Isaac

Isaac is headed toward land, and we are getting nervous!  

If you check out this map from weather.com, you can see the path of the storm.  Baton Rouge is a little north of New Orleans and right in the path!

And according to this map (which was adjusted over the night...scary!), we are in the action section.  Um, what does that mean???

I went to the store and we have milk, ice, peanut butter and other non perishables, matches and some candles.  Plus we have some charcoal and our grill.  

For right now, we are staying in BR.  We don't know if and when the power will go out and how long it will be out.  Once the storm hits and the power is out, then we'll decide if we are going to head north to Mississippi.

Or, as the Weather Channel has so sweetly renamed it..."That landmass between Mobile and New Orleans."

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Since I currently feel brain dead, I thought I would do an easy post!  So here's some stuff I am loving right now:

1. Andrew Peterson's Appendix A: Bootlegs & B-Sides

I borrowed this cd from a friend and I love love LOVE it.  Seriously, so good.  There are some songs on other cds and some songs only found on this one.  I love Andrew Peterson and this is no exception.

2. Purity Face Wash

I have posted about my love for Purity face wash before.  Purity is not cheap, and that would usually deter me from buying it.  But I can't help it...I love this stuff.  It works so well.

3. How close to home I am!  

This is the map of the distance from Baton Rouge to Brookhaven.  SO close!  I went home last weekend, and plan on going home at least once in September.  Plus I have already had some visits from family!

4.  Sonic

Goodness, I love Sonic.  I missed it so much.  There is one right across from school.  There is also one right around the corner from my house.  This could be bad...

5. Mrs. Meyer's Basil Hand Soap

I have always been pretty open about my love for all things Mrs. Meyers.  There was a sale on this hand wash at Whole Foods this week and I had to snatch up some for our apartment.  I love this smell!

That's what I'm loving right now.  I know I will have a whole new list when fall comes around!

Midweek Confessions

Midweek Confession time!

*  Lunch at school is right after 4th period.  Honestly, starting 3rd (maybe even 2nd) period, all I can think about is lunch.  I do think I am justified in that (1) I eat breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and (2) my school has an AMAZING dining hall that I get to eat in free!  Or at least that's what I tell myself so that I don't feel like a big fattie...

* Yesterday, I had to come home half day and take care of sick Jack.  I should have/could have gotten so much done...Latin and Greek translations, lesson plans, more unpacking.  Did I?  Of course not!  I curled up in bed and napped.  And it was wonderful!

* I have had my new (to me) washer and dryer for 3 1/2 weeks and the joy has still not worn off.  

*  I am back on weight watchers (I took a break over the summer) as of this Monday.  I definitely ate some mini Hershey bars for a snack today.  Oh well...they're my points so I can use them however I want.  It did mean I had to have a pretty small dinner, but I think it was worth it.

*  I have so much going on, yet I still make watching "Secret Life" and "Bunheads" each week a priority.  Really?  How old am I--15?

That's all I have this week!  Link up at "E, Myself, and I."

Life lately...

Remember when I actually updated?

Remember when I actually had time to update?

Yeah, me neither.

Needless to say, we have been busy around here!  I actually have a little bit of time to relax because Jack is sleeping.  He had a fever this morning, so we had to bring him home.  Bech came and got him and missed part of the morning at work; I got a sub for 8th period and came as soon I was finished with my other classes.  I don't know whats going on with Jack--he hasn't had a fever since he got home, but he took a 2 hour morning nap and he's been sleeping for 2 1/2 this afternoon.

Unfortunately, that means one of us is going to have to stay home with him tomorrow...we haven't figured that one out, yet!

Other than that, life is good.  Very busy, but good.  Here's what's been going on/random Baton Rouge observations:

1.  Our neighbors are about our age and have a boy 1 day younger than Jack.  We are doing babysitting swaps with them.  A week and a half ago, they watched Jack and we went out for some sushi!  We found a great place here in Baton Rouge.  It's not Little Tokyo, but it's pretty yummy.

2.  Bech was in a car wreck this past Saturday.  He is fine, it wasn't his fault, but the car is a little banged up.  I am so proud of him--he got on the phone Monday morning with USAA (the best insurance ever), dropped his truck off at a local body shop, and got a rental car.  So hopefully the truck will be fixed soon!

3.  I am still enjoying teaching, and still working hard!  I know that in  another week or two I will get ahead enough in lesson plans/quizzes/handouts/etc. that I won't have to do much work at home.  The only problem is I teach 1st through 4th, have three periods off, then teach 8th again.  So I will always have to do a little work at home, just to prepared for what I'm teaching!

