It's August.

It's officially August!  Meaning summer is coming to an end.  Boo!  

So I just got back from another fun trip to Atlantic Beach with Melissa and Corrie.  We had a great time just hanging out on the beach, eating (Beaufort Grocery, White Oak River Bistro, Crab Shack, Dairy Queen), watching movies (First Daughter was surprisingly good!), visiting Tryon Palace, visiting Beaufort, battling floods, etc.  We'll definitely have to do the ferry on our next visit since the storm ruined that!

Let's catch up.  Went to a house concert for Taylor Leopold with Melissa which was really good.  I hope she has a lot of great success!  Celebrated Corrie's birthday with Melissa, Noelle, and Veronica.  Worked with J and his mom a couple of times.  He ate jello WITHOUT hands.  Saw Jennifer and went to a new coffee shop in her area that's really yummy.  Went to Moral Monday with Robyn which was pretty cool. (Booo, no more Master's pay =[ )   Did some painting with Puckett.  We painted these balloons and hung them going up my stairs.  They look really cool!  Went to New Bern to see the fam and found out some interesting quirks about the fam.  Lunch with cuzzo Nikki at Over the Falls.  Yum.  Watched Kevin Hart's Let Me Explain.  Ran into Ms. Shearin and her daughter at Wal-Mart.  Ran into Ms. Williams (BES) at Wal-mart and Ms. Moore (LES) who just had a grandbaby!    

I've pretty much been bumming a lot in anticipation for the school year and I don't regret it.  I can't believe it's almost time to go back to work.  Oh poo.  All good things must come to an end.  

Oh well, I'm super excited about my birthday coming up.  I actually have plans.  I think I want to do lunch at the tea room in Wake Forest and the night showing of the movie Skyfall at the NC Museum of Art that night.  I think it will be something fun and different.  And of course, Ricky and I shall go to Comedy Worx Friday night!  

Ricky and I hung out last night and he had me rolling with laughter as usual.  He's on his way to Ohio now actually.  I hope he has safe travels.  I'm excited for dinner tomorrow night with Nikki.  

Gonna start winding down....

Happy August.  :)

Sunday Funday.

So lots has happened.
I've returned from Higher Ground Summer Camp.  That was an interesting experience.  I was the assistant counselor for 4G, 16 teenage girls.  There was lots of tears, drama, and laughter, but all and all, I'm glad I went.  It was hard being there at times, but a great opportunity.  I feel like I learned a lot about myself as a person and about other people.  Specifically, I think the subject of emotions is interesting and how people choose to show their emotions.  For example, I don't really show emotions except for that of happiness.  So at camp other types of emotions such as sadness and anger were extremely challenging for me to relate to.  I think this kind of thing might be a common denominator in my previous "failed" relationships.  I'm just not a vulnerable person, not that that's a bad thing.  But at least I'm aware of this when I'm in contact with people who are. Not that I'm never ever open and vulnerable because surely there are times where I have been and can certainly empathize and have an open and honest discussion with people.  But I think the camp situation was a just a drastically different context being that I was out of my comfort zone.  Everything was new.  I didn't know the environment, the people, or the expectations so I naturally kind of retreated to my "safety" zone.  And there were other circumstances in the camp setting that made me feel uncomfortable as well.  Had I been more comfortable I may have been more ready to be more open with the girls.  

Anyway, I met a really cool girl too, Hannah.  We're not that close in age, but we she is so funny and can laugh about anything together.  I hope she has a great first year in college.

I also got to see two of my closest friends and their kids during my travels so that was a definite bonus, Kelly and Emily.  I met Kelly's little girl, TJ for the first time.  And I bonded with Emily's little boy, Michael.  Sweet kids.  :)

I've been back for about a week now and it's so good to be back in civilization.  I missed AC, my own bed, hot water, a garden tub, etc. I'm such a city girl, I know.

Since I've been back I've been on the go!

