Lazy Days with my Best Friend

Finally it is Thanksgiving Break! I got back to Cypress around 6:30 Monday night, and loved spending the evening relaxing with my family.

On Tuesday I got to head to Livingston for a girls day with Laura. Geeze, I am so blessed by her friendship! We were super lazy and watched movies, went out for supper, and made hot chocolate. She played with my hair and we had deep heart to hearts that aren't always easy to have over the phone.

There is something about this friendship that is more like a sisterhood. I loved getting to go over to her house and lay on her couch and just enjoy her company. I loved getting to talk into the wee hours of the morning and share life with each other, even if only for a day.

We talk about everything under the sun: families, boys, school, work, classes, holiday plans, camp, friends, wedding dreams, my upcoming 21st, educational philosophies, dream jobs... literally EVERYTHING. I don't think I've ever had a friend that has known me as well as Laura does.

After staying up way too late talking and giggling, we woke up this morning and made cinnamon rolls before I helped her pack up her dogs so that she could head to the Woodlands to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family and Wayne's family, and so that I could head back to Cypress to spend the rest of the week with my family and Grandpa.

I consider Laura part of my family, and so I'm thankful that I got to spend part of this Thanksgiving with her, and now that I get to spend the rest of it with everybody else.

Why It Is Hard to be Picked On.

Growing up, almost all of my memories with my grandfather revolve around one of 2 things: either playing Hand and Foot or him picking on me. Almost all of them.

This is how the picking on would go. Grandpa would begin to torment me and then my Gramma would step in and go "Gene. Cut it out!" at which point Grandpa would stop picking on me, atleast for the next 10 minutes or so.

Now that my Gramma has passed away, it is so hard for me when he picks on me. Now he picks on me more because Kole eggs him on and gets a kick out of it, but I still wait for my Gramma to chime in and chastise him. Gramma and I were always a secret team. Now the picking on doesn't stop, and it often brings me to the brink of tears. Him "tickling me" or poking me or pulling my hair or yanking on my ears doesn't upset me - it's the fact that never again will my Gramma come to my rescue that always has the water works welling up in my tear ducts.

It's hard to be picked on.

Registration Woes, It's Almost Over, & For The Kids

Registration is always a nightmare. I always plan the perfect schedule, then all those classes are already picked before I get to register. So, this is what next semester is looking like

Monday: Observation in the elementary from 7-5
Tuesday: Multicultural Reading from 2:20-3:35, Statistics from 3:55-5:10
Thursday: Statistics from 3:55-5:10
Friday: Elementary Curriculum from 8-10:50, Dynamics of Managing a Multicultural Classroom from 11:10-2.
And then I'm taking an online ESL class.

It's not nearly the schedule I was wanting, but I was able to get all of my classes that I need to take this semester, so I guess that is all that really matters.

Then the realization came that I only have to register for one more semester at A&M. I am finishing up my 5th semester here, then have 2 observation based semesters, and then student teaching. It's almost over!

And thankfully, there is a point to the madness I call this semester. Spending 10 hours working math problems has a point. Writing a research paper every week has a point. Group projects out the whazoo - they too have a point. In a year and a half when I'm hopefully teaching my own class, it will all be worth it, because it is all for the kids.

You Can Tell Based on my Hair

I have come across the realization that anybody can tell what kind of day I am having based on what my hair is looking like.

Let's see if y'all are any good at this guessing game:

Well, what are y'all thinking? Do any of the following words come to mind? Stressed, busy, chaotic, hectic, sleep-deprived, exhausting, or insane? Because that is what the rest of the semester will be like! With only 6 days of class left and a billion things left on my to-do list, this will be the hairstyle I'll be rocking for the rest of the year! It says "I tried to look put together today by attempting a braid, but it just wasn't happening!"

Pictures from Georgia

I Did It!

And on that note, all 14 of us are back home in College Station safe and sound! WHOOP! I'm so proud of myself for pulling this trip off and getting to serve my team in this way by taking care of them!

Be ready for a billion pictures tomorrow. For now, I'm rewarding myself with SLEEP because I DID IT!!!

"But MOM!"

If only everybody knew the number of times that I have been called "Mom" in the past 36 hours...

Me: Does everybody have their seatbelts on?
Car: But MOM!!!
Me: Tina -- that includes you! Is your seatbelt on as you lay down across the backseat?
Tina: You won't wreck! You won't even speed! Mom!!

"Mom! What time do we play?"

"Where are we going to supper, Mom?"

"When are we leaving, Mom?"

"Mom! Pay attention to me!"

"You looked like such a proud Mama when I scored my first goal!"

"Mom, can we have dessert instead of dinner?"

"How much is the student discount, Mom?"

Stranger: How'd you get stuck having to be all of their mom's this weekend?

"Mom. You take the fun out of everything. You won't even let us go play ding dong ditch with the prostitutes next door!"

And it goes on. And on. And on.

... Obviously I am a fun-sucker and I know the answer to everything... Welcome to water polo weekends!