Adventures of Eeeeee

New Phone Case = Feels like I have a new phone!

2011-08-05T16:07:00.000-04:00

White with Tree Phone Case

Back when I first purchased this phone I also purchased some cases. No matter if you are just tough on things like me or not, you should ALWAYS purchase a phone case / protector. I couldn't decide on which design I liked so I got two. Well, it's nearly two years later, and recently my bestie was making fun of me for having tape on my phone case. "It's to hold it together," I told her, "I've dropped it too many times." "What about the other case, the one with the tree?" she asked. I told her that the other one was wonky when I first got it.

Today I decided to go find the other case and see if it fit any better.

Score! Not only does it snap together (no tape needed!) it makes me feel like I have a new phone. It's good to have found this during the last few months before I get an actual new phone. The only weird thing is that my phone is black and it's a little awkward to have a black phone with a white ring of a case around it. It just looks funky. Still I like the tree :)

Eeeeee

The Cheese Wars!!

2011-08-04T00:34:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time there was a lovely Queen. She was constantly at war with the EVIL Cheese! One day she was at a party and the Evil Cheese was up to his weedly ways again. There at the party was macaroni and cheese... the Queen's favorite! The Queen had prepared all of her warriors with extra armor and so she ATE the macaroni and cheese.

But the Queen had made a tactical blunder!

She had forgotten about the Evil Witch employed by the Evil Cheese! This evil witch cast a spell over the lovely Queen that would last for three days.

The first day, the Queen would feel nothing. Happiness abounded in the Queen and everyone around her.

The second day, the evil witch cast the Queen with crankypants. The Queen could not take them off. She tried to cut them off and they stitched themselves back together. She tried to yank them off and no amount of pulling would make them budge. The Queen was cranky all day. Everyone cowered in her insufferable presence! Finally, the Queen (the mean Queen as she was now nicknamed) went to bed. "This day cannot end fast enough!" she thought.

The third day, the evil with cast the Queen with deep sadness. All day the Queen was in despair. No one could bring her out of her sadness no matter how hard they tried. Finally, the sun set on the third day and the Queen went to sleep.

The Evil Cheese no longer had a hold of the lovely Queen. But from now on, even when the Queen had prepared her warriors with extra armor, she knew she could not win against the Evil Cheese.

She declared a truce with the Evil Cheese and the Evil Witch and all the land celebrated a happy Queen.

Sioux City Public Museum

2011-07-24T16:55:00.001-04:00

Hands down Sioux City has the best museum ever! It is very interactive and informative. There is even a mirror where the ghosts of the city talk to you. As a bonus, its free!!! And since we went on Sunday, parking was also free.

Pictured below is the picture Joe and I attempting to work the corn kiosk .... not very successfully :)

On top of Bear Butte

2011-07-23T15:28:00.001-04:00

The hike is 1.7 miles pretty much semi steep to steep the whole way. The summit is 4426 ft. And we are on top of it.

We've climbed about 1000 ft today.

The picture is less than a third of the way up.

Elizabeth

Montana!

2011-07-22T15:31:00.001-04:00

Today we travel through Montana! I have slept the morning away while Joe drove. We are switching and sleeping for the next few days to cover some miles. I take the afternoon/night shift and Joe takes the morning. Last night, we finally stopped at a campground around 2am mountain time. We arrived so late that we didn't even bother with the tent. We just rearranged our suv to make it easy to sleep in. By the way, if you ever do this and are in the drivers seat (like I was) the most comfy position is with your legs up on the steering wheel with your sleeping bag acting as a cushion. I found myself being reminded of my days in high school when as a mat manager we travelled on a school bus with the wrestlers and inevitably on the way back from a meet we would all stretch out to sleep. I was always trying to prop my legs and feet on something so that I could be comfy.

I don't know if we are going to do too much stopping and exploring today. There seems to be a light rain going on most of today. We will see ... I'm sure that there will be something we can't resist stopping to check out.

Montana is a much more ecologically diverse state than I expected. For some reason I had vast flat lands pictured. There are beautiful mountains, rivers, valleys, lakes, etc. I am really pleased we took this route :)

Elizabeth

Oh Seattle, how I wish I could stay!

2011-07-21T17:20:00.001-04:00

Well, its a balmy 57 degrees here in Seattle at 2 pm and in July. To say this was the weather I was expecting would just be silly. My legs are a little cold even though this rainy, breezy, barely 60s kinda weather is one of my favorites!

Many thanks to the Bartels for giving us a place to stay and letting us use their washer/dryer. Even though we didn't get to stay long, we had fun just hanging with y'all!

We visited a place called Queen Anne's Hill (in Kerry Park) that had the best view of the city and space needle. Then we drove through Pikes Place market. Unfortunately for us we are a little pressed for time today and so had to get on the road.

Next time Seattle ... next time! You intrigued me and I shall return.

For the first time the entire trip we are heading east! Which means we are beginning our journey home. Hoping to make it to Idaho today and maybe camp out somewhere.

Catch ya on the flip :)

Elizabeth

Astoria Column ...164 steps up

2011-07-20T18:24:00.001-04:00

Did we just climb to the top of the Astoria Column? Yes, yes we did. It's 164 steps to the top which doesn't seem difficult till step 90 ish.
We are across the Columbia river from Washington state. So look out Washingtonians ... here we come.

Our car from the top :)

Elizabeth

Tillamook cares!

2011-07-20T13:58:00.001-04:00

Check out what initially distracted me as we walked in the Tillamook Cheese factory.

Hehe :)

Did you just cut the cheese?

2011-07-20T02:47:00.001-04:00

Well, we had planned to camp on the coast tonight, but sometimes plans get thwarted. Especially when you arrive to the campground and read the words "campground full". Our other option was to find a hotel. Luckily, the campground was near Tillamook, home of Tillamook Cheese. If you haven't tasted the Oregon cheese before ... you should! It's very tasty!

And tomorrow we will find out how its made when we take the cheese factory tour!

Once again this non-dairy (not by choice) family is off to explore another dairy related activity :)

Tillamook Cheese $4 and a few days of stomach pain, but the smells are free! =)

Elizabeth

Oregon Trail anyone?

2011-07-19T16:48:00.001-04:00

Technically, we are still in Cali but today our agenda is to explore parts of Oregon. We changed our plans like 5 times before I got dressed this morning so I am not really super sure exactly where we are going ... but ... I'm sure it'll be awesome.

We had stopped last night in Redding, CA and wandered around some parts of it today. Joe found this place called the Sundial Bridge that is a bridge built as a giant working sundial. We also tried to stop and buy some more Joe shirts but were unsuccessful.

Hopefully, I am more successful at this Oregon Trail than I was at the actual game... I always lost a wagon wheel or got yellow fever and died. One time, I lost both my oxen and got bit by a rattle snake and died... stupid game... always trying to kill me.

Elizabeth

San Francisco!

2011-07-18T14:58:00.001-04:00

My blog post from last night at 2am is currently MIA. Hopefully, I can do something to retrieve it when we get home.

This morning we visited and walked the Golden Gate Bridge! As you all know, I am an architectural / engineering Nerd... so this was VERY exciting for me! I think I might've literally bounced across the bridge with excitement!!!

Next up Fishermans Wharf. This is for Joe since seafood is not really ny thing :)

Elizabeth

Good morning and afternoon Vegas!

2011-07-16T11:44:00.001-04:00

Well when I started writing this we hadn't explored Vegas at all and in fact "planned" only a short exploration. Our adventure plan? To walk from our hotel down the Las Vegas Strip and see the various attractions at the other hotels. Estimated time this little adventure would take? 2 hrs. yeah... no... just about 4 hrs and 5 miles of walking off on that little plan.

We had a great, extremely hot, walk down the Las Vegas Strip. All in all walking about 7 miles. We visited the pirate ship, bellagio fountains, the lion exhibit, m&m store, madam tousseau wax figures, and the Harley-Davidson restaurant to name a few. I was a little disappointed that the m&m store didn't have the "what's your color" finder like in New York. I wanted to see if my m&m color was still dark pink.

I also got to see a woman who had apparently partied a little too much all night and had thought the penny slots should be where she camped out. Her friend found her, and proceeded to give her an earfull as she helped to escort her friend back to her room. Oh, the things we do for our friends!

Overcoming my fear of "characters" I had my picture taken with Elmo. :)

Vegas ended up taking the better part of our day and we didn't actually leave until 5 pm pacific time.

Joe drove to Bakersfield, CA while I slept the majority of the trip.

We also stopped along side the road while travelling through the Mojave Desert to fulfilled one of Joes bucket list items. He played his harmonica at sunset in the desert like a cowboy :) Video coming soon.

Elizabeth

Stopping in Vegas

2011-07-16T00:17:00.001-04:00

We decided that we will stop in Vegas tonight and then finish our journey into the hills of California tomorrow. So Vegas... we will see you in a few!

Elizabeth

Day 4 on the floor!

2011-07-15T09:58:00.001-04:00

It is 6:45am pacific time and I am trying to let Joe rest as long as possible. My body woke up naturally at 4am. If you know me you know my body doesn't wake-up naturally until ... well it never really does, I have to force it outta bed each day :) luckily, I have this ability to return to sleep in cases such as thusmorning so that is what I did and then it woke up again at 6:30. I decided to be quietly productive :)

On tap today is to see some of the biggest trees in the nation in California. Stay Tuned!

Elizabeth

Tucson!!!

2011-07-15T02:03:00.001-04:00

The truck has been delivered ... we are super ready for bed and being hosted by the couple whose stuff we've brought back to them.

Unpacking tomorrow, then off to California!

