Thursday 13

1. I have officially started back to the gym. I seriously need a daily gym routine in my life and I decided to stop being lazy and just go. Josh has been going with me this week but tomorrow starts his new position as Team Leader so he will be going in the morning and I will be going in the afternoon.

2. Today is day 12 on the countdown to summer break! Yahoo!

3. Tomorrow is Camenron's memorial service. It's at 11:00. All of the 6th grade teachers are riding together and our kids are checking out to go. I hope that his family comes.

4. Saturday Josh and I are going to Jasper. We are meeting first to get Josh's hair cut and then we are going to dinner with Karla and Craig. Then I am going to meet the girls at Perico's and we are going to Brittany's house for Heather's lingerie party. It has been ages since I have gotten to see the girls at all so I'm pretty excited about that!

5. Sunday Josh and I are going to First Baptist for the first time. We looked at their website and they have everything that we are looking for. Pray for us because we are nervous. It's pretty gigantic and intimidating but I just feel like it's probably going to be the one...

6. Monday is the Atlanta trip and my kids are SO excited about it. I am the sponsor for the National Honor Society and we are teaming up with the Beta Club to go to Atlanta. We are going to hit the Aquarium, the Coke factory, and CNN. I think that it will be fun and it's the first field trip that I am in charge of so it's pretty exciting for me...and it doesn't hurt that we are taking charter busses instead of regular school busses.

7. I'm trying not to snack so much and it's really hard because currently I am starving.

8. Yesterday Mr. McGee (theboss) called me into his office to ask me if I had reconsidered quiting. I said that I can't because of my internship and he told me how sad he was going to be to lose me and how good he thinks I am at my job. It made me feel so good. He also asked me if they could call me next year when it was time for the pageant because I was a great director and he will need my help with it next year! That will probably bite "number 3" right on the butt to see me here running the pageant next year (when I don't even work here) after she told me how badly I did at it last year. Some people! :)

9. I am really looking forward to this summer. We have a lot of things planned that are going to be so much fun. One thing that I am looking forward to is that my little (17 year old not-so-little-anymore) cousins (who I adore) are coming to stay a week with me in July. We are going to Six Flags with them and then a few other times. (We love Six Flags)

10. Josh and I are working hard to convince his mom that we have to go to Disney World this November. We are having Disney World withdrawels.

11. I can't believe that I am going to graduate in just ONE year! Is that even possible. I was beginning to feel like graduation was a mirage that didn't really exist that colleges made up so that we would just keep frying our brains and giving them money...

12. I am still starving and I have run out of things to say to fill my 13.

13. I am going to go to lunch now. The End. :)

Memorial service, computer room, and today's agenda...totally random information

Today we found out that they are holding a memorial service for Camenron on Friday at 11. Our kids can check out to go and all of the 6th grade teachers are excused to go and then come back. I'm glad that they finally set something up. There is a debate going on with Etowah county over where they will bury him but that's a whole different sad story. Tiffany and I have been looking into getting the mayor to come out and recognize the boy(s) that jumped in and saved the other boy that was drowning. He will probably come and give them recognition on awards day here at the school.

Josh is at home today. He is working on pulling up the carpet in the computer room and pulling up the baseboards. We painted one wall purple but we didn't like it once we got it on there so we are either going to go with a darker purple or maybe a red. It's hard to choose. Really, you never know what you will like until it's on the walls.

Today after school we are going to the gym and then I need to go get my driver's liscence renewed! I am sad about that because I really like my picture. I wonder if they will let me keep the same picture if I still look the same?? Well, my kids are at break now and they will tear down the walls if I don't get out there.

Update...

A quick update to add to my last blog about Camenron...They did find his body. All that the news release said was that they found it at 11:05 in the Cahaba River. I told my kids. It was hard but not nearly as bad as this morning. They are dealing with it.

Trying to understand God's ways...

Yesterday morning Josh and I woke up to an early phone call. It was Mrs. Lowe. She is the 6th grade math teacher. She was calling to tell me that one of our students, Camenron Knowles, had drowned. Apparently, he had been at the Cahaba River with some of the other kids from his group home and two of them got caught in the current. One of the older kids, Chavez Clark was able to save one of the younger boys but he couldn't reach Camenron. The rescue team has been diving in the river trying to find Camenron's body but have had no luck. We have heard that the river is really rough where Camenron was and that there is no telling when or even if they will find him.

Camenron was the same kid that I blogged about a few months ago that had gotten into trouble when a group of other kids jumped him and he fought back. He really just got dealt a bad hand. I guess sometimes I just don't understand why things are the way that they are for certain kids. Camenron was 13 but he was still a kid on the inside and he had been through so much in life. I just think that it's not fair.

