Good Stuff Happening

We have had Tyson now for two months. He has proven to be a handful. Terrible twos? Try terrible 11 months! He is experiencing the world through his mouth right now and four pairs of our shoes have been the victims. My favorite heels, chewed. Both of Leland's pairs of dress shoes, goners. My casual Nikes, no more. It would be one thing if he would just chew, but he rips apart and chews. His favorite activity is ripping things apart with his mouth. If he could rip off my arm he probably would do it. When he's not ripping things apart he's a total sweetheart. On Firday I came home after one of the worst days of my life. The first thing he does is make me laugh. My arms were full of stuff from work and I had brough home some extra bananas. As I was standing, letting Leland hug me as I broke down into tears, Tyson jumps on the chair, stands on the arm and grabs a banana from arms. It lightened my mood for a few minutes. The rest of the evening he sat on my lap and let me pet him. It was the first night in a few weeks that he did not try to bite me or act all crazy. Dogs really can tell when you are feeling down. He really made my night and weekend that much better. He is also a whopping 26 lbs now! He is still trim, but boy did he put on the muscle! He is one strong pup. He hasn't grown a whole lot, but hs stout. I guess he really does fit in with the family. The only issue we have right now is his baldness. Last time we went to the vet he had a little bald spot on his head around the temple area. The doc said there was hair starting to grow in, but to keep a look out for any more hair loss on other parts of the boy. This past weekend, we started noticing hair loss on his shoulder, more on his face and his back. I am really hoping it's not mainge. We go to the doggy doc tomorrow to find out what is going.

The best thing, LELAND IS DEFENDING HIS DISSERTATION TOMORROW, EEEEEK! SO EXCITED! HE WILL FINALLY BE FINISHED AND HE CAN BE CALLED DR. PAGE! Can you tell I'm more than a little excited? Five years of this stuff for him, two years for me. School will be over and he can finally get a job. Can't wait for that to happen. As soon as he get a job, he gets the rent payment. I will still cover everything else, but he gets the rent. I am actually going to take the day off of work tomorrow to go watch him present. I will have no clue what he is talking about, but I wil be there to support him. I love that man and all the hard work he has done. YAY!

Wait a Minute Hold the Phone

Did I hear that correctly? Did he really say I am doing a good job? I have finally been told I am doing a good job. It only took nine weeks. I was finally in an admin meeting where I wasn't being chewed out or pointed out for something. Kinda nice when that happens. Things at work have been absolutely crazy! I have never felt so much like quitting than what I feel like now. I am not a quitter though, so I will work it out. I will make it through the toil and strife of this dang blasted job.





On the great side there is good news to share, but I can't share it yet. I have to wait until everything is official and the name has been signed on the dotted line. So you must wait as patiently as I before I can share. Let's just say I will finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief when the news goes public. When I heard it last night I almost cried.





Tyson is doing well. When we got him about a month ago he weighted 11 pounds. As of last week, he weighed 16 pounds. He seems to still be growing and the weight he has put on does not show, so I think it has been muscle becasue he is finally getting the nourishment and most of the exercise he needs. He is still a handful. he has come to the conclusion that Leland is the alpha in the group (we all know I am the true alpha of the family, but I gotta give something to Leland right ;) ) and I am the chew toy. He always so happy and excited to see mw when I get home that now jumps about two feet in the air when I walk through the door. Last night I went down to pet him and he jumped a the same time and my hand smacked his head and went falling, hard. Like a little trooper he got back up and did the same thing as though nothing had happened. He's so much fun and he has been a great heater as the the temperatures have been dropping.

The Page Family is Growing!

I know what you are thinking and I am not preggers! Last week Leland and I adopted the cutest little puppy ever! He is a weimeraner mix. We think he is mixed with pit bull. He is eight months old (almost 9) and a total sweetheart. We found him at the Animal Defense League. I actually had my mind set on a little Boston terrier/beagle mix, but that dog wasn't there when we showed up. We started looking around and went to the small/medium dog habitats. The first little face I saw was Varick (that was his name until we changed it). The other dogs were running around barking and howling and being unruly. Varick was sitting at the fence calmly and sweetly looking up at those who walked by. There was another group that was looking in the same area and they saws Varick as well. My heart completely melted when I saw this guy. I had no intention of getting a dog under 1 1/2 years old. I didn't want to go through all the puppy stages with a dog. But this little guy was all I could think about even after taking another stroll around the complex. Leland knew I was not going to back down, so he gave in and we started the adoption process. We weren't able to take him home right away because it was nearing the end of the evening and the apartment complex had already closed it's doors for the day so the ADL could not get in touch with them. That's okay, because it gave us some time to think of a name for him. Varick was just weird, to say the least. It took us all night then Leland said, "Tyson". I agreed and now we have Tyson Page.

The past week has been full of little surprises on the floor and learning how smart this little guy really is. Leland has been teaching him to climb up on the couch and the bed. Thankfully, he hasn't learned to get on the bed yet. Due to his climbing training he learned to climb over his kennel and take over the whole apartment. We had bought a kennel for Tyson for night time and help him potty train. Since he is so young and we don't know who long he can hold his bodily functions we decided to block him into the laundry room with his kennel door open to his food and water and a wood floor in case there were any accidents. I came home on Wednesday evening and was going to change before letting him out of his enclosure. I walk in and a bunch of Leland's shoes and a a belt in the living room. I knew he was out reffing a game and he would not leave his belt, runners or one dress shoe in the living room. Just as I was looking over to the kennel, Tyson comes running from the bedroom. He has learned to climb his kennel and get out of the enclosure. Right about that time I also saw a nice little present in the middle of the hall too. He is one smart cookie. Now, we keep him in the bathroom where he has room to stretch out and potty on the potty pad if need be.

Tyson is a lot of fun and has a great personality. We love the little dude! He has brought more happiness and smiles to the home and for right now, the family feels complete. I tell people that if we can do a good job with a dog, then we can do an okay job with a kid :) It's great having a fur kid around the apartment. He really does make my day better. Tyson, welcome to the Page family!

PS: I don't know how to upload a photo from my phone, but as soon as I figure it out, I will get a picture up here of him.

General Conference

This past weekend was General Conference. Like always, I have no idea who spoke about what, but for me, there was a lot of cousel and guidance for families. I wish every parent I work with on a daily basis would have been able to hear those talks. It would be evenmore wonderful if every person who heard those talks would heed the cuosel that was given. I don't remember specifics, but I do remember feeling the Spirit testify to me that all the words which were spoken are true. I can't remember the last time I had such a strong impression. I think maybe it is because I am seeing the deterioration of the family all around me. With the families I work with at school and the families I work with at church. It's not very often that I meet two parents that have the same last name as their kids. It's disheartening because I see the troubles of the kids then I look at the family and realize that is where the troubles are starting. I know there are a few quotes that I will be taking from some of the talks and making little posters to hang in my office so every parent who enters my office will be able to read and hopefully learn a thing or two.

Maybe it hit me so hard because I want a family of my own. Someone else to take care of besides my hubs. Don't get me wrong, I love taking care of the hubs, but I feel like I need someone or something else to take care of. Do I want kids? Yes. Do i need kids? Right now, until I get a handle on the ones I take care of on a daily basis, I don't need any of my own. I like the ones that I get for eight to ten hours a day and then give back. What I really want though is a dog. I am starting to wear Leland down on the idea of getting a dog. I know he doesn't want a dog right now because he thinks we are not home enough for a little one, but I disagree. I am gone all day, but he is home more than he thinks he is. I have it all worked out too. When I get up I can feed the little one and take him/her outside for a morning potty break. Leland doesn't get up until later. When he gets up he can give the little one a treat of banana or carrot and let him/her outside for a little bit. Before he leaves he can put the dog in the kitchen with a treat ball, toys, bed and water. When I get home I can feed the pupster dinner and take it for a walk or jog. then, it's all good and the pupster is ready for bed. All planned out. I got this! Now, just to find the perfect dog. I am about ready to go get one from the Humane Society this weekend. If I can just hold out a little longer then it will be all good. But if we get abother text from my sister-in-law with a picture of Patches then I will just break down and get one.

A Month Ago

Doesn't seem all that long. A lot has happened this past month, and I mean A LOT! It all has to deal with school since that is all I ever do now. I still am not a fan of my principal. He is still thinking of things on an elementary level with our kids. I wonder if he is ever going to make the cognitive switch to secondary school. I have not been in my office for more than 10 minutes the past two days so the fact that I am writing this right now is a miracle. The school is being taken to court because of an idiotic mother whose son is not even autistic but when we say there is no evidence to support autism she decides to sue. It's a really, really long story and I don't have enough space in the world to tell it at this time. Two sixth graders had their first fight ever at school. Imagine two little guys that weigh maybe 70 pounds soaking wet and with glasses. Total nerd brawl. I have eighth grade girls that think they are the shiz and nothing can touch them. I have teachers who couldn't give a care in the world to working at this school and are only doing it for the paycheck. I have other teachers who are already telling me they are going to quit at the end of the school year because their concerns are not being taken seriously. I am ready to hang up my hat because I still cannot get any respect from the male admins. There are so many Special Ed kids in the school I am starting to think we are turning into a behavior/special needs school instead of a college prep school. All I can talk about at home is work. All I can talk about at work is work. I have nothing outside of work in my life. My poor husband has to listen to me talk about work all the time. I feel like there is nothing else to talk about. I have not had a good day at work since, well I haven't had a good day at work and we are now in the sixth week of school. I keep telling myself things are going to get better, but I don't know if that is going to happen at this point. I am having a really hard time believing things are going to get any better.

