Time To Begin Again

Well, today is the unofficial last day of my summer vacation.  I don't have to "officially" go to work until Tuesday, but there is a lot of prepping for the first real day so I will be going into the office tomorrow.  I get nervous and excited this time every year, but for some reason I feel it more this year than in the past.  I guess there are a few reasons for this. 

I LOVE my job!  I have worked really hard to get educated about what early intervention is.  I have put in countless hours studying and preparing so that I can provide the best services possible to my children.  Much of what I do comes naturally to me.  Sometimes I think to myself, "I can't believe they pay me to do this!"  Most of my job is really fun and even though some of the progress I see in students is slow, I do see progress!  It is such a blessing to watch them as they work on mastering skills that will help them as they progress through school.  It is almost like I get to witness little miracles on a daily basis!   

I love watching children enter the classroom early in the school year with looks of amazement when they study the different objects and learning centers in the resource classroom.  I love watching them as they learn how to play.  That is what much of my job is.  I teach children how to PLAY!  Is that not the coolest?  

Many of the children I serve start out with no language skills at all.  It makes my heart leap to hear them as they share their first "real ideas" with me.  You know, this is the time when they can look me in the eye and tell me what they want or need instead of just parroting what they might have heard me say to them.  It's almost like I can really see a light bulb turn on and the world is automatically opened to them.  Like I said, it's a miracle and one of the most fun parts of my job.  It makes a lot of the nonsense I have to deal with more tolerable!

I am excited this year because I feel like I know what I am doing more than I ever have in the past.  

I have so many plans for myself and my students.  I want to be better for myself, my co-workers, the children I serve and their parents.  I want to present myself as a real professional educator.  I want the children I serve to know how much I genuinely care about them.  I want them to know that they are loved!  I want them to feel safe in my classroom and to know that it is the kind of place where they can be free to explore and learn.  

I know how stressed and busy regular education teachers are.  I hope that I will be able to lighten their load in some ways.  I just want them to know that I want to be a part of a team whose goal is to work with students so that they are prepared when it is time for them to move in the academic world.  I am blessed to have a really good relationship with the majority of the faculty members that I work with.  This year I want to develop some kind of positive professional with ALL the teachers and para-educators I work with.  I don't profess to know everything about early childhood education, but I would like to be the best resource that I can be.

I am really excited about the upcoming school year.  There have been some major changes all over the parish and I am anxious to see how the new environments are going to be!  I can not wait to see what my former students have been up to and even more anxious to meet my new students.  I get this "beginning of the school year jittery" feeling every year and I hope that it never goes away!

I also have some other countdowns going on.  It seems like I always have a countdown going for something!  Well here are a few of the countdowns that I have:

• Labor Day camping trip with family 12 days
• Hot Springs camping trip with friends 47 days
• Johnnie retires from the police department in 104 days
• 10 Year Wedding Anniversary & Alaska cruise 307 days

Ok so those are the things that are on my mind most.  I know it's going to be a busy and GREAT YEAR!!!

In other news, I am still on my diet.  It's going pretty well.  I have been working in some kind of physical activity into my day at least 3 days a week.  I don't know exactly how that will go when school starts, but I am going to make a real effort to keep active.  I am hoping to be able to wake up early enough to get some workout time in before I have to get ready for school.  I think that early mornings are the best time.  I am afraid that if I waited til after school I might not be able to sleep.  Anyway, I will let you know how it goes.

Oh, and I am also in the process of working with some of my cousins to try to organize some kind of cousin reunion some time during the holidays this year.  Several of us had talked about wanting to do something, but I didn't know if we'd really all be interested when the time came.  I am happy to report that after sending out messages to every cousin whose contact information I had, I was pleased to hear that over half of us were interested in getting together.

My mother's side of the family is really big.  She was one of seven children and six of them are still alive. There are a tons of grandchildren (my first cousins).  Some of my fondest memories centered around family get togethers.  Holidays didn't feel right unless there were at least 50 people coming to dinner.  We all went to the river to be with my grandparents and aunt and uncle for many years.  Then, after my grandparents moved into my parents home the get togethers relocated to there.  When my mother passed away, for whatever reason, those get togethers stopped.  For the first few years it was fine with me if we didn't get together.  In my grief at losing my mother I insulated myself against possible further heartache by not wanting to participate in any kind of holiday activities. 