*Hung out with Ricky; he took me out to Ruby Tuesday b/c he had a gift card
*Headed to Fayetteville and caught up with Carrissia & Taneisa; we went to Cheddar's for lunch and hung out  at Barnes & Nobles
*Lunch and a movie (This is the End--not that great) with mom
*Had a doctor's appointment, all is well; perfect weight, perfect heigh--had my first xray ever (back xray)
*Lunch with Hyzer, Katie, and Hyzer's sister at Applebee's
*Caught up with Leo before I left
*Back to Chapel Hill to celebrate Corrie's  24th b-day at Carrabba's
*Melissa and I did dinner at Pei Wei and went to a house concert at the Bazer's with Taylor Leopold performing; a very talented 18 (or 19?) year old; I hope she has much success!
*Melissa came to church with me and to the Kids Exchange at the Fairgrounds; we met up with Corrie for lunch at The Farmers Market Restaurant
*Movie (Date Night) and pizza with Martha and much needed girl time

Up next....
-Painting w/ Mrs. Puckett
-Moral Monday
-Lunch w/ Amanda
-Beach w/ Melissa & Corrie
-New Bern
-Hopefully more ESY for J...

I don't even want to think about work yet....

Super Duper Summer.

So life has been fun since I last wrote.  I mean, it's summer and I'm a teacher so I really can't complain!

I got an A+ in my Online class...hooray!  I got a 100 on the WebQuest that I'd been working on and like a 98 on the final paper.  So I really can't complain.  A third of the way there...

I've been spending lots of time with good friends.  Ricky and I hung out a couple of times and frequented Pei Wei and Comedy Worx here and there.

I've been trying to spruce up my apartment some and Mrs. Puckett and I went thrift shopping one weekend and got a lot of neat stuff and tried to bring some color into my place.  She's been more than helpful with helping me find some things for my place on craigslist and in stores.  We spent most of one Saturday together just shopping, rearranging my place, and decorating.

I went to a Play Reading party at Martha's that same day.  As "different" as it sounds, it was quite fun!  Melissa went with me too which was great.  We met some new faces and enjoyed some yummy snacks as well.  Of course we had to play the old staple, Catchphrase...

For Fourth of July, Melissa and I joined Martha and some of her friends at the Koka Booth Ampitheater in Cary for games, snacks, and fireworks.  I successfully got rid of my double stuffed oreos that I did not want.  lol.  We had a good time.

This past weekend was my dad's birthday and I surprised him by driving down to Fayetteville for the weekend.  He insisted I stay in Raleigh and enjoy my weekend. I had no plans and knowing it was his birthday I headed home, stopped and got a handful of balloons, and popped up on the door step.  I think he was pleasantly surprised and felt special.  My aunt and uncle had come down that weekend too so my dad was certainly surrounded by loved ones.  We went out riding, saw The Heat (hilarious!), and ate at Oyster Bar with Mr. Mike and Mrs. Carrie.  We ran into one of our neighbors there who sent over a free appetizer of calamari.  Not only that, my dad left his jacket at the restaurant and she swung by the house later and returned it.  Super nice of her.

While I was home I caught up with Leo and Travis which was fun, especially since I haven't seen Travis in forever!  Oh, and I also saw my little duckling and her fam!  It was super ironic because they happened to be in Fayetteville for the son's baseball games!  hah...small world!  Leo went with me to see her...I'm glad she could come.

In other news, I've started ESY with my little Pillsbury boy and that's going well, but I still can't get a good read on his mom...hm.  I guess only time will tell.  I checked in with them yesterday and today about his appointment.  I'm nervous about this hiatus and her not wanting to continue with ESY.  Hmm.

I had lunch with Brooke Satterwhite last week after ESY with my kiddo.

It looks like my middle schooler is officially going to the deaf school...they had his meeting this Tuesday.

I hung out with Sample and watched Switched at Birth.  That same day I went to Wal Mart and ran into Hayslett and Ms. Dale.  Random, much.

This week I've been taking it easy.  I made my first craigslist purchase and bought some peacock pictures and bulletin board for my room.  I caught up with Ms. Dale and her mom last night after a girls night was canceled.

