SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!

Yeah... it's official... SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER! And I couldn't be happier!!!

I had a rough last few days of school. I found out on Thursday before school was over on Friday that I was going to be moved back to the school that I started out teaching in my first year in Texas... that meant that I had to pack up my classroom and bring ALL my materials home and also get my folders in some sort of working order for someone else to take over for me in my place... well... the folders weren't such a hassle since I am OCD on organization and making sure that my stuff is in order, but making sure that I had the important stuff written down about the students and the loose ends that needed to be straightened out when school starts is a different story... I called in sick on Friday since I needed to be in Tulsa for Blake's graduation from Cascia Hall, but stupidly I drove into work to drop stuff off at my schools. Which ultimately put me a few hours behind schedule and I made it to Tulsa at about the same time I would have made it into town had I stayed and worked half a day!

Why did I get home so late??? Well, I stopped off at the Denton Airport to tell my guy goodbye and all that mushy stuff and when I went out to my car to leave, it wouldn't start. No cranking or attempting to "turn over," no clicking, no nothing... battery was D-E-A-D dead! But of course being the electrical wiz that he is, Trevor had to check the fuses and then the voltage on the battery and also the alternator before determining that yes indeed it was definitely my battery... so off to AutoZone in Denton to get me a new battery before leaving for Tulsa. I was actually making great time on my drive, I left at 2:00 and at 5:05 I was sitting on the Turner turnpike screaming at the idiot who decided that we needed to STILL have construction just past the Hwy 97 exit... it took me over 25 minutes to go from the Kellyville/Sapulpa exit to the hwy 97 exite, which for those of you who know, is only about a mile...

Graduation was great. I can't believe that my "lil' brother" is going away (haha to TU) to college in the fall... then I drove back to Texas on Sunday so I could spend a little time with Trevor before coming back to Tulsa on Tuesday after half a day working...

I will post pictures from Blake's graduation and also from the airshow and all that once I make it back to the "great" state of Texas... but for now, I am getting ready to sign off for bed so that I can get up before the sun to drive to my dad's fire station so he can take me to the airport! I am going to spend some quality time in Nevada with Trevor's mom and sister this summer... That should be interesting... I will be sure to try to post from there as well... I am going to be riding in a rodeo, at least one... being a photographer... a spectator... a big sister... and a rancher... should be fun! There will be pictures to post from this trip as well... maybe before I get back, kinda dependson how busy we are!!!!

More information on my assignment change at a later date as well. Let's just say that at this time I am not going to be checking my work email until July cause I really don't care to know what has been sent to me! :)

Almost Over...

WOOHOO!!! One more school year is almost over!!! Can you tell that I am ONE excited teacher!!!!! We have approximately 7 school days left before we say goodbye to our young'uns and ship them home to their parents for 10 fun filled weeks!!! I have already started to make my plans for the summer! First on my agenda is to fly (very low to the ground) home for Memorial Day weekend, where my "lil brother" is going to be graduating from Cascia Hall on Friday! I can't believe that he is already grown up and getting ready to go to TU!!!! Then I will fly back to Ft Worth so I can go to work (stupidly enough) on Tuesday since it is out "Teacher's Prep Day." What I will be prepping for is beyond me! I will already have all of my paperwork turned in and everything shut down for the summer... but ok! Then back to Tulsa for my nieces t-ball game at 6 (yes on Tuesday...) and then I will be flying (for real this time) to Yerington, NV where I will be spending time with my guy's mom and sister for 2 weeks! I am very excited about going out to Nevada this year! I am going to help out with the 8th grade dance pictures, then I will get to ride in my first RODEO typed event... yeah, I didn't stutter and you didn't misread what was written down... I will be riding in a RODEO event! I am sure that there will be plenty of pictures to share and/or video clips to send in to America's Funniest Home Videos!!!! Then I will be a spectator at the State Rodeo Championship where Kendra will be riding!!! Then back to Tulsa for one of my best friends weddings!!!! WOOHOOO!!! What a crazy month I will have in June!!!!