<3 Elizabeth

Carlsbad Caverns

2011-07-14T16:10:00.001-04:00

We spent the morning at Carlsbad Caverns having a grand time walking through a giant cave of stalagtites and stalagmites.

We are now on the last leg of trip with the moving truck. Yep, the moving truck is being delivered tonight! (well maybe tomorrow)

After that begins our trek through California, Oregon, and Washington!!

Here's the path into the cavern. Descending 750 ft. If you've ever wondered the purpose of wall sits, extreme downhills are it. You'll be thankful for all of those blasted wall sits (lunges and squats) about 300 ft. down.

<3 Elizabeth

We know the location of the Bat Cave!!!

2011-07-13T23:42:00.001-04:00

No, not batmans batcave, but the cave at carlsbad caverns that is home to thousands of bats!! We arrived at the cave just as the bats began to leave the cave. What an amazing sight to watch. They came out of the mouth of the cave in a whirlpool fashion and then climbing as the flew in circles until they reached a proper height and then dispersed into the desert. The whole scene was very majestic!

We've arrived in carlsbad, NM and are settled into our hotel for the evening. Our plans for tomorrow are to go back to the caverns and go on a tour of the caverns and maybe do a little hiking before we get back on the road.

<3 Elizabeth

Hello Shreveport!!!

2011-07-12T23:59:00.001-04:00

Well, it took us quite a bit longer to get here than we had planned, but here we are, Shreveport, Louisiana!

We went through some major storms and about 6 different down-to-one-lane construction areas. Even with that the ride was quite enjoyable.

Our big adventure for the day (besides actually making it out the door) was trying to find Joe a Mississippi spoon in Vicksburg at 7 pm on a Tuesday. Although we visited a good deal of casino gift shops and gas stations we were unsuccessful.

Joe is convinced that Mississippi has boycotted the whole idea of collectable spoons. I'm still convinced we should keep looking :)

Here's a pic of me taken just after we got drenched running into the Alabama welcome center.

And we are off!

2011-07-12T11:06:00.001-04:00

Our mission... to deliver this truck full of stuff to Tucson, AZ by Friday. Our goal today: shreveport, LA.

Until Friday, I will be following Joe who is driving the truck in our Honda Pilot. The hard part for me... slowing down. So Joe is going first in our caravan. Look out I-20 here we come!

ETA Shreveport: 9pm central time.

<3 Elizabeth

1.5 days before an amazing road trip!

2011-07-10T15:52:00.001-04:00

Here is a view into my world for a moment. It is less than 48 hrs before we leave on a big journey. We are headed first to southern Arizona then to California then to Oregon, Washington, over to Montana then to Iowa, then back to the ATL. Getting on the road always seems to be the most difficult thing for us... can you relate? I am only a semi-reformed over-achieving hot head so you can imagine what being around me is like when I am stressed out. Yep, that is where we are currently... I am trying Joe's never ending patience and he is trying the very little patience I have gained through the years.
In fact, as I sit here in our car waiting to pick up someone so that Joe can go review his script with other people ... I am repeating my mommas words in my head, "This too shall pass".
Why is it the time before the trip is the most difficult? Why is it that some appliance / household something decides to break a week or two before you leave? Why can't duct tape actually fix everything?

And most importantly, why do I have to be an adult about it? Because right now, I would really like to throw a temper tantrum and stomp off. Just saying :)

Well, I am off to modify my already overly ambitious plans. Time to implement Plan B or maybe Plan C.

Later,
A needs more reforming from her over-achieving, hotheaded ways eeeeee

Reflections of a Small Group Leader

2011-07-03T14:17:00.001-04:00

Most people know that I am a small group leader at my church, North Point Community Church.

And lots of people have asked me over the years what continually draws me to it. So here goes... my story...

I actually started as a UpStreet SGL in the summer of 3rd grade five-ish years ago with the intention of officially beginning as a SGL in 4th grade. My story goes like this... I had been on a mission trip the previous Thanksgiving of 2005 to Swaziland, Africa. If you have been anywhere in Africa you know that you leave a piece of your heart there but at the same time God expands your heart and ability to love in so many ways that you can't help but be affected by it. All of the years that I spent wondering what to do, stuck in my own insecurities (trust me there are A LOT) seem to just vanish when the only thing I really needed to do was love on these kids in Swaziland. So I came back home ready to serve somewhere, extremely nervous about my adequateness... would I be able to relate to the kids? do i watch enough disney / nickelodeon? would they like me? would there be awkward silences? what are my conversation starters? will I have enough patience? what if they ask me something I don't know? what if I can't find a passage in the Bible (that's a big one... I'm kinda horrible about remembering where everything is)? Should I have bible verses memorized? OMG, what if I have to get on stage? ... you can imagine how the mental freak out continues...

But then... you show up... you meet your coaches who put you at ease, you sit on your little piece of carpet, review your materials one more time, and wait for the kids. And then the kids trickle in and your BRAIN FALLS OUT OF YOUR HEAD!!! Literally, it explodes, the rest of the time is spent with a HAZMAT team trying to clean up your head explosion! Just kidding :) The kids trickle in and you find that you don't have to be up on the latest craze or tv show, you only need to ask an open ended question and these kids are super excited to tell you ALL about their life. Like the rest of us, they want to be heard, to have someone listen, to feel wanted.

That's it... people want to feel wanted... no matter what their age, race, gender, hairstyle... they want to feel like they matter. And that is essentially the role of a small group leader... to love... unconditionally, unabashedly, unashamedly.

Frequency 2010 - 8th Grade

8th Grade

Every year I was given a choice, to stay in the current grade, to move up with the kids, or stop volunteering. Every year, I choose the same thing... to move up.

The Walk 2011 - Freshman

So fast forward to this year... we have started Inside Out (the high school environment) as Freshman! The small group has changed over the years ... but the same thing from that first day and even those days I spent in Africa haven't changed... to show love. And the funny thing is that I am not the expert in this area, the girls that have been in my small groups are... they show love ... such CRAZY amounts of LOVE ... that they inspire me, challenge me, encourage me, and love me.

It's crazy to me to think Jesus loves us even more than we could possible ever know! That the welling up of love that we have for others, that love that overwhelms us at times, is only a mere fraction of the love that Christ has for us! When all is said and done, I can stand before the throne of heaven and say, "You have taught me how to Love and how to be Loved. I am engulfed and I am blessed".

<3 Eeeeee

We want to go on a ROAD TRIP!!!

2010-06-28T11:35:00.000-04:00

Check out our link, view our video, help us win!!!

North Point Online

2009-08-23T18:24:00.003-04:00

Join us each Sunday night at 6pm Eastern Time for North Point Church Online. A full worship experience with great messages that do one thing... help you pursue a relationship with our heavenly father.

www.northpointonline.tv - Tune in every Sunday at 6pm ET.

Eeeeee

In love with Google Calendar...

2009-08-16T21:49:00.004-04:00

I have developed a new fascination with Google Calendar. Last year, I used a sort of blog format to keep my students informed on my google site. I found that after a while, it was difficult for all of us. I could plan online but it was inefficient and I finally decided after several months that it was all too much to keep up.

So this year I am trying out Google Calendar... and so far I love it. It was easy to embed it into my teacher google site and I can plan as well as list the students homework etc. The only downside so far is that I cannot color code items so that the students can see upcoming quizzes, tests, or due assignments easily.

Here's a link in case you are interested :)

Eeeeee

8th Grade Trip to Savannah

2009-03-22T21:34:00.008-04:00

I made my first 8th grade trip to Savannah! It was awesome (of course).

Day 1 -

We started the trip off at 5am in the morning. That's right, we had to meet at the school at 5 in the morning. I was so excited the day before, I kept waking up throughout the night! Joe dropped me off at the school and I went into the gym to find my bus number and get started. I was the first teacher for my bus there so I began checking in the students that had arrived (there were actually 2 there before me). After a while, all students on my bus were checked in, all teachers had arrived, and we began loading. I was in the middle of the bus.

We arrived in Savannah around noon and headed right to Tybee Island. They had lunch (pizza, brownies, and water) ready for us on a pier outside of the marina. After lunch, we went on a tour of the marina and the beach. We split up our bus into a girls group and a boys group and then split our teachers amongst them. I went with the boys group. The whole tour was really amazing! The students were really engaged and really interested in all the marine wildlife. On the tour of the beach, the boys were quick to find something new to explore.

After the beach tour, we headed back to Savannah and went to Fort Jackson. This is where our kids really showed their city-folkness. Gnats, native to anywhere in GA below the fall-line. And gnats were definitely present at Fort Jackson. You would've thought these children were being attacked by a 1000 bees by the way they were swatting, swinging, and dancing to combat the gnats. I would've giggled continuously but I had my "you must be still and respectful" teacher hat on. So we swatted our way through the presentations and all of our students were drafted into the civil war :) At the very end they shot a real civil war cannon off for us, that was really cool!

After Fort Jackson, we headed to our hotel to get ready for dinner and the dance. We went to the old railroad yard for the dinner and dance. It was pretty good, I think the students had a lot of fun. I think there was some serious drama going on at the beginning of the dance, but they seemed to get through that to have some fun. I spent most of the evening making sure students were not off cuddling in some corner. I spent very little time on the dance floor :(

Next Up: Day 2

Eeeeee

Congratulations Chelsea!!

2008-12-03T16:25:00.002-05:00

Chelsea was invited to scholarship weekend at Oglethorpe University. This is a BIG DEAL!!! I mean a BIIIIIGGGGGG DEEEEAAAAAALLLLL!!!

Eeeeee

4 teacher observations...

2008-12-02T16:00:00.004-05:00

Wow... I had my fourth teacher observation today and I must say it came at the weirdest time. I was MAD and I mean MAAAADDDD going into 8th period because 7th period has a large concentration of mean kids. You know the kind that flaunt their meanness. Totally irks me. And right at the beginning of 8th period, in walks the principal of the school for my unannounced observation.

