June 29, 2010 - The day of baby steps

First baby step: I went to our second community meeting. This meeting was sponsored by the "Healthy Kids, Healthy Community" (HKHC) group. It was a wonderful meeting! There weren't a lot of people there, but there were enough to get the dream going. HKHC wanted us to get together and share our best MASCOT moment. (MASCOT is where we live). Then, they wanted us to dream of what we wanted MASCOT to become. I had so much fun with it! I was paired up with a wonderful woman (whose child goes to our school) and we thought of everything! New schools, new businesses, a new park, a recycling center, a bike path and I even added a drive in movie theater!

We were told the next step will be forming committees and working with HKHC to form a plan. Then the plan will be brought before the leaders of Knoxville and we will see if change can happen! It fills me with anticipation to think of it!


Baby step two: I called a friend's wife who is a photographer. She was wonderful to talk to! She gave me so much helpful advice about everything from which camera to purchase to how she put her website together. Even though I am light years away from doing what she is doing, I feel like I have taken a small step in the direction of my dream. I can't wait to see what comes next! I think half the fun will be getting there...

Random thought

Have you ever noticed how the lightning bugs look like glitter on the trees at night? Pretty cool God...pretty cool!

Now where did I put those papers?

Tomorrow Jake, my beloved husband of almost 12 years, will be throwing himself out of a moving plane and hurtle towards the Earth at speeds that only math lovers can understand. And he's happy about it! You would have to sedate me and push me out of the plane. Kinda how they did Mr. T on the A-Team. There is NO WAY you could get me to jump out of an air plane thousands of feet off the earth, NO WAY!

For his birthday last year I bought Jake a gift certificate to go skydiving. This has been a dream of his for many years. I think it goes back to a bucket list of things he wishes he would've done but didn't. You know because he married me. :) For example and in no particular order: join the army right out of high school, get his pilot's license, buy a motorcycle, buy a boat, become a bee keeper...etc. I wanted to give him at least one of his "wishes".

So, tomorrow I will watch as my husband plummets to the ground attached to another human being, and pray I can find the life insurance policy if need be.

wait a minute!

This summer I chose to teach summer school. The ONLY reason I am doing this is to make extra cash to put towards my credit card. Thank you Dave Ramsey.

I don't mind teaching summer school. It's only four hours and the pay per hour is good. At the beginning of summer school we were supposed to receive $33.33 per hour for 100 hours of work. Awesome right?! I was licking my chops at those figures. I could pay off a credit card AND go visit my brother in Vegas!

I feel I must explain a little BEFORE I begin the complaints. There are two different sects of teachers teaching summer school. One sect is teaching regular summer school with no strings attached and getting around two grand for their month of work. My sect of teachers were working for the Title One summer school. We are getting paid more, however like with all things government there are 18,000 strings attached and a whole lot more required. We have a lot more paper work to keep up with, we have to have parent conferences and we have to stay longer hours on some days. I didn't mind because the pay was so good.

They (my summer school principals) called us into the library today and told us our hours were going to be cut. EXCUSE ME?! Here's the reason why...see if you can follow the government's way of thought.

Every child that is free and reduced (meaning the tax payers pay for their lunch and breakfast, fees and field trips) is assigned an amount of money to them. If the child went to tutoring during the year money was taken from their account to pay the tutors. A fact someone has not thought to mention before. Now we have children with no money and not enough money to pay teachers. There are many teachers losing their summer school positions because there isn't enough money. There are also children being told they cannot come back to summer school (even though they NEED to come) because they have no more money left in their account. Meanwhile we have several people in fluff positions who do absolutely nothing, but "have" to be at our school because the government insists on it.

There was never this problem before the government got involved.

Over the past year, I've really looked hard at our educational system. I have noticed that there are more unnecessary positions, unnecessary tasks, unnecessary actions, and unnecessary spending of money than I've ever seen before! I think all common sense has been tossed out the window! Yet when you try to say something to someone, you get hushed and told you have no heart for the profession. It's because I have a heart for the children (and my tax dollars) that I dare say anything at all!