4.  I have been listening to the radio some on the way to and from school...and I have heard "Pour Some Sugar on Me" 6 times in the past week and a half!  Really???  Any Baton Rouge readers want to enlighten me on this?  Why this song?  Is Def Leppard from here?  Anyway, don't worry, I promptly change the station when it comes on.

5. Jack is such a boy.  His nickname at daycare is "Destructo."  He can tear up a room in 5 seconds flat.  Oh goodness...

6. 1 1/2 until my translation comprehensive test...AHHH!!!  Bech and Jack are going to New Orleans this weekend, and I am going to stay home and get some hardcore studying/translating done.  I'm sad that I won't be with them, but I need to work on this!

That's all I've got.  Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Reflections on my first week of teaching...

I am done with my first week of teaching (we started last Wednesday).

Whew!  It is a lot of work!  I know I have taught before, but I had curriculum and less students!  This time, I am making up my Bible curriculum and adding to my Latin curriculum.  So lots of lesson planning and lesson creating!

There are also lots of little things you have to learn with teaching:  dining hall rules, recess duty, back to school night procedures, etc.  I am slowly getting the hang of all of these aspects of my new job.

I also have had to do a lot of work outside of school.  I have worked on lessons every night so far.  I think I am finally up to speed enough that I won't have to work every night.  I also have some planning periods, so that will definitely help.

That all seems so negative--I don't mean to seem like a Debbie Downer!  I am also really enjoying my job.  I teach sweet, smart kids.

I have SO many resources available to me!  I was copying papers the first day of school and asked some other teachers if there was a limit to how much I copied.  I was just imagining ABC--we couldn't copy too much because we had to get toner shipped in from the States!  So it is strange to just be able to make copies whenever I need them.

I love my co-workers.  I work with some really funny and kind teachers.  They have all been so quick to help me--and I need lots of help!  I feel like I am constantly asking questions.

So those are my thoughts so far.  I am sure I will have lots of challenges and (hopefully!) triumphs in the months to come!

Jack's Room

I feel like this past week we have made major headway in getting our apartment together.  We got dining room chairs, we hung up pictures in the living room, Bech made a new pottery rack.  Jack's room has actually been most of the way done for the longest amount of time, so I thought I would start with it!

It's a pretty small room so it's hard to fully capture where the furniture is, but here's his dresser (that got banged up in the move--we need to touch it up!).  You can see one of his favorite toys, his pirate ship.  His changing table is to the left.

Jack's crib.

I decided to hang his banner from his first birthday party up in his room.  My sister made the wreath for Jack for the hospital door.

Jack's shelves.  He wore the blue daygown home from the hospital and the white daygown at his "sip n' see."

Our newest buy for Jack's room.  Some friends were selling this pottery barn book rack for a steal.  I had to get it!  I have been looking for some kind of book shelf/rack, and this one is perfect!  It doesn't hold all of his books, but I love that he can see the ones in it.  And then we can just switch the books out every couple of weeks.

Also, how cute is that train?  Bech's brother and sister-in-law gave it to Jack this past Christmas.  Bech and I are both suckers for wooden toys (like the stackable Very Hungry Catepillar from Bella!).

So there's my sweet boy's room.  I didn't take a picture of one side of the room, but there's a big space with lots of Jack's toys.  I love that this room is ALL his (unlike his room in Vermont).  He can and does play in there by himself.  Everything is Jack safe and he loves it!

I'm still alive...

...but just barely!

No, that's not totally true!  I had my first day of school yesterday and I survived.  But I was EXHAUSTED by the time it was over.  Today went a lot more smoothly.  I didn't have to check the schedule every second, I remembered some of the students names, I wasn't completely wiped out by the end of the day.

It is tough to be a teacher!  I have been at school for the past week and a half every day for school or training, then I come home and work on lesson plans (oh, and let's be honest, some Olympic watching!).

I am teaching 5th, 6th, and 7th grade students--that's a lot of names to remember!  My students are (for the most part) sweet.  I can already tell I am going to have some students that will be a little bit of a handful.  But I have my eye on them and we will nip that in the bud pretty quickly!

Jack and I before the first day of school.

Check out Jack's new kicks!  Couldn't you just eat him up in them?

We have gotten a good amount of stuff done around the house lately.  Today we got our dining room chairs in.  When I find a chance to breathe, I will post pics...I LOVE them!

