What A Week!

From the first year I taught school I have felt that the short weeks are always the worst and the week following Labor Day was NO EXCEPTION.  I will get to that in a minute, but first:

I am going to pat myself on the back a little bit.  Before school started this year I set a goal to exercise 3 times per week.  I can happily report that I have exceeded that goal and been regularly exercising at least 5 days per week.  Now I have set a mini-goal to try to do 7 days in a row.  NO I am not a skinny mini yet, but I can say that I have found that I feel better after exercising in the morning.

I choose the mornings to do my workouts because I heard that doing it later in the evening might keep me awake at night.  If you know me, you know that I have NEVER been one to want to work out or sweat, so I had no idea if that theory was real or legend.  I am finding that there may actually be something to that whole endorphin thing.  I am finding that I feel really good following my workouts.  I am waiting to see if this feeling continues.

I am also proud to report that I have not smoked a cigarette since the Friday morning before Labor Day.  This is HUGE news given the fact that I have been a pretty regular smoker for over 30 years. If you do the math, yes I did start when I was about 13 or 14 years old.  I am not proud of that, but it is what it is!  I can gladly say that what I have been doing this week seems to be working so I will continue on with that part of my journey!

The camping trip last weekend was great and I sure did appreciate the extra day off on Monday, however, losing that day had me worried that my week was going to be extraordinarily hectic.  Let me just say that the week did not disappoint my expectations.  By 3:30 pm on Friday I was more than glad that it was over!

To say that I love my job is an understatement.  I absolutely love the tasks that are associated with working with children with exceptionalities and delays.  I am lucky that I often spend years working with the same children and can really see their progress over time.  I LOVE that they smile when they see me because they know we are about to go "play".  I LOVE that when many of these children are 8 or 9 years old they still run to me to share a hug.  I honestly believe that that is a wonderful legacy to leave!

Unfortunately, that's not the only thing that my work days consist of.  That's where the trouble starts!
The bottom line is that I know what my job is.  I worked hard to learn how to do it and I know that I can do it!  I wish that I had thicker skin, but unfortunately I do not.  I don't even know if that is something that I could or should work to acquire.  What I do need to work on is how my emotions take over in stressful situations.  I let my anger and frustration get the best of me and it reduced me to tears.  Not only is that unprofessional, but it is unnecessary in the scheme of things!

I am safe.  I am comfortable.  I have a strong faith in God.  I know that he loves me with all my flaws!  I have a strong marriage and can depend on my husband to support me when I don't think I can stand on my own.  My family is healthy, happy and prosperous!  THOSE are the things that are the most important!  My greatest desire is to live a life that glorifies God!  That is what my real LIFE is!  Everything else is nonsense!

I am blessed to have a job that I love, but in the end it is just a job!  A job is the place to go to in order to earn the money needed for life!  That is why they call it WORK!!!   I guess sometimes we need reminding of that.  Ok then, I got it!

I am looking really forward to next week for several reasons.  It's a chance to start anew!


The best part is that even though I felt so stressed I did not deviate from my diet or exercise plan!  I really wanted a vat of chocolate, but I didn't eat it, and I DID NOT SMOKE!!!

This year's motto is turning into:                    






                                                                       TAKE A STEP BACK
                                                                                BREATHE
                                                            REEVALUATE THE SITUATION
                                                                              TRY AGAIN!!

Off And Running!

When I sat down to blog this morning it felt like it had been FOREVER since I wrote, but in actuality it was only about two weeks.  That speaks volumes about how busy life can be sometimes.  So, as I sit here and write, I can't help but warn you that this blog post may be a little scattered or disconnected because that's the way my thoughts are today.  I hope you can bear with me and in the end this makes sense!

School is off and running!  It took me a week to get myself organized to a point where I will be ready to serve my students when they come back tomorrow.  I hope I got it together enough for them.  I am very thankful that all my students aren't actually coming back until after the holiday because there is NO WAY I could have prepared myself in less time.  I am looking so forward to seeing what they all have been up to over the break!  Some of my babies have moved on into elementary school but there will be new faces to take their spots so my year will be very busy!

Johnnie and I made it home from a wonderful family get together in Texas.  We met our niece and a bunch of her family at a really nice campground and spent the weekend relaxing in the pool and visiting with loved ones.  It was really great!  I've said it before and I will say it again, "I am so glad that my in-laws are NORMAL!"  We have such fun together and there's not a bunch of weirdness with any of them.  It makes me really look forward to being together!  I hate that we only see each other a few times a year, but I guess a few times are better than no times so I will count my blessings!

Today marks the "official" last day of summer, but as hot as it is outside it feels like summer is here to stay for a little while longer!  We've had a fabulous Summer, but I am soooo looking forward to Fall!  I love everything that comes along with the Autumn season and I can't wait for it to get here in full force!

Fall has always been my most favorite time of year.  I love the first "real" Fall day, when the weather is cool in the morning and stays cool all through the day!  I love the way that breathing in that cool air feels in my lungs!  I love needing to grab a sweater as I head out the door!  I think my love of Fall comes from the fact that it is filled with so very many sweet memories!  To me Fall means comfort!

