OK! The last thing on our house (or at least the last big thing that we had paid for and we were waiting to have done) is now completed!!! Our driveway is now paved and is SO much better than spinning my wheels and having to back down the hill. Now people can actually drive up to my front door to visit!! Hallelujah and Merry Christmas! It may be the only thing we will get for Christmas, and may not mean as much to my kids as a new toy, but it is still wonderful! :)

Also, I will have more pictures coming soon since several people have said they have been waiting for them.

I have a couple of friends right now who are going through some really difficult family problems, and as I find myself thinking and praying for them daily I have been thinking about a few things:

First, people are going to disappoint you. It is inevitable, I guess. The ones we care about the most can inflict the most pain by breaking our hearts. It makes me scared sometimes to think about the possibility that I could wake up one day and things could be completely turned upside down. I guess that is when faith kicks in and you learn to depend on God.

Second, everyone is going to face something tough. I have lived in a relatively peaceful little bubble my whole life; I have had family members affected by illness, but not me personally so far. I have had grandparents and distant relatives die, but not unexpectedly or those that had a profound effect on me. I have been thinking lately that I seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop -- that I am living as though I am expecting something bad to happen to me because nothing really has yet. I do not know if this is a good way to live or not -- it has made me take each moment more seriously, but I think it is a little morbid too.

Third, forgiveness is not impossible but it is very difficult. As much as I hate to admit it, I sometimes hold on to hurt feelings -- I may not always show it on the outside, but I feel it on the inside. I do not hold grudges, but I do not let go of wounded feelings. However, I have a couple of people that I really admire that I have seen be emotionally devastated by someone and still go on to forgive and continue to love that person. I think about one that I know whose spouse was having an affair. Me, I would want to kill my husband and other woman, I would want to see them punished, I would want to nurse my wounded heart by wallowing in self-pity and tears, I would be suspicious and would say the marriage is over because I cannot get past the hurt. However, I think of my friend who wears a smile most days and who is working very hard to keep the marriage together through counseling and forgiveness. My friend is an inspiration to me about the love of God and the way we are supposed to be and how I fall short of that.

I guess we should all be thankful for what we do have as long as we have them, but realize that life is short and nothing is forever except God. I think that just might change the way I live and the value I place on certain things.

Christmas Music

I love the message of Christmas and I love certain songs on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. BUT does anyone else get annoyed at the high soprano-screeching songs or the fact that they play Christmas music on Thanksgiving? I don't want to take away from the meaning of Christ's birth and the songs that glorify that or the funny songs that make me laugh (like the Little Drummer Boy Next Door) when they are played near Christmas, but come on -- it is still November!!!!

AAAAHHHHHH!

I know officers have a job to do, and I understand that they can't trust many people to be telling the truth...BUT...my tag was apparently expired and I never got my notice apparently because they do not forward those. WOW! It would have helped if I had known that before I got a ticket for it. I explained that we were living temporarily somewhere and that I only got my permanent address 2 weeks ago and that I was trying to avoid changing my driver's license twice, but that did not matter. NNNNOOOOOO... I now have a nice little ticket in my purse. Of course, now that I KNEW that it was expired I immediately had everything changed -- my license, my registration, my property tax mailing address, etc. A little too late, I guess. Bummer!

Well, we have been in our house for a week and 5 days; it still does not seem real at times, but it is all wonderful! I love not driving way out into Egypt to get home -- instead I can be home in 7 minutes from about anywhere in town; I love waking up and looking at the fog rolling over the mountains; I love having so much room in my kitchen(!); I love driving home at night and seeing the windows lit up; and basically I love living there. I feel like I have been waiting for this forever, and now I finally get to enjoy the results! I am just waiting now for the time that I can go home and relax instead of painting, hanging curtains, unpacking boxes, etc., but it is all good!

