Last Week of Summer Vacation

Next week, I have orientation and then the week after that training starts, so this is my last week completely free from my new job. I'm still working my old job, tutoring students in math this summer. One of my students this morning had a very bizarre cough and he was on an antibiotic, so hopefully I won't get whatever he had.

On Thursday, I'll be meeting with a fellow teacher to prepare lesson plans for the first week of classes. I'm so glad she's willing to meet with me. I think it will be very helpful. :)

Besides all that fun stuff.. I've been relaxing most of the afternoon. I'm going to make corn chowder this evening for when Paul gets home from work at 8 tonight. His slow summer season is coming to an end, so he'll be coming home after 7 most evenings till next summer. Maybe I can make him get up at 5:30AM when I get up for work in 2 weeks, so he can get home earlier. haha! I've really got to settle into an earlier bedtime. I'm going to have to go to bed at 9:30 to get enough sleep. I'm going to enjoy staying up late at least for the next few days though!


Here are some random photos. The first is of the clematis out front. It had "rapid" growth while we were in Aiken over the weekend. I need to get a new trellis for it now.



The kitty cats sleeping up a storm in the sunshine....

Interesting article on yahoo about 10 things we shouldn't be worrying about:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/science/29tier.html?no_interstitial

Cheap Labor

Finally, I get a chance to blog...

On Wednesday, I came down to help my parents with their back deck. They wanted to tear down the old back porch and put up a new one.





Here is where the new deck is going to go. It will be glassed in like a sunroom. :) This is what John, my dad, mom, and I accomplished on Wednesday evening. We can't work on this for 3 days because the concrete has to set.


Here is the front porch. Mom and I worked on a few steps that were loose on Thursday.


This is what we'd accomplished by Thursday/Friday. Here is the old back porch after we got rid of all the old floor boards.



Friday, Pa came over and helped too. Pa helped me rip up the lower deck and he helped me get the flashing fitted just right. I didn't know how to fit the flashing stuff. :)

While we did that, Dad worked on a spot near the door frame. It had rotted away, so it needed a lot of fixing.



All the lumber.....

A cool table and chairs I found that Iza and Olivia would like to play with next time they are in. :) I need to clean them up. They look really gross right now... don't tell them that though.. ;)


Today, progress has slowed a bit..... Yesterday, my mom, dad, and I worked from 11AM to 5PM in 90 degree temperatures and high humdity. John started helping at about 4 because he had to take care of some school stuff. I left to go visit Paul's family, so my mom and dad continued working till 10PM, so they put in a full day from 11AM to 10PM. I was absolutely exhausted by the time I left. My fingers are so swollen I can't get my rings off... but my parents are tough so they continued working..

At about 10 PM, my dad, mom, and John were on the old back deck which is about 8 feet off the ground fixing a difficult area. Remember that the floor boards have been removed, but a few remain to stand on. Well, my mom was passing up a board to John and my dad, and my dad stepped back on the board my mom was holding by accident and he fell off the porch. He is ok! It just hurt really bad! I can't imagine...

I get home from Paul's parents at 11PM and they decided not to take dad to the ER. He didn't feel like he needed to go. I tell Paul this and he rushes over to my parents house to help. :) Well, John, Paul, and I decided to fix the entire old back deck up on Saturday (Today) for my parents, so we ran out to Walmart to get some school supplies for John's classroom, so that we could work all day on the deck. We couldn't get the supplies he needed, but we did get Jr. cheeseburgers and fries from Wendys! Wow! They were so good! This was at 12AM.

I was achy and tired, but still wired, so I took a fast acting Tylenol PM. However, this didn't affect me, so I wasn't asleep at 2AM when my mom came in my room to say that the ambulance was coming to pick up my dad. He couldn't get out of bed because his back hurt so badly.

The paramedics arrived shortly after that. The back board they put him on was really hard to lay on because his head was strapped in and his neck was stablized with a neck brace. Then, they put him on a stretcher to get him out of the house. They had him strapped in that thing! I couldn't even see his face by the time they had him down the front porch steps.

So.. we all caravaned to the hospital. Once we got to the hospital, my mom went back with my dad, and John, Paul, and I waited in the waiting room. At about 3:30AM, my mom came out and said we could head home because dad was going to be ok. He just hurt his back. So John, Paul, and I headed home.

My mom and dad got home at 6:30AM. My dad was having painful muscle spasms in his back. He had to lay on the back board for an hour at the hospital because they were so busy...Thankfully, the doctor was very sympathetic because he'd had this before, so he gave my dad some very nice medicines. :) I hope he is feeling better right now! I'm glad he didn't have anything broken.

Today, it's 11AM and everyone, but my mom and I are still asleep... I don't know how much we can get done on the back deck today. I'm hoping to get the old back porch finished today! :) I need to go wake up John and Paul..

No onion please!

Wow! America puts onions in everything! From our spices to our sauces.. onion is in everything.

