Happy Happy Birthday

Today is a special day. And while normally Tuesdays don't hold much appeal for me, this day marks the 14th anniversary of the day my favorite redhead entered the world. Today is my cousin Brooklee's 14th birthday which is one year older than my age when she was born. I am getting so incredibly old. I can't believe she is a freshman in high school. For about her first 7 years of life Brooklee was the only little kid in the family who lived close by so she was spoiled for sure. She was my best excuse to see every kiddie movie I wanted to see without feeling like a big loser. She was one of my biggest fans and came to see me play basketball and softball when I was in high school. Now she is a varsity cheerleader who I can't wait to see flying through the air at football games. So Happy Birthday Brooklee! I hope you have a great day. Here's my birthday top 5 list of Reasons I love Brooklee (in no particular order):

1) She has fabulous red hair (not the fire-orange-kind-of-scare-you-it's-so-bright-red hair but pretty reddish auburn hair)

2) She is so adaptable (Brooklee is comfortable being outside riding the 4 wheeler or walking across a beauty pageant stage in a dress and heels)

3) She still thinks I'm kind of cool and will still talk to me in public (Brooklee will still come up to me and give me a hug and talk at school even when she's with her friends)

4) She is so pleasant to be around (though she is a teenage girl and has her moments, for the most part Brooklee has a great attitude and is always hilarious)

5) She is fulfilling my dream at age 4 of being Mary Lou Retton (Brooklee is a fantastic gymnast who can do amazing things with her little body and while I barely ever learned to do a front roll and cartwheel this girl is fabulous)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

With school getting started I haven't had much time for anything fun lately. After another stressful week, getting out of the apartment and having giggly girls night was just what I needed. And after being gone from my previous job for over a month, I have been missing out on quality time with one of my favorite people, Angela. This girl is fabulous and is one of the few things I truly miss about my old job. Me, Angela, and Deanna were basically the 3 Musketeers of Admissions and Advising at MCC. I miss eating lunch with them so last night was a chance for us to catch up and just have some fun. We decided to get out of Meridian and head to the 'Burg. And even though Heather had told us about Club Nashville we decided to just stick to what we do best....EATING! So to the Olive Garden we headed, followed by Target. Two of my absolute faves. I'm pretty confident that the waitress at the OG was pretty tired of hearing us ask for more breadsticks. I think after we left we could change our name to the 3 Little Pigs. We made a surprise cameo at the lovely Skaggs home which is always entertaining. Thanks Heather for letting us pop in. I unfortunately forgot to bring my camera so I have no pictures of our adventure last night but here's one of us on my last day of work.

I'm Still Here

For the 3 or 4 people out there reading my blog, I apologize for the long lapse between posts. Especially those of you (Heather and Deanna) who check like 10 times a day at work because you are bored. I know the feeling. I was one of you just a short time ago. So forgive me please. This past week has been really busy but not with anything that is truly blogworthy. I have still been getting used to teaching and my students. They are SO challenging. But I did find out yesterday that they are going to hire another teacher in the special ed department and then I will actually get a planning period! HALLELUJAH! My church had revival this week also so every night I was there. I have been really uplifted by the music and messages. Dr. Jim Futral from the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board was our evangelist and he is incredible. He holds your complete attention and really brings a great word from God every time. If you ever get a chance to hear him, I strongly suggest that you go. Well three weeks into school Braden has now gotten his first real frowny face. I stopped by mama's after school and was there when he got off the bus. After checking his notebook, we discovered that he had received the dreaded frown along with the note that said he had pushed 2 kids, wrote on another one's paper, and thrown something in the lunchroom. That's the Braden we know and love! I had been so surprised that who we see all the time hadn't shown up in kindergarten yet. Well I guess today was the day he decided to have the big reveal. Poor Mrs. McEntyre. After finding that out, I decided to make a quick exit from mama's before Cary came home. I did not need to witness that encounter. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Atleast it will be Friday. I'm so ready for the weekend.

Congratulations Deanna

It seems like Apartment 2H is the place to be if a job change is in order. My fabulous roommate Deanna found out this week that she got the job at Mississippi State University that she applied for last week. Deanna has been working at MCC for the past three years as the high school recruiter and now she is moving on to MSU to recruit community college transfer students. She is a fantastic recruiter and is so excited to be back in the land of the Bulldogs. She is a proud alumni of MSU and probably the only time we argue is when she tries to talk bad about my Eagles! Thankfully for me she will not be moving. They wanted someone based in Meridian or Jackson because her district will be the community colleges south of I-20. So it works out great for me! I'm so excited for her and know she will do a great job. Good luck Deanna!

