Moving Day

I've been saving all comments on this situation for this post. So here goes.

Given all of the recent drama caused by the state's budget situation in these "tough economic times" (I swear I want to punch somebody every time I hear that phrase), my school district was in a bit of a pickle. With the leader of our state too busy with his own personal drama to govern the state effectively, the jobs of many, many essential individuals were placed on the line. Governmental. FAIL. Seriously.

Anyway, several months ago, the school board decided and clearly stated that there would no longer be a music teacher for each of the three schools in our complex. They did not, however, give any explanation of how they would decide who had to go. This, in turn, led to many sleepless nights, tears, whispered conversations, questions...general STRESS. For months. Again, FAIL.

The end of the school year came and we still had gotten no word about any changes that might be made. On the last day of school, several teachers were called into the office and reassigned. But not me. I think 30 people or more came to me that day asking me if I had gotten any word about next year. I was about to scream. The day came to an end, and still nothing. Not able to take it anymore, I went to my principal and asked her what was going on. I was told that the district had begun the Reduction In Force process to determine which music teacher would be leaving. I was also told that I would have a job, but they were not sure where. In short, "you work somewhere."

This news was good and bad. Hooray for having a job!!! SO SO SO thankful to have a job. But "somewhere"? Um... Given that I am certified for Kindergarten through 12th grade, I was freaking out just a little. They could have moved me anywhere. More stress, but not quite as much as before, knowing that I would still be able to pay my mortgage. I had also been told that I would hear something definite in a few days, so I relaxed a little and tried to enjoy the first week of my summer vacation.

A week went by, and I had not gotten any news. Tired and frustrated, I called my school. My principal had "forgotten". Soooooo, she said she'd make a call. About an hour later, I got a call from our Human Resources coordinator. She said that given the situation, the district would like to transfer me to LES. She called it an "involuntary transfer" and said it would go in my file that way. I told her that I was thrilled to have a job and to still be in an elementary school. Bless her heart. I know this has been a miserable time for her. I'm sure there were plenty of people that were not as understanding about their phone calls or meetings as I was.

So there it is. I'm changing schools.

Yesterday, I drove my dad's truck (!!!) to school (after some drama with a dead battery) to collect my stuff from my classroom and move it. Krystle met me there and we packed it up. Thanks, Krystle!!! I had many offers for help, but kinda figured it would be hard to have several other people there since I was the only one who knew what was supposed to stay and what was supposed to go. Between Dad's truck and Krystle's car, we got everything in one load. Yay!

We unloaded everything into my new (HUGE) classroom at LES. Man, what a mess. The place was a mess when I got there, and adding all of my stuff did NOT help! It's going to take me SO LONG to get it clean, first of all, and then organized. I'm thinking maybe a day here and there for the rest of the summer so I don't have to kill myself right before school starts. Maybe....

I am truly going to miss some of the great people I worked with at my school. I am also going to miss some of the children I have come to know over the past three years. I am looking forward to meeting new children and becoming a part of a new family at my new school. :)

Week In Review

Why do summer vacation weeks go by so much faster than school weeks? It's not fair. I didn't really do anything this week worthy of its own post, but here's a quick rundown of the week's events.

Sunday was Father's Day. Mere and I stayed in the nursery at church. After church, Grandmother and Granddaddy came to York to celebrate Father's Day. We had a lovely lunch and a nice time visiting. (The rest of the Lancaster family was in Baltimore on a mission trip and we missed them!!)

Monday, I babysat Annabelle in the morning. Kim and I had lunch at El Cancun, where the avocados were crunchy. I went to York to pick up Sadie, but she wasn't there yet. I stopped at HSES to pick up my cake plate from G's mom. I spent the afternoon/evening hanging out with Tara and Krystle in the pool at Tara's. We had dinner at Charanda's. Good times. :)

Tuesday, I babysat Annabelle in the morning. I spent the rest of the day chillin' in the pool with Jill, Geri, Herbie, and the girls.