Now that downer is out of the way, I have to talk about something more enjoyable. I am almost finished with Personal Progress. I hadn't looked at my book in a really long time and as I was going through it, I realized that I have done almost everything. I just have a couple of more journal entries to write and once I finish reading the Book of Mormon I will be finished. It's amazing how much stuff I do in my daily life that relates to Personal Progress. I have forgotten how it feels to be able to work on me. I am so focused on other things that I forget to focus on my personal development. I am grateful that Personal Progress was opened up to all women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel so refreshed and renewed! I was also able to attend the Relief Society General Broadcast this past Saturday. Don't tell anyone, but the presidency messages were a little boring to me and I went all ADD up in the place. President Uchtdorf's talk was amazing! I love listening to that many speak. The talked about the flower the Forget-Me-Not. He said there are five petals on the flower and five simple things in life must remember in life. They are:

1) Be happy now
2) Be patient with yourself
3) Sacrifice for the good things
4) Forget not the "why" of the gospel
5) The Lord loves you.

Those five things are so very important and I needed that reminder at that time. I love the simplicity of the gospel and sometimes I need that reminder. Life can be simple but we have to have those little reminders. Now, if I ever see a Forget-Me-Not I will remember those five things.

The best two parts of this week will be being able to see my dad. He isn't coming to visit me or anything but it will be nice to just see him and relax for a little with him. The best part about the weekend? It's General Conference weekend! One of the two best weekends of the year. I know I will be watching a lot of recorded sessions, but that's okay. I will still be learning and soaking in all I can. The speakers will be wonderful and I know there will be many questions answered on my part. I am so glad it is conference weekend. I really need this right now. I really don't know what else to say. My life is boring right now because it's just work. Hopefully the next time I post I will have some better stories to tell.

Back to School. . .

And I'm already ready for Christmas Break. It has been a bear of a week. I was told on Monday that I was not allowed to smile at the kids, ever. Then I was told the first day of school was a complete disaster because the kids did not leave the cafeteria in an elementary order. Meaning that the high schoolers were let go when the bell rang in one big group not led out by a teacher by grade level and section. Then, half the lockers do not work. I tried every single combination in the book for those lockers and NONE of them worked. I have been chewed out by not only parents who refuse to follow school protocol but by my principal as well. I never want a repeat of this week, ever again.

I also found out this weekend that my husband's little cousin William (he's about 2 or 3 years old) has tumors on his brain. He is at a children's hospital in Utah. Many prayers and people fasting for that little boy. He is a doll and a half and the funniest little kid I have ever seen. IN the words of little William "Aw, Man!"

On the bright side, my energy is through the roof! I have not had any feelings of wanting a nap in the middle of the day even after getting only a few hours of sleep every night. The surgery was a success and the biopsy came back clean. I go back to the doc this week to do some blood tests to make sure all my levels are still good and in the clear. My mom told me about this cloud she felt like she was under before she had her surgery and then after it was lifted. I didn't really understand her at the time, but I do now. I feel like my old self again! I am so happy I had the surgery.

Today Leland and I will finally get to go dryer shopping! He was able to secure some financial aid and receive two months worth of pay. This will make laundry way easier to do. I hate having to wash my clothes at home then go to the laundromat to dry. I would also hate to go to the laundromat to wash and bring home to dry. Either do it all at home or all at the mat, but going between both is awful! Hopefully we can find something within our price range.

Well, that's all I have time for right now. Maybe I can write some more later, maybe ;) Have a wonderful weekend!

The surgery was a success! The two adenomas and glands were removed and my levels have dropped to normal. The strangest thing happened during the surgery though. I swear to all that is good in this world that I began to wake-up during the surgery. I know some people don't believe me, but at one point I remember hearing the doctor talking and feeling a pulling on my neck as well as a burning in my neck. I also remember trying to move some part of my body and trying to yell to let them know I was felling something, but I couldn't do anything. It was strange. I have heard of this happening to people before, but I have had four previous surgeries and have never had that happen so I though it would never happen to me and it never even crossed my mind. From what I have heard from news shows about the phenomenon, it happened. The things I heard described is what I felt. Call me crazy or say it was all in my head if you want, but I know it happened.

The recovery has been slow and I am not happy at all. I have been locked up in my apartment for four days, four days! I am going crazy! I am not suppose to go anywhere until my doc appointment on Wednesday, but I have to get back to work Tuesday. Whatever the doc doesn't know won't hurt, right? I am also doing my best to let Leland take care of me. My mom came for a few days and did a great job of being Nurse Mom. It's not easy for me to be so helpless. I want everything to go okay at the doc so I have to keep reminding myself to stay down and let other people do things for me.

In news from around the country, the US has lost it's triple A (AAA) credit rating and the markets from around the world are crashing. The Dow has lost 600+ points in less than a full day of trading. The world is starting a huge slippery slope of markets. Fox News just showed the European markets and every country has lost huge. Just another sign of the times.

I am starting to feel a little light-headed so I should get back to my recovery. Have a great week!

Goin' Under the Knife

I don't have much time to write seeing that I have been in meetings all day and now have a ton of assignments to do before surge tomorrow. Surgery is tomorrow. I am a little nervous, but I know and have enough faith that things will be okay and turn out how they are suppose to be. No biggie. Mom is driving into town as we speak, er, write. The only items on my list of things to do before I have surge are laundry and grocery shopping. I had plans to do all of that yesterday afternoon and today, but meetings at work took six hours each day. Six hours! Let me tell you, it's going to be one really, really, really long school year. I just may have to try to find another job next year. Hopefully they won't be as bad as what I am thinking they are going to be. Back to work!

Surgery. . .

is a go. Friday I received a call from the doc office saying the scans showed a bilateral parathyroid adenoma and a possible thyroid adenoma. I will have the two glands with the adenomas removed and a possible thyroid biopsy if there is something there. I am fine with the removal of the parathyroids, no sweat. I am more worried about the thyroid adenoma. All the "what ifs" start coming to mind. What if it's cancerous? What if it's metastasized? What if what if, what if? On the other hand there is relief knowing that what is ailing me could be gone forever if the adenomas are removed successfully. Such a mix of emotions! Now it's a race against time to prepare every needful thing not only at home, but at work as well. I have my surgery Thursday and the following Tuesday teachers and admins go back to work. I have to make sure I have all my presentations ready so that I don't have to try to do too much when I get back. That's the plan for today. Get all my presentations updated and ready to go. In order to finish all that, I have to stop playing around on the computer. Have a wonderful Monday and an amazing week!

I went to the ENT yesterday to find out if there was any more information that she can give me about my whole situation. I will be going in for some more scans tomorrow to find out more. If there is anything on the parathyroid I will have surgery next Thursday. If that's the case, it will be good to get everything done before I go back to working full-time on August 9. It does put a little kink in my plans though. I am suppose to have some dental work done next Friday, that may not be happening. If I have the surge on Thursday the doctor wants me in the hospital for 23 hrs (so it's still considered an out-patient surgery) because I am a red-head. I guess she has had experiences with red-heads and this surgery. I have never had any real problems directly after a surge, but if that's what she wants, then that is what she will get.





Last night I went to the temple. It felt so good and so many of my worries were put to rest. It's great to be able to go to the temple and have that feeling of joy, happiness and peace. After I left the temple I called Leland and told him that we are both going to get to the Celestial Kingdom no matter how hard we have to work. Since he was at the Rangers game with his dad last night I went by myself. I told him it was so wierd to be sitting in the Celestial Room and not have him come walking through the doors. It made me a little sad to know that there are people whose families don't make it back. The feelings I was feeling, well, I don't want to feel like that ever again. This life is about experience and work. There are no free passes to the Celestial Kingdom. Faith without works is dead. It's not enough to know, but you have to do. I hope I am doing what I need to do in order to not feel the way I did in the Celestial Room and so my relatives do not have to experience those feelings as well.

Summer of Crazy

I feel like the Cathy cartoon, AAAAAAAAACK! The school year is nearing and new principal is going to be way different. He wants all graffiti cleaned off the walls right after it happens (not at the end of the day because that takes too long) and the paint can will be in my office. "If you don't have control in your restrooms, you don't have control anywhere else". Direct quote from said new principal. I am a little weary about how this year is going to go. It's going to be, well, interesting. Every year with a new principal is always interesting. They all come in with their own agenda and try to force it upon everyone else. I think this is the fifth principal in my going on six years now. Outside of one other person, I have been on this campus the longest and know this building and the things that need to happen. On top of that we are going to be more ghetto than ever. Now, new principal wants to place a fence (chain link no doubt) around the dismissal area for, "the safety of the children". The kids thought it felt like a prison here before, now they are going to really feel like they are in a prison. In talking with new guy I felt that my concerns were not heard or really cared for, but we will see what happens in the next few months. Crazy, crazy.

