"My career is over"

During a group speech session today, one of my third graders said the funniest thing. He lost a turn or something during a game and he says "My career is over." I replied, "what career would that be?" He says with a straight face "My life career." I thought that was so funny! I replied back "You say some funny things, sometimes." He then proceeded to ask me, "what did I say that was funny?" I think it is so interesting to sit back and look at life from a third-graders perspective. Winning or losing a game with your friends is so important at this age. Sometimes I wish I was able to go back and be a kid again just so I wouldn't have so many life-decisions to worry about. But, on the other side, there are so many wonderful things in my life right now that I would never want to give up in a swap.
While I am on the topic of funny things that kids say, I have another story. So, I was working with a pre-school kiddo who could not keep his hands to himself. I asked him if he could please try to keep his hands still, and he replies with a straight face, "It's not me, its my hands." If only we could get away with that excuse as an adult...hehe!

The Rest of the Story....

I love having misleading blog titles. Not that I am going to lie in this blog, but I like to have titles that sound captivating, when in fact the story is rather bland. My best friend from grad school came to Austin this weekend and stayed with me on Sunday night (we didn't have work on Monday because of Martin Luther King Jr Day...wohoo! I love three day weekends!!) We went to go see 27 Dresses with two of my other good friends. It was a good movie, pretty predictable, but heartwarming. (side note- while I am thinking of movies that I have seen recently-Natalie, if you read this...I LOVED Juno too!) Overall, I had a pretty good weekend. I was very glad to be able to see so much of my friends!
As I went to bed last night, and then when I woke up this morning I came to the realization that I HATE getting up in the morning. I am such a worrier that I make up a million and a half things to worry about during my morning routine. I thought I might share some of my thoughts with you: What if I sleep through my alarm? What if I am late to work today? What if my lesson plans don't work out as well as they sound in my head? Why am I so tired? What if one of my kids throws up today (if you know me, you know that this is one of my worst fears in life....what is wrong with me?) What if the kid who throws up in my room gets me sick and then I throw up? (translation in leslie's mind: the world is OVER) Why does school start so early in the morning?Why does my hair look good when I leave the house, but then as soon as I walk outside it turns into a frizzed -out blob? Why is it so cold outside? (for you mid-westerners, 32 degrees is outrageously cold in Texas still) What if the traffic is really bad today? Why do I have to sit through so many stoplights just to travel 6 miles to work?...enough of this! Then once I get to work and start seeing my wonderful kids, many of these questions drift far from my mind. So, what I would love for someone to invent one day is a way for me to get from my bed to work without thinking a single thought...except for maybe a prayer of thanksgiving for being able to wake up and live another day!

Home Alone

So, Chris went home (to Temple) for the entire weekend. His parents bought a house to flip, so he went home to help fix it up. I decided to stay home because I would be by myself in Temple as well..and what have I accomplished so far this weekend? A whole lot of nothing. I stayed in bed watching TV until 11:00 this morning. I know, you are all envious of my exciting life. I have to admit, though, it has been kinda nice having some alone time. I guess I hadn't realized that I am never by myself anymore.

I went out last night to see a movie with my best friend, Chelsea. The movie was sold out, of course, so we went to a restaurant and just hung out for a while. It was so nice to be with my friends. Yet another thing that I often take for granted. I am so blessed that God has given me such great friends that are always there for me. I know this wasn't much of a post, but I should probably jet...the TV is calling my name (hehe). Thank you God for giving me so many people in my life that help to pick me up and remind me of your many blessings in my life!

Ode to Cedar

Cedar pollen
Oh how I hate thee.
You make my nose run
and my head ache.
Medicine no longer does the trick!
I wake up in the morning and blow my nose
I blow until I fear I might lose a brain cell or two.

Cedar Pollen
I hope you go away
Otherwise I might have to invest in a tree-
In order to furnish my never-ending tissue use

The end!

Update of all Updates

I hope the title of this blog isn't misleading. I don't have any big news to share with anyone who reads this...I just feel like I should start by updating on what has happened over the past 6 months or so.

So, I got married to my best friend on July 7 of this past year. It has been a great 6 months! I enjoy being with the person that I love the most everyday. It is actually fun to cook dinner, something I thought I would never be capable of doing myself. I used to be grossed out by raw meat, And while I don't get excited about it now, I find it doesn't bother me anymore.

I also started my first 'real' job in August. I am a speech-language pathologist for a local school district. I absolutely love working with all of my students, each one of them has some characteristic that is able to make my day worth while. It has been hard getting used to being responsible for so many things though. Needless to say, I have been very stressed over the past couple of months with getting used to a new job and trying to prove myself as a responsible adult amongst teachers who have been teaching longer than I have been alive. I think I have been able to make my mark though, so for now I am satisfied.

I love being back in Austin, but I miss my family a lot. I secretly pray everyday for them to be able to move closer to me!!.

I decided to post a few recent pics...some of them are from Christmas. I was so glad that we were able to visit my family (parents and grandparents) as well as Chris' family. I had a really hard time being away from my family on Christmas day, but I was glad that I got to see them for so long...

So, after reading over this blog I realized that it will probably put whoever reads it into an endless slumber...it is totally void of my normally witty humor. Hopefully future posts will contain more leslie-isms.