Picture It...w/o pictures

The scene:
Sitting at Cameron's computer, washer and dryer going through their cycles behind me, snow falling outside, sipping hot cider (well, I can dream, it's actually Air Bourne), and catching up on old, current, and new friends. Did I mention I'm in my pjs (no, Cameron is not here, he's in Cheyenne)?

The happenings (as Mandi put so well):
~I'm working on discovering all of my allergies. Since moving to Whitefish/Kalispell I have learned of a few new ones and continue to experience the olds ones to a new level. One of the new ones is a cat at a house where I stay when the weather is bad and I can't get back to my apartment in Kalispell.

~Cory and Kim are coming up to visit and enjoy the ski hill on New Year's Eve! I am so excited to see friends from Great Falls. I think Cory was a little blown away by how excited I was when he called to ask. For future reference, any friends wanting to use my place as a free place to stay when skiing, don't hesitate to ask. I'm about 24 miles from the mountain. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to visit Great Falls since I moved. I'm hoping I might be able to for Spring Break.

~Genna's cyst burst and wasn't cancerous, PRAISE THE LORD! Although she experienced some pain when it occured she is feeling better and will get to spend the holidays and her 21st birthday with Mama. Troy is still in Iraq gaining some "On the job training" for the position he is cross-training to.

~Being the crazy person that I am, thinking that not enough of my time is taken, I'm going back to school. I will start the last weekend of January. It works similar to my Masters program and happens on Friday night and most of the day Saturdays. This one being a little bit different though because it's not one weekend a month the whole time. It actually works so that I go one weekend in Jan. and Mar., then every weekend in Feb. and April. I am going for my Special Ed endorsement.

~Do you remember back to where I had you picture the screaming and rapidly beating heart. Well the "Please don't do it" is coming true. Again, (sorry Mandi) you'll have to ask for an e-mail if you want more details.

~Song of Joy! I get to be in a choir again! It has been about 3 years since I've been able to sing in a choir. We are singing at church this Sunday. I'm so excited to spread the news of Jesus' birth through music.

~A laughable moment with one of my students. We gave our students a handmade card, snowman soup, and peanuts for Christmas. One of them said his thanks and I told him not to let it get out that I'm nice. Most students promptly reply with, "Don't worry I'll tell everybody." This student, quickly without hesitation replied, "They wouldn't believe me if I did." I was laughing so hard, as were the other students and the other paras. These moments are why it doesn't matter that I'm in a non-money making job.

~Wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a BLESSED NEW YEAR!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

As many of you have asked over the last couple of weeks about the job, I now have an update. I didn't get it. I had a very good interview and was the one they wanted for the job. I was told many times how impressed they were with me and how much they wished I could have it. However, because I do not have a Sped degree they had to offer it to another applicant. They let me know that they even called the state level to see if there was any possible, legal way to hire me...unfortunately there wasn't. My job stays the same although busier than before with new students, new duties, and more hours at the hotel.

WE HAVE SNOW! Although not a lot right now there is a big storm coming in this weekend. It has been very cold, -1 today on my way to work with a high of 19...brrr.

The Little Things in Life

I have my interview on Friday! It is bright and early @ 7:30 in the morning and hopefully I'll have an idea if I get the job or not by Monday. Not quite sure of what the timeline will be but I am looking forward to having a definite answer.

HOT WATER! Yay!! I have been living with taking showers that last a little over 5 minutes before the water turns cold. That means I get the shampoo out of my hair and have to rinse with cold water...brrr. Also, as most of you know, I love taking long, hot baths. That wasn't happening because I could only get about a fourth of the tub full. Well, I'm stoked because they went in today and put a new hot water heater in my apartment. Hot shower tomorrow, here I come. Then tomorrow night I get the luxury of the hot bath, just in time to pamper myself for my interview.

Being called "The Wonderful Miss Jenkins" by one of my students.

Incorporating exercise into my lessons (picture me jumping up and down with 6 students). I just took on teaching a 5th grade written language class. I have 6 students who struggle with spelling. Being the gym teacher that I once was I decided we were going to add a little activity into our lesson. Also, I was inspired by the movie "Akelah and the Bee" and how she used the jump rope to help her with her spelling. I had the kids jumping without the rope and saying a letter each time. Of course I joined them and we had quite a bit of fun. I was pretty glad they took to it so well, minus any complaints or groaning.

