RAIN, BEACH & FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Can you tell by the look on his face? "OK, MOM---get the "first day of school" picture over with!" HA HA

1. RAIN RAIN RAIN all last week! It's finally starting to dry out ....and it appears that the Tropical Storm/ Hurricane that is in the Carribean will be in the Gulf by Saturday. UGHH

2. Jerry and I spent a wonderful day Saturday driving to the beach and grabbing a bite to eat by the water. Collin went with some buddies to Artesian Springs in Newton County and had a great time.

3. School started 8/25. Hooooooray???? Collin had an eventful first day. Our high school was on "lock down" from 10:15 - 3:40 as there was an armed robber in a nearby neighborhood--close to the schools. This robber was involved with a shooting the night before and as a precautionary measure...the schoools "locked down". Better to be safe than sorry. The suspect was apprehended about 2:30. Hopefully--Tuesday will be a "normal" day.

RIP Boo Boo

August 1998- August 2008
Boo Boo was our parakeet that we got as soon as we moved to Orange. About 5 days ago, he began losing his balance and fluttering around on the bottom of his birdcage. I "researched" online to find that parakeets usually only live 5-7 years. Boo Boo had longevity! 10 YEARS. He passed away on Thursday, Aug. 14th...my first day back at work. Although not the same feeling as losing a dog or cat, we were so used to him singing in the background of our sunroom. He'll be missed. Not something I wanted to do on the first day back at work.....bury my bird on my lunch hour! Take care---and, listen to the birds sing !

Back at W-O-R-K....S-C-H-O-O-L

Thursday was my first day back at work. I'm quite excited as my good friend is now my Principal. Although change is often uncomfortable at the workplace, it is a necessity. She is implementing alot of great ideas at the high school and is a "take charge" type of gal. I can already feel the "culture" of the campus change.

I've been busy arranging my classroom and typing up the "first of the year" handouts. It would be nice to email classroom procedures to my students and save the trees!

Collin will go to "fish camp" on Wednesday, get his schedule (although I already have it), find his classrooms, etc... It's a blessing (for me) to be on HIS campus and a curse (for him) to be on MY campus :) HA HA He'll find there are lots of perks for mom being "handy".

Krista and Amber will start their college classes on Monday, the 25th. Looks like they both will have a full load. Krista will do her "block" of education courses and is looking forward to graduating December 09.

Screws Gone

Krista and I talked this morning and she's feeling alittle groggy and sore...but the screws are out of her left hand. The surgery was short and easy and she'll have to wear a soft "cast" over her hand for the next few days.

Cool Shoes

Who says that teachers can't have cool shoes? I'm pretty darn proud of myself for finding these cool shoes at a exhibit both at convention last week in Dallas!

Removing the Screws

Krista will have a short procedure done in the a.m. to remove the screws in her left hand. When she was a sophomore in high school, she had a cheerleading accident ...breaking her hand. She had quite extensive surgery at the time and the dr. had to put in screws. They are giving her some trouble now so the dr. feels that it will be a noninvasive surgery to remove the screws. The procedure should only be about 15 minutes with no physical therapy, etc.. needed. Say a short prayer for her in the a.m. about 7:30.

Online School Clothes Shopping

Collin is not much of a shopper. AT ALL... As I have gotten "older"....my browsing days are fewer. My idea of a fun day of shopping is now browsing at outlet malls and finding a "jewel" in the rough at a resale shop! Jerry and I like to mall shop every now and then and especially like book stores. Anyway....Collin does his school shopping online. I pull up the screens on my laptop, he picks out the number of shirts/and-or shorts that I tell him and then we go on and do the same with his tennis shoes, etc.. We have gotten really lucky and 95% of the items we get FIT. Hooray. Thank goodness for Fed Ex, UPS, and DHL that delivered our clothes this year. Forget the crowds, the traffic, the gas prices! + no squabbling in the mall!