Gas Hysteria

Thursday night I actually stayed up long enough to watch the 10:00 news. Normally I am in bed by 9:15 because I cannot function on a few hours of sleep like Jordan can. Anyway, the news said it would be best to fill up tonight because of possible gas increases or shortages. I told Jordan that we better fill up. I drive a total of 40 miles round trip to work and back daily. I was already running low on gas and thought why not fill up now and not have to stop on my way to work. So Jordan said he'd go fill up both cars. He went to fill up the first car with no wait. As he was finishing up and leaving, he saw a lot of people pulling in. When he switched cars and went back to fill up, he had to wait. We laughed about it the next morning because we figured it was all people watching the news. Hooray for media created gas hysteria. I called Mom early on Friday and told her about what we had heard on the news (knowing she was an early bedgoer as well and probably had not seen it). I told her that I didn't know if it really was going to be a problem or if it was just media being media. When I came home Friday I didn't really notice any gas stations. It was when I went to pick up Carson from daycare that I noticed the craziness. Cars were out in intersections waiting for gas. I have never seen so many people. Mom called and said she saw people waiting for gas at Wal-Mart all the way back at the lawn and garden section (the gas is all the way across the parking lot at our Wal-Mart and this means there were 15-20 cars in line). I couldn't believe how crazy it got. I got up Saturday for my yard saling adventure and noticed that many gas stations were out of gas. CRAZINESS!!! We didn't have a lot of price gouging like Tallahassee and other places (Tallahassee saw gas at $5.49 whereas we paid $3.79). It really made me think about my food storage and where we are at in that aspect. We've been doing well adding things monthly. I kind of saw a glimpse of what it might be like if there is a food storage. Scary!

The Biggest Roller Coaster

I love my job! The first four weeks of school have been great for the most part. The more and more I teach, the more I realize that my job is the biggest roller coaster I have ever been on. Some days I come home feeling defeated because it has been in a rough day. Other days I come home on a high because I had an awesome day and I know my kids did too. Thankfully there are more of the second kind of days than the first. I am grateful to have one of my best friends up at Waller teaching with me. Without her, I know I could not make it. Who else could I run to and tell of my horrible or wonderful day and know that she too is going through the same thing. The hardest thing about this job is trying to balance life. As I look around my living room right now with the kid asleep and Jordan at Stake Conference I think of all that I should be doing and getting done, yet here I am blogging. It's hard to find enough time for everything: family, keeping up the house, church, downtime, grading, planning. I am still working on it. I have found a great routine for making sure I do take some time for me. Saturday mornings I've started going to yard sales. The few dollars I spend on stuff I probably don't need helps to keep me sane. Is it retail therapy? No. I've been there. It is about getting out and doing something for me. It's hard to find the time, but Saturday mornings work out the best because Jordan and Carson like to watch cartoons in the mornings together. I know I haven't blogged in FOREVER, but I was just thinking about how great life seems to be going right now and thought I'd take a second to update. Are things perfect? Never. However, we are finding our balance in everything and are content.

Trash Talking at Disney

A talking garbage can?? Only at DISNEY! We came out of the restrooms and saw a talking garbage can.
Do you see the guy in the upper left hand corner with a blue shirt, hat, and glasses? You may have to click the picture to enlarge it and find him...my own version of Where's Waldo. He is holding something and talking into it. He was the talking garbage can. No one figured it out because he looked like a tourist. (Well Jordan figured it out because he's a smarty.) He had a messenger bag on that had the controls to move the garbage can and a microphone he held in his hand. It was hilarious! We seriously sat there and watched people interact with it for a good 20 minutes. It was great to watch kids and adults open the trash can to see if there was something inside that was moving it. I LOVE Disney!!

Disney Trip #2

First off, NO KIDNEY STONES THIS TIME!! Hooray! We were able to use up our tickets and have a blast. Second off, park hoppers are not something to invest in if you have kids. We paid the extra to make our tickets park hoppers (so we could go to more than one park a day if we wanted to). There was so much to do with Carson that we really didn't use that feature to our advantage. We did have a wonderful time. We started off at Hollywood Studios (formally MGM). Carson met Mater and Lightening McQueen. This was the longest line we waited in to meet a character. We HAD to meet them though. Hollywood Studios was Jordan's favorite park because it took you behind the scenes and showed you the tricks behind making movies. There is also a lot of memorabilia. Now if this was Jordan's blog, the slide show would consist of every picture he took of the memorabilia. Since this is not, it will only have a few pictures of that. We went to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot too. I have a few stories from the trip that are blogworthy. So here is the condensed slideshow of our second Disney trip.

What ARE you dreaming about?

Carson took his nap last week and this is what he looked like. Should I be concerned? I wonder what he was dreaming about?? The joys of having a boy.

My Birthday - July 8th

Ever since Carson came along, the focus on my birthday has been switched to Carson's. It's way more fun to plan a party for a 3 year old than a 23 year old. Birthdays and holidays were always big in my family growing up. So this year for my birthday we decided last minute to go out and eat some BBQ. It wasn't a big huge deal, just Mom, Dad, my grandparents, and our little family. I got my hair cut FINALLY on my birthday so my hair was crazy and still wet when we went out to eat. When we were leaving after dinner, we came across the biggest UF fan in the world's car. It is tacky, but I couldn't resist a picture with it! We went back to Mom's to eat cake...not just any cake, but double doozie big cookie cake YUMM-O! The lady still misspelled my name despite spelling it for her right there. Oh well. I opened my presents there. Jordan bought me a game for the Wii. I really don't play the Wii much, but I did want a karaoke game. Can I sing? NO! It sure is fun though! I didn't want to karaoke in front of everyone because I do have a horrible voice, but I did. I ended up doing really well. I went platinum, unlocked a character, and unlocked a video!! We had so much fun! You can see the surprise in my eyes in some of these pictures. Thanks Dad for being the photographer since we left our camera at the house. You did a great job!

The Best Week EVER...and It's Only Tuesday!

Okay this week has been the best week ever! Maybe that's because the last month and a half haven't been so great with the whole job waiting experience with Jordan and myself. At any rate, it has been a wonderful week! Jordan started his job this week. Hooray for that. However, we were planning to go to Disney Thursday-Sunday to use the tickets we didn't use when Jordan had his kidney stone. We're totally piggy backing this trip. Mom has a conference in Tampa that her work is paying for. They are paying for the gas/hotel/etc up to $2,000. This is why we can go to Disney now (plus Carson is about to turn 3 so we have to hurry and go because we didn't buy tickets for him). Our tickets, gas, and hotel are already paid for. We just have to buy food. HOORAY! The problem is Jordan just started his job. I was so worried they wouldn't let him off. They did though. What else could make this week better?? I HAVE A JOB!!!! The principal from Waller (where I taught Kindergarten ESE for part of last year) called me late last night. She couldn't find my number and remembered that my Uncle John was my uncle and works at the purchasing department (he had called her when I interviewed back in February to put in a good word). She got my number from him. She told me that the regular education Kindergarten class she thought would be available was not yet. She did have a third grade job. I jumped on it! I LOVE third grade. I did my student teaching in it last year. I just might have some lesson plans I can use from last year! How amazing is that?!!? It gets better...right now there is STILL a hiring freeze. So no jobs have been posted. Since I did work last year and received a letter saying I would not be guaranteed a job back next year, the superintendent said she could change the letter. So that means all I have to do is go sign papers tomorrow. I don't have to interview. The job does not have to be posted. She doesn't have to interview a certain amount of candidates either. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!! I told you this week is the best week ever...and we haven't even been to Disney yet!!!!