That was the way that I felt until my sweet Beckham came along.  Now, looking back, I can see how misguided that was and I just look really forward to trying to rekindle relationships.

Ok so those are the things that are foremost on my mind.  I know this year is going to be busy and I am really looking forward to it!

So, this is the last blog post before I start back to school.  I will be back some time next week to report how it went.  Stay tuned!!!

Turning The Page

The last few days of summer are flying by!  In only a few more days I will be beginning my sixth year as a teacher.  I am so looking forward to this year!  I'm excited to be working for a new supervisor.  This isn't to say that I didn't love my last one, because I totally did!  I guess I was fearful of who might replace the supervisor who was retiring.  I am very happy to report that I love the new boss as much as I did the one that came before her.  I really believe this year is going to be FABULOUS!!!

I am also looking forward to starting out a school year where I am not obligated to take graduate classes at the same time that I am teaching my own.  I have taken a fairly heavy load of classes, at the same time that I was teaching my own, for the past 5 years so this will be a totally new experience to me.

Life is about more than work though.  This summer has been filled with some really great experiences!  My husband and I took what I can only describe as the trip of a lifetime!  We traveled across the United States, all the way to Canada & checked off lots of bucket-list things as we went along!  

I also got to spend some really fun times with family.  Between birthdays and holidays and just plain old visits, I can honestly say that my summer was filled with family times.  The best part is that the family times aren't over!  My husband and I will wind down this summer with more family in Texas over the Labor Day weekend.  I told Johnnie's niece the other day that I was really glad that my in-laws were not a bunch of weirdos and I truly mean that.  It's so nice to be able to look forward to spending time with family!!!

In other news, I am still sticking to my diet!  Actually I am not trying to think about it like a diet.  I think it's better if I just look at it like a lifestyle change.  I know that I have a long way to go, but I am determined to make some changes.  I have already cut out diet drinks.  I am drinking water primarily and making a conscious effort to NOT EAT BETWEEN MEALS!!!  I am working to increase my activity level and  counting calories.  Surely if I keep at this I will be successful!  I have already lost 7lbs and I feel really good about that.  Oh, and I am working to stop smoking!  I am down to 2 or 3 cigarettes per day.  

I think it's a mental thing at this point!  I mean, I refuse to actually say I am quitting smoking and I refuse to leave the house without a pack of cigarettes stashed somewhere.  This is just in case I get stuck somewhere, I don't want to be nerved up somewhere needing a smoke and not having one!  Yep I know it's crazy!!!

I am still working on strengthening my spiritual life too.  I have really enjoyed attending church the past few weeks.  I didn't get to go last Sunday because I was out of town.  I don't think I will make it this Sunday either since we have plans to go camping, but I am really looking forward to going September 1st!  It's Duck Commander day at church and my uncle Phil is preaching so I know the lesson will be great!

I come from a very colorful family.  In fact, in the past year some of my relatives have really made a name for themselves in the world of reality television.  I am so proud of the work that they are doing and it is so cool to hear stories of their travels all over the world.  I know my granny and mama are looking down from heaven and they are so proud of them too! 

So, I think it's safe to say that this summer has been a total success!  I've been able to make some really incredible memories.  I've had some fabulous experiences!!  I strengthened some relationships that I treasure and reconnected with some friends who I haven't been with in over two decades!  I am healthy and happy!  I am excited to start a new school year and see what lies ahead!  I am turning the page to the next chapter in my life and I can't wait to see what happens!!!  Stay Tuned!!!

Happy Birthday Lula!

My baby girl turns 23 today.  It's hard to believe that so much time has passed.   I can close my eyes and remember the very first time I laid eyes on her.  I remember it like it was yesterday!  I was young and unprepared, but I knew from the first time I heard her tiny heart beating that I loved her more than anything in this world!  With that first connection came a feeling that I can not even describe with words!

I am sure that there are other parents out there who can relate to the way that I am feeling.  I know, in my own case, I had no idea what to expect and I was TERRIFIED that might not be able to be the kind of parent that I wanted to be.  My fears were set aside the first time I laid eyes on my beautiful baby girl.  In those first moments a kind of calm came over me that I can't explain.  She was born by planned C section so there were no surprises about when she was going to get here.  I remember that I started crying from the moment I was rolled into the delivery room.  I was so nervous and fearful and I guess the only way I knew to express those feelings was through uncontrollable tears.

