68 days of Summer Vacation

School's officially out. Last week, I had post planning Monday-Wednesday. Days like these are always busy and full of questions. We never know if we are going to be told we will be moving to another grade or team. I guess the story really begins about a month or two ago. We got an email/survey about being willing to change schools. They are doing a bit of redistricting because our school is bigger than the others. In order for buses not to cross 316, they will move some of our students to another middle school. Since students would leave, so would teachers. The survey asked if we would be willing to move or not. It became a big deal because people didn't know if that meant we would lose our job if people didn't volunteer. Some people put they would move, but they didn't want to. The calls went out on Tuesday of this week about who would be moving schools. Many of the people that really wanted to leave didn't get chosen to leave, while the people who didn't really want to leave were chosen. It was a sad thing to see who was leaving. There are four 7th grade teachers, two of which are math teachers. Also, about a month ago I heard 6th grade would be two teams of four, which would mean we would lose one teacher. I also heard 7th grade would be a team of four and a team of three, which would mean they would lose 3 people. Knowing this, I kept thinking about the restructuring. I played out all the scenarios in my mind to think like our administrators. I thought we would either lose one of our language arts teachers or math teachers to the 7th grade. I kept getting scared they would move me or that they'd put me on a team of people with which I do not always get along. First thing Wednesday morning we started hearing about who got the call to go. My mind started racing again thinking about if I was going to move to 7th since they were losing two math teachers. The administrators started making calls to the office in the late afternoon, which could only mean they were telling people what they were going to teach next year. I got more and more anxious. I went up to the office to give them my keys to "check out" and Mr. Bowen asked me to come back in about 10 minutes. GULP... While waiting I helped out one of my colleagues. Then I heard our grade level coordinator from the past two years get called to the office. He returned and told us he was going to be teaching social studies (instead of language arts) and he wouldn't be on my team, which was a relief. He also said he would not be grade level coordinator and that his teammate, a math teacher would be moving to 7th. YAHOO! Then I could relax because I knew I was staying put. I went to the office and sat with Mr. Bowen and Dr. Kahrs. I was still a little nervous. It's not every day I just sit with both of them! They told me I was going to be the grade level coordinator for 6th grade. What an honor! Last night I found out that it was a unanimous vote within the leadership team for me to be the new grade level coordinator for 6th grade. I know it will be stressful because we do have a complainer or two, but I hope I will do a good job and be respected by my colleagues. Wednesday after school, some of the staff went to Dos Palmas in Athens. We had a really good time and it was such a good way to end a wonderful school year.

1st day of summer: May 26 (Thursday)

I read A Reliable Wife on my first lazy day. It was a nice day to lay out and do nothing. I did a little school work to get ready for next year. Jeremy and I went to Publix that night to stock up on food and get something from the deli for dinner. When I tried to eat, I wasn't hungry. Jeremy tried to get me to eat, but I couldn't force myself to take any more bites.

2nd day of summer: May 27 (Friday)

I felt as if I were on my deathbed. I woke up at 4 in the morning feeling awful. Jeremy ended up going to the store at 5 to get medicine. I was extremely weak after everything in my stomach had been emptied out. I couldn't keep anything down. The day was supposed to be spent shopping with Jana and having family swim, but instead I spent the day in the bathroom and lying in bed/on the couch. I watch Groundhog Day and Fargo and did a little reading. (By the way- Fargo is the worst movie ever- I don't recommend it). I ate 4 saltines, drank gatorade, water and ginger ale. Late in the day, I got a call from Robert saying Jana wasn't feeling well. We now wonder if it was food poisoning from Dos Palmas since we both had the same thing. Maybe our chicken wasn't cooked all the way. I am quite thankful for a wonderful husband and mother who took care of me as I was in my miserable state. I've never felt like that before and never want to be that sick again.

3rd day of summer: May 28 (Saturday)

I finished my second book of the summer today because I still wasn't 100%. This one was Girl with a Pearl Earring. I also did a little cleaning to get our house back in order since my illness from Friday. Jeremy went and got his oil changed and emissions tested as well as put together our new bookcases we got at Ikea last weekend. I started feeling really badly again after I did a little cleaning and had to lay back down for a while. In the evening, Jeremy, Kristi, Cindy, Jeff, and I took a trip to Milledgeville to visit Jonathan in order to celebrate Jeremy's birthday. We ate at The Brick. I couldn't eat but a tiny bit of my pizza. I was so sad I wasn't feeling normal. While we were there, I saw Dr. Whipple, one of my all time favorite teachers ever. I never have liked science, which is funny because I've had some really fun, good science teachers. I took her for two classes in college and loved her. I sat on the front row, right in front of her. Even though I didn't like science, I always did my best (of course). She always used an overhead projector. When she needed to wipe it off she'd put water on a little rag and wipe it off. That wasn't the crazy thing though. She'd then take a drink from her water after she had put the dirty rag to it to put water on it. We used to laugh with her about this. I asked her if she still did that and she said, "Yes!" Jonathan tells us she always asks about us when she sees him. I'm glad I went if nothing else but to see her.

4th day of summer: May 29th (Sunday- and Jeremy's 28th birthday)

I woke up extra early and didn't want to get up. I put myself back to sleep until 11:30! I was so excited but then was running a little late for lunch. The day was pretty restful, but we didn't get our Sunday naps in. We knew I had to make a decision about SuperWOW. During my post-planning days, Cindy called and told me their administrative assistant quit at Jekyll. This used to be my job my first three years so I could help Cindy. She told me they were in a staff meeting and were told this and Doug thought about asking me. It was a logical choice for them but a tough decision for me. If you've been following, you know I was originally really sad about going. After a while I got over it and got excited about all the fun things I'd do this summer. Well, then being presented with the opportunity to go back and to go to Jekyll made the decision a little hard. I have always loved going so I never doubted the fact that I'd have fun. I just had a hard time saying yes after I had been hurt. Jeremy and I talked and prayed about it and we knew I should help Cindy out. She's getting close to having her baby so me coming along will allow her to come home. We went over to Cindy's house to tell her my decision. On the way over there I still hadn't made up my mind. I did know I didn't want to go the whole time, but I did know I should go to help out. We decided I'd go the last week so she could come home. That was a tough decision to make. Thanks for all the thoughts/prayers through it.

