Saturday, November 3, 2007

The pressure's getting to me

Sinus pressure drove me from the bed at 6:00 this morning. My allergies are killing me this week. I've heard tell, and I think it's true, that if you don't suffer from allergies before you move to the Austin area, then you will within five years or something. So! If you've been seeing the ads on TV for allergy meds, and are feeling left out because you don't need them, then I've got a bridge to sell you! It's in Austin, and you won't even have to share it with the bats.

Heather has been posting about National Blog Posting Month, where all of these people decide that they'll post everyday for a month. For me, that's a bit much, and I think it shows my self-awareness that I cannot actually commit to this. It would turn into more pressure that I just can't handle, and then I'd feel guilty for not posting, blah, blah, blah. Yes, it's silly. Hushup. But at least I recognize this about myself. Instead, I'll use it as a new starting point.

Today we are going to my sister-in-law's house to celebrate my niece's 11th birthday. I just love the thought that Big Daisy doesn't know a time when Aunt Damsel wasn't around. Knight and I met just after her first birthday.

One quick story about Big Daisy, in celebration of her birthday... A month or so after our wedding, Knight and I stayed with Big Daisy and family for a week while Knight was working on a car (we were living in an apartment in Dallas at the time, so he couldn't do it there). Big Daisy was about five at the time, and had been a flower girl in our wedding. It was a HUGE deal to her, that wedding.

I had a summer cold that week that we stayed with them, and wasn't feeling well. My sis-in-law was boiling a chicken to make dinner, and I just asked for some of the boiled chicken to eat. I put some in a bowl, and took it to the living room to eat.

Big Daisy climbed up beside me to investigate the contents of the bowl. As kids do, she asked for a bite. I told her that I didn't want her to eat after me because I was sick. I explained that she could get sick, too, if she shared my food. She asked why I was sick. I said that I didn't really know... I just was.

A silent moment passed before she looked up at me with huge eyes and asked, "Is it because you got married???"

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Friday, November 2, 2007

Less stress, sort of

I have my lesson plans for all five classes done all the way up to Thanksgiving break! Woo!! We get the entire week off, so I'm really looking forward to the vacation.

We go to my grandparents' farm in western Oklahoma every year. They don't have internet, and my cell phone doesn't even get reception. Nothing to do but RELAX! Oh, and the EATING. Oh, my. It's positively sinful, the relaxing and the eating. The only interruption to the napping is the snacking. Well, usually, anyway. This year will be different for me.

I have to write a paper. Ewww. It's to get my teaching certificate through ACSI -- an international Christian schools association. I've had to get Biblical CEUs, too. Those were actually pretty interesting. I did some correspondence courses from Moody Bible, and I'm such a nerd that I loved studying them! :)

The OTHER part of the application process is that I have to write a six page paper over the/my philosophy of Christian education. I could talk forever about how I love my job and I believe that Christian education is, to quote our superintendent, a cultural necessity. But to write a SIX PAGE paper??? Eww.

Before I can write the paper, though, I have to "read" six books on Christian education. Five of them are required, and I "get" to pick the sixth one from a list. (Pardon me for not jumping for joy, but I'm afraid I might injure something, like my pride.) I've attempted to read one of the required books, and I was ready to pry my eyeballs out with a screwdriver by the end of the fifth page or so. I know it must be horribly boring, because I usually devour anything having to do with education or teaching. I'm very interested in and passionate about the subject. This first book, though? Ugh. Maybe I'll pull a teenage stunt -- read the first and last pages of each chapter and try to glean something from them... at least enough to slide a quote into the paper to show that I cracked the book.

Speaking of teenage stunts, please, for the love of all that is holy, do not ask me how long I've had to do this paper, or when it was due.

(P.S. The "read more" button isn't working just now, so don't click it. You can already see the entire post. Sorry!)

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