I caught up with Chanel (from CSI) today and got fro-yo.  She's cool!

Ricky and I got lunch at Cafe Carolina too...friends forevz.

I tried a new place that opened in Wake Forest called PDQ...it was good, but I could live without it.

Had lunch with Corrie and Melissa and had an extremely social waiter.

Oh, and I've started going to a dermatologist and getting a series of skin peels/dermabrasions so lets hope I see some success!

Oh, and my super short term goals have been to finish this book, Smart Women Finish Rich (it's taking me foreverrrr to read it) and to go to the gym consistently this summer.  I've gone about 3 or 4 times this summer and done about 2-3 miles on the equipment in the gym--go my life!

And now I'm getting ready to head off to camp tomorrow so I won't be back for 10 days!  ahh!  While I'm already ready to get back...that means summer will be flying by....Noooo!!


I'm excited to see Kelly and Emily before camp though....prayers that camp is super duper awesome!

Merry, Happy.

I'm a happy girl today.

I found out I was in the newspaper.  At Donna's recommendation, I sent in a little blurb about the end of year celebration I had for my students.  Little did I know, it ended up in the Franklin Weekly.  :)  Yay!

In other news, I took the EIPA today.  Ugh, much harder than I thought it would be.  But I'm holding onto a little piece of hope of my "passing."

Father's day has come and gone.  I went home for the weekend and my dad, uncle, aunt, and I went up to Hampton, VA for the day for one of my cousin's high school graduation party.  On Father's day we went to church, ate at Ruby Tuesday where the service was subpar, and saw the movie The Place Beyond the Pines.  Kind of a trippy movie, but pretty good.

I saw bff Hyzer and Katie.  I went for a quasi-run with Matt.  (I didn't make it past a mile).  Oops. Caught up with Leo for a bit.  It's been a pretty good summer vacation so far.

I went to the Carolina Summer Institute in Auditory Verbal Therapy and learned so much!  Gini and I were partners and we made a pretty good team.  We worked with a wide range of students throughout the week--from a 14mo. old to a 12 year old.  I also racked up a lot of stickers during the week.  We gave out stickers to one another for doing 'good' deeds.  haha.  Anyway, I feel better prepared to deliver J's ESY services this summer because of it.  While I was at CSI I stayed with Melissa and Corrie during the week to cut down on all the driving I'd be doing.  I had fun living with them for a week.  It was nice coming in after a long day and having people to talk to.

I recently discovered chicken pot pie soup at Jason's Deli.  One word:  heavenly.  I went once with Ricky and then later in the week with Melissa and Corrie and got the soup both times, lol.

School ended with a chaotic bang.  I actually missed the last day of school and the workdays due to CSI.  But it was so worth it and I'll be able to celebrate the end of the year properly next year.

I'm still coming off of my "high" about being in the paper.  Most people know I hate attention, but this is a really good feeling to see the fruits of my labor.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to Wine & Design tomorrow night with my cousin, Nikki.

Hopefully I make more of a dent in my last paper for my online class.  Almost done!  Oh, and I just made this ballin' WebQuest for my online class.  Super excited about it.

My day is officially made.  Just got a sweet, sweet phone call from my little duckling.  I think I"m going to eat some dinner and work a bit on this paper.

Peace and blessings.  :)

Magenta.

“Magenta…that’s what I call it when I get that way. All kinds of feelings tumbling all over themselves. Well you know, you’re not quite blue, because you’re not really sad. And although you’re a little bit jealous you wouldn’t say you’re green with envy. And every now and then you realize you’re kind of scared but you’d hardly call yourself yellow…I hate that feeling. Just hate it. And I hate the color magenta. That’s why I named it that. Magenta. No way to really explain it but, fortunately between friends you don’t have to.” Blanche Devereaux, The Golden Girls

Well, the curtains have closed on another school year.  It didn't hit me until I went to my 8th grade student's graduation this evening.  I can't believe he's really leaving.  I will truly miss that kid.  But he will be getting what he needs at the Deaf school.  And if it's not what he likes, then I'll still be here!  I was in for a treat as the entire 8th grade signed "World's Greatest" by R. Kelly.  So touching.  I got a video of it so I'll always have that memory.  His mom gave Sabrina and I "thank you" cards.  I really appreciated that.  After everything we went through this year, a "thank you" card is enough to put everything into perspective, why I do what I do...because I care for my students.