There is nothing to do at this point, but to take a deep breath, swallow your irritations, and hit reboot on your emotions and approach. And that is what I did. The lesson went well, the kids were well behaved, the principal took notes (I will find out how it went in a few days). After the principal left, I shut the door to my class and we all took a moment to reiterate just how weird of a day it had been for all of us. And then we continued... not as if nothing happened, but as if we were are struggling to make it to the end of the day and if they could compromise with me, I would compromise with them.

This was a great lesson-learned for me. A reboot of my emotions needs to happen between EACH class. A fresh approach taken at the beginning of each class. Because if things are going kinda crappy throughout the day, there is no need repeating the same steps over again.

Eeeeee

Arrrrgggghhhhh....

2008-12-01T18:21:00.002-05:00

Sometimes the simplest things in life seem to baffle other people. Take for instance, scheduling a CLASS and communicating to the people in that class.

Today, I drove to COBB county for the 2nd time, only to find out that I didn't have class tonite! Why publish dates in 3 different places not to go by those dates? Why email people so inconsistently that they have no idea if they were supposed to have class tonite or not.

It's not like Cobb county is a short drive for me. I have to leave school by 4:15pm to make it Cobb county by 6pm. It's the other side of the freakin world as far as I am concerned. I am still baffled why anyone lives in this county.... grrrr!

Eeeeee

I am a bit of a dork...

2008-11-16T18:37:00.004-05:00

In case you hadn't noticed :)

I un-apologetically use terms that are too big for my students to understand. Like diligently, facetious, idiosyncrasies, exponential, etc. I am just as used to translating for them as I am for some of my peers. Sometimes, like my mom, I tell them to go look it up.

I get excited when I start talking about savings accounts, interest rates, growth potential, and other things that make most people anxious.

I love autumn and hiking and lately colder weather. I somehow inherited from my dad the ability to be my own personal furnace. I still have to protect my ears from wind and so sometimes I look dorkier than usual.

I don't understand people that feel like they have to smoke, drink, or other things to have fun or to let loose. I don't care that you do it, I just don't understand it. I seriously have the most fun jumping around making a fool outta myself dancing. It's fun... i look awful... but it's fun.

I have never felt this need to fit in with people and have lost friends that way. I'm ok with that.

I am on the surface a disorganized person, but underneath all the mess, know where to find things. I love to plan, I love to execute on the plan even more, and cleaning up the aftermath is someone else's job.

Eeeeee

I'm stressed...

2008-10-12T21:29:00.003-04:00

I have an extraordinarily busy week ahead of me. I am stressed, unprepared, and a little overwhelmed. Don't be surprised if I don't return phone calls. Well even less than usual.

Love,
E

Twins, Third Day, Cool Factor...

2008-09-21T20:58:00.003-04:00

This weekend I am keeping the twins. The awesome thing is that it gives me an excuse for not grading papers. The bad thing is that the papers never go away from needing to be graded! The twins are adorable as ever and starting to talk in phrases and sentences. Gracie comments on everything from the food to your clothes. Alex is a conversationalist as well, switching from talking with Gracie in their little language to talking with you.

I also went to the Third Day, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot, and Robert Randolf show this weekend! Joe was so awesome and got the group I went with Meet and Greet passes as well as Backstage passes. I was able to go backstage for a little while and hang with Joe :) :) :) (PS - they set up a kids area and had really cool toys... which I wanted to play with). Anyway, Christina and I went backstage and I kept pointing out different band people we'd pass after we'd pass by them. She kept saying, "I know.. I am trying not to stare :)"...

According to C, my cool factor went from awesome to wicked awesome.

Always happy to please :)

Me, Chels, and the twins headed to church this morning. In Xtreme they had part of the band Unhindered play. Those guys got us literally jumping all around! After church we went to Subway, then to the house to feed the cats, then back to my sisters house. By this point we were all ready for a nap... which is what we did.

Eeeeee

(PS - still haven't started grading papers... chose to write this blog instead)

A month of teaching and I am still standing

2008-09-16T09:17:00.004-04:00

I just gave the 4 and 1/2 week progress reports to my homeroom students. This is the only way that I know that it has been a little over a month of teaching. It has been a blur of attempting to make lessons, working on classroom discipline, pledges of allegience, locker dismissals, homeroom announcements, receiving paper after paper in my mailbox, grading papers, "monitoring halls", and even a fire drill.

I adore it all!

No two days are the same and my fellow teachers have supported me on those days where nothing was going well. I have been continually challenged to be my best at all times, to balance sharing with my own work, to work in a team and individually, to care for these students and sometimes have to make the tough calls home for their best interest.

It is such a change for me to be in love with my career but that is exactly where I am. I love teaching, I am glad to have had the experiences from years past, and I look forward to a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG career in teaching!

Middle School Rocks!!!

Eeeeee

The week of pre-planning

2008-08-08T23:38:00.005-04:00

So for 7 years I worked in IT and now I am a teacher. Here is what has carried over.

Patience - nothing is ever really done on time in the software IT world. Sure, we meet our Enterprise Release date, but we bust our butts to get there. And on the release where we don't frantically push towards the end, it's just b/c we spent a LOT of time up front convincing others that we couldn't handle any more. As a new teacher, I don't have a clue of the way it's supposed to go. So when systems aren't generating the correct reports, that's ok. When the two IT people in the building are not answering your emails... it's b/c there are two of them and 175 of you.

Prioritization - Again, it my previous life, it was all about meeting the date with a TESTED product. Keyword: Tested. Not thoroughly tested, not bug-free, but tested to a point of confidence that the QA, Developer, Project Leader, etc could say with certainty that the software could go into production without "blowing up" anything else. In order to get to that point, you have to prioritize. In teaching it is the same way. The teachers I work with tend towards the more visually organized side. Since I am new, I tend towards doing stuff that I can easily change ... stuff that may not be the prettiest, but (hopefully) is effective. My room will not be complete... it's a work in progress... I'm ok with that. What I am not ok with is not having a clue who is in my class b/c I didn't get a chance to print my roster.

Computer Organization - Ok... seriously, if I get one more printed out memo on some kind of colored paper, I might scream. Seriously!?!?!? My goal is to teach these people how to use the calender in Outlook... meeting requests.... basic stuff. I can hardly keep up with where I put my pen, please don't expect me to keep the purple piece of paper.

Meetings - When you are new, meetings are necessary. In IT, meetings are essential to keep the project on track. There is nothing worse than not having a meeting and then finding out two weeks before staging that something wasn't tested. In teaching, meetings are also necessary. Because the teacher's are so organized they really value your time. So meetings are short and to the point. Granted you obtain 4 new copies of something that was printed on colored paper, but still at least the meeting wasn't overkill.

Flexibility - Problems arise, "opportunities" happen. Being able to go with the flow goes a long way.

Eeeeee

It's Official - I am a Teacher

2008-07-28T23:38:00.002-04:00

It's now completely official! I am an 8th grade Math teacher at a middle school in North Fulton County. Today was my first day of New Teacher Orientation and I was super excited to get the keys to my classroom! There have been several indications that this position and career change is ALL GOD.

One - out of 25 new teachers for the middle school, I am the only new 8th grade Math teacher.
Two - my position didn't need to be filled until after the summer started.
Three - In a very weird surreal way, I personally have met a good population of the other candidates that were being considered for the position. (that is a weird feeling by the way).
Four - the 8th grade at this middle school actually went down from 4 teacher teams to 3 teacher teams.

So once again, Yeah God!

My classroom is so enormous! In a truly dorky moment, I was walking around my classroom (in my cutie outfit and super cutie heels) and realized that as I was walking around the room that I had that monitoring stance going on... :) I almost checked my watch to see if the time for the test was up :)

Eeeeee

House Plan ...

2008-07-08T23:38:00.003-04:00

Dream Home Source sent me this house plan for the week.

What I like:
--> 5 bedrooms - don't ask me why but I love a house with 4 or more bedrooms.
--> One Floor - when I get old, I don't want to climb stairs... I just can't help my practicality :)
--> 3 car garage - self explanatory
--> One rockin kitchen that is open to the family living areas of the house
--> A HUGE patio... all I would need is someone to keep up the gardening part of it.

What I don't like:
--> Well, I have already extensively talked about my distaste for windows around the tub in the bathroom and this one has three.
--> This is kinda petty, since it is supposed to be a dream house and all, but there are so many corners on the outside of this house it would be so much more expensive to build. But I think much of this could be reworked quite easily.

I may have a new job...

2008-06-24T20:19:00.002-04:00

Today, I had an interview for an 8th grade Math teacher position at River Trail Middle School in Johns Creek. I thought the interview went well, but wasn't expecting to hear anything from them until the end of the week. Especially since the assistant principal had told me on the phone and I witnessed at the school that he had several interviews lined up. I even ran into one of my colleagues from the Essentials class that was interviewing just before me.

3 hours after my interview I received a voicemail on my cellphone ...

Offering me the position!!!!

How awesome is that? Wicked Awesome!!!!

Eeeeee

Hip Replacement...

2008-06-24T20:16:00.002-04:00

Mo had hip replacement surgery this morning. Everything went as planned and she is now the owner of a new fancy titanium / bmp hip. Hopefully, we will be out of the hospital in a few days.

Eeeeee

Boot Camp

2008-06-22T19:52:00.000-04:00

Boot Camp with the 6th graders at church was WICKED AWESOME!

BAM! Be the man or the woman, Anticipate success, and Move like you mean it! BAM!

