We have a demon in our house!

Now, I normally don't believe in demons, ghosts, paranormal things but I am at the point that I believe that is all it could be. Seriously! You see there are things in our house missing. Completely, 100% missing. They are there one day and gone the next. It is more than the dryer eating the socks. It's earring, necklaces, dishes, hairbrushes, caps, jackets, pens, pencils, bills, food. Just disappears. No one has seen it and no one has touched it. It's just gone. No matter how hard we search things are never found.

Tonight, Guthri and I searched for over an hour for her DS. It is gone! The only answer to the mystery is the demon had to have taken it. What else could it be?

(I am sure you all have the same demon at your house!)

There should be more like him!

You know Lonnie is the quiet type but I am not. He tends to stand back and watch and soak it all in while I jump in with both feet, ready to take the bull by the horns most times. (Ok, you can laugh now because you know it is true.) There are times that his personality can be quite frustrating for some and even make people down right angry. I will admit it has caused quite a few "heated" discussions at our household but in the end I always know he is right.

Lonnie may not be the quickest to react or the loudest one to fight for what he "wants" but I can promise you that he is the honest one, the true one. I can honestly say I have never known him to lie, to cheat, to be dishonest or even to fudge a little. When one of his co-workers retired a few years back she said he was the agent with the most integrity of any agent she had ever worked with. That says a lot. She had once been a district director!

Even though he can frustrate you with his laid back personality you should know that he ALWAYS does what is right for everyone. He never looks out for himself first. NEVER! I am proud to call him my husband and so proud that my kids have such a wonderful example as a father. If there were more men like him in this world life would be so easy!

36.8!!!

I haven't been real open about my weight loss efforts but decided to share anyway. I started Weight Watchers back in June and truly laid off the entire month of August BUT I have lost a total of 36.8 pounds! Woo Hoo....yay for me! Not sure why I decided to even start but the great thing is that I did start and I am actually sticking to it.

For those of you that do not suffer from being over weight or do not understand the frustration of trying to lose weight...count your blessings. I have fought the battle my entire life. One day I was watching my daughter eat MORE than I did and it was an eye opener. She was headed down the same exact path I had walked as a kid and it had to stop. Can't stop someone by words alone so maybe that is why I chose to get the weight off. Don't know. I have committed to getting healthier and to feel better about my appearance. Some days I think my appearance holds me back socially, professionally and even personally. Just time to do something about it.

Well, I said it and now anyone that reads my blog knows and it will probably jinx my efforts! As loud as I can be I truly like to be private about all aspects of my life (unless I choose to share) so this is a big step!

Detour

Today on the way home I had to take a detour off my usual route. As I turned and headed down streets I never even knew existed I saw things I did not want to see in my own town. Houses that looked like shacks, barefoot children in diapers filthy sitting on a broken down porch, cars sitting up on blocks, trash piled 4 or 5 feet tall in the front yard. Just not something I thought about existing in Childress. I know there is poverty here, that is obvious, but the type of poverty is rarely seen. If I had not been in my own car, on my way home, I don't think I would have realized I was in Childress. It was that disturbing.

I passed by an ex-student's house and he was sitting at a broken metal patio table propped up with a stick in an old metal chair seat on a tree stump. He was so engulfed in his school computer that he didn't even notice a car coming down the street. I had been to his house before but had never really noticed his neighborhood. Just made me kind of sick to my stomach. Even though, I was thankful he had the computer and free Internet access, it really means nothing to him. Did he have a clean bed to sleep in? Did he have a bed at all? What was he going to eat for supper? Would there be someone there to fix it? Really hit me hard.

So...as I traveled my detour, I got a whole new "look" at Childress. Not something I was proud to see.

Woo Hoo Guthri!

Well, that little blond headed Dyslexic daughter of mine went and did it! UIL.... Little stink has been so worried about trying out for UIL teams and wanted to do "something" so badly that we spent a few hours in tears last week with me trying to convince her to not try and her trying to figure out what she wanted to try! I just didn't have enough faith!

