Do you ever take time to just stop, look around, take inventory and decide to keep or jetison things?  I will sometimes do that with stuff in my house.  More times than not.. I get rid of it.  Somethings I keep.  For example, I have kept the dress I wore as I left my wedding for YEARS!  I would take it out and look at it and think.. ah… that was a good day.  It quit fitting me about a year after we got married. (I wasn’t walking for miles every day like I had in college… so I got a little.. um… too fluffy for the dress.)  But I kept it anyway because it was from a  happy time.  WELL… about 8 months ago, that dress found it’s way to the ARC thrift store.   I finally decided that I still had the memory, I have the pictures and someone else can enjoy the dress.   It was nice and I didn’t hesitate at all.   I think I just had to get there emotionally to let go of it physically. 

I’ve been thinking lately that I have changed over the years.  Not just physically, (lots of new hairstyles and more stuff)  but emotionally too.  I watch my daughter and I remember what it was like to be her.  I remember laughing at everything… almost all the time.  I remember talking a LOT!  (maybe not as much as my sister, but still a lot).  I remember thinking that I could do anything at all that I wanted to do and doing it.  Well ok.. not so much sporty things.  I was terrible at sports!  I remember being totally free to enjoy life and savor every experience I could.   Now I look at myself and I still like to laugh, I just don’t do it as much as I did when I was a kid.  I still talk a lot, but I’m ok with being quiet and just BEING.  I still think there is so much I can do but I don’t always find time or make the effort to do them.  I still stink at sports.  That has not changed at all! HA  

Maybe that is maturity.  Maybe that is responsibility that weighs on you that you didn’t have as a kid.  Maybe that is me just turning into a boring person.  I look around at my life, take inventory and think to myself, ‘do I need to keep that or get rid of it?’  How do I choose to present myself? 

I was thinking about this blog a day or two ago.  On the one hand, I think it is great fun to interact with all of you.  But on the other hand, do you really care about the mundane things in my life, since that seems to be all I’m posting lately?  Am I blogging for my own benefit or because other people expect me to blog?  I don’t know.   Xanga has a counter thingy that says I’ve been a member for………  some insanely big number of days.  I can’t even remember the exact number but it is over 1500 days.    WOW!  That’s a big number.  (followed by won’t you support us by going premium?) 

Perhaps, I’ll just enjoy things for what they are.  Some things may have to go and somethings I may just have to keep.  That is what happens when you take inventory of yourself. 

Have a happy day!

So last night, my daughter brought home her homework.  She asked for help on a math problem.  I sat and worked on it for about 20 minutes after she had spent nearly half hour on it.  I knew that if I could only figure out an equation then I could help her solve for the answer.  BUT.. I just couldn’t do it.  I couldn’t translate words into a mathmatical equation.  I instinctively knew the answer was two single digit numbers, but I couldn’t tell you why. 

I think I’m in trouble!  I can still help with history and grammar and reading and science and most of the time math.  But we aren’t even three weeks into school yet and I’m stumped on a math problem. This might be a long year!  She is in 7th grade and taking advanced classes.  I know that at some point I’ve taken that math and passed it, but that was a long time ago.  I’ve spent most of my time teaching and practicing kindergarten through 5th grade math.  I am out of practice on 7th grade.

All I can say is that it pays to have a lot of friends and it helps when some of those friends know math better than me. 

What kind of things do you find difficult, but with a little help from your friends you can do it?  Friends are fabulous. 

Have a happy day!

I hope you have a happy day!     I think I will.   Just because I want to.  That’s why

This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while.  Not only is this from my very favorite musical of all times, but it is also acting.  I love that!  I want to do this.  Sign me up!!!

Have a happy day!

Last night I was dreaming.   Usually my dreams are pretty vivid and complex and strangly strung together.  Almost as if my brain is purging all sorts of stuff that just goes into a mental blender and comes out in a dream never to be seen again.  That was not the case last night. 

I was dreaming about being in charge of some major event.  It was a cross between a wedding and church camp.  Trust me, it made sense in my dream.  At any rate, I had managed to get the Jonas Brothers there to sing for people.  *side note*  I don’t have a clue what songs those boys sing or even what they sound like, but I’ve heard their names.  *end side note*  People were very excited that I had the Jonas Brothers there.  Crowds were showing up early and staking out where they would sit for the concert/wedding/camp talent show that was coming up later that evening.  I also have no idea who was getting married, but I had planned a lovely wedding for them.

Meanwhile, the Jonas Brothers were hanging out with me at my house.  They were enjoying that time because I was treating them as just regular guys that happen to sing instead of mega superstar band boys.  We were just sitting around talking.  I was slightly embarrassed that I could not remember one of the guys name.  I knew there was a Joe and a Nick.  I couldn’t remember the third brother’s name.  So, naturally, I asked him.  As he was telling me… a dog barked.  So I had to ask him again since I didn’t hear him over the dog   He told me again, and this time a car horn honked outside of the window.  DRAT… still didn’t hear him.  So I asked a third time.  He grinned and said his name one more time, but this time one of his brothers sneezed really loudly.   The three brothers started giggling and laughing.  It was funny to them.  I was still frustrated because I had no idea what the last brother’s name was.  How was I supposed to introduce them, if I didn’t even know all of thier names.