I love Football!  It's a sort of institution among my family.  My mother might have been the biggest LSU Tiger football fan who never attended the college!  My earliest memories of Christmas at our house involved a beautifully decorated Christmas tree that had a Mike The Tiger ornament at the top instead of a star or an angel.  Another sweet memory of my childhood is how my mother would play a cassette tape or CD of the Golden Band From Tiger Land in the days leading up to the first football game of the season.  She would pretend that she was a majorette and would twirl her "air" baton while the band played in the background.  Her movements and facial expressions were PRICELESS!  She would spin, twirl and throw her imaginary prop and even reach down to pick it up off the ground when she'd missed a fake catch!  It was truly one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life!

I love to think about memories like that.  In her last few years of life that kind of joy seemed to be stolen I away from her and it made me so sad to watch.  I am so thankful that in my lifetime of memories there are more of the happy ones than the sad ones!  I know that I am lucky and blessed!

I also associate crisp fall days with some of my favorite family recipes.  Mama would make the first sweet potato pies of the season just as soon as the temperature dropped.  Another thing that went with fall was Chicken Andouille Gumbo with Potato Salad and Fluffy Steamed Rice!  Just thinking about it is making my mouth water!

Another thing I like about Fall is that it brings on the start of the holiday season!  The time between Halloween and Mardi Gras was always my favorite time of year.  I loved it as a child and young adult.  I think that after Mama passed away I tried my best to avoid that time of the year, but in my heart it was still my favorite.  I guess that's why I wanted to avoid it.  I buried a big piece of my heart with my mother and for years I felt like nothing would ever be the same.  All these years later I know that I was both right and wrong!  No things will not be the same, but there are still memories to be made.  I have always believed that my sweet little Beckham rekindled my holiday spirit!  Now all I want to do is share all the family stories and traditions with him and all the little ones who come after him!   It is funny, I have heard all about how grand children can change you and now I know that what I heard was the truth!  It's like they make old things new again!

In other news, I've been dieting for about a month.  I am not actually calling it "dieting", but more like "lifestyle changing" instead.  I am still not drinking diet cokes and I am upping my daily water intake.  I have also added some kind of daily activity.  I have been working out with my Wii almost every morning.  I track my caloric intake on a computer program called myfitnesspal.  I have set the program with what I weigh and what I would like to lose and my activity level and it tells me how many calories to eat.  From everything I have read the fads just don't work, but if you keep calories in check and add exercise, positive results will come.  I've been at it for about a month and am about 13 lbs down so I must be doing something right.  Now the trick is to keep it up!  I have ordered some new Wii games and accessories.  I can't wait until they get here so I can change things up a little bit!  I am making some much needed lifestyle changes.  I want a healthier life.  I am even making a real effort to stop the nasty smoking habit I have had for more years than I would like to even count!

This is my fourth day with no cigarettes.  Our niece told me about vapor cigarettes that let you gradually wean down the nicotine while still simulating the action of smoking, but the only thing you exhale is water vapor.  It looks like smoke but doesn't stink or irritate others and if what the research has said is true it doesn't have all the things that cigarettes have that cause cancer.  I am keeping a positive attitude and I am pleased to say, "So far, so good!"

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!!!

BIG Changes Are Coming!!!!

I have been meaning to blog more, but I guess life sometimes gets in the way.  Anyway here is what's been going in my head and my world:

Summer school is winding down and the new school year will start in about three weeks.  I always start getting excited at this point in the summer.  Is that weird?

I will be going into my sixth year as a teacher.  Each year I make the goal to make the upcoming year more productive than the last.  I feel like that is a good goal because I know that I am gaining experience, and for the first time since I began working as an early interventionist I can honestly say that I am not afraid of what the new year will hold. (Well, not AS afraid)    I have one resource room already set up (sort of) so it's like I am starting the year out a little ahead of the game!

Here's what else:

I know I have talked about my spiritual health since the beginning of this year.  My relationship with God is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE!!!  I don't know if I have always thought that, but I am saying that I know that now!  I know I need to get back into the habit of going back to church on a regular basis.  It's something that I am seriously working on.  There is a saying, "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car".  I still believe that is true, but I can't help but feel that I have been using that as an excuse not to go and it's been eating at me.
Long story short, I know that there is work to be done in my spiritual life!

I went to church with my family last weekend in West Monroe.  I saw people I haven't seen in a long time and it felt REALLY good!  As I sat in Sunday school I couldn't help but think about my family.  I spent a lot of my childhood in that building.  I sat next to my uncle and his baby sister next to him.  I love the story of how my aunt (the baby sister) loved her brother enough to go into his bar and share the gospel with him at a time when he was probably as far away from God as he could possibly be!  That uncle loved me enough to share that same "Good News" with me.  He shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with me when I was 18 years old.  I was baptized in the same building that I was sitting in over 25 years before.  Is it irony that in my quest to get closer to God I would find myself sitting in the place where I had obeyed the Gospel so long ago?  I think NOT!   I also don't think it is a coincidence that the distance to White's Ferry Road is exactly the same as the distance to the church that we had been attending in Shreveport.  So, since I know that my spiritual life needs some work, I think I may try to start there!

Lastly:

I've also made some decisions about making changes in my physical life.  I've thought about the way that I feel and looked at some recent photos and come to the conclusion that things have got to change.  So, back to MyFitnessPal.com I go.  I will make the necessary changes!

So as I stare down the new school year that is right around the bend I am happy!  I am excited to see where God leads me!