Last week she tried out for Music Memory (her teacher is the coach) and guess what...she made the top 6. I am so proud of her I could burst. Now, I know most parents are sitting there thinking "so?". But, if you know Guthri you understand. One year ago she could barely read. Two years ago the child would not even look up. Three years ago I drug her to her Kindergarten class screaming at the top of her lungs to just pass her off to the teacher. She has come a long way, baby!!!!!!!!!

Just goes to prove I put limits on everything. She is a dreamer! Love it!

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

It is no secret that this school year has been extremely tough on me (and so many of my teacher friends). Seems that new curriculum, new reading books, bigger classes, deadlines, new guidelines for intervention, new guidelines for grading has just taken its toll on me and I allowed it to take away my joy of teaching. I have been working every Saturday to get my job done and I felt deprived of time with my own family. Not what I signed on for when I decided to go back to school to get my teaching certification that is for sure!

Today, I caught myself getting all overwhelmed with time restraints and expectations and trying to take care of my own children. I was e-mailing back and forth one of Garrett's teachers to work out a problem and in the end I told her to not "sweat the small stuff". Because truly what I was trying to work out was "small stuff". Nothing life shattering, nothing that would predetermine the future. It was just "small stuff". Truly!

Shortly after that last e-mail I took my kids to the restroom and was standing in the hallway waiting on my kids, making sure they were quiet and in a straight line and I noticed something. Not one of kids was smiling. They were standing almost at attention with straight, somber faces. They are only 8 and 9 years old for goodness sake! What was I doing? How was I ever going to teach them if I did not have a relationship with them? They needed to know my love BEFORE they knew my knowledge. It just tore me up inside. I have always loved teaching and my favorite part is getting to know my kids. They become my children for the rest of their lives. YES....even the ADHD kids, the misfit kids, the gross kids, the shy kids, the ugly kids (and you know there are just some), the dirty kids, the smart kids....they ALL become mine. I had spent the last 4 weeks with 21 kids that I did not know. I knew them no better today then I did August 23. Shame on me!!!!!!!

We went back to the classroom and began our reading lesson. I had them open their books, we did all the pre-reading stuff and they all just sat there raising their hands so politely and waiting their turn. Never in my class have I thought it necessary to raise hands! I love for kids to call out answers to show me their excitement. I just started saying "anyone" and they know that means "go for it". Answers and ideas started coming at me like gang-busters. It felt so good. We started reading and stopping almost every sentence to talk, to learn together. I got to tell them stories, they got to tell me stories. I SAT ON A STUDENT DESK (heaven forbid) with my feet in a chair at that! It was the most awesome time I have had with my students this year. It was amazing. They opened up and showed me who they were because I opened up and showed them who I truly was.

I have been telling myself all day to quit "sweating the small stuff" even if it means I don't get it all done! There are only 3 things I truly think are "big things":

1) my soul
2) my children and spouse's soul
3) my relationship with others so they can see Jesus in me

That's it for me.....no more "small stuff".

My Wedding Ring

This past week we went to South Padre Island for Lonnie's annual convention. Had a great time on the beach and visiting various places on the island. We were all exhausted but was so looking forward to Wednesday afternoon and evening of family time. We were to go to the beach for the last time and then go out to eat somewhere nice all together. Got up that morning while Lonnie attended his last meeting of the week and went shopping with Guthri and another agent's wife. Just for about an hour but had a great time!

Everything had been so fun up until I fell (whole new post). Didn't get to go to the beach that one last time but I was determined we would go out to dinner. Made myself shower and put on makeup and get dressed in "nice" clothes! Went to put on my jewelry and my wedding ring was not there. I started panicking and looking everywhere. Long story short.....my wedding ring is gone! We tore that room apart. Lonnie thinks it fell into the trash can and we dumped trash twice that morning.

I am just sick....On Wednesday, August 11, 2010, we will be married 20 years and I lose my wedding ring?! My heart is broken........:(((