What else in the past few weeks? I finally went to a real doctor. I know shocking, me going to a doctor for something other than an emergency? I can say that I have a real doctor that I can see for all the little things, but know I will only go for periodic blood testing and a yearly physical. This physical was an experience. I went in to ask a few questions in get all my levels tested to see how well I am. The doc noticed some strange things with my results. My red blood cell count is really high meaning my body is making too many red blood cells. This is a sign for sleep apnea, yay. I still have to do a sleep study for that one. He also noticed my bilirubin levels were high too meaning there is something wrong with my liver. After going through an ultrasound of the abdomen, it was found that my liver is fine but I do have what is known as Gilbert's (pronounced jill bears) Syndrome. Basically, my liver is a little sluggish in flushing out the toxins. No biggie though. He also noticed that my calcium levels were really elevated and much higher than they should be. Knowing that my mom has parathyroid issues he saw that as a red flag and ordered another blood test to check out my pth (parathyroid hormone) levels. The big news, I have hyperparathyroidism. After seeing those levels I went in for another ultrasound and they found three nodules in the parathyroid region. Tomorrow I go to the ENT to find out more. Basically, the parathyroid controls calcium levels in the blood. If the para is messed up it will sense that there is not enough calcium in the body and it will take it from the bones causing elevated levels of calcium in the blood. Many people do not see that as a big problem, but it has huge ramifications. Many people, like my mom, don't find out they have this problem until after they have kidney stones or something else happens. You can have this for years and never know. I don't know how long I have had this, but as I look back on the past year and half I can tell when I started feeling different and noticing something wasn't clicking. I just thought I was having a difficult time with some changes in my life, but now it looks as though that's when my para could have been starting to act up. The only way to cure this is through surgery. No meds or alternative therapies can fix the problem. If there is a nodule, I will have to have surgery. Once the surgery is done, the problem is over. Hopefully I can get things taken care of quickly. I do worry about things like this, but I just have to roll with the punches. And right now life is handing a lot of them to me. I know some of the things that are happening are out of my control. Okay, almost everything is out of my control and I am trying to deal with that and understand that, but it's so hard to do. A lot of faith and a lot of prayer.

On the plus side, Leland, the luckiest man in the world, had some luck fall upon him. So it's not the funding he is looking for to finish his dissertation, but it is something to get him away from some stress. He won tickets to the Texas Rangers baseball game tomorrow night! Incredible! Since I had previously made plans with a friend, he will be taking his dad along for an incredible trip. He wins everything, concert tickets, sporting event tickets, iPads. Man, I got one lucky guy =0)

I have successfully caught you up on my dealings. Oh, yeah, we finally moved to a new place! A cute 2 bed 2 bath apartment. Now all we need is a little doggie and life will be complete, for now ;) Have a wonderful week!

What a Month!

I can't believe it has already been a month since my last post! A few things have happened since then. Leland and I have started moving into our new apartment which I love. It has been a little difficult in doing that since he is working on his research or clinicals everyday and it has been left up to me to get it done. I understand he is busy, but I feel like I am in this by myself. I was able to go see my parents and my college buddies for a week. It was nice seeing all my EP friends. Jeanne got married and I finally got to meet her little 3 month old, Joshua (absolutely adorable!). Jeanne was so beautiful and happy and her new hubby, Eddie, was just beaming with joy and happiness. Erika, one of the funniest people I know, is about two weeks away from delivering her second (and last) baby, a girl. The rest of the gang is doing well and living the life. I miss those girls and we need a reunion with EVERYONE soon. There were a few that were missing that would have completed the entire thing. My other good college buddy, Kristi, is getting married this weekend. I so wish I could be in Hawaii right now for everything rather than SA doing work and moving everything, but it's all good. I wish her and her hubby the best. They are really the perfect match. Outside all that news, not much else is happening. . .or so I would like you to think.

These past two weeks have been really trying for the both of us. We found out that Leland has no funding to finish his research and has no job opportunity for another, at least, three months. Because congress could not pass a budget the Navy, who was funding his research, had to cut it out of the budget because they didn't know how much money they were going to have. Thanks congress and Obama. My husband was a month away from finishing and presenting his dissertation and now, he may have spent five years wasting his life because you couldn't get your act together. On top of that, we will have to pay upwards of $1800 just so Leland can present his dissertation. We will have to pay a full semester's worth of tuition for a couple of hours of work. Why? Because his advisors will be out of town until August 20, the day he would have to present by in order to not have to pay the tuition. Now, I know his advisors go out of town from July 15 ish to August 20 ish every year, it's a tradition. BUT, if you know you have someone who is about to finish their dissertation, has no more funding, and can't afford to pay another semester and has no job, you can cut your vacation short a couple of days. Leland has been working with these men for five years now and they can't cut him a little slack? On top of that, he has always had to wait on them and other people to do his research because the school doesn't have the equipment necessary. All in all, it's not his fault this has taken so long to complete. It's a whole chain reaction. Oh, the best news we found out about, UTHSCSA is the MOST expensive public university in the entire nation. Awesome. It is going to be a tight couple of months. I am still hoping that the school realizes they are being dee,dee,dees and will find some type of funding out there for him. Prayers and faith are being stretched at this point.

Now on to me. There is a reason I never go to the doctor, even if it is just for a wellness check. No matter what I go in for, the doc always finds something wrong or weird. I finally went to a doctor yesterday to do a routine physical. I was concerned about a couple of things, mainly thyroid/parathyroid issues and diabetes since those things are in my family. They did the normal blood tests and read the lab work. I get a call this morning saying the doctor wanted to see me to discuss my results. There is a litany of things going through my head at this point. I have thyroid problems or diabetes, he found something else, or he was just calling me in to praise me for such good results. Boy was I wrong! All my red blood cell readings were too high indicating that I may have sleep apnea so now I have to go through a diagnostic sleep study. The rest is a little weird and where the weirdness factor comes in. My bilirubin is really high indicating something could be seriously wrong with my liver. Which is weird because I don't drink alcohol nor do I smoke. Best case scenario is that I have a slow running liver and there is no issue. Worst case scenario is that I may have the beginnings if cirrhosis of the liver. Again weird because I don't do the things that would lead to cirrhosis of the liver. The other possibility is a fatty liver because of the extra weight that I have. The extra weight that I cannot get off no matter how much I work out and what type of diet I am on could be the effect of sleep apnea. If that is the case, then there is a simple solution to everything. If that's not the case then we have no idea what is going on. So, there is more stress to add to the piled high stress we already have. Hopefully I will know more tomorrow. Then the blood work showed my calcium levels are way too high which, due to my mom's parathyroid condition, is a concern for me because high calcium is a sign of parathyroid issues. Again, I should have more details in the coming days. The good thing is, my thyroid is perfect and so are the other tests, BP, cholesterol and other stuff. I always knew there was a reason I didn't like going to doctors.

The good thing is, these are little trials that we will get through. I know we have these trials for a reason. They are definitely faith trying. I know that we will both grow from this and learn some pretty cool things. I love that I have the gospel in my life and I know that these things will be for my good. I have the knowledge that these things are placed in my life for a reason and I decide how I am going to view them. When it rains, it pours. But I have the option as if I am going to only see the never-ending rain or if I can look to the extended forecast and see the sunshine ahead. I choose the latter. My Heavenly Father knows what I will be able to handle and he will never give me more than that. I have the responsibility to be faithful and do what I know is right. I see this as a little shower that will end. How long will take? I can't say, but I know I will be okay, that Leland and I will be blessed as long as we stay faithful.

Spritually Filled

This past weekend was just what I needed. The youth of my church had a youth conference this past weekend, "What Are You Broadcasting?" was the theme of the weekend. It was all about what things you are putting out to the world. Are looking for things that are lovely, of good report, or virtuous or praiseworthy? Are you being honest, true chaste, benevolent, virtuous and doing good to those around you? So basically, you are being an example, a light on a hill, to the world around you? The best part of the weekend was being able to listen to Sis Cook, First Counselor of the YW General Presidency, speak. She was fabulous! I was able to hear her speak three times. I would like to share some of the things that I think are most important for the youth today.

- Challenge our youth today. Give them an assignment and let them do it, don't do it for them.
- Have the youth plan and teach so they feel they have some ownership.
- Look at yourself and others as God sees you, not as the world sees you
- Live with virtue
- Serve the world around you
- Serve the Lord
- Serve your family
- One righteous young man/young woman can change the world
- We must teach the doctrines and principles of the church and gospel plainly and bluntly
- Young Women teach the Young Men benevolence
- Young Men teach the Young Women the Keys of the Priesthood

That's only a little bit of the three "trainings" I was able to sit in on. The best thing, I think, that I heard was to challenge our youth. We are so in the habit of not challenging our youth and allowing them to either accomplish the task of fail miserably. We are so afraid to let our kids fail (just look at the school systems and you will completely understand) and learn and grow from their failure. We are to the point that we don't want to challenge our youth so they can accomplish everything they want to. When they do struggle, we take over and don't allow them to struggle, problem solve and figure it all out. We want to take away the hardness of the task so we don't have to see them hurt and struggle. Yes, it hurts to see our youth struggle, but nothing done the easy way is ever truly worth it. We all have struggles and fights but it is how we handle those trials that make us who we are and allow us to grow and learn. If someone is always picking us up when we are down and they do not allow us to fight our way back, we have learned only one thing, that we don't have to fight, someone will always get us out of whatever the problem is and we don't have to do anything. Allow the challenges to come and allow yourself to get back on track. I am not saying we don't help and support them, just don't outright rescue them. Two cents done, now on to the rest of the weekend that I was able to participate in.