We then headed to church. Jeremy planned to do dinner with Matt and Abany. Matt is a guy Jeremy works with at Grace (kinda his "boss"). They just got engaged so we wanted to celebrate with them as well as enjoy a nice birthday meal. We ended up going to a place in Decatur called Farm Burger. They have all organic food there. It was delicious, but again my appetite is still lacking. We enjoyed yogurt for dessert. They are such a fun couple and we are excited about continuing to build a relationship with them

5th day of summer: May 30 (Monday-Memorial Day)

I decided not to go to the Dacula Memorial Day parade because I wanted to rest a little bit more. I wanted to feel like Laura again. Jeremy and I did join the yearly rituals at lunch though. We always go to Sonny's. Jeremy wanted BBQ for dinner on Saturday, but I reminded him we'd have it on Monday so he waited. After lunch, we then went to the pool for a nice afternoon. Momma got these new water guns. I actually saw some when we were at Academy the other night after Dos Palmas and we started playing with them in the store (without water of course). They provided an afternoon of fun as did Jeremy's birthday present of a GoPro. It's super cool! The camera was able to capture many moments we never get to hold onto because of the pool. We ended the evening with a cookout and a yummy cookie cake thanks to Cary for being the chef and Daphne for making the cookie cake.

6th day of summer: May 31 (Tuesday)

This was the first day Amber and I started running at the park together. We talked about how we would do this during the summer. She brought her dog Fiona along. We always have good conversations and I'm excited about continuing this little tradition. I will say it may get harder to get up and go so early, but this morning I woke up before the 7:30/7:45ish alarm at 7:23. After the run I decided I would lay out before the day really got started. Jana, Maleigh and I had a day of fun. We planned on going skating and to a movie. To make a long story short, the skating rink has a new manager and it wasn't open to the public, which I'm okay with because it was a little sketchy! We then decided to go shopping. I bought a pair of Tifosi sunglasses, when we went looking for some for Maleigh's boyfriend. Oh well. We then went to the mall for a little walking around and wasting time before the movie. The $1.99 movie theater is right by the mall so we just stayed there until it was time for Rango. It was a cute movie, but I am still sure I don't like snakes or lizards. Jeremy's dad came over and Jeremy cooked steaks on the grill for us. It was yummy!

7th day of summer: June 1 (Wednesday)

Our 2nd day of running was better than our first. I've already been running lots lately so it's just fun to get to run with someone else. Amber is doing a great job building up her milage. We ran more today, but she was a little sore from Tuesday. She said Fiona got so excited and was anxiously waiting for the run. I continued my laying out tradition after the run because I knew the rest of the day would be busy. I had to run some errands before Kim's bachelorette party. I ordered her a book and it hadn't come in the mail, so I knew I needed to get her something before the party. I also needed to buy the stuff to make chicken salad croissants. I wish I had of known it would turn into a whole day of searching for the book. The book ended up coming about an hour or two after I got home with the book. Of course! I knew it would, but I was just afraid. Marsha (from New Orleans and SuperWOW) came over to hang out and spend the night. We enjoyed our afternoon of sweet conversation and Jeremy got to enjoy her company the rest of the night while I was at the party. I was so sad I couldn't hang out more because she always makes me laugh, but it was fun to see her a little bit. I'll get to hang out with her next week at Impact anyway. Jana came over a little before the party to help make the croissants. She got me to wear pjs to the party, like we were supposed to. We had an enjoyable time eating, playing games and chatting. (oh and Grace tentatively offered Jeremy a full time job).

8th day of summer: June 2 (Thursday)

You know what's coming. Yes, I started the day off with a run with Amber and Fiona. We walked today. She needs new shoes because her feet are hurting. I took a run around the neighborhood when I got home from the park. ;) Marsha had already left by this point because she had SuperWOW staff training. I then laid out. I did a little reading and cleaning before the Kindig kids came over. They get to stay with us until Sunday. We took them to swim and we ate dinner. I was exhausted so I went to bed pretty early. They stayed up watching movies and playing games on the computer.

9th day of summer: June 3 (Friday)

I got up early again to go running. I left the kids asleep because I knew they should rest more than they needed to come to the park with me! We had a fun day of swimming, playing spoons and what's yours like?, playing wii (the game we played the week it snowed), and playing a little game of basketball. We had dinner at Chili's too. They are always entertaining to hang out with.

10th day of summer: June 4 (Saturday)

I got a text in the morning asking when I would be up in Toccoa. I decided I should eat a quick bite of lunch and then head off. I was planning to have a nice meal at the Kani House with the kids and Jeremy, but when Cindy needs me, I drop things to help. I said my goodbyes and headed off. When I got there I found that the wireless wasn't working so the work was going a lot slower than anticipated. I got to help finish up some last minute registration/housing stuff while the exec. staff arrived. I went with the SuperWOW staff to Applebee's. Afterwards we went to Wal-Mart and played a little game of hide and seek. I was definitely not the best, but had lots of laughs. Before bed we ended up going to Sonic for a late night snack. Oh, the pleasures of going up there early! Cindy let me room with Kelli and Marsha. Man, I love these girls.

11th day of summer: June 5 (Sunday)

The TLs came up to Toccoa today for gold school. I helped Mark with security stuff most of the day. We put labels on the room keys and on the doors, sorted through t-shirts for the students, and who knows what else. The day flew by but I can't even remember what I did all day! I ate dinner with security staff and the Fruittichers at a mexican restaurant in town.

12-16th days of summer: June 6-10 (Monday-Friday)

Impact-- Shift 2011

Since it was a weeklong camp, I knew it would be difficult to write something about every day. I'll give you the highlights. I loved rooming with Kelli and Marsha. We had lots of fun. Sunday was Kelli's birthday so we decorated the room and even celebrated with an ice cream cake. Monday the kids came. They were great this year! The drama was minimal. Rec was amazing as usual too. It was definitely different without Scott or Jeremy this year. Scott did come up on Monday to bring the boys and to see the different "schools" but tried not to get in the middle of all the action! They were both missed though.

I liked the security staff. We had a very small staff this year. We had a guy named Shane who used to do it before me and Dave, who I know from SuperWOW- a youth pastor in Brunswick. We had lots of fun times. Mark, the head honcho security guy, and I got to do plunger duty together. That always brings lots of laughs! One night we all were on our golf carts (oh yes, there's lots of walking so Mark always brings us golf carts), and we all ended up by the lake. Some of the exec staff were going to go for a swim in the lake when Mark caught them. From there we drove around and heard this weird noise. We listened and listened. It sounded like an animal/person screaming. A person who lives there said it was probably a fox. Well, all the guys on the security staff tried to scare me by jumping at me to make me think it came out of the woods.

Another day, the fire alarm started going off. We couldn't tell if someone pulled it at first or not. One of the air conditioning units blew and there was a little fire in the electrical room. It was out pretty quickly though and the kids were hilarious. They didn't know if they needed to leave the building or not. It's like that at school. If an alarm goes off you wonder if it's real or not when it's a crazy time like during a storm. Some people were taking showers and we ran through the halls to get them outside. They were like can I put on some clothes?! :) It didn't even affect any of the hallways other than make it smokey for a while. Right before the alarm, we were told someone accidently brought a pocket knife so we were trying to find the guy to get it from him. His room was on the hall where the electrical fire was so he came up with this whole thing that God told him to bring the knife so we'd look for him and find the fire. That's not exactly correct because the alarm was going off that's how found the fire, but whatever.