Wednesday, I made a super cool (if I do say so myself) flute cake. I met Jill, Chris, the Dork, and his sister at Tequila's for lunch. Then I went with Jill to the lodge to help her paint the new lounge upstairs. It was there that I learned of our governor's epic fail. Geez. Wednesday night was choir practice with the kiddies.

Thursday morning, I babysat Annabelle again. After that, I drove down to LES to check out my new classroom. Classroom. Fail. What a mess. It's going to take me forever to fix it. *Sigh* Then I drove over to the Park to check in with the principal. I'll be packing up my stuff there tomorrow. :( I spent Thursday night baking and glued to the tv, watching the news of Michael Jackson. Mega talented. Tragic life.

Friday morning, I decorated three cakes. They all turned out quite well. After that, it was off for some pool time with Geri and the girls.

Saturday, I had a fun morning with Mere and Brenna. We went to Target to get some stuff to assist in the packing and cleaning of my classroom. We had a yummy lunch at Chili's and then took a secret trip to Cold Stone. YUM! :) Saturday evening, I went over to the O'Neill's to hang with them while they babysat for the girls. I took some cake decorating stuff over and helped the girls decorate their own cakes. It was funny.

Wonder what I'll get into this week....

Beach Friday and Saturday

Friday was HOT HOT HOT on the beach. Stephanie does not like being that hot. We spent some time in the pool Friday afternoon. When it's that hot, the pool is really the only place to be.

For our last night at the beach, we decided to go to California Dreaming for dinner. Yum, yum, yum. :) After dinner, we went to Springmaid to walk on the pier. Mere and I have very fond memories of Springmaid and all the wonderful times we spent there when we were little.

Some photos from the pier:

After the pier, we went to Painter's for some wonderful ice cream. I had peach. I don't know why. Then it was back to the house to pack up for our departure on Saturday. :( Beach weeks go by so quickly!

Saturday morning, I think we did an excellent job of getting packed and getting the house cleaned quickly. Teamwork! We stopped at the Surfside Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and then it was bye bye beach. :( We stopped again in McBee for lunch at McLeod Farms. After that, it was home sweet home. I immediately turned on the oven and started baking cakes. :)

I love the beach and I love spending that time with part of my family. I'm ready for next year already!!!

Beach Wednesday-Thursday

Ok...I'm way behind. I know. I'm sorry.

Wednesday was another great day at the beach. We maintained our regular schedule of heading down to the beach fairly early in the morning. The beach was lovely once again. :) I love this picture of Brenna playing.


Wednesday night, we went to Ultimate California Pizza for dinner. I had the best pizza ever! It had ham, pineapple, green onions, shredded coconut, and chopped dates. SO good!

Then we headed off for putt-putt. We played the Jungle Lagoon course. I'm gonna say it. I won. :) It may well have been my best round of putt-putt ever. Tiger Woods should watch his back.

Thursday was another fun day at the beach. It was nice and breezy and I got a lot of reading done. Thursday afternoon was a nice time to be at the pool. Thursday night, Corey grilled steaks (yum) and then we went to Broadway at the Beach to do some more things on the vacation to-do list.

We started at the fake Pavilion. I miss the Pavilion. It was always my favorite evening actvity at the beach. The few rides at Broadway just don't cut it. Oh well...I guess it's better than nothing. :) Corey and Colin rode the Caterpillar and then took off to see their IMAX movie. Meredith and Brenna took a spin on the merry-go-round. Brenna loved it, so I sacrificed and took her on again. :)

I always loved the teacup ride at the Pavilion. I rode it with Katie when she was little. I rode it with Bobby when he was little. I rode it with Colin when he was little. Last year, I could not ride it. I didn't have a little person to ride with!! Colin was too tall to need a slightly taller person. I was SO excited that Brenna was big enough to ride this year, but too little to go by herself! YAY TEACUPS!!! :) So again, I sacrificed for her joy...

She was so cute trying to turn the wheel to make us spin. :)

Friday-Saturday wrap up coming soon. I promise.

Beach Monday and Tuesday :)

Monday was a wonderful day at the beach. The temperature seemed cooler on the beach and there was a nice breeze blowing. :) The Clover Clintons were down on the beach when we got there, so there were plenty of hands to help out with the children. I chilled out in my chair and read most of a book while were were on the beach. It was super relaxing. :)

We came in around noon for lunch. After lunch, we headed out for some pool time. Just before we went, I took this picture of Brenna. I love it.


