A Tale of Two Weekends

On the very first day of June I declared that I needed the month of June to just be over already! Between working a contract training gig for a week, teaching the two-year-olds at Vacation Bible School for a week, and taking a trip to Mississippi while taking 9 credit hours in summer school, it was a very busy month.

Last weekend had been on our radar screen for 7 months. It was my husband's birthday, Jayla's dance recital, and my family reunion. During those weeks where Jayla wasn't cooperating at dance, I went back and forth about whether or not we should just forget about the recital and go to Mississippi for the reunion instead. Ultimately, we decided to stay here, celebrate my husband's birthday on Saturday, attend Jayla's dance recital on Sunday, and fly to Mississippi early Monday morning to catch my grandmother who had come down from Chicago for the reunion. It all worked out as planned but, it was hectic and I lost another week of productivity because the Internet is just entire too slow to be productive at my parents' house.

My husband seemed to enjoy his birthday even though my creativity yielded him a belt as his only birthday present. We went to IHOP for breakfast because that is what we do for birthdays around here. We spent some time at the Museum of Natural Science where Jayla saw her first 3-D film in the IMAX.

She was too cute. The show was about dinosaurs and she spent 60% of the show with her eyes closed so the dinosaurs wouldn't scare her. She never flinched or made a sound but, almost every time I looked at her, her eyes were closed. We finished the day with dinner at the Downtown Aquarium.


Early Sunday morning Jayla and I had to be at her dress rehearsal (7:45am!!) while my husband picked my mom up from the airport. The recital was later that evening. I am glad that we did the recital because Jayla totally stole the show! She was adorable.


Then we left at 7:00am on Monday morning for a few days in Mississippi where we visited lots of family, including my grandmother, and I started the process of de-stressing from the month.


So, I am here to report that I lived to see the end of June and I'm vowing to spend July relaxing just a little bit more. I've still got school going and I need to spend some time catching up.

For this final weekend in June, my little family sat in the house and did nothing. Well, on Friday night we made our annual trip to Kemah Boardwalk with some friends to see the fireworks. Otherwise we only left the house to go let Jayla play at the park after dinner last night and to church this morning. The busyness of the last month made this weekend of nothing seem so very sweet.

Back where I belong

This morning I woke up and drove the 100 miles to school where I proceeded to spend my entire day in class. It was glorious! It felt so good to be back on campus and back to focusing on my academics.

I have missed it tremendously over the last few weeks. I haven't been on campus in 2 weeks, which is the longest stretch of time since the Christmas break 6 months ago. I realized today how much I need the 4 hours of driving time on a regular basis to give me time to think and just be alone with those thoughts. That driving time is when I de-stress and organize my life. It's when I ponder things that don't matter as well as the major decisions that I am facing in my life. It's when I reminisce and stare blankly into space. Getting that back today has made a world of difference in my general mood.

Sitting in class today, I realized how much I love being in an academic environment. I spent all of last week working a contract gig that required me to deliver training sessions on Office 2007 from 8:30 to 3:30 Monday-Friday. It nearly killed me and I knew it wasn't exactly what I wanted to be doing with my time. But, the contrast of how I felt being back in that corporate environment compared to how I love being in the academic environment was magnified today. I have never been more certain that I am absolutely doing the right thing in my professional life right now.

My plea

I am exhausted. I am entirely too exhausted to even exist today. I can hardly hold my eyes open. I have a headache from trying to hold my eyes open. I have a paper due on Friday. I have not started writing it. I have spent all week teaching a two-year-old class in Vacation Bible School. I need some rest.

I've been called worse

Last night Jayla was playing dress up. At one point she had a blanket wrapped around her and she was walking around the family room curtsying to everything in sight. She kept saying, "You're welcome, your heiness". I finally asked her who "your heiness" was. She replied, "Mama, you're my heiness". Then she turned to her daddy and assured him that he was also her heiness.

Happy Father's Day!!

I'm not sure what to think of this...

Jayla told me today that girls don't play drums, boys do. So, I asked her what girls play. She informed me that girls play other instruments like the harmonica or the piano.

Moving on Up

Jayla and I overslept this morning. I hopped out of the bed right at 7:56 and explained to Jayla that we were running late for her first day in her new classroom. She, of course, didn't care but, I quickly got us dressed and we were out the door about the same time that we usually leave home anyway.

As I pulled into the parking lot at her school, I mentioned again that she was going to the new class and would get to meet her new teacher today. She made a pouty face and said that she didn't want to go. She asked me, "But, what about Mary (her current teacher)?" I told her that we could go talk to Ms. Mary first.

We walked into Ms. Mary's classroom and she met us at the door, took Jayla's backpack, and told me to take Jayla to her new classroom. Jayla played the big girl role and told Ms. Mary bye-bye. As we walked down the hall, she told me that she was a big girl and was ready to go to the new classroom. Meanwhile, I was getting a little choked up. It was weird because I've been thinking that it was time for her to move on for a while now. But, while I was actually taking her down the hall, it was yet another reminder that she is growing up so quickly.

We peeked in the window before we walked into the new classroom and she affirmed that she was ready. As I opened the door, she walked on in and sat on the carpet in the circle that the other children were sitting in. She looked like she had been there her entire life. She sat there intently, waiting to see what was next. I talked to the teacher a little and introduced Jayla to her. As I left, Jayla just smiled at me as if to say, "I'll be just fine, mama."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need more tissue...