Rants and Raves

We have a section in our local paper for people to vent and not have to be accoutable for what they say; I absolutley HATE reading them because they usually make me mad, but I decided I am going to have my own section anyway. I guess I can't make myself too mad~

RAVES:

1. I love the really talented and fun people I do the shows with; everyone works hard and brings such unique and individual personalities to every show.
2. I like my classes this year; the students in them are fun to have in class.
3. My kids are sweet and wonderful!
4. I love it when people aren't afraid to stand up to individuals who do nothing but try to complain and stir up trouble. I wish I could do that instead of running to avoid an argument.
5. I love people who are genuinely nice and kind people. (I feel like I should burst into a Barbara Streisand song here...Oh, help me please!!!)
6. I love music -- all kinds of music!
7. I love Dr. Pepper -- way too much right now. I think I am addicted to it in order to stay awake, so I guess that is not a good thing, but I love it anyway!
8. I think it is fun to get costumes for my kids for Halloween and see them get all excited about dressing up and having fun. I also like to raid their candy for any Reese's cups or Whoppers, or Milk Duds
9. I love my refrigerator and am so excited about it -- and my washer and dryer too! I can't wait to use them all!!!! (I think I am really sick now that I realize that I just said that! It is very true though!)
10. I love really hot bubble baths with NO interruptions (even though I have not had one in 10 years!)
11. I love a really good neck and back massage -- I really need one desperately but can't afford one.

RANTS:

1. I hate it when people talk out of both sides of their mouths to appease all sides instead of making a stand -- especially when that person is in an authoritative position, like a boss or a SUPERvisor who INTENDs to run an organization of ANTS.
2. I hate useless, meaningless meetings that last all day and are pointless and take up valuable time and energy
3. I really hate people who try to impose their own ideas on others and try to make decisions for everyone else based on their own tastes, etc.
4. I hate people who are so closed-minded that they cannot see past their own viewpoint -- and also those who hold a grudge and can't let things go. I mean, get over yourself already!!!!! Now it just sounds like sour grapes!
5. I hate it when people sit and stare at themselves, sing to themselves, make faces at themselves, etc. in the mirror backstage during a show
6. I hate getting my feet wet in the rain -- or worse yet, getting the back of my pant cuffs wet
7. I dislike alarm clocks and having to get up when it is dark outside (and also those people who are chipper in the morning! Something is really wrong with them. I mean, who can be in a good mood when it is dark, cold, and people should still be under the nice warm covers?!)
8. I really dislike it when people think they know you and try to judge you based on their own negativity (-- I am NOT a jealous person who is so petty and selfish that I can't be appreciative, supportive, and proud of very talented people who work very hard to be absolutely great at what they do and I AM a person who loves to watch and listen to really talented people do what they do best!)
9. I hate it when my husband drinks all the milk the day I buy the gallon at the store
10. I hate scrubbing toilets! ICK!!!

New Pictures

New appliances, floor, furniture, and stairs...

Now the fun begins...

Well, we got our certificate of occupancy, which means we can officially move in any time we want and that everything becomes permanent -- our morgage, our insurance, our electric bill, our address, etc.

I have my kitchen stuff washed and put away and a couple of pieces of furniture in, but there is still so much to move. I guess it will be another week or 2 before we actually get to call it home, especially with school during the day. It is getting there though! Hooray!

Let there be light!

Yeah! The power company got us hooked up today, my air will be on tomorrow, my carpet is supposed to be installed in a week, and my hardwood floors should go in last after that. Maybe in 2 1/2 weeks we should be able to move in completely! YIPPEE!!!!!

WAITING....still

An update for those who are very sweetly keeping up with our house progress...

We are waiting for the power company to hook us up -- when they do, we will have power and water. Then I can finish painting the touch-up spots and see where I have missed. Once the power (and air) is on, we will bring the hardwood in to climatize before we lay it.

We are waiting for my railing on my stairs to be completed -- there have been a few gliches with its progress, the latest one being that the last box of spindle-things were the wrong ones. All is done except for first landing of the stairs, and that should be done in about 3 days.

We found out we need risers on our basement stairs in order to get our CO, so my husband is working on that.

We are waiting for the carpet layer to call us back with the final measurements so we can pick up our carpet and get that installed.

That is all. We are so close, though, that it is getting REALLY hard to wait anymore. This little place we are living in is SO small right now we are about to kill each other!!!!!!

Have you ever...

Have you ever been so tired that you drive the wrong way trying to get home?

Have you ever been so tired that you fell asleep when you walked in the door, walked to your bed, and fell over -- shoes and all?

Have you ever been so tired that you ...what was I saying?...wait, I was talking about beinhg tified, wasnt'tn i> i thinkg id ;four got..................................................................

updates again

Here are few new pictures of my countertop, kitchen, etc...

