Baby Sugar

September 14

Stings

When I taught 6th grade for one year in Arizona, we had to go to the door and get our line of students in the morning when it was time for school to begin. One day I was leading my students to the classroom, and I put my hand on a little girl's shoulder. She was wearing her backpack which meant my hand was on her thick shoulder strap. I got stung. It was the oddest thing. There was no bee or wasp. The bee must have stung her in the strap, and it left the stinger for ME! It stung as if I had been stung by the actual bee. It was so weird and not fun. But I was a trooper, I could handle it.

During tryouts one year when I coached junior high soccer in Arizona, a little 7th grader was running and got stung by a bee on the tip top of her head. But she was a trooper and could handle it.

Last Friday, a man came to mark the underground lines in our backyard because they are going to move our gas meter. He got stung by a wasp in his eyebrow. He kept telling me that it would have been a trip to the ER if it had hit his eye. He said, "But, I'm a trooper. I can handle it." He got out some wasp killer and sprayed the nest. We've lived here for a couple of months, and we'd never seen a wasp.

Tidbits

#1) Take away his Heisman! It is fitting that he plays for the Saints. They are dirty players, and he is a creep. (I know, pretty strong statement, but it is the truth - I firmly believe that the Saints were out to hurt Brett Favre last year in the NFC Championship game. By the way, welcome back Favre. I am one person glad you are still playing.)
#2)Personally, I think it is funny that Matt Leinart was cut from the Cardinals. I love the Cardinals, but I've never liked him. Can you tell that I can't stand USC?
#3)I hope Bob is the winning brother this weekend.
#4) The animal control man visited our house again... the second time since Molly was born. The first time was for a cat stuck in the wooden fence. It writhed and screamed and tried to wound Aaron. The man came literally in the middle of the night (like 2 a.m.). The cat was alive but filled with more broken bones than I care to know. I'm pretty sure he didn't make it once he got to the animal hospital. This time I thought it was another kitty. Nope, an opossum. It died. The guy got it out without any gloves. Ick.
#5)I don't know how channel 9 can make the crazy decision to no longer broadcast Regis and Kelly. I've called the station to voice my sadness. Evidently I'm not the only one upset. I'm hoping another channel will carry it.

Commercials That I Currently Love

Target's back-to-school commercial.

Direct TV's Greenbay "Dirtbag" ad. Hilarious.

AT&T's Spelling Bee.

It's been bothering me...

The sentence in my last post where I wrote, "It is a little bittersweet..."
It isn't. I didn't actually fib, but it is not bittersweet, it is relief & joy that I feel. Teaching 8th grade was fun. Now I'm glad I don't. Maybe I will again someday, but YAY! I'm home with my girl - it's dreamy.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

She loves September (and synonyms, too).
She is intuitive. Sensitive. Inspiring. And true.
She makes the greatest kind of difference.
She is a teacher. She leads with her voice.
She believes in the alphabet.
She cares about language.
Her strength is her listening.
The number line is where she stands.
She knows the rhythm of syllables.
She opens the imagination.
She discovers new ideas.
Visual displays make her smile (interactive projects and world maps, too).
Her commitment is her classroom.
(from a notepad I bought years ago in AZ)

It is a little bittersweet to turn the corner into my neighborhood at 2:40 p.m.
Vehicles line the street up one side and down the other waiting for the 6th, 7th, & 8th graders to come out of school. My school day used to end at 2:50, also, and I do have nostalgia for those days. Those days of reading my favorite junior high books, teaching the parts of speech, shaking my head with disbelief when students couldn't remember which to use: there, their, or they're, laughing at their crazy antics, and breaking through their I'm-tough-and-obnoxious-and-I-think-I'm-smarter-than-you attitudes. Teaching 8th grade was fun.

Now my only "student" brings tears of joy to my eyes on a daily basis with her sweet laugh, sparkly smile, and twinkling eyes. She can't speak real words, but she doesn't need to. I don't need to carry on a conversation to be able to communicate with her. It is delightful, special, and too amazing to put into words. I wish I could because let me tell you, I've tried. Pictures can't capture either. I've tried. I'm her mother, and I'm in love with her.

15 Years Ago

I chose to go to Tabor College.
I decided the week before it was time to leave that I'd just stay home.
But, I knew I was really going to go.
And I'm more than GLAD I did.

I met and moved in with Nicole.
I went "potluck" for a roommate. It took about 1.5 seconds until she was my new best friend. If I remember correctly, Rod Hamm (who a few days later became my head soccer coach) put us together as roommates. I don't know why he did (God told him to), but it was the totally right thing to do. I accidentally locked her out of our room the second or third day I knew her. She was barefoot, and we had to be at the chapel for our Sunday worship. Thankfully, another gal loaned her a pair of shoes. She loved me anyway. I was "HK"; she was "Nic"; and Tonya (another instant friend) was "T". There are absolutely NO WORDS to describe how much fun we had. Late nights, laughter like you've never heard, pranks, singing into hairbrushes, being the loudest table in the caf, long discussions about boys, eating olives while watching Oprah... we took the campus by storm (or at least we did in my mind). A few years later, she was my maid of honor, and a month after my wedding, I was her matron of honor. We don't see each other that often, and we don't talk as much as I'd like, but she is a forever friend. {Her birthday is tomorrow - happy birthday, Nic!}

I don't think there is anyone in the world who has or had more fun in college than I did. I get majorly sentimental when I think about my time at Tabor. I enjoyed almost every second of it. My heart melts a little every time I think of my time in college. I wish I could put it into words. I don't know if someone told me this, or if it was just this thought I came up with on my own...but I knew in my heart that choosing a college was one of the most important decisions in my life. I knew that I would get my degree there which would lead me to my future job/career. I knew that I would meet new people who would become my new friends and most likely influence my future. I knew that it was very likely that I'd meet my future husband which would drastically affect my future. I knew that everything stemmed from that decision. I was correct on all of it. Who knew I'd play soccer? Who knew that the game of soccer would impact my life for eternity with friends and my love of running and exercise? Who knew that soccer would restore my love for sports? Who knew that I'd marry Aaron who was from Colorado who wasn't MB who had family in Arizona which is how we ended up in the desert for 7 totally fun and unbelievable years and that he'd give me my Molly? Who knew I'd become an English teacher and teach 8th graders in a public school in Gilbert, Arizona and LOVE it? I could go on and on and on and on.

I'm thrilled because I found my Tabor College life-time athletic pass the other day. I thought I had lost it.
Tabor was worth every penny!
I am a Bluejay forever.