I stayed up until 2 or 3 every night to do room checks and make sure things were calm before turning in. I didn't sleep really well though. I was cold much of the time and the bed just wasn't my bed. Sleep is overrated in Toccoa. :)

I got home in the afternoon on Friday and didn't want to do anything. I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon and we went to PF Changs for dinner.

While I was gone, Jeremy stayed pretty busy. Sunday night he drove the Kindig kids to Birmingham to hear Scott teach at church. On Tuesday, he ate with Scott, Kim, and MB since the boys were at Impact with me. Wednesday, he came up to Impact. Thursday, he had all kinds of adventures. He and the staff from Grace went to see Screwtape Letters at the Alliance. He got to ride with Buddy (pastor), Jody (pastor's wife), Matt (Jeremy's boss), Abany (bosses fiance), Ketter (worship leader at Grace Monroe), and Laele (worship leader- married to Ketter). Buddy asked Jeremy to drive the churches excursion. Jeremy hasn't ever driven something that big. They went in a parking garage and Buddy had to get out and watch the top just to make sure they didn't hit! Buddy told Scott that he see Scott's mark on some people, Jeremy being one of them. Scott said, "Nah, they were finished products before they even got to know me."

17th day of summer-June 11th (Saturday)

I had a lazy day around the house. Jeremy went to work at Grace for a few hours, so I did a little cleaning. I also hung out with Charlie (Jana's dog). We've been keeping him since Sunday. Jeremy and I went to El Real, a new mexican restaurant in Winder/Bethlehem.

18th day of summer- June 12th (Sunday)

I slept late but I'm still trying to catch up on missed sleep. I went to Momma and Daddy's for a yummy lunch and then spent the afternoon cleaning again. I did a little reading too. Jeremy was extremely busy at Grace so he didn't get to come home between the morning and evening service. Aaron had his cd release party at the 5:15 service. Jeremy brought me home his CD so I could listen to it before the party. It's so good! Aaron wants Jeremy to come down to Jekyll (since he will be there as the worship guy for the next 3 weeks) and shoot a video for him. How exciting. Jeremy will get to come visit while I'm down there!

19th day of summer- June 13th (Monday)

Miriam called and told me everyone was going swimming so I threw on my bathing suit, ate a bowl of cereal and headed out. It was an afternoon of fun in the sun with my sisters, nieces and nephews. I enjoyed my afternoon thoroughly. When I got home, I played with Charlie and Maverick, read, wrote, played my guitar, and did a little more cleaning. You'd think this house would be spick and span. HA! Jeremy laughed at what I cleaned today. I dusted our kitchen chairs and washed some of the baseboards. He asked what I was going to do with all my time once I finished cleaning every nook and cranny of the house. I told him I have all kinds of plans! :) I actually am pretty proud I haven't been bored yet. Jeremy said, "It's because you were gone all last week!" Yes, he's so right. Camps give me something to do and keep me from cleaning all day every day. However, I have enjoyed my books and time to journal this summer. Those are things I love doing, but don't have much time for myself during the school year. Maybe now that I'm done with my gifted certification I will have more time on my hands during the school year, that is if I don't start something new! Tonight I was supposed to go to Chillville, a thing for women at Grace during June, but I hadn't heard from Jana. They were supposed to get Charlie at some point. I wanted to make sure I was at the house, so I decided to watch it online. I'm so thankful we have a church that streams everything they do. They came to get him about 9:30, so I could have gone to Chillville, but I enjoyed an evening of relaxing with Charlie before he left. I'm glad they made it back safely though. Maybe that will bring some fun summer adventures in the near future.

Today was the first day of Superwow and of course registration. To be honest, I missed being there.

20th day of summer- June 14th (Tuesday)

Today I went back to the traditional summer schedule of running with Amber, laying out, and reading. I think it's funny that this has become a daily thing. Daphne and I laughed about it yesterday while we were at the pool. I lay out on our stone patio around the fireplace. Jeremy got me a chair to lay out on, so this has been where I camp out about 10 every day!

Some days I let Maverick in the yard while I'm laying out, while other days I do not. He seemed to want all of my attention today as he kept coming up to me and smelling me. I had a towel on my head and he'd stick his nose under the towel to smell/lick me. Oh, the joys of having a dog! I almost called him my son, and I do many times. However, I am reminded of a fun story from yesterday. We were sitting on the pool steps when one of my sweet nieces came up to me and my sisters and said, "All the mommy's are wearing toenail polish." I smiled and thought about there only being two mothers there, but quickly realized she was talking about me too. I explained to her that I am not a mother. She had a concerned look upon her face when I told her this. I told her that I do not have any kids and to be a mother you have to have kids. She then asked, "Is uncle Jeremy a daddy?" I said, "No, because he doesn't have any kids either." She took that statement and said, "Oh." and walked off. I guess all children assume adults are mommy's and daddy's since that's what they are usually exposed to. Another day she was commenting on something and said "You mean Aunt Laura, Uncle Jeremy's mother?" Ha, is there something I don't know?! Am I usually in the habit of treating him like my child? Am I not taking on my wife-ly role as I should?! :) Man, I love this girl way too much.

It was a pretty relaxing day of which I am thankful. I did, however, fill up Maverick's pool that showed up at our house last week. He got in it a little and cooled off. He continues to shed and I am beginning to wonder if his winter coat will ever end. I don't see an end in sight. We continue to blow out the garage continuously because of his camo black hair that layers the concrete.

I am almost finished with two books. (Oh, that reminds me I finished an adolescent fictional novel during camp). It was a little cheesy, but a light read. I actually have quite a few books going that I've put down for a while, but I am avidly reading two specific ones. One of them, is the last of the three books I borrowed from Kim. It's about being a godly woman. It's been really good and brought up some interesting points throughout. Submission is something I think I want to talk about first. I used to think, along with SO many other people, that submission and being mans "helper" is a bad thing. People look upon that, especially feminists, and say men and women should be equal and women don't need to pretty much be ruled by men. The author brings up an EXCELLENT point about submission and about how we all have the wrong definition. I challenge you to actually look up the definition and be astounded by the real definition. She says the trinity is an example of submission- God sends Jesus to earth. Jesus comes, serves, ministers, and dies, and is resurrected to bring glory to God. Then the holy spirit comes. Yet again, all are in submission to one another and we continue to think submission is a bad thing? Jesus submitted! She also talks about people in other settings and asks, "Has anyone ever asked you to do something?" Everyone can answer, "Yes" to this question. She goes on to explain that you've also probably been asked to do something you didn't really want to do but you did it anyway. That's submission. It's not always a bad thing. I do things at school all the time I don't necessarily want to do but I don't question them. I just do them because I know there might be a greater purpose I don't need to know about. I think this will carry me forward into this year as being grade level coordinator. When we are asked to do things, I will encourage my team to do them without grumbling.