Friday I was able to be a COPES facilitator. I went through COPES facilitator training when I was in college and have been doing it with my job for quite some time now. I was so excited for this opportunity, but the guy I was partnered with must have felt I didn't know what I was doing because he took over everything. I had told him I have done facilitation for this age group of kids and that I do it on a regular basis at work and he would not let me get much in edge wise. I had to fight my to say anything. He was stuck on a script that he was given when the kids were learning something not on the script. I was trying to let them continue with the path they were on, but he would always go back to the script. That's okay, the kids learned at least a little something from it. Every group was different with different dynamics and they had to work together for a common goal. Some groups were tougher than others, but the last group of the day was my absolute favorite. They were so engaged in the activity and the discussion that I didn't want them to leave. They thought of things that I never thought about and discussed things that to a normal person would be way above their heads, but they grasped the point. They understood and it was fun to see the light bulb go off in their heads. That is why I love working with the youth. It's those light bulb moments. It was a spiritually fulfilling couple of days and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to be a part of it. It totally filled my spiritual tank which was, honestly, a little low. We have a great group of teenagers in the world today, we just have to teach and challenge them to get them on the right track. They will do wonders if we just believe and have faith in them.

The Spark of Memory

It's funny the things we randomly remember from when we were little kids. The other day I was brushing my hair after my shower and the memory of my dad brushing my hair came back. My dad loves long hair and when I was younger I had really long hair, almost to my elbows. On occasion, after my showers my dad would have me sit on the floor in front of him and he would brush my hair until it was dry. My hair would be long, straight and pretty the times he did that. When Mom was out of town or at work and I wanted my hair braided I would sit down on the floor in front of Dad and he would pull my hair into one of those "face-lift" ponytails then braid it. The ponytail and braid, no fail, would always hurt my head and give me a headache, but I didn't care because Dad did it. That was about all he could do with hair, but it worked for me. After that memory had lapsed, I then thought about all the different hair designs my mom did for me. I feel bad for my mom because she did not get the cheerleader daughter she always thought she would have. She got me, the anti-cheerleader, sports enthusiasts who could learn anything but despised cheerleading and cheerleaders. Poor Mom! She always did my hair some really cool different way. It would be in a french braid, french braid pigtails, bun, halo braid, whatever she was feeling for that day. Sometimes it would take an hour for her to do my hair perfectly, but it still looked pretty awesome. Now that I don't have that talent around me anymore, I miss my hair being braided and sitting for long periods of time while someone was doing my hair. I have tried on numerous occasions to braid my hair and do cute things with it, but I can't, I just don't have that skill set. Now my hair is either down or in a ponytail. Oh, well. Maybe sometime in the future I will be able to have those sweet skills, but I won't hold my breath.

Just a Little Rant

What's the deal with people hating on members if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons)? I don't get nor do I want to understand the pure hatred. I was reading an article yesterday online and my eye caught hold of a side article. Michael Otterson the public affairs guy for the Church had a couple of opinion articles stating the beliefs and some little known facts of the Church. I sat and read some of the comments that readers wrote and I was just disgusted by the vitriol and hate that was coming from these people. It didn't matter how many people stood up for the Church whether they were members or not, these people would continue to bash and bash and bash some more. It was almost as if they were refreshing their browsers every few minutes so they could jump on in with a comment in support of a fellow basher or find some way to try to prove a supporter of the article wrong or make them doubt what they know to be true. As a member of the Church, I am not going to engage in the arguments and bashing. I know what the truth is and I will be an example of it and live my testimony. I do become angry when I read that stuff (and I should stop reading it) but it is not my position to judge another person for his/her beliefs, so i won't do that. I will say though, it is disheartening when there are other religions and religious leaders that proclaim tolerance for all, but cannot seem to stop hating on the Mormons (the same holds true for all the politicians that are screaming that conservatives/republicans/etc are not tolerant because of their views of society yet, those same people hate and bash and have no tolerance themselves, but that is a discussion for another day). Anyway, rant over, just had to get that off my chest. Ahhhh, I feel better now :)

I had my end-of-the-year evaluation last week. Everything went well. I even got a little bit of a raise. It was a great feeling to know that I will be coming back for another year! I had two complaints from two teachers. It was funny, I wrote a small paragraph on their evaluations about some things that needed improvement for next year, and they wrote two - three pages of complaints against me. What's even better, not once did they ever tell me to my face or write a letter about what they were feeling and it wasn't sent until after the school year ended that the e-mail was sent to my principal. Thankfully, he saw through what they were trying to do and had the same feelings I had. One of the complaints came from a teacher who thought I was always second guessing her and taking authority away from her. I believe in being open with my teachers and telling them what is going on with students and the complaints I receive from them and the stories they tell me when the teacher does not send a referral with the student to my office or call me and let me know what happens. Most of the time I only hear the student's side of the story. Later I ask the teacher what happened and tell them what they student said happened. There was one time when this teacher sent the troubled student to my office with another student to tell me what happened. After the second student told me what happened he then goes on to say that the first kid really wasn't doing anything wrong. So I went and told the teacher what the second kid told me. She thought I was second guessing her abilities. I just wanted to find out from her what happened and let her know that the kids she thinks she can trust are pulling the wool over her eyes and will lie to anyone they can lie to so they do not get into trouble. Perfect example, a kid had his yearbook taken up by this teacher because another student was looking at it during class after she said they could not look at them during class. She comes to me all concerned because the yearbook she had taken up was missing so I check the cameras then do a little investigative work. I see the yearbook everyone was talking about then ask some kids some questions. One kid says, "She never took any yearbooks away from any kids today during class!" I tell her what student had said that and she says that student always tells the truth and never lies. I heard it with my own two ears and saw it with my own two eyes. The kid then goes to her the following day and says he saw the owner of the book pick-up the yearbook from her cart. She believes the kid, even after he bold faced lied to me the day before. I gave her some advice and told her that she can't always trust one kid after only knowing him/her for a school year. The kids I trust have shown me over the course of two to five years that they can be trusted. She also told me that another student lied to me and told her truth about another situation, but refused to give that kid's name. This situation was something that was possibly going to get a kid thrown out of school that should have been thrown out of school, but because the one kid lied to me and signed a statement, the kid who should have been thrown out got to stay. She wants to complain about me undercutting her authority? The other teacher complained about me being unfair in assigning subs and giving my friends an easier sub schedule than what she had. On top of that I am a hypocrite in all ways. Granted, some of the examples she pointed out looked like they could be hypocrisy if she didn't know what I was doing. Every time I was talking to someone in the cafeteria it was about a situation that needed to be handled or a questions a teacher had about a topic, but not once did I ever take my eyes off the students and what they were doing while in the cafeteria. There were many times when I was talking to a teacher would see a student doing something that they should not have been doing and the complaining teacher would walk right by as if nothing was going on and I would have to go ever and handle the situation because she wasn't even paying attention or thought that whatever the kid was doing was okay. There were also many times in which I would look at the camera and she is talking face to face with another teacher while kids are running around the cafeteria, trying to fight, and yelling at others and she didn't do a thing about the situation. Anyways, I could have been a whole lot harsher then what I was in the final evaluation, but I like to give the benefit of the doubt and allow for improvement the next year. I guess they thought they could hammer me like that since I was a teacher last year and they could not deal with me being moved into the role I am in now. Oh, well. They will have to deal with me for at least another year.

So far summer is treating me well. I have lost four pounds since summer started, which is great! I am not going to worry about how much more I need to lose because if I worry, I will not improve. I am just going to continue to work out and have fun. We finally found a place to live, we just have to wait to hear back about whether or not we are approved for the place. Leland started his internship and thins seem to be going good so far. One of the guys he was out with yesterday asked him if he has talked to the head guy about a possible job when he finishes with the internship and school. Everyone seems to be getting along with Leland and like the work he is doing. Hopefully, fingers crossed, prayers answered the way I would like for them to be answered. He received an e-mail from his advisor about a group in Portland, OR that has a position to be filled. He just sent that guy to the trash folder. Now Leland's advisor is telling him that there is no way he is going to finish his dissertation before the first week in August. That just lights the fire under his butt and gets him more motivated. He should be finished in July. If he spends all of his extra time in the lab and library writing, he will do it. I have faith in him and he will get it done when he says he will get it done. If not, he knows how mad I will be and he doesn't want to make me mad. Things will get done, I am sure of it. Dad goes in for eye surgery tomorrow. He is getting a lot of work done and hopefully all goes well. The doctor even told him if things go well he may be able to get my dad's vision to the point where dad will not need glasses anymore. I told my dad that would be really weird since my entire life he has worn glasses. I may not recognize him without glasses ;) That's about it for this week, sorry nothing too interesting. It's summer, not drama, what can I say?

