves for home on Wednesday.

No pictures yet, but I’ll post them as soon as I can.

My New Camera!!! October 9, 2007

I enjoy photography. I really do enjoy the whole process. I’ve enjoyed snapping pictures since I got my first camera in elementary school. (That first camera, by the way, used disc film–remember that stuff?) My love of photography increased as I learned the basics of black and white film development for my yearbook class in high school. Then, in college, I took a couple of photography classes, learned how to really do well with all the manual ins and outs of the camera, and even won first place and a small cash prize in the photography category of a college art show.

I am also somewhat of a purist. My major instrument is the piano, so very few electronic keyboards or pianos are acceptable for me (although I love the Yamaha Clavinova that I have in my school classroom.) And until now, that has also been true of my feelings about cameras. I like the feel of a real camera, the click of a shutter, the view through an SLR viewfinder, the smell of development chemicals, and the thrill of seeing the image appear on photo paper. I’ve played with some other digital cameras, and I really never expected to like one.

I have a confession to make, though. I am in love with my new digital camera. I love that it feels like a real camera. I love that I can zoom, add a real flash, change shutter speed, and manipulate all the things I like to manipulate. Most importantly, I love the instant gratification. I love being able to immediately see how the picture turned out. I love that if it isn’t good, I can delete it and try again before everyone leaves. And, I love that it is now so easy for me to post pictures of some of my adorable nieces and nephews like this:

My brother’s kids

My older sister’s kids

And a combo shot

I’m an aunt! July 11, 2007

Welcome to the world, Chloe Josalynn!

Chloe is my newest niece, and I would post a picture of the beautiful child, but it will take too long. I’m house sitting for my parents while they take their turn visiting their newest grandchild, and they only have a dial-up connection. That makes it too frustrating for me to try to post pictures. So, you’ll have to just take my word for it that she is, in fact, beautiful.

The summer continues to fly by. The nice thing about the summer is that even though the schedule is full, it’s mostly full of fun activities. This morning, for example, I went with my sister-in-law and four children to see the free movie. During the summer, they show a free movie every Wed. morning. This morning’s show was Charlotte’s Web. We had a good time. It’s especially fun to watch animal movies with my (nearly) 2-yr.-old niece, Callie. She jumped up and down in her seat every time she saw the geese. At one point in the film, my sister-in-law pulled out some snacks for the kids. I tried passing one to her, but she was so engrossed in the film that she wouldn’t take it. That may not mean much to some of you, but this little girl doesn’t usually turn down food.

After the movie, we enjoyed a pizza lunch. A local pizza place had customer appreciation day today, and large pizzas were only $5 each for carry-out. Then, we used the rest of the pre-nap hours to hit Staples. They were selling folders and packs of pencils for a penny a piece. So, I stocked up. The stored had set limits on how much I could purchase, but I was very pleased with my bag full of office supplies that only cost me 12 cents.

The day has been full of fun and very cheap entertainment. Since we can’t yet see the baby in person to dote on her. We decided to celebrate her arrival in our own way.

Hanging in there…. May 16, 2007

This has been a weird week so far, but I think I’m managing to hang in there. My quick update:

Sunday was pretty normal. The morning church service was great. Then, our morning Bible study was very challenging. Our group is doing a unit on the church and challenging why we “do church” the way we do. Sunday’s discussion was about diversity in the church. Well, first I had to exercise all the self control I had to keep from laughing out loud. Diversity itself isn’t funny, but I am a fan of The Office, and all I could think about when the leader announced our topic for the day was an episode from the first season when Michael held his own very misguided Diversity seminar. Needless to say, this Sunday’s discussion was much more focused and appropriate. It was also much more challenging. Where do we draw the line between accepting others as they are and standing firm in our own convictions? We certainly didn’t draw any hard conclusions, but it was a good reminder of my need to rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

I knew Monday was going to be rough from the moment I woke up. Of course that moment was 10:24! I couldn’t believe I slept that long. I had felt a little off on Sunday evening, and I had been up a few times during the night. I’m still not sure if it’s just my allergies or something else, and I didn’t ever feel all that bad. My body must have gone into self-protect mode, though. I didn’t hear either of my alarms, and I had set two. I didn’t hear my housemate get up and leave. I only panicked when I finally did wake up. I was really wondering why the school never called me, but apparently they tried and I didn’t even hear that. The rest of the day went pretty well. The faculty and office staff teased me an awful lot, but I think it was well deserved.

Tuesday’s big event was a storm. The day was normal enough. The weather at the beginning of the day was beautiful. That worked out well because that meant both of my first grade classes were able to go on their field trip, giving me loads of extra prep time. After school, though, the weather got dreary pretty quickly. We kept our eye on the news of the impending big storm. I’ve been on the east coast for a while, and I’m having a little trouble adjusting from hurricane news back to tornado alley news. Anyway, we normally have a ladies Bible study meeting at my house on Tuesday night. The lady who leads it called me around 5. She had heard predictions of large hail and vicious winds, so we decided it might be wisest to cancel. I should add that this Bible study has been cancelled almost as many times as we have met, and I’m a little bummed about that because I’ve really been looking forward to this study.

In this case, though, it was a good thing we cancelled. At around 5:45 our power went out. It stayed out for around six hours. It reminded me of how thankful I should be for electricity. I take it for granted until I have to spend six hours in the dark. Life is boring when I can’t read, watch TV, listen to music, or clean. I did go back to school for a little while. The power there was on, so I was able to get some more schoolwork done. (Tuesday was a very productive day for me for school stuff.) Then, when the power still hadn’t come back on at 9:30, I called my parents who very graciously agreed to let me stay at their house for the night. I could have slept in the house without electricity, but especially after Monday’s incident, I wanted to make sure I could get up on time.

Wednesday was considerably better. My mom woke me up since I didn’t have an alarm clock, and my dad had a pot of brewed coffee all ready when I was ready for breakfast. I told them they need to be careful or I’m going to consider moving back into their house.

Tonight I get to enjoy the meat that I started marinated last night but couldn’t cook without power. I’m also looking forward to an evening of being able to see, clean, cook, read, listen to music, watch TV, or any combination of the above. Then, I’m looking forward to setting my alarm and waking up to tomorrow’s adventures. Of course, I’ll have to spend this next little chunk of time resetting all the clocks, but I’m glad the power (at least for now) is back on so I can do that.

Happy Birthday, Dad! March 13, 2007

My father turns 59 today! Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!

Happy Birthday, Aliesa! February 6, 2007

My niece turns 5 today!