I've Got a Secret!

· I’ve Got a Secret…….

· I’ll tell you what it is in a minute. I’m taking the day off tomorrow. When you’re a teacher, you have to work three times as hard to get plans ready for a sub. Then, when you get back you have to work hard to catch up and do damage control! I guess lots of jobs are like that.

· When I got home, I had to pack for a trip. Packing is never fun. You have to think of everything. After working hard to get ready for the sub, I spent several hours packing. I’m not completely done, but I will have some time in the morning to finish up. I was so mentally tired, I couldn’t really concentrate and think about whether I was forgetting anything or not. Hopefully, I can get a good night sleep and be ready to go through the mental checklist tomorrow.

· You may remember that I said my son was finishing up his year of work in Afghanistan. Well, Nick and I have planned a special trip that coincides with our 31^st wedding anniversary, Labor Day weekend and Lucas’ coming home.

Nick and I are meeting up with Lucas for a tour of.......................

Ireland!!!!

I'm so excited! I will keep you posted and try to keep my blog. I'm sure you won't hear from me for a day and a half or so. Pray for safe travels!!

Goodnight Irene, Thank you for the nice weather!

Here are some more clues about where I'm going:

1.  My ancestors came from there.

2.  It has lots of rain.

3.  They speak English.

5.  The high temps in September are around 60 degrees F.

Saturday, Aug. 27  Goodnight Irene

Tennessee has benefited from Hurricane Irene.  The temperatures have dropped and we have had a brisk wind.  That made for a pleasant day at Clarksville Downtown Market, but it was a slow day.  Either way, the lower temps and the nice breeze has put me in a great mood.  I can't be stopped when the temps make it feel like Fall is in the air!!! 

  

I had the market in the morning.  Afterwards, I had some errands to run.  I needed makeup at Dillards.  Of course, they were giving stuff away!!! Not really, but there was lots of sales.   I didn't really succumb.  I had some "cash" coupons from Dicks Sporting Goods and Old Navy.  I was able to use them before they expired.  Nick and I ate an early dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was my first time to go.  They had so many TVs on so many different sporting events, I don't see how anyone could watch just one thing!  We enjoyed our meal.  When I got home,  I sat on the deck, enjoyed the nice breeze and worked on Rosetta Stone. (in Spanish, of course!)   Right now, I'm half watching "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding".  Strange to say the least!!!!

Just a few days until my trip.  I'm excited, but I have much to do before I leave.  My next blog may be the one that lets the cat out of the bag!!!

xoxo:PJ

The New You & The Help

I know that many of you out there are teachers, have been a teacher or are close to a teacher.  If you aren't a teacher, I know you've been a student and you may currently have a student.  Do you get excited this time of year when you see all of the school supplies???  There's something special about a new box crayons, or a fresh clean piece of paper.  Do you remember how you felt when you bought a new pair of shoes? 

A few Sundays ago, our youth minister had a sermon entitled "The New You".  He started the sermon talking about the joys of new things.  (new cars, new crayons, new computers, new school year)  New things are certainly special.  There's nothing like coloring with a brand new crayon, but pretty soon the newness wears off.  The point is dull and you may even have to peel down the paper.

 In life, we often wish we could have a "do over".  Sometimes we would like a fresh start.  There are many shows and TV where they give someone a makeover.  In life we can have a fresh start or a makeover if you will.  

How can you become the "New You"?  John 3:3-7 explains: Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’

Titus 3:5-7 " he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. "  This scriptures tells us that we are continually reborn through Jesus.  We are a new creation through Him.

Sometimes we misunderstand what it means to be a Christian.  I was baptized when I was 16 and I remember that wonderful feeling when I came out of that water.  I'm pretty sure that I felt like I would have to be perfect to keep that "clean" state.  Well, I'm sure you are not surprised, but, I wasn't perfect.  As I studied and became a more mature Christian, I learned that I can't do it alone and as a Christian who walks in the light Jesus; blood continually cleanses me of  all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

1 John 1:5-7 says, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."



Update on my life:

School is going well, I seem to have a great class.  My older son has finished is year contract in Afghanistan.  He is now in Kuwait and in a few days my husband and I will meet up with him for a special family vacation.  I've given you a little hint about where it is.  It's getting closer and I'm getting excited!   I will try to keep my blog during the trip!


Last weekend, Nick and I went to see "The Help".  I had read the book last year and LOVED it.  The movie wasn't exactly the same, but they did a great job!!  I would recommend that everyone read the book and see the movie.  It wasn't just a "chick-flick" because Nick loved it too!  You will see a link to the book at the top of the blog, for some reason I'm not able to put it at the bottom.

Pirate Day, Can someone tell me what standard this was???

Another Trip Hint:

Until next time!

xoxoPJ

Why Can't There Be a Happy Medium???

Whew!!!!  Today I finished my 7th full day of school.  I am thankful because I have a great  class.  Things are starting to settle down.  That's pretty good since a lot of what we do on a day to day basis isn't up and going yet.  We can't go to the library, and the students haven't been able to take Reading Counts tests yet. (For those of you who aren't teachers, let me explain.   It's a program where students take a test on the computer on a book they have read.  They earn points for prizes.)