I just noticed this while trying to create a dish for one of Paul's Indian coworkers who is visiting the states for 3 months. He is allergic to onions, so he usually just gets chicken and rice from what I've heard. He also prefers chicken over other meats. I decided to make something different than chicken and rice. If I didn't make something at home, we would take him to Cici's, but all pizza sauce has onions in it! I was going to make chicken pot pie, but that has onions. So... I remembered my mom's yummy lemon pepper Alfredo sauce that goes with chicken.

This was it, I thought! There is no onion in this! I decided on an Italian night. I bought ingredients for veggie pizzas, but after getting home with all the ingredients I read the back of the most important ingredient the dry ranch packet.. Dry ranch packets contain "dried onions!" Ahh! So I decided not to do that.

While searching the store, I was going to get the Alfredo sauce in the jar that my mom always gets and makes it SO good with the spices she adds. ALL of the Alfredo sauces had "onion" as an ingredient! I then realized... I would have to make the sauce from scratch. I found a recipe that was for Alfredo that didn't include onion! :) Today, I spent an hour preparing this Alfredo. I then was about to add "lemon pepper spice" to the Alfredo when I read the back.. "onion"! Again! Onion! Ah! So.. I had to make lemon pepper from scratch which isn't that hard. I squeezed a lemon into the Alfredo and put some black pepper into the Alfredo... I kept tasting it with 20 different spoons to get the right flavor. Finally, I was okay with it.. the Parmesan cheese was alittle clumpy, but it was edible.. VERY unhealthy (1 cup butter, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese). Yeah, artery clogging!

So.. I did all this to prevent "onions" from being in any of the dishes!

At dinner, we explained to him how to put Alfredo pasta onto your plate.. the noodles first, then the chicken, then the sauces.. etc. (Our neighbors who are also Paul's coworkers were over as well). At this moment, the Indian coworker announces that he had chicken pasta at Ruby Tuesdays today and it was very good.

Ruby Tuesday's pasta is exactly what I made (I looked it up online).. who knows if it had onion in it?

Besides that, the meal was ok. I don't think I'll be making it from scratch again. I was just amazed at how much onion is in American food.

It's my birthday! :)

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the birthday wishes! They have really made my day! :)

Today has been a lot of fun. Paul put Happy Birthday signs in my car and on my desktop, so that was a neat surprise this morning. I tutored some students in math for 2 hours this morning starting at 10AM, not too early. ;) Then, I came home.. telling myself I needed to clean up the house for our guest tomorrow, but I have yet to do that. I've been sitting on the couch watching tv all day with Friskie curled up in my lap! Wow! So busy! ;) It's been great! Watching the most brainless stuff.. Sister-sister, MTV, and Little House on the Prairie.. What a mature choice of TV shows. I haven't read a single news story today and it has been so nice.. except for something about Obama not wanting war in Iraq and McCain planning for war in Afghanatan.. but I just read the headlines! Doesn't seem like anything new to me.

Just a few minutes ago I got a really pretty basket of Chocolate covered fruit delieved to my house from my mom, dad, and John! I've been devouring that. :) Friskie also enjoyed the present, especially the colorful ribbon that came with it.




































Friskie thought it tasted good.

Soon after getting the fruit basket present, something from Ivy, Iza, Irek, and Olivia showed up at the door! :) Some really beautiful flowers. I really like the vase they came in too! Thank you so much!!!

Before and After

Before: (May 2008)






After (July 2008)






This weekend Paul and I worked on the garden. We got some mulch for the back yard and planted some more bushes.

Also, John came up to visit Friday night. We went out to CiCi's for pizza and then went bike riding around the Whitewater center on Saturday morning. The temperature on Saturday was only 90 degrees, but the humidity had to be in the 99% range. I was completely soaked in sweat half way around the trail. I'm very glad we decided to drive there instead of biking the extra 4 miles there and back. I don't think I would have made it. Still, it was a fun bike ride.


After bike riding, John and I went out to a school supply store because he needed some stuff for his 11th grade English class and I needed some supplies as well. We got some poster boards and class planner books. I need to start working on my first weeks worth of lesson plans. I'm starting to stress out a bit. Thankfully, my current boss is transferring my clients to other tutors, so that gives me more free time.

John left after lunch on Saturday and later that day Paul and I went to a cook out at one of our neighbors house. They are also co-workers of Paul. They are really nice and we had a good time. A few other co-workers came over as well. I'm getting use to hanging with the "accountants". lol! A co-worker from India was in as well. We are having him over to our house on Wednesday for dinner. He is allergic to onions and he prefers chicken over other meats, so I'm trying to figure out what to fix. Any suggestions? I was going to make chicken pot pie, but that has onions in it. Does anyone have any good chicken recipes?

Church on Sunday was good. They had another missionary speak. We are planning on going to their membership classes next time they have them which is in August. Still, we meet new people each week because the church is so large. This is like the 5th church Paul and I have been to in Charlotte. We aren't looking for perfection, just a family to grow and to learn with. The first one we visited we really liked, but they were searching for a pastor. We visited that church for 6 months. We decided to wait on joining till they found a pastor. Well, the first sermon by the pastor who use to be a football player was on listening to the coach (God). Then, the second was on Paul being like Abraham Lincoln and Jesus was like Martin Luther King, Jr. with added football references. So... we were saddened and started to search for a new church.

