FYI

Just so you know...I made it all the way to the gym today, through 45 minutes of cycling, the locker room shower, and then realized I forgot my makeup. Geez. Luckily, I've made a new friend this week during our early morning workouts and getting ready for work, and she let me borrow her makeup. She even uses most of the same kind I do! Whew!
And I didn't fall today. However, the kids haven't lived it down. They talked about playing charades this morning, and they wanted to imitate the teachers. They all said I would be really easy. They would just fall as they act out Mrs. Walker. I said, "What else do I do? Come on guys, I've only fallen once." They responded in agreement, "you talk." Sweet...I fall and talk too much. What a great picture they have of their English teacher.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

One Silly Day

I woke up this morning at 4:30, put on my gym clothes, brushed my teeth, got my lunch from the frig, picked up my bag, and headed out the door. About three miles into my drive to World Gym, I realized I had forgotten my hanging clothes for work. Still driving south, I tried to think of an outfit I could put together with the clothes in my car. No such luck. I had lots of tops, but no pants. I don't think that would be acceptable at school. So I turned around at exit 85 and just headed back home. Of course I would have been too late for my gym class, so I just went back to bed. Stink. I was going strong, two days in a row of morning classes at the gym. I guess I'll just pick it back up tomorrow...and this time, I'll remember my bottoms.
Next, I'm at school walking into homeroom. I went back to my desk to get an attendance sheet and while walking to the front of the room, I completely wiped out. Now, you would think that a simple fall wouldn't grab that much attention, but in a room full of 8th graders, I was received by a roar of laughter. I, of course, laughed back and became the target of all the jokes all day long. Kids would walk by me, flail their arms, and do a fake fall. Real funny. I think it will die down soon, but I was sure hesitant to tell them that I fell again alone in my room during lunch. It was a combo of slippery floor and slippery boots.
One silly day it has been.

Thankful for a Break

It's been a long stretch of time since my last break, and I am very thankful to be spending it with family. I haven't been counting down the days, and I'm also thankful for that.
So, enjoy your break, eat lots of good food, and know that I am thankful for those people who actually read this.

One Month Later...

I'm still just as busy...maybe even busier. However, I know this is not a good excuse for letting thekatebox go unupdated for almost a month! This past month has been a phenomenal one, with a couple of major events and numerous smaller moments.
To start with, my girlfriend reunion was just what I needed. It was refreshing, encouraging, challenging, and so incredibly comfortable. I LOVE these friends so much. We started the weekend with pizza at Guido's in Rogers, and then we moved the party up to my house for the night. The nine of us participated in our first "Share and Tell"-- a tradition that MUST continue. We each brought something that represented our past year to give to everyone, and then we all told about the year. We got an awesome So You Think You Can Dance DVD and a great mixed CD from LC, a copy of "The Heat" by Needtobreathe from Lindsdawg, a book thong (I had never heard the name for these little bookmarks before) from Ying, a beautiful scarf from LT, and a little bundle of LeeLee's "Favorite Things" including nail polish, hair spray, peanut butter M&Ms, perfume, and many other things. Brooke gave us all notecards, Beth gave us each one of her business cards as a real-life physical therapist, Lily brought an apple (the size of her baby that week) and some whole grain Goldfish, and then I gave everyone one of my school pictures, some trail mix with dark chocolate M&Ms, and we made little note pads as our craft. This "Share and Tell" took us way into the wee hours of the morning, and we finally headed to bed right before the sun rose again. Saturday morning was a little dance party to "Sanctuary" and then primping for our photo shoot. I'll let the photos speak for themselves on that section of our weekend. We then headed to Fayetteville to Marketplace Express for a late lunch before heading to Different Strokes to paint pottery. We watched the Arkansas-Ole Miss football game on TV at LeeLee's house, and then we came back to Bentonville to rest our eyes for a few hours. Sunday morning was Lily's surprise maternity shower, lunch with the guys, and then lots of tearful hugs. Man, these girls mean the world to me. At the drop of a hat, any of us would be there for the other.
The other big event has been taking place over the past week and half. JB and the kids are spending almost a month in Arkansas, and we have gotten to play a little and celebrate a family wedding in Little Rock. I love my families, and I just feel incredibly blessed every time I'm around them. Mom and I got to do a little shopping this weekend in Conway, and those times are so dear to me. It's a mother-daughter bond that Wes is starting to understand. :)
Let's see...other news. I started teaching an old school hip-hop dance to the cheerleaders today. They are performing it for the first basketball game in a few weeks, so my afternoons will be taken up for a while. I still love my job, and I am so honored to work with the people around me. I definitely have trouble keeping my head above water, but luckily, I don't let it get to me that much.
Thanksgiving is soon, and that means Christmas is around the corner. I LOVE "the holiday season." So I promise to post some pictures and other stories soon. I've decorated the house for Thanksgiving, and I really think it may be the first holiday decorated for in my house that no one will see but Wes and me. I'll take some pics and share so I'll feel like it served some purpose.

