Computers, the necessary evil.

My computer doesn't like me this evening. Instead of loading my pictures at an acceptable speed, it is being quite slow, and rather annoying. So, since it's late, I'll simply leave you with a few pictures from this evening. Josh & I went for church directory pictures tonight, and since we were "gussied up" for the pictures, we took advantage of scenery in front of the church. Thanks to my mom for taking the pictures for me! Thanks to Lavonda for doing a great job trimming & fixing my hair!

I'll post more over the weekend. I still have pictures from Pigeon Forge, pictures I took of the cats, plus updates on grad school. I'm currently waiting for a letter in the mail...

Hope you all enjoy your Friday! I'm subbing 8:30 - 6:00 PM tomorrow, half of the time in the PDO program, and half the time in the CDC, so I should be plenty tired by the time we have Crafter's Night 6:00 - 9:00 PM. At least we have Saturday off! Housework here I come.

Sunday Night

Regretfully, the time tonight when I would usually sit down to tell you about my fantastic weekend in Pigeon Forge is being used to do homework. I have an essay on goals due tomorrow night, and it's almost finished, so I will return to it shortly. I will post about my weekend sometime soon (hopefully), and with it I will include some pictures. My best guess is I'll have time on Tuesday.

My upcoming week is busy!

Monday: Work, Gym, Birthday party for Jenny
Tuesday: Work, Home=Laundry, Cooking, & Cleaning
Wednesday: Work, Church/Work
Thursday: Work, Hair appointment, Directory Pictures
Friday: Substituting, Crafter's Night

Have a great week!

Weekend Update

Honestly, I was going to post a lot tonight. But then...I cuddled with my husband on the couch and watched SNL skits with him on the laptop. Now, if I had gotten the chance to post back when I intended to, I would have talked more about how I'm realizing everyday the importance of cherishing loved ones & being appreciative of what I have. But instead, I took the time I intended to blog to spend time with my husband. Ironic, huh? Alas, It's fifteen until 11:00, and the alarm goes off at 6:30 AM. So, I'll keep it brief tonight, with hopes of posting more later.

Grad School Update: My interview went well. I've turned all my stuff in. I'm now waiting for a meeting to happen on the 20th where a council discusses grad applications. Then, I should *hopefully* receive a letter in the mail within a week after that. I feel confident in what I submitted, and I'll have to give updates on other things I learned in the interview another day.

Weekend Update:

I really enjoyed my last Sweet Tea recipe. I included some English Breakfast Tea in with the regular Lipton. That, and 2 cups of sugar (hangs head in shame at my sugar addiction), make for an excellent tea brew! I made more tonight.

I tried a new recipe Saturday! Can you guess what they are?

Chocolate Chip pancakes! MMMMmmmmmm. Very delicious, and right off of the Bisquick box. I followed their "supreme" ingredients and added chocolate chips of course. I also made healthier pancakes from Whole Wheat Aunt Jemima mix. I make up a bunch, and then freeze them for later. Learned it from my Mama.

It pays to have a handy husband. We had a falling apart shelf/basket/ironing board organizer thing in the bathroom that has since been replaced by a bookshelf. Josh took a few of the parts, and the ironing board section, and attached it to a wall in the spare bedroom. Nifty isn't it? And it took him less than half an hour.

An Ikea find. This metal contraption helps to store our hose for the shop vac. Not pictured below, the kitty litter containers which often get vacuumed around.

We moved a new bookshelf into the spare room, and although still a little messy, you can see our DVDS have been moved to it, and the CD/DVD organizer now just holds CDS. The CDS are sitting on top of a desk if you're wondering. Currently we own more stuff than we have room for. Something I'm trying to rectify by purging things. SLOWWWWWW process.

Just for fun. Yes, I own all 10 seasons of Friends, and I've probably watched them all the way through about 3 times (at least).

I mentioned purging stuff. I've been sorting through totes of souvenirs, books, knick knacks, papers, etc. I'll get there one day. Here's one of 4 rabbit chopstick rests I got when I visited Kimmie in Japan. SO CUTE! Definitely a keeper!