As soon as I get the pictures from my friend Scott I will have a posting on my exciting adventures last weekend at Taste Addison as well as at the NASJRB Ft. Worth Air Show! We had a lot of fun, got a lot of sun, and drank a little more alcohol than we should have or normally consume... (and if you REALLY know me you know that doesn't take much on the alcohol side!)

And for those of you that are concerned, I am NOT becoming a Texan!!! I will ALWAYS be an Oklahoma girl at heart! I do NOT enjoy driving in/around Dallas, Irving, Addison, Plano, etc... Ft. Worth is about as tolerable as I can get without coming home to lovely T-Town!!!! So have no fears...

Hope Elizabeth...

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Isn't she a cutie!

These are pictures from "Anza's" recent visit to our house out in the "country." (It is the country in perspective of living in the middle of Ft. Worth!)

We had a great time playing with the new toys that I had bought earlier in the day and eating dinner. Hopey likes honeydew and she made Trevor share with her! Fun times were had by all, and we definitely missed Ryanie and his girl who were too busy studying for finals to take a break to drive out!!!! Maybe next time...

By the next time I am sure that lil' Miss Hopey will be running around the house getting into everything, not crawling at a speed in which we can catch her quickly!

Whose the goofiest??? I think Daddy won the contest for the goofiest by getting caught with his tongue sticking out by the camera!!! Hope had been sticking her tongue out at us, honestly...

My Favorite Men of Honor...

This blog is in honor of my favorite guys in blue (regardless of the shade) with my favorite girls, well one of my favorite girls...

I think that there could be some discussion as to WHOSE girl she really is... but we all like to think that she is OUR girl!

The captain sleeping with his granddaughter in the car...

She won his heart when she took his hand to skate and never let go...

She ditched her aunt for a guy... I'm not ready for this quite yet!!!

Let the countdown begin!!!

For those of you who remember counting down the days until school was out as a student, let the games begin... I know it may come as a shock to many of you, but teachers DO count down the days of school. We are probably worse than the students if you really want to know. As "adults" we have the ability to not only count down the days, we can also count down the hours AND the minutes... the current number is 18 days of h-e- double hockey sticks...

I love my job. Honest, I do... I love working with my students, they are awesome, most days. I enjoy watching my students as they start using their voices and start to become more understandable to other people. I love seeing them make progress and meet their goals. But I don't love working with most of their teachers. There is a certain level of common courtesy or respect that I do not receive in one of my schools. I can ask for responses from teachers about rescheduling, trying to give them the upperhand and the control over when their students will go to speech when it is outside of the "normal" scheduled time. But when said teachers don't reply, I assume that it is alright to get their kids, then starts the problems. I ALWAYS give my teaching staff at least 2 weeks notice when I am going to be out for a conference or something so that we can reschedule the missed sessions at a convenient time for both of us. Yet it apperas that they don't have the common courtesy to let me know a week in advance of field trips and presentations and field days that they have known about for months! Then they wait for me to find out the Friday before the week of the event when the weekly calendar comes out and then on that week they demand to know when I am going to make up the speech times for their students because "MY STUDENTS WILL NOT MISS ________" (fill in activity).

So I am trying to patiently kill my fellow teachers with kindness. I am hoping that it will eventually work. Like I said before, only 18 more days of school left... which in thiose 18 days I have to complete 50 report cards and progress notes to parents and send home, do one more month of Medicaid forms (for all 50 or so said students), prepare about 40 home program folders for my students so that they have some sort of speech practice over the summer (not that they will actually do it, they didn't throughout the year, why is the summer going to change that routine?) and other countless and redundant forms for the district... all the while seeing my 50 kids (most of them twice a week) for the next 3 weeks.

I can only hope that I survive these next 18 school days! What I would give to be back in college! For those of you in college- stay there... NEVER graduate!!!! The real world is a mean and harsh place!!!!! Pray for me and my sanity as well as the patience of my guy!!!

Gotta go! Gilmore Girls is back and this is a new show!