I am also currently reading through Exodus (as of yesterday) and am almost finished. It amazes me how people who see God do such amazing things grumble and doubt Him and his sovereignty. I am also constantly challenged to listen to God and trust in Him. These lessons have been a long time running since college. Reading through Exodus is also bringing up some things Buddy has brought up over the past few weeks at Grace. We just finished going through John as a church and now are in Acts. He has talked about how we must know the kingdom story. It's neat to see how God tells the Israelites over and over about where they came from and to remember their story of leaving Egypt/Passover. They were to tell each generation about the story every Passover. If He had to encourage them multiple times to tell the story, shouldn't it still be important for us to know and be able to retell? Buddy asked on Sunday if people could give a chronological picture of scripture. Sure, we can tell you all the stories, but could we do it in order like the Israelites? Prick in my side... yeah, could I do it? In the same way, do people know my faith story or what I'm learning? Do I know other people's? So, that's where I am right now... being challenged in more ways than one.

This is day 2 of trying to be better about eating at home. Last night was a quick meal of hotdogs so Jeremy could go to Grace. Tonight it's chicken parm. (Don't get too excited, it is out of a bag).

21st day of summer- June 15th (Wednesday)

The day started as a typical day but ended as a day of adventures. I ran with Amber in the morning and read. After Jeremy spent a few hours at work, he came home and we got to go to Marietta to hang out with Randy, Amanda and Jonah. We ate lunch on the square with Amanda and Jonah at Australian Bakery. After lunch, we headed to their house while Randy finished up work. We were going to go to the pool, but instead we played with Jonah and let him take a nap. It then started to storm. By storm, I mean it was the worst storm I'd seen since I was little. There was thunder, lightning and hail. We waited for there to be a slight break and we cooked out on the grill for dinner. It was such a nice relaxing evening with friends. The weather started to get bad again so we just relaxed until 10 before we headed home. We had lots of fun with them and were thankful for the much needed time.

22nd day of summer- June 16th (Thursday)

I ran with Amber and then had a Jana friend day. We grabbed a sub from publix and then headed to my parent's pool. We laid out and swam for a good part of the day. Don't worry, I did get sun. I finally got to go to the chiropractor too. I hadn't been since the end of April, so I was extremely excited I wasn't too busy to go. Later on, I packed and then Steven and I headed to Jekyll. We had a fairly smooth journey and got in about 1 am. On the way, we stopped at Wendy's to grab a quick dinner and continued on our way.

It's kinda funny how all this came about. I'll give you a quick overview if you haven't been keeping up with the blog. Jeremy got a job at Grace so he said he couldn't do superwow. They then hired someone else to be the administrator so as not to split me and Jeremy up for that long. I got sad because it's something I love. I got over being sad and then Cindy called and told me the administrative assistant couldn't do it anymore so she asked if I could. Jeremy and I talked and prayed about it and decided that I'd just do it the last week so Cindy could come home to relax before baby Eli comes. Since they made all the changes to where we are doing it this year, I thought it would be good to come down for a few days to familiarize myself with the setup so as not to be really confused the last week. It all worked out because Steven had baseball camp the first week and they didn't need two cars down here so I offered to bring him down here.

23rd day of summer- June 17th (Friday)

Since we got in so late, I crashed at Cindy and Steven's house, Thursday night, which was our house for a few years. I went to the morning session of SuperWOW. They tore down the old convention center so it was a little different. Separately Marsha and Cindy gave me the grand tour of the "tents". It's like we have a little community of SuperWOW in the historic district. The setup is actually quite nice and not like "tents" at all. I got to help with the money for the deposit, which of course made me feel useful! For lunch, I went with Cindy and Steven (and of course Jake) to Longhorn. The afternoon was filled with rest and relaxation. Dave Hall (who was also at Impact) invited the staff to dinner and grilled out for all of us. It was delicious of course- as always. We ended up staying and talking for a really long time after everyone left except our car. Afterwards, we had a little karaoke session. It was quite humorous because there were dance moves added so some of the songs. I moved all my stuff to the girls house and made myself a room in the living room. We are packed quite tightly in the house (10 girls) and have two bathrooms.

24th day of summer- June 18th (Saturday)

We got up and were pretty lazy. We watched "What Happens in Vegas" before we even decided to be really sociable. Around lunch time, we got ready and went to Summer Waves. We spent the whole afternoon there. I floated around the Lazy River for most of the time. I floated with some of the new staff so I could get to know them. I ended the day in the Wave Pool with Marsha and Kelli. After our relaxing afternoon, we got ready and headed to Barbara Jeans for dinner. Jeremy was asked to come down and get some of Aaron Keyes' cds because they had taken all of them and didn't leave any at church to sell. He drove all the way to Jekyll to get the cds and got to see me as a bonus! Cindy was feeling really weird on Saturday, so we got scared she was going to have the baby. Jeremy ended up bringing me enough clothes for 2 weeks just in case she had the baby. He got there just in time for dinner. Cassi and Mac also were in town and got to join the staff for dinner. Dinner was delicious as usual. Afterwards, I rode back with Mac because Jeremy took my car back to the island to get his and head home. Right after we went through the toll booth and did our little u-turn because of the construction detour, we saw blue lights behind us. Mac hadn't completely stopped at the stop sign. The officer even asked Mac if he had anything to drink. HA- They don't know that's how Mac is all the time! He said, "Sir, we are here for a Christian camp." The guy said, "I didn't ask you why you were here." He gave him a breathalyzer test and it came out 0.00. He still got a ticket. We ended the night by playing Catch Phrase. This is one of my favorite games. Before the game started, we spotted a spider on the floor, where my air mattress usually was. Marsha got a shoe and killed it. She then came over to me after she thought she wiped it off of her shoe and rubbed her shoe on me. She rubbed the spider on my skirt and I screamed! She was like brush it off, but I wasn't going to touch it. She ended up getting a paper towel to wipe it off, but I was screeching the whole time with it's legs hanging on! If only you can imagine. At one point, Marsha had the words "fly on the wall" and said, "I always wanted to be a...." I shouted, "Cowgirl!" We laughed and laughed. My team also won a majority of the games- What a good way to end the evening.

