Random Memories

Yesterday I was walking down the hallway in a dorm and walked right in to a water fountain. I'm such a good listener that I will sacrifice myself. =) Wiley was afraid that I would break the fountain, but I was not walking very fast.

Break: right now I'm watching a Food Network show. Why do they use gross ingredients? I like watching people cook something I would be interested in fixing myself- or at least eating. But, gross stuff is nothing that I want to eat. Ex: Eel, stinky tofu, unhatched eggs- gross!!!!!!!

This is short because I'm not remembering the memories. More will be made soon.

Monday today

I have figured out that there are some people who actually read the blog and that's fun. So, an update is needed.

Wiley is becoming quite the cook. I believe that the combination of him being at home more than me (because he's in grad school) and his building confidence around food and appliances is causing this wonderful change. My Aunt Kelly mentioned that I'm a lucky girl and she's right. When Wiley asked me to marry him I was not thinking that one day he would be fixing me really tasty dishes and helping me enjoy eating. This has been a blessing uncovered. If anything, it's a helpful reminder that I do not have anything in my control and even when I think I know what I'm getting, I do not.

God has so much more going on that I realize and recently it seems that my eyes have been opened to more of it. Can it be possible to have a pretty significant shift in idealism in only a few day's time? This is one thing I'm working through and beginnning to feel like I'm being pulled out of the adorable bubble that I grew up in. My parents and God must have done an incredible job of sheltering me for it to have lasted well into my 20's.

Last week I learned of two very devastating circumstances among my own students. Can you imagine being a 13 year old who has nothing to hope for in life and attempts suicide? Not I, but I also had a very stable life around me. One of my students overdosed, but that's not the only tragedy. She was new to my school and already I sensed no hope. She is a nomad. She didn't like school, didn't like anything. I think I even ate my lunch in front of her when she didn't have the money to buy lunch at school. How awful!
Another situation unlike anything I have known: 13 and pregnant. No one to tell her no, no one to enforce boundaries, just a parent who lets her stay home from school. Again, how is it that there are such different sides of the spectrum- me and these two girls. My heart breaks for them: they have a bleak future. How are two girls with barely a middle school education going to survive in our world? Even charity and hand-outs only go so far.

If you're reading this and wonder why I'm so grave, please understand that I love my job and the students who are in my classes, but they have been teaching me as I have been teaching them.

On a lighter side, Wiley just returned with Dryer's Vanilla Bean ice cream. I get to eat ice cream on a Monday night. That's why being a grown up is so much fun. My mom would not have let me eat ice cream on a school night. =)

Little Hamburgers

It seems like I always talk about food. Wiley and I brainstormed yesterday for future meals and came up with the idea of little burgers. Turkey burgers to be specific. We combined ground turkey meat with Wortchestshire sauce, an egg, bread crumbs cooked bacon and a little honey. Then I sauteed some little onions (little onions = < half a big onion cut up in to small pieces) and cooked some corn bread. I made little cornbread loaves that we cut up and put the tiny patties on. Needless to say we were successful at cooking a good dinner. Wiley found a new "last meal".

The other topic of conversation is grad school. I go to school every day and do 6th and 8th grade level math. Last year I realized I missed being a student myself and wanted a little mental challenge. When the opportunity arose early August for me to apply to a graduate program through UH for a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction I prayed and then applied.

Wiley found out that he was accepted into the grad program at HBU for a masters in psychology the Thursday before classes began. In a similar fashion I heard that I have been accepted into this teacher's program last Thursday and class begins tomorrow (Tuesday). Funny similarity.

Either way, I will begin taking a math class for teachers at HCC Spring Branch every Tuesday night. I'm excited about it even though it may add a number of assignments to my plate. In today's official and more detailed email from my UH contact I learned that the textbook for this course is one I used at A&M during methods. The nice thing is that I liked it then and that I still have it now. Hopefully that fact that it's one edition old will not cause a problem. It will save me over $100 if I can use the edition I already have.