Update

Well the honeymoon is officially over. Braden's week of smiley faces has come to an end and just as he was oh so close to getting those 10 straight and winning a fabulous trip to the coveted kindergarten treasure box. I guess the erasers and stickers and whatever else might be considered to interest 5 year olds for 10 seconds will have to be a goal for the future. Cause atleast for this week it is not to be. I will give him that he atleast only got a warning today and not a complete leap to the land of sad faces. When I asked him what he did to get a warning he said that he was talking during quiet time. Instead of putting his head down and being quiet he proceeded to keep telling whatever story he had concocted to his friend beside him. When we asked him why he kept talking, he responded (looking at us quite dumbfounded by this obviously stupid question) that he wasn't through telling him and he needed to finish his story. Does this kindergarten teacher not understand that Braden always has to have the last word? How dare her limit him to so few minutes of story telling? (Hopefully you know that I am TOTALLY kidding. Don't unite against me elementary teachers!) Probably a story that most people can tell in a relatively short amount of time takes longer for Braden because he is oh so country and slow. Hopefully we will make it through kindergarten.

As for my group of students, they all have extreme special needs but are precious. They are teaching me lots of things and I feel like I can already write a book on what they have said and done and it's only the second week. We are having lots of fun but there are lots of challenges (keeping shoes and clothes on for one!) I have lots of cute pictures of them from the first week. This is their first year at West Lauderdale too because they have always gone to another local school until this year. So we toured the campus last week and took our picture all over campus. Here is one of them in front of the school.

Hi, Welcome to the Buckle, My Name is Melanie

Five years ago, my mom, Melanie retired after 31 years as a high school teacher and librarian. Since then, she has been keeping my nephews and just doing whatever else she wanted. She has loved retirement and has never even wanted to go back to work. But alas, Melanie has officially come out of retirement. No she isn't going back to teaching and no she isn't becoming a greeter at Walmart. My mother, who by the way isn't the least interested in beauty, fashion, or style, is now an official member of the Buckle staff. What might you ask could Melanie possibly be doing? Well she certainly isn't trying to sell jeans to 15 year old little bitty girls. That would be a disaster waiting to happen. Mel has now become the fabulous seamstress for the Buckle in charge of all alterations. If you know my mom at all, you can understand how incredibly hilarious it is to think my mom works at the Buckle. She didn't even know where the store was in the mall, much less what they sold or their target consumer group. My mom is the unofficial seamstress for the community, sewing everything from cheerleader uniforms to bridesmaid dresses and all in between. Well a lady who knows her told the people at the Buckle that she knew someone who would be good for doing their alterations so they called my mom and asked her if she was interested. Since Braden started to school this year and Cooper is going to daycare for the first time, my mom decided that it would be easy money and give her a reason to get out of the house some. So if you are in Meridian and want to shop at the Buckle, go on Tuesdays when Mel is there and ask her to get you her discount. She certainly won't be using it!

School Days, School Days

For those of you who don't know, I changed jobs a couple of weeks ago. I was working at Meridian Community College as an academic advisor but had decided that I wanted to try to get my teaching license. Over the summer I took the certification tests and was actually able to get a job for this school year teaching special education at West Lauderdale High School which is where I graduated from oh so many years ago. I have been looking very forward to this opportunity even though I have been completely stressing out over the last couple of weeks. I was unable to get into my classroom (formerly a room of stored books, desks, computers, etc.) until last Thursday. So I have been crazy busy trying to get it ready for the students to come. And come they did. Today was the first day of school for students and I was so nervous. I have never had a first day of class with this population. My first days of teaching have consisted of going over the first day handout of all the fabulous psychology information that college freshmen and sophomores are ecstatic to learn and then going home. So needless to say, having the same kids all day the first day seemed very intimidating. Well thankfully the worst case scenario that I had run through my head was far from the reality of the day. It was hectic and there were some moments when I was praying for the time to pass faster but overall it was a good day. I think once I get into a routine with these precious students, I am going to enjoy it. As one teacher told me this afternoon, one day down, only 179 more to go! Today was also Braden's first day of kindergarten. I unfortunately don't have a picture of him in his new school uniform because he would not agree to let me take one of him this afternoon when I went by to see him after school. I guess he was tired of pictures because I'm sure April took a million this morning. I can't believe my little man is in big school. And he didn't really tell me anything about his day but he didn't get a sad face. Of course, he informed me that the teacher said they wouldn't start moving clothespins until tomorrow so it might be a short lived stay in happy face land for Braden. I will keep you updated about both of our first years at school!