25th day of summer- June 19th (Sunday)

Everyone again decided to be lazy. Some of the girls decided to go to the beach. The returning staff laughed because we never go to the beach. We spend the summer on Jekyll but only go on the sand for rec two days out of the week. The sand is not really soft and it's brown and so is the water. Instead of going with them, I went to the "Rah" Bar with Marsha. Kelli joined us at the end of our lunch after she got back from church in Jacksonville. The three of us then decided to go on a little walk through the historic district and do a little photo shoot. It was fun. After that, we drove to the Horton House for some more fun pictures. As we were leaving we saw a path by the house that led into the woods. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to see where the path led. It ended up being a fire control path that kept splitting off in three ways. We kept taking the one least traveled and ended up going on about a 2 1/2 mile hike through the woods of Jekyll. We got to see all kinds of insects and even a little deer. When taking a shower later on, I found a tick on me so we were really roughing it! It was definitely a fun time with the girls. We went over to Patrick's house for staff meeting that evening. He cooked ribs. The meeting went by a lot quicker than our meetings used to with Scott, but at the same time I didn't really feel as if it were as personal. I think the staff isn't as unified as we used to be. I noticed this when people did different things in the morning. Usually everyone wants to do everything together and although this makes for a long decision making process, it also brings unity and more memories. The staff still jokes and has fun together, but it's just different! Afterwards, pretty much all of the staff played Wario Ware on wii at the guys house and I do feel as if that was a good time for bonding. Then some of us went back to the girls house to play another 5 games of Catch Phrase. My team definitely won a majority again!

26th day of summer- June 20th (Monday)

Oh, I guess I didn't say that Cindy was feeling better, which is a good thing! She's holding on for her sister's wedding this weekend! Kelli, Marsha, and I went to town to get green room stuff before registration. We stopped and got Firehouse for lunch so we wouldn't starve. I got to help Cindy with registration for a good part of the day. We moved out of the registration "tent" or chalet because the air wasn't working and it was 91+ degrees in there. I was super glad I got to help. There's something about registration that gets me excited. I love getting to talk to the youth pastors from year to year. I love it when I remember their church or how they remember me. What a blessing. I left Jekyll about 5:15 to head home. My drive home went fairly smoothly and I got home about 10:25. I am thankful they are through with construction now so the drive goes a lot faster. I wasn't tired on my drive either and usually I struggle on drives more than 1 1/2 hours. I got to have some fun conversations with Jana, Jenna, and Emily on my way back, which made the time pass quickly too. I loved my talk with Emily! It has been a while since we talked, but I am thankful we can catch up every now and then. I've always loved our chats. It was definitely good to be home though and sleep on a real mattress! It didn't feel like I was gone that long though because Jeremy came down.

27th day of summer- June 21st (Tuesday)

I didn't get much sleep Monday night because Jeremy and I kept talking about things. First thing, I went to run, but we walked most of the way because Amber was also tired. She told me she was going to Athens later on to eat lunch with Beth. I ended up going with her. While she had a doctors appointment, I went to hang out with Beth and her little dog Lily. When Amber came back, we went to Your Pie and Bath and Body Works. We had such a pleasant time. I am super thankful for these ladies in my life. They are so giving and always so REAL! I love that! I got home and I was exhausted so I ended up sleeping for the next few hours. I knew I'd fall asleep if I started reading my summer reading book from school, and sure enough it put me right to sleep. Jeremy called and woke me up about 6. He brought home a pizza to cook. We laughed because I had pizza for lunch. Afterwards, I ended up watching "Killers" on Netflix. It is definitely a good movie. I never watch movies, so I am trying to build up my store of knowledge on movies because I never can contribute to conversations when it turns to "have you seen..."

28th day of summer- June 22nd (Wednesday)

I went running with Amber really early (7) because she had something to do a little later. I put on my sleeping mask that we bought last week and went straight back to sleep when I got home. I woke up with just enough time to take a shower and get ready because I invited Jeremy's mom, Cindy, to lunch. I haven't seen her in a while so I thought it would be a fun time to catch up. We went to Wich Which, a sandwich shop in Snellville. I am thankful for the time with her and our relationship. During the afternoon, I watched a few episodes of "My So Called Life" on Netflix before Jeremy got home. Afterwards, Jeremy and I had dinner at Chick-fil-A, went to Target, and then relaxed at home. We got to even have an adventure at 9:50 because Jeremy remembered he was supposed to get Maverick some food. We flew out the door and made it to Publix just in time to get him some food! I watched American President, on Netflix late at night, which made me stay up later than I wanted.

29th day of summer- June 23rd (Thursday)

I of course went running first thing and then took it easy for most of the day. My movie of the day was Revenge of the Bridesmaids. It was a really good movie. I did go to the chiropractor as well. When Jeremy got home, we got to go on a double date with Jana and Robert tonight to Casa Mia. It was delicious! The evening ended by going to Menchie's, a yogurt place.

30th day of summer- June 24th (Friday)

Today I went for a run with Amber and Fiona and then got ready for the day. For the beginning part of the day, I did a little reading while waiting on Miriam. I went with her, Micah, and Patton to drop off a cotton candy machine then we decided we'd grab lunch before Family Swim. We couldn't decide where to go. Micah said, "Well there are __ places to eat over there, and 2 places to eat by Publix." We laughed. He then said, "Follow that red Jeep!" We questioned him and apparently he wanted us to follow him to where he was going to eat. We asked him what we'd do if he lived out of state or far away. Would we follow him a certain amount of time then stop? He said we could stop after 30 minutes, but then changed his mind to 8. We did just that. Then we questioned him about what we would do if the guy went to his out. Micah calmly said, "We'll go to his house of course." We laughed and laughed. The jeep turned into Hamilton Mill and we continued to "follow". He did indeed turn into a neighborhood so we decided we better keep going since our 8 minutes was probably up. After all that we ended up going to the mall to eat in the food court or eatery, whatever you prefer to call it! Bath and Body Works was also having a sale so we couldn't pass up the opportunity for the good deals. Swimming was next on the agenda. We had a nice afternoon in the sun and water, but we missed Daphne and her family. Daddy, Momma, Miriam, Micah, Patton, and I went to Luigi's for dinner. Jeremy was still at work helping out with a wedding rehearsal so he didn't get to join. I stayed so busy I didn't get to watch a movie today. Oh well.

31st day of summer- June 25 (Saturday)

The second long drive to Jekyll happened today. I left around 11:15 and got to Jekyll about 4:30. I got to hang out for a while before dinner. Since the staff hadn't gone to The "Rah" Bar together, we decided to go. It was probably one of the most interesting evenings. When we (Kelli, Marsha, Savannah, and I) got to the restaurant, most people were already there.