The Parkmans are officially both is Grad school at Houston schools. Will we graduate? Yes. Soon? No. =)

Another Tuesday

Here are a few things I have figured out recently:

1. I really do love swimming!
2. The more I cook, the better I get.
3. I really can control how well I handle stress and the load that comes with teaching.
4. Not complaining on purpose makes everyone more positive. =)
5. Bluebell's "Light" ice cream is very good and half the calories.
6. One year of teaching makes ALL the difference.

Also, Wiley will be grading 90 quizes in the next few days. That is more than I have ever graded at one time. That sounds like torture to me and I'm a teacher . . . he's a TA at HBU for an undergrad sociology class.

Uhaul Box

Wiley and I have been holding on to a very large Uhaul box for four months. When I say large, I mean the type that is almost as tall as I am and two times as wide. It has been holding up the wall behind our front door and now it is gone!!!!!!! We kept trying to let someone use it so that it would be recycled, but no one seemed to want it. I don't like ugly and useless stuff hanging out in an 800 sq ft space so it finally had to go. Four months is long enough to hold onto something that really has no spot or purpose or beauty. We took it to a school recycling spot and it will now become someone else's paper or uhaul box. I hope that it will be made useful again, but at the same time I'm much more concerned with the fact that we now have a white wall instead of a uhaul box.

Hamburger Helper

Saturday we spent a few hours watching college football at the apartment of some friends of ours. As a result I snacked for a few hours and was not very hungry when we came home. Wiley wanted hamburger helper and we decided to wait until Sunday for lunch. At Bible study I mentioned that we were going home to make hamburger helper for lunch. This really sounds odd to say outloud- but I did it anyways.

Then we ran into my parents leaving church and were invited to eat with them. A whole nother story. =) Therefore the hamburger helper was delayed yet another meal. =(

Finally, Sunday evening I fixed the beloved dish. It became quite an event because we had spent over 24 hours anticipating the meal. I spiced it up with fresh basil from our "garden" and added frozen spinach as well. In the end it was very delicious and quite healthy (if HH can actually be healthy).

So, needless to say, we have made Hambuger Helper a very special part of our lives now.

Big Bang Theory

One of the very few television shows that Wiley and I watch is the Big Bang Theory. It's hilarious! It's also very educational. I believe that I hear more big words watching this 30 minutes than any other time of the week. Sheldon is such a great example of funny. Wiley and I aspire to be more like him- odd and always making each other confused! =)

Here is a list of the things I really enjoy eating:
Dr. Pepper (right now in the bottle- Dublin Dr. Pepper)
Kornegay cookies (the best chocolate chip cookies in the world- I made them)
watermelon (the redder the better)
meat (various types prepared variously)
Bruchetta pasta salad (dinner tonight)
Tuna fish salad
Bar be que chicken (no particular sauce)

Wiley says that I'm funnier when it's just us. Not sure if that's true, but at least he thinks I'm funny. =)

Lastly, school stuff started last week. There's no turning back now. Summer is OVER! =( We had a good run of it, but now it's back to the beauty of working with teenagers. =) I love being a second year teacher instead of a first year teacher. It's already showing its benefits.
What I love is knowing that what I'm doing with my day is exactly what God wants me to be doing.

Big Bang is back on- I'm going to watch it.

School

This may be a tad bit serious but here goes.

I'm considering beginning a blog for my math classes this year. Maybe using the internet to display student work would encourage their learning. It's an idea. I will probably need to get permission from the administration and possibly parents as well. It's an idea and I tend to have lots of them roaming through my head at any given moment.

That's it. The end. =)

Spaghetti- That's what's for dinner.

I like spaghetti. It is definitely wonderful, but tonight I left out the sugar and it didn't taste as good. Wiley said that I spat in the red beans, but he was WRONG! This morning we saw a homeless dog at the DPS who kept roaming around the room. He was insistent on being in there because after someone shooed him out the door he managed to get back in. As Wiley ran and sweat, I swam and did not.

All in all, what we can take from today is that regardless of the dog in your life, it is more important to look to a brighter day.

The end.

In the Beginning . . .

Today we are beginning an adventure online. We have been living an adventure for the past year or so since we said "I do". In the coming days, weeks, months and yes, perhaps even years, (or at least as long as we remember that we have this blog) we will be documenting randon and less random with the occasional serious thought. This could be exciting! Ready, set, blog. =)