I know that it is not our job (as believers) to judge others for their actions and I really do try not to do that but sometimes I just get so aggrivated at people who pretend to be followers of Jesus Christ who very obviously walk to their own version of the scripture. There were so many people at this school who didn't care about Camenron at all before this accident. They didn't want him here because he caused trouble and they couldn't look past the outer appearance into the fact that he was just a kid and he didn't know any better because he never had parents who took care of him or taught him right from wrong. He did the best he could. It just really stinks to see those same people who were talking about how they couldn't wait for Camenron to be kicked out of our school so that they didn't have to deal with him anymore, being the ones who are crying and sobbing and can't control themselves.

I guess that my main question for God is...Is Camenron being held accountable for his actions or is he still considered as a child in the eyes of God? See, Camenron came from a rough background and I don't have any idea what he's been through in life but I do know that he doesn't have parents or family, he lives in a group home (orphanage) called Triwell, and the kids who live in Triwell have to have some kind of criminal record. I don't know what he did or how he ended up there but I do know that even though he played tough, he was still a kid who needed love and guidence and didn't ever have either.

James 1:26-27 (New International Version)
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Our kids this morning were a mess. Most of them didn't even know about what had happened until they got to school today. I spent my morning with the group of kids who spent all day with Camenron everyday. They were so shocked and sad and angry. It was hard and I did break down a few times but I tried to keep it together because I had to be the grown up that told them that everything will be ok. For some of them, if not most of them, this is their first experience with loss like this. They cried and sobbed and held onto eachother. We passed out tissues and hugged and talked. They made posters to send to Triwell (his group home) and they talked about the field trip on Friday and how much fun Camenron had.

Well, I guess that's all there is to say about that. Please pray for the kids who were close to him and for his family (if he has one out there somewhere). Please pray for the other kids like Camenron who go unnoticed in this world.

Weekend at the Odom residence

Today is Saturday and I LOVE Saturdays. I have about a million things to do today but I have hardly done anything at all except for catch up on the Grey's Anatomy episodes that I have missed and paid bills. I just needed a break for a few hours. It was nice. :) Now, I just got out of the shower, I am about to get ready and go to Wal-Mart to buy groceries and then I am going to come home and straighten up the house. I HATE cleaning but my house is looking pretty rough so I guess it's about time. When Josh gets home from work we are going to cook supper together and then we are going to either rent a movie or go to the movies (we haven't decided that yet). We are also going to go to lowe's and pick out the paint for the computer room and look at all of the other stuff like floors, baseboards, crown molding, and lighting. I'm REALLY excited about that! We also need to run by the mall and get Josh some new khakies for church and for work. He got a promotion! He's now a team leader so he will be coaching other people. He's very excited and I am very proud! I guess that's all about us for now. We are trying a new church tomorrow so please pray for us. We have been praying hard about it because we want to find the perfect place and we just want to fit in and make friends and all of that but I know we are working on God's timing and not our own. I'm trying to be patient...but I'm not praying for patience... :)

Warning! All-out, over-the-top, whiny, pathetic venting session ahead....Proceed with caution:

Today I am feeling whinier than usual (which I know is hard to believe) but it's true. It's because even though we are so close to the end of this school year I still feel desperate for it to just be over. I am thankful for this job because it definately taught me a lot and I got to spend a lot of extra time with my sister and get my name around for when I graduate and try to get a real teaching job.However, I am so ready for this job to be over. I have almost successfully completed day 18 on the countdown and I am desperate for the next three weeks to come and go. I will be SO glad to say goodbye to this school and move on with my life. I have, however, learned from this job what kind of teacher and coworker that I don't want to be. There are just a few really mean and hateful people that I have worked with here. I have had my own personal encounter with three of them and I am a totally non-confrontational person so you can imagine how that worked out for me. I accidentally kinda sorta used the laminatior machine a few months ago without knowing exactly how to use it. It only has like three buttons so I didn't figure it would be that complicated. Well, after being personally chewed out in the middle of the hall by one of them, I was then verbally attacked by the second one via school-wide e-mail and then also a Vypress (chat) at the end of the day just in case I was lucky enough that anyone on the faculty hadn't gotten the e-mail. She really wanted to be sure that I was sorry. Now she personally keeps the laminator machine locked up in her room for supervision because apparently she owns the entire school. I have considered telling her that she can let go of her grip on the laminator because I wouldn't touch the thing with a 10 foot pole after last time...but, I suppose that would require me to have a back bone and unfortunately, I was born without one of those. So, anyway, then when I single-handedly voulenteered to set up and run the entire beauty pageant single-handedly I was told all night how aweful it was and how bad of a job I did by number three who (by the way) didn't voulenteer to help at all. Oh, and did I mention that I did that single-handedly? (Except for the amazing help of my super-sister who flew in and saved the day. I would have had a nervous break-down and then died of a heart attack if she hadn't been there.) I did, in fact, have a panic-induced, all-out whailing, balling, crying session when the pageant was almost over in front of at least a few of my co-workers. I would like to personally thank number three for that show of public humiliation. The three of you will not be forgotten. I will tell the tales of the horrors of my first year as a teacher for many years to come I am sure. Hopefully, between now and then I will grow a back bone and stand up to someone who runs over me with their own personal train of mean-hearted wickedness. Oh, my. I believe that I have over-shared and that you have just witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime venting session. Sorry. I got carried away.

