Oh My Goodness! I Can't Wait!!!

Yes, I do tend to stick in my little bubble of work and sleep, but every so often I stick my head out to see what Disney is doing and today I can't stop squealing in delight!  My FAVORITE character, Winnie the Pooh, is being made into a live-action film and is being released during my birthday month.  (Thank you Disney for this Ah-Mazing present!) 

The movie is actually called Christopher Robin but let's get real--Pooh Bear is the real show stopper.  I'm parking the trailer here so you can squeal over it too!




Let me know what you think!

Wordless Wednesday

YouTube Thursday

Well this week has officially stunk and continues to do so!
I really need to rely on the Lord, but I also think that sometimes I just need to take the advice of Mercy Me and their song-Shake:

Wordless Wednesday

YouTube Thursday

I know we just had a song on Monday, but I couldn't help but post this one as I realize that I need to pay attention to the song's message.  By the way, if you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it!

Disney's Frozen-Let It Go-Sing Along Version

Say It Isn't So!

I'm looking at the calendar and hoping that the date is absolutely WRONG! It has to be!!! (Right?) Vacation can't possibly be coming to a close?! I'm just getting in the swing of this whole relaxation thing and starting to plan a few projects that I want to undertake, but this whole work thing is most definitely going to get in the way of those plans.

Normally I don't think I'd be quite so sad (Yeah, who am I kidding...) but I have to tough it out a week and a half before I can go to my new school. Tomorrow wouldn't be so bad, but the kids don't come back until Tuesday, so I have to deal with my co-worker who has decided that I am an "evil being" and "can't be trusted." (Talk about a hostile work environment.) I'm hoping that I'll be able to catch up on my work email and then get the questions written for the two books I was assigned for our little "battle." Then, I'll be able to spend my remaining time helping the kids and the teachers until it's time for me to say a final farewell. (I can't wait!!! I'm so excited about going to this new POSITIVE environment that I almost can't stand it.) Hmmm....I wonder if I would get into trouble for reading on the job?

On to "funner" things...

I had a wonderful time at Disney with my aunt! We spent our first two days at Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios--unfortunately, I somehow erased our 280 pictures from the digital camera. (AACKK! If you know how to pull "ghost images" off of a digital card--please let me know!) So, those two days will not really be represented in our scrapbooks. :( We were both sad about this because we actually rode the Tower of Terror and documented our ride so we could prove to people that we actually went on it! We also ate at this really cool Sci-Fi Diner which looked like you were at a drive-in!

Then, we went to the Magic Kingdom and watched the castle light up--quite cool if you haven't seen it--and then hightailed it out of there because the crazies were coming out (ok, so they were really crying babies, but it was close).

For New Year's we went to Epcot. They were expecting so many people that we ended up parking on a grassy area 100 feet from the entrance! It was a marvelous day--despite the mass of people and the rain. (Which was actually quite funny.) My aunt and I wore our tiaras (which you can only get at MGM) and drew the attention of one camera guy (our paparazzi) so we have lots of pictures around France and England. Thankfully we went to France and bought an umbrella, so when the bottom of the sky fell out, all of the people ran to find cover under the buildings, etc. and we bopped along the paths on our merry ways. (Before the rain it was shoulder to shoulder people.)

Since the rain was so hard, the workers weren't sure if they were going to have to fireworks that evening, so we decided to leave and order pizza in the hotel room. Our running joke was..we traveled all around the world to meet a guy and we find the pizza guy at "home." (I don't think he thought it was funny, but he didn't mind the extra big tip we gave him.)

Well, I guess I should get things ready for tomorrow--after all, I DO have to get up early. :)

Wordless Wednesday

I'm trying...

really hard to remain calm, cool, and collected, but it's getting really hard. "Why"? you ask. Because tomorrow....

I'm going to DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!


Yes, I know--I live in Florida, but still, my aunt and I are going and she's never really been there. We'll be there through New Years (part of our annual single girl's retreat somewhere fun so we don't mope about not having husbands)! I hope I can sleep tonight. I know my aunt is just as excited because we were talking on the phone earlier today and she was cleaning the house (same thing I was doing) to pass the time.

Have a wonderful New Year--and be careful with those fireworks!

Hellllooooo Vacation!

After completely keeling over yesterday from the exhaustion of the last couple of weeks, I'm finally up and at 'em to finalize everything for Christmas. Can you believe it's only a few days away?!

Today I'm meeting my friend Adrienne for lunch at our local hang-out. It feels like I haven't talked to her in years, so I'm really glad that we're able to get together before the craziness begins.

Tomorrow we celebrate Christmas after church with my grandparents, aunt, cousins and their children, my niece, sister, and her boyfriend. (I'm sure I've left someone out, but I think that's everyone.)

Then, on Christmas Eve, I'll go to my grandparent's house and hang out with them, my aunt, and my cousins until I can't keep my eyes open.

Christmas Day, I'll go back to my parent's house and celebrate with my parents, my step-brother and his fiance, my step-sister, and possibly my other set of grandparents.