Time came for the concert/wedding/talent show.  I got up and introduced them as simply the Jonas Brothers.  Disaster averted.    The three guys introduced themselves before the first song.  The crowd went wild with screaming just in time for me to miss his name one more time.  That was that.  The alarm went off. 

I asked my daughter to name all the three Jonas Brothers this morning at  breakfast.  She wanted to know why.  I said only that I had a dream about them.  Which of course sent her into a fit of giggles!!!  I am the wrong demographic to be dreaming about the Jonas Brothers.   She finally told me.  There is Joe….. and Nick… and…….Kevin!  YAY!!  I finally knew.  Now I have no idea what I am going to do with that information.  Just glad to have the mystery solved. 

Have a happy day!

• I taught 4th grade today.
• Donkey asked me what I taught them, because didn’t I teach them everything they needed in Kindergarten.
• THAT made me laugh.
• I was at a completely different school than where I taught Kinder.. so I had to catch them up.
• I was attacked by my couch this afternoon.
• It grabbed me when I wasn’t looking and pulled me down and forced me to take a nap.
• I didn’t fight terribly hard.
• My oldest kid keeps singing the songs from the musical Wicked.
• My little one is starting to read the Harry Potter books!
• I love Harry Potter.
• The books are AMAZING!
• The movies are great.
• I have to like them seperately because the movies are so different than the books.
• Little sister made a cookbook
• Saturday it was presented at a nutrition class… that we MISSED because I didn’t know the time.
• She is getting a hard back copy.
• All the people in attendance got a paper copy (like a packet of paper, not so much a book)
• She was excited it was out, but a little disappointed it wasn’t a BOOK!
• 96 people left with a copy. 
• I don’t have a copy.  They are all gone.. so we wait on the hardback version.
• I remember more about algebra than I thought I did. 
• Helping big sister with math homework can be a challenge, but so far we are conquering!
• Hubby spent more time today researching and looking for a job. 
• It was so hot the other day, that even my stunt ring was a little tight.  RATS
• We had peach cobbler for dinner last night.  YUM
• God is in control.
• Even when we don’t know how it will end.. God is still in control. 
• Life is good 

Have a happy day

I took the whole day yesterday and had a Donna day.  It was needed.   I first went to go meet a friend for some shopping and some lunch.  She sent me a text message (after I left home to meet her) that she was unable to make it.  So… I went and met with a different friend.  I helped paint a little playhouse at preschool.  That was fun.  Then I still needed to go shopping.  I took myself to a local mall and shopped for quite a while.  I got a bunch of new clothes for me that I can wear to school.  It was a productive trip.  At the very end, I picked up a couple pairs of shoes.  I asked the gal at the shoe store if I could use the restroom there and a pair of scissors.  She gave me a weird look and a pair of scissors.  I went to the bathroom, cut the tags off of some of the clothes I had just purchased, put on the new clothes and the new shoes.  I gave back her scissors.  She said I looked really pretty.    That was nice to hear.  I drove straight to a school and had a job interview for a first grade teaching job.  The interview seemed to go well.  I haven’t heard anything about it, so I don’t know.  But .. it was an eventful day.

All that sounds like good news I’m sure.  But to be totally honest, it was really a bit draining.  I don’t especially enjoy shopping for clothes.  My fashion sense is rather stunted… probably.   I would have preferred someone with me for conversation or opinions.  Job interviews are not my strength.  I stink at them as a matter of fact.  BUT, in spite of having to shop (which I dislike) and doing it alone (which is boring)  and going to a job interview (that stresses me out)   the day was effective.  Everything got done that needed to be done.  I have new clothes that are school appropriate and fit well.  AND… some girl I didn’t know told me I looked pretty.  YAY   Plus the interview wasn’t too terrible.  I love it when I can feel accomplished.

Have a happy day

 Today is the first day of school for my kids.  They are both excited about it.  Little sister still wasn’t asleep last night at 11:15 when I went to bed.  She said she was just too excited/nervous.  She still got up on time this morning and after getting herself ready, she loaded the dishwasher.  BIG points for her.  Big sister only has half a day today because the school likes to let the  sixth graders have the entire school first without the 7-8th graders there running over them.  So after lunch, big sister goes to school too. She is in 7th grade this year. She can’t wait to see her friends again.  I am going to try to catch up on some projects around the house.  Unless I get a call to sub.. or get a job.

The beginning of the school year traditional picture by the sign.  She loves this.

And she does not love this!  HA

Have a happy day! 

I got to spend some time with some family from out of town.   This would be my nephew, his wife and four children.  If you’ve done the math, that makes me a great aunt!  OH MY WORD!!!   Anyway, the littlest one is 9 months old.  She looks just like her daddy when he was a baby (I’ve seen pics of him).   She is a sweet sweet little girl.  She was born with spina bifida and some other things.  She has already had two major surgeries and will be facing more as she grows.   Still she smiled and played.  It was fun to see her and play with her.  It will be fun to watch her grow up too.  She is a blessing to the whole family!  This is a picture of us at the bakery my sister in law has where she makes all sorts of wedding cakes! 

Isn’t she just so cute!!  AND she has red hair.  YAY

Have a happy day