All my fears were calmed the first time our eyes met!  I remember us staring at each other in those first few moments and me thinking, "It's just you and me and I don't know where our journey together will take us, but I promise to love you for the rest of my life!"

We all know that there are no parenting instruction manuals.  I know that I have made missteps and even fallen down a time or two during these past 23 years. With that said,  I am so very thankful that she could see past the errors and love me anyway!  That's the kind of love a parent has for a child, but not always a child for a parent and I thank God and my sweet "Lula"  for forgiveness!!

We've learned a lot during the last 23 years.  Sometimes I think I have learned as much from her as I have taught her!  I also know that I could not have planned this grand adventure we've been on if I tried!  I have come to understand that my most precious gifts in life have come as unplanned surprises!!!

I am so very proud of the young woman, and mommy that she has grown into.  When I count my blessings, she is at the very top of my list!  So today I say Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl! I am so thankful that she loves me with all of my flaws!

And so today, on your birthday, I wish you happiness, success, love and joy for those are all the things you have brought to my life!  To quote Robert Munsch, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be!"

Staycation

Happy Monday!!!

I am happy to say that Johnnie and I are on STAYCATION!!!  Did I ever mention he's a police officer?  Anyway, he is and he works twelve hour shifts.  He was really glad to get a little break, especially since this Louisiana heat is really starting to kick in!  We've had pretty mild summer temperatures, compared to the past few years, but mild or harsh August is just HOT!!!  He has been off since Friday, but staycation really didn't start until this morning.  We had a pretty busy weekend, but it was super fun!

We enjoyed going to the youngest grand-girl's birthday party on Saturday evening.  She turned 8 and is such a sweetheart. She LOVES her papa!  Lucky for the children that the party was at the aquatic club.  They stayed cool in the pool while the grown-ups did some serious sweating!!

Sunday was church day!  One of my cousins was one of the co-preachers and he did a really great job.  I really enjoyed class and church and didn't mind the drive one bit!  I was also very thankful that my husband went with me.  I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did.

I am still going strong on my quest to lose weight and get healthy!  I have not deviated from my diet once since I started.  I know it's only been a week, but usually by now I have cheated so I am proud of me!  For some reason this time is different.  I've already made some needed changes like doing away with diet drinks and drinking more water.

This time I have added some real exercise to my daily routine.  Johnnie and I have walked for around 40 minutes each morning for the past 4 days.  We try to get it done early in the morning because it's miserably hot by about 9:40am.

I also need to give a shout out to Myfitnesspal.com.  I am using it to record my daily intake of food and water and also the amount of exercising I am doing.  It's a really great site.  There are recipes, blogs and lots of real and virtual friends to turn to for support and encouragement.  I know it's going to be a slow process, but I am committed to making some healthy changes in my life.  This is a little FYI nugget - Did you know that okra and tomatoes only have 20 calories per serving?  I was very happy to learn this because I LOVE okra and tomatoes.  The great thing about Myfitnesspal is that it tells you how many calories you need to eat to achieve the goals you want to reach.  It also figures in exercise and water consumption into the equation.  The website lets you eat whatever you want to eat, you just have to make sure you don't go over the suggested calories.  I even had 2 margaritas this weekend, I just had to record them!  Can you tell how much I LOVE THIS SITE???

I am trying to lose weight by eating a cleaner diet.  A girlfriend of mine told me that she'd lost about 30 pounds by simply eating foods as close to the way that they are found in nature as possible.  It takes a little planning and a little longer in the grocery store, since label reading is a MUST, but I am finding that there are a lot of foods that I love that are also good for me so maybe I won't burn out on this!  Oh, here's another little nugget - Schwan's Live Smart Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches only have 140 lbs and the chocolate ones have 150 calories.  Yes, that's not all natural, but I am a chocoholic and I know that I better allow myself some treats or else I will break the diet for sure!  I also discovered Italian Fire Roasted Cod Fish from Schwan's.  It's a really light, white fish that does not take fishy at all!  I am kinda funny about the seafood that I eat so I was excited to discover this tasty entree!

I am on a mission to get healthy!  I am not ready yet, but once I have made some REAL progress I will post some before/during/after photos.  I may even get crazy and give my starting weight!  I am so ready for that to weight to be a part of my PAST!!!  I know this is gonna take a while..... I HATE BEING PATIENT!!!