We did so many things that I am so proud of as a Small Group Leader and as a camp participant. Our whole group (co-leader, me, two small group girls) did the zip-line ... I decided not to chicken-out on the zip-line when the 11yr old was doing it too... really really glad I didn't chicken out b/c it was wicked awesome!

We also got woken up at 5am on Sunday morning to complete a military-style obstacle course. Our whole company totally ROCKED the course. Mud, logs, walls, hills, tires, and rocks were no match for Company Victor! Our small group girls had so much fun that they wanted to do the course again!

Every day and nite we rocked out in worship... worship being one of my favorite past-times. After two years of 'practicing' Jump Up - Spin Around - Get Up - Get Down, I was able to go really fast with it... and jump high... have I mentioned I love the jumping? To me, there is nothing better than a room full of 300 6th graders, 100 adults, jumping around and worshiping Christ! Yeah! We shine we shine... WE ARE THE REDEEMED! WE ARE THE ONES WHO ARE FREE AND WE BELONG TO JESUS!!! WE ARE NOW ALIVE AND IN THIS WORLD WE WILL SHINE... cuz WE BELONG TO JESUS!!!! -- oh yeah... you better believe we were shouting and jumping to that.

So in short, we had fun, I came home with a few scratches and bruises, but no worries b/c I had a blast!

Eeeeee

Pictures from England, Scotland, and Ireland

2008-06-14T18:26:00.003-04:00

View the slideshow here

the Mac is back

2008-06-12T21:05:00.001-04:00

We picked up our "restored" Mac this afternoon. With any luck we might actually have some pictures of the vacation posted in a few days :)

Woohoo!

Eeeeee

Pictures, Mac-fry, and Sickness

2008-06-12T16:04:00.003-04:00

Hopefully, we will be able to post the pictures soon from our vacation. We had a tinsy little problem with the Mac semi-frying and it's at the Apple being fixed as we speak. FYI - tv shows in iTunes take up a lot more space than you think and if you get below having 10% of your hard drive space free, weird things happen :)

Also, Joe and I have been sick this week. Joe had a stomach flu that started on Saturday and I had a cold that started after church on Sunday. We went to the doctor on Monday and slept for the rest of the day.

We are both feeling much better now!

Eeeeee

PS - If you have any cool ways to make Math, especially Algebra, interesting to people other than myself (b/c I am a dork and like it anyway), let me know.... I need much help in being uber creative for my "pretend 8th graders" I am writing a unit plan for!

Day 10 - the airport, the plane, and the unexpected passengers

2008-05-24T18:10:00.002-04:00

Today marked the last day of our fantastic 10 year anniversary celebration vacation. On our agenda, return our rental car and make our flight. And so we traveled back to the Dublin Airport and gave our little black Opel Corsa 5-speed back to the rental car company. It was quite a bit dirtier than when we started, which is the mark of a great vacation :)

There were apparently a million people trying to fly out of the Dublin Airport and all of the people were crammed into an a small area. A bit of an exaggeration, I know, but that is the way we felt. It got to the point, where I went on a hunt to try to find the line that we were supposed to stand in. On my way to finding the line, I had to squeeze past many people, and as I passed one lady I thought, "she looks REALLY familiar"... we smiled at one another and kept moving. After I found the correct line, I turned to go back to find Joe and passed by her again. This time I had placed it, High School. As we passed back by each other, we both asked, "do I know you?"...

There in the Dublin Airport, waiting to get in the same line to check in to the same plane, was a girl I knew in High School. Wonders never cease! After we finally made it ALL the way through security, we were able to chat for a few moments and basically catch up. She had been in Ireland on business and then was joined by her husband for another week of vacation! The had also taken a car tour of Ireland, basically reversing some of the route we had taken, and they were now headed home to Atlanta.

So weird...

Our flight home was drastically improved from our flight to London and we arrived back in Atlanta, took MARTA back to our car, and set off on our next adventure - the Kids in the Hall show in Atlanta!!!!

Eeeeee

Day 9 - Dublin Take Two - Final Day

2008-05-23T23:32:00.002-04:00

Today is our final day of vacation before we head back to the States. We spent our final day in Dublin, Ireland surrounded a crazy amount of people.

Since our hotel was on the outskirts of the city, we took a bus into the city centre that went through some Dublin/Balymun neighborhoods.

We started out near the city centre headed across the river and back towards Christ Church Cathedral. Unfortunately for me, we weren't too far from the river, when someone lifted my wallet. Since I don't actually carry cash, my wallet is pretty disappointing... unless they like a Kroger, Petsmart, and library cards :) The most disappointing loss was my MARTA Breeze card. So it was off to the nearest Garda station (police) to file a report. The nearest Garda station was about 10 blocks away and once we found it and filed a report we were in a part of the city that we hadn't intended to visit. Near Stephen's Green.

We strolled through the park.

We took a stroll along the river walk and made our way back to Christ Church Cathedral (still didn't go in) and found Dublin Castle.

After all this, we walked back to the city centre, had a couple of really good hamburgers, and had to walk again to our bus stop. It was quite a bit of walking, but worth it when we arrived back at our hotel and canceled all the credit cards in my wallet.

Eeeeee

Day 8 - the Hotel Debacle

2008-05-22T20:18:00.004-04:00

So what do you do when can't actually find your hotel, but you find a hotel that looks like the one you are looking for but has a different name? You stop and ask.

And that is exactly what we did. We stopped at the Travelodge only to find out that our hotel (Ballymun Plaza) had been abruptly closed by the owner 3 weeks prior, the staff had been laid-off without even their last two weeks of pay, and that the Travelodge that was now open in it's stead had only opened yesterday and no longer had our booking.

And then it becomes really interesting. You see there was this huge American concert in Dublin and also a convention for the Cluster Bombs so there was no hotel to be booked at 9pm on a Friday evening. We were advised to head outside the city and look for hotels that way. Remember how we just drove 3 hours from Galway to Dublin? and of course we are hungry :) We somehow must've looked lost and American enough to get some of the staff on our side, and the staff began to diligently look for another hotel for us.

The Travelodge (previously Ballymun Plaza) also had a restaurant that was just about to close so we decided that since most of Ireland rolls up the street at 6pm, that we would eat dinner while the staff member was calling every hotel she could.

And so we ate. The food was delicious! However, the restaurant was separated by a partition in the hotel and also a credit card machine/bank account. That's right... if your biggest fear is that you get to a restaurant, eat, have no cash on you, and they don't take credit cards because their machine isn't working yet ... well you would've been living a nightmare.

We explain our dilemma to our server and ask for directions to the nearest ATM machine. A blank look is returned, he talks to someone else, who talks to someone else, etc, until we are back at the front desk asking if they know of any place that has an ATM. Luckily for me, my problem-solving mode has fully kicked in and has left no room for me to be completely mortified.

By this time, they have found a Hotel in the city where we can stay and it's only a few exits away.

So off I go, traveling around an unfamiliar section of Dublin that is apparently unfamiliar to everyone, looking for an ATM.

First stop, the Tesco down the street - nope, closed, ATM inside. But there are two guys standing outside the bar that is a few doors down from the Tesco. I go over to the two guys and politely interrupt,

me: "Excuse me... do you know where I could find an ATM"
guy 1 (drunk): "hmmm... no well... hmmm"
guy 2 (sober): "I don't know if there is one in this area, did you try the Tesco?... you know, in Ireland we don't deal in money, we deal in grudges"
me: [laugh knowingly] "oh! I see ... nope, I tried the one at the Tesco and it's closed, do you know of anything that might still be open?"
guy 2 (sober): "well there's a petrol station down the way, you could walk there in 10 minutes, I think they might have one"
me: "ok... thanks, i'll drive down there"
guy 2 (sober): "well, if you are going to drive, you need to turn before the station, park across the street and then cross to get to the station"
guy 2 (sober): .... continues explaining why I should park across the street, pointing out landmarks, making sure I see them, etc.
guy 1 (drunk): "what part of Donegal are you from lass?"
me: astonished, "I am not from Donegal"
guy 1 (drunk): "well where are you from?"
me: literally blanking for a minute, realizing that my accent is full-on irish at this point, totally flattered, "umm... well... Georgia... America"
guy 1 (drunk): "Jesus! Mary! and Joseph! ... well your mom or grandmom must be from Donegal"
me: smiling "nope, well maybe WAAAAY back" laughing
guy 2 (sober): now realizing I am American starts explaining and motioning what Petrol is... and reiterating the directions, and reiterating that he can't promise that there is an ATM at the Petrol station, but he can't be sure, if I know what he means.

me: thinking [I understand what he means, I won't hold a grudge if he's wrong, and most likely they don't have one, that's ok... maybe they know where one is.... ] "ok... well I am going to go check, thanks for the info... bye!"

I arrive at the Petrol station - no ATM, only a guy at the window. I ask him a series of questions, most of the answers I didn't understand, however, what I did understand was his belief in sending me back to the Tesco station by the Bar from which I had just come.

I go back to the Hotel, after circling the area, searching for a Bank or Petrol station that has an ATM on the outside.

Once back at the hotel, one of the other waiters tells me there is one within walking distance and practically walks me there. Place one - a shop - closed, Place two - has an ATM that doesn't work. I walk back.

When I walk back in, the Kitchen or Restaurant Manager is trying to let us off the hook. We talk for quite a while and he promises that it's ok and we can bring the money tomorrow and he is sorry for all of the hassle. He then explains to us, exactly what happened with the Ballymun Plaza. We also talk about how the area is being redone, the vision for Ballymun (the city), and how much money has already gone into it's restoration. Quite a lovely conversation :)

So we are off! But I tell Joe, there is one more place we can try that the lady in Place 2 (broken ATM) told me about. I follow her directions to the bank with an ATM on the outside!!! We get the cash we need, head back to the Hotel, pay for our food ... and finally head to the Days Hotel a few exits down the motorway.