Summer is Here!

Summer has finally made it's way to me! It has been one very long school year and I am grateful that it is now time to relax. So far I have fallen asleep and taken a two hour nap. Yesterday I told Leland that is what I have been doing and he told me I was still recovering from the school year. I have to say that I agree with him :) I have been able to workout four days in a row! That is the most exciting thing so far. I already have started feeling better with the workouts happening. Still do not have a new place to live. Leland did not get the job in Utah!!!! His third letter of recommendation was never submitted so the job went to someone else who had everything in, but more on that later. I have already started preparing things for next school year. I will be resetting all the locker combinations in the coming weeks. I just hope I am coming back next year. I never had an end-of the-year evaluation because my principal and I both forgot about it, so I don't know if I have a job next year or not. I did notice today that the settings on my database have changed and are now more restricted but I wonder why. I found out that my principal will not be back next year, which totally hoovers since he is the best principal this school has had. I don't really know who is coming to take his place but the rumors are that it is a principal from one of the other campuses or the guy that was here three years ago that I cannot stand. If he comes back for this next school year then I may end up being fired because I won't be able to hold my tongue. I guess I might want to look for another job starting in September ;) As much as I love summer, it sure is a summer full of uncertainty.

Back to Leland not getting the job in Utah. I am not sure if I told this story or not in a previous post so if I have, please bear with me. Leland received a call last week saying he did not get the job because his third letter of recommendation never came in. When Leland asked about it, the person who was suppose to write it said he never wrote it. From what I know, Leland would have had the job in a heartbeat if that letter made it in. Everything had already been sent in and HR was just waiting for that third letter. When I asked why it wasn't written, Leland just said that the person had so much stuff going on that he just didn't have the time to write it. My reply? "If someone asks you for a letter of recommendation and there is a due date for it, it doesn't matter how busy you are, you write the letter that should only take 30 minutes and get back to what you are doing. I think he didn't write it on purpose. I think he sabotaged the whole thing. he doesn't want you to leave SA". To which Leland agreed, partially. That's my thoughts and feelings towards it. If you have known someone for five years and always talk to others about him in such high regard, then it shouldn't take but 15 minutes to write a glowing letter of recommendation for that person. Anyway, that means two things, so far we are not moving anywhere, but Leland still does not have a job. Grrrrrrrr!

Yesterday Leland started his internship with MARP, the company he would like to work for when he graduates. I really hope it turns into something more than an internship. Hopefully he can impress those he is working with enough for them to hire him at least part time by August. It is going to be really tough if we have to live off my check for a few months. Especially if we move into the place I checked out yesterday and have to start paying off his student loans. I just want him to get something, even if it's just 20K-30K. I know he wants something more, but anything is better than 0 right now. I am always praying that he will find something. I worry a ton about this stuff. I will not be comfortable until I know we have enough saved up to last two years without jobs. I hope it never gets to the point where we have to live off savings for that long, but the way the economy is going and budget cuts in education and other places, it could happen.

Summer is here, and I am grateful for the time away from kiddos for a little whole. I know I will start to miss them, but it's nice to work without someone stopping in or calling my office every 10 minutes. I can actually get things done. Now it's back to working out the locker situations. I hope all is well with everyone out there in the blog world. And congrats to all my preggers friends! I know each one of you will make great moms because you are already absolutely amazing women.

Dear School Year

You seem to have taken forever to get here, but alas, you are now upon me.
Thank you for the many highs and ever so more lows this year. I have experienced
many new and interesting things that I will carry into next year. This has truly
been a roller coaster ride of a year. Never have I been so stressed, so nervous,
or so grateful for my upbringing as I have this year. So many changes have happened.
School has officially destroyed my social life, but that's okay since summer is upon me and
a social life can begin again. No more stressful days and sleepless nights. You have
no idea how much I am looking forward to that first Saturday of the farmer's market
and finally being able to really clean the apartment. I also look forward to packing boxes
and searching for a new place to live. This summer is going to be full of surprises and
blessings. 2010-2011 school year, you are finally coming to a close. Only three full days
and two half days left. Thank you for everything (except the 20 extra lbs).

Love Always,

Katie =0)

Eight Grade Graduation

DONE and DONE! That is a huge load off my shoulders, whew! It was a nice evening if you are talking to one of the parents. To me, it was a little disastrous, but that's only because I know of all the mistakes and problems we had. If I did not have the help of some of the teachers there, it would have been a complete nightmare. Thankfully, I work with a group of dedicated teachers who are always willing to help at the drop of a hat. I think, after all the complaints and remarks about having to go to an 8th grade graduation, all the kiddos had fun. I saw some smiles on some kids that were doing the most complaining. Clark gave a great little speech, I was a little choked up, but I can control my emotions and get over it quickly. I know in a couple of years if I am still at this school, I know I will not be able to control my emotions. In 2013 my first class of sixth graders from my first year of high school will be graduating. It's been fun and a interesting watching them and guiding them through their teenage years. If my kids turn out like most of those kiddos, I will be one proud parent. Back to grad. I was amazed as to how many people attended. I had the kiddos set-up about 200 chairs for 72 (actually less since about 15 kids did not attend) graduates. We had to add about another 50 chairs to the set-up. Kids were bringing their mom, dad, gma, gpa, aunt, uncle, aaaaalllll the cousins, and their neighbors to an 8th grade graduation. It's almost as if they were graduating high school or college. I understand that for some families this is the highest level of schooling to be completed by a member of the family so it's a pretty big deal. I thought I had bought enough food with two full sheet cakes, two very large veggie relish trays, two very large fresh fruit trays, and a donation of six dozen cookies. By the time I got to the food, there was nothing, literally nothing, but a couple of carrot sticks and a few pieces of broccoli left. At least, I got some icing scraps, so that made me happy. As long as the guests had a good time and liked, that's all that matter. Only five days left and no more kiddos at work. It's going by way, way too slow.

Time to call some parents and work out some deals so kiddos don't get expelled. Have a great one!

A real quick shout out to my friend, Rebecca: Congratulations on your recent engagement! You are heading into one wild, exciting, tiring, full of joy experience. Have fun with it all, don't stress over the little things, and remember what you are preparing for. It makes all the difference.

Oh, and one more thing: The job in Utah is no longer an option. The position was filled, yeah! No Utah and 6 months of winter for me! Prayers are answered, no matter who is sending them. Also, Heavenly Father knows that I would not be happy in the frozen north during the winter. This means we are back to the drawing board and everything is really uncertain, but at east it's not Utah (so far).

He now knows how I feel every night I come home. It only took all school year for Leland to feel what I feel every night. Our roles were switched last night as I had some work to do at the real computer while he fell asleep on the couch at 8:00pm. I finally finished my work around 10:00pm and he got off the couch and said, "I now know how you feel every night". Finally, he saw the light or should I say the inside of his eyelids. I am happy he understands where I am coming from and why it is so hard for me to get back to the bedroom almost every night of the week.

I have been feeling like such a slacker and a horrible wife lately that I did something to say, "I'm sorry for slacking and making you do all the work lately. I love you!" Leland loves WWE. I personally don't care for it. But WWE is in SA tonight so I decided that I would give him a little gift, I bought him two tickets so that he could go with anyone he wanted to go with. I knew his first choice would be me, so I told him to take a friend. I am happy I did that because, in exchange, I get to go see Josh Groban Wednesday night with a friend. It's a fair trade.

I have been so crazy busy these past couple of weeks that I haven't had time to breathe, and this afternoon I get to take a deep breath. I just keep counting down my school year by the number of events I have left to go to. Tomorrow is NHS induction, Thursday is 8th grade graduation (I still don't understand why 8th graders need a graduation), Friday is Teacher Appreciation dinner and ward spaghetti dinner and auction for the youth camps this summer, Saturday is auxiliary training and NHS rummage sale, next Thursday is high school graduation and finally next Friday is the Senior Reception. Once that is over, summer can officially begin, if I make it to that point. All day I have been trying to tie up lose ends for the 8th grade grad and have been falling asleep behind my desk. I should say that I have been trying to fall asleep, no one ever lets me do that though. Only a few more events left.

Things are not looking too good right now for Leland in finding jobs in SA. All the places that told him to let them know when he finishes now have no openings. One person was asking about him, but his firm is up in Dallas. The other option, if he gets the job, is Utah Valley University. I told Leland about a week ago that I keep having this feeling that we will not be in SA much longer. I hate that feeling. I had that feeling before and it turned out I left. On the other had, I did have that feeling the summer Leland and I started dating but ended up staying and look what happened, something amazing! Anyway, I just want to know what is going to happen so I can start getting things prepared. I just hope we are moving to another apartment not another city or state. This is one time I wish I had the gift of being able to see directly into my future.

I better finish my work. I still have grad stuff to work on. Hope all is well with all of my followers, even if you don't ever read this or learn anything from it. Have a wonderful week!