The pool was surprisingly un-crowded. Hooray! AquaMan and his sidekick AquaGirl logged some good pool time. :)

After the pool, I made tacos for the family. Yum! Then we decided to stay in for the night, as it was late and none of us had showered. Great day!

Tuesday was a great day too. We were afraid it was going to be raining all day, so we got off to a slightly later start. The morning on the beach turned out to be lovely. Just before noon, we spotted a black cloud heading our way, so we packed it up and went in for lunch. There was apparently something in the pimiento cheese, because I passed out after lunch. I had a lovely nap. :)

Tuesday night, we stopped at the Red Robin for dinner. I had a Banzai Burger, which was a burger marinated in teriyaki sauce with grilled pineapple. It was VERY good. :) Unfortunately, there was a creepy 6 foot tall bird mascot wandering around the place, freaking me out. After dinner we headed over to Broadway at the Beach. The plan was to hang out and watch the fireworks over the lake at 10:00. We walked around for a bit and then we went to Ripley's Aquarium. Colin loves it there. Brenna was sort of interested...I think she liked the sharks.

After the aquarium, we were killing time waiting for the fireworks. Unfortunately, due to the threat of rain, they were canceled. Boo!

Not to be discouraged, we left Broadway and headed for the Krispy Kreme, where we knew the hot doughnut light would be on. It was. :) Yum!

Wednesday, here we come! :) (and we're all jacked up on sugar!)

Beach! Sunday Recap

Ahhhhh...the first full day at the beach. The day we actually put our feet in the sand. :) The day I realize that there was absolutely NO reason for me to bring the flat iron to the beach. The day didn't go exactly as I thought it would, but it was still good. :)

We got up and had breakfast. I am not a breakfast person. I don't even like breakfast. But I eat it at the beach. As a matter of fact, I've eaten six meals since I left home yesterday. That's like half a week's worth of food when I'm home alone!!! Anyway, I had Lucky Charms for breakfast. Because I'm 4, apparently. :)

After breakfast, we got ready for the beach. Brenna let me fix her hair. Her very first pigtails. I loved them. She liked them too. :)

We headed down to the beach. Colin headed straight for the ocean. Brenna stopped to play in the sand and then she walked down to the water with me.

She loved the water. She played and played. It was super hot on the beach today. We stayed for almost 2 hours. Then it was time to pack it in. We came back to the house, cooled off, and had lunch. Brenna also let me paint her toenails. SO cute. She sat so still while I did it.

While I was resting after lunch, I decided I'd see if I could get my computer fixed. Yesterday it decided it didn't want to be a computer anymore. It decided to be a black screen machine instead. Fail. So after I finally found the Dell support number using my Blackberry, I called tech support. And I waited. And waited. 20 minutes. The automated woman kept telling me to try support.dell.com. Um...the computer is BROKEN!! How am I supposed to do that? UGH. After about 20 minutes, the call just ended. No more call. >:( So I called back. And waited. And waited. And waited. FINALLY, some dude, who I can only assume was somewhere in India, came on the line asking me about my problem. About an hour later, my computer was functional again. Yay!

While I was on the phone with people far far away, Brenna and Meredith fell asleep. Colin and Corey went to the indoor pool. No pool time for Steppy today. Oh well. I'll go tomorrow. :)

Tonight, we went to Broadway at the Beach for dinner. It started raining on the way there. We went to Yamato Japanese Steakhouse. We waited for a really long time (Ok, maybe it was only 40 minutes or so, but that was a long time when a-we were hungry, and b-the children weren't particularly happy.), but it was worth the wait. The food was SO good. I had steak and chicken. It came with soup and salad (Colin ate mine), veggies, fried rice, and sherbet (Brenna ate most of mine). Brenna liked the big fire on the table and Colin ate with chopsticks.