So...long story longer and one prediction for my ending...I am expected to work many hours for free just because of my profession. I predict that by the end of summer school I will only be paid the same amount as the other sect of teachers.

We shall see....

I have no words

My husband decided to call his parents this evening. He usually talks to them once a week. I usually sit close by so I can interject anything that needs to be told or correct anything that needs to be corrected. Tonight he started the phone call with his dad. Asking the typical questions, telling the typical news of our family. Whichever parent he starts with he always ends with the other. These are the words that came out of his mouth:

"Okay dad. I love you too. (Pause - waiting for his dad to hand the phone over to his mom) Hi Carrie..I mean momCarrmom. Mom! I meant mom!"



Awesome.

I thought he wrote that...

We are singing "Why Walk When you Can Fly?" at church and I thought Andrew Peterson wrote the words. Nope...Mary Chapin Carpenter (Whom I love!) did. Huh?! Who knew?

Anyway...I love the words! Why walk when you can fly? It reminds me of Isaiah 40:31 which says:

"But those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

Here are the words to the song:

In this world there's a whole lot of trouble baby
In this world there's a whole lot of pain
In this world there's a whole lot of trouble but
A whole lot of ground to gain
Why take when you could be giving
Why watch as the world goes by
It's a hard enough life to be living
Why walk when you can fly

In this world there's a whole lot of sorrow
In this world there's a whole lot of shame
In this world there's a whole lot of sorrow
And a whole lot of ground to gain
When you spend you whole life wishing
Wanting and wondering why
It's a long enough life to be living
Why walk when you can fly

And in this world there's a whole lot of golden
In this world there's a whole lot of pain
In this world you've a soul for a compass
And a heart for a pair of wings
There's a star on the far horizon
Rising bright in an azure sky
For the rest of the time that you're given
Why walk when you can fly

Where did the time go?

I have just a few minutes before my family returns from putt-putting. Just a few minutes...time is such an oxymoron to me. A few minutes can be a short amount of time or forever. For example: today when I was working out one minute seemed FOREVER. Now that I want to type my thoughts down and send them out into the space that is our internet, one minute isn't enough time. Time allows for healing. Time allows us to forget. (which can be good or bad) I guess it all falls down to perspective.

Okay, so Sunday is Emma's tenth birthday. Ten years! Has it been that long?! I remember my mom warning me not to wish my life away (words falling onto the deaf ears of a teenage girl). That seemed like yesterday and now here I am, 33, two kids and one about to turn ten!

Allow me a few I remembers if you will...

I remember taking the pregnancy test. I remember watching the second pink line appear. I remember sitting dumbfounded on the toilet knowing my whole world was about to change. I remember telling my parents. I remember going to the doctor for the first time. I was afraid the test was correct and I was pregnant and I was afraid the test was wrong and I wasn't. (Weird I know) I remember watching my ultrasound and meeting Emma Kate for the first time. I remember hearing her heart beat. I remember Jake crying as they handed me my baby girl for the first time. I remember feeding her for the first time. I remember sleeping with her beside me. I didn't get much sleep that night. I think I woke up every few hours so I could place my hand close to her small mouth. I was so afraid she would stop breathing...I had to check!

I remember her first word, "dog". I remember her learning to walk. I remember her crying when they put the jelly on my stomach for my ultrasound with Abbie. I remember taking picnics and walks with her. I remember the first day of kindergarten. I remember her telling me about her dream of Jesus. I remember when she decided to become a Christ follower.

There are so many more, I don't have time for them all! Again...time. It goes by so quickly. I'm gonna blink and I'll have five more years of "I remembers". Soon, she will head off to middle school. Then there will be the first date, the first car, the first kiss. Soon, she will head off to college.

I love my baby girl! I so thankful God gave her to me for this time! My challenge: enjoy the time we have together now, save the "I remembers" for when she is gone.