Eeeeee

Day 8 - Galway, Ireland!

2008-05-22T17:41:00.002-04:00

Today's trip was a special one for two reasons... well 3 reasons. One, we went way out of our way to drive to Galway. Two, Galway is where our wedding rings are from. And three, the west of ireland (specifically Galway county and Roscommon county) is where my mother's ancestors are from.

Our plan was to drive to Galway from Kilkenny (about 3 hours), tour around Galway and see Claddagh jewelers, then drive to Dublin from Galway (another 3 hours) and check-in to our hotel.

Let me take a bit of a diversion now and just talk about how much I LOVED driving in Ireland! I had teased Joe mercilessly about him learning to drive a stick-shift while we were in Ireland because I "wasn't going to do all of the driving". Well it was a different story once I was behind the wheel! I had so much fun driving that little car all over tarnation with the winding roads and endless down-shifting for the round-abouts and small townships. Maybe I was born to be a driver... or maybe it's because there is a love of driving in my blood (thanks Dad :D ) ... but put me in a car with some power, a manual transmission, and some curve in the road, and you have one HAPPY GIRL!!! Add to it that driving on the left is the most fun thing and you have a delightfully happy girl!

So back to Galway...

We arrived in Galway and found Claddagh Jewelers. There are a few streets in the old town of Galway that are permanently pedestrian streets and that is where Claddagh Jewelers is located.

After walking around the pedestrian center, we walked around Galway city centre for a little while.

I love this picture that Joe captured:

We left Galway and headed back to Dublin.

---------------

Arriving back in Dublin we were quickly asking, "Where in the world is the Balymum Plaza Hotel"?

This began the Hotel Debacle...

Day 7 - Waterford and Kilkenny, Ireland

2008-05-21T15:23:00.007-04:00

We started the day by going to Waterford Crystal for a tour. This was a very neat and thorough tour. We watched the glass blowers blow the glass into molds, shape a handle on a crystal pitcher, and we watched the cutters cut the glass into the famous Waterford Crystal that we all know and love. We were even given an up-close demonstration of how each cut is made.

On the tour bus at Waterford:

At the factory, watching a handle being attached to the crystal pitcher:

Cutting the crystal...

The Waterford Crystal Shop:

-------------

We left Waterford and headed to Kilkenny, Ireland. In Kilkenny, we saw the Kilkenny castle which has obvious english influence and toured around the city.

Kilkenny Castle:

-----------------

Tomorrow: Galway and Claddagh Jewelers!

Day 6 - Glendalough, Ireland

2008-05-20T22:08:00.004-04:00

We picked up our rental car from the Airport and for the first time I drove a stick-shift on the other side of the road. I hadn't driven a manual in over 5 years and I was quite nervous about driving one all around Ireland. However, since getting an automatic in Ireland was going to be $400 more, we quickly decided on the stick-shift.

Finding my way out of the parking lot at the airport WAS the hardest part :D

Off to Glendalough, which is part of the Wicklow Mountains, in Wicklow, Ireland! We were heading about 2 hours south of Dublin. Our plan was to hike a 9 km (5 mile) section that included to gorgeous views and a waterfall. According, to the research we had done all we had to remember was to take the path to the right to avoid climbing 600 steps. What our information NEGLECTED to tell us was that we needed to park in the 2nd parking lot for easy access to the trail.

So we arrive at Glendalough, park in the first parking lot, visit the information center, buy a map, and start on the trail that leads to the main trails.

Along the way, we stop at a section which was visited by a lot of tours. It was of an old church grounds and cemetery. The historical significance is escaping me at the moment, all I can remember is them pointing out that the door to the grain silo was 12 ft off the group for safety reasons, and that the cats had their own tiny entrances so they could kill the rats. Oh yes! I remember now, it was a monastery where they translated biblical texts.

Onward with the walk! We keep walking and walking, and about a 1.5 miles later we arrive at the beginning of our trail... except the beginning we are not supposed to take (remember 600 steps?). We look across the lake shore to find what must be the beginning of our trail. We press forward.

We finally arrive at the beginning of our trail. By this time we must've already walked 2 miles, we have a 5 mile moderate to difficult hike a head of us, and barely any food in our tummies. Plus, did I mention it is getting late in the afternoon?

Still we press on!

Our trail is still basically a road... not much hiking going on... but we are passing by other groups and talking and having a good time.

We finally reach a point, where we realize that at some point we are going to have to climb that mountain on the other side of the lake. And our trail is not ascending but descending... which is quite cruel. The change in elevation of the trail is supposed to be around 1000 ft. Which doesn't sound like a lot, until you realize that it's going to be a short, steep climb, in the cold waning afternoon of Ireland, on a relatively empty stomach. I think it was at that point we decided to turn around.

We walk back to the beginning of the trail and low and behold what is in front of us... the second parking lot ... the one with food. We eat.

We walk back to the fork in the road, and decide that we can still see the waterfall. Having walked on trails that were more like roads all day, I was really looking forward to the challenge of the uphill/stairs to get to the waterfall. I was not prepared for what we found.

Look Closely.... :)

We headed back to the car, but this time with a detour through the woods. I think we were both feeling that need to say we had hiked!

All in all, we still "hiked" about 5 miles. Saw some absolutely gorgeous views of Glendalough Valley. And I would really like to go back there again someday and hike it for real. Of course, I will park in the second parking lot next time :)

-----------

After we left Glendalough, we headed to Waterford, Ireland! Home of Waterford Crystal! We arrived at our hotel just in time to catch the last round of room service and we found this hysterical world song competition on the television. All in all, and awesome day :)

Eeeeee

Day 5 - Dublin, Ireland!

2008-05-19T19:36:00.007-04:00

Today we go to Ireland!

Once again, we packed up all of our luggage and traveled the trains to the London-Gatwick airport. The trip over to Dublin was quite delightful. Of course, I made a new friend on the airplane. And we chatted nearly the whole flight.

Once we arrived in Dublin, we got on the bus and traveled to Dublin City Centre. Of course, we were soooo close to getting it right on the first try. We walked the city centre and walked across the River Liffey and walked the length of the Temple Bar district and finally arrived at our Hotel.

After setting our luggage down, we headed back out to find the Guinness Storehouse and Brewery. We got to Guinness just in time. We went on the self-guided tour, tried a little bit of Guinness, and had a Coca-cola in the 7th floor Guinness lounge :)

Once we left the Guinness Storehouse, we headed back near our hotel to find dinner. We actually at a place that was a connected to our hotel. The dinner was awesome! Especially, after a long journey around town.

Joe's soup:

Elizabeth's meal... mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, and a huge hamburger steak.

That night we headed back out to the Temple Bar district and enjoyed the night life of Dublin.

Tomorrow: Driving a stick-shift to Glendalough, Wicklow Mountains...

Eeeeee

Day 4 - London!

2008-05-18T21:37:00.003-04:00

Day 4 - London

BACK TO THE TRAINS!!!!! After dropping off our rental car at the London-Gatwick airport we were able to really to take in some of the sights of London.

We decided on a couple of tours, first a bus tour, then the tour of the Tower of London, then a tour of the Tower of London castle, then a boat tour of the River Thames.

First up the bus tour ... we decided to sit on the top of the double decker bus. A really cool option, even with the wind :) We plugged our ear buds in and learned about all of London from a guy that even sounded British. For me the starkest contrast was when we went from what is considered Westminster to London. The architecture was so divided between the two it was quite shocking! Imagine the effect/affect of going from an old world city with lots of marble to a new world city with lots of glass and steel.

Whole Foods is even in London

At the Tower Bridge, we hopped off of the bus and took the tour of the bridge.

I have two favorite parts to this tour. One was when we were going through a recreated engine room and Joe sneezed, scaring the other tourists! (If you have never heard Joe sneeze it is quite a deafening experience.) The second was when we were looking for the restrooms and we had to go all the way down a winding staircase to find them.

I think Joe might have been a little desperate :)

Next was the Tower Bridge Castle. This is where Henry VIII lived and beheaded his wives and other people. It was built to be a fortress to the city and since Henry VIII seemed to really like to behead people, I think he got his point across. This is also where they keep the Crown Jewels. It was really cool to see those, very mesmerizing... I kept going backwards on the conveyor belt so that I could view the jewels longer.

After the castle, we headed to the boats to tour on the River Thames.

Joe relaxing after a long day of touring London.

Next Up: Fly to Ireland!

Day 3 - Scotland

2008-05-17T23:25:00.000-04:00

So we woke up this morning in Blackpool, in a lovely B&B with they tiniest shower I think I have ever stood in. Matters are only complicated more by the super tiny sink, overlapping the toilet. One one hand it gives me hope that my dad's farmhouse can have multiple bathrooms, on the other hand, I felt like standing in the bedroom to brush my teeth :)

We go downstairs and are greeted by our hostess asking us what we would like for breakfast. By now, we are in LOVE with the traditional english breakfast of bacon (so big it's essentially ham), eggs, beans, and toast. It is an excellent way to start the day!

After breakfast, we pack up and head north to Scotland. First stop, Threave Castle! Threave Castle is a castle that is on a little bity island on a loch (lake). You have to walk down a path to get to the boat, ring a bell, and a boatman comes over and ferries you back. You see the appeal for me and Joe?

I really enjoyed this castle! It had a certain creepiness to it which one always enjoys in a 11th century castle and it had pictures of how it used to look as a working castle/household. Plus the grounds surrounding it were simply majestic.