After dinner, we went to Build-A-Bear. Colin adopted a black bear named Caves and Brenna adopted a very soft pink bear named Berry. After all of the animal adopting, we were tired and it was late, so we headed back to the beach house.

We'll be hitting the beach again early in the morning, weather permitting! I'll definitely be going to the pool tomorrow too! :)

Beach Week! Saturday

YAY!!! Time for the beach! :)


I love going to the beach. I HATE driving to the beach! We left at about 10:00. First pit stop...McLeod Farms after we CRAWLED through McBee. Brenna sat on the big tractor. :)

And then we drove. And drove. And drove. I guess it wasn't really that long, but it felt like a long time because of the traffic. And because I was in the car by myself.

Finally, we made it to the beach house. We unloaded and Mere and I went to the grocery store. Busy busy busy grocery store. We loaded up the cart and brought it back to the house just before a big storm. While the storm was working it out outside, we tried to decide what to do about dinner. After much deliberation, we decided on Bubba's Fish Shack. We had a short little wait downstairs on the swings. There was nothing else to do but take some pictures. :)

Dinner was very good. I had the Fried Creek Shrimp basket. (Sorry, Chalica, I didn't take pictures of my food! :) ) We were pretty tired after the long traveling day and getting settled, so we just came back to the house. Colin worked out on the Wii Fit and the rest of us just chilled. My computer decided that it didn't want to be a computer anymore, and that caused me great stress. It was just a black screen. Computer. Fail. (Obviously it's fixed now, but I'll put that saga in my Sunday post.)

It was a pretty typical first day. Fun in the Sun coming in the Sunday post! :)

Summer Vacation Week One...Recap

Ok. Blog. Fail. Sorry! The first week of summer vacation was not boring, but not terribly exciting either. Here's a quick recap.

Friday, June 5-I spent the day at RRMS with Kim and Annabelle while Kim finished up her end of the year chores. Fun times. Oh yeah, and I made some cakes. Big surprise there.

Saturday, June 6-I think I sat in the chair all day...I don't remember doing anything else. That's not true. I went to Super Target with Mere and company. :)

Sunday, June 7-Had lunch at Mom and Dad's. Watched the Tony Awards. Decided I MUST go to New York City ASAP.

Monday, June 8-Met Kim and Annabelle at Winthrop so I could be on baby patrol while Kim taught her St-Arts class. Lunch with Kim at Groucho's (yum!). Pool time with Jill and Geri and the girls.

Tuesday, June 9-Met Kim and Annabelle. More St-Arts. Pool time with Jill and Geri and the girls. Met Krystle and Tara at Charanda's. Pool time with Tara and Krystle.

Wednesday, June 10-Baked a cake. Met Tracey to deliver cake. Pool time with Tara. Almost forgot to go to church for children's choir. Children's choir.

Thursday, June 11-More St-Arts. Swati was in town, so we had a DO family lunch at McAlister's. Yay, family! :) Thursday was also the day that I found out where I'll be working next year. Finally. I'll write a post about that later.

Friday, June 12-Annabelle came to my house while her mom went to St-Arts. She helped me bake cakes and do my laundry. Sweet girl. Worked on cakes. Took Sadie to Mom and Dad's. Picked stuff up at Mere's. Delivered cake to Geri's. Watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Packed my suitcase and all of my beach stuff.

There. Now you're all caught up. :)

First Babysitting Assignment!

I had my first Annabelle babysitting assignment yesterday! :) Kim had to go to school to put her grades in the computer, and I got to keep Annabelle at my house while she did it!!!

Kim and Annabelle got to my house just as I was getting home from school. (Goofy meeting...) They came in and got Annabelle settled and then Kim went to school. And left her baby. Her firstborn. Her precious daughter. With me.

It was a pretty uneventful babysitting experience. Annabelle is too new to know any good tricks. I fed her. She slept. She had the hiccups. She woke up. I changed her diaper. She ate again. That was it. :) But she is super sweet and cuddly. :) I also managed to get a few cute pictures and a few smiles out of her.

I love my buddy. And now I love her baby. And I appreciate that my buddy trusts me with her daughter. I hope I'll have many more babysitting dates with Annabelle!! :)