Useless Information

Well, this is my last week of the Spring semester of classes. Thank goodness! This semester has just about killed me...and I guess I am a glutton for punishment because I am registered to take 7 classes in the summer. I know! It's a lot... But, I have to take that many to graduate next year and right now I am at the point where I will do ANYTHING to grduate!

Josh and I are planning to start working on our office this weekend and I am so excited! We are getting a bed for the guest room and I found this really pretty bedroom set on Sticks and Stuff website that is pretty cheap that we are going to see about this weekend too. I'm excited to see the finished product of the office. I think that it is going to be much more grown-up and professional looking. I will post pictures if we ever finish!

Other than that I am just counting down the days until this school year is over and I am free! It has not been a bad year but I definately have those end-of-the-year gitters and I can't wait until I am done! I am looking forward to just being abe to concentrate on college and SLEEP LATE! I am a sleeper so that has been the downfall for me this year with my up-at-5am job. I'm ALWAYS tired. I usually sleep when I come home from work for about an hour or two and then still go to bed with Josh at around 10. I have a B-12 deficiency. :) I like to use that as a good excuse to sleep all the time!

I got a Twitter. My aunt Tina sent me a request to get one so I did. I like it because the status updates are my favorite thing about facebook.

Oh, I am going on a field trip Friday with my kids. It's nothing spectacular. Acutally, I really don't know where we are going! But, I am very excited that I got a free t-shirt and I get to wear jeans! We never get to wear jeans and I have told Josh probably about a million times this year that if I could wear jeans then I would be SO much happier with my job!!

Well, that's really all of the news about us for now...A lot of people that I know are pregnant right now so I kind of have baby fever. But, I'm sure it will fade. It usually comes and goes. We still need a few years. But, we are painting the guest room a light color so that we can paint over it when we have our first baby. Planning ahead....

An AMAZING week

I haven't posted anything in a while and it's because last week was spring break for West Blocton and I got to go on vacation! It was really amazing! It just so happened to turn out that spring break fell on the same week of mine and Josh's wedding anniversary. So, he took off work and we went to the beach. We left Saturday afternoon after spending the day with our families for Easter celebrations. We stayed in Josh's aunt and uncle's beach house that was really adorable! We loved it there. It is in Pensicola which is quiet and peaceful but only 10 minutes from Gulf Shores where there is lots of stuff to do. We spent most of the week lounging at the house and walking on the beach. We picked seashells and chased crabs and just played and had fun together. We both needed that vacation from work and we had a blast. Tuesday, on our anniversary, Josh (my amazing wonderful husband) suprised me with tickets to Cirque Du Soleil which I have wanted to see forever!! THat day we went to the Navy Aviation museum which was pretty amazing and then we ate lunch at the Gulf Island Grill. We went to The Warf and ate ice cream and walked around. Then we went to a souviner shop and then we went back to the beach. It was a really great trip. We got to relax and just be together with no distractions. We came home on Wednesday because I had a final on Thursday. Tiffany went with me to take my final and we took my Uncle Mallick who was visiting from Chicago for the week out to lunch and then I took the dreaded final. After that we headed back to Birmingham and we saw Wicked! It was AMAZING!! I LOVED it!! I would see it a thousand times! The next day I had to go back to Athens to take another final. So, Josh went with me because Cirque Du Soliel was that night in Huntsville. Well, we got stuck in traffic in Birmingham for a while so I flew the rest of the way trying to make it to my final on time. Guess what? I got a big fat stinkin ticket!! AAH! I cried all hysterically and made Josh drive the rest of the way and was 30 minutes late for my final which my professor was not too excited about! Ugh! Well, it's over now! After the test, we went to the Decatur Mall where I got to see my good friend Kelly who has an adorable baby bump! Then we ate Mexican for lunch and went to Cirque Du Soliel. It was also quite AMAZING!! We had a blast! It was one of those things that I can't really explain. It was just really cool! My mom and my little sister Olivia came to Tuscaloosa to have a sleep-over with me and Tiffany Saturday night. We watched movies and ate pizza. Then yesterday Josh and I just hung out around the house and rested! We had an AMAZING week that I didn't ever want to end! It was so much fun and I LOVED getting to spend all of my time with him! I was sad to come back to work today but I am excited that I only have four weeks left! I hope that they fly by and then it's on to a great summer! Well, that's enough about me for now!