So my favorite part of this castle was the history museum guy/boatman telling us the story of the Count/Earl that used to live there. Apparently, when you were no longer in his favor he didn't bother shooting you, he just hung you from the roof. Mean, mean dude. When the castle was conquered by the English in 13xx, they shot a cannon at the tower wall. There was a dinner party going on at the same time and the Lady of the Castle (mean dudes wife) had her entire arm blown off by the cannon ball. Later they found remains of her arm with the wedding ring still attached. They say that if you listen closely you can still hear the sounds of organ music playing in the great hall.

-------

Next Up: the Creamery!

I don't know how it is that Joe and I love to visit dairy farms, ice cream places, and creameries, but we do. So, of course, we found one in Scotland. This one in Scotland , proved to be the hardest to find! Two hours to find something that was less than 15 minutes from Threave castle. But we finally made it! And boy, did they have some AWESOME ice cream. They also had awesome hamburgers (we were starved by this point), walking paths, beautiful scenery, etc.

These were actually the views from the creamery ... can you imagine waking up to this everyday... glorious!

------

So in a moment of pressing on or stupidity, we decided to drive back to London from Scotland... approximately 5 hours. Now here is where this country is really interesting... the daylight hours seem to extend forever. It is mid-May and it doesn't even begin to get dark until 9pm. But back to my point, I wanted to drive to London a different way because I wanted to see more of the countryside and more importantly Derbyshire. However, when you leave Scotland at 6pm, it is not likely that you will see much of anything by the time you get back into England, cut across and then down to head towards London. Ach, but it was a good try, and we can say we went all over England now.

So it's the wee hours of the morning when we arrive in London and have to find our hotel. Joe has called ahead and gotten some directions, but even with those directions we still managed to tour parts of downtown a little. Bonus: Following in the path of the cabs, I also made a few u-turns in London :)

Next Up: Seeing the sights of London!

England, Scotland, Ireland - Day 2

2008-05-16T20:18:00.000-04:00

We woke up refreshed this morning! I guess 15 hours of sleep will do that :)

On our agenda for the day was to pick up the Rental Car and learn to drive on the left side of the road. So it was back to the trains - Underground to London-Victoria, Southern Rail from London-Victoria to London-Gatwick.

Now that we were a little more settled and not carrying as much luggage, we were able to enjoy the sites on the way to the airport a little more...

Once we picked up our rental car, we headed to Stonehenge. Sorry, we don't have video of us driving on the left for the first time... I think we were both a little too nervous! Anyway, we only almost killed ourselves once when we exited the roundabout from the inside lane... Oooops... we were barely out of the airport at this point so I am sure the other traffic was used to looking out for people like us :)

A few hours later, we arrived at Stonehenge... a really cool place.. we didn't pay to go "on the premises", we kinda figured the stones pretty much looked the same from both inside and out :)

NEXT STOP: Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool for horse racing and the McFly concert!

So... we sorta miscalculated our travel time a little - by like 3 hours :) - and got a little lost - but thankfully my superpower is DRIVING FAST! Getting us there on time by pushing our little car a wee bit faster than normal is my specialty.

Along the way to Liverpool, we kept seeing these TANK CROSSING signs. We decided to take a picture ... Joe's taking the picture...I am driving... still on the left :)

We arrived in Liverpool, at the Aintree Racecourse, just as the last horse race was going on. Just in time to get some awesome shots...

And THEN... what we came for... the McFly concert!!!!!!!

Afterward, we headed to Blackpool (which is about an hour north of Liverpool) to our bed and breakfast.

DAY 3: SCOTLAND....

England, Scotland, Ireland - Day 1

2008-05-15T19:45:00.000-04:00

This years vacation ROCKED!!! I know I say that every year, but that just because we ROCK at vacations :) We have dubbed this vacation "SO CLOSE"...

We started out by flying into London, England. We had a flight that left Atlanta around 6pm and landed in London - Gatwick at 8am London time. Once we landed and thank goodness we did (the flight was incredibly bumpy), we stood in line at customs so long that they put our luggage in the "special" area. We found our luggage and made our way to our train. Little did we know that different trains (and different train companies) would use the same train track. So two stops down the line, we got off the train we were on and got on the next one. So did everyone else :) Aha! Now we are on the right train, going to London-Victoria station. We arrive at London-Victoria station where we had to buy new tickets for the Underground (subway system). We lug our luggage to the District Line where we get on the right train... sorta... the train we were on split and went south when we needed to go north. So two more train switches and we finally arrive at our stop. Our stop, West Kensington, was said to be a 5 min walk to our hotel. We soon learn that a 5 min walk in London is like "just down the road" in Atlanta... 15 - 20 mins carrying luggage. We arrived at our hotel at 2:45pm. We landed at 8am. We get checked-in to our hotel, refresh ourselves a little, and head back out... after all we are on Vacation... and we have stuff to see!!! We stopped at a Tesco (thanks Barbara for the tip!) to pick up some sandwiches, etc and headed to Buckingham Palace.

We really have no idea of the importance of any of the places we saw around Buckingham Palace, but it seemed to be a place for people to congregate :)

Compared to the 80 degree weather in Atlanta, low-50's was freezing!

We also headed over to see Big Ben and St. ?'s ... lot's of walking for the first day.

It wasn't very late by the time we arrived back at our hotel. However, the Jet Lag (or lack of ability to sleep on the plane for fear of crash landing) finally caught up with us. We went to bed around 7pm london time thinking we would just take a nap. We woke up the next morning :)

Eeeeee

Off to England and Ireland baby!!!

2008-05-13T20:36:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow we head out on our vacation ... England and Ireland (plus one day in Scotland)!!!

We are super excited... so much adventure abounds... driving on the other side of the road, driving in Ireland, driving a stick-shift in Ireland!

We are not taking our computer and our cell phones won't work... so we'll see ya when we return!

Much love,
Eeeeee

Congratulations to Margie and Robert

2008-05-05T23:05:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to our friends and fellow small group mates, Margie and Robert, who just had a beautiful baby boy. Baby Elijah was born on 5/4/08 and weighed 8lbs 15 oz.

We saw Robert, Margie, and Elijah at the hospital today and all are doing fantastic :)

An interesting way to get out of studying for small group for a few weeks :)

Love,
Eeeeee

Prom Season

2008-05-04T15:02:00.008-04:00

Chelsea went to her Junior prom yesterday. She was stunning in her dress! I nearly cried when I first saw her :)

Enjoy the pics...

Eeeeee

Snellville Days

2008-05-03T15:49:00.002-04:00

Playing with Subway toys

2008-05-02T22:19:00.000-04:00

Photo Maintenance...

2008-04-23T22:04:00.002-04:00

If links to photos from our photobucket account (nelsonpictours) are not working, please note that I am going through and doing a little organizational maintenance.

I will update the links in the blog over the next few days.

Thanks,
E

Handy Eeeeee

2008-04-23T20:35:00.002-04:00

I spent most of the day outside fixing our fence and getting the backyard ready for a garden. It was a great day!

Eeeeee

Escape!

2008-04-21T19:37:00.003-04:00

We had our windows open and found out exactly how easy it is to have the screens pushed out. Joe and I were in the living room and the cats were in the kitchen sitting in the window. I turned around and got a view of Keaton pushing the screen off the window and Lil Anna jumping through the opening! They were working in tandem!

I bolted out the front door just as the window screen fell off the window, Lil Anna jumped into the front yard. Joe bolted to the window in time to grab Keaton to keep him from jumping out. As Joe starting putting the screen back in place from the inside, I grabbed Lil Anna and took her back inside the house.

adventure is our kitty's middle name :)

Eeeeee

Alpharetta Street Festival

2008-04-20T22:17:00.003-04:00

Today we went with Christina to the Alpharetta Street Festival. It is an art festival held every year that is similar to the Dogwood Festival, only cooler and smaller and w/o the Dog competition. It was a beautiful day for an event like this. We walked the mile from our house to the festival, walked around and saw ALL of the art booths... we even got to see a little Irish dancing ... and then we walked back home.

I put on some major sunscreen and still managed to get a little "tan" (hehehe... j/k... a little pinker) and here I was walking around with two of the tannest people I know ...

Everyone had a great time :) Christina got to see her former art teacher :) We all got to see how sheep could be used in very funny paintings :) And I got to admire the skill of irish dancers/musicians -- who had mad violin skills using very little of the bow :)

Eeeeee

Play Date at the Reeds on 3/1/08

2008-04-14T21:28:00.004-04:00

Photobucket Album

Eric and Chelsey's Wedding

2008-04-14T20:49:00.004-04:00

Photobucket Album

I am so behind...

2008-04-14T16:53:00.002-04:00

I am incredibly behind in my posting... I have lots of pictures to upload... from the twins and chelsea... to the MN trip....

I am getting there! I promise....

Eeeeee

Sawnee Mountain hiking

2008-04-09T23:59:00.004-04:00

Today Christina and I went hiking at Sawnee Mountain. It is located just outside of Cumming, GA and has some pretty good hiking trails. We hiked up to the top of the mountain where there was an overlook which had some really pretty views.

If you are itching for a hike but don't have time to drive up to N. GA, head to Sawnee Mountain. There are about 3 miles of trails, the trails are well maintained and marked, everything is easy to find, and the views are really good. They also have rock-climbing and repelling... so score!

www.sawneemountain.org

Eeeeee

Apparently I am going to have to rename this blog...

2008-04-01T15:25:00.004-04:00

[FYI - Satire doesn't always come across in the written word... this post is meant satirically :)]

So apparently I am going to need to rename this blog b/c every new post that I have wanted to write in the past week has been about some new ailment, or an update on an injury, or about being sore, or what allergies are bothering me at the moment.

So instead of "Adventures of Eeeeee" maybe I should just rename the blog "Ailments of Eeeeee" or "Eeeeee's Oldness shows through"....