Man, looking back on this year it's been a heck of a ride.  Maybe the second year of teaching is supposed to be this way.  I worked with possibly the least flexible teachers that have ever graced this planet.  My duckling and I have come so far together.  She now has a routine, weekly vocabulary words, and is simply blossoming!  Battling my little dude's behavior and his family's hands off attitude.  He is really growing up, it's incredible how fast he's growing up.  Unfortunately, his behavior still has a long way to go.

Once again another ending is here.  I once read a quote that said: "Beginnings are scary, endings are sad, but it's the middle that counts the most."  This is so true.  I'm so nervous about a new beginning with my job.  A new school year.  Now that my signing student will be gone, I'm not sure my passion will be fulfilled.  The end is sad.  I can't believe how fast the year went by.  I think I accomplished many of my goals.  I've established many healthy parent relationships, created and carried out a sign language club, actually went on a field trip with the sign language club, got to listen to Mr. P flatter me on the regular at school.  Man, just so many highlights from this school year.  Part of me doesn't see how teachers do this.  Seeing your kids come and go each year seems to be emotionally draining.  I think that's why I like that I can follow my kids from year to year.  I don't like goodbyes.  But I guess no matter what, I'll always hold a little piece of them in me.

Just to recap on the events of the past month and some change:
1) Life group cookout on Memorial Day
2) End of Year Celebration for my students (Another success!  My signing kid wants to come back next year...ha! And my duckling's mom sent an article I wrote about it into the newspaper. Oh and their end of the year gifts were so neat--I got them all knapsacks, popsicles, sunglasses, and mini fans with a note that said "Stay cool this summer!"
 3) Parents came up this past weekend for a late Mother's day celebration.  Martha finally got to meet them

Tired.

Stress.  People are just stress.  We complain about being stressed all the time, but we're really making our own stress and then some for everyone else.

This is currently how I feel at the moment.  But it's not as bad as yesterday.

I've been working on getting one of my students on ESY, but it has been a CHALLENGE.  So much red tape and resistance from fellow teachers and overseers.  I'm just so glad to have the meeting behind me and want to get hurry and hear back from compliance.  If they don't approve this I'm going to be feeling some kinda way.  Like, all the stress that has gone into this is ridiculous.

So, it has been an extremely busy month and still continuing.  I recently ran my fifth 5K...the Glow in the Dark Run.  I did it with Melissa and Chris McLaney and we had a great time.  I had a garage sale with my lifegroup and we raised nearly 400 dollars in partnering with Help One Now for the orphans in Freirre Village.  I got a bunch of things for only ten dollars and some of Karen's delicious apple crumb cake.  Yum!

Teacher Appreciation Week was last week which was nice.  Although, I was "bad" and ate ALOT considering we got free breakfast, candy, and lots of free gifts.  Oh well...I'll take it.

I got As in my first two classes of grad school and will begin my next class online Monday.  Once that starts I will be busy all the way up until June.  Man...end of year celebration, Carolina Summer Institute, and possibly ESY.  Oh, I'm just tired thinking about it.

Anyway, I shall go retreat after this long, but overall good day and relax until Scandal comes on!

Ta-ta!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

So, it's Saturday!  One of my favorite days.  :)

Things have been going well.  I can't complain really.  I have great co-workers, fantastic students, and amazing friends and family.  I'm not quite sure how to start this blog post so I'll just kind of ramble until I get to my point.

I finished The Hunger Games last night.  There's something about endings that never really satisfy me, especially when it comes to these books.  I found the ending rather depressing, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised with a book based on the premise of people killing one another.