32nd day of summer- June 26 (Sunday)

Marsha, Mac, Brad, Kat, Chris, and I went to Southern Soul BBQ for lunch. It was yummy, but we sure smelled of it for the rest of the day. When we got back Marsha, Savannah, and I went on a search for some bikes. We were going to rent some, but we found some in the shed at the guys house. We then went on a bike ride across the island. During our ride, I finally got to see where they are putting in the new conference center. All the walls are up, but they still have about a year to go until it's finished. SuperWOW should be in the tents again next year. That evening we had staff meeting at Patrick's house. This week the theme was breakfast. We had french toast, pancakes, omeletes, sausage/cheese balls, doughnut casserole, biscuits, sausage, fruit, and smoothies. I am so bad at deciding, I had a little bit of everything. It was delicious. A few of the new staffers and I watched "Rumor Has It" before bed.

33rd day-38th day of summer- June 27th (Monday)- July 2

Things get a little busy at SuperWOW, so I'll give you an overview. Registration went smoothly on Monday. I love all the youth leaders and youth pastors. It's so fun to see familiar faces and actually remember the name of their church! There were 952+ people and 51 churches this week. The rest of the week went by so quickly. However, I got to eat dinner with two churches amidst the busyness. Shane (from Impact) and his wife came down one evening so it was really good to get to talk with them. A guy who graduated from GCSU's education program a year before me was also there. It's always fun to see him too and talk about the successes from the previous year.

I have a few favorite memories from the week, but one involving ministry was on Wednesday night. Ed asked the students to stay seated if they had questions or wanted to give their life to Christ and then asked everyone else to leave silently. After the counseling, I got to take three girls home because their male youth pastor wanted to be above reproach. On the way to their hotel, I asked them if they had made any decisions. One of the girls said yes and the others were there supporting her. She is catholic from North Carolina and her friend invited her. She came and didn't know God would rock her world! It was so cool to hear how the Lord spoke to her and how she knew she needed to follow him. She was so excited about going home because she said, "mass will make more sense now!" We talked about their practices. We discussed communion and how much they pray too. It was such a good conversation! In the 10 minutes I got to spend with these girls, I hope I helped them desire a deeper relationship with the Lord. If nothing else, I am thankful for this moment!

Another favorite memory was eating with the Sandhill youth group. I went with Marsha. These students acted as if we had known them for a LONG time! We had some fun conversations with the students and we got to play lots of mind/math games. While eating, we even saw a raccoon.

Outside of camp, I enjoyed bike riding. Marsha, Kelli, and I went to the rope swing Friday after the truck was loaded. I enjoyed that even though I got eaten up by mosquitoes. Oh yeah, and we didn't really have to load anything up because we rented it all from Jekyll Island! On Saturday, I drove home in the morning and spent some time at the rents house/swimming since Jeremy had to help with a dress rehearsal at Hebron.

39th day of summer-July 3 (Sunday)

My family and I celebrated the 4th since some of the family would be at Conyers tomorrow. We cooked out but I didn't get to swim because it started raining before I could get out there! Instead, we just hung out and talked. Jeremy and I went to church that night and then got to eat with the Kindig's for dinner. It was so good to get to spend time with them! After dinner, we went to the park and walked about two miles with them too. I am thankful for times like these.

40th day of summer- July 4 (Monday)

We had a relaxing morning and then went to eat lunch with Jeremy's mom and family. Matthew is getting so big. He was too cute as he counted and jumped in the pool. Again, it rained so most of us didn't swim. Once we left there we went to my parents and ate again and were going to swim, but the storm was still around, so we didn't.

41st day of summer- July 5 (Tuesday)

It was so nice to run again with Amber. I had missed it! I ran a little while I was in Jekyll, but maybe only twice. Riding bikes is a little different than running, so I couldn't go my 3 miles like I could at the beginning of the summer. Amber and I usually only do about 2 miles running anyway, so I've lost a little bit of my ability to run that far. Oh well. I enjoy our time together in the morning. We talk about all kinds of fun things and it was good to hear about our week apart. Fiona always makes me laugh too as she finds a place to potty. I got to go to the dermatologist and chiropractor, which is always nice. A nap found its way in very easily too because I was reading one of our summer reading books for school. The book is okay so far, I feel as if the chapters could be in a different order though. After our dinner of salsbury steak/mac and cheese/muffins, we had a really bad storm. Our power flickered on and off briefly, but didn't go out for an extended amount of time. We got some of the worst part of the storm and lightning. Through the storm, we kept hearing fire trucks go by, but were thankful we were safe. To end the night we played some Wii.

42nd day of summer- July 6 (Wednesday)

It really hit me that we only have about 3 weeks left in summer. In talking with Amber as we ran, it made me see there aren't many days to do whatever I want. BOOO. It made me really sad. She said she'd like to have more frequent breaks during the year and go year round. Although I love breaks during the year, my mind doesn't fully rest during those times. I need an extended period of time in order for my mind not to be on school. I wouldn't ever be able to get in the habit of sleeping late if I had a 2 week break and then went back to school. We talked about the fact that this would probably make us more disciplined to do school work during those weeks though instead of waiting until the last minute during the summer. Oh, I guess I should mention teachers do things during the summer to plan for the next year. Many people may not know this much about us dedicated teachers! No, we don't just sit around all day during the summer and get paid for it. We do work many more hours during the school year that we don't get paid for, including weekends and evenings, not to mention how many hours we put in during the summer preparing. At camp last week I came up with some performance tasks for my students and am in the process of a few more. I am also working on some weekly warm up sheets. Ha, and to think that we just play all summer! Although the things I blog about may be the fun things, we can't just be idle all summer. Anyway, back to my day. I did a little reading and finished cleaning the blinds that I started yesterday. I mean really, how many times can you say you've washed the blinds?! More specifically, I washed every little plank. It only took me two days, but hopefully it's something I won't have to do for a while.

43rd day of summer- July 7 (Thursday)