What I've been reading lately...

We are selling my laptop (we have a desktop and I am given a laptop for work, so we really don't need another laptop).  I am cleaning off any files/pictures/bookmarks, and I found a few links to some good articles I never shared.  So here goes...

* "Why I'm Not Going to Chick-Fil-A Today"

A guy I went to Jr. High wrote this blog post.  I actually shared it on my facebook wall, because it was one of the only posts I've read about the whole issue that I've really, for the most part, agreed with.

Look, I'm not saying that I think the US government should be able to take away freedom of speech.  But what I don't understand is why the Church is responding to this situation with this attitude.  We can fight for our freedoms without being in your face, posting CFA pics on facebook and angry statuses.  In the public eye, Christians need to be concerned with loving others.  Not loving others to the exclusion of our rights, not loving others to the exclusion of staying true to the Bible, to God's commands--but loving others by not being antagonistic.  And I'm going to be honest and a lot of people may disagree with me, but I think that the motives of many CFA restaurant goers on Wednesday were definitely antagonistic and "stick it to the man."

That being said, I do still love CFA and will still eat there.  Just not on August 1st!

* "The Sovereign God of 'Elfland' (Why Chesterton's Anti-Calvinism Doesn't Put Me Off)"

 I love G. K. Chesterton (and especially Orthodoxy, which this article talks about).  I also love Lewis.  Both men are not Calvinist, which I am, but I relate so much more to them than to most Calvinist writers.  I really loved this article!

"I thank God for G. K. Chesterton. His gift for seeing the world and for saying what he sees is peerless. He opens my eyes to wonders of what is there. And what is there is the finger-work of God. He may be dismayed to hear it, but his eyes have helped me see more clearly than ever the God of Jonathan Edwards."

* "Why Do We Love C. S. Lewis and Hate Rob Bell"

Really good read!  I would encourage everyone to check it out.  My favorite paragraph:

"You see, while C.S. Lewis has a great deal of theological foibles, his ministry is defined by a defense of the essence of the Gospel. The essence of who Christ is and what he did are ardently upheld by Lewis, saturating every page of his books. His purpose was clear: to make a compelling case the reality of God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. All other things set aside, this is what you leave with every time you read Lewis. The problematic areas are peripheral, not central. One has to look hard to find the departures from traditional Protestant Christianity. They are not the subjects of his works and do not form the titles of his books."


There you go!

Baby Jack pictures

Sweet Baby Jack started daycare back again today.  I was nervous about it, but not near as nervous as last year (when he started daycare for the first time).

He had a great first day and took great naps (one of my worries).  He even has a girlfriend!  His mom, one of my new co-workers, and I both approve.

Bech took these pictures a week ago.  This is Jack playing in his new room.  He loves having all of his toys out where he can easily get to them. 

Ooops...caught!  I was unpacking and he found parts to his bottle.  Forget the nice toys right behind him, let's play with bottle parts!

Love those curls on the back of his head!

His closet doors have mirrors on them...

which he obviously loves!

Narcissistic, anyone?

Sweet bud!

And finally, a shot of Jack before daycare.  He was the cutest boy there!  I can safely say that because the two boys who will be in there with him weren't there today.

Midweek Confessions

Midweek Confession Time!  Head over to "E, Myself, and I" to read more/link up!

* I have been deliriously happy about my new (to us) washer and dryer.  Ohmylanta, I love being able to laundry in my own house!  I have done 6 loads since Sunday.

* Tuesday, at new teacher orientation, the teachers at my lunch table were talking about how they don't let their kids watch ABC Family and Disney because of the content of a lot of the shows.  Um, probably not the best time to throw out there that I loved watching the Bachelorette this summer, right? 

Oh, but I did.

And nobody said anything in response.  Awkward.

* Piggybacking off of that, is anyone else in Bachelorette withdrawal?  I am!

* I am dealing with this withdrawal by using the Olympics to fill the void.  But I get so sad when anyone, American or not, messes up!  Doesn't your heart just break for them?  They have all worked so hard and I want all of the competitors to do well!  Does that make me un-patriotic?

* I feel like a little girl getting ready for school as I'm getting dressed for teacher orientation!  I am so nervous--I want to dress cute, but not too cute, and look professional at the same time.  Any other teachers out there analyze their outfits this much?

* Last night I attempted to play "smize" in Words with Friends.  Um, sorry, Tyra--that is not a real word!

Mmmkay, well that is all I have for today!