Maybe I should just make it a regular occurance? Complaints Corner! There we go!!!

In Complaints Corner we could all get a chance to vent about how living in a body that is decomposing as we speak is not the most fun we could have.... I'll go first...

I don't know what it is about the right side of my body that predisposes it to injury but 98% of the time, it is the one getting injured. Maybe it is b/c I am right handed and lead with my right side... I don't know... but trust me when I am 79 ... and truly an elderly person ... my right side will smell like Icy Hot and my left side will smell like Sandwiches.

Your turn to take a spin on Complaints Corner ... :)

Eeeeee

PS - I don't know why I picked Sandwiches... it just sounded good ... and I am hungry :)

Calf Rehab

2008-03-27T17:27:00.003-04:00

Today I reached a new milestone in the rehabilitating my legs category. I decided to walk to North Point Mall. I ended up walking to the Subway in the shopping center next to the mall.

That is 4.5 miles roundtrip, and because I went by the new Encore Park on the way back, some steep hills were included.

My calves did not hurt after the walk although they did feel a little tight. I have iced them down as a precaution and I will do an extended Yoga session tonite to make sure that they stay loose.

This is super good news and it looks like I am on track for hiking again this summer!

Eeeeee

If gas prices weren't so high...

2008-03-24T21:56:00.003-04:00

If gas prices weren't so high, I'd like nothing better than to go out driving and just think. Preferably in a fast car, on a remote backwoods highway, where the stars are shining, and all I feel is God's love surrounding me.

It's been a productive and yet rough day.

This is me melting down people.

E

10 bands ... 2 cities ... 1 rockin weekend

2008-03-23T19:15:00.006-04:00

Friday night we headed to Athens to see our 2nd Third Day show in a month. Well, technically we didn't "see" the first one since we were volunteering :)

The concert was held at the Classic Center in Athens, we had box seats (thanks Lauren and Carmen), and we had a rockin good time. I danced the night away (poor Joe... couldn't keep up). Revive opened and the guys from down-under had the crowd on their feet, dancing and singing along. The next band up was DecembeRadio. These guys were awesome! Again the crowd was on their feet singing and dancing! Sanctus Real took the stage. They were a bit more mellow than the previous two bands, a nice breather from all the dancin... great worship time. The lead singer, Matt, has such a laid-back style on stage.

After intermission, the crowd literally GOES NUTS!!!!! Third Day comes out playing all of our favorites. To be honest, I don't know how they pick the songs anymore, there are too many good ones to choose from. The crowd was jumping, swaying, dancing, singing, cellphone swinging ... generally bringing down the house! They ended with Creed, which is my all time favorite!

After the concert, we snuck backstage and visited with Jen for a bit. Joe, being the world's greatest runner, was of course recognized by people on the tour. Eventually, we headed for home ... and as usual my lead foot got us home faster than Joe expected :)

--------------------------------------------------

Saturday started by sleeping in... needless to say we were exhausted from the night before!

Next stop on the Nelson Volunteer-o-rama Tour ... J93.3 Christian Music Weekend at Six Flags. We were volunteering for World Vision. Basically, we got to hang out and listen to all of the bands and during the set changes a person would come out and talk about World Vision and we would walk around and hold up our packets. Incidentally, the guy talking about World Vision during the breaks is a worship leader at North Point partner churches and a member of the band Small Town Poets.

The majority of the bands fell into the punk/rock category which we LOVED! Bands included Thousand Foot Crutch, True Road, The Afters, Jimmy Needham, Natalie Grant, and Pocket Full of Rocks. The only downside (besides teens not being willing to support a World Vision child every month) was that my ears were shot. By the time we got to the closer, Thousand Foot Crutch, which is a very punk/rocky band, I couldn't handle the noise. So instead of being up with the pit jumping around and having a great time, I was back with the old people, bouncing around, still having a good time :) I felt so old not being able to handle the noise... next I'll be saying... "turn that down" and "get out of my yard".

Check back on this post soon... pics are coming!

Later,
Eeeeee

Time to bounce around the house again!!!!

2008-03-21T12:41:00.002-04:00

I just got notification from the GATAPP program that I have passed the paper screening!!!! And I am invited to a meeting discussing GATAPP in more detail!!!!

Yippee!!!!!!

On a side note - I will definitely be rockin out at the concert tonite. I feel sorry for all the poor souls around me b/c when I get THIS EXCITED I can't contain it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A very bouncy Eeeeee

*GATAPP is the program that i am attempting to get into to go into teaching. In short, it takes people with degrees (that's me) and turns then into teachers (that's what I want to be).

Hilarious Blog...

2008-03-16T21:57:00.002-04:00

If you haven't stumbled across this blog, check it out! So true... so sad... and makes me giggle every time :)

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

Eeeeee

I'm not proud ... pics from Third Day, Santus Real, DecembeRadio, Revive concert

2008-03-12T16:43:00.002-04:00

I sometimes forget that I don't drive a stick anymore...

2008-03-11T12:14:00.002-04:00

So today I noticed that I sometimes forget that I don't drive a stick-shift anymore. Today I caught my feet shifting gears with the imaginary clutch.

:) So sad ...

Eeeeee

Oh My... I want one...

2008-03-07T14:50:00.004-05:00

Of course ... it's a car...

The new 2008 Dodge Challenger... suspiciously looks like one of my other favorite cars...

*sigh*

Eeeeee

Finding solace within the written word...

2008-03-06T01:04:00.004-05:00

I want to encourage all of you self professed 'non-writers' that are struggling/feeling something to write about it. I have been where you are and although my writing skills have not improved, I have experienced healing through the written word.

It is wild to me to think that the things that I have worked out in my head and even in my heart have not been completely healed until I wrote it down. There have been things that I have written in the last few months that I thought I had dealt with a LONG time ago, only to find out that I had thought it through, but never worked it out.

There is something cathartic in finding the right words to use to communicate your thoughts, feelings, ideas, opinions, recent happenings, etc. To find words that express your joy in life other than "awesome" (which is one of my favorite), words to express your disagreement with someone while organizing your ideas as a counterpoint, words to express frustration or confusion or both.

I cannot decide if it is act of writing those words down, whether they are silly, discouraged, angry, not-ready-for-primetime... or the process of going from a string of words to communicating ... or simply being willing to put your HEART on paper (or in my case a computer) ... that allows healing to take place... but it's one of those :)

So no matter how awkward or silly or random or crazy you think your thoughts and feelings are ... write them down and something awesome will begin to happen in your life ... you will find solace within your own written words and an appreciation for the art of communication.

I'm addicted :)
Eeeeee

Super Cool...

2008-03-05T14:48:00.005-05:00

So a month or so ago I got an email from church asking me to fill out a questionnaire about an online environment for the church where we could share sermons, etc.

Y'all know I am all about being online :) So it is super exciting that I got an email today saying that NPCC has put stuff on YouTube...

Yippee....

Here is one of my favorite series... Destinations... it blew my mind when I realized that my path determines my destination... not my intentions...

Every so often, I'll try to share something else from my super cool church...
maybe they will even start sharing the music .... that would ROCK! (pun intended)

Later,
Eeeeee

Marinade gone awry...

2008-02-29T01:46:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago Joe made some bourbon chicken which actually requires a marinade with bourbon. The bourbon chicken turned out pretty well so Joe made some more again this week. The difference was that he created his own marinade recipe and marinated the chicken for 4 days.

4 days is too long to marinate chicken with bourbon unless you actually want your chicken to get you drunk. Live and learn :)

The upside was that I got to tease Joe a lot about if he was getting drunk from chicken :) He has teased me mercilessly ever since the bourbon entered our house.

Eeeeee

PS - We tried to look like we knew what we were doing at the liquor store... fyi... incognito and dorky don't go together :)

The Pilot is paid off!

2008-02-28T18:39:00.004-05:00

It's official, we have paid off the Pilot a few months ahead of schedule. We got the Title in the mail today so of course, we took pictures :)

Joe is super excited because it means that we are one step closer to a Mini Cooper!!

Eeeeee

Cute Clothes and cutie shoes...

2008-02-21T23:53:00.003-05:00

Watching "What not to wear" has finally paid off :) I have some new clothes and cutie shoes. Cute does not do these new shoes justice... they are awesome!!!

All I need now is a job ... but even if I don't get a contract job to fill in these months, I am going to be one awesome looking teacher!!!

Eeeeee

Because I love The Office and Veggie Tales

2008-02-12T22:24:00.001-05:00

I PASSED!!!!

2008-02-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!

I have only found out about the Middle School math content assessment...

I'm going back to jumping around the house....

Eeeeee

New horizons

2008-02-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

Got back into Atlanta last night from South Georgia. Thank you to everyone that sent their condolences about my memaw's passing. They were so appreciated!!! The love and encouragement and prayers and thoughtfulness that I and my family have received from everyone has helped to ease our pain. Thank you so much!!

A couple of new things have popped up over the past few weeks and God has proven once again that trusting in Him is the best thing! I am still trying not to 'count my chickens' but I am excited, excited, excited!

I am preparing my application for the GATAPP program (teaching) this week.
AND I should receive my test scores from the content assessments soon... just a reminder .... i don't expect to pass the HS one .... keep your fingers-crossed on the middle school :)

Eeeeee

Goodbye Dear One

2008-01-27T19:21:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, January 26, 2008 at about 5 minutes till 5pm, Louise Fallin Smith (my grandmother), left this world and walked into the arms of Jesus. She left this world singing and being mischievous, which was true to her style.

Her life was one of caring, compassion, sorrow, resilience, joy, teasing, and love. She was a natural nurse (even without the ability to read or write) and spent a good deal of her life taking care of others. It wasn't until later in her life that she came to know and love Christ, but since that day her love of Christ combined with her gentle (yet fiery) spirit has been a great witness.