Almost spring break.....

I can't believe that this week is finally here and halfway over! Next week is spring break for me and Josh and I are going to the beach! Tuesday (April 14th) is our wedding anniversary and we are going to be lounging at the beach! Yay! We honestly didn't even plan it like that. He just took the week off because I was off for spring break and we decided to go to the beach. I am really excited because we never get to spend days at a time together like that and we are finally getting the chance to get away just the two of us! The best thing about being married for me and Josh is that we have so much fun together. I could seriously spend all day every day with him and never get tired of him. He's amazing and he's so sweet and good to me. I'm spoiled and I love it!! :) I can't believe that we have only been married for 2 years. It feels like we have been married our whole life!

On the school front...I actually finished my research paper and today I am going to go back and footnote the whole thing and then I can turn it in! Yay! That is such a huge relief! I still have to do my book review but I have until Friday to finish it! I am trying to get all of my stuff done that is due next week so that I don't have to do any work while we are on vacation! When we come back I will have 3 finals and then I will be done with this semester! I can't believe that I am actually still alive to see the end of this semester! It has kicked my butt!! I interviewed Monday for the TEP and they loved me! It was really great! I just started praying before I went in and they were so sweet and they said that I did great and that I was going to make a great teacher! I am all registered for next semester and I will be taking 7 classes so pray for me!! AAH! But, I will only have 4 weeks left of my job when Josh and I come back from the beach and then I am FREE!! Yay! I get to still get paid and keep our insurance through September so I have no complaints!

I can't believe that I am only two semesters away from being a real teacher! I have never wanted anything so bad as I want to walk across that stage and get my diploma! People who do not go to college just cannot understand how stressgful it is and how much that degree means to you when you actually make it! Almost there! :) I get to end the school year with another great week long vacation to the beach with the husband...and next time we are taking some tagalongs...Mallory, Jake, Heidi, Jon, Cary, and Justin are all going with us! I took the last week of school off because Josh was off for a vacation time and so we are going down to celebrate my newfound freedom!! I cannot wait for that! That will be the biggest relief of my life! I can't believe that it' s so close. Everyday that I am here at work I just continue to tell myself...only 4 weeks left!!

Well, That's really all of the news for us right now! I will try to post more often this week. :)

Good news...Bad news...

We got some good news and some bad news yesterday. Good news is that our phones are FINALLY being processed and they should be sent out today which means that we will get them tomorrow! Bad news is that our new renters didn't make the first payment. Well, yesterday was the first and it was due yesterday and it didn't come. I tried to call and they didn't answer. Wendy said that they are home. I'm going to give them a few days before I send something. I am SO dissappointed in this. I just really thought that they were the right people for us and that they would be great about paying rent on time. I know that right now it's just one day late but I have learned that if they don't make the first payment on time then they will never pay on time.

I got registered for Summer term yesterday. I have to take seven classes so naturally when the computer told me that I could only register for six...I started freaking out. I called my advisor and he told me to call the dean. The dean told me to drop by his office and he would fix it up for me! That was good news! Whew! My research paper is at a stand still. I had a few other things to finish up before I dove into the paper and it turns out that those few other assignments have taken me all week to finish! I have got to have this paper done by this weekend! AAH! I just keep telling myself that in a few weeks this semester will be over! It has been a tough one to say the least. Next semester is guaranteed to be even worse with three education classes and four history classes.

Oh! Exciting news! My mom has decided to get her Master's Degree! I think that this is a great plan and I'm really excited for her. She will be able to teach nursing school when she graduates! I think that it's about time that my mom have a job that she really loves! I have always wanted my mom to be a teacher. I know that she will love it! She only has to go to school for two years to get her Master's and then she can get a great job!

Well, I guess that's all of my news for today. I am off to go start testing. Today's the last day. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about that. ? :) :( ?