Celebrate, Celebrate

Because of my change in job and all the craziness of preparing for a new school year in a new place, I had not given much thought at all to my birthday and what I might want to do to celebrate. In my mind, all I needed was that touch from Tim the weekend before. My wish had already come true. So after doing it big in Biloxi I thought my celebrating was over. Boy was I wrong! Other people in my life had a different idea. Last Thursday night 2 of the students I advised in Phi Theta Kappa at MCC took me to dinner. These girls are so sweet and were so much fun to be around this past school year. We went on several trips together and stayed in Nashville for a week together eating, shopping, and dancing. They are both moving on to Jackson State and I know they will be successful in all they do. I love you April and Alyece. Good luck!

On Friday, Haley, one of my best friends from high school was in town for her job and took me to lunch. She is pregnant with her first baby (a little boy) and I was so excited to see her cute self. I haven't seen her since early in the summer so it was great to spend time with her, especially for my birthday. I hate I didn't get a picture of the cute little mama-to-be. It is so crazy that she is having a baby. It will be fun to see how much she learns. Babies haven't usually been her thing! Thanks for being a great Friday lunch buddy Haley. I can't wait to see that sweet little boy.

And finally, Saturday night (my actual birthday) we had a cookout at my mom's and lots of family and friends were there. My family doesn't even need an actual event to get together and have fun but when there really is something to celebrate, you never know what all might go on. It was lots of fun and I got fabulous presents. One of my absolute favorites was a small fondue pot. I have always wanted one of these but I don't think anybody has ever taken me seriously because I have never gotten one until now. I can't wait to use it. So if you think dipping strawberries in melted chocolate out of a really cool pot sounds as exciting as I do, feel free to come over. Thanks Robbie! And if you really want to celebrate right on your next birthday, find a trampoline and friends and start jumping. I don't think I'm going to have another birthday unless a trampoline is involved. It is very entertaining to watch 20 somethings sailing a 5 year old giggling through the air. Yes I know, I have a very boring life but don't judge til you try it. Being 27 does not mean trampolines are now off limits.

I had a great birthday and thanks so much to all of you who wouldn't hear of letting me pass this one by with no celebrating. I appreciate all the cards, calls, emails, presents, and blog shout outs. Happy Birthday to Me!

I Thought I Was Getting Better....

If you have ever ridden with me while driving across a bridge over water, you have probably been witness to the mini-freakout that I experience whether I'm actually driving or just riding. (And you better hope that I'm not driving! Just ask my best friend Myndi) I have an extreme fear of bridges over water. I am scared that our car is going to somehow hit the side of the bridge and go crashing into the water below. I don't exactly know where this fear came from but I have had it I know since elementary school. I have a very specific routine that I do while driving over the bridges and if you are riding with me you know not to interrupt or expect me to answer any questions or comment on anything you might have just said directly to me. I am completely silent (mostly because I can't breathe very well) and I have to constantly check how far the other cars are from us and how far we are from the side of the bridge. And if you are driving and you are talking on the phone, or playing with the radio, or just passing another car, I get even more scared. I say all of this to say that recently I had begun to get better. When you love going to the beach, it is impossible to not drive over bridges so I have been over many this summer alone. And I really thought I was getting better. I just went over a couple of bridges last weekend and I was able to not check constantly and actually said something while on the bridge. BIG improvement for me. But then this week tragedy struck in Minnesota and what I thought (and what so many people have told me) was just an irrational fear, suddenly became very real to me. I can't imagine what those people went through and what their families are experiencing right now. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this horrific event. I have watched the coverage as much as possible though it is very hard for me to do. When I saw the first headline that said Bridge Collapses Over Mississippi River, I had a mini freakout right in my living room. Last night I watched tips on what to do if your car ever does go underwater (even though I already know these tips and have committed them to memory) And I even have one of those rescue tools that can cut you out of your seatbelt, knock out the window, etc. I got that for my birthday several years ago and probably will always rank as one of my all-time favorite gifts. And while this horrible tragedy won't completely keep me from going over bridges over water, my little bit of progress that I had made has gone completely out the window. I will be right back to the silence and constant surveillance. My prayers are with all of you in Minnesota.

Baby Jackson is Here

On Monday, April's younger sister Allison had her baby. Jackson Douglas Autry was born at 4:24 p.m. and weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces. He has a head full of black hair and is so very cute. I wish I had a picture of him but you can go to the hospital's website http://www.jarmc.org/ and see baby Jackson's picture. Just click on Baby Faces and then on his name under July 30th. Allison is doing great also and they were able to go home today. I went to visit them in the hospital yesterday and Allison looks fabulous. It makes me sick how cute and little she is less than 24 hours after having a baby (and this being the second one in 15 months!) Allison's little girl Ella Kate wasn't there yesterday when I went to visit but they said she loved her new little brother. I'm sure it is going to be a big adjustment having 2 little ones now. Congratulations Allison and Rob. I'm glad it's you and not me!