Buh-Bye Lakers

The LA Lakers were swept by the Mavs yesterday. The Mavs! Really LA!? The Mavs, really!? And the way you went out? Classless, totally classless. I know it was only a couple of people, but a couple of people represent the whole team. I really hope David Stern steps up to the plate and suspends those players for their blatant attempts to hurt an opposing player. They should be suspended for at least the first 50-60 games of the next season. If there is a lockout of any kind next year then whenever the NBA regular season starts, those players should be suspended. On top of that, they should be fined at least $50,000. You may say I am being too harsh, but c'mon. These players are role models whether they want to be or not. They placed themselves in the soptlight. If they are not served with the most serious of consequences for their actions, then middle school, high school and college players will start doing what the pros do. Kids will alway mimic what their role models do. You may make a rebuttal that pros should not be role models, and I agree, but you have to look at reality. Realistically speaking, not many kids want to be like their moms or dads when they are barely getting by living from paycheck to paycheck. Heck, I didn't want to be what my mom and dad were because I thought we were poor. I wanted to be the first professional female soccer player to play for a men's team oversea's where they get paid millions of dollars, but reality struck when I got older. Now I have followed somewhat in my father's footsteps. Kids want the lavish lifestyle they see on tv and in the mags. They want to buy the fastest cars, the biggest houses, all the latest releases of everything and the best boats. How are they going to do that on the salary of a teacher or a janitor or a farmer. They aren't, so they look to the professional athletes and models and actors/actresses. They mimic their bad behaviors and think it's okay. "Those Lakers players didn't have any consequences when they played in that one game that one time so why am I getting punished for the same thing?" That is the mindset of impressionable minds. Lakers, you are ridiculous. One the plus side, Phil Jackson is retiring. I liked him when he was with the Chicago Bulls back in the day of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Steve Kerr, but he went to LA and became a sell-out. Buh-Bye to your championship dreams Lakers, buh-bye.

Dearest Students,

I love how you make me laugh everyday and keep my life very interesting. Your deeds of the day always give me something to talk about when I go home for the evening. I do not understand a few things. I wish you could actually explain them to me. Why do you not tell me what is going on then try to take things into your hands? Why do you tell your parents what is going on and when they say they are going to tell me you tell them not to say anything and that you will take care of it, but then you do not say anything to me? Why is it that when I talk to you about what happened and you write down everything that happened and signed it, after you talk to your parents new information arises? Why can you not tell me everything that has happened? Why must there always be a surprise visit by a parent with new information about whatever incident has occurred? I also can't seem to figure out how after I get one situation with you under control and over with, a new one always arises and it seems to be the same thing with different people. I just don't get it.
Please remember, even though you seem to think you are, you are not adults. You do not know how to handle things appropriately. Hitting another person is not going to make it all better. You may feel better, but the problem is still there. Nothing has been solved, and you in turn, have become the bully. I understand you are trying to defend yourself, but did that person hit you before you hit them (and throwing a piece of paper at you doesn't count)? I just don't get it, please enlighten me.

Sincerely,

Me

No Life

This next month of my life is going to be the busiest ever! Let's take a look at my schedule for the month of May, shall we?

May 6 Multicultural Fair and Fundraiser Night

May 11 Dodgeball Tournament

May 12 PTO

May 13 Prom

May 19 8th grade Graduation

May 20 Teacher Appreciation Dinner and Ward Auction (hopefully I can do both)

May 26 Class of 2011 Graduation

May 27 Senior Reception

Every Wednesday is Young Women Night. Every Monday is volleyball night, Tuesday and Thursday nights are Body Pump, and Sundays are my only relaxing day with church. Social life this month? Not so much. I just have to get through this month then it's on to summer. I still have to work, but at least there will be no kiddos around for that time and I can come in later. Summer, you are so close but oh so far away. If I don' t think about you, maybe you will come faster =0) Have a great Wednesday!

After 10 Years. . .

the families of 9/11 have some closure. Last night Barak Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. The Navy Seals did their duty and got that S.O.B. Thank you to all the military who have been working their tales off trying to get this guy and protect our soil! Without our armed forces, we would not be able to sleep peacefully at night. We would have to wonder if the next time we start our car it will be ht last. Thank you intelligence forces and armed forces.

Not to take away from this glorious moment, but I have to be the one to look at this realistically. Bin Laden may be dead, but that is not the end of the terrorism. His number two man is still out there and there are still many followers that are quite upset over this. We cannot rest. They are not going to try to strike now when everyone is on high alert. No, they will wait until everyone is at ease once again, like when 9/11 happened, then strike. They are not dumb people. Misguided and hateful? Yes. Dumb? No. Keep up your guard America, this is not the end. This is the last days as prophesied in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. The world will grow angrier and more resentful before it gets better. Am I ecstatic that Osama is now dead? Of course I am! Am I still cautious? No doubt about it. Living in TX is especially scary for me because we don't have the security on the southern borders that we need. I should know, I lived in EP for six years and saw what came across on a daily basis. If we don't get protection to our borders Bin Laden being dead won't mean anything.

To end on a positive, he is dead. What do you think of your 72 virgins now bin Laden? Are you taking that one back yet? The rest of eternity in perdition doesn't seem so great now does it? At least you can no longer terrorize people on this earth. Now, families and to some extent the USA has some closure knowing that the ring leader of 9/11 has been sunk to the bottom of the sea. Thank you again to all who have so proudly and bravely served this great country and worked until the mission was accomplished. Now, if only the rest of the terrorists would throw up their arms in surrender.

Race for the Cure

Yep, that's right, another year of Race for the Cure. It was a blast. This year I didn't really know if I was going to run it because of Saturday Detentions, but when I told my principal I would not be able to make it too Saturday Detention that morning on time he told me to get a group from the school together to run/walk it. So I did. I had one student out of the ten that told me they would run with the group actually show up. Many of the teachers were suppose to come as well, but there was a ton of last minute emergencies that had to be attended to. There were a few teachers that showed and it made me feel a little better. Although, there was one teacher that paid the registration fee and bought the team shirt and everything, but stayed to get a picture with the Spurs Coyote, yell out the school's name over the loud speakers and then leave. It was interesting. I wonder why he even showed up. Oh well, he at least came. It was great being able to spend time with the one student that was there. I learned a lot about her. While we were there, we ran into many more kids and families from the school who were with different groups. One of the families had an uncle that dressed as the Pink Panther. It was awesome! They took about an hour and half to walk the 5K because everyone wanted to stop and take a picture with the Panther. My group, of course, had to get a picture with them. It was one of my students so naturally I had to get a picture. All in all, it was a great day. Waking up at 4:30 in the morning, getting downtown for cheap parking by 5:45, not leaving until 10:30, then not not getting home until 1pm was a great. I can't believe I am still awake at this time. I tried to take a nap, but couldn't. Dang, I need one too, but alas, I am sitting at my desk at work trying to figure out a sub schedule this week for all the teachers that are going to be absent. After this I don't want to go home because Leland won't be there since he is out of town reffing a semi-pro football game. I will figure something out though. I sometimes do that. I can be creative, well, when I want to be that is. Or maybe I will go home and call it an early night. We shall see. I have to get back to work. Only four more weeks until summer vacation, whew, it's getting closer.

Another 3-Day Weekend

I am a little glad that Easter came later this year. It has given me two weeks of 3-day weekends. While I love that, it also reminds me that this is the last break I have until May 28. I know I am spoiled since I have summer's off, but when working with kids at this time of the year, you really do deserve it. Plus, I don't just sit around and be lazy, nor do I go on all these wild adventures during the summer. I do all my CEU's and get caught up on all the other things I have been needing to do all year, but have not been able to do it since I have been at work. Those long neglected doctor/dentist appointments, fixing things that have been broken, and packing to move into a new place all have to get finished in the summer. Anyway, I digress.

It is Easter weekend and what a wonderful weekend it is! Today, my mom gets into town and Leland and I will take her to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner to celebrate her birthday which is tomorrow. And Earth Day is tomorrow too! Leland's aunt and one of his cousins will also be in town to visit his cousin that is stationed at Ft. Sam right now. On top of that his dad may be coming in too. We are going to have one great Easter dinner! I am so excited! Which means, I have to make my bunny cake. I can't believe I almost forgot about that. Hopefully with all of these people I will take some pics, but I don't think that will happen because I always seem to forget to do that, waa waa.

Aside from all the people that will be here and having a blast, the Easter weekend is the greatest celebration of them all outside of Christmas. Easter weekend is the time in which our Savior, Jesus Christ, burst forth from the grave and brought us the opportunity to live with our Heavenly Father again. Without the Atonement, we would not be able to receive our full glory. We would only know justice, no mercy. We would not be able to repent of all our wrongs. We would not have any hope in this world. I am so grateful for the Savior. He truly loves us and died for us all. The greatest gift a friend can give is to lay down his life for another. He really is our greatest friend. I like to think about how blessed the Earth is to have that great event happen here. If you think about all the worlds that have been created and all the planets in our solar system, we were the one's that had the Savior come and fulfill the great plans Heavenly Father had. There are other worlds with other beings that did not get this great blessing. We did. It may not have happened during my lifetime, but it happened and I have been greatly blessed because of it. For those of you who think I am some religious zealot who believes in aliens you have it all wrong. It is amazing the peace and knowledge the gospel brings. The doctrines and principles that are taught are everlasting. If you have ever wondered where you came from, what your purpose on Earth is and what will happen after you die, then visit www.mormon.org to find out more. The only way to know is to find out for yourself. You may not believe everything that is there, but trust me, you know of it's truthfulness after reading some of the content and then experiencing things for yourself.