Mama had a spot on her face that when they did a biopsy they found it was cancerous. They removed it and said they got all of it. She said it's the most curable form of cancer and that she is watching closely so they can catch it sooner if it recurs.

God is so good in both good times and bad! He has repeatedly taken care of myself and my family. So many blessings:
~He's given me an amazing family that I wouldn't give up for anything.
~Awesome friends who are there for me no matter what and still have no problem telling me to bug off or that I am being annoying. They also let me see their true selves and don't feel the need to hide their quirks (let's face it we all have our quirks).
~A roof over my head that keeps me warm and dry (even if the roof shakes from the neighbors feet stomping above me). It reminds me that I have a place in life and have pictures of friends and family. The funny part is when the pictures shake it draws my attention to them so I look at them more than I normally would.
~I get to live in a place that is absolutely beautiful no matter what season. Each day I get to see God's breath of life in the hills around me. He paints the trees, the skies, and the mountains with so many rich colors that just couldn't be duplicated by Crayola. There is no way to describe the true brilliance that He has designed.

One of the reasons I love kids so much

As many of you know, kids say the funniest things. Let me set the stage for you. I work with 5th and 6th grade kids, mostly boys. You do something out of the ordinary and they aren't sure what to think and often can't quite tell what is different. I love surprising them with something new. Many times it's wearing my glasses or wearing makeup that they notice. What I love most is how they tell you what is different.

For example...

Today I walked in and had cut my bangs over the weekend. Up to this point the kids have only seen me with long bangs and usually pulled back in either a clip or in a pony tail. The kids notice right away that something is different. A few mentioned it (the ones who knew what was different), and a few just stared trying to figure it out.

The first student to mention it said "Nice hair cut." then laughed with a few of the other boys. The second to say anything had been with the first but waited a little to say anything. When he finally spoke it was to tell me I was weird. I quickly jumped at the chance to see what else he would say. I mentioned that I had to be weird to work with kids but wanted to know what he meant. His choice of words, "You look weird." When asked what made me look weird, he responded, "You're curly." It made me laugh.

Yes, I had curled my bangs and took a step toward being girly.

Another student just kept staring at me until we were about half way through class. I finally mentioned that he could quit staring because there was something different. Before I could say anything about what was different a fellow classmate blurted out that it was because "She got a new do, duh!"

Different time, same class, and same classmates...student 1 is turned around looking at girl behind him. When I ask why he is turned around instead of working on his own work student 2 blurts out, "Maybe he finds her attractive." Whole class starts laughing and student 1 quickly faces forward. I held my laughter and quickly prompted student 2 that it wasn't appropriate. Mean while the supervising teacher is at the back of the room laughing making it hard for me to continue with our lesson. Oh, the joys of kids and the things they say.

Tuesday Tidbits

So I find myself sitting at the computer completely bored because we have 9 guests in and nobody else coming in. So I figured I would catch you up on what is happening in Kalispell and Whitefish.

I applied for the Behavioral Specialist/Special Education Teacher for Whitefish Middle School. I haven't heard anything yet and probably won't for the next couple of days. I will definitely keep you up to date on the job. I was told when I dropped off my application that this is the most difficult position in the district...(a.k.a. lots of hours will be spent in meetings, dealing with parents, and doing what Summer does).

I was able to be outside all day Saturday, tightly bundled of course. I helped Betty Dustin with her garage sale. It has been quite a while since I have been outside for any length of time. I enjoyed the crisp fall weather immensely and even had my own personal heater. Jali, Cameron's sister's chihuhua, was with us so I just zipped her up in my coat to keep her warm.

Friday night I spent at the church for a dinner/auction to benefit the teens missions group. It was a blast and a hoot and all the fun sayings you can think of. My favorite part of the night was when one of the ladies sang a song about everything a mother says to her kids in a day to the tune of William Tell Overture. Another part I loved was one of the fathers telling his rules about a guy dating his daughter.
He had three:
1) Don't honk if you expect to pick anything up
2) Respect her curfew, have her back early
3) I respect your choice to have saggy pants down to your knees that are close to falling off, but please realize that in order to make sure they stay on while with my daughter I will be using the electric nail gun to attach them to you. (This made me think of a few of my students).

School has been crazy the last couple of weeks. Our schedules have been so off due to assemblies, people being gone & trying to cover their spots, meetings, testing, and unexpected interruptions. I guess it's just a taste of what the new job will be like if I get it. God is definitely teaching me new skills in my teaching.