Well, that's about it for now. It's about five until 11:00, and I need to get fast asleep! Hope everyone has a good Monday. It's fast approaching.

Whirlwind Week

Hmmmmm...the bearcatfeet blogger just realized that Photo Friday has fallen by the wayside, and that I might need to fix that come this weekend...

I thought I'd share a quick post about my whirlwind week before heading to an early bedtime.

Sunday: Josh stayed home with a backache, and I headed in to town for Sunday activities. It was a typical Sunday morning, with Sunday School, JAM, & clean-up. I went to Mamaw's after that for some delicious ribs, lots of sides, & fellowship with "the in-laws". I'm blessed to have great in-laws, so it's always a pleasure to see them even if I don't have my hubby with me. From there I went shopping, hoping for some end of season summer bargains. I was a bit disappointed with selection, but I did end up getting a black short sleeved shirt from Kohl's, some socks & a CUTE red plaid shirt from Ross, and a Tennessee Vols sweatshirt from TJ Maxx. I've been looking for a Vols sweatshirt for a while, and I was happy to have finally found a reasonably priced one I liked. Ironically, I stayed in town to shop to save myself from going to Nillie Bipper and spending too much money, but I ended up spending more in town that I had planned. After shopping, I went back to church for evening service, and then I headed home.

Monday: It was a full moon, rainy, Monday at the daycare. We have had a "fever virus" that swept through several classes between the end of last week & beginning of this one, so we had several children home sick or being sent home with high fevers. Besides that, we'll just say I had some incredulous moments dealing with people, and got to "play director" for part of the day. I was so happy to see 4:45. Josh & I actually got to come home on time for once. My high point of the day was a staff lunch at Cafe Roma. I had the most delicious ravioli & tiramisu I've ever had.

Tuesday: It was a steady day, and not too crazy. I had the strange appearance of two angry bumps on my right arm. I've labeled them as ant bites because I couldn't figure them out otherwise. They were red, hard in the middle, with a bit of a blister. (I've been doctoring them with alcohol, peroxide, & Neosporin, and now they look much better.) In the middle of the day I went over to Josh's work to get my flu shot. In the evening we went to the gym before heading home. I made Sweet Tea because I'm almost out of Coke Zero, and I need my caffeine!

Wednesday: I have had a good day today. I finished up my essay for grad school entrance, and e-mailed it to Lee. Work has been decent today. I went to the dentist this morning for a teeth cleaning -- No cavities! Josh & I had dinner at Tres Hermanos. I really enjoy their grilled chicken burrito. I get the lettuce, tomato, & sour cream on the side and give it to Josh to put on his food. I eat the shell, rice, queso, & chicken. MMMMMMMmmmmm!

Thursday & Friday are yet to be seen, but I am scheduled to have my interview at Lee for the MAT program at 1:00 PM. It's my final step! Besides that, I'm working 7:15 AM - 6:00 PM at the other daycare on Friday, so it may be this weekend before you hear from me again. I'm so excited though, I get to stay home on Saturday!

Well, my "quick" post turned long, and it's five after ten. So off to bed!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Just a quick post, and then to sleep. If possible, I am even more tired than I was last night.

Praise #1: I received my MAT scores in the mail today, and I officially did well. My percentile for my intended major is 89%, with 88% being my percentile for the whole group. I count that as a huge success since the range of topics covered on the Miller Analogies Test is so broad. My scaled score is 430, and I really don't know what that means.

Praise #2: The Tennessee River Rescue clean-up went well today. I tagged along with Josh & his co-worker to help them with their set-up by the Greenway. Cleveland High School students, girl scouts, community workers, & helpful citizens all joined in to help clean up Mouse Creek. I even got in for about an hour & filled up a huge trash bag. I liked helping out & being a good steward of our environment. Everything from broken glass bottles to tires to a full-sized "Business Customers Only" sign came out of the creek. And, I got a free t-shirt.

Praise #3: I get to go to bed now! By going to bed now, I'll get close to ten hours of sleep tonight. I really need it to catch up from a busy week. Josh is exhausted too, so he'll also get plenty of sleep.

