According to the educator’s website TeacherVision, today is International Blog Day. It also happens to be my 8th Anniversary as a blogger on WordPress.com. Last week, I had to upgrade my blog to the next level. Soon, I will be claiming a domain name. Writing and posting more regularly has increased my traffic and gained me new followers. That, dear reader, makes me extremely happy.
The month of August has come to an end and brought with it a sigh of relief. I survived the beginning of another school year and NJHS Induction. Last night, my co-sponsors and I welcomed 27 new members into National Junior Honor Society. There is a great deal of planning involved in the ceremony which was beautifully executed thanks to our former officers and the sponsors. Needless to say, we are proud of these young men and women who have achieved this honor, and I look forward to working with them throughout the school year.
My biopsy results also arrived yesterday afternoon. AWESOME news! My biopsy was negative for H. Pylori which is a bacteria that can eventually cause infection and lead to stomach cancer. Thankfully, my results were good. I will continue taking the medication prescribed by my doctor; however, it is time for me to change my diet. The medication may be causing the polyps, so it would be lovely to be able to control my acid reflux issues with diet instead of medication. I purchased a book called The Complete Acid Reflux Diet Plan by Nour Zibdeh. She is a registered dietitian and functional nutritionist. Now, I must read her book and take action. I am almost guaranteed of losing my 18 pounds because the plan pretty much eliminates everything.
In Other News:
I met my hubby for dinner during the week, and we ate at Kirin in downtown Hammond. We love eating at the sushi bar. Surprisingly, the restaurant was not too busy, and the sushi chef created the most fantastic dragon roll for me. Not only was it delicious, but it was beautiful. This was the first time in my sushi eating life that a roll was presented to me in this way. Angus, the sushi chef, actually made the roll look like a fire-breathing dragon.
With my blog upgrade, you may see some additions since I will have access to more features and capabilities. Of course, the increase in space allows me to keep my published posts archived. I’m looking forward to learning some new features and obtaining my own domain. I do not fully understand it all; however, I am excited to learn about it and make my blog even better. Thank you, dear readers, for your support and encouragement. Happiness!
“Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The third surprise was on Friday after school. My hubby bought me beautiful roses to celebrate my first full week in my new position. They were waiting for me when I arrived home from work. It definitely made me happy. What a thoughtful and loving gesture!
We enjoyed Korean food for her birthday lunch followed by rolled ice cream from Roulé for dessert. Other highlights of July were going to the movies (The Incredibles 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Equalizer 2), a museum visit, a concert, a scrapbooking evening with my BFF Shelly, and a lunch date with my friend Kelly Parker LeGrand. This was the first time Kelly and I had seen each other in over 20 years. We talked for hours. My only regret was that we didn’t take any pictures together. Hopefully, it won’t be another 20 years before we have lunch together again.
While I enjoyed much happiness this month, there was also some sadness. My extended family in Utah said good-bye to my sweet Uncle Charles. I feel blessed to have known him and grateful for plenty of fond memories of times spent with him. I can bet he is well established in heaven telling stories and jokes. Rest in peace, Uncle Charles!
This past Thursday, Andrew and I went shopping for school uniforms for the last time. It was the first of the “lasts” that we will experience in the upcoming school year. Soon, he’ll be taking senior pictures and applying for college. While senior year is an exciting time, it will be bittersweet (for me). Andrew is the baby, so my hubby and I will be empty nesters. Thankfully, Andrew will not be going too far away for college. He has decided to attend Southeastern in Hammond to earn his undergraduate degree in Biology. While he could easily live at home, he wants the “college experience” of living on campus. After talking to parents of college-age children and to college students who live away from home, I can see the benefits for him.
On Tuesday, I ordered a few more scrapbook supplies. I pulled some pictures from Andrew’s trip to Ireland, set up my Scrap’n Easel, assembled a laser die cut, and semi-laid out the page. Now that my room is set up specifically for scrapbooking, I can leave everything out and leisurely work on my pages. After lunch, I met a friend of mine, that I had not seen in a few years, for coffee. It was a nice couple of hours catching up with Angie. Visiting with her made me realize that I want to carve out more time this summer to connect with my friends that I do not get to see on a regular basis. Friendships bring an enormous richness of joy to one’s life; however, they need to be cultivated in order to flourish.
Another tidbit about me, the scrapbooker, is I am as slow as a snail when it comes to scrapbooking. Depending on the project, it takes me some time to think about the layout. If the project has an overwhelming amount of photos, choosing the best ones can slow me down. I act as if I am preparing a layout for a prestigious magazine, and my career depends on the finished product instead of making a memory keepsake for the members of my family. HA! Even though I did not get as many layouts completed as I had hoped, I still had a terrific time with my friends, and I learned some new techniques using supplies (embossing enamel, antique brilliance wax, rust effect paste, and gel pens) to make my scrapbooks more interesting. I have all summer to finish working on this project for Andrew. I will have more time to make decisions about the layouts, the photos, and what I want to say or rather what Andrew wants to say about his recent adventure in Europe.
In addition, my scrapbooking weekend has inspired me to get better organized in my scrapbooking room. Yesterday, I cleared everything not related to scrapbooking out of my room with the exception of a file cabinet. Then, I vacuumed, dusted, and mopped. My goal now is to organize all of my supplies. I bought a new sticker binder, while at the event, to house ALL of my stickers. My old binder can barely zip, and I have stickers in various places. I want them all in one central location divided by category. I also need to reorganize my paper by color/pattern and clear out old page kits of completed layouts. This will allow me to create new page kits with all of the necessary supplies, so the next time I want to attend a crop, I can grab and go. Getting organized will take awhile; however, in the end, the time spent will be well worth it. The organization will create time and space for me to actually scrapbook…hopefully, more than once a year.
Turning off the light and letting the door close behind me on Friday afternoon was bittersweet because it was the last time I was walking out of my 8th grade classroom. Yep! I have officially left my position teaching 8th grade language arts. I will no longer teach grammar, writing, or inspire students to read Poe. That is the bitter part. Even though I have decided to leave the classroom, I will remain at Holy Ghost Catholic School. That is the sweet part.
Yesterday morning, my hubby and I brought Andrew to the airport, so he could embark on his journey to Ireland, Wales, and London. I will not see my baby again until April 7th. It will be an unusual week being home alone with just my fur babies. I guess it will give me a taste of what it will be like when Andrew goes off to college.
I realize that I am probably one of the last humans on the planet that waited so long to watch Stranger Things. In my defense, I do not have much time to watch television, and there are few shows that I watch alone in real time or with Andrew. He is just as busy during the school year as I am, so coordinating our schedules to watch a couple of hours of television together can be difficult. However, we manage to squeeze in some time here and there for our favorite shows. Andrew and I had finished watching Parks and Recreation during Mardi Gras break, so we decided to start watching Stranger Things. Many of my friends, family, acquaintances, and even some of my students encouraged me to watch it since they thought it would be a show that I would really enjoy. Boy, were they right. Stranger Things is SUPER awesome! I’m obsessed with it. I absolutely LOVE that it takes place in the 1980s. The show is basically about a group of geeky kids who meet an unusual girl with special abilities around the same time that one of their friends vanishes into a mysterious place that is home to a disturbing creature. It is like the X-Files meets the Goonies. The seasons are not very long, so we blew through both of them within a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the next season does not come out until 2019. Alas, Andrew and I will just have to watch Beyond Stranger Things which delves into the secrets of the Stranger Things universe, specifically Season 2 and re-watch the two seasons prior to Season 3 premiering next year.
The Kat Files 