A Good, Busy Life

Well, I've been a little tied up lately. Teaching English is tough. It requires a lot of attention and time. Teaching 8th graders requires even more of both of those. Plus patience and a sense of humor. I believe I have been successful at most of it, but teaching, as many of you know, is a career where you always feel like there is more to do. I want to give more, understand more, challenge more, encourage more, love more, share more, grow more, the list goes on... I never thought I would be so passionate and concerned to get every one of my wonderful students to learn whatever it is I am teaching. And when you have 110 kids at different levels, that's what makes it tough.
Besides teaching in the classroom all day every day, I've stayed until 7:00 p.m. two nights this week for parent-teacher conferences and just got home from a downer of a football game. (I think I'm going to have to play encourager tomorrow morning when the players are still processing tonight's loss.) All of these events are, luckily, things that I enjoy. Getting to meet the parents of my kids and watching the passion in the guys on the football field are really cool.
So, my fall would be busy enough if I just had my job.
However, teaching isn't at the top of my priority list. I've gotten to spend great time with friends and family lately celebrating marriages, babies, and anything else we feel like making an excuse for so we can get together. My weekly Bible study has been such an awesome time, and I feel like God is really trying to work through me and teach me. This weekend is the 2nd Annual Reunion for my college girlfriends. I absolutely can't wait. This time is so incredibly special, and we all really are a little bit too excited. We have emailed over 75 messages in the past day and a half. Being the host, I have also spent 2 nights this week conducting cleaning parties. I borrowed Leslie's Dyson vacuum tonight, and I think I'm in love. What an amazing machine. Clearly, my life is busy, but I have no complaints. Ok, I'm probably rambling, and I need to make my lesson plan for tomorrow. (Perfect example of my life right now. Running on last minute pace, but loving every second of it. Just glad I don't get stressed easily.)

I've Been Tagged

Thanks, JB. The game of tag has been passed on to me, so now I'm it! Oh dear. This means that I have to share 7 weird/quirky/funny/random things about myself. Although it is not my goal, nor my desire, I tend to live my life as an open book. I just don't think before opening my mouth, so coming up with 7 things you don't know may be tough. Here goes...
1. I got to travel to Hollywood with my dad during 8th grade to help promote the movie Jack Frost, starring Michael Keaton. As you may know, my dad's real name is Jack Frost, and the production company invited all real Jack Frosts to come to Hollywood for a snowman building contest. Although my Jack Frost didn't win, we had an amazing trip one Halloween weekend 10 years ago!
2. I have pretty bad scoliosis which makes my pant legs uneven and causes a lot of other weird physical issues.
3. When I am alone and I hear a good beat, I find myself dancing and making up intricate routines.
4. I count calories...every day...and have been doing so for the past 5 years. Wes says I can't be accurate, but I always buffer my count with a couple of hundred calories in case of mistakes. And I don't even take it seriously. I don't even have a goal or limit anymore. It's just habit.
5. I secretly want to work for the Travel Channel...well, I guess it's no secret anymore. I would LOVE to host a show that sent me around the world staying in amazing hotels, going on incredible adventures, and experiencing different cultures. Ahhh...I can't think about it too much or I get antsy for my next trip.
6. I love to write artistically, draw, and letter things for people. Maybe it can turn into a major money maker one of these days. So far, I've just done a few real jobs and a ton of work for my two moms.
7. I eat a lot of cereal. I am actually kind of embarrassed about it.

Well, this was interesting. Hope you enjoyed these tidbits of information. Pretty pointless...but I guess that was the point.
I'm now going to tag Cat, Leslie, Keisha, and Cathy.

What It Is

Happy 26th!
At the first Razorback game of the season.
8th grade football.
Totally involved teachers.
Pappaw.

You know how you can sit for a while thinking of a title before even typing your post? Well, I do that...and I have decided to take some of my own English teacher advice and type the body before I come up with the title. But, I just don't know exactly what to say today. I realized it had been almost a month since my last post. And that's just not right, seeing how I tend to judge others who don't update their blogs on a frequent basis. So, here it goes...what I've been up to, what I've learned, and other fabulous things from the past month.
* I celebrated Wes' 26th birthday this past Sunday (and our 3 year anniversary of being engaged)!
* I've been a faithful follower of the Razorbacks despite some major disappointments. I mean, come on, they have a tough schedule this year. Playing top ten teams back to back to back isn't easy, especially for our rookie team.
* I've tried out my "mean face" to some of my 8th graders, and it doesn't work. They weren't scared, and it didn't settle them down at all.
* I've gone to way more 8th grade football games than I ever imagined, and I actually quite enjoy them. I even got to catch some of our next opponent's practice today after school...Thursday may be a rough one.
* God is teaching me a lot, and He is trying to bring me closer to Him. I'm just the stubborn one who thinks she can handle it all on her own. So, I've given up, and I'm trying to let Him take over and guide me. I want to make sure that I learn whatever it is He wants to show me.
* I've realized the shortness of life. My dad's parents have been moved to a nursing home, and things just aren't looking too good. One has a mental illness and the other, a physical illness. These are not easy things to deal with, and I just want to treasure the days God gives me now. This also makes me look up to my mom and dad even more...if that's possible.
* I want to be a better friend and call my favorite girls more often. Our friendships work without phone calls, but I want/need to stay updated way better than I do now.
* I have started to plan my next trip. Either Colorado or San Francisco...go figure!
*Ok, I think I'm just rambling now. I'm off to a quiet Tuesday evening at home. Wes is gone to BSF, and I'll grade some papers, maybe get on the Wii Fit for a while, and then just relax.
P.S. I don't think the title after the body thing really works for me. The first phrase that popped in my mind after I almost forgot to put a title won the slot.