I love adventures, especially adventures with friends. The day began with running at the park but it didn't stop there. I drove out to Athens for a fun friend date with Jana. We went to Toshiro, a Japanese restaurant for lunch. Then we decided we'd go to Sandy Creek and swim/lay out. Well the water had this weird green stuff in it. Although it didn't look like algae, it could have been, but it looked really scary so we didn't get in other than to cool ourselves off. We were there a total of um not too long and then left because it was way too hot. After going back to the house and changing we ended up going to Old Navy because they were having a sale. I got a sweater for $0.47 and another one for $1.47! Needless to say they had some pretty good deals and I was proud of my finds. We enjoyed a nice conversation with our checkout lady. She asked us if we were roomies. Man, if only we had a fun story about us meeting or something. It reminded me of how people used to ask Emily and I how we met and we had a whole story about how we met in Canada. For the most part people would believe us unless I laughed too much. Since Jana and I don't have a "made-up" story about how we met, we just resort to "we work together"! I do think it's quite interesting that I didn't even talk to her until my second year. I didn't really make an effort amidst the busyness and probably was intimated by her athleticism! :) Anyway, after the shopping trip, we went downtown to find a dessert place from our coupon book. (We usually determine where we go based on the coupon book!) We decided on a place called Sun-O Dessert. The best way I can describe the "ice"cream is it's like shaved ice but made with milk. The toppings on top give the "ice" flavor. We got vanilla with brownies and strawberries on top. It was delicious! Jana also got a bubble tea, which she was so excited about. The restaurant is in downtown Athens where there are meters. We knew we'd be in there a few minutes and didn't really worry about putting any money in the meter. We were there less than 3 minutes and got a parking ticket. I'm glad we got a good laugh out of it. Recently, we started a book Forgotten God and got to talk about it for the first time. Both of us are loving it and are being challenged. I am thankful for my time with Jana, for our laughs, and for our conversations. I rushed home from Athens for dinner because Cindy, Steven, Jake, and Eli (still in the womb) were coming. Jeremy made some yummy spaghetti. We love this family and had some great conversations. Cindy finished her masters too! YAY! Now she can be Master Cindy! I'm so proud of her. We are waiting patiently on little Eli to make his appearance. I don't know if I wrote this earlier.... I'm so glad I made the decision to go help out at Jekyll. I would have really missed out. I am also thankful I could help out Cindy so she could come home, finish her masters work, and be here just in case Eli came. I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve yet again.

44th day of summer- July 8 (Friday)

After a walk with Amber, I came home and ran a few miles just so I could keep up my milage. It was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A, so I joined my sisters and nieces/nephews to see their outfits. They crack me up. Ethan's was my favorite. He wore a fireman's suit and hat with a sign that said, "Eat Mor Spicy Chicken". He's too creative! I didn't eat though because I was going on a double date with Jana, Amber, and Beth. HAHA. Jeremy got a strange look from Matt when he told him I was on a double date! We went to Olive Garden and then went to see Bad Teacher. She definitely was a "Bad" teacher. The characters reminded us of some of the people we work with which made us laugh even harder! Afterwards, I rushed home yet again to go to Emily and Brandon's house. They are moving to Mississippi and were having people over before they left. We hadn't been to their place in Atlanta before, but it didn't take us too long to get there. It was so good to see and to chat with them and other people. Jenny and Katy were there, which was also fun. We went not knowing who would be there. We didn't know if we'd know anyone other than Brandon and Emily, but we were excited to see familiar faces! I have loved getting to know Jenny and Katy through Emily over the years. We always had lots of fun going up to Gold Rush and hanging out with them. Jeremy got to spend a lot of time getting to know some of the frat brothers, while I talked to the people I knew and played with Cade, Jenny's son. Both Jeremy and I were thankful we got to go. Hopefully, I will be better about keeping in touch now that I'm not so busy with my own schooling at night.

45th day of summer- July 9th (Saturday)

It was a lazy day around the McBryar household yet again. In the late afternoon we went to Garden Ridge. While there we bought some porch furniture, a picture for over our bed, and some other stuff. It was a tight squeeze but we packed it all in the car! We enjoyed a nice dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and then I said yes to going to Fry's. I mean if we are that close, why not go?! Jeremy got to use his giftcard from Christmas and we walked away with a camera bag for our new camera. When we got home, Jeremy started to put the furniture together. It was a disaster! The holes didn't match up and some of the pieces were missing. He ended up having to drill holes in the metal with his wood bits. Sigh... It was a long drawn out process and they were not even 2/3 of the way completed when he decided to come to bed.

46th day of summer- July 10th (Sunday)

We had lunch at the Rent's house and then came home to finish the porch furniture. Today was a lot easier in terms of putting the things together. They look really good, but we realized we were missing the back cushions.

47th day of summer- July 11th (Monday)

We went running and then I don't really remember what I did other than clean. I have been in the cleaning mood. I've done all kinds of little cleaning things through the summer. I guess instead of spring cleaning I am doing a summer cleaning. This was my day of doctors too. You have to love going to the chiropractor and coming out feeling so good and relaxed. Jeremy made shrimp on the grill for dinner. It was delicious!

48th day of summer- July 12th (Tuesday)

We went running and then we went to Home Depot and Lowes to get paint for her bathroom.

After helping Amber paint a while, I went home to meet Jana. We went swimming for a few hours and caught up on life and the book. I love the conversations we have. They are always so good.

49th day of summer- July 13th (Wednesday)

This was Amber day and friend day. We went running like usual. Later on in the day we went to Michael's to get some flowers to attach to writing utensils for our classrooms. We had a yummy dinner at Doc Greens because she hadn't been there. Then we had to get yogurt for dessert! After dinner and dessert we made the flower pens and pencils and then watched It's Complicated. We laughed and laughed at the awkwardness of the movie! For lunch, I met Megan and Maleigh at Genghis Grill to catch up on life. We also took a little shopping trip to the mall for a while. Leave it to us to see students while we were there and all together. :)

50th day of summer- July 14th (Thursday)

Thursday's have become Jana date day. I went running early then prepared for my day with Jana. We took the MAT at 10. Those who know me know I can't stand tests. I don't ever do well on them and I take forever on them. Well Jana said she was going to take it so I said I'd try it out. I didn't study, but I don't know if studying would help at all. It was timed, which made me stress out even more. I ran out of time and didn't even get close to finishing. Oh well. We then went to Amici's for lunch before we went to see Bridesmaids at the $1.99 movie theater. There were some funny parts, but there were also quite a few inappropriate parts that we just shook our heads. Since the beginning part of the day was relaxing, the rest we spent painting her kitchen. It looked really good when I left. Jeremy and I went over to Trey and Lauren's house for dinner and games (Canasta). We had an enjoyable evening with them. The food was delicious and the game was so much fun. We took a break to get some ice cream at Bruster's because our dessert was an epic fail! I think Jeremy got the wrong kind of pudding and it didn't work correctly. It was the thought that counts right?! I mean he researched and found a diabetic recipe for her and everything!

51st day of summer- July 15th (Friday)

The day started a little later than normal. We didn't run because Amber went to visit a friend and her parents, so I slept late. I headed over to the rents house around 10 or so. We had family swim, but it wasn't as much of a family swim as it usually is because it was overcast and a little misty. Most of the morning/afternoon was spent talking and laying around. While there, I finally finished one of my summer reading books, Failure Isn't an Option. It was not my favorite book of all times, but I made it through it with minimal naps attached to it. When I say minimal, I mean probably at least one nap every 10+ pages and it was a 236 page book! You can do the math. There were some chapters that were really good while others were extremely boring and didn't really apply to me. Then I got a little stressed and had to leave swim day before the swimming started because I had to start working on our ELT (Extended Learning Time) classes for the 6th grade. It ended up becoming more of a beast than I thought. The difficulties came because I had to rearrange the classes we had already decided upon at the end of school (one teacher is now a 7th grade teacher and I was told another one didn't need to have RtI kids in it). Only having 3 math certified people with all the students made it a challenge. I feel as if math certified people should rotate around depending on where they are needed most. Oh well. That's just my opinion! Jeremy and I took a break from me stressing and went to Costco to walk around and eat. Oh I do love me some Costco food! :) I stayed up past 12 to finish the classes so I wouldn't have to worry about it all weekend.

