Wow!! Let's Give Blogging Another Try

How utterly embarrassing! I can't believe it has been over a year since I last blogged! I guess I went through a very long period of writer's block? Well...last spring brought much stress and anxiety of which I didn't feel comfortable writing about online (nor did I want to bore you with a lot of complaining and whining), so I will update you on the last six months and hopefully blog a little more often in 2011. Since I am writing about the past six months worth of events, you may want to get a cup of coffee (or other preferred beverage), grab a cozy blanket, and get comfortable; this may take a while. Sorry :(

During the last week of July, I began preparations to go back to school teaching second grade again. I made copies for my Lesson Plan book and my Gradebook, started brainstorming what I would be saying in my back to school newsletter to send to my new students, and getting those new students' addresses among many other things necessary to start a new school year.

The first week of August has been a fun week for me for the last three or four years because that is the week of Fine Arts Camp at our church at which I get to teach Art to first through sixth grades. On Monday, the first day of camp, I received a phone call but no voicemail from the school. Having just bought a new iPhone, I decided to check my email to see if there was any clue there about the phone call. Sure enough, there was an email from the principal that didn't offer much information which raised my heart rate for most of the day. As soon as I had a break, I called the school back and set an appointment for that afternoon after camp was over. I found out that afternoon that because of a dramatic decrease in enrollment, I no longer had a job for the 2010-2011 school year. This news came exactly two weeks before school was to start. Needless to say, I was completely devastated, only to find out within a couple more weeks that I didn't qualify for unemployment benefits. I immediately got my name on the substitute lists for two local school districts and started checking those websites for jobs multiple times each day.

Well, a very long story made short--God showed His mighty provision and perfect timing once again in our lives. Just as finances started to get a little tight again, (somewhere around October) some wonderful new friends came into our lives and through ordinary "getting to know you" conversations, these friends discovered that some of our needs, desires, and goals were matching up with some needs, desires, and goals that they had for their small business. On November 1, Jon began working for them which gave us the freedom for me to stay home with M and substitute teach when I want to. He is still working for the doctor, but only a few hours a week from home one or two evenings each week. With this change of jobs came the opportunity for all three of us to finally be insured again and all on the same plan. This was very important so that we could work toward one of our desires.

Well, December rolled around (very quickly it seemed this year, don't you think?) and we had a wonderful time lighting the advent wreath at church one Sunday, celebrating M's FOURTH birthday, riding in a limo with friends to look at Christmas lights, helping M overcome her fear of Santa, and traveling many miles to celebrate the season with all of our family.

Now, we are nearing the end of January already and have had a very eventful last couple of weeks. Only one event was expected, but unfortunately, some of the events we have not particularly enjoyed. Last week, Jon and I took a quick trip with his famiy to New York to say good-bye to and bury his Grama who fell asleep and went home to be with our Lord at a young 87 years of age. While it was nice to spend time with Grampa and meet some of their very dear friends, the flights there and home were awful (another long story that I will save for a future post--when I experience a little bit of writer's block ;) ).

This past Sunday, my grandmother (MawMaw) had a very severe stroke and has been in ICU this entire week in Dallas. She is paralyzed on her right side and has lost all speech. However, today seemed to be a pretty good day for her. She was off the ventilator for several hours and breathing on her own, but she has to work so hard to breathe and we can see the frustration on her face as she realizes her limited communication capabilities at this time. The doctors will be putting her on the vent at night so that she can get some rest and not have to work so hard. She even smiled (on the left side of her face) at me when I was telling her about M's exciting week.

M started preschool this week at our church and is going two days a week. So far, she LOVES it!! She has asked everyday, "Am I going to school today? Will you pack my lunchbox?" Both days went extremely well. Her first day, she recognized a little girl she already knew, was already familiar with the classroom (it's the same as her Sunday school room), and knew one of her teachers who was thrilled to see her. She waltzed right in like she owned the place! The second day, she put her folder in the bucket, set her backpack in the appropriate place, held her lunch box, and waited patiently for the teacher to open the door for the kiddos. As soon as she heard her teacher say good morning, she hopped up and took off calling over her shoulder, "Bye Mommy! I love you! See you later!" I did catch her to get a hug before she got too far away from me. I'm happy that she is enjoying it so much. I was very nervous about drop off, but so far everything is going smoothly.

The one expected event in the last two weeks was our announcement in Sunday school that M will be a big sister in August! M is starting to understand a little more each day. In fact, on Wednesday, she and I went to a local warehouse superstore and while we were waiting to check out, M pushed a little hard on my tummy (with M being only 39 inches tall, my belly is pretty much right at "push level" for her). I told her that hurt a little bit and to remember she needs to be careful around mommy's tummy so we don't hurt the baby. She replied, "The baby in Mommy's tummy?" and I said, "Yes, the baby in Mommy's tummy." As if a lightbulb clicked on, she said, "Is it sleeping?" I told her it was possible, so she put her ear to my belly for a second or two, popped her head up, and said, "I think it's snoring!" I had to laugh out loud, right there in the middle of the check out line. I couldn't help it.

The last time or two that I had actually blogged, I was writing some "M-isms". Well, those are mostly gone as her speech has developed so much that almost everything she says is completely understandable now. That being said, I have a feeling future blogs will contain more lengthy stories like the one above.

Well, have your eyes crossed or glazed over yet? I hope not, but I understand if they have. I am writing this very late at night and feel that I really should come to an end on this post, not only because of it's length already but also because of how late it is. I hope that as our family is growing this year and many changes are sure to come, that I will not suffer from writer's block this year and will actually post more frequently. I promise you that not all posts will be this lengthy in content! What can I say? I've stored up six months worth of information to write about! Until next time...good night!