It is with deep sadness and grief that her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and family have to say good-bye. It is hard to capture the impact that she had on others in words. Suffice it to say that she was both incredible and frustrating, gentle yet stubborn, fun and serious, compassionate and fiery. In short she was a much loved incredible woman.

So good-bye dear Memaw, we shall see you again, rejoicing in Heaven.

Eeeeee

Wow! That last post was petty...

2008-01-23T11:10:00.001-05:00

Eeeeee

Cover Letters

2008-01-22T23:41:00.000-05:00

Oh the joy of writing a cover letter :( I think that this is the most tedious task of finding a new job. It's so formal and lame.

What I really want to say in the cover letter is

"Hire me... I will do an above average job... that's just who I am, I can't help it, I've tried. Please hire me ... I think your company is good enough to make the effort to click the 'apply now' button. Again... hire me... don't force me to get bored... NO one likes it when I am bored."

Eeeeee

A few of my favorite things...

2008-01-21T17:18:00.000-05:00

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love architecture, specifically houses. One of my favorite things to do is see how things are put together in a house, to get new ideas on how something could be arranged, etc. Every Friday, I get an email from one of my favorite websites, dreamhomesource, and they send me one of my favorite things... House Plans :)

Here's a link to one that I have saved in my favorites. I tend to save houses based on a one or two things that I really like about the house and want to keep in mind for when I build my own.

http://www.dreamhomesource.com/french_country_house-plans_DHSW41915.hwx

What I liked about this one was
1 - the exterior ... love porches with a European / Country facade. I think the stone work really accents the exterior beautifully without being too yuppie.
2 - the kitchen opens up to two different places. Notice the pass-thru to the Great Room as well as the two-level bar that opens up to the Family Room/Breakfast area.

There are also things that I don't like that keep me looking for that "dream house". For instance, I cannot stand it when the architect puts a garden tub with a huge window in the Master Bath (see the lower right hand corner of the floor plan). It is really bad in the this house plan b/c they put it as one of the front windows of the house! I don't know about y'all, but that is NOT a predicament I want to get caught in!

It's details like these that catch my eye :)

Eeeeee

the Pilot returns ...

2008-01-20T16:02:00.000-05:00

We got our Honda Pilot back on Wednesday of last week. The repairs look really good. There are a few minor things that we are going to have to take it back in for, but otherwise, really happy to have the Pilot back!

Here are some before and after pictures ...

Before --> A little bumper cars on GA 400 anyone?

After - no more "clunking" from the door.

Before --> What happens when someone doesn't clean off their windshield on an icy morning

After

-Eeeeee

I have got to start bringing my camera to places

2008-01-17T18:03:00.000-05:00

I had lunch today with Shobha, Johanna, and Mike T and the thought occurred to me on the way home ... I should have pictures of my friends ... which means that I should probably carry my camera with me and take actual pictures.

Eeeeee

Snow!

2008-01-16T16:54:00.001-05:00

UPDATE (8:50pm): This is what our backyard looks like right now :) That's Joe's motorcycle. It's still kinda snowing. The wind is howling but that's actually pretty normal for our part of the neighborhood. Oh! and this picture should be everyone's reason for getting the service plan... this is from our new "replacement" camera :)

_______________

UPDATE (5:40pm): It's sticking!!!!
_______________

4:40pm: It's snowing in Atlanta. None of it's sticking, but its coming down pretty good right now.

:)

Eeeeee

Local news

2008-01-15T16:41:00.000-05:00

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/01/14/dealer0115.html

I miss my Honda Pilot

2008-01-14T00:48:00.001-05:00

I am really starting to miss my Honda Pilot. It's been in the shop since a lady hit me coming out of our neighborhood and smashed in the whole drivers side. Anyway, she hit me about a week or two before Christmas and we have had to drive a rental car ever since. I thought we were going to get the Pilot back this week... but no...

I will be so happy to get out of the crappy rental Taurus! insert eye-roll here :)

Eeeeee

the TESTS are over

2008-01-12T20:28:00.000-05:00

At least for now :) Whew! I made it through all of the GACE exams that I had to take today. A total of 186 math problems. I don't think I did very well on the High School portion ... it will be a miracle if I somehow managed to pass those two. But I think I did 'OK' on the Middle school math stuff. Which is probably a sad state of affairs for someone trying to become a math teacher.

I'll find out the preliminary results in a month.

By the way, I had completely forgotten how awful High School restrooms are!!! After being used to corporate type restrooms that get cleaned all the time, the HS restrooms are like road-trip restrooms.

Eeeeee

Somewhere between nervous, pacing, and ready to throw up

2008-01-11T17:21:00.000-05:00

You know that feeling when you are super nervous and pacing and the only thing keeping you from throwing up is the fact that you are pacing? That's me right now.

Bring it on :)

Eeeeee

Writer's Strike

2008-01-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

As much as I hate that there is a Writer's Strike going on and therefore no new TV of any sort, it has actually been kinda good for me. Don't get me wrong, I think the writer's should get paid, and I hate to see an entire industry suffer b/c negotiations are not going well. But in terms of functioning like a normal human being, I get a lot more done without new TV. There are so many TV shows that I love that I spend almost every night of the week waiting for new material. Without that new material, I get more stuff done (like updating this blog). I mean, they are showing reruns of TV shows, but really, that is why I buy the DVD's.

So for me this time has been a good mental and physical break from TV. Kinda like summer but with less sunshine. Besides no offense to the networks, but they tend to jack us around during this time of year anyway. Remember when the shows were new?... we didn't see new stuff unless it was sweeps (Nov and Feb). Do the networks really think that we don't notice? Remember when we used to get all excited because it was two weeks of new shows in a ROW. Hehehe ... those were the days.

Eeeeee

Slideshow from E's 30th Birthday - the Yellow House - Roswell, GA - 11/3/07

2008-01-08T22:02:00.001-05:00

Random Photos Slideshow

2008-01-07T20:28:00.001-05:00

Woo-freakin-hoo!!

2008-01-04T23:43:00.000-05:00

Some people may not be impressed by this ... but i did 18 minutes on the elliptical with no calf pain. I graduated from Physical Therapy and I am cleared for lower leg exercise again. I have some restrictions ... no lunges, no calf raises, or running ... darn ;) I did find it amusing that I am not allowed to do lunges but I am allowed to do squats. It seems kinda weird to think that over a year ago I was training for my goal of 200 lunges while wearing a 20 lb weight vest. (Yes, I made it... i've got goal-oriented down...)

Joe and I checked out the YMCA in alpharetta a few days ago. It seems really nice. I am trying to figure out the best time to sign up. Formwell will end in a few months and I will probably start somewhere else a few weeks before that ends. It will be weird not having a training appointment 1 or 2 times a week, but after 3 years it's time to branch out on my own. Plus this little "no exercise" excursion for >10 weeks has helped me appreciate just how addicted to exercise I have become. I hope to be biking again by spring and hopefully hiking again by summer.

Oh... the Y had like 20-30 precor ellipticals and ... a rock-climbing wall. YEAH!!

In the meantime, I will be swimming, practicing yoga, stretching, and elliptical-ing. I don't think I have ever been this excited about my exercise future! If only my PE teachers could see me now... they'd be so proud :)

Later,

Eeeeee

PS - the occasional boxing-on-the-Wii is keeping me sane for now. I don't really want to think about when I will be able to box again ... but my last dentist appt has kept me from wanting to get hit in the face... so sorry everyone... doesn't look like I will be getting in the ring anytime soon.

Merry (early) Christmas!!

2007-12-20T15:09:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Here is the Christmas card that Joe and I sent out this year. You'll have to imagine the light-green Snowman paper as the background.

-Eeeeee

WARNING: Do not take ambien and do the "feet up the wall" yoga pose

2007-11-30T10:56:00.000-05:00

So for the last week or so I have been taking Ambien to get my sleep schedule back on track and to get a good nights rest. I have also been doing Yoga sometime during the evening to help stretch my legs.

Last night, I dutifully took the ambien 20 minutes before bed. Then I went upstairs to get ready for bed. And last night I decided that I would do the feet up the wall yoga pose for a little while and then get ready for bed. After all, the Physical Therapist said that I needed to elevate my legs and that I could do Yoga.

After about 10 minutes of the feet up the wall pose, I start to get up. At this point, I am coherent enough to know something is amiss. At the same moment, Joe walks out of the bathroom, and I stop him and start talking nonsense to him. It is then that I figured out that the benefits of the pose (relieving tired/achy legs) has intensified the effects of the Ambien. I am good and drunk, lying on the floor, giggling like a madwoman, and determining that Joe's knees are "weirdly placed".

Things I said last night in my drunken ambien state (all of these statements were directed to Joe):

giggle... giggle... giggle.... giggle

"I am soooooooo drunk"

"Your knees are oddly placed"

giggle... giggle... giggle.... giggle

"I am soooooooo drunk"

"This is what it was like when I was drunk in college"

giggle... giggle... giggle.... giggle

"You need to sleep in the middle of your pillow"

giggle... giggle... giggle.... giggle

This morning, I am still feeling a little light-headed and my tongue is still a little thick and I am pretty sure I am giggling at anything .... and Joe insures me that his knees are NOT weirdly placed, but securely between his upper and lower legs.

Later,

Eeeeee

Things I want to do - Early edition

2007-11-29T16:21:00.000-05:00

Things I want to do ... again...

- boxing
- hiking
- walking to downtown Alpharetta or Wills Park or the Alpharetta Library
- biking at the Greenway

you get the picture...

Later,
Eeeeee