Tonight We're Going to Party Like It's 2009 (March 26)

So, then there was the party proper. There had been partying and there would continue to be reveling, but the formal gig was Friday night. My friend, Lani, with help from a few others, threw me a party. I was floored at the decorations. The table was just beautiful. I mean VERY beautiful. It was all done in black and silver with purple accents. She had little goblets placed around the table full of sand with the candles in them. There were tiny circular mirrors with the beads and goblets on them. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. Linda enlarged a picture of me that Travis liked and that was set up there. Chantal beaded everything, giving it a real glitzy look. Well, just look at the pictures. Lani really did a great job.

There were quite a few of my good friends at the party. I'm truly blessed to have good friends to be my family here in Florida. In attendance were mostly friends from church, but my dear friend, Heather (from work) came with her husband and that was so nice. I was truly humbled by my friends and am grateful for them. Most people know how difficult it is for me to be far from my family (ok, yes, I'm going to get a little sappy). My family really means a lot tome and I love them very much. It has been a great obstacle in my life to not be geographically close to them. My family from church has always played that role in my life. Now that I have a real job, I am developing some meaningful relationships with friends there. They all bless my life and I am thankful for all of them. As I stated in my last blog, my mom and sister came to visit for the party and having them there made it complete. My mom is an anchor in my life and my sister is my true best friend. She knows me the best and likes me anyway. Actually, I'll say that all my friends stick with me despite me. Thank you!! So here is a picture of some of my favorite people - Sara, Mom, and Lisa!!This was one of the gifts - along with a matching afghan!!

So that was the party. But in reality the party wasn't over!! We just celebrated all weekend. On Saturday, Sara made me this fabulous froggy cake. You may not know that my nickname has been "Froggybaby" for most of my life and my dad still calls me that. So Sara just whipped up this cake!! I just couldn't imagine how she got it formed from bowl-shaped to frog-shaped!! It was adorable!! Thanks Sara!!
And now that it is 9:05 PM, it is time for me to go to bed. Again, thanks to all who made my birthday memorable.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

I have had a whirlwind week!! Tuesday night, just before I was going off to church to teach a yoga class to the girls, I heard a child call out, "Pizza delivery!" Then Matt appeared. I had a little trouble processing the vision before me. Then my Sara walked in and I started to understand the reality of having my sister here for my birthday. She brought the Matt along for a Florida spring break. What a great treat. But, no, that wasn't all...in walked my Mother!! I got a real surprise for my 40th birthday. Click on Sara's blog for visuals!! The hard part was still having to go to yoga!! But it went well, me not being a yoga teacher or anything. Then I had to work the next day - what a drag!! But that was over soon enough. We went to dinner at Koko's Japanese restaurant and had a little show and good food. Matt was really impressed with our chef's abilities. I had already taken off for my birthday (Thursday and Friday) so I was able to spent time with my family people who were visiting. I went to yoga to start out my 40th birthday with a good stretch and a birthday massage!! Then home to mom and Sara. We did lots of running around to the knit shop and the book shop. Morgan had a band concert that night and we all enjoyed that. Sara hadn't been to a band concert in about 2 weeks so she was overdue. After that, we came home to have cake and open some presents. I had leftover cake from work and we all enjoyed the black flowers!!
I got all sorts of fancy gifts. Sara made me this apron which is purple and very fancy. I'll use it tonight when I make dinner!!

Maddie made me this little jewelry box. She painted it. It is velvet lined!! Travis gave me some yarn for a sweater I would like to attempt to knit! Mom got me a little knit kit for my knitting - it is TSA approved!! I was very pleased. What a great family!!

And, to finish of the blog for the morning, here is Maddie, Matty, and Roz with the ever-famous Licker-beast.

Last night was my big party! I will wait a few days and post the party pictures!! You won't believe your eyes!! I'm having the time of my life!

Roz in Oz

Last night was the "OZ" performance at Green Cove Springs Junior High School. I was grateful there was a grandmother who was willing to do all the driving. Practices were in the morning and I was already at school, so I couldn't do anything for her. Then, the school is a whopping 12 miles away!! Anyway, we were a little concerned that it might not happen, as the advisor was a little overwhelmed. But, she persevered and produced. Roz enjoyed her involvement. She had some friends in the play and made some new friends. She was recruited by a friend who was in it as a dancer and singer. They were cute. Sometimes they'd start giggling a bit. But they got through it. There were only 2 boys in the play and they were brothers. They were funny to watch, too. So here are some pictures of Roz in Oz! Roz is the the one on the far right (if you couldn't tell). This the the scarecrow's song.Next is the Tin Man's song. Rozzie is in the group of 3 girls and is again on the right.

Now Roz is dressed as a flying monkey and is the one in the center. They did quite a few little dances and had many costume. My favorite one was the cyclone, but I didn't get a very good picture of it. The costume was just long gray fabric pieces on a waistband and when they twirled, it flared out - like a cyclone! But, I also liked the flying monkeys!!
Travis is done with the shower!! We had to hire out to get the new glass put in. It all looks good. Once the hot/cold water is fixed (right now the hot water isn't getting very hot) I'll be happy to shower in there again!! We are very happy to have this behind us. It has been a crazy year of gutters, wood floors, and a new shower. No more redecorating for a while!! Then, it just needs a little clean-up and get all the tools out of there!!