I didn't mean for this to turn in to what it did, but I am happy it did. It's amazing what you start your post with and what you end it with. Have a Happy Easter !

Things That Make My Heart Ache

I don't know why this came to mind today, but as I am sitting in my office thoughts keep running through my head that I feel need to get out. I know, it's a downer of a post, but sometimes in life we have these downers. It's all about our perspective in how we deal with these things that make us able to learn and grow from them. These are in no particular order. 1) A kiddo I have known for 5 years and feels like my own kid swallowed 30 pain relievers to try to escape the pain and confusion she is facing. Hardest part, She didn't tell anyone she was having these feelings until it happened. She is doing fine now, but I will always wonder what is going on. 2) Parents who do not let their kids fight their own fight and try to work things out on their own. 3) Parents writing nasty accusatory letters because they still have a bully complex. Get over it! 4) People who never take responsibility for their own actions. You can show them on tape doing something and they will not take responsibility for their actions. 5) NO BLUE BONNETS! 6)People who try to hide who they really are because they are made fun of or bullied when they do. 7) Bullies 8) Those who have a hard time accepting gospel truths and only want to ridicule because they are too hard-hearted and blinded to see that they are only hurting themselves. 9) Couples who have been told that they cannot have children that actually want them then seeing people who don't expect to get pregnant and when they do they don't care. 10) Children and animals who have been dumped, abandoned and/or abused by people, family or not, that do not care or who think they are more powerful because they are bigger. What's great about recognizing the things that make me feel blue? It will help me to not become those things in the future. Blue bonnets is just something that I missed this Spring. We have not had any wildflowers this year because we have not had the needed amounts of rain. I love the blue bonnets in the spring, but this year the places that I trust to have them and bring a smile to my face, has none. Everything else are personal traits that I know I have control over. As long as I can recognize those things in my life, I can strive to become and do better.

Dear Battle of Flowers,

Oh how I love that you are the one random day off during the school year and give me a four day weekend every April. I do not know why you are an SA holiday, but I am so very grateful you rescue me in the middle of the month and give me the mental vacation I need every year. Where have you been all my life? Why are you only in SA? I don't really care, but I love you Battle of Flowers. Please continue your reign as the random day of the year for a school holiday. In all gratitude, Katie P. =0)

Never Been Happier. . .

that it is the weekend. This week seemed to drag on for-e-ver! I think it mostly had to deal with the longest Friday of my life. In one day at work we had class pictures, two presentations from St. Mary's Pre-Engineering program, and a PTO fundraiser. Class pictures went pretty smoothly. The right person got it all organized and there were so many great people that volunteered their off periods to help without being asked. It was wonderful! The only issue, since it was class pictures, was the free dress day. How hard is it to listen to the major things of what not to wear? Seriously, I must have said it 15 times in each homeroom the day before, announced it at lunch for all students a week ago, sent it home in the Wednesday Folder and it is in the handbook that skinny jeans are not allowed at any point during the school day or as part of the school uniform. The most irritating part, parents told their kids to wear the skinny jeans and sent a note with the student addressed to me that they are allowed to wear the skinny jeans because they do not have any other kinds of pants to wear. They obviously can wear their uniform pants, they do not have to wear jeans on a free dress day. Really?! What kind of parent buys their kid or allows their kid to wear only skinny jeans? Then, what kind of parent writes a note thinking that it will excuse their kid from having to face the consequences of them not wearing the appropriate clothing? Grrrrrr! I think there was one class that followed the rule to perfection. I was so proud of those kiddos :) In the future I will only allow those kids free dress. The presentations were scheduled during the homeroom times, so 30 minute presentations. I don't know why, but the presentations lasted 45 minutes cutting into the 8th graders lunch by ten minutes and then for the high schoolers that attended it cut into 20 minutes of their class time. All it takes is a little organizations and some guts to cut off the speaker in order to do what is right for the kids. Finally, the PTO fundraiser. I had community service volunteers that I had to keep track of and I was the only administrator there to oversee things. Thankfully, the PTO was on point. They did a great job. The main event of the fundraiser was the faculty vs. students basketball game. Sadly, the students won, but it took them six years to finally beat us. We only had about six people that were anywhere close to athletic on our team and the students had the entire boys basketball team and part of the girls basketball team playing the entire time. On top of that, we didn't have real refs so the student team was fouling all over the place and nothing was called. On a good note though, I haven't seen those kids work hard ever. It was nice to see what they are truly capable of doing. Hopefully, they continue to work at that rate into their adult years. Saturday was not so bad. It was actually a great break for the world. Leland and I were able to go to Chris Madrid's for the best hamburgers ever for dinner and then to the Spurs game. It was a pretty good game; although, I did get a little bored and had to look away. There is this thing that if I watch a game the Spurs always lose, no fail. During the time I was looking away the Spurs gained a huge lead. The Spurs won and all was right with the world for that moment. The Spurs were having their "fan appreciation night" and "Mormon night". It was an evening of free stuff and a little inspiration. A group of missionaries from the SA area sang the National Anthem and another group presented Sean Elliot (former Spurs player) with his family history of up to 5 generations. It was a sweet little showcase of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The whole evening was something that I have been needing for a while now. Now, I can look forward to a four day work week. It is awesome when you get a random day off of work for something like Battle of Flowers. To this day I have no idea what Battle of Flowers is really all about, but I am happy I get a three day weekend out of it =0)

It's April

and that means General Conference! This month it was fabulous! Again, it was the rejuvenation I have been needing. All the talks were so inspiring and amazing. My father-in-law was in town and there was a was wondering what we were going to do for dinner. Since we had been laying around all day not doing much and ate a really big lunch at 3pm, dinner was not on the schedule. My FIL asked Leland if we were going to go out for dinner. Leland told me later that he would have normally said "yes we can go out" but since hearing the talk on keeping the sabbath holy he had to say no. I was so proud of him. The only time we have gone out to eat on Sunday is when we were visiting my family in Florida and they took us to Tarpon Springs because that was the only day we were going to be there and when my Grandma and Grandpa come to town (which is only like once every five to ten years). There were a lot of talks on the church's welfare system. I thought the leaders of the church really know what is ahead for this country and were basically telling everyone to be prepared and know that the church can help; until, President Eyring mentioned that is the 75 anniversary of the church welfare system. Even so, I think it is both reasons. My favorite talk of the weekend had to be Elder Quentin L Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Saturday morning. His talk was about the women of the church and their strength and good works and charity. It was exactly what I needed. Many of the faults he listed, which are not bad things, are some of the things I struggle with on a daily basis. For example, knowing that what I did was enough. Elder Cook said at one time that women will do so much yet feel that what they did was not enough. I have been feeling that way quite a bit lately especially with my calling in the young women. I feel as though I don't do anything compared to the rest of the leaders. Even the mom with four kids ages 3-12 does more than what I do for the young women. I also know my situation and what I am able to do with the situation I am in. But, hearing the words of Elder Cook really made those feelings wash away, at least for the time being. I am grateful for his words. There were a couple of other talks that I truly enjoyed that I hope more people were listening to, but since I can't remember them off the top of my head, I will have to wrote about them in another month or so when the conference issue of the Ensign comes out. I am short on time today because I have to go let the kiddos into the building. I will hopefully be able to write more about all the events of my life in a little later. Have a great day!

Spring Break in Utah? Not So Springy.

Since Spring Break ended I have been hitting the ground running and have not had a ton of time to give an update on my Spring Break. Leland and I went to Utah for the vacation. We checked the weather from the normally very accurate weather.com (the Weather Channel's website) and it told us it was going to be upper 50's lower 60's and sunshiny all week long. Let's just say, I thought I was going to be able to take gorgeous pictures of the snow-covered mountains with a blue-sky backdrop and I couldn't even see the mountains because they blended in with clouds so much. A couple of times the mountains were completely obscured by the clouds. At one point, we were snowed on. Can you believe it's Spring Break and there is snow?! Seriously, snow?! Really?! Utah, you are not wining my heart at this time, if you ever want me to even think about moving there, you have to make some serious changes. While the weather may not have been all that desirable, the rest of the trip was pretty good. We left SA Tuesday evening. I was flying Southwest and Leland was flying American, long story so I won't bore you with all the details. All my flights are on time and things are going pretty smoothly, until I get to my layover in Vegas. I get off the plane and we are delayed 20 minutes. not a bad delay and the time could be made up in the air. About the time we should be boarding for our flight, there is an announcement that the flight is being delayed another 40 minutes. Grrrrrrr! We finally board about 45 minutes after we were suppose to take off originally. Leland had planned our trip perfectly so that we would land within five minutes of each other and there would not be any major wait time for his sisters who were picking us up. As usual, we make a plan and it doesn't happen. I got into SLC about an hour after I was suppose to feeling so air sick and gross that I couldn't hold my head up, not a pretty sight.