The second church we went to was also looking for a new pastor, so that was hard. We wanted to wait till they got a new pastor there because of our recent experience. The people were friendly, but the elders were rather pushy. The church was about 200 people in size. The second Sunday we visited I was asked to teach Sunday School the next Sunday and Paul was asked to do the finances. After a few more Sundays, I asked if I could join their WIC group and start making food for families in need, but one of the elders quickly shot that idea down. After that, I did go to a lot of the events and I started to get involved with the kids at the church, but to the elders that wasn't enough. Needless to say, we felt rather overwhelmed. If we missed one event (even if we were in Aiken or in TN for the weekend), the elders would be extremely critical asking where we were and why we didn't show up. We continued going even through this, but when the pastor came we weren't too impressed, so we left that church. :(

After that, we started going to a larger church where the preaching is excellent! :) The church is really large. They have 2 services in the morning. The only problem is that you meet different people each Sunday. You never see the same folks and you can only get to know them if you go up and talk to them. No one comes up to talk to you. Paul and I do need to get more involved. We really do.

That's the church we are currently going to. Another church we visited after moving to our house was very small. Maybe 20 members. It was really awkward the first Sunday we went because one of the church members got up and told us to sit with them during the service, so we walked across the pews to their seats during the morning announcements. Then, right when the preacher was about to start he stood up and introduced us to the church shocked that young people had come... leaving Paul and me feeling rather awkward. The rest of the sermon the pastor would stop and ask Paul and I questions. We would have to respond with yes or no's before he would move on!

So we are back at the big church. We really do need to get more involved. The church has a ton of young people! It will just take a lot more effort on our part. I know that. We are just waiting on the Lord to lead us to the right church where we feel at home.... Please pray that we will find a church home here in Charlotte. I think we are just frustrated with all the drama in churches these days... :( It shouldn't be that way!

Becoming a teacher....

Wow! The next few months are going to be busy.

So.. all that stops me from becoming an 8th grade math teacher is board approval which I should get in a week or 2. :) I stopped by my future school yesterday to pick up my textbooks and to learn more about the position. I will have 3 classes each day. Two of the classes are pre-algebra and the other one is transitional which is after pre-algebra but before algebra. Anyways, I'm excited and nervous about it! I have so much to do before I start. I need to get started on my first weeks worth of lessons soon and figure out how I'm going to keep 30 kids busy for three 90 minute blocks.

The people at the school are really nice and helpful. They helped me get signed up for all the training I have to go to. August is going to be very very busy. I have to go to orientation, one week of training, a week of teacher work days with 2 days of training in there, and then.. school starts August 25th.

Since I'm going the lateral entry route, I have to take at least 6 credit hours each year to keep my licence, so I'm going to re-apply for UNC-Charlotte's graduate program for the Spring. I figured I'm going to be really busy figuring out a new job this fall!

The past week has been pretty crazy. My current boss found out I was quiting through the reference call from the school, so she wasn't very happy about that at all. I was going to give her a months notice. I still have plenty of time, but she found out sooner. According to her, I "ruined her vacation and her business". She left guilt trip messages on my phone for 3 days! Thankfully, she's succumbed to the idea and gave a good reference to the school for me, even though she made sure through my future boss that I could still work for her until August 11th. Besides all that, she's been really helpful today with getting all my clients transferred to other tutors, so that's been nice! :) I didn't mean to upset her so badly. I was going to giver her plenty of notice.

Also, to become a teacher there are a ton of forms to submit. One is the health form which just ask about basic questions like: can you see, hear, move objects, breath? Also, it makes sure you are up to date on current vaccinations. Well, I went in to see my doctor two days ago. I waited over an hour in the waiting room before being called back.. then another 30 minutes in the room before he came in. He was in a really big hurry because he was about to leave and I noticed he hadn't checked "if I had heart limitations or if I breathing limitations" yet! So.. I stopped him and he checked those off. Well, later that day Paul noticed that he check the wrong boxes. Instead of saying I had no limitations, he said I had all limitations. He checked all the "yes" boxes instead of the "no" boxes. Ugh! So I had to go back the next day and get all that worked out which took another hour.

Ah well! It's been a busy few days!

Honey doing her back stretches.

Augusta Canal-Savannah River Bike Ride

John, Paul, and I got up early on Saturday and drove to the Augusta Canal, so that we could bike the 10 mile trail. :) The trail was great! It was very flat and level! They do have a mountain biking trail there, but we will have to do that some other time.

These pictures are of the place you park. There is a neat water fall with a swimming hole below.









Paul is trying to get the bikes off in this photo.

More of the parking lot waterfall.




To the right of John and me is the swimming hole at the bottom of the water fall.


This bridge was really freaky to bike across. The canal was right underneath us.


This is the Savannah River.


John showed us another waterfall.



Can you spot the water snake?


Here is the beginning of the Augusta Canal.


This is the dam they used to divert the water.

The Savannah River looks really weird.

Paul and John reading something.







Yet another snake:













It was a 5 mile ride to this point and 5 miles back to the car.















This is the Augusta Water Works building.




It was a really fun bike ride. I never knew this place was there.