I have a lot of flaws, I know, but one thing I can say is that I am truly happy for other people when something good happens to them. If someone gets a nice new car or a great new job or something they have wanted desperately I am truly thrilled to see them get it. I would not begrudge anyone nice things, especially my friends, because I only want the best for them. I guess that is why my feelings are hurt by my friends who have said mean things or acted jealous about our new house. We are excited about it, but in no way is it a competition to see who can have something better or "one up" somebody else. We have waited and saved and planned every aspect of this house for a very long time to get what we are able to have now, but we feel like we can't even ask our friends over to our house now because they might say more mean things or accuse us of stealing their ideas/colors or roll their eyes or whatever. I have learned who my true friends are and who are really jealous people who care more about things than feelings of those they call friend.

My cabinets

My cabinets are in; here are some pictures... The brown is my kitchen and the lighter is my bathroom. I included one of my tub , shower, and bathroom floor as well; didn't my handy dandy husband do a good job?!

I'll post more pictures soon -- especially when my counter tops are installed.

This looks into the laundry room to our pantry and a utility closet
My bathroom (it is kind of hard to see here, I know)

House updates

My shower is finished (and is BEAUTIFUL!), I have all the rooms painted except for my room, my tongue/groove ceiling is almost finished, my cabinets will be delivered and installed Sunday and Monday, my bathroom floor will be grouted probably tomorrow, my stair guys will start working hopefully this next week, and my countertops should be installed by the end of next week. WOW! A lot has been done this week. My lighting and plumbing fixtures should be ready to be installed next week as well, so that leaves the air conditioning units being set and then the flooring. Once the fixtures, stairs, and air are in then we can get our CO; apparently we do not need flooring to get that. Everything looks good to be in by the end of September...YEAH!

What's New?

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks -- I now have my laundry room, daughter's room, son's room, kitchen, and most of my dining room painted (including the trim -- or most of it, anyway). My mama is busy painting doors, windows and baseboards for me while I am busy climbing up and down the latter and rolling all of the walls. It is coming along... Meanwhile, my husband is busy laying tile, so my laundry room is completely finished (paint, trim, and tile), the kid's bathroom has finished tile and I plan to paint that this week so it will be done and ready for cabinets, my shower is well underway, and tomorrow my 1/2 bath and master tub top will be tiled. We are trying to get everything done for our cabinets to be installed in about a week or so. It is SO exicting to see it all coming together now; I am really eager to see the kitchen cabinets and countertops because that and my walk-in shower are my 2 favorite things in the house.

On top of working at the house in the heat and humidity all day long, I have started filling in at a restaurant waiting tables to earn some extra money. I haven't waited tables in years, but I definitely enjoy this place so much more than the last one I worked at!!!! It is a lot less stressful and a lot more fun! I worked at a country club before so everything had to be just right and it was all very formal. I like being able to just be myself, to know a lot of the people I am serving, and to not have the manager correcting every little thing (like the fact that you put the plate down from the wrong side of the customer or that you refilled the cup on the wrong side). Here it is really laid back and fun. I hope he lets me stay on and work even more!

I am sore, aching, tired, cramped, swollen, and hurting and I am loving every minute of it!!!!!!!

Who Wants to be a Superhero

It's BAAACCCKKK! The ever cheesy and hysterical Stan Lee show is back for a second season, believe it or not. FUNNY!! I especially like the superhero wannabe who uses his sweat as a weapon and the one who uses the cleaning supplies to defeat the evil wall of funk! I feel another show night coming on!! :) I think it starts tomorrow night -- Oh, Scooottttyyyy...


check out the site...
http://www.scifi.com/superhero/

Who needs sleep?

I am running on about 3 hours of sleep today; I couldn't settle down last night and finally fell asleep around 5:30 this morning. Thinking of bills, paint, decorations, husband being gone, kids (and dog) crowding me in the bed, more bills, what comes next in the house, how it will all fall in line, what I will teach in AP next year, how I feel like I failed some of my AP kids because they did not do better on their test, what I plan to do differently, how I really can't wait to do Annie Get Your Gun, how I really need to find a job, how disappointed and hurt I am that my business venture seems to be out the window and has put me in the stressful situation, how I really am tired and want to go to sleep, etc. Whew! I makes to me tired to relive it!!!!

Choices

I have to make a very difficult choice; do I do what I love or do I do what is going to be most beneficial? It kind of sounds easy when put like that. I absolutely love doing the musicals; in fact, I almost live for it and do not know what to do with myself if I am not doing a play. However, building this house is causing me to stress about whether or not we can make the payments; therefore, I feel like I need to get a second job. If I get another job then I will have to work evenings when school starts back and that would make the 7:00 play practices impossible for me to do. I do not want to take away the time I spend with my kids in the summer or the time that I am home in the school year AND I do not want to miss being a part of the fall show, yet I can't sleep at night for worrying about having enough money. As it is, we can't get any of the new furniture to put in the house that we wanted. I guess it should be a no-brainer, but that does not make it any easier!