It's always a relief to get through the first few days of school.  My son went back to college on Sunday, so now I have to get daycare for  the dog.  Well, not really, but, if I want to go to the Y after school, I have to use a dog walking service.  If you are from Clarksville area, let me recommend Safe Tails.  They are very reliable, reasonable and offer many other services.

http://safetails.com/

I am adding some pictures of one exciting event from the past week.  One of my friends and co-teachers  had a milestone birthday.  We worked hard to make it a special day.

My older son only has a few more days left in his job in Afghanistan.  He will be finishing up and waiting for a flight to Kuwait.  My son, husband and I will be going on a family trip together.  It is getting close.  I gave you a hint the last blog.  Did you figure it out?? You might find other clues hidden in this blog.

Were  you wondering about the title of the blog?  It refers to my life.  There  are no happy mediums, only extremes!  Busy, busy,  busy!!

If  you know someone who is a teacher.............be patient with them!  This is a very tiring, stressful time of the year.  Plus, there are lots of changes in education, which only means one thing............MORE STRESS!!

Until next time!!

xoxoPJ

Are you drifting???

Are you drifting???      

When I was a teenager we always wanted a suntan.  We would "lay out" almost every day in the summer so we could get a tan.  That was before we knew about all of the harmful rays.  We might go to a pool, but sometimes we would go to the lake.  If it was real hot, we would lay on our rafts in the water.  There is one problem with laying out on a raft in the lake......you don't stay in the same place......you drift.

In life, just like those old summers on the lake, you can be drifting and you don't even know it. Wordly things can cause us to drift.  It's very subtle and we don't even realize that it is happening.  Drifting can cause us to be pulled away from  the things that are most important to us. (family, even our faith) We might lose interest in God's word.  We might stop praying or we get too busy to go to church.  Pretty soon, we don't feel close to God anymore.  We've drifted away.

Hopefully, in life, we don't drift, but we paddle so we go in the right direction.  If you have ever paddled a canoe, it can be difficult.  There is no rudder.  A rudder helps a boat go in the right direction.  We also need a rudder in our lives.  What is our rudder????  What gives us direction?  What keeps us going  in the right direction??  Where do you want to end up at the end of your journey???  What's your goal?

Well, I'm shooting for heaven. How do you get there???  I suggest you use God's guidebook for the life........THE BIBLE, GOD'S WRITTEN WORD. 

Personal update:

Today was my fifth full day of school.  Things are going really well.  I seem to have a really good class! M y son Lucas is finishing his time up in Afghanistan in a few weeks.  We have planned a family trip together.  It's a once in a lifetime trip.  More information on that later.  It's somewhere "green".

The security is busy around 7:30 every day.

Today's blog was inspired by my new favorite Bible, Charles Stanley's Life Principles Daily Bible.






 

Here's a funny picture I found for all of those teachers out there.  The caption said, "Help Wanted: Two million teachers"

Until next time!!!

xoxoPJ

Missing in Action?

heading to church

Missing in Action

Well, you may be wondering where I have been.  I have been extremely busy since my last blog.  Last week, I had one day of paid in-service, I worked in my classroom  several days and I completed my last two on-line classes. I was also scheduled to share my trip to the Ladies' Wednesday Night Bible class at my church. 

going to give my presentation about my mission trip

 I'm a great procrastinator and before I could make my Power Point, my laptop died.  Luckily, we have a regular PC with Power Point on it.  I also, luckily, had uploaded all of my trip photos to the web each day of my trip, but I still had to go grab the pictures off of Facebook or this blog.

I haven't been up this early in awhile, it's foggy!

My presentation went well on Wednesday night.

I  also went on several shopping trips to Walmart, the Teacher Store, Dollar Tree, and the Party Store.  Why, you ask?  I was buying decorations and bulletin board stuff for my room.  I had already decided to go with a theme this year.  My school went with a Pirate theme.  I had considered that theme already, so.....I went with it. Several $$$$ and man hours later, my room is decorated.

I spent lots of $$$ here.  (Teacher Store)

This past week, I was officially back to work.  Monday was spent in an in-service on our new Math series.  I have been teaching over 25 years & all I can say is this...............THINGS HAVE CHANGED!!  We had a new Reading series last year and we were just barely getting the hang of that.....Oh, well....

Redecorating classroom aka Reinventing the wheel

Tuesday and Wednesday were days set aside for working in our room, but this year we had Open House from 3:30-5:30.  Thursday and Friday, we had students....ALL DAY!!  Things have gone well.  It seems as if I have a really great class.  I'm trying a new teaching technique that I stumbled upon on the web.  It's called Whole Brain Teaching.  So far, it's great and my students are really responding well to it.  If you are a teacher, (or not) you might want to check it out.  There are even videos with teachers demonstrating the method with their classes.

http://wholebrainteaching.com/

Friend Hunt activity

I had a treasure hunt.  The clues were rolled up in bottles.  They loved it!

They are wearing there pirate hats and opening their treasure bags.

This bulletin board goes along with our new Math series.

Something else new: We are playing Concentration on our new interactive Smartboard.

It's 10:39 pm, Friday night, and I'm tired.  I've been getting up at 5 am and staying at school till after 6.  It's catching up with me.  I am taking a day off from the market tomorrow.  I hope you enjoy some of the pictures from the last two or three weeks.

My sales have doubled from last year.  I hate to not go to the market tomorrow, but I will be glad to sleep in!!!

Funny story:  My students had a Math worksheet that had apples on it.  They had to color it when they were finished.  This little boy brought his up and told me he made his sour apples!!  :0)

When things start settling down, I'll start blogging again.

xoxoPJ