The times we were in Orem and SLC area were pretty good though. I was able to do a Zumba class for the first time. I will never do Zumba again, my non-rythmness doesn't work for a dance class. Sorry Zumba, but you are not my favorite class at the gym. I also was reminded of what good grocery competition can do. If only TX had the same grocery competition that UT has. The prices are so low it's unbelievable. The only thing we didn't like and laughed about were the descriptions of the large avocados. Leland and I are looking at the grocery adds and we see that large avocados are $.99 each. We are elated because the large avocados in TX are a $1.50 each. We go to the store where we saw the add and are looking all over the place for the large avocados. We can't find them anywhere! We keep seeing the small avocados and we start thinking that what we consider small may actually be large. We go back to the small avocados and sure enough, they were considered "large". We just had to laugh, these "large" avocados were so small that it would take 3 of those to even come close to being as large as one large avocado here in TX. It really is true what they say, "everything is bigger in TX".

We were also able to celebrate my birthday while I was there. It wasn't technically my birthday, but a little early celebration is never all that bad, right? We went to Grandma and Grandpa Moon's and had so much fun with family. We also celebrated a couple of other family member birthdays. I really like having a whole family around for birthdays. That would be something really cool to do if we live close enough to our families in the future. It was also really fun to watch little William. William is Leland's cousin and is about 3 yrs old. He is such an outgoing child. He will talk to anyone and will say the best things. At one point in the night he was going to pick up his drink and picked up an empty cup instead. He looks in the cup, realizes it's empty and says, "Aw Man!" Cutest "aw, man" I have ever heard! I had a lot of fun with the family. It was a great break from the stresses of everyday life. It is always weird for me when I go on vacation and don't do anything because I am so use to always doing something and having to worry about something that I don't know what to do with myself when I have no responsibilities. I also had my very first In-and-Out burger experience. Can we say delicious and cheap? Loved it, big fan! That's really about it for my Spring Break. In summary, weather was not spring break worthy, snow, family, birthday, total relaxation.

I have bored you to tears enough in this post so I will say good-bye and sign off. Oh, but before I do, Happy Birthday to one of the greatest people I know, Erin Wall, have a fantastic day!

Finally, A Little Validation

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of being able to speak at one of my student's Court of Honor as he received his Eagle Scout. First, I was called an "eloquent speaker" by one of the other speakers then I received some thanks. The last person to speak was the Eagle Scout himself. During his speech he thanked a few people. He thanked me, but I thought he was only thanking me because I spoke that evening. Afterwards the boy's den leader told me that he was really thanking me for his workouts during PE. She said that she heard amny times on hikes they took that as much as he hated the things we did in PE, I was right. He could now see where the things we did in PE were useful in real life. It was such a wonderful experience. I am glad I was the administrator picked to speak at his Court of Honor. I finally have some validation in all my years of teaching and coaching. All it takes is one kid to say a sincere "thank you". Is there anyone that you need to give a little validation to? Don't wait, act now and thank someone for what they helped you achieve.

Last Saturday I was so happy I finally got to see WICKED! It is such a fun musical. It is a great story about the witches of Oz. It is the behind-the-scenes story of how they all met, why the Wicked Witch if the West is green, where the ruby (in the real story, silver) shoes come from, and even tells the story behind the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. There is a pretty good twist at the end too, but I am never telling ;) I love the music for the show too. One of the people we went with had the soundtrack of the original Broadway cast (by the way, the off-Broadway cast that we saw was waaaay better than the Broadway cast) and while I love the songs, they didn't make much sense until after seeing the real thing. It was a blast! I want to see it again. Unfortunately, it is no longer here, but that's okay, it will be here again sometime and I will go then. This is one musical that I hope they make a movie out of. It is fun, charming, witty, and altogether a joy to see. You will not leave disappointed. If you ever have a chance to see this show, go! Get tickets early and go. You will have a ton of fun and will think of the music all the time. I still do.

Spring Break is Here!

The one week all spring semester I look forward to, SPRING BREAK! And just in time. I know things are only going to be even more crazy when I come back, but right now, the craziness takes a break. I don't know if I have ever been so excited for a spring break before. I was excited a few years ago when I went to South Padre, but not this excited. I guess I am just that ready for a break and some good quality sleeping in and working out time. Will I be staying home for the break? Not at all. I will be going to Utah to visit Leland's family and help out with some things. I am not the most excited for this trip. I do not consider it spring break if there is snow anywhere in sight like there will be on the mountains in Utah. Spring break is sunny, warm, and gorgeous. At least I will get away for a little bit and see some family. It will be weird to not be in Texas for a spring break since I am a Texan, but I will have to get over that.



Speaking of Utah, Leland received a phone call the other day from one of his physics profs at UVU. When we were in Utah over the summer we went and visited UVU and all his professors. While there one of his profs said there was a position open in the physics department. Jokingly, he mentioned if they still had the opening in a year he would apply. Since he said that, I think they may have taken him seriously. The phone call was concerning that position. It is still vacant. Although I never want to leave Texas, if we have to I will. Gratefully, Leland loves Texas and the warmth as much as I do, so it is highly unlikely that we will have to pack up and head to the frozen tundra. I was telling that to a few of my co-workers and they about hyperventilated telling me that I could not go anywhere, I have to stay there, Utah is way too far away. I agree! Wherever the Lord needs us to go, we will go. If that means we pack up and move to another state, we will do that. If it means we stay in Texas we will be more than happy to do so. We shall see what the future holds.



So yesterday I had a workshop training that I had to finish it was cancelled when we were shut down due to the freeze. I get a text message from one of my co-workers at five til seven saying that they were still outside and no one was at the school to unlock the doors. Let me put this in perspective, at 7am I open the student entrance doors to let all the kids into the building, 7:05 am breakfast service starts, 7:15am the front office opens for parents to do any business they need to do, 7:30am 0 period starts for the high school kids. I normally get to the school at 6:30am because I have teachers that arrive a few minutes after that in order to get ready for the day and eat breakfast and take a little time to relax before the craziness starts. It wasn't until 7:10am that another admin showed up and opened all the doors. At least someone was there before 0 period started. I have never received such a warm reception after walking into the building as what I received yesterday. It felt good to have a reception like that. After all the self-doubt I have been going through lately and worry, it helped ease my fears and doubt about how I was doing in my first year as an administrator. Even though I complain a ton about my job and the things I have to deal with, I really do love my job. I enjoy the interaction with the kids, parents and teachers. I am not the biggest fan of the little time I have with Leland because of this job, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I took this job and thankfully I have a husband who understands the rigors and hours of my position. He knows I am not happy about it and sometimes he is frustrated with it as well, but we both understand how important it is right now to do this.



I have taken enough of your time in telling my lame stories. Happy Spring Break!

Around the World

The fun thing about having a blog is receiving comments from people from around the world. I get insight from other cultures and it helps me get a different perspective on things. To the person from Holland who commented on my Valentine's post:

I did not grow up in a family that was real big on Valentine's. I take that back, my mom was big on every special day or holiday. She would go all out for the family. One year she even made chocolate truffles. They were delicious! No one else in my family is big on the day. I also never had a Valentine until last year so the giant teddy bears, flowers and all the hype have never been important to me. The thing I love about Valentine's is being able to really show those I care about that I care about them. Then I think, it shouldn't be like that. Only taking one day out a year to show people that you care about them? It should be a constant in one's life to show how much he/she cares about those around him/her. Anyway, to my Holland friend, Valentine's may not be a big deal where your from, but there is nothing that says you can't make it a big deal in your own way. Who knows, you may start a new trend or tradition amongst your family and friends. Give it a try, see what happens. Please don't be discouraged if people don't take to it right away. Nothing that is ever worth it is easy. Good luck! Oh, and welcome to the wide world of blogging. Have fun exploring and sharing!

I have also noticed there are people that follow from other areas of the world as well, whether or not they actually follow because they are interested or to just say that they follow a lot of blogs is not my business. They can follow for whatever reason they choose unless it's to place spam on my comments. If I find out you spam me or put things up that are totally ridiculous, you will no longer be a follower and I will block you. Hopefully through doing this, people will learn a little something about me and I will learn a little something about the rest of the world and what they feel about topics I write about. To all the bloggers out there in the blogosphere (I hope I spelled that correctly) live without regrets and record it, love those who are around you, and laugh about anything even the things that anger you because you never know how it is going to affect someone else in the world. Remember, record it all.

Thank you for reading my blog. Someday my kids will read this and they will read your comments as well and learn from you.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Another Valentine's Day is upon us. As much as this "holiday" made me want to barf when I was young, immature and single, I kinda like it. Now the only reason it makes want to barf is because I have to watch as students bring in 3 ft tall teddy bears and give giant boxes of candy to other students. It is a little ridiculous to me, but that's kids, they specialize in the ridiculous. I don't like this day because I am married now and have a permanent Valentine. I started liking this "holiday" years ago when I realized it's not about loving one person and being given gifts. It's about showing everyone you care about how much you care. Yes, it's was originally designed as a day for lovers, but society has changed and now, to me, it's about reminding those around me whom I love that I love them. It's about friends and family. It's about letting others know that you think about them and their well-being. It's about making someone else's day better.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !

Now go and make someone else's day better.