This week was also time for some major celebrating on my part. I finished by 23 part class!! Monday nights had been held hostage by the most horrible ACP (alternative certification program). I feel such a weight off my shoulders to be done with that beast. I also finished my portfolio today. That is another BIG monkey off my shoulders, a very big monkey - more like an ape. It has been haunting my dreams all year.

Morgan spent Wednesday night throwing up. That was eventful. So, that is my week!!

The Ides of March

Here we are in the middle of March. Time to post again. Yesterday was my mother's birthday and we had a nice little talk on the phone. School has been busy. We did the FCAT testing. Morgan, Roz, and Maddie FCATed their hearts out. I have juniors in my testing homeroom, so they had one day of Science testing. The great state of Florida doesn't require a passing grade on the science portion so most of my class was done filling in bubbles in just a few minutes. They have no concept of taking the test seriously. There were 3 kids who cared and they were done by 9:00 AM. So I had to babysit a bunch of unruly juniors for 2+ hours. Then I was rewarded by having NO seniors during the senior classes. It is crazy that FCAT week. I had a lot of free time and I really wasted it. I sat around talking a lot. I got some work done in the mornings, but then I pooped out in the afternoon and got lazy. It was very tiring!!

Good news to report: I have only one more ACP class - this Monday afternoon!! I have hated that class. All 23 of them. I am so happy to have Mondays back. I could cry. My portfolio is almost done. I just need one observation by my peer teacher and I can get signatures and turn it in. What a waste of time that has been, also. The next hurdle is the Reading class. As of tomorrow, I will have 9 down, 5 to go. Then, starting in April, the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) class starts. It has been a rough year.

So, now for pictures!!! This is at Morgan's National Honor Society Induction (abduction). It was pretty nice. Lots of kids inducted in, the biggest class at our high school. They said that 1/3 of the sophomore class was eligible to join. That is a lot!!

Spunky has made himself a nest in the jungle in our back yard. Travis dumped a bunch of pine needles back there and Spunky (aka Sausage) has molded it perfectly to suit his needs. He looks very regal laid out on the throne. You get two pictures because he looks so cute!! In the first you get idea that he is back in the jungle. In the second, you see how cute he is!!

Last night was the Stake Youth Standards night - I guess the equivalent of the old Road Show. All the different ward's youth were to make a skit around the teachings of the For the Strength of Youth booklet. Our ward took the 2009 theme of being examples of the believers and added it to the superhero "For the Strength of Youth Man" that we developed last year at camp (starring our very own Roger C.). I won't go into the whole skit, but FTSOY-man needed help and called on the youth of Fleming Island to help him save youth that were making bad choices. We did t-shirts for all the kids in the ward. The girls Bedazzled their shirts! Rozzie worked in the call center for FTSOY man. It doesn't look like we have many kids here, but there were quite a few that weren't there. Fun times! Now for the birthday update: Less than 2 weeks away!! And just under three weeks until Morg is 16!!

The Last Week of February; and The Start of the Countdown to My Birthday

Greetings friends and family. Another week has passed and it was a tough one. The schools have started to "surplus" the teachers as the budget crisis escalates in Florida. If they don't do something, there may be a revolt. Charlie Crist may not be able to pursue his dreams in Washington. The teacher that I am most upset about is the music teacher at the elementary school, Mr. Gould. He did so much for that school. He has chorus and does amazing things with those kids. He also is in charge of the talent show and musical. The musicals he produces are fantastic. Our county is doing away with music and art in the elementary schools. It is a great disappointment. At the high school, one of my friends was told her position was eliminated and I'm so sad for her. She has three children (one a new baby). I really struggled through last week and felt that everything happened in slow motion. It was hard to move around. There are meetings and rallies and all sorts of protests. Yet, the state continues its quest for FCAT testing, producing huge manuals for all teachers. The manual is an inch thick. I am concerned with MAYBE 10 pages. The science testing isn't even a graduation requirement - it counts for nothing, yet we have spent millions of tax-payer dollars to produce it. What a waste. I'm angry. Rozzie wondered what all the classes will do without teachers. Oh, so far, my job is safe. I'm happy about that, but at the same time, staying home would have been nice again!

So, here are the socks I finished last night. They are very pretty with very vibrant colors. I did a basket-check pattern for variety. The colors are very fall-ish so they will be ready next year! I am all ready to start the next project; yoga/dance socks for Maddie.
Speaking of the little girl - she got an award at school for demonstrating the character trait, commitment. The big deal is that you get to eat lunch on the stage and have cake. Parents are encouraged to attend. Travis was able to go to her lunch and bring along Chik-Fil-A. That is the way it is done!! They ran out of buttons and Maddie has already told her teacher that the button is her favorite part. Hopefully, that will be rectified. Maddie is looking tall. The boy in the red is also a 5th grader - Maddie looks really tall next to him!

Next is the February mid-month dishcloth which was a lot of fun. I learned a new technique and really like the outcome. It is great to use, also.

Last, but certainly not lease, is the the bathroom. This is what is all looks like now. Very nice! The next step is sealing the tile. Then the glass will be installed and we'll be able to shower again! No, not really, we have been using a different shower. It will be nice to use the one in our room, though! Travis is sick of home improvement; and who can blame him. Our house is looking pretty good on his account.