To all my friends & family who read my blog, I am still reading yours! I've been so busy & tired lately that I haven't gotten a chance to comment, but I plan to soon.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

*yawn*

Looking forward to the hot tub tonight! Physically exhausted would be the words to describe me this evening. My feet, legs, back, & shoulders are all very tired, and I after A-Team is over, Josh & I will be going for a much deserved soak in a 100 degree F water. Ahhhhh...

Why so tired? Well, with some extra time on my hands on Fridays, and a need to eliminate debt, I'm doing some substituting at another local daycare. I would sub at my own center, but since I'm already on staff as a salary paid director, it would not only not help financially, but it would also just be kind of weird. So, here I am.

I worked today in a toddler room from 7:15 AM - 6:00 PM. I told them I could work the whole day, and I sure did. Most of the time it's a drawback to have a substitute who can only work one day, but when that day is Friday...So far I've worked two weeks in a row, and I have two other weeks lined up. Good thing about working all day is not only do I get a half hour break, but I also have the option of clocking out for 2 hours in the middle of the day to have another break. Josh has been wonderful and came in early with me, and stayed over late as well. I'm only probably as tired as I am tonight because I overhauled it cleaning the room & toys. There was a case of flu in that class this week, and I felt the need to BLEACH, BLEACH, BLEACH.

Besides that recent change, life is pretty much going on as usual. I am almost finished applying for grad school. All I have left is to type up my 500 word essay, schedule an interview, & turn in my (negative) tb test. Then, I should be ready! My undergrad online class is going well. It's actually a little too easy due to it being an intro class, and my having already graduated with a bachelor's. I'd rather it be too easy then too hard I guess.

That's about all for now. It's time for the hot tub.

Catching Up

What's been up with me?


Well, I've been preoccupied with the applying for the MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) program @ Lee. I've done a lot of what I have needed to, such as getting fingerprinted, filling out the application, & the biggest headache, taking the MAT (Miller Analogies Test). Studying for the MAT has taken up a lot of my evenings & weekends, and I can finally put that random trivia in storage, since I took the test this morning. The people at the testing center seem to think that I did a good job on my "tentative" score, so I don't' have any worries about it. All I have left now is to write a 500 word essay, have and interview, & get a TB test.


Besides that, life has gone on as usual. I've had my annual physicals recently, and found out that I'm still healthy, although I need to work on my triglycerides just a touch. My doctors seem to think I'm doing well, and surprisingly none of them ever tell me I need to lose a few pounds (although I know better). I've stayed well most of the year, and my only ailments over the past few weeks have been allergies.


We've had an interesting month of expenditures between new tires for my car, fees for grad school stuff (application fee, fingerprints, & MAT), home improvement unexpecteds (such as needing to replace a leaky faucet in the bathroom), and getting our heat & air serviced (which included installing a new digital thermostat). With these things in mind & the extra time I find myself with on Fridays, I am now a substitute at another local daycare. I'll just be doing it on Fridays as needed, but I'm looking forward to the new experiences, extra cash, & enjoying being a teacher instead of director. With only one online class this semester, I can handle it. I'll just have to see how those evening classes wear on me next semester. I may find myself taking my Fridays back for study time.


Josh & I have worked around the house on projects. He's getting ever closer to having the back porch finished. We also helped Jenny & Jud last weekend as they moved into their new home. We were part of the painting crew, and as reward for our troubles we were treated to sausage biscuits for breakfast & Rafael's pizza for lunch. And, one can't forget the delicious chocolate chip cookies. Great Value has remarkably good cookie dough for a generic. Don't they have beautiful wood floors in the living room? My husband, the spackle-machine!
Life was crazy today at the center, so I'm very ready for bed. Rain & daycares don't mix, evident by the stir-crazy children & teachers, the plumbing issues created by copious amounts of rain, & the never ending germs, which resulted in calls from yours truly to send the poor little ones home. Hopefully tomorrow will be a much brighter day. Fortunately my disposition was cheery since I had gotten the MAT behind me. I'm going to bed now. It's 10:30 PM, and I want my 8 hours of sleep!