School, Achievement and Time Off

M had her induction to National Beta Club this week. S was in the Junior Beta Club in South Carolina, and M was in the Junior as well in Alabama. So we've been to several of the candle-lighting services.
 

We should be in school right now, but we're having an icy day at home. The drops of water are actually little icicles. It isn't too bad at our house, but Signal and Lookout Mtns. are about 5 degrees colder and have treacherous roads. The elevation is right about 1000 ft. at  our house. Compare that to downtown at around 600 ft., Lookout at around 2300 ft., and Signal at 1700 ft. The schools have to take all that terrain into account when planning for transportation in the weather.

Making Progress

I have been working on my dirty corner this weekend. I have come across several unexpected things, like the above photo of the girls from Halloween 2000 (not 1-5-94 like the time stamp says). I have bought some organizational tools from Target and World Market and I'm slowly taming all the piles and finding places for stuff to live.

In other news. Our rain stopped and we've had two gloriously sunny days. It was pretty warm today too. Hubby needs to get out and mow tomorrow.

Just some random tidbits because I feel like my brain is too fried to organize my thoughts. I wish our house in Alabama would sell. Not sure how we are going to pay two mortgages and two college tuition bills. The economy must be getting better by the looks of all the restaurants here in town. Last night we tried to go to Red Lobster (thanks for the gift certificate, Sis) and we couldn't even find parking in the lot so we came home and had leftovers. Today we tried to go to Panera Bread for lunch (thanks co-worker for the gift certificate) and couldn't find parking at 1:45pm! Then we were on a mission and decided to go back EARLY to Red Lobster for dinner tonight. We got there at 4:45, snagged a parking spot as someone was leaving, and had a 45 minute wait. But at least we got to eat. Finally. I was getting hungry. So if all these people can afford to eat out (at these prices) why can't anyone afford to buy our house?

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We sit here on a 2-hour delay. I'm not sure how much rain we've had in the past three days. I can't remember the last time we saw the sun.

The girls are a little ray of sunshine. We filled out their FAFSAs last night. We estimated it all from check stubs and W-2s since we haven't got everything in the mail to do taxes yet. M has been looking at which dorm she wants to live in next year.

I have been stressing out over an impending mid-year summative review. We use Project COACH as an evaluation tool. My weakness is collecting and organizing artifacts, so now I am scrambling around trying to put together my folder. I have applied for 16 positions for next year. Four of them are at the school where I am now. Someday I would like to just have a job that I didn't have to worry about losing/reapplying every year.

*I've been keeping Chattangooga DP up lately. New Year's Resolution.

My Dirty, Little Corner

My cousin is getting organized this month. I thought I would join her by resolving to clean up my bar/ work space. This is the "before" photo. You probably can't tell by looking, but there is everything here from my address book, computer, and paper punch, to less useful items such as a turtle shell, mosaic tiles, and pipe cleaners. There are also countless "important" papers, such as all my hand-outs from my photography classes and a huge binder that I think contains Hubby's divorce papers (which can now safely be burned in the fire pit out back!). I also didn't know there was a diablo behind my laptop until I saw this photo. Wow.

I'm giving myself a month to get my act together. Of course, as I clean out the old I'm sure I'll gather the new. It's a vicious cycle.

It's Coming to an End

Vacation is winding down and I have to go back to work on Monday. The kids get to wait until Wednesday. I feel like my time for relaxing is quickly evaporating.

Today I watched two full-length movies! Can you believe that?I loved Jesus Henry Christ (I love, love, love Toni Collette), and Morning Glory was a fluffy chick flick. The kinds of things I don't usually get to watch.

I also vacuumed, dusted, and cleaned all the bathrooms. And took the sportwagon to the carwash.

Last but not least, I booked my summer vacation (8 days in the UK!!!!!). Yippee!

M took the Beetle to practice tonight and one of the girls backed into it. Even though they are all kids they managed to deal with the insurance/ lease people all on their own and have it under control. I am amazed at how well these "babies" can deal with real life. Which is good, considering in a few months M will be off to college. Speaking of, we have a campus tour Friday. This vacation is really flying by.

Geez, life.

***I am adding this as it goes along with my little globe at the top. Some of you may know that I am part of a new orphan care mission group at my home church. Our pastor decided that we would try to raise enough money on Christmas Eve to build an orphanage in South Sudan. The goal was 85,000 in one night. We were out of town and didn't hear the final amount, so Hubby looked it up tonight and saw that we raised 222,100! You can check out the article here.