I'm one week away from finishing up my first two grad school classes.  My final unit project in 524 and my final exam in 545 stand between me and freedom.  I can't wait to be done.  I'm planning on taking some time after church to knock out my unit project.  Then, I'll hopefully go and meet my cousin Dominique in Durham to do some bouncing around at Defy Gravity!  :)

Although, my freedom will be short lived.  My summer class begin at the end of May.  So I guess it's nice that I'll get one month off and that my summer class will essentially end when my school calendar ends.

I'm waiting for my parents to drive up...any minute now....we're going to Frankie's later to celebrate my cousin TJ's 16th birthday!  Wow!  I can't believe he's already 16.  Oops...definitely forgot to go and get him a gift.  Maybe we'll do that while we wait for everyone to arrive.  I haven't heard from Ethel so I'm sure they're running fashionably late as usual.

Oh!  Speaking of Ethel.  She called me about a week ago and let me know that at the end of May everyone is planning on going to the New Bernian Ball.  So she pretty much twisted my arm into going as well and hooked up up with the tickets with a quickness.  So I'm excited for the end of May and spending the entire weekend with my family at the New Bernian Ball.  I'm thinking about taking that Friday off so I can go to my grandparent's anniversary dinner.  Sabrina made a good point and said that I'm always at work and never miss a day so one day wouldn't hurt...hmm, I'll decide before the month is out, I guess.

Sherri came to visit me again this week and she was quite impressed with the changes I'd made in my teaching!  I'm glad I'm growing and developing my skills, but I always have that feeling that there's still SO much more to do.  But I guess that's the case for most people.

I have a lot coming up in the next two months:
*Finishing my classes for grad school
*Seeing my old 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Sprouse
*Field trip to ENCSD (praying that it goes smoothly.  Sabrina and I went to a workshop there last weekend and got to see the campus.  It's actually quite small (but warm and welcoming).  We were a bit disappointed to find out that most of the buildings were closed (although, not surprised) and that the population of deaf students there has changed considerably.  We met a lot of fellow interpreters too.  Karene and the blond lady (her name escapes me at the moment) were quite nice).
*ASL Idol (Maybe.  Sabrina and I are thinking of going and bringing our student  If not , Ill head home that weekend because there's apparently going to be some sort of Deaf event at Cross Creek Mall the same day as ASL Idol).
*Yard sale with my lifegroup
*Illuminated 5K
*Mother's Day
*Free concert to see Joy Ike perform
*EIPA workshop
*New Bernian Ball

....and this is only up to May!  Oh boy being an adult is just too much!

Oh, so in other news....I fell victim to a credit card scam.  I got a random text saying my account had frozen and to reactivate my account by putting in my card number, social security number, and security code.  Ugh.  Yes, naivety at its finest.  Luckily, I was able to repair the situation quickly and received my new credit card yesterday in the mail.  It hurt my ego more than anything.  I guess it could have been much worse so thank goodness it wasn't.

So after being in a moral dilemma I decided not to go to D.C. and instead go to Higher Ground Summer camp with some members of my church.  Believe me, I was SO torn with the decision and I feel awful that I can't spend the weekend with my parents in D.C.  But my heart is wanting to go to the camp.  Especially since Shane's been planting that seed in me since last summer.  Plus, it will be a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with the folks in my church.

At the moment, mom, dad, and I are lounging around my apartment.  We went and saw TJ and my cousins briefly at Frankie's and then decided to go to The Cheesecake Factory.  I kind of feel bad because I think my cousin was planning on me hanging around much longer and actually spending some quality time with everyone, but alas I stayed posted up under my parents.  I'm sure she understands and it's been a little while since I've seen my parents so I'm glad I did get to spend some time with them.  Not to mention the fact that they cleaned my kitchen and sprayed for bugs.  ;)

So I'm going to try and be productive, but we'll see how well that turns out on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.


Peace and blessings.  :)