I have had a rough few weeks - I am so stressed over work! It really isn't anything of my doings, but the procrastination of so many students that is about to do me in. ha! I won't go off into all the details of that (be happy...lol)

The class that I am taking (Assessment in ESL) is going okay but it is just a lot of work and I don't seem to find or make the time that I need to in order to get ahead; I am constantly living by deadlines. Hmmm...do I see a similarity between me and my students?! Of course NOT! lol

Dave took Nathan on a Boy Scout campout yesterday. Katherine and I stopped over for a couple of hours to join in on the fun. (I wondered if I would be out of place...but Dave called and asked us to come a couple of times! So I guess he felt out of place a bit. A couple of the boys' moms were there too.) They were having a good time - he got to shoot a BB gun, practice archery, and help build a fire. But the most excitement was the motorcross race that was going on in the area behind them. It was Nathan's first exposure to anything like that...and he drooled through the fence. Dave finally took him around to watch for a while... Guess what Nathan now wants for Christmas. ha! No way!

Katherine was the center of attention and I think she really enjoyed it. One of the moms said that it had been impossible to get the boys to do something together... they were all off doing different things there in the camp (LOTS of other troops/dens around too). But when the only girl around was there....she was holding their attention quite nicely. ha! She was playing tug-of-war...tying knots...and of course enjoying the marshmallow roast. But Nathan seemed a little too eager to tell us goodbye when we were leaving. I think he gets enough time with big sis...

I haven't heard from them yet but they should be home in another couple of hours. They will be soaked along with all of their stuff. It was a dreary wet evening.

So I will enjoy this nice quiet moment alone (Katherine is still sleeping and the cats were all booted OUT)

What an exciting day! Don't ya love Mother's Day?

I heard someone up early and in the kitchen; I quietly went down the hall and saw Katherine (10) working hard on a breakfast for me...so I quickly ran back to my room and hopped back into bed. Whew! She didn't see me. She came in carrying a lid to a box (used as a tray) with a sweet breakfast in it. She had gone outside and picked some flowers from the yard and had them in an empty jar. I see flowers from my mom's yard (next door) too...ha! Hope she didn't visit all the neighbors too. LOL

What a BIG breakfast! She had toasted a bagel in the toaster...one side had strawberry jelly and the other half was cream cheese. (Didn't know what kind you'd like so I gave you both!) She was so proud to see me enjoying it. Well, also on the "tray" was a bowl of cheerios and a glass of milk ("Pour that on your cereal, Mom") There was also a slice of toast, a glass of ice water, and SIX little pancakes swimming in syrup! Talk about a starch overload! She was going to watch to make sure that I ate it all. ha! How was I going to get out of this? I explained that it was a LOT of food...but she said "I know you like to eat a BIG breakfast!" ha! what? ((DH was trying to stifle his extreme laughter))

In my mind, I was reminded of my older brother - One Mother's Day, he got up early to surprise my mom with breakfast in bed. He was so hurt that she didn't eat it all! Ok...so he made her SIX eggs and a half a pound of bacon! ROFL... but he brought it up to her for many years afterwards... why wouldn't she eat it all? She must not have liked it... ((failure))... I was determined not to hurt her feelings.

I tried one of the pancakes. They were from a box in the freezer...microwave... It was a bit cold and chewy. Ewwww! But I managed to eat the whole pancake. (they were small, thankfully) There was no way that I could eat the other five!

Katherine did say that she'd help me with the cereal so she took it and the milk back to the kitchen. Here was my chance. DH had to eat some of it! But he refused! ((help)) Back behind the bed was the window..yes, that was my answer! I got DH to help me open the window....OUT went the drippy pancakes. I was afraid that they might end up plastered to the side of the house! ROFL... Out went the toast too!

I got the window closed just in time...she was back! "Thank you so much, Katherine! That was such a good breakfast, but way too much food." Her response: "Well, I'm glad you liked it. Now you can skip lunch today." WHAT?! ROFL...

After everyone got up and about - I was presented with three Walmart bags tied in knots at the top. Nathan's had a striped t-shirt, a bag of Reese Cups and a 2 liter of Diet Dr. Pepper. He was so proud... Katherine's had a green shirt, a bag of Lindts chocolate and a 2 liter of Diet Dr. Pepper.. Here came DH's... it had TWO 2 liters of Diet Dr. Pepper... (They had a sale on them...lol)

It was a nice morning...

After my shower, I got to clean the kitchen, do laundry, run the vacuum, fun? I called my mom to wish her a happy mother's day and to regale her of my wonderful breakfast. (she really laughed hard at me, remembering my brother's efforts) She alerted me to the weather forecast: Tornado Watch! We NEVER have tornados here. I only remember one other alert ever... I quickly got online and saw the reports....then here came the rains and the winds. It didn't last long - soon the sky was BLUE again and the wind had subsided too. It was eerie how fast it was gone! So I'm sure we have skirted the storm. I'm very thankful but was preparing for a day of stormy weather.

We're heading out later to take my mom out for a late lunch/early supper (3:00'ish) meal today.

I hope all the other mothers had a memorable and fun day today. Want a pancake? They might still be plastered to the wall...ROFL...

30 more days of teaching...but who's counting? ha! That's not counting semester exams - but I won't have a lot of students that have to take them, thankfully. They have a pretty good attendance encentive at our school; if students don't miss more than 3 days during a semester, they are exempt from their semester exams. There are a LOT of students that make sure that they don't have to take them! Of course that means that many come to school while terribly sick and breathe on all the rest of us! But when the end of the semester finally gets here, they get to be out of school during exam time.

Speaking of school - I may be a fool, but I'm going to back to school too. I'll have a Linguistics course this summer and I will also do an internship through a Migrant Education Program. I am getting my certification in ESL (English as a Second Language) so I will work with the Hispanic population over the summer. They have a neat program set up through the university and I am a "little" excited about it. I'm nervous too - since I don't know what to expect yet.

That will leave me with two remaining classes for this fall: Assessment for ESL and Modern English Grammar. They don't sound like a lot of fun...I have seen the syllabus for each and they are very involved. Blah! No such thing as an EASY course anymore!

After I complete these classes, I'll be THROUGH, except for a PRAXIS exam that I must pass. That doesn't sound like much fun either. ha! But it will be good to get it done. I will have a job possibly waiting for me when I finish. I will complete the full year of teaching Spanish in my regular school next year - but after that, I could move into the ESL position. I'm excited about that. I hope I make it!