Belated Birthday Greetings

Wow, I am now officially the mother of a teenager! I feel so blessed and old!

Austin's b-day was on the 15th, but he was very ill with a 102 temp, so we have yet to officially celebrate. He actually spent all of his birthday and the weekend in bed. I don't know if it was officially "the flu", but was pretty darn close if not the real thing.

The pic below was taken in summer 2006, but it was a very good photo and it was already on my computer, so it made it super easy to load on here.

He is such a wonderful boy - super smart - loves to read huge books - polite - almost taller than me - big science geek - his dream job is to someday develop video games - plays the flute beautifully - and best of all, still loves Momma's hugs n kisses!

Congrats, Austin on your new chapter in life :)

LOOOOOOOOONG OVERDUE NEWZ!!!!

Okay so I have been told - not that I didn't already know - that I need some new news posted on here (& this is so one of the reasons I did not want to start a blog - I knew I'd fall behind!!!), so here goes......

I have been trying to get a TA (teacher's assistant) job for several months now. Subbing makes more money per day, but a TA position is consistant pay and also my paycheck is broken down into 12 month increments, so I will get a paycheck even during the summer months. Right around Halloween, I was offered a position at my kids elementary school, which is absolutely perfect. I work 9 - 2 in a Pre-K class where we have 19 four year olds - all are at risk children - 6 are foreign & 4 of those speak no English (2 are Mexican and 2 are Japanese). Now, from here and there, I have picked up a few Spanish words, I can count to 20+, and can sing Feliz Navidad almost all the way correctly! However, I only know hello in Japanese, so not very helpful there. Needless to say, my days have gotten a wee bit crazier. Almost daily I get that feeling of, "What was I thinking?" You know how it is when you want something so badly and then when you finally get it, it wasn't exactly what you thought it'd be?!?! That's me! However, I asked God for a TA job and He gave this to me, so I am very thankful for His providing hand.

I got sick the Sunday before my very first day at work. Our church had it's version of a Halloween thing which was called Cove Country Fair (our church is Church of The Cove) and we were outside all evening in the somewhat brisk mountain air. They also had a Chili Cook-off for dinner, which did not sound very tasty to me that evening, so I didn't really eat any supper - we had also eaten a late lunch that day. Then we had a lady from FL, who recently started at our church and who is a Line Dancing Teacher, teach us steps to 4 songs and we had a "Line Dancing for Jesus" session - which was a blast and very hilarious! By the time we got home my throat was feeling scruffy and I was very tired. I decided I needed to get a good night's sleep. so I was gonna take some medicine to help my throat and some Tylenol PM to help me fall asleep quickly. I have no idea what hit me - if it was a stomach bug or it was the medicine on an empty stomach - I woke up at 2 am deathly ill. And I'll spare most of the details, but I was in horrible pain, curled in a ball on the kitchen floor next to the trashcan for the next 2 1/2 hours. I hadn't received or signed my hire papers for my job yet, so I wasn't "official" at that moment, so I knew I had to go to work the next morning as I couldn't call in a sub for me! As if that wasn't bad enough, when I woke up the next morning and for almost the whole week, I could hardly talk! So besides all the other "normal" stresses of the classroom, that didn't help at all. It made for a very interesting week!

So have you ever seen the poster or saying, All I Ever Needed to Know in Life I Learned in Kindergarten? Well, what follows is my version........

Things I Have Found in Pre-K

I have found I do not like being in the same classroom all the time.
" " " hand sanitizer does not eliminate all germs nor does it taste good.
" " " hand sanitizer gives you "old lady" hands.
" " " very creative hand motions for words like potty, sit still, & be nice.
" " " little shoes hurt bad when they're kicking the shins.
" " " that pre-schoolers will eat anything - even recycled tire mulch!
" " " when they say it's a bathroom emergency, they mean it.
" " " some people should not be allowed to be parents.
" " " no child should ever go hungry.
" " " safety pins should never take the place of a belt on a child.
" " " Thursdays are the new Mondays.
" " " it hard to keep a straight face when farts are called "stinky business".
" " " even the most unruly child can melt my heart with, "I love you."
" " " even with huge language barriers, you can be close friends.
" " " whatever the paycheck - it's not enough $$$.
" " " there's very little that is "not in my job description"!
" " " you never want to hear the words, "I got lots & lots bi-arrea!"
" " " some days, "Good-bye, Ms. Esther." are my favorite words!
" " " aliens sometimes land on our playground.
" " " it is a bad idea to wear skirts to work because, (see next line!)
" " " some pre-kers have no shame regarding their body parts or yours!
" " " "hor-nadoes" are very scary, but fun to draw.

I am sure there is so much more joy, pain, sadness and triumph that I am forgetting at the moment. But you can see why I have been AWOL for awhile. I have tried to keep updated on all of your happenings, but look fwd to chatting more frequently!

Take care, y'all & a quik reminder to be thankful for what you got & be faithful in what He asks - that is where God has my mind right now. I know from personal experience how very easy it is to get so caught up in what we don't have & it can even be "needs" and not just "wants" but, friends, we have soooooo much that He has blessed us with!

Love & Prayers, Essie