Then, I have a day's rest before my aunt and I head to Disney through New Year's! (We are now owner's of annual passes, so we're going to scope everything out and then head back periodically throughout the year.)

After that, I'll have a couple of days to get everything in order at home before I return to w-o-r-k. But, after a couple of weeks, I'll be settling in at my new school (YIPPEE)!

What have I been up to lately?

PRAYER REQUEST:

I just found out that my pedicurist, Nadine, was involved in a car accident last week and she was pretty banged up. I know she has a ton of appointments that she needs to keep so that the at-fault driver's insurance pays the bills--especially since Nadine does not have health insurance of her own. Please pray for a speedy recovery and no lasting side-effects from the accident. I know money is tight and this couldn't have happened at a worse time for her.

Thank you!

"What have I been doing the past couple of weeks"? you ask. Well, let me show you...

I'm crocheting a blanket for my real dad in Texas. His favorite color is red and it gets REALLY cold there during winter, so hopefully I'll finish it in time for his Christmas present. (If not, his birthday is in January.) The yarn is a feathery chenille and it's so fluffy. Madison enjoys it as well--although she likes to play with the yarn and the crochet hook even more.

My best friend, Judy, retired from the Social Studies classroom and moved to Sylvania, Georgia. She came back last week for a retirement reception in her honor at the school where we first met and worked together. Here's a picture of Judy and her mom. (Of course she'll kill me for putting this picture of her with her mouth open online, so if you don't hear from me for a couple more weeks, you might want to check on me--Judy's REALLY good with a hunting rifle!)

I'm very happy that Judy finally gets a chance to "get out of Dodge" and spend time with her Mom and husband after all of this time, but I'm also a tad bit jealous. If I stick with this particular school system, I have 22 more years before I can retire. :( (Especially since they refuse to accept my year in Texas...Grrrrrr......) I know she's put in her time, but I really miss her. Not only has she been a true friend, she's also been my spiritual mentor since we met. In fact, right before she left, Judy gave me a copy of Beth Moore's study on David with the 90 day devotional journal and the accompanying CD! She also gave me a bracelet that says "With God, all things are possible." Something that I need reminded of on a daily basis.

I've also been helping my grandmother with a project she's working on for my grandfather. Papaw (Hey! I couldn't say Grandpa or Grammy, so we have Papaw and Nanny!) was in the Navy when he was younger and sailed on the U.S.S. Amman. Nanny is working on an album for him and I've been trying to get some negatives and slides of the pictures he took printed so she can use the pictures in the scrapbook she's making for him. These are not the best quality, but here are some of the pictures:

This is Papaw on one of the ships. He was a radioman and typed up all of the messages that came through in Morse Code. Unfortunately, the news came in so fast that he didn't really have time to process the letters he was typing into words. (Too bad--he probably knows all kinds of secrets.) The other picture is of him at one of the piers. I think it's in San Francisco.





I also celebrated my aunt's birthday and gave her an annual pass to DISNEY! She hasn't been to the Magic Kingdom in over 20 years, and I don't think she's ever been to Epcot or MGM or the Animal Kingdom. We're both so excited that I'm not sure we can wait two more months! Nanny has had to peel my aunt off of the ceiling on several occasions so I know it's going to be fun!



Last year we started a tradition for New Year's since we're both single with no prospects. We decided that we would do something fun rather than mope around the house at not having anyone to kiss at the stroke of midnight. (I know, kind of lame, but there it is...) Last year we went on the Murder Mystery Train Ride in Ft. Myers. (Way cool if you've never been!) This year I decided--What better way to have fun than to hang out with Mickey and of course, Pooh Bear!? We're going to see fireworks! (We're even going to Italy and France, since neither one of us is going to make to Europe anytime soon. This also saves on the language lessons we would have to take so she could speak Italian, and I could speak French.)



Otherwise, I've been trying to make it through the drudgery I call my job. I LOVE being a librarian, I just HATE where I'm located and the way our system is run. (That's a sure sign it's time to move on because I feel like I'm not being effective and I don't have a purpose.) I'm really hoping something comes along soon in the public sector, or I may quit and wait tables again to try and pay my bills. Truly--we've had 10 people quit teaching this year and it's only been 2 months! Of course, it's not just at our school, it's everywhere in this county. People are fed up with the increasing workload and no time to get it done.



You see, people seem to think that teachers have weekends off and summers off. I NEVER had a weekend off when I was in the classroom! (You can ask my parents--I was still living with them!) I spent 10 hours a day grading all of the papers I collected over the week because I didn't have time to grade them in the evenings after sitting in traffic for two hours to get home. During the summers, teachers have to go to all of the inservices and workshops and classes to gain credits to keep our teaching certificates. (Those people that think teaching is easy, need to come work in an inner-city school for a couple of months. Okay--I'm stepping off of my soapbox now.)



In any case, I've been in a job identity crisis because I don't know what to do now. Nothing seems to be available in the school system and in the public library system that would pay close to what I'm making now with my time in the system. I know this is God telling me to wait, but I'm truly going to need some major drugs if I have to keep working where I am now. So, I guess this is another prayer request--that I find God's will and purpose for my life--especially one that will pay the bills! :)