52nd day of summer- July 16th (Saturday)

We had breakfast with the Kindigs at Flying Biscuit and spent much of Saturday with them. It was a nice, relaxing day. I then hung out at the house (read, slept, and tried to be productive) while Jeremy finished a wedding video at the church. He brought home pizza for dinner and we ate outside on our porch on the new furniture. What a great way to end the day.

53rd day of summer- July 17th (Sunday)

We had lunch at Texas Roadhouse for Jeremy's dad's b-day. I then wasted time during the afternoon and went shopping before church so I didn't have to go home. I was already in Snellville and it was pretty pointless to go all the way home and then turn around and come back an hour later. I would have spent less money if I had gone home, but oh well. While out, I got some new clothes and some more flowers to attach to pencils. After church Jeremy and I went to Red Robin with some guys (David, Chris, Steven, and James). We had some really good conversations and got to know each other even more. It's such a blessing to have people like this in our lives. I love it that Jeremy has a whole slew of great guys at Grace.

54th day of summer- July 18th (Monday)

I went running in the morning and then was pretty lazy until the afternoon. I then headed to Conyers/Covington area to meet Tabby and April from my cohort. We sat at a Starbucks for a few hours and chatted to catch up on life. Jason, from my cohort, joined us later on. April ended up leaving because she had dinner plans, but Jason, Tabby and I went to Chili's and continued our conversation. It was so good to see them. We have so many memories together that we can always catch right back up. It's always fun to hear their school stories too. When you get teachers together there is always something to talk about.

55th day of summer- July 19th (Tuesday)

Amber and I went running in the morning. Then Jana and I went swimming for a few hours at my parents house. We got to catch up on life after another weekend. I am so thankful for her friendship. At two, I had a poverty meeting at the school to plan for a presentation over one of our summer reading books for a few hours. The meeting went really well. Kahrs was in an excellent mood and I am excited about the presentation. HA- I never thought I'd be excited about talking in front of the faculty.

56th day of summer- July 20th (Wednesday)

Amber and I went running extra early this morning because of the grade level coordinators (GLC) meeting at 9. She got to fill in for Traci, the connections GLC, who was out of town. This meeting also went really well. We got to share our opinion and I felt as if we really had a voice. I didn't know what it would be like, but it definitely surpassed my expectations. It makes me even more excited to be a GLC this year. I keep thinking of ideas to do with the 6th grade teachers to make it better than ever. My role will pretty much be to be the mouthpiece of the administration to my 6th grade teachers. After the meeting, Amber and I had lunch at Chick-fil-a and then I went home and packed up all our stuff for our trip. (The rest of the adventures from the day are recorded in the Amelia Island Vacation post.

57th day-60th day of summer- July 21st-24th (Thursday- Sunday)

Check out the blog on Amelia Island Vacation to hear about the adventures

61st day of summer- July 25th (Monday)

I finally got to go running again with Amber. I was way out of shape. Yes, 4 days was way too long for me not to be running. Maybe it was a little more humid too, but I couldn't go far at all. Amber said she was going up to the school at 1, since it was the first day we could go set up our rooms. I said I'd join her and help her in her room then go to mine. We decided to have lunch because we had talked about Mexican food. We went to El Real, in Winder, and met Traci there. It was good to see Traci and catch up on her summer too. Then we headed to the school for a few hours. Mr. Bowen was surprised to see so many people there at 1 to get our keys. I helped Amber move tables and hook up her computers for the beginning part of our time there. I don't know how she usually does it by herself. Those tables were pretty heavy. Then we headed over to my room and I put books on the bookshelves, organized the furniture, and Amber hooked up my computer. I want to have a lot of my stuff done so I can help others next week and be free to be where I am needed instead of cooped up in my room working all the time. Amy, a 6th grade teacher was there too. They moved her to my team last week so she came in early to move all her stuff from her old room. She said she was excited about being on my team because I am organized. haha. I guess that's a good reason. Jeremy and I went to Chili's for dinner and then went to Kirkland's and bought a table for our entryway hallway. It was on sale too so even better. We got home and realized we had other curly-q things that can hang on the way. They will go perfectly with it. Putting it together was a lot less work than the outdoor porch furniture. There were 3 screws that Jeremy unscrewed and then screwed the top to the legs. It was that easy. He commented on how we need to buy more furniture like that. I think we have learned that easy assembly of furniture could possibly make pricy furniture worth the extra money!!

62nd day of summer-July 26th (Tuesday)

Amber and I went running again. I do admit I ran a little more when I got home because I wasn't exhausted like I wanted to be. I then took Lug to get an oil change, bath, and her emissions done. Do I hear a gasp?! You should be gasping. I have finally grown up. This is the first time I've EVER, EVER gone by myself, for that matter gone to an oil change place to get my own oil changed period. Last year was my first year taking my car to get it's emissions done. I took a book, or three, and enjoyed my time there. Let's just say it wasn't too bad, but I don't know if I'll continue taking it. I mean, my schedule does get a little busy! My clean car then led me to Home Depot to get some paint sticks. I had a good idea to make fire drill signs for the 6th grade teachers. I was a little nervous, but again I'm growing up and did it all by myself! My car then led me to Target and to the school. I picked up random things at Target and then worked for a while on my room. Brooke came by to talk to me a while. I don't really know if I accomplished anything while I was there today, but I did get a little bit of organizing done. I seem to get really bogged down during the year so I am trying to get organized and hopefully stay that way this year. I think I will have to be more organized because of my new role of grade level coordinator.

63rd day of summer- July 27th (Wednesday)

I went to get an oil change and went shopping with Miriam a while. We picked up some new fabric for my bulletin boards and some baby shower gifts. Then I went to the school to set up my classroom a little more. Amber and Beth came over a dinner of grilled chicken.

64th day of summer- July 28th (Thursday)

I went to Ikea with Beth and then went to the school to work a few hours in my room.

65th day of summer- July 29th (Friday)

We had family swim.

66th day of summer- July 30 (Saturday)

I went to Amanda Varner's baby shower. I got to see lots of people from college. We went to Cheesecake Factory for 1/2 price cheesecake and to celebrate Miriam.

67th day of summer- July 31st (Sunday)

I drove across town for a shower for Katherine.

68th day of summer- August 1st (Monday)- LAST DAY OF SUMMER

I went up to the school again.