House

I love the view from my porch!

Well, the outside of the house is painted and drywall is being finished today; maybe next week I can start painting the inside so I won't have to do it when the flooring and cabinetry is in.

Pets

I am so sad because our kitty cat is missing; he has been gone for a couple of days. The worst thing about it is seeing my daughter so upset every time we open the door. The cat is hers and she is heartbroken and afraid that something happened to the cat. It is one thing to deal with the loss of a pet yourself, but it is entirely different and MUCH harder to see your children hurting and not be able to do anything about it! I am so hoping that he is just off roaming aroung looking for a girlfriend and that he will come back very soon -- I miss his little face and his sweet purring.

Little Things That Make Me Happy

Yesterday I picked out the countertops for my new house, and the one for my kitchen makes me so happy!! I have been so worried about getting the right one to match the colors that I want to use and that will bring everything together; I have actually been losing sleep because my husband kept putting it off and I was afraid of not being able to find the right thing. BUT... now it is done and I only have to worry about it turning out right now! :) It is such an insignificant thing, but it makes me so happy.

10 Other little things that make me feel full of happiness:

1. sitting on my new deck watching the sunset
2. my children kissing my cheek and telling me they love me
3. seeing a silly kids movie and listening to a little boy in the back say "Wow! That was quite an adventure!" after the rat went down a sewer waterfall
4. my little dog curled up behind me on the couch with his head over on my shoulder trying to lick my ear
5. no dirty dishes in my sink to wash
6. getting the news that the AP audit syllabus that I worked on for 3 months at school last semester passed
7. having actual walls up in my house instead of just studs
8. Enntemen's devil's food cake donuts with the crumbs and powdered sugar on top and a tall glass of milk
9. Dr. Pepper
10. my husband actually being home before 5:00 today (instead of 8-9:00 that it has been since school let out)

I like finding happiness in little things!

Happy 4th of July

I love 4th of July! I love the fireworks, I love that I can spend it with my family usually, I love that people here wear red/white/blue, and I especially love the freedom we have in this country! I weep during the National Anthem and "God Bless America" and everytime someone honors the veterans. I am so thankful that I live in America, and even with all of its faults, it is still a wonderful country and I am proud to be an American.

I love this article and the spirit of America that is shows:

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jul04/0,4670,ODDStarSpangledDiner,00.html

Have a great Independence Day and remember to thank a veteran!

Families...

I wonder if everybody thinks the same way about his/her place in the family. I feel like the failure in my family and the one on the outside. My sisters are beautiful, stylish, successful, smart, talented, well-liked, well-off, and great at everything they do. Then there is me... I am not good at much, average and plain, overweight and struggling with it, one of the lowest paid professionals, without many close friends to hang out with, etc. I know they look at me and wonder how I came to be in the family; maybe they were right all those years ago when they teased me and told me I was really adopted.

Building a house

To add to the craziness of my life, we are building a house. Everyone we talked to about it beforehand said how stressful it was and how it would strain our marriage and how they would never do it again. I have to say, though, after being 4 months into the process, it has not been bad at all. We had a great contractor for the framing,a lot of dry weather when we needed it, and great subs who showed up when they were supposed to and did great work. Of course, my husband has been at the house 5 or 6 days a week for 10-11 hours a day or more for the last 3 weeks, so he might have something different to say about the stress! The worst part is trying to make all the decisions without having the actual items to match and compare; I really would love to be able to take a door from my kitchen cabinets to match up with counter tops, or a piece of my hardwood floor to take to match up with my tile, etc. Better yet, I wish I lived in a town where there was 1 place or 1 person to help me with all the selections. We hope we are a couple of months away, and I can't wait. The little place we are all squeezing into right now gets smaller by the day!

Summer Vacation

The best thing about being a teacher:

SUMMER VACATION! I love being able to sleep until 9:00 or so, go to the pool with my kids if I want, being able to keep up with my dirty dishes and dirty laundry for at least a little while, and having the time to read and develop new units to teach in the fall. Alas! August soon approaches. I guess I better get out and enjoy summer while it is here.